Apple Brandy!

Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
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yakattack
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by yakattack »

nerdybrewer wrote:
Fermenter size wasn't the problem, amount of apple juice and desire to keep some as hard cider is the issue.
I'm planning to taste the cider today and see if it's still the way I want to go.
If I don't think it's going to be awesome as is then I will run the entire 13.5 gallon batch as you suggest.
I'm cooking with gas, so temperature is adjustable.
Not trying to nit pick you but you need to do some more reading. You can't control temp on a still. Either on gas or electric. The temp is dictated by the alcohol/water solution in the boiler as it reaches its boiling point.

Turning the gas up higher (or lower) only increases or reduces the amount of energy that is being transfered into the wash.

It is by this that we can dictate the amount of vapor that is being generated and in turn how fast the run goes. ( obviously within the limits of the equipment you are using)

This is basic theory that you should have picked up in crankeys spoonfeeding thread.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

yakattack wrote:
nerdybrewer wrote:
Fermenter size wasn't the problem, amount of apple juice and desire to keep some as hard cider is the issue.
I'm planning to taste the cider today and see if it's still the way I want to go.
If I don't think it's going to be awesome as is then I will run the entire 13.5 gallon batch as you suggest.
I'm cooking with gas, so temperature is adjustable.
Not trying to nit pick you but you need to do some more reading. You can't control temp on a still. Either on gas or electric. The temp is dictated by the alcohol/water solution in the boiler as it reaches its boiling point.

Turning the gas up higher (or lower) only increases or reduces the amount of energy that is being transfered into the wash.

It is by this that we can dictate the amount of vapor that is being generated and in turn how fast the run goes. ( obviously within the limits of the equipment you are using)

This is basic theory that you should have picked up in crankeys spoonfeeding thread.
I get that.
Speed of the rise in temperature is adjustable, amount of energy input is adjustable.
Temperature rate of rise and fall is adjustable.
When I turn on the gas the rise in temperature is adjusted by the amount of energy I allow to flow.
If I turn off the gas the vapor flow will reduce to zero.
Somewhere between full on (wide open) and off there's a sweet spot that changes during every run.
So yeah I suppose I might have a handle on the dynamics of energy flow on my own rig.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by PTS_35 »

cranky wrote:
Jimbo wrote:For cider I do primary for a month then rack to carboy for at least another month. 2 or 3 better.
I do the same, this past year I finished picking apples on December 1st but had begun picking July 15th so I had it in various stages of fermentation. I ran the first batch either in December or January, I think the second run was in Feb and the final run was in April. This year I expect will be no different other than I have twice as much cider to run. I'm thinking one run every month or maybe 2 a month starting mid January until they are all done. I know some people don't wait at all, as soon as it is done they run and seem happy with the outcome, I just go to extremes and want to do it french style this year.
So uou guys are letting it sit this long for brandy? Not hard cider, but making brandy
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by Jimbo »

Jimbo wrote:For cider...
For brandy it sits a month. Usually.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by PTS_35 »

I wanna get my facts straight on the 1.5 run. I can only run 3 or 3.5 gal at a time and I make 3.5 gal washes. It took me 9 gal of all bran to have probably 3.5 quarts of likker after cuts doing stripping and then a final spirit run. Now I plan on running 3 gal cider then adding it back to the still and topping off with 2 gal wash/cider as I have 6 gal fermenting now; 1gal going to hard cider. So in order to get 3.5 qts of drinkable brandy I'll need to run another 4 gallon. My question: is it ok to run 5 gal using the 1.5 method, making cuts and put in a keep jar then at a later date doing 5 gal again, make cuts then try to "blend" these to get a gallon or so for keeping and aging?
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by cranky »

PTS_35 wrote: My question: is it ok to run 5 gal using the 1.5 method, making cuts and put in a keep jar then at a later date doing 5 gal again, make cuts then try to "blend" these to get a gallon or so for keeping and aging?
I do that sort of thing all the time.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by PTS_35 »

Great. Least I got a plan now. Would you recommend leaving in separate jars then combining hearts first then slowing add head/tails as per my tastes? I thought that might be best idea
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by cranky »

PTS_35 wrote:Great. Least I got a plan now. Would you recommend leaving in separate jars then combining hearts first then slowing add head/tails as per my tastes? I thought that might be best idea
I've done both ways, right now I'm about to combine all of last seasons runs. On some I did cuts and saved it in separate bottles then blended with the next run 2 months later like you are talking about and on another I did the blending 2 days after running. In my opinion letting the cuts sit for a while before blending will let flavors develop and might make the blending easier.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

Was at Costco yesterday and saw the Tree Top and the "Kirkland Fresh Pressed not from concentrate 100% grown in USA apples" juice.
The fresh pressed is only about 30 cents more per gallon than the Tree Top which is from concentrate and not "Fresh Pressed".
Now I will have to search the interweb to find out where they get their juice and brand it "Kirkland".
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by Bigbob »

The Kirkland is what I used.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

Just tasted my cider, it's been done & out of the fermenter for a month. It's carbonated in the gallon jugs already, guess there was a little sugar left.
I know that's not long enough to age a cider but should be good enough to have an idea of whether I like it or not.
I tried it and had one of my daughters try it.
We both shared the opinion that it's good on the first taste but then there's a flavor that while not "gross" just isn't pleasant.
My conclusion is that I'll save one gallon and age it longer as cider and run the rest as brandy.
Next time I'll choose the Kirkland fresh pressed juice.
Going to run 1.5 as has been advised, ideally it will lead to some passable apple brandy.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

Just stripped the first 8 gallons.
Got 9 quarts, the last quart went down to 20% and the first started at 60%.
Might have to wait until the weekend to run the rest, but there's no hurry.
Some really nice smells from this strip run!
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by PTS_35 »

Readings today were both buckets at 1.000. I racked a gallon into a glass gal jar put on an airlock. This will be for hard cider. Left the rest in the buckets. Plan to rack them next week I think. Will take another reading then. Also got 1gal of mussel man's cider and 1 can of concentrate. Combined and got an OG of 1.068. Put it in a gallon jug with 3 grams of 1118. Too it from parent site of 2 gr yeast per gallon and figured 3 grams wouldn't hurt. Tasted the hard cider..well first off it stinks. Sour, smell that burns your nose. It tasted like a vermouth I guess. Like a white vermouth. Best I can describe it. Lacks body, so faint was a sweet tone that I just don't know how I'll like this as a hard cider. Hoping time and carbonation will improve it. Plan on letting it sit till dec. 13 then bottling two 750ml for carbing the 2 wks. That'll be right before new years. Sample it then. I know it'll be young but kinda wanted something for new years. Can I carb and let sit for the long term or would you let it rest then hit it with some sugar in the 750ml to carb when you wanna drink it. I thought the latter
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by cranky »

PTS_35 wrote:Readings today were both buckets at 1.000. I racked a gallon into a glass gal jar put on an airlock. This will be for hard cider. Left the rest in the buckets. Plan to rack them next week I think. Will take another reading then. Also got 1gal of mussel man's cider and 1 can of concentrate. Combined and got an OG of 1.068. Put it in a gallon jug with 3 grams of 1118. Too it from parent site of 2 gr yeast per gallon and figured 3 grams wouldn't hurt. Tasted the hard cider..well first off it stinks. Sour, smell that burns your nose. It tasted like a vermouth I guess. Like a white vermouth. Best I can describe it. Lacks body, so faint was a sweet tone that I just don't know how I'll like this as a hard cider. Hoping time and carbonation will improve it. Plan on letting it sit till dec. 13 then bottling two 750ml for carbing the 2 wks. That'll be right before new years. Sample it then. I know it'll be young but kinda wanted something for new years. Can I carb and let sit for the long term or would you let it rest then hit it with some sugar in the 750ml to carb when you wanna drink it. I thought the latter
I carb and let it sit for a long time. It gets better with age.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

I ended up with 2 gallons 60% ABV after the 1.5 run.
Smelled and tasted really good from start to finish.
I believe I'll do this with really great quality juice next time and see what happens, for now this is an excellent result from cheap juice.
I plan to char some apple wood and put it in the jugs to age, ideally it will become good brandy given some time and wood.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by PTS_35 »

I'm doing my first 1.5 run. Now my first jar after methanol cut is 63%. I plan on making more and doing another 1.5 run, taking total collection to age on some wood. But dont you need at least 50% to age on wood? What do I do if total collection when cut and combined doesn't reach that percentage?
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by cranky »

PTS_35 wrote:I'm doing my first 1.5 run. Now my first jar after methanol cut is 63%. I plan on making more and doing another 1.5 run, taking total collection to age on some wood. But dont you need at least 50% to age on wood? What do I do if total collection when cut and combined doesn't reach that percentage?
It just takes a little longer to age.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by PTS_35 »

Hmmm. Ok. Have to wait and see what end % is
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

Tasted my brandy last night, wow that has a lot of apple flavor!
Question is about aging, if I simply let it sit in the gallon jugs for a while like 6 to 12 months, will it age out and be great white or do I really need wood in there?
It's got some really nice delicate flavors that I wouldn't want to over power with wood.
What if I just put in some deeply charred fruit wood, like apple wood? I have some dry cured apple wood I've been saving (it's great for grilling and smoking meats).
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by Bigbob »

I used oak in mine. About 1/4 cup. I been sneaking little sips thru the 21/2 months, and it still needs some time. It's funny, one bottle is smoother than the other. But both are coming along nicely :thumbup: .
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by cranky »

nerdybrewer wrote:Tasted my brandy last night, wow that has a lot of apple flavor!
Question is about aging, if I simply let it sit in the gallon jugs for a while like 6 to 12 months, will it age out and be great white or do I really need wood in there?
It's got some really nice delicate flavors that I wouldn't want to over power with wood.
What if I just put in some deeply charred fruit wood, like apple wood? I have some dry cured apple wood I've been saving (it's great for grilling and smoking meats).
This year I used a piece of well used toasted and charred Japanese maple, a stick of well seasoned toasted apple wood and another stick of well seasoned toasted and lightly charred apple wood. The apple was also used for several weeks in another brandy before being moved to the apple so the flavor of the brandy wasn't overpowered by the wood. A couple years ago I used wood that was never used for aging on my apple and think it overpowered the apple. I think it is important to keep the wood as an accent rather than the dominant flavor. That's also why I wouldn't use JD chips or sticks because the JD flavor tends to dominate.

It's hard to get that apple flavor so my advice is to let it age white for 6 months, then decide if you think you want to add wood.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

cranky wrote:
nerdybrewer wrote:Tasted my brandy last night, wow that has a lot of apple flavor!
Question is about aging, if I simply let it sit in the gallon jugs for a while like 6 to 12 months, will it age out and be great white or do I really need wood in there?
It's got some really nice delicate flavors that I wouldn't want to over power with wood.
What if I just put in some deeply charred fruit wood, like apple wood? I have some dry cured apple wood I've been saving (it's great for grilling and smoking meats).
This year I used a piece of well used toasted and charred Japanese maple, a stick of well seasoned toasted apple wood and another stick of well seasoned toasted and lightly charred apple wood. The apple was also used for several weeks in another brandy before being moved to the apple so the flavor of the brandy wasn't overpowered by the wood. A couple years ago I used wood that was never used for aging on my apple and think it overpowered the apple. I think it is important to keep the wood as an accent rather than the dominant flavor. That's also why I wouldn't use JD chips or sticks because the JD flavor tends to dominate.

It's hard to get that apple flavor so my advice is to let it age white for 6 months, then decide if you think you want to add wood.
That sounds like great advice, after all once you put something in you can't take it back.
It will sit and age in the two gallon jugs until mid May, then I'll taste and either keep aging as-is or add wood.

Do you think alternating between house (warm) and shed (cold) will make any difference aging it white - isn't that technique designed to get the spirit into and out of wood?
If it won't help then I'll just put it in the back shelf of the pantry and try to remember it in May...
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by cranky »

nerdybrewer wrote: Do you think alternating between house (warm) and shed (cold) will make any difference aging it white - isn't that technique designed to get the spirit into and out of wood?
If it won't help then I'll just put it in the back shelf of the pantry and try to remember it in May...
I think it does make a difference, so does leaving it sitting on the clothes dryer for 6 months, which vibrates it, but if you do that keep it sealed and away from dryer sheets :roll: I like trying different things, like right now I have some sitting on a heater vent in the spare bath which is causing large temperature swings. I think people get confused and don't really understand that aging is different from oaking. In my personal experience a spirit changes as it ages regardless of contact with wood.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

cranky wrote:
nerdybrewer wrote: Do you think alternating between house (warm) and shed (cold) will make any difference aging it white - isn't that technique designed to get the spirit into and out of wood?
If it won't help then I'll just put it in the back shelf of the pantry and try to remember it in May...
I think it does make a difference, so does leaving it sitting on the clothes dryer for 6 months, which vibrates it, but if you do that keep it sealed and away from dryer sheets :roll: I like trying different things, like right now I have some sitting on a heater vent in the spare bath which is causing large temperature swings. I think people get confused and don't really understand that aging is different from oaking. In my personal experience a spirit changes as it ages regardless of contact with wood.
Makes sense to me, chemistry changes with age.
I'll alternate between the shed and the house probably a week at a time.
It's high enough ABV that I don't need to worry about freezing but since exploding a liter bottle of my rum before Thanksgiving I will be sure to loosen the top a little to allow it to breathe while assuming the ambient temperature. I don't know how strong these gallon glass jugs are and I don't really want to find out.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by cranky »

Good thinking, I leave the lids on my jars a bit loose as well and my bottles could probably smash their way through a brick wall but I don't know about jugs, make sure they aren't Rossi wine jugs for sure.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

cranky wrote:Good thinking, I leave the lids on my jars a bit loose as well and my bottles could probably smash their way through a brick wall but I don't know about jugs, make sure they aren't Rossi wine jugs for sure.
Uh oh, what's wrong with the Rossi wine jugs?
I do have a couple of those, mostly the clear gallon jugs from the brew store but I have a couple of the green Rossi jugs.
Are they weak?
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by cranky »

nerdybrewer wrote: Uh oh, what's wrong with the Rossi wine jugs?
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 33&t=43151
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by nerdybrewer »

Two month tasting report.

It's been just a couple days over 2 months since putting the brandy up in clear glass gallon jugs.
I've been putting it outside to chill and bringing it back inside to warm as I remember to do it.
I tried it a month ago and it was pretty harsh, nice flavors in there but raw un-aged brandy shine = not too great.
So I poured about 1/3 ounce and let it cool off a little then drank it.
Nice mouth feel, not at all "hot" and the good apple flavor still present.
Not nearly as harsh this time, starting to smooth out nicely.
Still has that "new" shine taste so clearly more time will help it greatly.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by Jimbo »

Sounds good nerdy. Be patient. Apple brandy takes longer than other things.
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Re: Apple Brandy!

Post by piperdave »

I've had the experience. 3 months in aging in glass and oak and just diluted a quart to drinking strength. Very similar tasting notes as nerdy. It will smooth out so once again I will play the waiting game.
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