First run in almost a year and first Plum 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.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper 8)

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Oldvine Zin
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

cranky wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 8:19 am I'm kind of disappointment that my son had to cancel his medical appointment at UW in favor of a more important one at another hospital because it would have given me the opportunity to help you pick plums OVZ.
Wow Cranky even though it didn't happen thanks for the offer :thumbup:
jonnys_spirit wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:52 am What's the difference between fermenting on the stones or not? Some bitterness or a certain flavor?

Thanks,
jonny
I'm not 100 % sure if the stones impart any bitterness but for my style of ferment I do not want them in there. Also I find that smashing the fruit makes for a cleaner ferment.

Stay safe
OVZ
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

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Oldvine Zin wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 3:06 pm
cranky wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 8:19 am I'm kind of disappointment that my son had to cancel his medical appointment at UW in favor of a more important one at another hospital because it would have given me the opportunity to help you pick plums OVZ.
Wow Cranky even though it didn't happen thanks for the offer :thumbup:

Stay safe
OVZ
He is having a lot of medical stuff done lately and I would much rather spend my time picking fruit than just sitting in a waiting room or the car even if it's picking fruit for someone else.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

You put the fruit with the stones and all into a barrel and let it sit until they are soft enough that you can use a mortar mixer and puree it. Usually 7 to 10 days. Then it ferments naturally in the stones settle to the bottom.

I can't speak to any particular flavors but that is the traditional way of doing a plum brandy naturally.

When you go to distill it you strain it and don't cook it on the stones though in Europe I know several people that cook it stones and all.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

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cranky wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 7:52 pm He is having a lot of medical stuff done lately and I would much rather spend my time picking fruit than just sitting in a waiting room or the car even if it's picking fruit for someone else.
I hear ya wishing the best for your son.

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OVZ
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Slivovitz wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 8:03 pm You put the fruit with the stones and all into a barrel and let it sit until they are soft enough that you can use a mortar mixer and puree it. Usually 7 to 10 days. Then it ferments naturally in the stones settle to the bottom.

I can't speak to any particular flavors but that is the traditional way of doing a plum brandy naturally.

When you go to distill it you strain it and don't cook it on the stones though in Europe I know several people that cook it stones and all.
I guess that with my method the fruit is ripe and soft to start with, so more natural sugars and no added other sugars needed.

stay safe
OVZ
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

jonnys_spirit wrote: Wed Sep 02, 2020 4:19 pm How much plum wine are you expecting from the 90#? About 5-6 gallons? 200# more sounds like a cool neighbor in my book!

Cheers,
jonny
My cool neighbor is letting the rest of the fruit hang on the tree until they start dropping then they are all mine :thumbup: :thumbup:
stay safe
OVZ
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Hermanji »

jonnys_spirit wrote:What's the difference between fermenting on the stones or not? Some bitterness or a certain flavor?

Thanks,
jonny
I can’t speak for slivovitz, only Hungarian pálinka. Everyone I know in Hungary removes the stones. I believe that leaving them in gives you more methyl alcohols which are not pleasant or healthy. These mostly come out in the foreshots and early heads. Some will smear into your final product.

I’m fortunate to have a large productive plum tree so I pick ripe and fallen fruit most days for about a month. I split them by hand, put the fruit in the fermenter, top up with water as needed and bin the stones. This way I only have a bucket to do at a time. Works well with all natural fermentation.

I’m not sure if measuring sugar content / specific gravity is really worthwhile as a lot of the fruit sugar is locked in the flesh and releases slowly during fermentation.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

I did not cook with the stones, we removed them when we poured the wine into the pot.

Family in Cegled take out the stones for palinka. I remove stones on peach and apricot but not plums.

Hermanji, we will have many things to talk about with palinka!

Maybe when I visit next I will give some to you.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Hermanji »

Slivovitz wrote:I did not cook with the stones, we removed them when we poured the wine into the pot.

Family in Cegled take out the stones for palinka. I remove stones on peach and apricot but not plums.

Hermanji, we will have many things to talk about with palinka!

Maybe when I visit next I will give some to you.
Egészségedre
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

My good neighbor came through with about another 150lbs of plums :D
plum1.JPG
De stoned them
plum2.JPG
And combined with the other already fermenting plums, depending on how high the cap raises I might have to transfer it into a larger brute.

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OVZ
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by OtisT »

Looking good OVZ. :-)

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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by cranky »

Nice :thumbup:

I managed to pick some plums from my son's tree the other day. I got a 5 gallon bucket full after pitting, they are doing a natural ferment because I don't have any yeast :roll: I have various small containers of fruit juice and have been debating adding them in for a mixed fruit brandy, or maybe trying to find the time to pick more plums.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

OtisT wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 3:42 pm Looking good OVZ. :-)

Otis
Well my first plum is resting in one of your Bad Mo Barrel, might have to get a couple more for this batch.

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OVZ
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

cranky wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 6:08 pm Nice :thumbup:
they are doing a natural ferment because I don't have any yeast :roll:
Hey cranky if you need some I have a large bag of EC1118 yeast can send some your way

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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Hermanji »

cranky wrote:Nice :thumbup:

I managed to pick some plums from my son's tree the other day. I got a 5 gallon bucket full after pitting, they are doing a natural ferment because I don't have any yeast :roll: I have various small containers of fruit juice and have been debating adding them in for a mixed fruit brandy, or maybe trying to find the time to pick more plums.
Nice one, keep it natural I say. No added yeast or juice. Stir daily until the cap is broken up and ‘dissolved’ and it will reform - stops keeps the fruit from drying out, helps to extract the sugars from the flesh and reduces infections.

My product this year is all hearts (with a little smearing from the pot still) and it tastes as good as any Pálinka I ever tried. [emoji2]
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

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The great thing about natural yeast is if it seems not so good you can always pitch a most robust strain at any time.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by cranky »

I'm not a big fan of natural yeast. My thinking is that unless the plums come from a large well established orchard or wild plum thicket and the yeast have had time to adapt to that specific fruit it's a crap shoot. I much prefer having control over the yeast when possible but time has not been my friend this year so wild yeast is what I currently have.

I will probably order some on Amazon in the next couple days so I can get ready for the late season apples.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by stillanoob »

I've tried three natural ferments in my life. The first turned out great and I thought "this is awesome!". The next two turned out like crap. Nowadays I just don't want to risk all the hard work that takes and want a consistent result. So pitching yeast it is for me.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

cranky wrote: Tue Sep 08, 2020 1:16 pm I'm not a big fan of natural yeast. My thinking is that unless the plums come from a large well established orchard or wild plum thicket and the yeast have had time to adapt to that specific fruit it's a crap shoot. I
I totally agree that it can be a crap shoot and also unless you are working with the same orchard year after year and have tested the natural yeast there is no repeatability year after year. I prefer to control what yeast gets to live happily in my ferments, the key words are a happy ferment, if your ferment goes to shit well you are going to produce shit.

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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Hermanji »

Oldvine Zin wrote:
cranky wrote: Tue Sep 08, 2020 1:16 pm I'm not a big fan of natural yeast. My thinking is that unless the plums come from a large well established orchard or wild plum thicket and the yeast have had time to adapt to that specific fruit it's a crap shoot. I
I totally agree that it can be a crap shoot and also unless you are working with the same orchard year after year and have tested the natural yeast there is no repeatability year after year. I prefer to control what yeast gets to live happily in my ferments, the key words are a happy ferment, if your ferment goes to shit well you are going to produce shit.

Stay safe
OVZ
That’s interesting to hear. Perhaps I’ve been lucky. I hope to stay lucky!
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by thecroweater »

The strains I normally get hear produce some really wonderful flavours but tend to work very slowly. I do always add some water as I think without it you are setting yourself up for trouble with regard to plums, it's just way too thick to ferment or strain. I have only had one or two ferments stall or slow down enough to virtually stall and so I added a neutral or white wine type yeast to finish it with no problems. If I am using particularly sour plums then I will be adding sugar accordingly to maintain a respectable yield and if that is more than a bit then a more robust yeast might be required.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Bushman »

Just picked a bunch of plums today now I have to fight my wife for them.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

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thecroweater wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:02 pm The strains I normally get hear produce some really wonderful flavours but tend to work very slowly. I do always add some water as I think without it you are setting yourself up for trouble with regard to plums, it's just way too thick to ferment or strain. I have only had one or two ferments stall or slow down enough to virtually stall and so I added a neutral or white wine type yeast to finish it with no problems. If I am using particularly sour plums then I will be adding sugar accordingly to maintain a respectable yield and if that is more than a bit then a more robust yeast might be required.
So for the plums that I received they were between 17 to 26 brix and the average was was 20 ish. so no water added just using the natural sugars and breaking down great without added water, Just two punch downs a day I think is the way to go

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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Hermanji »

Bushman wrote:Just picked a bunch of plums today now I have to fight my wife for them.
I hear you bro [emoji13]. I use Italian plums from my allotment. They have deep blue/purple skins and bright green/yellow flesh and they are super sweet. They taste amazing fresh off the tree so I always have to compromise with the family.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

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Bushman wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 5:18 pm Just picked a bunch of plums today now I have to fight my wife for them.
That's awesome Bushman :thumbup:
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

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Bushman wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 5:18 pm Just picked a bunch of plums today now I have to fight my wife for them.
We know who is going to win this one. Nice knowing you Bushman. (Insert smile face with black eyes here). Otis
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by thecroweater »

I lost my main plum tree due to neighbours wanting a higher steel fence. It was a large tree planted in the 1800s so if not happy with the loss but it was a stewing or canning variety, great yielder but a bit sour to eat too many fresh. I will plant something else but it may be awhile before I get a good yeild, my other neighbour may let me have quite a few of her blood plums as she normally wants a bucket or so and tells me to take the rest. What varieties do you blokes think would be a good one to look out for?
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

jonnys_spirit wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:52 am What's the difference between fermenting on the stones or not? Some bitterness or a certain flavor?

Thanks,
jonny
So my unscientific thinking and calling it that, stones = wood, wood = wood alcohol, wood alcohol = methanol. maybe my thinking is way off base but for me it's so easy to remove the stones and is my preferred method. Also maybe the stones add some bitterness, i can't say because I remove them

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OVZ
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

Our brandy fermented on the stones and it tasted okay. We plan to distill out a second time next week. We have been far too busy.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

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thecroweater wrote: Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:43 pm What varieties do you blokes think would be a good one to look out for?
A variety of Prune called Splendour a cross between a French and Hungarian prune.
Eats well fresh and can be dried as a prune is a freestone variety and has a sugar content of 11%.
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