Maceration as must?

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savadrava
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Maceration as must?

Post by savadrava »

Hi all,
A while back I made a maceration out of pears and 45%neutral. Came out with a decent flavor but sweet and thick like syrup and I don't particularly want that. So I'm thinking of diluting it way down and pitching yeast like you would in a stuck fermentation. I'd have to add nutrients and balance ph i guess, but I don't see any real problem with the idea? Anybody have any experience/thinking on this? Thank you!
SD
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Demy
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Re: Maceration as must?

Post by Demy »

You could but it is worth re-fermenting if there are really many free zucheri (like a smoothie or very close), otherwise you may think you will think of diluting the product with other neutral alcohol + water while maintaining the alcoholic gradation you prefer. I could recommend refrigerating for 1 week to drop any pear pulp that could give a feeling of "fruit juice". I add another tip: next time try the maceration of the whole fruit (make sure that it has no chemical treatments on the surface), the pulp releases many things that are then difficult to eliminate also that it gives more sweetness. I hope it is of help.
NormandieStill
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Re: Maceration as must?

Post by NormandieStill »

I think if you dilute it down to the point at which you could ferment the remaining sugars you'll have diluted away any flavour from the pears. When you then redistill it you'll basically have vodka.

You could try a geist next time. Make some neutral and redistill it with pears in a gin basket. But I think you may just have to accept that this batch is a sticky liqueur! :wink:
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savadrava
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Re: Maceration as must?

Post by savadrava »

Thanks both of you!
I will think about it a bit more.. It seemed like a good idea at the time--I was making a williams, and someone gave me a bunch of other pears I didn't want at the time and wasn't ready to do anything else with.
Maybe I will just have to start eating more ice cream drizzled with alcy-sugary-pear goo!
I'll update if I do something interesting...
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