Apple Brandy Cuts Question

[Kelbor]

Hi Ya'll,
So, I've amassed around 10 gallons of apple lows and it is now time to throw them all together for a likker run. Regular ol' howdy duty pot still is what Im running.

I've been all over the net/sites and have read a number of different ways people are making their cuts with apple brandy. The consensus swings from " a very tight cut" to "throw everything in an aging barrel after a healthy feints cuts and let time mellow it out". Im a bit uncertain of which way to go...

I've noticed the "apple bomb" there early in the run, shortly after the initial heads drip out (during the stripping runs that is) and would sure like to utilize these flavors but I dont want to make a "headache bomb" or a "too hot" finished product - spent way too much time collecting roadside apples/crushing/fermenting/stripping etc.

So the question for you more experienced apple brandy folks is "Where and how are you making your cuts? " I do plan to age for a while on toasted oak in glass jars (which will give me time for flavor development and color but not much breathing action). I guess the question is 'how wide of a heart cut are you keeping....'

Thanks in advance!

[Braz]

I make no claim to having THE answer, but my general target for apple brandy is to cut the first 20% as heads and the last 15% as tails. But I am not weded to those numbers and will adjust according to taste.

[MDH]

Depends on what kind of apples. Crabapples for me means tighter cuts. Honeycrisp and Fuji I have made wide cuts, usually about 60% of the spirit with a slight heads bias. If you use a low fermentation temperature, wild yeast and a good high pitch rate then you shouldn't have to worry too much about headache-material.

[rad14701]

My best advice would be to collect in many small jars and then blend using smell, taste, and feel, after airing for 24 - 48 hours... At least a couple dozen jars for a 10 gallon boiler charge... I use 12 - 18 4oz jars for less than 4 gallons... Attempting to make precise cuts on the fly, which will change after airing, is akin to an act of futility...

[Kelbor]

Wild apples for the most part but I aim for the sweeter tasting ones during my forays down the back highways. I pitched D-47 but also did not kill the wild yeast (survival of the fittest! Ha).

Braz and Rad- I will be collecting in small jars like normal - I was thinking quart but sounds like pints may be more precise. Thanks for the loose cut pointers...

MDH - How do you go about getting a high pitch rate with wild yeast? Are you propagating them somehow to increase the population? (ps. I owe you a huge thanks... that peach brandy was saved by heavy additions of that smurf blood you instructed me to make - ended running it through three times though as it would not smell until it was distilled. Not as much taste as I had hoped but still peachy. It has aired for a bit in pint jars (16 of them) but have not made cuts yet - damn cold/stuffed sinus)