Fruit flavoring.

Information about fruit/vegetable type washes.

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
Skynyrd19
Novice
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:45 pm

Fruit flavoring.

Post by Skynyrd19 »

I had a run where I attempted to infuse strawberry flavor in my corn barley mash by putting blended strawberries into the thumper. I got very little strawberry taste and solids in my final product. I think I may have overfilled thumper. How should I infuse a stronger fruit flavor? I was told making a strawberry mash wouldn't bring much strawberry flavor either. Help would be appreciated. Thanks.
User avatar
still_stirrin
Master of Distillation
Posts: 10337
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:01 am
Location: where the buffalo roam, and the deer & antelope play

Re: Fruit flavoring.

Post by still_stirrin »

Skynyrd19 wrote:...How should I infuse a stronger fruit flavor?
Well, you could do a panty dropper. Lots of berry flavor there.
ss
My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
Skynyrd19
Novice
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:45 pm

Re: Fruit flavoring.

Post by Skynyrd19 »

Trying to do things a little differently. I am trying to get that flavor right out of the still. I'm going to try those concentrated flavors for beer and wine.
Shawnr0517
Novice
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2018 1:08 pm

Re: Fruit flavoring.

Post by Shawnr0517 »

yea man forsure! I would say you either ran to hot causing it to puke over or it was just over full....... but if you cant make a mash that includes the fruits usually the thumper is always the way to go!! also try going to the store and getting those frozen juice things and thaw that and add to your thumper as well.
drotto
Novice
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2018 7:20 am
Location: U.S.A

Re: Fruit flavoring.

Post by drotto »

i experimented with strawberries for wine ages ago but the results, to be blunt , s##ked.
i hadn't researched the subject my , first mistake , and did so after the fact.

turns out strawberries are extremely hard to get flavor to show in an alcoholic beverage.
there's just too much water in the fruit when they are raw.

the few recipes i read up on suggested cooking them to condense out the water.
but then the strawberry loses the fresh berry flavor.

i did find a method to extract the berry flavor by steeping them in alcohol the longer they set the more intense the flavor.
it takes months to extract the flavor , making any wine made a two year process before any bottling.
the deal breaker was if you add a high alcohol content flavor to a still wine it becomes a fortified wine.

but you're making spirits which is a different thing.
not sure if this'll work but you might try first extracting the strawberry flavor with neutral spirit.
wait two or three months to get it a strong berry flavor then add the extract to the thumper.
don't use the commercial extract as they use all sorts of cheaters to get intense flavor on the cheap.
if my thinking is right you should get the same intense flavor riding over in the neutral spirit vapor.

another thought use really good berries when they are in season.
there's a zillion types of strawberries, go for local berries known for intense flavoring .
the commercially sold ones are usually a compromise berry , balancing shelf life and ship-ability with flavor.
flavor always loses out in that kind of thinking.

random thoughts that might be helpful
D 8)
morethenaname
Novice
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 10:38 am

Re: Fruit flavoring.

Post by morethenaname »

I am trying same thing with banana. 1St run was a bomb.second run was alot better. I just finished making a copper basket out of 10g wire.its not to pretty for a prototype but i plan on putting about 6 pureed bananas in my thumper then suspend my basket in my still head area just above liquid line it literraly fits perfect in the neck of my copper buddy so every drop of steam should pass thru and around the basket. I dont have a banana mash kicking right now but i do have a 1st run sour mash that should be ready this weekend and i am gona test run it on that just to see if it works. Kinda like a gin basket but i couldnt find a gin basket so i had to mcgyver my own lol
Shine0n
Distiller
Posts: 2488
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:00 am
Location: Eastern Virginia

Re: Fruit flavoring.

Post by Shine0n »

2016 I did a strawberry wash, at first it seemed like a lost cause so I made panty dropper with all but a pint of it... 1.5 years later it was like fresh cut strawberries and crystal clear and smooth at 60%

I only wish I would've had more patience with the lot. Hind sight is 20/20 and I was told to WAIT but hey what did I know... Shit!!!

Thing is is that you can always rerun something to your likings, you can't put a time frame on what will come.
Post Reply