Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Discussions of fruits, veggies and grains other then just mashing

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cranky
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Post by cranky »

Copperhead road wrote:Thanks Cranky, that’s pretty much my thoughts exactly.......
(but I want to run that past a very experienced brandy Distiller such as yourself)
Your welcome
Copperhead road wrote:I have an all copper 4” CCSC 5 plate modular flute with all the bells n whistles, extended Lynne arm blar blar blar..... but I can never seem to get the same flavours from fresh fruit pulp washes as I can with my trusty old plain Jane potstill, period.
Like I said the really hard core flute people hate my opinions, so much so I have stopped posting on most flute related threads. One thing I can say about it is that a while back I sent MCH some samples and went ahead and sent a bottle of "Unicorn Sweat" that was a grain based wash that I felt had come off the flute with plenty of flavor but MCH asked me if it was an oaked neutral because to him it was quite light on flavor. I think this is because he has largely mastered the pot still. Even running the flute with no reflux strips flavor due to passive reflux so I just feel it just makes a better final product to run fruit through a pot still.
CatCrap wrote:Cranky, the guys who try to use fruit as an adjunct and a ton of sugar... two thoughts on that...


1st, there probably are just a few VERY strong flavored fruits that would be effective in that method. And perhaps they think that fruit can be used like adjuncts in other recipes, like with grains or rums etc. Like how a pretty small amount of molasses can have a big impact in rum flavor. Or a small portion of smoked malt can affect a mash bill. OR how about the Honey Bear Bourbon Recipe? I haven't tried it myself yet, but i'm always surprised by that one, because it seems like the HOney malt is used in such a tiny proportion of the grain bill, how can it have such a big impact on flavor? But, no one seems to complain about that recipe. So i guess my point is just that some folks perhaps are making the mistaken assumption that light flavored fruits, like apple or pear, will have a very intense effect on their spirit. Sorry i can't seem to think of any better examples, fruit or otherwise, of adjuncts/fermentables that a small portion of the total fermentables will have a big big impact.

Second, it's a lot of work, and can be a very big expense, to do an all fruit or almost all fruit brandy. Many fruits take a lot of processing and can be prohibitively expensive. Like for example how we discussed a Raspberry Eau or Brandy, and that it would take hundreds of pounds or hundreds of dollars worth (if bought) of Raspberries to get enough to do even a small size ferment. And, hey even if you did 2 5 G ferments then a spirit run, or a 1.5X... you're not going to yield much spirit.

I think we on HD correctly try to push newer folks to get over the very-small still/ferment size. Makes your work more efficient and cuts much much more manageable. No offense to big bob... but, when i see folks going into this with a 5 Liter still.. i almost see it as a waste of time, or that they would have more success and enjoy the hobby more, and have an easier time learning, if they just try to get to a certain minimum size of equipment. I think there's just a threshold to hit to make all things work out better.

For me, i have an 8 gallon kettle. That means 6-7 MAX fill. So, my 25Liter fermenters are just about the perfect size for a run, when you account for what is lost to trub, or to grains or fruit pulp. So, when these guys are talking about getting into fruit, they're sort of trying to make it worth their time, in a way. Like how when someone is just learning about All Grain, and they're told by some of the AG gurus here, that an AG in the 5-8% PA range is just right.. don't push for more. So, a lot of people getting into this have been misinformed by Turbo yeasts and chasing ridiculous high ABV washes. I'm trying to remember the exact post the other day i read.. but the New member here (it was a very old post) said "So, i'm working on my neutral wash and it will ONLY(emphasis mine) be a 15% Abv wash."
I thought... ONLY!? LOL...
Anyways, hope ya get my drift.. that while it is reasonable to try to do things in an efficient way to maximize your resources and equipment, and make it worth your time and effort, it is a fine line to be crossed. To always keep in mind our number one goal here on hd is (besides safety!) Quality OVER Quantity. And that's where the sugar fruit conundrum comes into play. FWIW, in my limited experience, i think it can be ok on strong flavored fruits to boost ABV with a small percentage of sugar. And it sounds like on APple, pear, or other light flavored fruit, if at all possible, go for only natural fruit sugar, but if you absolutely must, a small percentage of the fermentable sugar can be table sugar. But if the majority by far is NOT coming from the fruit, well don't even bother. Just make neutral or macerate, or save your fruit until you have enough, or make smaller batches. This is basically how i have understood what Cranky has said about this topic, many times. Again, as far as i have understood it. At least that is how i have interpreted your posts Cranky. Don't want to be putting words in your mouth, no offense intended. That it isn't a travesty or tragedy to boost your abv with sugar.. but make sure that A it is only a boost, and B you really must use sugar. Better to stick to 100% fruity goodness whenever possible.
That pretty much sums it up.
CatCrap wrote:So, i want to do a cherry brandy. I have access to Dried cherries at a very very reduced rate. They're normally 7.50/#, i can get for much less. But, like i said they are dried cherries. They are quite sweet, so i think a ferment using only their natural sugar is feasible. But, the fact they are dry, i believe would require an extra step or steps to the ferment. Like to rehydrate them basically. I could pour boiling H20 on them and let it sit for a day to plump them up and rehydrate.. but i'm just not exactly sure what my method should be. If anyone here has any suggestions, i'd love to hear.. What would be my best strategy for using Dried fruit to make a brandy or Eau? They work really well for maceration... but that is a Vodka-Cherry infusion. Not a brandy. I want the flavor to come from fermented fruit sugar, not to be added later.
Once back when I was making mostly wine, I got my hands on a bunch of dried cranberries. If I recall correctly I ground them with my meat grinder before re-hydrating them, then fermented, then pressed. I think that's probably how I would go about dried cherries, or any other dried fruit.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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[quote] I sent MCH some samples and went ahead and sent a bottle of "Unicorn Sweat" that was a grain based wash that I felt had come off the flute with plenty of flavor but MCH asked me if it was an oaked neutral because to him it was quite light on flavor. I think this is because he has largely mastered the pot still. Even running the flute with no reflux strips flavor due to passive reflux so I just feel it just makes a better final product to run fruit through a pot still. /quote]

This sounds extremely similar to what happened to me on my distilling journey, Browns & brandy are my thing and I learnt on a potstill. After I got my flute I rang Emptyglass several times saying my whiskey and Brandy’s are like comparing light beer to full strength or diet cordial to standard cordial. (There just some examples I can think of so you get my picture)
At first I thought it might be because I was a learner driver on a flute . EG runs brandy through a column and says they are a “brandy still with benefits”......, no matter what I do with my flute or how fast I run it I can never ever achieve that full bodied flavour that comes so easily with the old potty......

Actually the last UJ run I did I pulled every single plate out of my column removed the RC and ran it like a giant glorified potstill.....
I know the bubbler boys will rag me for do that :lolno: and Tater will get a giggle lol
Anyways back on track with that fruity tootie goodness......
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Yesterday I noticed my apple trees are finally starting to bloom :clap: All the early apples around the neighborhood are now in full bloom and look like it could be a good year for them. The 2 year old KD graft looks like it might actually produce this year, I'm really hoping it will, it's now strong enough that it can actually bear the weight so if it does produce I will let it and make sure I didn't get my grafts mixed up.

In other fruity goodness news, my wife made the mistake of letting me go to Lowe's by myself yesterday :roll: You would think by now she would know better. I didn't buy any more trees but I did buy 3 tomato plants and looked at a drip irrigation system, they have one for $40 that looks like it could easily handle my fruit trees, tomato plants and green beans, so I'm thinking about going back and buying it so I can secretly grow tomatoes and green beans. She says I can't have a garden again this year because I spend too much time on it and we need to finish working on the house, but she loves San Marsano tomatoes and she is feeling well enough I know she would be willing to go pick them and take care of them once she finds out about them. I have to water the fruit trees throughout the summer anyway so it's not really any extra time to water the tomatoes and it won't take any time if I get that drip system.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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What the fug is your signature about??


Hmm.. interesting fellas... because i rarely hear folks go against the holy grail of distilling - the flute. It always sounds too good to be true... the all-in-one "it can do anything" still. Uber fast high abv with loads of flavor. I"m not calling anyone a liar or saying anyone hasn't been truthful. But, it sounds like one of those things that one has to see for themself. I don't know how a flute produces, because i don't have a flute. The only way for me to find out is to build or buy one.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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CatCrap wrote:What the fug is your signature about??


Hmm.. interesting fellas... because i rarely hear folks go against the holy grail of distilling - the flute. It always sounds too good to be true... the all-in-one "it can do anything" still. Uber fast high abv with loads of flavor. I"m not calling anyone a liar or saying anyone hasn't been truthful. But, it sounds like one of those things that one has to see for themself. I don't know how a flute produces, because i don't have a flute. The only way for me to find out is to build or buy one.
I don't really want to get into a huge discussion about it but the way I see it largely anybody with a dissenting voice about flutes is fairly quickly shouted down by those who love them or make them. Like I said, I made one and I like it, I ran it exclusively for a year, first with 4 plates then 3. I feel it's great for some things, not so good for others. It does produce high ABV at a similar rate to what I collect at in a spirit run but the flavors that come off are much lighter that I get with my pot setup and I like my brandy to be as fruit forward as I can get it.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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CatCrap wrote:What the fug is your signature about??
I recently had 3 x 115L barrels custom made for whiskey and 1 x 60L barrel custom made for brandy, the signature was just something funny I started a thread with elsewhere on handy tips for barrel virgins who have bought one for the first time
Just my sense of humour catcrap, makes a place less Mundane at times.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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cranky wrote:
CatCrap wrote:What the fug is your signature about??


Hmm.. interesting fellas... because i rarely hear folks go against the holy grail of distilling - the flute. It always sounds too good to be true... the all-in-one "it can do anything" still. Uber fast high abv with loads of flavor. I"m not calling anyone a liar or saying anyone hasn't been truthful. But, it sounds like one of those things that one has to see for themself. I don't know how a flute produces, because i don't have a flute. The only way for me to find out is to build or buy one.
I don't really want to get into a huge discussion about it but the way I see it largely anybody with a dissenting voice about flutes is fairly quickly shouted down by those who love them or make them. Like I said, I made one and I like it, I ran it exclusively for a year, first with 4 plates then 3. I feel it's great for some things, not so good for others. It does produce high ABV at a similar rate to what I collect at in a spirit run but the flavors that come off are much lighter that I get with my pot setup and I like my brandy to be as fruit forward as I can get it.
extremely well said, good post in my book and I own and run both a flute and a potstill
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Cranky. Absolutely understood. We will leave it at that, and not push this topic further.


CHR - LOL!! I didnt mean that i took any offense.. i just couldn't figure out what the heck you were referring to. Well.. the OTHER thing you were referring to. A barrel! Makes perfect sense. I'm about to break my Barrel cherry shortly here too... What post are you referring to? I'm thinking i'll go with a Gibbs 5 Gal. THey just sound really solid made barrels, and a stand up company. Maybe a used balcones one too soon enough.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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CatCrap wrote:Cranky. Absolutely understood. We will leave it at that, and not push this topic further.


CHR - LOL!! I didnt mean that i took any offense.. i just couldn't figure out what the heck you were referring to. Well.. the OTHER thing you were referring to. A barrel! Makes perfect sense. I'm about to break my Barrel cherry shortly here too... What post are you referring to? I'm thinking i'll go with a Gibbs 5 Gal. THey just sound really solid made barrels, and a stand up company. Maybe a used balcones one too soon enough.
I sent you PM, didn’t want to post link to my other forum here and ruffle any feathers...... :D
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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I'm kind of bummed right now :(

I was out checking on fruit, part of which is checking the grafts and discovers my first failure. The one graft I did to the Hazen failed miserably. When I checked it the feeder branch had begun to shrivel up and started to peal. I know from past experience when this happens I need to prune the entire branch off or it will damage the main trunk. So I grabbed my clippers and clipped it. The Hazen has been resistant to grafts in the past, I have 2 successful grafts on it from last year and I don't think I will be trying to do any more on this tree. The Hazen is actually a very nice dessert apple in it's own right and they tend to be prolific producers so I'm OK with them.

The good news is the grafts that worked out last year are now beginning to flower so hopefully I will actually get some apples off my trees this year. The blueberries are just starting to flower too, they had me a little worried since I transplanted them last year but they look like they should do fine.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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I started stripping this 200L peach fermenter today and just as bummed with the results...

Firstly I assume it’s finished fermenting because it was dry n bitter not sweet at all and activity stopped weeks ago. I managed to strain enough juice from the pulp and got a hydrometer reading of 1014 not 990
The cap had not dropped but maybe it doesn’t when the majority is pulp, remember I only added 20L of water to the whole fermenter. (I should have checked the brix with a refractometer)

remember I did not add sugar to this brandy

now here’s the weird part...
On a 45L boiler charge it’s started out coming off at 47% and I stripped down to 15%, I was left with 5L of low wines @ 30%

I would normally start collecting @ 60% and end up with 10 to 12L of low wines @ 50% at least....on a full boiler charge.


How does all this sound????? I have not loaded the boiler for another stripping run till I work out what’s wrong. :confusion-scratchheadyellow:
(If I continued stripping I would only end up with 20L of low wines @ 30% roughly, which is nothing really considering its a 200+ Litre pulp ferment)

I have considered splitting fermenter in 2 and adding more water and pitch yeast again but I have never managed to re-start something again that was lower than 1015....


Thoughts....
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Copperhead road wrote:I started stripping this 200L peach fermenter today and just as bummed with the results...

Firstly I assume it’s finished fermenting because it was dry n bitter not sweet at all and activity stopped weeks ago. I managed to strain enough juice from the pulp and got a hydrometer reading of 1014 not 990
The cap had not dropped but maybe it doesn’t when the majority is pulp, remember I only added 20L of water to the whole fermenter. (I should have checked the brix with a refractometer)

remember I did not add sugar to this brandy

now here’s the weird part...
On a 45L boiler charge it’s started out coming off at 47% and I stripped down to 15%, I was left with 5L of low wines @ 30%

I would normally start collecting @ 60% and end up with 10 to 12L of low wines @ 50% at least....on a full boiler charge.


How does all this sound????? I have not loaded the boiler for another stripping run till I work out what’s wrong. :confusion-scratchheadyellow:
(If I continued stripping I would only end up with 20L of low wines @ 30% roughly, which is nothing really considering its a 200+ Litre pulp ferment)

I have considered splitting fermenter in 2 and adding more water and pitch yeast again but I have never managed to re-start something again that was lower than 1015....


Thoughts....
I'm trying to think through the math on that, I'm pretty guilty of not doing much math on my runs but I'm trying but maybe others have better ideas.

I don't know if you mentioned a starting gravity but the math I'm doing says if your starting gravity was around 1.045 that is about the amount you would get finishing at around 1.015, (around 4%) where if it finished at 1.00 it would be around 6% which is where I would have expected it to be. Cutting the ferment with 10% water of course would have brought the S.G. down by 10% which may be a small part of that as well. Was the yeast 1118? if so I wouldn't think you can get it restarted, if you used another yeast 1118 is about the only thing that might do it.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Yes cranky I used ec1118 wine yeast. Despite the peaches being plump, very ripe and tasting very sweet I am Starting to think they had fark all natural sugars in them.
Not sure whether to repitch ec1118 or just cut my losses and continue stripping.

this has been a whole lot of work for a very small return, pretty disappointing....thankfully the peaches were FREE
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Sometimes you just get less than you think you are going to. I've had that happen with certain apples and had to go back and do the math and usually find it works out. I don't know why 1118 would have stalled that high but I find most fruit runs right at 6% maybe 7 which is right around 1.045-1.050 which is right around where I think your peaches probably were.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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On the positive side I bet it's going to be very flavorful brandy.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Sigh... isn't that so frustrating when a ferment doesn't complete? Really grinds my gears. Like.. it's come this far.. can't it just go the distance and finish up? Argh..

I don't know man, that's a tough call. If i were you, i'd try to restart it and finish it off. Get a healthy heavy pitch starter of EC going, do a small yeast bomb of nutrients, maybe check PH and if you feel it's a little low add some PH up of your choice, add all that to the fermenter, aerate the living shit out of it, perhaps add some heat to the fermenter if you're able to, and cap it off. Some warmth may help the process along, or be all it needed. You've got nothing to lose, right? If it doesn't restart, then you'll run it any way. If it starts back up, hopefully it will finish off and get down a bit closer to one. You could get another 1, maybe 2% ABV out of it. And in this case, 1% is a 20% increase, based roughly on Cranky's rough estimation math. I'm not sure if you want to go to that trouble... but, like you said, it was an awful lot of work to go through to do this fruit wash... maybe just a little more work and you can get closer to the result you hoped for.

THe perils of fruit, huh! Hey man.. i still pat you on the back for going NO SUGAR. And cranky sir that is some motherfucking gospel right there. You may not get a lot out of this.. but it WILL be damn good. Of this i'm sure.

Also.. maybe strip a little further than you usually do? I'm finding when i do my all grain stripping i take it down a little farther. I"m' like... i put so much work into this, i'm going to get as much yield as i can, and there can be some good flavors in those deep deep tails down there. Also.. in that case, i may have to Dilute my LW anyway for the spirit run to be at the ABV i want for the spirit run. Better to dilute with distilled AG water with some flavor, than with plain old water.

If you really want to go nuts.. you could add some peach juice or nectar or something to the ferment when you try to restart.. but.. that could just be futile or complicating the matter further ... =/
Sorry to hear it.
Also sorry to hear about your graft cranky... i guess ya win some n ya lose some. But you live n you live to fight another day!!!!!
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Thanx CatCrap & Cranky....
I have taken the advice and decided to add 20L of water and prepare a ec1118 yeast bomb starter to the fermenter, will whack a heater belt around it set at 30 degrees. Then give the load a dam good blitzing with Bosch mixing drill on high speed and get the air in there.
Fingers crossed, got nothing to lose......
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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well I did not expect this!!!! :shock:
I put my ear to the fermenter this morning and there is definitely activity.....
I am thinking now that maybe natural sugars can be harder to detect because this did not taste sweet at all, yet it’s starting to work off again. :crazy:
I suspect it may have been a stall due to cold weather that starting in the wee hours of late. Maybe the heater belt has helped as I have never restarted something before that was below 1015.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Copperhead road wrote:well I did not expect this!!!! :shock:
I put my ear to the fermenter this morning and there is definitely activity.....
I am thinking now that maybe natural sugars can be harder to detect because this did not taste sweet at all, yet it’s starting to work off again. :crazy:
I suspect it may have been a stall due to cold weather that starting in the wee hours of late. Maybe the heater belt has helped as I have never restarted something before that was below 1015.
I'm glad it's working again :thumbup:
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Today I finally finished taking out the the huge lemon juniper in my front yard that we have always referred to as Cousin It. Man that thing was a pain to get out. I started with clippers and removed what I could, then graduated to my battery powered reciprocating saw, which got it down to a stump about 2 feet tall and 8" by 16" wide. That's when the reciprocating saw just couldn't handle it. So the next step was to try to get my chainsaw running. That didn't go well. I could only get it to run for a few seconds at a time and eventually the pull cord broke :( So today I borrowed a chainsaw from one of the guys I work with and after much effort and sharpening the blade twice, I managed to remove the final stump. The center of that bush was like cutting through a rock but it's done now :ebiggrin:

You might be wondering how this fits into the category of fruity goodness. Well it's because of my pear trees. You see my pear trees get orange spots on the leaves, which is a fungus that lived on pear trees in the summer and junipers in the winter. It's not that hard to deal with you just have to look for the spots and pick any infected leaves off before they infect other leaves but a better method is to remove the junipers that are harboring the fungus in the winter. So Cousin It had to go, not I just need to get rid of this big pile of branches, I'm thinking a nice bonfire :D
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Post by raketemensch »

I hear ya, last year was the first time I was going to let my apple trees fruit, and then a cedar fungus just decimated everything. We live in a cedar forest, so it’s kinda inevitable.

I ordered the chemicals I need, and I’m waiting for the first buds to do a round of spraying, then another in the fall.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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raketemensch wrote:I hear ya, last year was the first time I was going to let my apple trees fruit, and then a cedar fungus just decimated everything. We live in a cedar forest, so it’s kinda inevitable.

I ordered the chemicals I need, and I’m waiting for the first buds to do a round of spraying, then another in the fall.
Around here there are so many evergreens of all kinds I don't know for sure Cousin It is the culprit but it is the closest possible one, hopefully I can control the fungus now without having to spray. It really hasn't been that much of a problem as long as I keep an eye on it and pick off the leaves that get it. Fortunately the seckel pear is a fairly small tree and easy to manage.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

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Hey, cranky, Lemon Juniper sounds interesting. Not sure i'm familiar with that tree/shrub/bush. Is it a possible candidate for aging wood? Also did you ever get any juniper berries off of it? I'm not a huge gin guy but since i've started distilling i've wanted to give(making) it a try. On some of the podcasts i listen to the small craft distillers say that big commercial gins like bombay, beefeater etc are big on juniper and can be like sucking on a pine tree, which i totally agree with. But they said that some of the more niche gins are not like that at all. The ultra heavy juniper has always turned me off to gin, but i think i could see myself liking a more balanced one. I know some folks are doing barrel-aged gins also, so what if you tried to make a gin with minimal juniper and used your juniper wood for aging? Just curious if you've messed around with gin, or the thought to use that wood crossed your mind.

Gotta tell ya.. i've got the sickness.. everything i come accross, the question pops in my mind "Can i ferment, infuse, distill, or age with this?" I was taking a good look at the japanese maple in my mom's yard yesterday. But.. it's at least 10 years old and still really small. The only usable wood off of it would have to come from the main trunk.. and moms would not be so happy about that lol. But, yeah i'm all for trying to experiment with some new different types of wood.

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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Post by cranky »

CatCrap wrote:Hey, cranky, Lemon Juniper sounds interesting. Not sure i'm familiar with that tree/shrub/bush. Is it a possible candidate for aging wood? Also did you ever get any juniper berries off of it? I'm not a huge gin guy but since i've started distilling i've wanted to give(making) it a try. On some of the podcasts i listen to the small craft distillers say that big commercial gins like bombay, beefeater etc are big on juniper and can be like sucking on a pine tree, which i totally agree with. But they said that some of the more niche gins are not like that at all. The ultra heavy juniper has always turned me off to gin, but i think i could see myself liking a more balanced one. I know some folks are doing barrel-aged gins also, so what if you tried to make a gin with minimal juniper and used your juniper wood for aging? Just curious if you've messed around with gin, or the thought to use that wood crossed your mind.

Gotta tell ya.. i've got the sickness.. everything i come accross, the question pops in my mind "Can i ferment, infuse, distill, or age with this?" I was taking a good look at the japanese maple in my mom's yard yesterday. But.. it's at least 10 years old and still really small. The only usable wood off of it would have to come from the main trunk.. and moms would not be so happy about that lol. But, yeah i'm all for trying to experiment with some new different types of wood.

CC
Japanese maples grow very slowly, mine was at least 25 years old and only a 2ft section of trunk was usable for sticks. They are very dense too, you have to have a very sharp saw or you burn it while cutting. I think if someone made friends with a tree cutter they might have a chance of eventually getting one that is being removed.

As far as I know lemon junipers don't produce berries :( I've never seen one with berries. If it did I may have kept it. I don't know about using any of it for aging, never thought about that and don't know enough about junipers to know which ones might be problematic. I did read about one guy in Sweden who has barrels made out of Oregon western juniper and that might be an option in a few years but I kind of like my gin straight up. Besides the stump by itself is really cool, it was almost too cool to cut down
STUNP #2 - C.jpg
My plan is to keep it and do something like this
STUNP #3 - C.jpg
and put it in my garden.
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Bushman
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Post by Bushman »

Went out lingcod fishing Monday & Tuesday, stayed on the dock at my friend's place on Stuart Island. The two apple orchards at his place the trees are full of blossoms so have high hopes for a great crop.
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Post by CatCrap »

hahaha, cranky i love it. It's a little gnome house.
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Jimbo
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Post by Jimbo »

Hey Crank, heres a picture Im sure youll appreciate. My apple trees are in full bloom. :D
IMG_20180517_43867.jpg
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Swedish Pride
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Post by Swedish Pride »

that's a lovely pic.
the communal cherry trees bloomed here a few weeks ago, looking pretty much teh same only 30 ft tall
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distiller_dresden
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Post by distiller_dresden »

I can speak to Cranky's speak of Japanese maple being absolutely FABULOUS for aging liquor. It doesn't seem to impart too much wood/oak (duh) flavor, but the sweetness, my GOD it imparts an amazing amount of sweet and the kind of sweet isn't 'maple' or 'sugar'. So far I have only experienced it once and a half, in a whisky/bourbon and starting in my apple brandy, but it seems to meld with whatever you're aging it in. Also, I have a domino that's about a 3/4" thick, 1" wide, and 4-5" long, toasted 375F for 2 hours, and by itself in two 60oz 120 proof ages it has/is releasing sugar. It was in my whisky for 7 days and I had to pull it because it almost got too sweet.

4 days in the brandy now and it's already getting sweet. I'm just really starting an affair with Japanese maple! My only worry is once I run out (only 2 unused dominoes left!!) I fear what I'll be willing to do to get more... I see it already as an absolute necessity for aging my liquors.
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cranky
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Re: Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

Post by cranky »

Jimbo wrote:Hey Crank, heres a picture Im sure youll appreciate. My apple trees are in full bloom. :D
IMG_20180517_43867.jpg
That's a beautiful site Jimbo :clap: If I remember right your trees haven't produced very well the past couple of years. It looks like it's going to be a very good year for fruit here, even though the trees seem to be running a bit latter than usual.
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