Making Brandy out of bad red wine

[Karmic]

Hi, I got a few cases of Shiraz Cabernet which is not that flash and I was thinking about making Brandy out of bad red wine. I got the wine as part payment on a job. I was thinking maybe add some sugar and yeast and ferment it. but it's only an idea. any help would be greatly apprecipated. . I seen a old french chap make some years ago , I was to busy drink it, to learn how to make it. thanks Mic

[Usge]

If you have bottles of wine, it's already fermented. All you need to do is run it off. Those types of wine are usually fairly high in abv (like 13% or so). Do a spirit run on it. Make a fairly wide cut. Then, age it on heavy char oak give it a good airing once and a while. It wont' take more than 4-6 weeks before it smells like candy. I've made some decent brandy before from corked/bad wine.

[Karmic]

Thanks Usge,

can I do it in a reflux still or do I have to use a pot still ?? the wines abv is 13.5% . you have said to "Make a fairly wide cut." would this be the temp range?? like start collecting at 73C to to say 82C ?? would I or could I age it in a demejoun with heavy char oak chips in it?? I got some old char French Oak chip from a brandy barrels would they be ok ?? again thank you. Mic

If you have bottles of wine, it's already fermented. All you need to do is run it off. Those types of wine are usually fairly high in abv (like 13% or so). Do a spirit run on it. Make a fairly wide cut. Then, age it on heavy char oak give it a good airing once and a while. It wont' take more than 4-6 weeks before it smells like candy. I've made some decent brandy before from corked/bad wine.

[Usge]

I used a potstill, straight up, and run it at a stream....not drips. This will blend the flavors better. As far as the cut...I just knocked the worst of the top and bottom off and kept the rest. If you are using a reflux still...run it with no reflux, straight through. If it's packed already don't worry about it. If it's not packed..leave it unpacked. Once it gets going...turn the heat up till the output breaks into a small stream. Just leave it there. Collect everything. Toss the nastiest of the front and back and leave the rest. Oak it good on some decent cubes/sticks. I use medium/heavy toast american oak cubes from morebeer.com. They produced good results.

boda...if you run it straightup at a fairly good clip...it will blend it out and smooth out those rough edged heads somewhat. The oak takes care of the rest. And it usually doesn't come off that high proof, which helps some with burn/sharpness/ etc..that you might get from heads. I've never really noticed a problem with them.

[Karmic]

Thanks Usge,

So run it hot enough to steam? Yes , toss the first 50mls and the last 50mls yes ?? . Mic

I used a potstill, straight up, and run it at a stream....not drips. This will blend the flavors better. As far as the cut...I just knocked the worst of the top and bottom off and kept the rest. If you are using a reflux still...run it with no reflux, straight through. If it's packed already don't worry about it. If it's not packed..leave it unpacked. Once it gets going...turn the heat up till the output breaks into a small stream. Just leave it there. Collect everything. Toss the nastiest of the front and back and leave the rest. Oak it good on some decent cubes/sticks. I use medium/heavy toast american oak cubes from morebeer.com. They produced good results.

boda...if you run it straightup at a fairly good clip...it will blend it out and smooth out those rough edged heads somewhat. The oak takes care of the rest. And it usually doesn't come off that high proof, which helps some with burn/sharpness/ etc..that you might get from heads. I've never really noticed a problem with them.

[Usge]

Karmic,
When your still finally comes up to temp/boil, it will start dripping distillate, then dribble, and then it will break into a "stReam" (Not steam). NEVER let vapor escape. Make sure everything is being condensed. Once it comes into a stream..adjust the heat back until it dribbles..and then up till it breaks into a stream again. Then, leave the heat there and let it run. You toss 200 to 250ml of fores for every 5 gallons as a given. Not 50ml. And that's just the fores. From there, I clip the "heads" and tails. A wide cut would be keeping anywhere from 1/2 to 5/8 of what you collect after fores.

[Karmic]

Thanks Usge,

I think I'm get it, ok so I toss 200 to 250ml of fores for every 5 gallons (19 Litres) as a given, yes I got so from first dribbles I toss say 250ml. then I get the next 18.5 litres (4.8 gallons) and toss the rest, Yes , and Keep the temp above 72 degree Celsius = 161.6 degree Fahrenheit but below 83 degree Celsius (= 181.4 degree Fahrenheit ) yes or no? ? again thank you. I know I'm a bit slow . Mic

Karmic,
When your still finally comes up to temp/boil, it will start dripping distillate, then dribble, and then it will break into a "stReam" (Not steam). NEVER let vapor escape. Make sure everything is being condensed. Once it comes into a stream..adjust the heat back until it dribbles..and then up till it breaks into a stream again. Then, leave the heat there and let it run. You toss 200 to 250ml of fores for every 5 gallons as a given. Not 50ml. And that's just the fores. From there, I clip the "heads" and tails. A wide cut would be keeping anywhere from 1/2 to 5/8 of what you collect after fores.

[Usge]

mic,
You might want to take some more time to read up on the basics of distillation. I know it's slow reading...but it will really help.

You can't "hold" or control the temp on a potstill. The temp is based on the boiling point of the mixture in the pot which is constantly changing as the alc is extracted. Ethanol is never extracted cleanly (at it's boiling point) on a potstill. It is a compound/mixture with water that boils at a temp somewhere between ethanol and water. So, as the run starts...this is your "highest" purity of alc...but also your highest contamination of impurities that have lower boiling points than ethanol (like acetone, methanol, etc). If anything..your nose will warn you off it (fingernail polish). This of course is your fores. But, these continue to compound and smear...up and till the boiling point gets out of it's range and they fade out. This is heads. As you might suspect at this point...it means that the ethanol concentration (abv) starts at it's highest point...and falls throughout the run as the temp approaches boiling water. The flavor also changes through this. There are also higher boiling point impurities that compound with ethanol and water. These come out in the later part of the run...and are called "tails". They are nasty in their own particular way...smelling like dirty socks and have a base/bitter/oily character. You don't want those either. So, what you are cutting is the front of the run where the heads are strongest, and the later part of the run where the tails are nasty. And what you keep in between is called the "hearts" of the run.

You could of course just collect what you want to keep in "one" jar...pulling it away for the cuts. But, if you screw that up...you'll have contaminated your entire lot in one shot! Best to use smaller lots to collect in so you can take your time picking what goes together.

Now..as to the cut itself. At the top of the run that fingernail polish smell and chemical taste will fade. Somewhere after it starts fading out is where you want to cut. Do this by taste. When it tastes ok to you. The run will continually change and the taste/flavor will change as it goes. Right in the middle (ie., if you have 12 equal jars...the 6th jar) the flavor profile will change. This flavor will fade "in" and grow stronger until it becomes nasty and oily. It then becomes very watery. This is the tails side. Somewhere while the flavor is still good, but before it gets oily or base tasting..you make your cut. Where this happens again..is entirely subjective based on taste. If it tastes good to you...use it...realizing it will be blended with the other parts you've kept.

You want a nice range of flavors for a brandy. When it's all said and done...at the very least...your hearts should equal the heads/tails combined. So, if you have 6 jars of hearts...you should have roughly 3 jars of heads and 3 jars of tails left (for a 50% cut). This assumes you are running your potstill all the way till it reaches or nearly reaches the boiling point of water and extracting most of the alc. If you stop early...without having extracted all the tails, etc..it could throw these calcs off. You want to save those heads/tails jars in a jug as "brandy feints". These can be added to your "next" wine run (add it to the pot with the wine then distill it). It will add flavor and depth as well as boosting the alc a bit.

Most likely you will end up with somewhat more than that as your hearts, and the number of heads/tails jars may be disparate by a jar or two (ie., not equal) depending upon your taste and where you slide that cut in the middle. But, that should get you started thinking about it. These are all basic concepts here at homedistiller.org. (ie, cuts, etc). We always encourage people to read/study before taking first steps so that they have some idea of what to expect, so they can be safe, and to make their experiences more meaningful. Please make sure you are comfortable with what you are doing and understand the basics before proceeding. Study and ask questions. Above all, be safe.