First apple brandy run - the French method

[stillanoob]

Howdy All,

We just ran our first batch of apple brandy. We had about 12 gallons of 10% ABV cider that had been fortified with honey to reach that. Since the boiler fits about 10 gallons maximum I decided to use 5 gallons of ~ 5% drinking cider to add to the two leftover gallons of 10% for a second strip run.

We had the incredible good fortune to have a master distiller present for both the stripping and spirit runs. My still partner was an acquaintance of his and last year when we started the still project we reached out to him. He had us over to his place to help with a bottling run and to taste his apple brandy, which is absolutely incredible. For obvious legal reasons I can't involve him in any of the shenanigans we get up to here. What I can say is that he started 35 years ago at home, was trained in the French method including a few seasons in France with some of the biggest names in Cognac, has worked every aspect of the wine and spirit trade and currently owns and runs a very successful distillery. He does things a little differently then I have read here.

Firstly, he does not use the term "foreshot". To him there are heads, hearts and tails. He also does not discard what we would call foreshot. He saves that to put in the next stripping run with the cider. He says that one can expect between .75% and 5% of start volume of what he call heads that are to be recycled into the next strip run, depending on how oxidized the cider is. He tasted our cider and declared it excellent and said that he expected the very low side of heads. He quickly calculated the amount expected from the volume we were running and closely monitored the foreshot as it came out, capturing small amounts in a glass, sniffing it and dumping it into a jar. As we got near the expected amount we were all smelling it and right near the volume expected was the change he was looking for. He says with apple brandy that the foreshot always smells "too good to be true" and when the first burst of great apple scent fades you have reached the end of what he calls heads.

He does stripping runs just as slowly as the spirit runs. When I asked about running harder to pass more flavor forward he chuckled and said that what a pot still does is pass flavor and that you can't stop it from doing so and that the product is much better with a slow strip. He also runs down to close to 0% when stripping and says you are just throwing away alcohol and flavor if you cut off earlier. He places great importance on output temperature of the distillate. During a stripping run he said that that 12C is the correct temperature and that 15C is the correct temperature for the spirit run. He also recommends the use of a parrot during both stripping and spirit runs. When I asked about smearing during a spirit run he said that over 150mL or so that it isn't an issue. He said that the time to start smelling the product to find the hearts/tails transition is when the ABV drops to 65% and that the average stopping point is between 62-59%. We ended up stopping at about 62% and I have to say it still smelled pretty good to me and I am unsure I can catch the scent difference next time although there was a noticeable difference between two jars. He said another old test was the "three pearls" test. Collect 20-30mL in a brandy type glass and swizzle it. If three largish bubbles (pearls) form and hold that it is time to stop collecting hearts and that he stops just before that. The tails of the spirit run he saves for the next spirit run and again we ran down to almost 0%.

He also is big on cleaning and sanitation. He had us use 0000 steel wool on the inside of the still after the stripping run and said he would have done so before the stripping run as well. Not to the point of polished but pretty darn clean. He is equally into sanitation on the ferment side, whether it is fruit or grain. He told us a story of a winery/brandy make that asked him to help them as they were struggling and almost bankrupt. He said their process was fine but their sanitation was poor and all he did was get them to clean up the place and improve the equipment sanitation.

He was very pleased with the product and said that it was excellent, first rate. We wound up with about 3/4 of a gallon at 70%. He said that with the small quantity we have that he would probably drink it white as "eau de vie" because it is straight up delicious as it is. If we do want to oak and age he recommends taking oak chips and making a tea out of them, steeping warm but not boiling for a day or two. Then use the resulting tea to water down the brandy. He recommends dropping ABV in no greater than 5% increments with a few days to a week between adjustments.

So much more to tell, so many things he had to say but it would take too long to chronicle here. He brought with him three whiskeys of his which were outstanding. I particularity liked the cask strength rye over an ice cube. He regaled us with many stories like when 3500 gallons of wine destined for brandy got left in the sun for a day and a half when the truck broke down and what they had to do to salvage it. He also is a local history buff and had much local lore to share that I didn't know.

Overall, I am still riding high a day later. This was a dream come true, a long term plan that finally came to fruition, producing apple brandy from trees I planted in a still of my own making. And then to have a master present on the first brandy run, unbelievable. A red letter day for sure. I'd like to say a big thank you to all on this forum for the invaluable help that got me here. Pintoshine, if by any chance you see this your plans are so easy to follow and at least one french trained master distiller has declared it a fine piece of equipment capable of making the best brandy.