Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper
I crushed 2 bushels of ripe and bruised Niagara peaches on August 7 to get 8 gallons of mush. I added 5 gallons of water and a further 2 gallons of hot water to get 15 gallons of mash at 94 degrees, SG 1.01. Immediately added 2 kg white sugar to bring SG to 1.03. No pits and very little skin went into the mash
On Aug 11, it appeared as though fermentation had stopped (SG 1.00), so I added another bag of sugar and it churned for another couple of days.
I couldn't get to it until August 18. A 7 gallon distillation yielded 6 pints of the bitterest, light peach scented alcohol you'll ever taste. I wasted 8 oz of 102P clear-mild peach coloured foreshots. The 'keepers' were clear/colourless until the final 2 pints which started getting cloudy. Proofs in the pints ranged from 96 to 64. The final product is in the photo.
There is still about 5 gallons of mash left.
How do I gussy up the distillate to rid it of the bitterness, and is it worth distilling the last 5 gallons?
You should strip all the ferments till total ABV of low wines is about 30% then combine low-wines (output of your strip strip runs) and do a spirit run collecting spirit run output into about 25 equal'ish fractions.
Then air for 24h (covered with cloth or coffee filters) and test/blend your cuts to get a heads, hearts, and tails cut...
It'll be a lot better and you'll probably opt for more of the same once it's gone...
Walshie wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:39 am
What a waste.
I crushed 2 bushels of ripe and bruised Niagara peaches on August 7 to get 8 gallons of mush. I added 5 gallons of water and a further 2 gallons of hot water to get 15 gallons of mash at 94 degrees, SG 1.01. Immediately added 2 kg white sugar to bring SG to 1.03. No pits and very little skin went into the mash
On Aug 11, it appeared as though fermentation had stopped (SG 1.00), so I added another bag of sugar and it churned for another couple of days.
I couldn't get to it until August 18. A 7 gallon distillation yielded 6 pints of the bitterest, light peach scented alcohol you'll ever taste. I wasted 8 oz of 102P clear-mild peach coloured foreshots. The 'keepers' were clear/colourless until the final 2 pints which started getting cloudy. Proofs in the pints ranged from 96 to 64. The final product is in the photo.
There is still about 5 gallons of mash left.
How do I gussy up the distillate to rid it of the bitterness, and is it worth distilling the last 5 gallons?
peach1.jpg
Pectic enzymes will help to free up the sugars. As already mentioned, keep the skins in.
Also what yeast did you use? Strains like ec-1118 ferment a wash down very dry and tend to eat up flavor.
Side note, I'd love to know if you have a good source for bruised fruit. Handy as I'm relatively close to Niagara.
Be careful of airing too long. You already have very diluted flavor because of all the added sugar, so letting your peach flavors bugger off out the door might not be ideal.
Look up the existing peach threads for distilling advice before your next strip.
If you can't get enough peach flavor into your heart cut, it would probably make an interesting base spirit for gins, liqueurs and steeps.
jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:00 pm
You should strip all the ferments till total ABV of low wines is about 30% then combine low-wines (output of your strip strip runs) and do a spirit run collecting spirit run output into about 25 equal'ish fractions.
Then air for 24h (covered with cloth or coffee filters) and test/blend your cuts to get a heads, hearts, and tails cut...
It'll be a lot better and you'll probably opt for more of the same once it's gone...
Cheers!
-jonny
I did run to about 30%, so thats good.
I've got 6 pints...96 oz of strip. I'm a newbie so I need some help here. Add double of clean water (RO?) and distill again into 24 containers (I have 2 doz pint jars) and select from there?
Walshie wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:39 am
What a waste.
I crushed 2 bushels of ripe and bruised Niagara peaches on August 7 to get 8 gallons of mush. I added 5 gallons of water and a further 2 gallons of hot water to get 15 gallons of mash at 94 degrees, SG 1.01. Immediately added 2 kg white sugar to bring SG to 1.03. No pits and very little skin went into the mash
On Aug 11, it appeared as though fermentation had stopped (SG 1.00), so I added another bag of sugar and it churned for another couple of days.
I couldn't get to it until August 18. A 7 gallon distillation yielded 6 pints of the bitterest, light peach scented alcohol you'll ever taste. I wasted 8 oz of 102P clear-mild peach coloured foreshots. The 'keepers' were clear/colourless until the final 2 pints which started getting cloudy. Proofs in the pints ranged from 96 to 64. The final product is in the photo.
There is still about 5 gallons of mash left.
How do I gussy up the distillate to rid it of the bitterness, and is it worth distilling the last 5 gallons?
peach1.jpg
Pectic enzymes will help to free up the sugars. As already mentioned, keep the skins in.
Also what yeast did you use? Strains like ec-1118 ferment a wash down very dry and tend to eat up flavor.
Side note, I'd love to know if you have a good source for bruised fruit. Handy as I'm relatively close to Niagara.
Maybe next year for the skins. Hit up any farmer in Grimsby/Stoney Creek and they've got a pile of peaches somewhere. I get them off a farmer near Virgil.
I used a DADY I got off Amazon. Science of strain is unknown.
Walshie wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:39 am
What a waste.
I crushed 2 bushels of ripe and bruised Niagara peaches on August 7 to get 8 gallons of mush. I added 5 gallons of water and a further 2 gallons of hot water to get 15 gallons of mash at 94 degrees, SG 1.01. Immediately added 2 kg white sugar to bring SG to 1.03. No pits and very little skin went into the mash
On Aug 11, it appeared as though fermentation had stopped (SG 1.00), so I added another bag of sugar and it churned for another couple of days.
I couldn't get to it until August 18. A 7 gallon distillation yielded 6 pints of the bitterest, light peach scented alcohol you'll ever taste. I wasted 8 oz of 102P clear-mild peach coloured foreshots. The 'keepers' were clear/colourless until the final 2 pints which started getting cloudy. Proofs in the pints ranged from 96 to 64. The final product is in the photo.
There is still about 5 gallons of mash left.
How do I gussy up the distillate to rid it of the bitterness, and is it worth distilling the last 5 gallons?
peach1.jpg
Pectic enzymes will help to free up the sugars. As already mentioned, keep the skins in.
Also what yeast did you use? Strains like ec-1118 ferment a wash down very dry and tend to eat up flavor.
Side note, I'd love to know if you have a good source for bruised fruit. Handy as I'm relatively close to Niagara.
Maybe next year for the skins. Hit up any farmer in Grimsby/Stoney Creek and they've got a pile of peaches somewhere. I get them off a farmer near Virgil.
I used a DADY I got off Amazon. Science of strain is unknown.
Thanks, I'll have a chat with one when I'm next out that way.
I'd guess that more aggressive distilling yeasts will probably have a similar effect to what I mentioned about ec1111. I'd just use a pectic enzyme and a bread yeast. YMMV of course.
