brandy with prickly pears

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Demy
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brandy with prickly pears

Post by Demy »

Last year I tried to ferment and distil some prickly pears. Despite having distilled various fruits, this one was disappointing. Today I went to pick others to try again .... Does anyone have experience with this fruit? Thanks so much.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Demy »

This is the fruit I picked yesterday. It is absolutely organic. I'll peel it later. A beer cap to understand the size of the fruit.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by v-child »

What's the sugar content? I have a friend that macerates the fruit in alcohol. The result is a deep red without much flavor.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Demy »

I just finished peeling the fruit. I measured OG1058, not much. I would like to distill all the fruit. I'm inserting the photos
v-child wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2020 6:29 am What's the sugar content? I have a friend that macerates the fruit in alcohol. The result is a deep red without much flavor.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Demy »

This is the peeled fruit.The thorns are lurking!
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I blended them with rudimentary means, adding the yeast.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

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fichi-dindia-pianta.jpg
I think many know it but to avoid misunderstandings this is the plant
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by The Baker »

They were an environmental disaster in Australia; I assume they were introduced.

Anyway a beetle was introduced to eat the prickly pears.
The beetle was a disaster.
So they introduced the cane toad to eat the beetles.
The cane toad was and is a disaster...

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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Saltbush Bill »

The cane toad was introduced to eat the cane beatle.......nothing to do with beatles in cactus.
Cactoblastis Moth was introduced to destroy the cactus and did exactly as intended.
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Demy
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

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Saltbush Bill wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2020 2:35 pm The cane toad was introduced to eat the cane beatle.......nothing to do with beatles in cactus.
Cactoblastis Moth was introduced to destroy the cactus and did exactly as intended.
Hi, I live on the other side of the world but how did this plant create a disaster? I don't know this problem.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Prickly Pear was introduced to this country in an attempt to establish a cochineal dye industry many many years ago..........the stuff went feral and took over huge tracts of our Australian bush, making what was once prime cattle raising country and agricultural country unusable for any purpose.
The moth Cactoblastis cactorum was introduced in 1925 and almost wiped the pear out.....small pockets still exist to this day, but it is mostly under control.
Links below will show you photos of what it did to this country and also lead to a little more information.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=pric ... 66&bih=652

https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/__data/asset ... -story.pdf
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by The Baker »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2020 2:35 pm The cane toad was introduced to eat the cane beatle.......nothing to do with beatles in cactus.
Cactoblastis Moth was introduced to destroy the cactus and did exactly as intended.
Thanks, Salty.

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Re: brandy with prickly pears

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Saltbush Bill wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:31 am Prickly Pear was introduced to this country in an attempt to establish a cochineal dye industry many many years ago..........the stuff went feral and took over huge tracts of our Australian bush, making what was once prime cattle raising country and agricultural country unusable for any purpose.
The moth Cactoblastis cactorum was introduced in 1925 and almost wiped the pear out.....small pockets still exist to this day, but it is mostly under control.
Links below will show you photos of what it did to this country and also lead to a little more information.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=pric ... 66&bih=652

https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/__data/asset ... -story.pdf
A I understand. I collected them from some plants that are in my small plot, they are only pruned from time to time but they are not a problem. I think there was an industrial problem there from what I understand.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by rockcanyon »

OG1058? Doesn't sound too bad to me but I'm new. I lived in West Texas for 30 years. Sure could have got a ton of those things for free about anywhere. They are often called "Tunas" there. I used to eat one now and then, there's a wide variety of sweetness amounts from one to another, and some are quite sweet but most are not.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

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rockcanyon wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 6:12 am OG1058? Doesn't sound too bad to me but I'm new. I lived in West Texas for 30 years. Sure could have got a ton of those things for free about anywhere. They are often called "Tunas" there. I used to eat one now and then, there's a wide variety of sweetness amounts from one to another, and some are quite sweet but most are not.
Here in Italy they grow well in certain areas, they are usually very sweet and rich in seeds, the fruits are quite large. I think there are similar plants, maybe they will be similar.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Demy »

Small update, fermentation seems to be proceeding well.
20200908_115944.jpg
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Demy »

The fermentation is finished, FG 1006 stable after a few days.
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I decided to separate seeds and pulp before distillation. Given the small quantity and the low alcohol content (about 7 abv) I will perform a first pot still run and then a final distillation.I made about 20 liters of fermented juice
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Demy »

This is the final result. Delicate fruit flavor, the nose is very pronounced. Maybe it's not my favorite fruit brandy but it's a good product.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by chickenfeed »

Awesome I have a 15 gallon batch going right now.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Hey Stoopid »

Hey Demy.... I'm in AZ, we have quite the variety of cacti fruits to play with... I've been doing a few experimental runs through the years..fun and gets great reviews from those who get to sip... have you aged any in Brandy or Whiskey styles?

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Re: brandy with prickly pears

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Hey Stoopid wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 8:48 am Sent from my moto g play (2021) using Tapatalk
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Hey Stoopid »

Ok, thanks for the heads up...
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by chickenfeed »

Mine turned out well. I used 25# of fruit and 25# of sugar and did not peel them Froze and then mashed them
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Demy »

Hey Stoopid wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 8:48 am Hey Demy.... I'm in AZ, we have quite the variety of cacti fruits to play with... I've been doing a few experimental runs through the years..fun and gets great reviews from those who get to sip... have you aged any in Brandy or Whiskey styles?

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I apologize but I didn't see the question ..... no I left white, it's not one of my favorites .... he has a too intrusive aroma, some people like .... I suspect they are the seeds. .. I have in mind to experiment without seeds. Freshly ground there is a fantastic smell but then in distillation it doesn't behave like I would like.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

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chickenfeed wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 10:41 am Mine turned out well. I used 25# of fruit and 25# of sugar and did not peel them Froze and then mashed them
As written in the other comment I have to improve the recipe, I have in mind to eliminate the seeds and keep the juice only, the final distillate is not bad but it has a too intrusive aroma .....
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Slivovitz »

What is the aroma that is bad?
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by bluc »

There was someone on another forum did it I think they mashed the leaves also not just the fruit. I will check and post back
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by bluc »

The bloke did a sugarhead type wash with the leaves. He said it and the fruit were both good but the fruit was better. The leaves taking much longer to come good .
He just used bakers yeast and said next time would use something more neutral.
The needles are also an issue..
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Demy »

Slivovitz wrote: Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:35 pm What is the aroma that is bad?
What I noticed is a smell reminiscent of a scent for environments, it's an intrusive smell that disgusts a little my nose ... I repeated the same brandy 2 years consecutive, this year I think I will not do it in time but if I would do I would definitely disagree the seeds, something tells me that that's the problem, what remains in the boiler after distillation has a nauseating smell while the fruit in fermentation has a wonderful smell ... it's a fruit that is safely distilled, there is A trademark of an Italian distillery that produces this distillate.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

Post by Bushman »

Demy do you rack it before distillation to eliminate the seeds? Some of my best flavored juice is a combination of apples and pears. I do not get as good results when I ferment with the pomace and punching the cap is a lot more work.
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Re: brandy with prickly pears

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Bushman wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:14 am Demy do you rack it before distillation to eliminate the seeds? Some of my best flavored juice is a combination of apples and pears. I do not get as good results when I ferment with the pomace and punching the cap is a lot more work.
Hi Bushman, no distill with all the pulp to increase the flavor but in this case I think you are right. I sent an email to a distillery that makes this product but I doubt I will receive an answer. I'll have to do an attempt myself.
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