È il momento di GRAPPA

[Demy]

This is what I do to obtain a few liters of grappa. I have no expensive equipment, I often have to adapt to what I have or build something without spending a lot.The raw material is pressed pomace, no added sugars, so real grappa should be.
This is my pomace, from grapes without chemical treatments, no added yeast.

I found my own method, a kind of steam distillation, adapting to my (poor) equipment. I start by filling my little boiler with water until the electrical resistance is safely covered

[Demy]

I put the marc in a stainless steel basket that I built raised above the water

[Demy]

This is the live system, as the steam rises

[zach]

Nice set up. How many kilos of marc can you fit in the basket? What is the normal collection per run? Do you double distill?

What kind of grapes do you usually get?

[Demy]

Exhausted marc, it will be an excellent compost fertilizer. The yield of the very pressed pomace is ridiculous, but the product is very aromatic.

[Demy]

Due to the low alcohol content, stripping is necessary. The alcohol that will come out will start from a very low ABV.

I collected about 25L of low wines at a very low alcohol content (about 7%). For the second run, I left aside some pomace to put in the boiler (along with the low wines)

[Demy]

The second distillation was done in the column for various reasons. First of all I find that if managed in a certain way, the column returns a more refined product with a great aroma (this for grappa), then I can compress the cuts better, given the low ABV and the small quantity. Surely it would take a column studied ad-oc but for the moment I'm satisfied with my ugly 1.5 "VM. I tried the pot-still mode but for grappa I didn't like it, the taste is rather raw, while for distilling wine is best to use a pot-stil.

[Demy]

I took the opportunity to try this "made in china" alcohol meter kit.

I forgot, the advantage of this boiler / basket system is to be able to empty the basket, fill it and replace the lid with the boiler always hot, which saves a lot of time. In addition to this, the aromas and the marc will not suffer any damage.
Although I have heard of grappa without cuts (I absolutely disagree), I have made abundant head cuts.
Each year is a very hard and very long work due to the small size of my plant and the low yield. But that pomace, those scents, those colors are inviting, they tell you "turn me into something celestial, don't throw me away". This is just my imperfect contribution on grappa!

[Demy]

Nice set up. How many kilos of marc can you fit in the basket? What is the normal collection per run? Do you double distill?

What kind of grapes do you usually get?

Hi, the basket is very small compared to the amount of marc I have, it is 20cm high and 27cm wide. The grape is a mix of varieties including a very small part of white grapes. With this small basket I had to distil a lot of marc, I didn't weigh it but I think it was about 100 kg.

[jonnys_spirit]

Hi Demy, This DIY basket is a very good idea for stripping on the pomace with an element. I think I'll look into making a nice sized basket out of some sort of expanded SS mesh that has legs to get it standing over the element.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Cheers,
jonny

[Demy]

Hi Demy, This DIY basket is a very good idea for stripping on the pomace with an element. I think I'll look into making a nice sized basket out of some sort of expanded SS mesh that has legs to get it standing over the element.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Cheers,
jonny

Hi jonnys, mine also has 3 height-adjustable legs (screw and unscrew). I got mine starting from the plate of the drum of a washing machine (they already have holes). My set-up is too small for this job but I had to adapt. I also distilled with dipped marc (mix of a lot of water and marc) but I didn't like it, so I thought about this. There is a lot of room for improvement ...

[jonnys_spirit]

Hu Demy, My still has an 8" opening on top with maybe a 16" boiler diameter so It'd be fairly tall and skinny but yes SS screws w/some bolts for the legs and can either solder it closed or probably use SS wire to thread it "tight enough"... I usually use the pomace lightly pressed and refermented with with some sugar and/or cheap wine kit to boost the output because I don't ever have enough pomace. I've found macerating feints and low-wines in pomace to help with extraction and even macerated some pomace in the final cut with some oak and filtered it when ready to drink.

I really love the flavor that the pomace brings so always looking to maximize that. I'll get my thumper set up some day but I also love this method as an additional tool.

Cheers!
-jonny

[Demy]

Hu Demy, My still has an 8" opening on top with maybe a 16" boiler diameter so It'd be fairly tall and skinny but yes SS screws w/some bolts for the legs and can either solder it closed or probably use SS wire to thread it "tight enough"... I usually use the pomace lightly pressed and refermented with with some sugar and/or cheap wine kit to boost the output because I don't ever have enough pomace. I've found macerating feints and low-wines in pomace to help with extraction and even macerated some pomace in the final cut with some oak and filtered it when ready to drink.

I really love the flavor that the pomace brings so always looking to maximize that. I'll get my thumper set up some day but I also love this method as an additional tool.

Cheers!
-jonny

There are many possible variations on how to distil pomace, a thumper would be a great alternative. I distil little stuff (usually) that this was an idea born at the time. I know it is also distilled in bain marie but I don't know if in that case it is added with water. I was offered a lot of pomace from relatives but I couldn't really distill so much with my system. With that little basket I had to do a lot of charges, I think I distilled 100 kg or more.

[Demy]

It's time to make grappa again..... new boiler (my self-built steam jacket).... new fun

[Chauncey]

I wish I could get my hands on grape pomace like that...also cool basket setup