New gal

[njinjune]

Hi all,
I’m new to this and eager to learn. I’ve been reading a lot but still have so many questions and thank all in advance for helping me learn. How did this start for me? I transformed a brush area of our property into an orchard and now I have more fruit than I can handle. So, as a former chemist, I decided to combine several of my passions (science, learning, brandy, gardening…brandy, wine, brandy) to make fruit brandy. Big fail on my first peach brandy, so clearly I have a steep learning curve. Hoping your help can supplement my reading.
njinjune

[Poitín Sue]

That sounds both like a sensible and idyllic way to start.
My main motivation was to ward off sobriety without choosing penury.
Nice to meet you

[MooseMan]

Several of my passions (science, learning, brandy, gardening…brandy, wine, brandy) to make fruit brandy.
njinjune

Haha that gave me a giggle June.

Welcome, you are in the right place to learn from the best hobby distillers on the planet.

[Wildcats]

Welcome aboard. It's all here. Have fun and stay safe.

[subbrew]

Welcome. Add a bit of biology and some thermodynamics to the chemistry and you have distilling. It is a fun hobby

[subbrew]

If you haven't already found it you might like this thread viewtopic.php?t=48881

[OlympicMtDoo]

welcome to HD njinjune, You have found the best place to learn this very fun hobby, sounds like you might like brandy look at the tried and true section there are many great recipes there for brandy and anything else you may like to try as well. Have fun and enjoy your journey. OMD

[Bushman]

Welcome and nice introduction. We have several females on the forum but definitely not enough. We have a lot of threads on distilling fruit and several that have done a lot with peaches so I am sure you can find some good information on this forum. One of the administrators (Tater) would probably be a good reference.

[Demy]

Welcome to the forum

[Bradster68]

Another woman. Welcome and . Behind every successful man is a good woman.
We need more women here. Hail all women.
Look at me trying to get brownie points again.
I'm married could you tell.
Anyway your gonna love it here.
Lots of great people

[Bolverk]

Welcome aboard

[NZChris]

Welcome to the forum.

Seeing as you have an orchard and like brandy, some kind of fruit/wine/cider press will make the job easier, so if you see one going cheap, grab it.

[njinjune]

Y’all! I’m feeling the love and smiling on this end. Thank you for the warm welcome. I’ve been reading this thread for a while now, and I feel honored to receive a welcome from the pros.

[njinjune]

Another woman. Welcome and . Behind every successful man is a good woman.
We need more women here. Hail all women.
Look at me trying to get brownie points again.
I'm married could you tell.
Anyway your gonna love it here.
Lots of great people

[jonnys_spirit]

Welcome to HD NJ

However many barrels of fruit that you can fill each fall season - I'd recommend getting that many blue hdpe barrels or similar

This is the welcome thread so not to get too far off topic - Welcome to the rabbit hole... May you have lotsa good readin, runnin', and recyclin' of your feints!

Cheers,
jonny

[njinjune]

That sounds both like a sensible and idyllic way to start.
My main motivation was to ward off sobriety without choosing penury.
Nice to meet you

[njinjune]

Several of my passions (science, learning, brandy, gardening…brandy, wine, brandy) to make fruit brandy.
njinjune

Haha that gave me a giggle June.

Welcome, you are in the right place to learn from the best hobby distillers on the planet.

[njinjune]

Welcome and nice introduction. We have several females on the forum but definitely not enough. We have a lot of threads on distilling fruit and several that have done a lot with peaches so I am sure you can find some good information on this forum. One of the administrators (Tater) would probably be a good reference.

[njinjune]

Welcome. Add a bit of biology and some thermodynamics to the chemistry and you have distilling. It is a fun hobby

[njinjune]

thank you!

welcome to HD njinjune, You have found the best place to learn this very fun hobby, sounds like you might like brandy look at the tried and true section there are many great recipes there for brandy and anything else you may like to try as well. Have fun and enjoy your journey. OMD

[njinjune]

thank you!

Welcome to the forum

[njinjune]

thank you! Whether you meant to or not, yiu have just given me some home work.

Welcome to HD NJ

However many barrels of fruit that you can fill each fall season - I'd recommend getting that many blue hdpe barrels or similar

This is the welcome thread so not to get too far off topic - Welcome to the rabbit hole... May you have lotsa good readin, runnin', and recyclin' of your feints!

Cheers,
jonny

[njinjune]

that’s a good idea. Thank you

Welcome to the forum.

Seeing as you have an orchard and like brandy, some kind of fruit/wine/cider press will make the job easier, so if you see one going cheap, grab it.

[njinjune]

What are the upsides and downsides of optimizing brandy flavor with solids in the pot on a false bottom, vs in a thumper? Also, I was going to use a thumper but someone mentioned to me that a Chanterais style still is better. I thought that was just for cognac.

[Stags]

What are the upsides and downsides of optimizing brandy flavor with solids in the pot on a false bottom, vs in a thumper? Also, I was going to use a thumper but someone mentioned to me that a Chanterais style still is better. I thought that was just for cognac.

Welcome to the forum!

Thumpers are a great way to make solid fermentation byproducts useful without having to worry about any kind of scorching. They’ll be steam blasted and that’s the only way they’ll be exposed to heat. Doubly important if you’re planning to use electric elements.

[zach]

What are the upsides and downsides of optimizing brandy flavor with solids in the pot on a false bottom, vs in a thumper? Also, I was going to use a thumper but someone mentioned to me that a Chanterais style still is better. I thought that was just for cognac.

It depends on what type of brandy you're making.

If you're making brandy from whole fruit or fruit pomace ( Palinka, Kirsch, Grappa, etc) then a thumper is or steam jacketed still is more useful. I've see copper alembic pots with straw in the bottom or perforated metal plates to prevent scorching of fruit pomace in externally heated stills

If you're making brandy from wine then the charentais style is more efficient. You wouldn't use this type of still with a lot of solids.

[njinjune]

Ah, Ok! Thank you. I am making brandy from fermented solids (crushed whole fruit). Based on your input, it seems like a thumper would be a good idea.

[Saltbush Bill]

Best that any further questions are asked in another thread in another area of the forum.

[njinjune]

Best that any further questions are asked in another thread in another area of the forum.

[njinjune]

What are the upsides and downsides of optimizing brandy flavor with solids in the pot on a false bottom, vs in a thumper? Also, I was going to use a thumper but someone mentioned to me that a Chanterais style still is better. I thought that was just for cognac.

Welcome to the forum!

Thumpers are a great way to make solid fermentation byproducts useful without having to worry about any kind of scorching. They’ll be steam blasted and that’s the only way they’ll be exposed to heat. Doubly important if you’re planning to use electric elements.