Peach brandy

[hefezelle]

Is there a consensus about the optimal amount of yeast to use in this recipe? I'd love to include an mount in the Tried & True Recipes pdf!

[Tater]

Time I posted this recipe I was playing around with yeasts and used a mix of 118 and distillers yeast 1 oz each. Pre started in 5 gallons of the wash. However in past Ive used wild yeast bakers yeast and few other wine yeasts . All seemed to well but the wine yeasts seemed to give a slight better taste .I froze peaches when thawed I stirred to a fine pulp poured through a wire basket to catch/remove seeds and anything that hadn't broken down skins and the like.Then took skins and any chunks that were left and added little water few gallons or so and stirred again. My stirrer is a lite mortar mixer that I sharpened the blades on. (see here http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =14&t=2196" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow )I have just set a plank across barrel with a 3/4 piece of pvc pipe cut at a angle in it to push out seed and fermented skin and all (no added water). And lately been putting the skins and chunks in a sack weighing it down to keep under till ferments over and removing it after letting it drain.(Been trying to decide if it taste better with skins in or out of ferment). I dip my wash out of barrel so as not to disturb anything that's settled.And NEVER fill a barrel .Always leave room for the cap or you will have a mess. 50 in a 55 gallon barrel is much as I would chance. Until I was use to doing recipe I would go less.

[njinjune]

Hello, I've made several batches using Tater's Peach Brandy recipe. I've used peaches, apples, grapes and pears. I use bruised and old fruit bought from local supermarkets. I wash and quarter the fruit and cut off any rotten or moldy spots. I remove pits but not small fruit seeds. The cut up fruit gets a good squirt of lemon juice in the freezer bag. Freezing breaks up the fruit's cell structure and also lets me accumulate fruit as it's available cheaply. I grind the thawed fruit in a garbage disposal grinder. My recipe is 20 lbs of fruit, 4 lbs of sugar, some yeast nutrient and water to make 4 gallons. Like Tater's recipe, I ferment with skins on (it's all a mush after going through the grinder anyway) My go-to yeast is Red Star DADY, but I've experimented with champagne and wine yeasts. I distill in a pot still, again, distilling pulp and all. I don't have any problem with scorching, only a little "sticking" on the pot bottom. I make a single run, removing only the foreshots and cutting at 24% overhead. The result is a clear fruity-tasting distillate that averages 75 proof. It tastes good in drinks straight from the still, and far better when aged on toasted oak or apple for a few weeks.

There are ten million ways to do this; this one works well for me.

[zach]

In two weeks it looks like I'll get 10 bushels of peaches. In the past dealing with smaller quantities of plums, I've cut and removed some of the pits and crushed with a paint mixer in a barrel. I have a large wine press I could use to break the fruit and then maybe remove some of the stones by hand. Then add the juice back to the pulp. Anybody have advice on how best to turn the peaches into pulp? I don't have freezer space.

Not trying to get rid of all of the pits. Has anyone been successful in removing pits from the pulp during the transfer from fermenter to the boiler?


I have EC1118 yeast, but is it worth getting something else?

I plan on stripping the pulp with steam.

[Tater]

I used a sharpened mortar mixer then poured through a wire basket/trashcan like in this thread viewtopic.php?t=2196

[Copperhead road]

My last peach brandy I did was in a 200 L fermenter.
I removed the seeds of all the Peaches and filled the drum with halved Peaches.
I added pectinase and just enough water to cover all of the Peaches. I let it sit for a couple of days to let the pectinase do its magic…
Then I hit it with an electric drill with a paint stirrer on it and turned all the Peaches to pulp before pitching EC1118

It worked a treat and I distilled the pulp without straining it, I run on gas so it’s easy to distill the pulp.
I run the pulp on a very low gas flame to prevent any scorching.

[zach]

Thanks Gentleman for the advice!

My plan is to split the ferment in two 55 gallon barrels.

I also run on propane, but could put the juice in the boiler and the pulp in a thumper. Might do this if the brix is low, and see how it taste with a single run. I've rarely found much to keep on a single run with other fruit, but with a thumper it might be worth a try on the first run.

More likely will double distill with a steam strip to keep the low wines abv down and avoid too much dilution when proofing for the bottle..

[Tater]

Id put some copper pieces in my boiler also when running juice .They help with the boil and in my opinion they help with not scorching .Let the rattle guide ya on how fast to run . nice steady rattle what ya looking for .Peelings in the thumper will help with flavor and first run proof .

[Copperhead road]

Id put some copper pieces in my boiler also when running juice .They help with the boil and in my opinion they help with not scorching .

when i am running a full 80L boiler of peach pulp i do the same thing, never had any scorching. (i run on gas)