Jimbo's Apple Thread

[Jimbo]

Should give me about 17.5 gal, based on what I got with the first 800 lbs. Puts me at 63 gallons for the year. What was Crankys number, I think he beat me by a gallon or 2 HAHA

[cranky]

Should give me about 17.5 gal, based on what I got with the first 800 lbs. Puts me at 63 gallons for the year. What was Crankys number, I think he beat me by a gallon or 2 HAHA

I beat you by only 1 gallon Jimbo 64 but There are still two trees I know of with apples if I could beat the frost to them I think if you pressed real hard you could tie me for the year

[HDNB]

apples come in here bout one out of evry 7 to ten yrs.

enjoy the luxury of your location!!!

[Bushman]

I am taking hay out to the island this weekend, if there are still apples after the storm I hope I don't get a wild hair like you did Jimbo. Will probably pick the rest of the walnuts and dry them out.

[Jimbo]

Sumbitch, we got 10 inches of snow yesterday. Be pressin apples in the arctic tundra out there tomorrow at the shed. Hope the temp dont drop tonight or I'll have a 35 gallon size apple ICE CUBE instead of ground apple to press. Think they'll keep till spring?

[MichiganCornhusker]

Sumbitch, we got 10 inches of snow yesterday. Be pressin apples in the arctic tundra out there tomorrow at the shed. Hope the temp dont drop tonight or I'll have a 35 gallon size apple ICE CUBE instead of ground apple to press. Think they'll keep till spring?

Wow, you apple guys are a breed apart! Commited (or should be)...

[cranky]

Sumbitch, we got 10 inches of snow yesterday. Be pressin apples in the arctic tundra out there tomorrow at the shed. Hope the temp dont drop tonight or I'll have a 35 gallon size apple ICE CUBE instead of ground apple to press. Think they'll keep till spring?

I find they take a long time to thaw once they are frozen. When I was in Minnesota one thing you could rely on was snowfall on Halloween. One year we got 3 feet of snow on Halloween weekend, it snowed so much it lowered the temperature of the lakes to the point we watched them flash freeze before our eyes. Glad I don't live where they have winter. Hope you manage to get that apple pulp thawed. I saw a thing once about a boat that was made out of frozen water and saw dust that took something like 3 years to thaw

[raketemensch]

We got a Halloween Blizzard here a few years back, it was brutal because the leaves were still on the trees, so they were falling down all over the place and taking power lines with them.

So it was frigid, and we had no heat. We (my wife, my 2 year old and my 3 year old) set up the air mattresses in front of the fireplace and burned up the last of our wood on the second night. I was waking up every two hours to throw another log on the fire, knowing it was just about my last. I'll never forget walking through the basement the next day, saying, "Do you like those chairs your mother gave us? I hate those chairs. Can we burn them?"

None of the firewood guys on Craigslist were calling back, so they got burnt. Eventually someone showed up with a full cord and saved our asses.

On the 7th day, I finally found a generator on Craigslist that hadn't been sold yet, so I crossed the state, bought it, brought it home and of course had no wiring for it. We ran to my mom's house that night and stayed there with real heat and *gasp* running water.

The next day I sat in the Jeep in my driveway with my phone (Internet!), a few forums and a bunch of electrical Crap from the hardware store, and eventually managed to get the generator hooked up to the dryer plug (yes, I killed the mains, and will never do it again) by running the wire through the cat door... I got the furnace started. I heard the well pump kick on. I turned on some lights. I felt like a god.

Fifteen minutes later, the power came back on.

[S-Cackalacky]

Oh man! God has a really warped sense of humor.

[raketemensch]

Oh man! God has a really warped sense of humor.

How do you make God laugh?

Make a plan.

[jedneck]

Oh man! God has a really warped sense of humor.

How do you make God laugh?

Make a plan.

Eggsactly why my plans are always subject to change.

[Jimbo]

Well, its 17 degrees F out now, and it got down under 10 last night. Im getting my gear on to go press apples in the shed..... if the pomace isint a solid brick. What's my chances? Ill report back shortly... Wish me luck.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Well, its 17 degrees F out now, and it got down under 10 last night. Im getting my gear on to go press apples in the shed..... if the pomace isint a solid brick. What's my chances? Ill report back shortly... Wish me luck.

Pics! I think frozen apple brandy will be right up there with snow malt whiskey!
If it gets too cold out in the shed, just bring it all into the kitchen to do it.

[Jimbo]

Well, its 17 degrees F out now, and it got down under 10 last night. Im getting my gear on to go press apples in the shed..... if the pomace isint a solid brick. What's my chances? Ill report back shortly... Wish me luck.

Pics! I think frozen apple brandy will be right up there with snow malt whiskey!
If it gets too cold out in the shed, just bring it all into the kitchen to do it.

HA! Ya, I need a name for this batch, Arctic Tundra Tipple, or some such. I dont think I could get it in the kitchen even if I wanted. The ground up apples are in a 55g barrel. 300 lbs worth. Im currently in avoidance.... took my coat off to cook up a pound of bacon for some fuel before hittin it.

[raketemensch]

HA! Ya, I need a name for this batch, Arctic Tundra Tipple, or some such. I dont think I could get it in the kitchen even if I wanted. The ground up apples are in a 55g barrel. 300 lbs worth. Im currently in avoidance.... took my coat off to cook up a pound of bacon for some fuel before hittin it.

Got a space heater or something out there?

[Jimbo]

HA! Ya, I need a name for this batch, Arctic Tundra Tipple, or some such. I dont think I could get it in the kitchen even if I wanted. The ground up apples are in a 55g barrel. 300 lbs worth. Im currently in avoidance.... took my coat off to cook up a pound of bacon for some fuel before hittin it.

Got a space heater or something out there?

Yes If Im confronted wtih a brick of frozen apples, thats exactly what Ill do. Maybe a lightbulb under a blanket until Wed. when I'll have time to get back at it again. Anyway, enough avoidance, pound of bacon is in my belly, time to get after it...

[jedneck]

Pound of bacon in the belly would have me ready for a NAP.

[Jimbo]

Pound of bacon in the belly would have me ready for a NAP.

mmhmm......zzzzzzzzzzz..... sitting here staring at my display with sagging eyelids....

[MichiganCornhusker]

mmhmm......zzzzzzzzzzz..... sitting here staring at my display with sagging eyelids....

Wednesday good, apples will thaw/oxidize nicely by then, could be best calvados ever, bacon, nap....so cold....bacon.....

[jedneck]

mmhmm......zzzzzzzzzzz..... sitting here staring at my display with sagging eyelids....

Wednesday good, apples will thaw/oxidize nicely by then, could be best calvados ever, bacon, nap....so cold....bacon.....

Bacon + big pour of Bourbon +couch =nap.

[Jimbo]

Nope Nope, maaan, you guys are a bad influence

I gotter done! This stuff was freeze jacked. Chunks of ice, and lots of icey flakes. Pulled 16.5 gallons at 13.5 brix. All cleaned up in time to take youngest to an overnighter college visit and drop her off. ....maybe chase wifey around the house nekkid later..... TMI?

[MichiganCornhusker]

I gotter done!

Very nice, those frozen apples are no joke, this will make a special run for sure!

[S-Cackalacky]

Maybe something good came out of mother natures wrath.

[Jimbo]

Maybe something good came out of mother natures wrath.

yessir, Im one of them weirdo's that likes to believe stuff happens for a reason sometimes. Maybe I left 300 lbs sitting there until the snow fell so I could make an icewine freeze jacked cider for the first time in my life.

Gonna swap out the 5 gallons I have set aside for cider with 5 gallons of this freeze jacked stuff which should be a point higher on the ABV or so.

[cranky]

That's funny Jimbo. What you have on your hands is iced apple cider or "cidre de glace" as some call it. Not that different than what I did with the dessert wine I am making where I condensed 10 gallons down to 5 but actually closer to a true icewine process. If you save the pomace til spring and re press it I bet you can get another 3 to 5 gallons out of it when it thaws. No deep freeze needed, you live in one

[raketemensch]

All cleaned up in time to take youngest to an overnighter college visit and drop her off. ....maybe chase wifey around the house nekkid later..... TMI?

There's probably a good "how you like THEM apples" joke in there somewhere, but I just can't find it right now.

[HDNB]

isn't it Bushman that says fruit works off better if you freeze it first?

[Jimbo]

Finished for the year. 1100 lbs apples, 7 gallons cider and 16 quarts brandy at 62%. Soon as a barrel free's up these jars will transfer to the barrel. For the majority I ran as brandy the math worked out to 31.5 lbs apples per 80 proof fifth this year.

Cheers.

[cranky]

Good deal Jimbo
I just ran off another batch of my apple too I thought the yield was low but have just been doing the math and it is pretty spot on.

[raketemensch]

I talked a brewing friend of mine into bringing up a couple of carboys of cider to run, you guys have gotten me too tempted not to try it now.

Now I'm just debating whether to run it with the pot column or wait for the flute.