55 Gallon Plum Brandy Project
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:15 pm
Hello All,
I was very fortunate this year. A friend called me over to pick his heavy laden plum tree. He has what I believe are mirabelle plums. They are sweat, juicy, and a beautiful golden yellow. I made some wine out of them last year and it was extremely good. This year I made 13 gallons of wine and 55 gallons of plum wash.
For the 55 gallon wash I used:
100 pounds of pitted plum.
.5 oz. Wine Tannin
7.5 oz. Yeast Nutrient
2.3 oz. Biotin wine energizer
8 tablespoons acid blend
6 oz. pectic enzyme
7 packs Lalvin QA23 yeast
I added sugar and water to reach 55 gallons at 10% ABV
I put the pitted plums in a huge mesh grain bag.
The starting gravity was 1.070
It finished in 7 days at .990
On the 7th day I squeezed all the juice out of the bag and ended up with 10 pounds of dry pulp. The pectic enzyme really did its thing plus the plums were super ripe and I also froze them after I picked them.
I let the wash clear for a week and it up cleared nicely. I then carefully siphoned the clear wash off the sediment bed. I ended up with enough wash for 3 full 14 gallon stripping runs and an 8 gallon stripping run. My keg is 15.5 gallons but I don't like to fill it too full especially on a new wash because I don't want to deal with foam.
Stripping run #1 was a 14 gallon load. I ran it as fast as I could and got 2.5 gallons of 55% low wines. I finished the last of the strip in a gallon jug and went all the way down to 10%. It sounds weird but I have 2.5 gallon glass jars that I like to strip into. I also have gallon jars. So the combined strip of the first 2.5 gallons is 55% and the last separate gallon is about 30%.
Stripping run #2 was about the same as run #1. I ran it faster and harder to see what would happen. I ended up with 2.5 gallons of 50% and a gallon and a half of 25%.
Stripping run #3 was similar but I ran it slower. I ended up with 2.5 gallons of 55% and a gallon and a half of 25%.
Stripping run #4 was a bit different. I only had about 8 gallons of wash so I added the extra jar or jar and a half from stripping runs numbers 1-3. This made my total volume of this last run 12 gallons. The yield was: 2.5 gallons of 60% and 2 gallons of 25%.
My totalled stripped volume is: 12 gallons of 50% low wines. I think my wash had a higher original gravity than I recorded.
I added 2 gallons of tap water to dilute it all down to 14 gallons of 40% low wines.
The smell is very sweet and fruity. Next step is a long ass day doing the spirit run.
I want this spirit run to be a good one and I want to make really precise cuts. I have 70 pint jars.
My still is a 2" pot still with a 40" inch tall copper column. I have a 36" long Liebig condenser. I have a 15.5 gallon stainless steel keg for a boiler. I power my still with a 220v internal heating element. I believe I can hit 5000 watts but I strip at around 3500 watts and I do my spirit runs around 1000 - 1500 watts. I usually pack my column with copper scrubbies.
I have a liter of 1/4" raschig rings and some toasted white oak coming in the mail. My in-laws cut down a large japanese plum tree earlier this year. I would like to chop up some of the large logs and try my hand at toasting and/or charring some.
I really don't want to mess this part up. Do any of you brandy makers out there have any advice to give me on how to run, cut, and age this project?
Some of the questions I have are:
1. Should I run it low and slow or kinda fast to carry over more flavor?
2. Should I fully pack the column with just copper scrubbies or use half copper and half raschig rings? Or should I pack only half of the column? Or no packing at all? This is a plum brandy and I believe I want more flavor. I wouldn't want to put all this work in for a plum vodka. Or do I?
3. For the cuts, should I collect into as many pint jars as it takes to get from heads to tails, air, taste, and blend? Or should I play it super conservative and collect 5% foreshots, 32% heads, 32% hearts, and 31% tails? Blending is the hardest part of this hobby for me. I will get it down some day. I hope.
4. For aging, I will try leaving some white and aging some on toasted oak. Should I add some charred oak? I will read up on toasting and charring the plum wood I have. I also have a 5 gallon oak barrel that I used to age last year's UJSSM. Can I use it again to age this brandy or is it spent?
I did remove 200 ml of foreshots from each of the stripping runs. I am still going to remove and discard the first 5% of the run.
I will be doing this spirit run in the next few weeks. I will post an update after the spirit run.
Again any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Until then I will keep reading.
Jeet
I was very fortunate this year. A friend called me over to pick his heavy laden plum tree. He has what I believe are mirabelle plums. They are sweat, juicy, and a beautiful golden yellow. I made some wine out of them last year and it was extremely good. This year I made 13 gallons of wine and 55 gallons of plum wash.
For the 55 gallon wash I used:
100 pounds of pitted plum.
.5 oz. Wine Tannin
7.5 oz. Yeast Nutrient
2.3 oz. Biotin wine energizer
8 tablespoons acid blend
6 oz. pectic enzyme
7 packs Lalvin QA23 yeast
I added sugar and water to reach 55 gallons at 10% ABV
I put the pitted plums in a huge mesh grain bag.
The starting gravity was 1.070
It finished in 7 days at .990
On the 7th day I squeezed all the juice out of the bag and ended up with 10 pounds of dry pulp. The pectic enzyme really did its thing plus the plums were super ripe and I also froze them after I picked them.
I let the wash clear for a week and it up cleared nicely. I then carefully siphoned the clear wash off the sediment bed. I ended up with enough wash for 3 full 14 gallon stripping runs and an 8 gallon stripping run. My keg is 15.5 gallons but I don't like to fill it too full especially on a new wash because I don't want to deal with foam.
Stripping run #1 was a 14 gallon load. I ran it as fast as I could and got 2.5 gallons of 55% low wines. I finished the last of the strip in a gallon jug and went all the way down to 10%. It sounds weird but I have 2.5 gallon glass jars that I like to strip into. I also have gallon jars. So the combined strip of the first 2.5 gallons is 55% and the last separate gallon is about 30%.
Stripping run #2 was about the same as run #1. I ran it faster and harder to see what would happen. I ended up with 2.5 gallons of 50% and a gallon and a half of 25%.
Stripping run #3 was similar but I ran it slower. I ended up with 2.5 gallons of 55% and a gallon and a half of 25%.
Stripping run #4 was a bit different. I only had about 8 gallons of wash so I added the extra jar or jar and a half from stripping runs numbers 1-3. This made my total volume of this last run 12 gallons. The yield was: 2.5 gallons of 60% and 2 gallons of 25%.
My totalled stripped volume is: 12 gallons of 50% low wines. I think my wash had a higher original gravity than I recorded.
I added 2 gallons of tap water to dilute it all down to 14 gallons of 40% low wines.
The smell is very sweet and fruity. Next step is a long ass day doing the spirit run.
I want this spirit run to be a good one and I want to make really precise cuts. I have 70 pint jars.
My still is a 2" pot still with a 40" inch tall copper column. I have a 36" long Liebig condenser. I have a 15.5 gallon stainless steel keg for a boiler. I power my still with a 220v internal heating element. I believe I can hit 5000 watts but I strip at around 3500 watts and I do my spirit runs around 1000 - 1500 watts. I usually pack my column with copper scrubbies.
I have a liter of 1/4" raschig rings and some toasted white oak coming in the mail. My in-laws cut down a large japanese plum tree earlier this year. I would like to chop up some of the large logs and try my hand at toasting and/or charring some.
I really don't want to mess this part up. Do any of you brandy makers out there have any advice to give me on how to run, cut, and age this project?
Some of the questions I have are:
1. Should I run it low and slow or kinda fast to carry over more flavor?
2. Should I fully pack the column with just copper scrubbies or use half copper and half raschig rings? Or should I pack only half of the column? Or no packing at all? This is a plum brandy and I believe I want more flavor. I wouldn't want to put all this work in for a plum vodka. Or do I?
3. For the cuts, should I collect into as many pint jars as it takes to get from heads to tails, air, taste, and blend? Or should I play it super conservative and collect 5% foreshots, 32% heads, 32% hearts, and 31% tails? Blending is the hardest part of this hobby for me. I will get it down some day. I hope.
4. For aging, I will try leaving some white and aging some on toasted oak. Should I add some charred oak? I will read up on toasting and charring the plum wood I have. I also have a 5 gallon oak barrel that I used to age last year's UJSSM. Can I use it again to age this brandy or is it spent?
I did remove 200 ml of foreshots from each of the stripping runs. I am still going to remove and discard the first 5% of the run.
I will be doing this spirit run in the next few weeks. I will post an update after the spirit run.
Again any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Until then I will keep reading.
Jeet