2009 Grappa batches

[BillHoo]

OK. Finally hooked up with the local winery for their Cabernet pressings.

After the four batches I did last year with Pinot Grigio must, I pretty much have a handle on grappa making without that really nasty bitter taste.

As a recap 5 pounds of sugar, with 3 gallons of pressings and 5 gallons of water with a package of EC1118, a pinch of epsom salt, and a good pinch of DAP made a great grappa. Using 10 pounds of sugar resulted in the nasty bitter taste.

But of course. I got home late after picking up the Cabernet pommace and forgot to look at my notes.

I only decided to do 2 batches this year.

Batch 1: I put 10 pounds sugar, big pinch of DAP, pinch of epsom salt, and a pack of EC1118.

Batch 2: I had just put in 6 pounds of dissolved sugar when I decided to take a break and check my notes! Aaagh!

Well, I didn't want the bitterness to show up in Batch #1 again, so I decided to start ladelling in liquid from batch number 1 to Batch 2 and adding water to even up the volume in both.

So by guestimation in the end, this is what each batch is composed of:
BATCH 1 FINAL: 7.5 pounds sugar, 3 gallons of Cabernet Pommace, big pinch of DAP, pinch of Epsom Salt, and a little less than a pack of EC 1118 and 5 gallons of water.
BATCH 2 FINAL : 7.5 pounds sugar, 3 gallons of Cabernet Pommace, big pinch of DAP, pinch of Epsom Salt, a little more than a pack of EC1118 AND a half cup of the leftover yeast sediement that I have kept in my fridge from last year.

Now another difference from last years grappa is that I am using pommace from Cabernet grapes - the pressing left over AFTER fermentation and pressing. I surmise that there is a lot of leftover yeast on the pommace to contribute to the "second" fermentation of grappa. I also hear that Cabernet makes a good grappa.

Last year, I used the must from Pinot Grigio - the pressings BEFORE fermentation into wine.

An hour after pitching, both batches were fermenting vigrously and blew the tops off both vapor locks!

Several cups of nice red juice came out of the vapor locks as well. Luckily, I set the fermentors in my spare bathtub and the whole bathroom smells like wine.

btw The juice tastes really good and I already taste a little alcohol in there!

[blanikdog]

Why do you add sugar to the pressings? Just curious.

blanik

[BillHoo]

I don't know.

That's just the method that I had found on the internet.

I suppose my reasoning is that I can feed the yeast and produce more alcohol that way.

I have seen methods where the pressings are just heated up, maybe with some water to extract the alcohol. That would require a lot of pommace. I do not want to haul that much pommace 60 miles to my home and up to my hi-rise apartment.

[Dnderhead]

if your using grape skins most of the sugar has been removed with prier ferments,depending on the type of wine that was made,
red wine pressing wont have much as they are fermented on the skins, pressings from whites will have a bit more.

[blind drunk]

have seen methods where the pressings are just heated up, maybe with some water to extract the alcohol.

You could use wine instead of water. Sounds good in any case. bd.

[BillHoo]

have seen methods where the pressings are just heated up, maybe with some water to extract the alcohol.

You could use wine instead of water. Sounds good in any case. bd.

Definitely! I have some crappy wine that I don't like. This will go in there.

But the traditional grappa was a way to extract as much flavor as they can from the solids. I'm a cheap bastard and don't intend to spend money on good wine for distillation.

I do believe there are methods to distill wine... I think they call that cognac or brandy.

Anwya, both batches are bubbling away. In a few days I might remove the lid and stir down the cap to evenly distribute the solids,yeast and add some more oxygen.

[myles]

have seen methods where the pressings are just heated up, maybe with some water to extract the alcohol.

But the traditional grappa was a way to extract as much flavor as they can from the solids. I'm a cheap bastard and don't intend to spend money on good wine for distillation.

I may have missed something here, but I thought traditional grappa was just a way of extracting residual alcohol from what was left after an initial fermentation on the pulp and from the lees. Are you using unfermented pressings or post fermented pressings?

I ferment on the fruit, rack it off and run the solids through the still. Although if I had access to unfermented fruit pressings I suppose I might be tempted to try fermenting them too. How does it taste?

[blind drunk]

I think there might be more then one traditional way., depending on where you are. Personally, I always thought that real grappa was as you say; extract the residual alcohol from the pommace with steam. This way you pick up all the delicate volatile floral notes from the pressings. The other traditional method was my neighbor's method - make a second wine with sugar and skins, strip and bottle it. Terrible shit. Cheers, bd.

[rad14701]

blind drunk, it sounds like BillHoo is doing the second wine method... Sure hope he can attain a decent flavor... I tried making pommance wine - once... I doubt distilling it would have helped... It got dumped...

[BillHoo]

Yes. Last year I used unfermented grape must. Frugal Italians would do the second wine method to extract as much flavor as possible from the unfermented skins for their grappa.

I got great reviews for that grappa from my cousins wine making club. To me - IT WAS NASTY STUFF!! One guy said it was the most authentic grappa he had tasted in North America. Just like his italian grandpa used to make!

Yes. Fermented pommace run through the distiller is also another method that frugal italians would extract alcohol in their grappa production.

As I did not want to haul a ton of pommace in my car and haul it up to my hi-rise apartment where I distill on the patio... I used a combination of the two methods which is also described somewhere in this forum as a tradition way in which grappa was made in Italy during the war.

It all depends on whose italian grandpa and from what region you want to follow.

Like bourbon, there are some folks who may argue that Jack Daniels ain't Tennesee Whyskey!

[BillHoo]

It's been a busy year. I hadn't gotten a chance to distill the 2009 grappa batch til today.

I also got a new milk-can potstill from Milehi. GREAT DESIGN!

Much easier for me to set up than my turkey fryer with a steel bowl over the top and my reflux head bolted on.

So far, I tasted the first cut and it has a deep raisin flavor. More so than the 2008 batch that went thru the reflux head, which is understandable.

There's also a strong flavor of chocolate - must be the cabernet grapes.

Looking forward to trying the rest of the cuts as I go through this tonight.

The drip is kinda slow and I have to push the temperature up a bit. I'm thinking that all the grape solids ( skins, seeds, some stems) are getting in the way of the alcohol molecules from escaping. Maybe that stuff acts like reflux. I probably could get even more intense flavor or yield if I strain the wash?

The color is a shade paler than ginger ale.