Plum Brandy advice wanted
Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2019 12:26 pm
I’m looking for advice on distilling brandy from some of our more experienced brandy makers. I’ve made lots of whiskey, rum, and neutral but only one batch of brandy and that was years ago, so while I know how to distill and make cuts I’m not up to speed on brandy specific techniques. I’ll share what I have planned and ask a few specific questions along the way. Feedback from anyone with brandy expertise is welcome.
I’m planing to distill a batch of plum wine for a friend who would like this distilled on a pot still. (Why it must be a pot? If it turns out nice they will be getting their own pot still)
I read about some brandies made with one pass on a pot still but most say two passes are required. I’m guessing the one pass brandies are made from exceptionally good quality and higher ABV wine to result in a single pass with both good taste and high enough ABV. I’m currently planning on a double pass. Would a third pass, or use of a thumper for the spirit run just strip flavor away or is this something I should consider?
I know wine can contain a lot of foreshots so I will be pulling foreshots slowly on each run. I’m not going by any specific volume to pull, but rather will be letting my nose tell me when I am past the fores.
Plums
Anything special I need to know about distilling or making cuts with plums specifically?
Equipment
Regarding passive reflux, is more or less better? I have a short copper pot head only 1’ tall. I could add a 2’ x 3” copper spool for additional head space/passive reflux if it would be a benefit the spirit. I can add a lot more height/space if needed.
I’m guessing my head contains enough copper, but I could easily add a roll of seasoned copper mesh if it would help. Not planning on that currently.
Strip run
First pull fores slowly. On the strip I will let it run well into tails, down until I’m pulling around 10% off of the still.
Are there any tricks at this stage to improving the profile of my brandy? Example: some folks like to pre heat their rum charge well in advance of the distillation and hold this hot temp for a spell to increase esters.
The wine is clear so I’m not worried about a scorch, but I do have a couple of big thumpers if steam stripping has any advantages.
Spirit run
First pull fores slowly. The spirit run will be done relatively slow and at a constant power level to minimize smearing.
Collection
I use paper filters off of the spout to keep the jars clean.
Collection up front will be done in small jars to ensure lots of resolution for my heads cut which is where I know a lot of the fruity goodness is located. Should I do the same for the tails side of the run?
Should I be collecting deep into tails, or is this just a waste of energy/time?
Cuts
I’m not sure what my cuts should look like. For me I have different cut preferences between rum and whiskey, but I don’t know what is typical for a brandy. I suspect the heads cut to be fairly wide (keeping more) but I don’t even have an opinion on the tails cut for a plum brandy. I’ve read just one or two general brandy comments that some of the fruity goodness can be found down in the tails, but these comments seem to be outliers. Anything specific I should be looking out for here?
Unfortunately I don’t know yet if or how my friend intends to age the brandy. I suspect this will impact cut decisions. If it will be aged on wood for any amount of time, how will this impact heads cut and tails cut specifically? My gut tells me go deeper into heads but leave the tails relatively clean.
Any advice of feedback is appreciated.
Yes, I have read Cranky’s thread and I will again. Any other threads you recommend?
Otis
I’m planing to distill a batch of plum wine for a friend who would like this distilled on a pot still. (Why it must be a pot? If it turns out nice they will be getting their own pot still)
I read about some brandies made with one pass on a pot still but most say two passes are required. I’m guessing the one pass brandies are made from exceptionally good quality and higher ABV wine to result in a single pass with both good taste and high enough ABV. I’m currently planning on a double pass. Would a third pass, or use of a thumper for the spirit run just strip flavor away or is this something I should consider?
I know wine can contain a lot of foreshots so I will be pulling foreshots slowly on each run. I’m not going by any specific volume to pull, but rather will be letting my nose tell me when I am past the fores.
Plums
Anything special I need to know about distilling or making cuts with plums specifically?
Equipment
Regarding passive reflux, is more or less better? I have a short copper pot head only 1’ tall. I could add a 2’ x 3” copper spool for additional head space/passive reflux if it would be a benefit the spirit. I can add a lot more height/space if needed.
I’m guessing my head contains enough copper, but I could easily add a roll of seasoned copper mesh if it would help. Not planning on that currently.
Strip run
First pull fores slowly. On the strip I will let it run well into tails, down until I’m pulling around 10% off of the still.
Are there any tricks at this stage to improving the profile of my brandy? Example: some folks like to pre heat their rum charge well in advance of the distillation and hold this hot temp for a spell to increase esters.
The wine is clear so I’m not worried about a scorch, but I do have a couple of big thumpers if steam stripping has any advantages.
Spirit run
First pull fores slowly. The spirit run will be done relatively slow and at a constant power level to minimize smearing.
Collection
I use paper filters off of the spout to keep the jars clean.
Collection up front will be done in small jars to ensure lots of resolution for my heads cut which is where I know a lot of the fruity goodness is located. Should I do the same for the tails side of the run?
Should I be collecting deep into tails, or is this just a waste of energy/time?
Cuts
I’m not sure what my cuts should look like. For me I have different cut preferences between rum and whiskey, but I don’t know what is typical for a brandy. I suspect the heads cut to be fairly wide (keeping more) but I don’t even have an opinion on the tails cut for a plum brandy. I’ve read just one or two general brandy comments that some of the fruity goodness can be found down in the tails, but these comments seem to be outliers. Anything specific I should be looking out for here?
Unfortunately I don’t know yet if or how my friend intends to age the brandy. I suspect this will impact cut decisions. If it will be aged on wood for any amount of time, how will this impact heads cut and tails cut specifically? My gut tells me go deeper into heads but leave the tails relatively clean.
Any advice of feedback is appreciated.
Yes, I have read Cranky’s thread and I will again. Any other threads you recommend?
Otis