Home Distiller

Hi Everyone,

So this will be my first time distilling anything and yes I know ive been told that fruits are harder to do. I am Serbian and that’s the choice of drink we like, unfortunately I did have a Grandparent that made it the best, but he passed away before I was old enough to learn. I have some question and hopefully this place can help me. Overview is that I bought 5 bushels of plums about 5 weeks ago and they have been fermenting since, just noticed all the fruit had dropped yesterday so this weekend we are planning on distilling. My questions are as follows:

1. Should I remove the stones before distilling? I see a lot of going back and forth for when you are fermenting but not during distilling.
2. Since I am a noob at distill how am I going to tell when the head is the heart and tails? Can you go by ABV%?
3. By what ive been reading I should stay around 175f-202f temp?


What do you all think I will yield after all is said and done?

Thank you for anyone that can help!!

Start with a simple brandy. Get some wine and distill it in your potstill. Learn to make cuts from something with a little less “sweat equity”. Then, when you know how to distill and make cuts, you can try the plum recipe.

A couple of suggestions tho: 1) don’t include the stones, and 2) don’t use sugar.

I’ve posted a couple of recipe threads already in your welcome thread. Go back there and read them.
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still_stirrin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:09 am
Then, when you know how to distill and make cuts, you can try the plum recipe.

That's going to be an accelerated course ... he's planning to run this weekend. I hope those 5 bushels don't go to waste.

I don't want to dissuade you from fruit but you aren't choosing the easiest route for learning.

There is a lot to know before you run and a lot we don't know in order to answer your questions. What kind of still are you using? Is it new or used? Has it been properly cleaned and seasoned?

A new still needs properly cleaned and seasoned before drinking what comes out of it because the first alcohol run tends to have contaminates from the manufacturing process.

Assuming all that has been done the actual run is subjective. I believe in most places Slivovitz is traditionally distilled on the pulp with the pits in. This website may be helpful in the whole process
http://slivovice.org/
I'm personally not a fan of leaving the pits in, or distilling on the pulp for that matter but it is how most do it and will likely give you the flavors you are looking for.

Cuts are one of those things that are hard to describe and fairly easy to figure out the basics of. Everybody's tastes are different so their cuts are also different. for your first time be conservative with your cuts. Collect in small samples, smell and taste tell you what to keep and what not to. This link might help you.
https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 15&t=11640

Temperature is not going to be your friend in learning how to distill, don't even look at a thermometer.

Some reading for you;

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 7&start=30

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... nt=gws-wiz

Cuts. Note that I do not do single runs for myself, only for friends. If they insist they want single run slivovitz, I make them choose their own cut. Their slivovitz is so bad that I only ever keep a small sample rather than my usual share, but they seem to like it and that's all that really matters.

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 9#p7577419

Guess you can say my still is a pot one it was brought over from Serbia. It has a arm inside to mix the fruit so it doesn’t burn. I’m going to run a clean run this Friday. Thank you for the guys above with links to help me out!

You should look at my slivovitz stories!

Always cook the wine with stones and pulp. I learned that there is lots of flavor and alcohol in the pulp and the stones are difficult to remove.

I was very busy so I am sad I didn't see this sooner.

I want to know how it went.