Also, i wanted to experiment with something - so i did.
I kept back 5L of the wine and let it settle for another week.
4.9 L @ 13.3% ABV went into the 5L still for a stripping run. medium speed run - about 2 to 3 drops per second
This yield me 1.8 L of low wines at 37% ABV
Edit: ran it down to 2% at the spout
Here comes the perhaps weird part - Elsewhere on this forum i asked a question about using the backset/dunder from the stripping run as a post distillation flavour enhancer. Can't find the thread right now, but here is what we did. Edit: Found it https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 3#p7691863
take the backset while still hot, and pour into large enough pot - and boil away all the water and other nasties left over - until you are left with about 1 cup of liquid - reduce heat and add 1 cup of sugar to make a not so simple syrup. Put it in the fridge until ready to use it - gives about 700ml - this is very sweet with a slight bitter taste at the back of the tongue. More on that later.
The strip ended up sitting on the counter for about a week as i just didn't have time to run it, and when i did, it wasn't sunny (which means i am restricted on how much electricity i can use - fully off grid solar only)
On Tuesday this week i managed to do the spirit run.
into a jar went
* Stripped contents - 1.8 L @ 37%
* 1 cup frozen strawberries
Let it macerate for about 4 hours (while i was running an OEG)
Then put it into the 5 L Alembic along with about 750ml of water to help not burn the berries
Took off 30ml fores and ran it very slowly (1 drop per second max)
I was surprised that the heads were not nasty at all - 250ml @ 77% - good smell and taste
Next 330ml came off at 67% - taste a bit stronger, smell still very good and strawberry present
Next 330ml came off at 47% - taste a little weaker, but smell still good
next 200ml - didn't even test it - taste was bleh and very watery and smell not so fantastic anymore - besides, doing the math, there was almost nothing left anyway.
I let this sit for 48 hours to breath.
Blending time - SWAMBO got involved and each of the three jars smelled and tasted good, so all three went into the mixing and storage jar.
We did not dilute as the mix was around about the 62% mark, and we are not going for baby juice.
Next - grabbed the now very chilled strawberry sugar syrup
put 100ml of the distillate into a glass - and added syrup 15ml at a time until all declared the taste right. (we had accumulated some more tasters by now)
700ml of the syrup (all of it) went into the 900ml of distillate - stirred up, shaken - and final tasting done - math says around 35% ABV
Taste reminded everyone of Kirsberry cherry liqueur type of vibe.
The slight bitterness that was present in the raw syrup went away once mixed with the distillate
Currently in the fridge aging for new years day and beyond
This might sound like a lot of work for basically 2 x 750ml bottles. But it was an experiment and i didn't want to commit too much of the wine to something that might end up being a disaster. It wasn't, but that's beside the point.
Will i do it again? Highly likely - wishing i had kept back the backset of the peach brandy to do the same thing - oh well, next fruit! (Quince anyone?)
Now - off to make some icecream to pour that stuff over!
