Home Distiller

So I did some searching of the forum, and I'm not saying the answer isn't there, but I was unable to find specifically what I'm looking for.

My wife said she found a couple 1/2 gallon jugs of fruit juice (I think apple and cranberry) back in the pantry that had expired and was going to dump them. I said whoa whoa whoa lets just wait a minute here. I'm guessing they are probably fine for consumption just maybe off flavor a bit??? Which brings me to the question of, can I just pour these into a sugar wash as some added fermentable without affecting stuff too much? I'll most likely run it through a reflux column rather than my pot still. However....if I did run it through the pot still, would a gallon of fruit juice in a 6 gallon batch have any flavors that might be a good thing?

TIA for helping out yet another NooB.

I have happened to put real fruit in sugar washes, if it's a small amount it won't affect the taste much unless it contains added artificial flavors. As you said you could combine your juice with a little washing apart and distill, the higher the percentage of juice the more aroma you will have.

even when I use 100% all fruit the taste is still usually pretty subtle, I just got 100 lbs of bananas to make some swill from.

I dont think it will hurt but i dont think it will very subdued if at all noticeable.

I wonder if it would be more effective to do your stripping runs (if using a pot still) then when it comes time to do the spirit run add the juice to the still with the low wines.

Should be fine as long as it doesn't have gobs of preservatives. Check the labels, see if it contains potassium sorbate/benzoate if so it's a no go.

There are quite a few YouTube videos showing people making wine out of bottled fruit juice. Sometimes in the original plastic bottle, with perhaps a balloon lid to keep the CO2 in. They call it wine – but I wouldn't.

I've used all kinds of ripened fruits, canned fruits, bottled fruit juices, jams, jellies, baby food formulas, pasta, old grain flours, old and stiff molasses and honey - or anything else I could lay my hands on, at one time or another. So long as these possess ferment-able sugars and NO PRESERVATIVES. Read your labels carefully. Surprisingly, many commercial fruit juices have no preservatives – instead they opt to terminate microbes by pasteurization.

If your 1/2 gallon jugs of fruit juice smell OK (have no obvious off odor) then use them in your sugar wash by all means; they can only help. This addition will have little influence over the final taste of your product; little if any will carry over after distillation. Sugar washes are not known for their desirable or subtle taste anyway; they just produce ethanol.

I've used apple juice to mash some barley and it was pretty good!

I use cheap wine kits before adding sugar to up my OG for when I do a second ferment on grape skin pomace "grappa-head"..

Like contrahead says - if it has fermentable sugars it'll ferment.

I find lots of juices in the grocery store actually use "white grape" as the main juice then flavor with whatever they want to call it. The white grape juice doesn't have much flavor so check the labels if you're after flavor and use at least some fresh fruit if you can. I've used dried apricots and mango macerated in ciders and wines to give a little subtle flavor boost. I think you'd need a lot for it to be meaningful in a distilled spirit.

Cheers!
-j

I like a little apple nose to a good bourbon. Or how about pear? A jug of juice may get you there dark fruits? How about some prune juice or even a old bottle of wine. It's worth a try. Think of the flavors you enjoy to nose and taste in a good bourbon and add your favorite juice. Subtle flavors is all you need.

As long as a hint of the fruit is a match for the end products you want to use it for, it isn't a problem.