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I have been wanting to try making cherry moonshine from cherry puree. I have two 3lbs. cans of Vintners Harvest Sweet Cherry Puree, I would like to make a 5 gallon mash. I Have a 2 1/2 gallon copper pot still. I plan on doing one slow run, does that make sense? I'm looking for good taste not quantity. 1) Do I need to add pectic enzyme to bring out flavor. Do I need to add tannin or any of the other stuff that is added to wine? 2)What kind of yeast is best? Is distillers yeast ok or EC-1118 or should I use some of each? 3)Should I add some sugar. What starting gravity should I shoot for. Any help to get me started in the right direction would be appreciated. The only response I have gotten to cherry moonshine has been " Poor out the juice from a jar of maraschino cherries and refill with vodka or corn whiskey " Edited by user Saturday, March 07, 2015 9:51:34 PM(UTC)
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I would not add anything.Making beer or wine boiling your wort would cause the pectin to set
(like making jelly), it would cause a cloudy wine/beer.Boiling would loose some flavor and nose . Pasteurize at 140deg for 30 min to kill any wild yeast.
I have made beers with cherrys , I think a Wine yeast with nutrients would the to go.
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I don't think 3 lbs is quite enough in 5 gallons to get any flavor careover. Can you get 3 more lbs or so? The more the better. Of course it really depends on how you run your still and collect the distillate that will determine the final outcome. IMHO once the wash is loaded in the still and your starting to cook I think you should keep your heat up so it PUSHES OR PULLS all the flavor it can over with the hooch. And of course you sure don't want to collect all in one big jug ---- right?? Make good cuts so you can add back some tails if you want after you have a chance to givera good sniff and see what cha got. Anyway, hope it works for you and keep us updated on the progress. And you will absolutely want to add sugar or you wont have any etoh to distill anyway. The yeast you mentioned will work but if you gotta go buy some anyway get the DADY yeast that's "Dry Activated Distillers Yeast" Again this is my opinion and not the gospel but I know it works. Edited by user Monday, March 09, 2015 4:33:58 PM(UTC)
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Sorry one more thing, I have taken a little jar of the cherries you mentioned (juice and all) and poured that in a qt jar and topped off with 100 proof neutral likker and called that Cherry Bomb. Several of my testers liked it. Of course you need the likker first but that's why were here.
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Thanks for the info heeler. I do have 2 cans of puree total of 6.2 lbs. Would you have an idea of a starting gravity? Also what did you mean by IMHO. Would you distill it with the puree in the mash, or should I rack it before distilling?
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Ahhh that might be just right, search and find my Peach/Mango Brandy recipe on the forum and insert your puree in that and that may just be what you need to make it happen. Again it's just a fruit change so it should work. Don't try it and not have all the stuff you need it will just make you unhappy in the end. Follow the recipe for the best results. That's an acronym for ( In My Humble Opinion) --- see it now???? With the starting gravity if you get much above 1080 you'll need a pretty strong yeast and maybe even a Turbo but I don't use them so I know the DADY yeast will work if you keep your gravity at or below 1080. As to the sugar question, if you don't add sugar you wont get any alcohol it's just that simple. Just make a mash with the puree (follow my recipe) and once it's done fermenting you just syphon or rack it into your still and leave any thick and gooey junk in the bottom of the fermenter behind it's really that simple. depending on the yeast it may take 8-15 days to finish, you cant hurry it so just let it work until the airlock stops. Edited by user Tuesday, March 10, 2015 8:50:39 AM(UTC)
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CoyoteRob, wondering if you made that cherry puree wash yet? And if so how did it come out? Just being nosey...
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Hi Heeler, Thanks for asking. I just finished a rum run that came out very good. I haven't started the cherry puree yet. I'm a little nervous of screwing it up. I have a tendency to over think things. It says on the cans of puree that they have a gravity of 1.090-1.100. Now I guess that when I add 2 cans of 3.1 lbs. puree to enough water to equal 5 gallons the gravity will thin out?(If I'm using the right terminology) Then should I add enough sugar to get to 1.080? Other reading I have done says to add pectic enzyme to fruit to bring out the flavor. Any thoughts?  Edited by user Monday, March 23, 2015 9:03:14 AM(UTC)
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the pectic enzymes really do bring more flavor over. It breaks down the cell structure and pectin in fruits and releases the juice
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Quote:the pectic enzymes really do bring more flavor over. It breaks down the cell structure and pectin in fruits and releases the juice +1 on this. I used pectic enzyme on some banana shine wash I'm fermenting out right now. The ec 1118 is also a good choice for fruit washes. One thing to remember is that a lot of fruit washes don't have a lot in the way of nitrogen. This can stress the yeasties and cause hydrogen sulfide (nasty sulfur smell). I use 1 teaspoon of DAP per gallon of wash plus a pinch of Epsom salts. This works really well for me.
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Originally Posted by: coyoteRob  Hi Heeler, Thanks for asking. I just finished a rum run that came out very good. I haven't started the cherry puree yet. I'm a little nervous of screwing it up. I have a tendency to over think things. It says on the cans of puree that they have a gravity of 1.090-1.100. Now I guess that when I add 2 cans of 3.1 lbs. puree to enough water to equal 5 gallons the gravity will thin out?(If I'm using the right terminology) Then should I add enough sugar to get to 1.080? Other reading I have done says to add pectic enzyme to fruit to bring out the flavor. Any thoughts? Ive never seen a can of fruit puree that says anything about gravity but you are correct --- you are over thinking it. (Follow recipe instructions) And as to the pectin idea I don't use it but others have and say it works really well so it certainly wont hurt to add or use it in the recipe. Again you are right, when you add water it will reduce gravity so no worries there...follow the directions it's pretty spelled out as to application. Add sugar to your fermenter, then add puree (if you warm it up it will help melt sugar) then stir until all sugar is melted or as the hoochers like to say --converted-- then add enough water to fill you fermenter (assuming you are using a five gallon bucket) Making sure the sugar is melted is really important so you could heat the puree with a gallon or two of water and then add that to your fermenter and stir well, THEN add enough water to top off. It's pretty hard to screw up this recipe UNLESS you don't have all the ingredients or you don't follow the recipe correctly to start with. So good luck and happy hoochin -- keep us posted. Edited by user Wednesday, March 25, 2015 8:21:40 AM(UTC)
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