Brewhaus Forum
»
General Topics
»
General questions
»
While on the topic of fruit spirits...
 Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/7/2008(UTC)
Posts: 21
Was thanked: 1 time(s) in 1 post(s)
|
"I've tried fermenting the vinters canned fruits and they did turn out pretty good.
Though when trying to prepare fresh fruit for fermentation I keep falling short.
I'm trying to make a pricklypair brandy. The fruit has a very high sugar content (higher than apples or pears), but every time I give it a try I end up with a different sort of foul spelling outcome (that smells like something undesirable fermented in there).
In general my steps are to clean the fruit of any seeds, make sure its as clean I can get it, boil it to kill any undesirables, skim the top to get rid of excess protein, add sugar and reduce everything into a syrup form.
Let that cool, add it to fresh water until I get the desired gravity and ferment.
Is there something I'm missing? Is there any additive I can drop in there to help?
-Al"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/8/2008(UTC)
Posts: 12
|
"I and friends have made many prickly pear wines (not destined for distillation) and we always add a bit of something acidic-lemon juice, berries, or something tart.
Makes for a more balanced wine-not sure if it will help your problem or not...
Never have cooked down to a syrup either-just boiled a little bit. I wouldn't add too much sugar-I've tasted too many sickly sweet prickly pear wine, and if you are distilling anyway, it is just wasted."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/7/2008(UTC)
Posts: 21
Was thanked: 1 time(s) in 1 post(s)
|
"I'll give it a shot, the acidity might prevent some of the undesirables from developing as well.
I'm planning on making a brandy of it, distilling half of it to roughly 85% and adding it back to the wine.
Thanks for the advice,
-Al-"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/8/2008(UTC)
Posts: 12
|
Post back and say how it turns out...!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/2/2007(UTC)
Posts: 83
|
Citric acid and some DAP would help alot.Are you using wine yeast?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/7/2008(UTC)
Posts: 21
Was thanked: 1 time(s) in 1 post(s)
|
"Planning on either using champagne yeast or mead yeast for my next batch.
From what Zymost posted, I was planning on adding citric acid, what Ph should I be roughly aiming for. Not sure of the yeast packets will have a good description of Ph tolerance.
DAP sounds like a good idea as well.
Now all I need is to figure out how to get a bucket of p-pears for relatively cheap."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/7/2008(UTC)
Posts: 21
Was thanked: 1 time(s) in 1 post(s)
|
"Another thing that accrued to me.
I hear some people actually strain the seedless pulp of the fruit to ferment nothing more than the clear juice. Last time I fermented I left the pulp to ferment as well, figured it should have some good flavor value if not for the raw sugar it contains.
Any thoughts about this?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/2/2007(UTC)
Posts: 83
|
"If you ferment the fruit,get a straining bag,and put the fruit in it so it will be easier to remove.I usually set the ph about 4.5-5 for distilling and it wont take but a few tsps of citric to get there depending on the acid content of the fruit you use.Dont use too much DAP,1-2 tsps in 5-6 gallons so it will get all used up durring the ferment.If your going to distill it to make brandy,keep the starting SG lower than normal because you will get more flavor to carry over when you distill it.1060Sg is a good starting number.If you go lower,you will get more flavor to carry over when you distill,but your yield will suffer some.Its a trade off.If you want flavor,you will just have to make a little more.Skip the stripping run on these because you will loose flavor.Just do a single run,and take a larger forshot cut,and make your cuts on the run.
Leave the bag in the fermenter for 5-7 days,and remove it.Some seeds will make bad flavors,so stay away from using them if you can."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/7/2008(UTC)
Posts: 21
Was thanked: 1 time(s) in 1 post(s)
|
"Great advice, thanks Wineo.
As for the straining bag, would it not keep all the pulp trapped and prevent the yeast and DAP from fully accessing it?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/2/2007(UTC)
Posts: 83
|
The yeast will be attracted to the fruit like a magnet so its not a problem at all.Ive been making wine like that for years.It makes it so much eaisier.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/7/2008(UTC)
Posts: 21
Was thanked: 1 time(s) in 1 post(s)
|
Sounds great. What would you recommend as a straining bag for something of that volume?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/2/2007(UTC)
Posts: 83
|
You can get some big ones from a winemaking supplier.I have some that will stretch over a 5 gallon bucket.You still have enough bag left to tie it in a knot.Ive put over 20 lbs of blackberrys in one.You can also have the misses make one if she has a sewing machine.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/29/2006(UTC)
Posts: 12
|
Once again, thanks for the tip. I'll post updates as I get it running.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brewhaus Forum
»
General Topics
»
General questions
»
While on the topic of fruit spirits...
Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.
