šljivovica (plum brandy)

[kapo]

I am starting a new project to produce plum brandy which is a popular drink from the slavic regions of europe (and costs too bloody much at bottle shops here in Oz).

Depending on country, could also be called (from Wikipedia):
Slivovitz, Slivovitsa, Serbian: шљивовица, Bulgarian: сливовица, Czech: slivovice, German: Sliwowitz, Bosnian: šljivovica, Croatian: šljivovica, Hungarian: sligovica, Italian: slivovitz, Macedonian: сливова, Polish: śliwowica, Romanian: şliboviţă, Slovak: slivovica, Slovene: slivovka, Yiddish: שליוואָוויץ, Ukrainian: слив'янка

I was introduced to this by my father and it is now one of my preferred spirits, 2nd to a good aged scotch.

My 2nd cousin overseas runs one of the village stills (hidden in the back woods near a creek old-school style) and he produces about 1000 litres each harvest so I have a good source of info (via translation) on how the traditional product is made.

I think I will have to adapt it and develop a recipe for Aussie conditions though. For starters, we probably dont even have the same plum variety (plums are in season from December to April here depending on location and variety). Then they don't add yeast or anything so I am worried about the type of wild yeasts (and poisons) we may have lingering on our local plum varieties + I would not be surprised if our plums are treated to kill wild yeasts for longer shelf life and would not naturally ferment on their own readily anyway.

Before I get too invloved experimenting with recipes, can I ask if has anyone here has successfully made this brandy (or similar) before ? ...or am I the guinea pig / mad scientist?

[BackyardBrewer]

I'm pretty sure your experience is the same for any fruit ferment.

Croweater has an awesome thread here on his fig ferment and distill.

I have a vested interest as I have a lot of fruit but I would say you totally need a strong fruit/grape yeast... if you want to get the most out of your run then leave nothing to chance and maximise your abv in the ferment.

[emptyglass]

I got some on the shelf I made 2 seasons ago. Not a bad drop.

Gotta use blood plums. The store bought variety is invariably been in cold store, and most of it is polisied for presentation, so you loose all the natural yeast.
Plums that you think would make good eating are best. I was told you should use fruit thats dropped to the ground- it has maximum sugar. But unless you can beat the critters to it, most of that dissapears from my trees.

My czech mate father told me how they used to do it, pretty much in line with the traditional method, but I changed it a bit after my first batch. I made cuts and oaked it a bit.
Since found mulberry tree is what you want for flavoring this one, but oak worked ok.

As you say, the imported stuff is a bit pricey. Good luck, its worth a go.

[crow]

Hi this is a thread I've be following on HD. I intend to use this method this season
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 38&t=30692

[kapo]

Thanks for that link! Confirms some of my concerns about shop plums and wild yeast too (ie lack of). I dont have the privilege of growing my own plums, so I may have to get a wine yeast to get things started by the sound of it

[crow]

Thanks for that link! Confirms some of my concerns about shop plums and wild yeast too (ie lack of). I dont have the privilege of growing my own plums, so I may have to get a wine yeast to get things started by the sound of it

You might be able to get some fresh from a local market ;-)