Plum Brandy

[MacStill]

Well the first small 100L batch I put down is dry & sour as fuck, out of the other 6 lots 4 are going great guns & the last 2 loads of plums soaking in water have developed an infection :angry-banghead:

I dropped a satchel of EC1118 on each of the infected tubs but dont hold much hope as they're already smelling like vinegar :crying-blue:

[crow]

have you got added sugar in them last 2 Mac?

[MacStill]

have you got added sugar in them last 2 Mac?

No mate, they're just sitting in water waiting to soften :wtf:

[emptyglass]

Interesting.

[Brendan]

My shed smells like a lolly shop now, even mrs macs eyes lit up when she came down there this arvo

MY eyes would light up if my missus came into the shed! :wtf:

[MacStill]

furry bubbles :crying-blue:

IMG_1478.JPG

[crow]

Ok yeah that would expose it to infection. I would add some sugar (already dissolved if ya got the head room, inverted if possable) and give the yeast a fighting chance to overwhelm the infection . PS that infection looks more lactic than acetic so I reckon you'll be right if you can get that yeast up and running fast :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MacStill]

Went and bought 80kg of sugar today, but no way I'm going to invert or dissolve all that in a 20L bucket :laughing-rolling: every other plastic container I own is full of plums :crying-blue:

[baldoss]

Just looks like rum to me :-B

[emptyglass]

I don't think its going to be long and your gunna hate plums, if you dont already.

Hey, they were for free, if anythings works, its all good. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[crow]

how about in your boiler otherwise I would just sling some in and stir it in even if its just 6 or so kgs in each for now just to get that yeast cranking

[MacStill]

how about in your boiler otherwise I would just sling some in and stir it in even if its just 6 or so kgs in each for now just to get that yeast cranking

I'll go chuck some in and stir now, might as well smash the plums while I'm there :music-deathmetal:

[adam89]

Okay,

This is where I am at so far.

3x 190L containers each containing the following;
60kgs of plums,
22kgs of sugar
~ 14gms EC-1118

I am a little worried after reading the stories of lovely smells and then Mac worried me about vinegar smell. Mine are not smelling sweet at all, kind of tangy to the nose. Here are a couple pictures from one of my fermenters.

Plums1.jpg

Plums2.jpg

I know they are not chopped/mashed 100% yet. I was hoping tomorrow they have softened a bit and I can do it then

[MacStill]

it looks fine Adam, just like the good ferments I've got going.

[Hill]

So I looked at my plumbs that were soaking and there was mold on the top, I emptied the fermenter rinsed twice and filled up with water and all good :handgestures-thumbupleft: my other 2 batches are going crazy, I stirred them tonight and they smell like heaven.

[BackyardBrewer]

So jealous! Gotta get myself a plumb guy in SA!

[Gas on]

I had a bit of mold in 1 fermenter but threw some sugar & yeast in there its now fermenting nicely. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Im over the smell of plums!! :)) :))

[emptyglass]

That avitar still get me. Surley you're over the smell of a bit of gas???

[MacStill]

Oh well the first lot I put on is finished and clearing nicely, smells unreal and has the rich deep pink colour of red wine.... hopefully I'll get to do a run of it over the weekend :dance:

[crow]

your going to be impressed with this stuff. even hot out the still its not to bad with coke and it just gets better and better :D