Plum Brandy

[MacStill]

All I can say about this gear through 4 plates is...... WOW! :drool:

[Ryno]

HI Brains trust.

I ran my first batch of plum brandy on the weekend. I have laid out the cuts and kept the good stuff. My question is. This stuff has a great smell but doesn't have a lot of flavour. Will this flavour develop with ageing. And if so how do you age this stuff (ie wood chips etc) Also is there anything you can add to it? I ask this because I have 400 litters of the stuff and a little variety might be nice.

[BackyardBrewer]

I'd do some as white dog, some on heavy char American oak, some on toasted French oak, some as a maceration on some fruit too (plums if you can get them - maybe frozen? Or raisins)

Scrap than it sounds like its actually no good. Just send me your address and I'll come and take that muck off your hands...it's probably toxic :-)

[MacStill]

Just give it a little rest on some oak Ryno, I think you'll find the subtle flavours develop in short time.

Or you could put it all back on the pulp for a rest then re run.

I'm sure crow will be along to give you the best advice, he's the guru when it comes to this gear :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Ryno]

I'd do some as white dog, some on heavy char American oak, some on toasted French oak, some as a maceration on some fruit too (plums if you can get them - maybe frozen? Or raisins)

Scrap than it sounds like its actually no good. Just send me your address and I'll come and take that muck off your hands...it's probably toxic :-)

cheers for that. I have some French oak, so will try that one.

how much fruit do you macerate? ie 2 plums per litre or is there no hard and fast rule.

[Ryno]

Just give it a little rest on some oak Ryno, I think you'll find the subtle flavours develop in short time.

Or you could put it all back on the pulp for a rest then re run.

I'm sure crow will be along to give you the best advice, he's the guru when it comes to this gear :handgestures-thumbupleft:

no doubt I will be putting it back for a re run.

One thing I did notice. Hopefully Crow or yourself can help. The tails were really hard to pick by smell. But it was a different story with flavour. It seemed to have a slight tannin taste (like tea). However, I put a small amount of sugar (1/4 tea spoon to 200ml of product at 90% ABV) and noticed it disappeared. Am I just masking the flavour or is the sugar taking out the tannin (or what ever the by-product is)

[crow]

Yeah someone did explain to me once why sugar/syrup smooths spirit but I seem to be experiencing a mental block on it right now. No any tannin that was there still will be but yeah it does change chemically when combined with other compounds :-B aging in wood would have a similar effect, sounds like you went a tad deep into your tails. This is not necessarily a bad thing, a lot of guys do this deliberately with stone fruit brandies, me included :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Edit just read back a bit yeah a lot of the flavours are in fact in the tails

[MacStill]

Well I ran a batch of this through yesterday and the flavour is amazingly different to the run I did a month ago of the very same stuff, the only thing I can think of is that is has sat on the marc for that whole time & the wine was really cleared beautifully.

:think:

[crow]

yeah ok , is it better? the reason I ask is I have 100 ltrs or so that has been sitting for nearly three months. Its been racked and just waiting to run it in a week or so :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Cane Toad]

After the 4th glass,who can tell the difference :snooty: :snooty: :laughing-rolling:

[MacStill]

yeah ok , is it better? the reason I ask is I have 100 ltrs or so that has been sitting for nearly three months. Its been racked and just waiting to run it in a week or so :handgestures-thumbupleft:

OH shit yeah, the flavour is quite strong now.... much better :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Cane Toad]

It should be at 65% ABV :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

[MacStill]

I can tell you all right now I won't be mixing tails with this :naughty: the amount of flavor & the depth of it is amazing :dance:

[crow]

Ran another 80 ltrs of plums last night. Of cause a storm hit just as I started :-| and then I ran out of gas halfway through but other that that seems the product is even better after sitting around for 3 months. A very nice drop :handgestures-thumbupleft:
2 more runs and I should be done

[vsboost]

Well done crow :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Ryno]

Ran another 80 ltrs of plums last night. Of cause a storm hit just as I started :-| and then I ran out of gas halfway through but other that that seems the product is even better after sitting around for 3 months. A very nice drop :handgestures-thumbupleft:
2 more runs and I should be done

Crow, I have about 200 litres of this stuff just sitting there for about 1 1/2 months. Should I just leave it for another 2 months then run it through? Is it worth the weight? The last lot a ran through the still (about 2 weeks ago) I aged with some French oak and the stuff is unbelievable. Only problem is it has set a new bench mark (for me) and now everything else is not up to scratch.

[crow]

I will compare it sometime today but in saying that the longer its left the more chance of infection. Mine was not left out of choice and I have been (dare I say it out loud) lucky. I wouldn't like to push that luck to far

[Ryno]

Rodger that Crow. I don't think I will push my luck. This stuff is too good as it is to risk. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[crow]

Wondering how thick is to thick. This chutney is the dregs of the dregs and the thickest shit I've ever charged a boiler with. I tried to strain it every way I knew but it wouldn't go through anything finer than chicken wire

[Kimbo]

Are you really gunna distill that? :wtf:
looks like some sort of weird ointment me grandmother used. :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:
Is that just the lees? was there a nice clear wash on top of it?