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How do you make fruit brandy mash ?


Reiner

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   Im pretty sure that the process involves grinding down the fruit and adding it to water , but I suspect theres much more to it than that .  Id appreciate any sort of info .

 

    Thanks ahead of time .

 

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What kind of fermentation and fruit processing equipment do you have available?

You can mash the plums into a fine pulp, add some water - no more than 10-20% by volume, then remove the pits (most of which will sink to the bottom) before fermentation proceeds.

With plums, you can either ferment the plums by simply allowing them to begin fermenting by themselves. This is the best method in my opinion when it comes to clarity of fruit taste - the only caveat with using wild yeast is that you must distill immediately after the fermentation finishes. Or, you can use a commercial yeast like Red Star Cote de Blancs.

In all cases, you will want to make sure the fermentation is not allowed access to open air. This is because the fruit will form a cap during fermentation, and this cap can become infected if allowed access to oxygen.

Best of luck.

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15 hours ago, MDH said:

What kind of fermentation and fruit processing equipment do you have available?

You can mash the plums into a fine pulp, add some water - no more than 10-20% by volume, then remove the pits (most of which will sink to the bottom) before fermentation proceeds.

With plums, you can either ferment the plums by simply allowing them to begin fermenting by themselves. This is the best method in my opinion when it comes to clarity of fruit taste - the only caveat with using wild yeast is that you must distill immediately after the fermentation finishes. Or, you can use a commercial yeast like Red Star Cote de Blancs.

In all cases, you will want to make sure the fermentation is not allowed access to open air. This is because the fruit will form a cap during fermentation, and this cap can become infected if allowed access to oxygen.

Best of luck.

   Just a few barrels at the moment .  Can the pits be removed before adding water to the pulp by the way ? Or is it important that they be removed only after water has been added to the pulp ?

 

  Anyways thanks for the answer .

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Make sure you get all the pits and stalks out.

In my experience with cherries and apricots the spirit is horrible if the pits are left in.

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  Id also like to ask if the quality of fruit matters when making brandy . In other words can inferior quality fruit be used to make decent brandy mash ? Im not talking about rotting fruit by the way , just inferior quality that most fruit merchants would happily give away to you for free .

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You want whole, sound and ripe fruit. Many merchants, especially small growers who sell to picky consumers at farmer's markets or farm stands will have stuff that doesn't look pretty but still meets those requirements. Often referred to as seconds, processing quality or juice quality. 

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