Applejack

[n5odj]

Howdy. My first attempt at making applejack, using the freezer method. I actually left the wine in the freezer too long & pretty much the whole batch was either frozen or slushy. Well, to work with what I had, I skimmed off the ice from the top, but still think I got too much "good stuff" in the process.


Anyway, tasted the final product. The wine from which it is made is excellent & the applejack is good too, but not as strong (alcohol) as I thought it ought to be.


Guess I have no question here, but would like ya'll's comments, flames, etc.


Robert

 

[n5odj]

I've read that the idea is to skim the ice off the top, as it freezes. I left the pot in the freezer too long & the whole batch was ice/slush. So, it was not possible to "skim off the top". Next time, I'll have to plan to be home & available as it freezes.

 

[n5odj]

Update on my first attempt at applejack.


I've read (see above) that one should put the wine in the freezer & skim the ice off the top as if forms. Sounds logical, but the ice wasn't just on top.... the whole thing got slushy/icy. Well, a little lightbulb went on over my head. I got a cheesecloth, poured the liquid/slush/ice mix through it, after the bit that ran through, I balled it up & squeezed the slush/ice, forcing more liquid out. Working like a charm, so far. Now I've put the liquid back into the freezer & it's MUCH slower to freeze, so guess that works.


I started w/ ~3 quarts of wine & now am down to ~1 quart of applejack - fully realizing that my process has a bit of waste.


Robert

 

[n5odj]

BTW, my freezer gets down to 20 below zero, so according to the above website, (if all goes well) I should get to 27% alcohol (54 proof).

 

[n5odj]

Final Update. I finished this batch w/ the last run through the deep freeze/straining & squeezing through a cheesecloth.


Man, is this stuff strong. Definately more like liquor than wine. Not bad, but of course the original wine was good too. Overall, I think it's more trouble than it's worth. My process could no doubt use refinement, but there was a lot of waste...... started w/ 3 quarts of wine & ended up w/ ~ 1/2 winebottle of applejack.


One thing to watch out for... If you do it the same way I did & squeeze the icy/slush/liquid through a cheesecloth, be aware that the liquid is MUCH colder than freezing temperature. Pretty sure the skin on my hands will be peeling off tomorrow. :-0


Robert

 

[OldWino1]

there are books out there on how to build those copper things with out lead solder. just another step for wine.

 

[n5odj]

Yes, one could make a distillery, but I didn't want to do that. It was an experiment.


Robert