Applejack Attack!!!

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jamesjensen1068

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Sorry for the title, just trying to get your attention.:mug: Ok I've got 20 gallons of apple cider going in my basement. I'm thinking of making some Applejack with a 5 gallon batch. I think that I want to oak it too. So here are some of my questions

1.How much final product should I expect from a 5 gallon batch (1 gallon...more?)

2. Should I oak it before or after I make it into applejack?

3. It finished at 7.3 ABV. What ABV would I expect in the final product

4. Is there any way to scientifically determine the ABV/Proof after I've converted it over to applejack?

5. Would there be any benefit (taste) to run it thru a Britta Pitcher charchoal filter?

Thanks
 
Distillation of any sort is illegal. That includes distillation by heat and freezing.
 
Spirits

You cannot produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant. [See 26 U.S.C. 5601 & 5602 for some of the criminal penalties.] There are numerous requirements that must be met that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal or beverage use. Some of these requirements are paying excise tax, filing an extensive application, filing a bond, providing adequate equipment to measure spirits, providing suitable tanks and pipelines, providing a separate building (other than a dwelling) and maintaining detailed records, and filing reports. All of these requirements are listed in 27 CFR Part 19.

Spirits may be produced for non-beverage purposes for fuel use only without payment of tax, but you also must file an application, receive TTB's approval, and follow requirements, such as construction, use, records and reports.


Source: http://www.ttb.gov/faqs/genalcohol.shtml
 
Spirits

You cannot produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant.

Source: http://www.ttb.gov/faqs/genalcohol.shtml

i would argue that freeze 'distillation' is not distillation at all but partial fractionation, if distillation (come on wikipedia) is defined as separation "based on differences in their volatilities in a boiling liquid mixture"
 
Sorry for the title, just trying to get your attention.:mug: Ok I've got 20 gallons of apple cider going in my basement. I'm thinking of making some Applejack with a 5 gallon batch. I think that I want to oak it too. So here are some of my questions

1.How much final product should I expect from a 5 gallon batch (1 gallon...more?)

2. Should I oak it before or after I make it into applejack?

3. It finished at 7.3 ABV. What ABV would I expect in the final product

4. Is there any way to scientifically determine the ABV/Proof after I've converted it over to applejack?

5. Would there be any benefit (taste) to run it thru a Britta Pitcher charchoal filter?

Thanks

6. is there enough advil in the world to counteract 1 gallon of applejack
 
Ok so the fact that it is legal....would anyone like to answer the questions???

dinnerstick....all things in moderation
 
1. The answer to this question depends on things like ABV, temperature used, and how effective you are at getting the resulting liquid. You should expect more than 1 gallon though. Although I am not that familiar, I believe each reduction causes around 2/3 volume to be left.

2. After.

3. I read a formula...but I remember thinking that you could just multiply the ABV by 1 + the percentage the liquid was reduced.

4. If you have a refractometer and a hydrometer you can use the readings to determine the "OG". That isn't all that scientific, but its the best you can do without a microscope.

5. Not to my knowledge, but you can always try it. It would probably change the taste, but it depends on what kind of water you used to begin with what changes would be made.
 
So what you are saying is that you would use the OG and FG like in normal brewing except you'd subtract the numbers in the opposite order and multiple by 131.
 
So what you are saying is that you would use the OG and FG like in normal brewing except you'd subtract the numbers in the opposite order and multiple by 131.

Find it for the cider, like you did. 7.3% ABV.

If you have 5 gallons now, and you end up with 3 gallons, you can reasonably estimate by multiplying 7.3% by 1 2/5, or 10.2%.

To get to 80 proof or whatever you would need to do boiling distillation, which is indeed illegal. Freeze distillation is much less potent. Keep in mind as well that any imperfection in the product will be magnified.
 
1. Agree with DKershner probably more than a gallon, but it depends on how many times you run the process. You should siphon off the liquid when about 1/3 is frozen. So the volume you lose will decrease each time.

2. After, you'll have a better feel for the oaking level. No telling how the concentration is going to affect that.

3. Tough to tell without several measurements and plenty of math. The part that is frozen is not just water, but a mixture of mostly water and some alcohol.

4. Refractometer, OG, yada yada yada... or send it to a lab for scientific testing, LOL.

5. Benefit, maybe. I doubt I would harm it. Plenty of distilled beverages make good use filtering.
 
Instead of wasting 5 gallons of good cider on something that will not end up anywhere near 80 proof, why not buy the real thing? http://www.lairdandcompany.com/products_applebrandy.htm

Note: The applejack has grain spirits added to it, the apple brandy is the traditional "applejack".

Because there is the "Yeah I've done that" factor to it. May taste like satan's anus or it may be good. It cost me less than $15 to make 5 gallons of cider. I just spent about $14 in Chicago Midway airport for two pints of Guinness....so I'm not worried about it.

The Laird's apple brandy does look good. May have to try it some time.

Cheers
 
1. A lot more than you think, every time you freeze the solution and remove water you depress the temperature that it will freeze at next time, so the % alc depends on how cold you can get it

2. I would wait

3. Depends on how cold you can get it

4. If you send me a small sample (not kidding) i can analyze it for ABV Ive done this before on a 21.5% abv impy stout I brewed up a while back

5. No, but it would probably remove apple flavor from the jack, and you wont get anywhere near a level of alc that would require that anyway

Thanks
 
By the way Ryane....I checked out your blog. You are added to my list of Brewing Heroes. A lot of cool beers and what adventures in brewing you've had.

Cheers mate!
 
those charcoal filters are far more potent than i ever though- do a blind tasting on some tap water if you have never done so. i was surprised the difference they actually make, as i always thought they were just a ripoff. i would think that they would get a lot of the "interesting" (ie headachey) stuff out of your mix, and with it some of the character of the drink. and probably get clogged up in the process. but then again i don't really know what i'm talking about, so there is always that to consider.
as for dry ice though, i think that a low % ethanol solution will freeze solid very quickly at the -60ish C temp required to freeze CO2. i know that 70% ethanol is still liquid that low, viscous but still liquid (often used to force DNA out of aqueous solution), but maybe look up what % freezes through at what temp. i guess to make applejack you need to freeze slowly rather than freeze thoroughly.
right; enough BS, back to my westmalle dubbel!
 
dinnerstick - google on youtube brita filters and cheap vodka, they did a tasting with supposed vodka tasters and they apparently picked the cheap vodka ran thru a brita rather than the $$$ stuff
 
wow... this is gonna save me $$! i'll get one bottle of ketel1 and refill it with filtered popov's.
nah i'm more of an islay whisky man
 
wow... this is gonna save me $$! i'll get one bottle of ketel1 and refill it with filtered popov's.
nah i'm more of an islay whisky man

Don't think so. Have you seen the price of those Britta filters anymore? You come out ahead buying the good stuff to begin with.
 
I happened to be at Costco today and notice that they have 10lb bags of cane sugar for $6. I also realized that I had a carboy of Apfelwein at home ready to be bottled.

I bought some juice and sugar and went home to bottle the old and put in a batch of new with 10lbs of sugar in it. Its probably going to taste like rocket fuel until it ages for a very long time, so I plan on trying the whole freezing thing after about a month. Its been zero or less here all week, so I dont think it'll be a problem.
 
Zero won't do ya much good. -20F will get ya 20%ABV when it's done.

I found a chart I was off a little before in rounding.

Temperature (F/C) % Alc.
10 / -12.2 = 8
5 / -15.0 = 11
0 / -17.8 = 14
-5 / -20.6 = 17
-10 / -23.3 = 20
-15 / -26.1 = 24
-20 / -28.9 = 27
-25 / -31.7 = 30
-30 / -34.4 = 33
 
I have heard the easiest way is to freeze it in a plastic container and when it's done, take a razor knife and slice the plastic on the side towards the bottom to collect the liquid thats left. Leave the ice behind obviously.
 
My idea was to put the wine into 1 gallon milk jugs and place in a large cooler with blocks of dry ice. After it was frozen, I was going to cut a slit into the side and poor off the liquid. The 20% I ferment has been fine for me so I never did it.
 
I just tried a little bit I made last year. I actually had it out at 50 below!

But unfortunately it tastes horrible, hahahaha.
 
I just tried a little bit I made last year. I actually had it out at 50 below!

But unfortunately it tastes horrible, hahahaha.

I figure that it will taste horrible too, so I'll probably only do it to about half of my batch.
 
The irony here is that when you freeze it, you concentrate *Everything* that won't freeze..... so you concentrate acids, esters, Methanol, Fusel alcohols, and all the rest... You get high gravity battery acid headache juice - sounds appealing!

This is probably a good example that just because a little bit of a good thing is great, a lot of it isn't....
 
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