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It is still a bit harsh. It definitely needs some time to age. The smell is fantastic though. Nice apple notes.

So I finally got around to running this apple brandy. It is going to have to age for a while, on toasted apple wood. I am nuke aging a pint to get an idea what it will take like after normal aging. I ended up with a gallon of 80 proof brandy.

This the my column and condenser. Here is a look inside the keg, with the heating element installed. This is the heating element. I got the one with the 1.5 inch tri clamp and L6-30P plug. Here are a couple close up shots of the clamps that hold the bowl down. I hope this gives you a...

Here is the PTFE gasket I made. Lots of wrapping with over 1400 inches of tape.

Well, My kettle was a beer keg. I used it for large batch beer brewing for many years. I recently turned it into a still. The biggest issue was making a PTFE gasket to go between the bowl and the keg.

Nothing yet ..... I am on the final steps to get the still completed. Hopefully I will have it fully assembled, cleaned, vinegar run and sacrificial run in the next couple weeks.

I froze slightly less than a gallon of fresh cider. When thawing, I monitored the volume and stopped when it was at 64 ounces (hlaf gallon). I then used this to backsweeten my hard cider, prior to kegging. So, NO, it is no apple jack.

I forgot to add that I added Campden and metabisulfates to this and let is gas off for a few days before backsweetening. I used the same fresh cider, but I froze it first. When I thawed it, I collected 1/2 gallon of the sugars and apple essence, and added this to the finished cider. FG was 1.010.

Kegged and carbed. The crabapples really added to the tartness of this cider. I treated with campden and metabisulfate, and let it rest for a few days to gas off. I then backsweetened with the same cider that I froze (1 gallon) and thawed and collected 1/2 gallon of the concentrated sugar and...

Kegged and carbed, ready to go. Renamed to Craisin Cider since I made cranberry juice from Craisins. Surprisingly, it doesn't have much cranberry qualities, but very tasty anyway.

Check out the "Yeast Washing" thread on the forum. I do it frequently.

Sure thing

So I racked this cider, and it was down to 1.010, but still fermenting nicely. That gives me about 5.5% ABV right now. I racked it anyway, and have just under 6 gallons in the secondary. It won't be done by this weekend, so I will just let it do its thing and worry about distilling it at a later...

Yes, Please

So far everything is going nicely. Fermentation is moving right along. I will let it go until this weekend, then rack it to the secondary for at least a week or so. More to follow .....

So far everything is going nicely. Fermentation is moving right along. I actually put a blow-off tube into a picture of sanitizer, just in case things went really crazy. I will let it go until this weekend, then rack it to the secondary for at least a week or so. More to follow .....

So far everything is going nicely. Fermentation is moving right along. I will let it go until this weekend, then rack it to the secondary for at least a week or so. More to follow .....

I planted a Chestnut Crabapple tree 1 1/2 years ago. This year I got 6 apples !! That was all. They actually tasted really good. I wish the varmints didn't kill my other trees. Had a Honeycrisp and another Chestnut crabapple.

I picked them off several trees that are across from the hospital in my home town. I had them in the freezer for several years and decided it was time to use them. At one time, I had one of the 4 foot tall super XXXL ziplock bag full of crab apples. I will have to pick some next year now that I...

I took about one gallon (7# 4oz) out of the 5 gallon fermenter, and put it into a new, clean and sanitized gallon water jug, and put it in the freezer. This will be thawed and used as a concentrated apple/sugar source to backsweeten this cider once the fermentation has finished. So I started...