apple jack

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Inkdrop said:
OK. There are hundreds of threads on apple jack, and none of them seem to have a step by step with a recipe that actually tastes good. I keep reading threads that say "tastes harsh", but someone always seems to have a friend who made it and it tested great. Is there anyone on here who actually makes applejack, and it actually is good quality. If so, could you please chime in and let us know your process, I would really like to try this.
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My first try actually came out delicious..

I made a gallon of apple wine using 3 cans of apple juice concentrate, a cup and a half of sugar and water to top off to 1 gallon. Fermented with Premier cuvee yeast. Bulk aged to 7 months. Right at 7 months is when the hot alcohol flavor had mellowed considerably and the apple flavor had come out more. I backsweetened it with most of a can of apple juice concentrate. I mention that because the product I concentrated tasted good as is. I think it's key to have a good tasting product to start with before you concentrate it. All those flavors good or bad get concentrated.

I poured out a healthy glass from the gallon water jug to make room for expansion when freezing, drank the glass, then threw it in the freezer. The resulting 1/3 of what I started with was awesome! It was strong but fairly smooth. Lots of apple flavor. I dissapeared entirely the next weekend.
 
I have done this with my hard cider and went so far as to jack" freeze and separate" the Jack twice more. Got it to the point it would no longer freeze just slush. Est 60 proof. Very sweet apple taste and hot alcohol. I had produced 5L. It was actually not a bad after dinner sipper. Like a fine cognac. Flavor did not change over the 11 mos. I consumed this. Recommend be sure to ferment your starting cider absolutely dry as any left over hint of sweet multiplies as does the alcohol. Gently warmed with a cinnamon stick was like sipping warm apple pie. Would have made a great mini ice cream topping or float...... Got to go start me a batch of hard cider just read what I typed.
 
Rambunctious said:
I have done this with my hard cider and went so far as to jack" freeze and separate" the Jack twice more. Got it to the point it would no longer freeze just slush. Est 60%a.b.v.
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What was your starting ABV and how much did it get reduced? Cuz I started with 7-8% and reduced 5 g. to about 1.75 g. I estimate 20%. I can't imagine 60!
 
I think you are right what I had ment was 60 proof. These are of course only estimates. But I can say it would no longer freeze to the point I could strain off any more ice.
 
I have 6-16 oz bottles of hard cider left. Guess I will jack , jack and jack the jack, then a trip to the brew store for an alcohlometer," good excuse for the trip:)", and we will see what I get. The hard cider was 8%ABV. good stuff but jacked , jacked jack was good too.
I accuracy will be compromised due to residual sugars and low content, but WTH. 6 gal of ginger beer ready to bottle.
 
I have 5 gal of Strawberry cider still in a car boy. Painfully dry! Tempted to jack it but not sure I was to give up all that cider. Wonder if the flavor would get lost in the discarded ice.
 
MarkKF said:
I have 5 gal of Strawberry cider still in a car boy. Painfully dry! Tempted to jack it but not sure I was to give up all that cider. Wonder if the flavor would get lost in the discarded ice.
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Take off 2 qts and try it. If it is ok do the rest.
 
I'm definitely going to try to make this one of these days. Think I read enough posts around here that I can do it lol.
 
MarkKF said:
I have 5 gal of Strawberry cider still in a car boy. Painfully dry! Tempted to jack it but not sure I was to give up all that cider. Wonder if the flavor would get lost in the discarded ice.
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In my experience so far, the flavor should not get lost in the ice. Literally all that's left behind is water in the form of ice. You can even see the color drain from the block of ice left behind. The alcohol and associated flavores drip out and therefore concentrating all of the flavors. Fruit flavor and alcohol flavor are both enhanced in this process.
 
Dies anybody know if in the freezing process cloudy goes away to? Or will the apple jack product be cloudy as well
 
I'm reporting back on my apple jack experience.

I had a 6 gallon carboy full of cider sitting in the corner of my room for 8 months now because it turns out I don't like cider and neither does SWMBO. After finding out about apple jack here I tried a test batch in a 6 cup rubbermade container, and it was easy to do. I froze it then put the whole thing upside down in a colander over a bowl. The apple brandy that I collected was interesting enough that I gave it a whirl with the rest.

I put the rest in a 5 gallon bucket and put it in the deep freeze, cranked the temp setting to the coldest option and by morning I had ice....lots of ice:
ice.jpg

This first removal of ice cut the volume in half:
setup.jpg

Back in the freezer it went. The next time cut the volume in half again. I did this 6 times. The last time I had only a tiny amount remaining in the bottom of the bucket, and no more ice would form, not even after leaving it overnight at the coldest setting, which turned out to be -23F. I bottled it in a 750 swing top and a 750 Jim Beam bottle:
finished.jpg

A little more than 5 gallons of hard cider turned into 1.5 liters of apple jack. This stuff is extremely potent though. Turning the freezer down to the lowest setting may have been a mistake as I'm guessing this stuff is at least 60 proof.

It was a neat experiment, but I won't ever do it again. It was a lot of work and I'm not crazy about the end product. At least I have my 6 gallon carboy back in action though.
 
Drop in a cinnamon stick for a couple mos. Come cool Oct. weather sip it like a fine brandy. Yum.


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Turns out we don't have cinnamon sticks, but I did have mulling spices. I poured some applejack on top of the spices in a small container. I'll let that steep for a while and see what comes of it.
 
1 can of AJ concentrate in 1 gallon of finished Jack, add a 1/4 to 1/2 cinnamon stick to each quart. 1 month later it's awesome and smooth
 
1 can of AJ concentrate in 1 gallon of finished Jack, add a 1/4 to 1/2 cinnamon stick to each quart. 1 month later it's awesome and smooth
 
I made some recently and I back sweeten to taste with apple concentrate. My friends and I loved it. I froze the cider in plastic oj bottles and then flipped them upside down in mason jars until the ice in bottle was white and then repeated multiple times .. took too long though .. happy brewing

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I just mad a 1 gallon test batch using Motts apple juice, 2 lbs of honey and EC1118. The taste was great, turns out I prefer the taste of honey rather than the brown sugar I usually use. The only problem is that even after cold crashing for 48 hours and the freezing process, it still turned out pretty cloudy. I didn't bother using any finings as every other batch of Jack I've made turned out crystal clear. Any suggestions as to why it's still cloudy and if there is any way to clear it up?

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DirtyOTG said:
I just mad a 1 gallon test batch using Motts apple juice, 2 lbs of honey and EC1118. The taste was great, turns out I prefer the taste of honey rather than the brown sugar I usually use. The only problem is that even after cold crashing for 48 hours and the freezing process, it still turned out pretty cloudy. I didn't bother using any finings as every other batch of Jack I've made turned out crystal clear. Any suggestions as to why it's still cloudy and if there is any way to clear it up?

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Turns out what you have made is referred to as Cyser an apple honey wine. This will take quite some time to clear and flavor will be better after at least 6 mos.


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I pour the cider into multiple 2 liter bottles, freeze hard, and then turn upside down until ice is almost clear. At that point, there is still alcohol in the ice. I melt the ice completely at room temperature, and then refreeze to get the last bit out.
 
Rambunctious said:
Turns out what you have made is referred to as Cyser an apple honey wine. This will take quite some time to clear and flavor will be better after at least 6 mos.


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Click to expand...

Thanks, the initial taste was pretty good. A couple days later, not so much. Before freezing, I was at about 13‰ abv. I ended up with a full 1 QT mason jar after freezing. Should this be aged refrigerated or unrefrigerated? I'm fairly new to brewing and I wasn't sure if it would be OK to leave it unrefrigerated. I have heard some people say that once you've jacked the cider that it won't get any better with age, I have also heard the opposite. What has been your experience as far as aging jack?
 
DirtyOTG said:
Thanks, the initial taste was pretty good. A couple days later, not so much. Before freezing, I was at about 13‰ abv. I ended up with a full 1 QT mason jar after freezing. Should this be aged refrigerated or unrefrigerated? I'm fairly new to brewing and I wasn't sure if it would be OK to leave it unrefrigerated. I have heard some people say that once you've jacked the cider that it won't get any better with age, I have also heard the opposite. What has been your experience as far as aging jack?
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Again it is not really apple jack but rather a freeze distilled wine or more appropriately concentrated Cyzer. Refrigeration is unnecessary as the alcohol content after freeze distillation if indeed it was 13% A.B.V. to start with is now some where around 26%A.B.V. OR 52 proof much like a shnapps. The flavor will may or may not change over time. The original wine would get better with age and actually have a very complex flavor. Somewhat reminded me of Sam Adams triple bock.


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Setesh, I have been wrong before, and I may be wrong again, but here goes... Let's say you have 5 gallons of 10% hard cider . 10% of 5 gallons is 64 ounces, therefore, theoretically you have 64 ounces of 200 proof cider. It would seem there is way more alcohol left in your ice from your picture.
64 oz 200 proof, 128 oz (1 gallon) would be 100 proof. I know you get it. I have gone through multiple refreezes, and I no I don't what the proof of what mine is, but I can tell you after re freezing a couple of times, the cider burns all the way down my throat. :)
 
I too have freeze distilled apple jack multiple times until it would no longer freeze just make a very loose slush after several days to a week in the deep freeze. Yes it burns all the way down would be really good I think with a sour apple flavor. I estimate the proof was about 60-70 proof.


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Apple Jack does get better with age, mine sure did. The one caveat to the whole deal is how much sugar is left when you "Jack" it. I had a bottle of something I thought was Jacked from May of last year. The bottle was about half full, which is why I thought it was jacked, and I got a major fssss when I cracked the cap, I mean solid like a bottle of soda. I was worried for a second and then the bubbles started coming from the lees in the bottom. Champagne fizzy, but not terribly dry, even with second fermentation. I am stumped, there is no logical reason for it to re carbonate. I will say it wasn't like apple wine, at least in my experience. Oh well, I'll chill it and split the rest with the wife later.

EDIT: This post made me wonder if and/or where did I have some AJ stashed. Aha!, I found it. I had forgotten I had two old fashioned glass flasks tucked away filled with my second or third batch of AJ. I remember the AJ was a little syrupy at the time, or I thought/remembered it was. Okay, Wow!, The bottles had in in a cool dark place since September of last year, and I had a small sip in case it went bad, and it was obvious there was alcohol in it, talk about smooth, Did I say, Wow yet? It wasn't boozy in the least. My wife and I split a couple of ounces, and back to the dark it went.
There was just the tiniest dusting of the lees in the bottles, so I poured carefully not to disturb it. I now need to use the MIB neuralizer flash forget it thing, so I won't be wanting to check it's progress. ;)
 
Had a little incident with starting new batch of hard cider. Using an ale yeast I harvested from a commercial brew. I had under pitched so in an attempt to get it rolling. I decided to make a half batch and aerate for a day or two until it got rolling. Bad idea worked fine the day I pitched it and the next morning no problem. Not so well that evening apparently it was going better than I thought so when I attempted to shake it up it blew its top and sprayed cider across two rooms and a hallway floor to ceiling. LOL... Oh well live brew and learn I guess.


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does anyone use potassium sorbate before jacking ? I just jacked some but am worried that once I put in jars and age fermentation will happen again.. what do you guys think ??? after jacking can I still give it some potassium sorbate to stop fermentation ??
 
Bryceshu said:
does anyone use potassium sorbate before jacking ? I just jacked some but am worried that once I put in jars and age fermentation will happen again.. what do you guys think ??? after jacking can I still give it some potassium sorbate to stop fermentation ??
Click to expand...
I do Not....and have Not had any issues.
Cheers [emoji111]
 
No worries, mate. I usually add 1 ounce of FAJC to 11 ounces of applejack and have had no re-ferment issues at all. For what it is worth, I add 3 ounces of FAJC to the first 9 ounces of melted ice water and have had no re-ferment issues there either due to the residual alcohol in the ice.
 
awesome thanks guys, my first round of jack came out super delicious, kind of has a maple smell to it. going to age it and see how it tastes this fall!
 
The longer it ages the better tasting and smoother it becomes. I just opened a 2 year old bottle a few days ago and was just blown away how smooth and flavorful it was/is.
 
MindenMan said:
The longer it ages the better tasting and smoother it becomes. I just opened a 2 year old bottle a few days ago and was just blown away how smooth and flavorful it was/is.
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What's the longest you've aged a batch?

Wonder what the taste/time bell curve looks like....hmmm [emoji111]
 
Two years is the longest any of my a/j has survived. New and 9 months: major difference, 16 to 18 months, different from 9 months, and 24 months there is even greater difference.
I did a lot of study on the origins and processes used 100 years ago or more and here is the short version: the old timers added to a 16oz bottle, 1 tablespoon of activated charcoal (to adsorb off-flavors) and 4 tablespoons of white sugar. They would then seal the bottles and age them hanging in their attics for a minimum of 2 years. I am not sure why 2 years was the "magic number" when it came to aging back then, but I am sure they used the trial-and-error method just like so many of us have
 
Following the information I read early on I did not add activated charcoal, but I did add some white sugar. At about six months in age the a/j had what I thought was a port/sherry flavor to it; it wasn't "bad" in any way but I was concerned at a later date if the port/sherry flavor would still be present later. At two years old I can tell you there was no port/sherry flavor present, so maybe that is why the a/j was historically aged for two years.
 
Hey Lemonade, I take no offense to your asking me because you are new; if I am sure about the attic storage? Do your own research and then get back to me, will you?
 
MindenMan said:
Two years is the longest any of my a/j has survived. New and 9 months: major difference, 16 to 18 months, different from 9 months, and 24 months there is even greater difference.
I did a lot of study on the origins and processes used 100 years ago or more and here is the short version: the old timers added to a 16oz bottle, 1 tablespoon of activated charcoal (to adsorb off-flavors) and 4 tablespoons of white sugar. They would then seal the bottles and age them hanging in their attics for a minimum of 2 years. I am not sure why 2 years was the "magic number" when it came to aging back then, but I am sure they used the trial-and-error method just like so many of us have
Click to expand...
Do ya long term store in glass, plastic? Notice any difference?

I currently have some in both [emoji41]

Cheer! [emoji111]
 

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