Brandy (fruit cake) it's colloquial, our native name of the distillate obtained by distillation of the fermented fruit set.
The stages of preparing the fruit for the distillate do not differ significantly from the stages of preparing house wine.
Preparation of fruit
Preparation of the setting
Adjustment fermentation
Distillation
The main difference is the type of yeast used and the fermentation time. The wines ferment a minimum 3-4 weeks. We will get the distillate in a few - several days.
Selection of fruit for the distillate
We can use any kind of fruit that comes to our mind to prepare our attitude, you can even try different combinations.
The most famous fruit-based distillates in the world are:
Any fruit is good for a delicious fruit distillate
Calvados - apple distillate
Śliwowica Łącka or Croatian - plum distillate
Brandy, Cognac, Grappa, Metaxa - distillates based on grapes and grape marc
In other countries, where the law is more liberal, and legal distillation, distillates are made from various fruits: pears, cherries, strawberries, apricots, peaches, lilac, tarni, etc.., and the production of distillates is of great economic importance - particularly in agriculture and tourism.
At home, we can use any kind of fruit for the fruit distillate. Remember to allocate ripe fruit for this, juicy, tasty and aromatic. Personally I think, that each fruit is suitable for the preparation of a distillate.
Preparation and fermentation of the setting for a brandy
The purchased fruit should be thoroughly washed. For fruit as hard as apples, pears - we cut them into cubes, in the case of soft fruits, raspberries, berries, cherries - we crush them. You have to remember when preparing settings at home, that the fruit itself does not have enough sugar to make a large amount of alcohol into it 18%. To do this, add sugar in the form of sugar syrup. The fruit should be poured with hot sugar syrup, it will, that they will release juice more easily and ferment more easily. After the setting has cooled down, we can add yeast, medium and pectolytic enzyme. Everything is available in sachets distillery yeast intended for fruit fermentation for distillate - SpiritFerm Turbo Fruit. Fermentation on these specialized yeasts should continue 7-10 days (depending on the ambient temperature and the fruit used).
When preparing the settings in a very classic way, that is, no added sugar (sugar syrup), only by fermenting the juice obtained from the fruit itself, we have to take into account a very small yield. Finally, I will share with you some information on how to prepare a delicious fruit distillate. We can calculate this yield as follows:
For example, apple settings (average for many apple species) has about 8.46% by weight of sugar.
100L apple setting = 8,46 x 0,55 (average alcohol yield coefficient) = 4,65L
So with 100L of apple setting (no added sugar) we will get about 4.65L of alcohol
It is indeed very little. Therefore, it is recommended at home, to enrich the settings with sugar syrup.
From 1 kg of sugar is obtained 0,6 liter of alcohol, counting the other way around, 1 liter of alcohol with 1.7 kg of sugar.
To get set to 18% alcohol, add sugar according to the formula:
180 x 1,7 = 306g/l (gram of sugar on 1 liter setting)
On 17%: 170 x 1,7 = 289g/l
So to prepare the settings 25 liter per 18% alcohol should be given 25 × 306 = 7650g of sugar (7,65kg of sugar).
After distilling such a setting, we should get about 4.5L of alcohol (25L x 0,18).
After fermentation is complete, the settings are filtered and distilled
Now let me share a trick with you, which I myself learned from a friend, a specialist in the field of distillation and rectification, known on many internet forums. He taught me how to prepare an outstanding fruit distillate. After distilling the fruit setting, e.g.: apple. He allocates 0.5L of the same distillate and floods it with fresh, aromatic fruit, diced (as if he was making a tincture) and it sweetens it delicately 2-3 spoons of sugar. After 3-4 months, it receives a natural touch-up under calvados.
Then, to the diluted fruit distillate he adds a little of the obtained touch-up. The fruit distillate is then combined, with a delicate flavor of fruit and fuselas, with the aroma of fresh fruit from the mortar. The effect is amazing!
