How brandy is made - material, production process, manufacture, making, history, used, components, structure Brandy Background The name brandy comes from the Dutch word brandewijn, meaning "burnt wine." The name is apt as most brandies are made by applying heat, originally from open flames, to wine. The heat drives out and concentrates the alcohol naturally present in the wine. Because alcohol has a lower boiling point (172°F, 78°C) than water (212'F, 100°C), it can be boiled off while the water portion of the wine remains in the still. Heating a liquid to separate components with different boiling points is called heat distillation. While brandies are usually made from wine or other fermented fruit juices, it can be distilled from any liquid that contains sugar. All that is required is that the liquid be allowed to ferment and that the resulting mildly-alcoholic product not be heated past the boiling point of water. The low-boiling point liquids distilled from wine include almost all of the alcohol, a small amount of water, and many of the wine's organic chemicals. It is these chemicals that give brandy its taste and aroma.

Almost every people have their own national brandy, many of which are not made from wine: grappa in Italy is made from grape skins, slivivitz in Poland is made from plums, shochu in Japan is made from rice, and bourbon in the United States is made from corn. Beer brandy is better known as Scotch whiskey. It is universally acknowledged that the finest brandies are the French cognacs that are distilled from wine. Brandies are easy to manufacture. A fermented liquid is boiled at a temperature between the boiling point of ethyl alcohol and the boiling point of water. The resulting vapors are collected and cooled. The cooled vapors contain most of the alcohol from the original liquid along with some of its water. To drive out more of the water, always saving the alcohol, the distillation process can be repeated several times depending on the alcohol content desired. This process is used to produce both fine and mass-produced brandy, though the final products are dramatically different. History It is unknown when people discovered that food could be converted to alcohol through fermentation. It appears that the discovery of fermentation occurred simultaneously with the rise of the first civilizations, which may not be a coincidence.

At about the same time that people in Europe discovered that apple and grape juice—both containing fructose—would ferment into hard cider and wine, people in the Middle East discovered that grains—which contain maltose—would naturally ferment into beer, and people in Asia discovered that horse milk—containing lactose—would naturally ferment into airag. The first distilled liquor may in fact have been horse milk brandy, with the alcohol separated from fermented horses' milk by freezing out the water during the harsh Mongolian winter. It is also not known when it was discovered that the alcohol in fermented liquids could be concentrated by heat distillation. Distilled spirits were made in India as long ago as 800 B.C. The Arabic scientist Jabir ibn Hayyan, known as Geber in the West, described distillation in detail in the eighth century. Regardless of its origin, alcohol was immensely important in the ancient world. In Latin, brandy is known as aqua vitae, which translates as "water of life." The French still refer to brandy as eau de vie meaning exactly the same thing. The word whiskey comes from the Gaelic phrase uisge beatha also meaning water of life.

People in the Middle Ages attributed magical, medicinal properties to distilled spirits, recommending it as a cure for almost every health problem. Raw Materials The raw materials used in brandy production are liquids that contain any form of sugar. French brandies are made from the wine of the St. Émillion, Colombard (or Folle Blanche) grapes. However, anything that will ferment can be distilled and turned into a brandy. Grapes, apples, blackberries, sugar cane, honey, milk, rice, wheat, corn, potatoes, and rye are all commonly fermented and distilled. In a time of shortage, desperate people will substitute anything to have access to alcohol. During World War II, people in London made wine out of cabbage leaves and carrot peels, which they subsequently distilled to produce what must have been a truly vile form of brandy. Heat, used to warm the stills, is the other main raw material required for brandy production. In France, the stills are usually heated with natural gas. During the Middle Ages it would have required about 20 ft 4 of wood (0.6 m 4 ) to produce 25 gal (100 l) of brandy.

The Manufacturing Process The fine brandy maker's objective is to capture the alcohol and agreeable aromas of the underlying fruit, and leave all of the off-tastes and bitter chemicals behind in the waste water. Making fine brandy is an art that balances the requirement to remove the undesirable flavors with the necessity of preserving the character of the underlying fruit. Mass-produced brandies can be made out of anything as the intent of the people is to remove all of the flavors, both good or bad, and produce nothing but alcohol—taste is added later. Fine brandies are required to retain the concentrated flavor of the underlying fruit. A demonstration against Prohibition. The Eighteenth Amendment made it a crime to make, sell, transport, import, or export liquor. It is the only amendment to be repealed by another (the Twenty-first). The Prohibition era (1920-1933) had been a long time in coming. From the mid-nineteenth century through the beginning of World War I, a growing movement demanded a prohibition on alcohol. When members of Congress finally bowed to pressure from prohibition supporters and passed a constitutional amendment, many did so under the belief that it would not be endorsed by the states.

In fact, a clause was added to make it more likely not be sanctioned: if three-quarters of the states did not ratify the amendment before seven years had expired, it would be deemed inoperative. The amendment was passed by Congress in December 1917 and ratified by three-quarters of the states by January 1919. The popularity of the amendment disappeared soon after it was put into effect. The Volstead Act of 1919 banned beer and wine, something few people had anticipated, and in the minds of many Prohibition became a mistake. Crime rose as gangsters took advantage of the ban on alcohol by making huge profits in bootlegging and smuggling. When Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned for president in 1932, he called for the repeal of Prohibition. His opponent, President Herbert Hoover, called it "an experiment noble in motive." Roosevelt won the election and his Democratic party won control of the government. Within months the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed. Fine brandy The first step in making fine brandies is to allow the fruit juice (typically grape) to ferment.

This usually means placing the juice, or must as it is known in the distilling trade, in a large vat at 68-77°F (20-25°C) and leaving it for five days. During this period, natural yeast present in the distillery environment will ferment the sugar present in the must into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The white wine grapes used for most fine brandy usually ferment to an alcohol content of around 10%. Fine brandies are always made in small batches using pot stills. A pot still is simply a large pot, usually made out of copper, with a bulbous top. The pot still is heated to the point where the fermented liquid reaches the boiling point of alcohol. The alcohol vapors, which contain a large amount of water vapor, rise in the still into the bulbous top. The vapors are funneled from the pot still through a bent pipe to a condenser where the vapors are chilled, condensing the vapors back to a liquid with a much higher alcohol content. The purpose of the bulbous top and bent pipe is to allow undesirable compounds to condense and fall back into the still. Thus, these elements do not end up in the final product.

Most fine brandy makers double distill their brandy, meaning they concentrate the alcohol twice. It takes about 9 gal (34 1) of wine to make I gal (3.8 1) of brandy. After the first distillation, which takes about eight hours, 3,500 gal (13,249 1) of wine have been converted to about 1,200 gal (4,542 1) of concentrated liquid (not yet brandy) with an alcohol content of 26-32%. The French limit the second distillation (la bonne chauffe) to batches of 660 gal (2,498 1). The product of the second distillation has an alcohol content of around 72%. The higher the alcohol content the more neutral (tasteless) the brandy will be. The lower the alcohol content, the more of the underlying flavors will remain in the brandy, but there is a much greater chance that off flavors will also make their way into the final product. The brandy is not yet ready to drink after the second distillation.

It must first be placed in oak casks and allowed to age, an important step in the production process. Most brandy consumed today, even fine brandy, is less than six years old. However, some fine brandies are more than 50 years old. As the brandy ages, it absorbs flavors from the oak while its own structure softens, becoming less astringent. Through evaporation, brandy will lose about 1% of its alcohol per year for the first 50 years or so it is "on oak." Fine brandy can be ready for bottling after two years, some after six years, and some not for decades. Some French cognacs are alleged to be from the time of Napoleon. However, these claims are unlikely to be true. A ploy used by the cognac makers is to continually remove 90% of the cognac from an old barrel and then refill it with younger brandy. It does not take many repetitions of this tactic to dilute any trace of the Napoleonic-age brandy. Fine brandies are usually blended from many different barrels over a number of vintages. Some cognacs can contain brandy from up to a 100 different barrels.

Because most brandies have not spent 50 years in the barrel, which would naturally reduce their alcohol contents to the traditional 40%, the blends are diluted with distilled water until they reach the proper alcohol content. Sugar, to simulate age in young brandies, is added along with a little caramel to obtain a uniform color consistency across the entire production run. The resulting product can cost anywhere from $25 to $500 or even more for very rare brandy. Mass-produced brandy Mass-produced brandy, other than having the same alcohol content, has very little in common with fine brandy. Both start with wine, though the mass-produced brandies are likely to be made from table grape varieties like the Thompson Seedless rather than from fine wine grapes. Instead of the painstaking double distillation in small batches, mass-produced brandies are made via fractional distillation in column stills. Column stills are sometimes called continuous stills as raw material is continuously poured into the top while the final product and wastes continuously come out of the side and bottom. A column still is about 30-ft (9-m) high and contains a series of horizontal, hollow baffles that are interconnected.

Hot wine is poured into the top of the column while steam is run through the hollow baffles; the steam and wine do not mix directly. The alcohol and other low boiling point liquids in the wine evaporate. The vapors rise while the non-alcoholic liquids fall. As the still is cooler at the top, the rising vapors eventually get to a part of the still where they will condense, each type of vapor at a temperature just above its own boiling point. The distillation of brandy. Once they have recondensed, the liquids begin to move downward in the still. As they fall, they boil again. This process of boiling and condensing, rising and falling, happens over and over again in the column. The various components of the wine fraction and collect in the column where the temperature is just below the boiling point of that component. This allows the ethyl alcohol condensate to be bled out of the column at the height where it collects. The resulting product is a pure spirit, colorless, odorless, and tasteless, with an alcohol content of about 96.5%. At 96.5% alcohol, it can be used to fuel automobiles.

It can be diluted and called vodka or diluted and flavored with juniper berries and called gin. Mass-produced brandies are also aged in oak casks and pick up some flavors from them. Like its fine counterpart, the brandies are blended, diluted to around 40% alcohol, and bottled. Quality Control The quality control process for fine brandies involves trained tasters with years of experience sampling brandy. A large cognac house might have 10,000 barrels of brandy in its cellars, each of which must be tasted annually. Hence, most of the brandy "tasting" involves only smelling, as tasting several hundred barrels of brandy in a day would result in alcohol poisoning. The tasters usually "taste" each of the barrels at least once a year to assess how it is aging and to evaluate it for its blending qualities. Brandies that pick up off-flavors during distillation are discarded. As mass-produced brandies are manufactured to be odorless and tasteless, the only real quality control required is to check their alcohol content. Because alcohol is less dense than water, the alcohol content of brandy can be checked with a hydrometer.

A hydrometer is a glass float with a rod sticking out the top of it. The rod is calibrated so that a line on the rod will be exactly at the liquid surface if the hydrometer is floating in water. As alcohol is less dense than water, the hydrometer will sink deeper in alcohol than it will in water. By calibrating the rod scale with different blends of known alcohol content, it can be used to determine the percentage of alcohol in a water/alcohol mixture. Byproducts/Waste The waste products from brandy production include the solids from the wine production and the liquids left over from the still. The solids from brandy production can be used for animal feed or be composted. The liquid wastes are usually allowed to evaporate in shallow ponds. This allows the residual alcohol in the waste to go into the atmosphere, but the United States Environmental Protection Agency does not consider this to be a major pollutant source. The Future For the foreseeable future, the vast bulk of all the brandies will be produced in column stills. However, there is an increasing interest in luxury goods throughout the world.

Not just fine brandies, but Calvados (fine apple brandy) and slivovitz (fine plum brandy) are getting increasing amounts of attention from collectors and ordinary citizens. Where to Learn More How to Make Homemade Brandy (with Pictures) - wikiHow How to Make Homemade Brandy Four Parts: Making the Wine Gathering Supplies and Assembling Your Still Distilling the Wine Finishing the Brandy Community Q&A Making homemade brandy is the perfect way to warm yourself with the flavors and scents of summer all year long. Brandy is created by distilling wine, which can be made at home using any type of fruit. After the fruit has fermented, the liquid is distilled twice to produce a strong, clear spirit with the essence of peaches, plums, pears or apples. To learn how to make this delicious concoction in your own kitchen, see Step 1. Steps Making the Wine 1 Choose the fruit you want to use. Traditionally, making brandy at home was a way to capture and preserve the flavors and fragrances of summer and fall fruits. Pears, apples, grapes, peaches or plums were gathered, processed into wine, then distilled into fruit brandies.

If you want to make your own wine, you'll need to gather your fruit and start the fermentation process at least a month before you distill it to make brandy. If you'd prefer to start distilling right away, purchase a few liters of fruit wine and skip to the next section. Wait until the fruit you want to use is in season, and harvest at the peak of ripeness. For this recipe, you'll need about 3 quarts of fruit, which will yield enough wine to make a small batch of brandy. Harvest and ferment more fruit if you want more brandy. Commercial brandy is usually made from grape juice or crushed grape skins. The resulting distillate is harsh in taste, so it's aged in oak barrels to take off the edge. [1] Brandy made from fruit other than grapes is more suited to making at home, since it doesn't require oak barrel aging. 2 Process the fruit. Wash it thoroughly, then cut it into slices. There's no need to peel the fruit, but you should remove pits for this recipe. 3 Mash the fruit in a stone crock or glass jar. Place the fruit in the jar, then use a potato masher or another instrument to mash it down.

This will help the fermentation process go more quickly. If you're using berries, which are lower in sugar than other types of fruit, you'll need to add sugar. Line the bottom of the crock with sugar, then add a layer of fruit. Add more sugar, and continue layering until the fruit and sugar have been used up. Use a stone crock large enough to accommodate all of the fruit with a few inches to spare, since the mixture will bubble up during the fermenting process. If you don't have a stone crock, you can use a glass bowl or another thick, heavy container. It should be made of glass or ceramic, not wood or metal. 4 Add yeast and water. Dissolve 6 teaspoons of dry yeast in a cup of warm water. Use active dry yeast, not instant yeast, found at any grocery store. Pour the yeast mixture over the fruit and sugar mixture. Add six cups of cold water. 5 Place the crock on a tray and cover with a plate. The liquid inside will begin to bubble up during the fermenting process, so you'll need the tray to catch any overflow. Leave the mixture in a cool place for a week. 6 Stir the mixture once a week for four weeks.

Uncover the crock and use a clean, long-handled spoon to stir it thoroughly, then place the cover on top. Each week the alcohol content will increase. 7 Bottle the wine. At the end of four weeks, pour the wine into glass bottles and cover tightly. You can store the wine for several months to deepen the flavor. Part 2 Gathering Supplies and Assembling Your Still 1 Obtain a still. To make brandy at home, you'll need a still small enough to operate on your stove top. A 1 1⁄2 to 2 liter (0.4 to 0.5 US gal) alembic copper still will probably be sufficient for your needs. [2] To find a still, look in local kitchen supplies stores, online, and in secondhand stores. You'll be able to use it to make other spirits in addition to endless batches of brandy. If you purchase a new or secondhand still, be sure to clean it before using. If you want to experiment with a very small batch of brandy, you can construct a still with a copper tea kettle and plastic tubing.

If you find that you enjoy making brandy so much that you'd like to make larger batches, you can upgrade to a 5 gallon (18.9 L) still. Anything larger than this will be too big for home brandy-making. 2 Ready your other supplies. In addition to your base wine and still, you'll need an array of clean glasses, a ladle, and other supplies to complete the distillation process. Gather the following materials and set them out in a clean workspace within easy reach of the stove: A Dutch oven or another pot large enough to fit the still inside. This will be filled with water and used as a double boiler of sorts to give you maximum control over the heating of the still. Plenty of glass containers. As the still does its work, you'll need small, clean glass containers to hold what comes out of the pipe. A graduated cup will come in handy if you want to measure exactly how much you have. A sealable large glass jar, for storing the finished brandy. A towel, for wiping up any spills that might occur. 3 Situate the still on your heat source. First, fill the Dutch oven with a few inches of water. Put the still inside.

Add more water if necessary; it should rise about three quarters of the way up the sides of the still. Set the Dutch oven and still over a gas burner or whatever heat source you're using. If you're using a large 5 gallon (18.9 L) still, it won't fit inside a Dutch oven, so you'll need to skip this and place the still directly over your heat source. 4 Fill the still 3/4 full with your wine. No matter what size still you're using, leave the top 1/4 of the still empty. When the wine heats up, it can bubble and rise, so it's important not to fill the still all the way. 5 Put the still together. Place the lid on the still, then connect the tube from the lid to the condenser coil. Place cold water in the condenser and set a glass under the spout to collect the alcohol that flows from it. Different still models will require slightly different assembly, so read the instructions that came with your still carefully. It's vital that you follow the directions that came with the still you have to ensure the distillation process runs smoothly. Part 3 Distilling the Wine 1 Heat the distilling pot.

When making brandy, you never want to let the contents of the still get too hot; the distillation process should be slow and steady. The wine should come to a good simmer, but not a boil. Start heating the still with a strong flame, and keep it strong until alcohol beings to drip from the spout. If the alcohol begins dripping too quickly, you'll need to turn down the heat. Do not let the alcohol drip faster than 1 drop per second. [3] You'll know the alcohol is going to start flowing soon by touching the copper tube where it enters the water. When it becomes hot, the alcohol is about to flow. [4] The slower the liquid flows from the spout, the better quality your brandy will be. 2 Collect the foreshots. The first distillate that comes from the still, about 7.5 ml per 1.5 liters (0.4 US gal) of wine, is called the foreshots, and it contains a toxic combination of acetone and methyl alcohol. Measure out the emerging foreshots or take a whiff; when the strong, sharp smell of chemicals abates, it's done flowing.

The foreshots should be thrown away; there's nothing drinkable there. 3 Collect the heads. The next liquid to emerge will be the heads, which is a combination of acetone, methyl alcohol, methanol, and ethyl acetate. If you're planning to make a second batch of brandy sometime soon, it might be worth saving the heads, which may be distilled a second time to preserve the "good" ingredients and remove the "bad." It's also fine to simply throw the heads away. Collect the heads in small glasses. You'll want to be able to save every drop of the hearts - the good stuff - which is coming out next. Collecting the distillate in a big glass increases the chances that everything will get muddled together. Keep smelling the distillate as it flows. The heads will smell better than the foreshots, but not nearly so sweet and pure as the hearts. The heads and foreshots together will comprise the first 30 ml per 1.5 liters (0.4 US gal) of wine. 4 Collect the hearts. When the hearts start to come, the smell of the distillate will have hints of the fruit you used to make your wine.

You'll smell pear, peach, plum or apple essence without the harshness of acetone. The distillate should be clear, not milky. Continue collecting it in small glasses, monitoring the smell for changes. Adjust the temperature as necessary. As the distillation process nears its end, you'll need to keep increasing the temperature to achieve the same flow rate. Keep turning it up so that 1 drop per 1-3 seconds continues to flow. Do not overheat the still, and do not let it boil dry. 5 Watch for the tails. The last distillate to exit will be the tails, which is less concentrated and less tasty. You'll notice a change in smell; the fruitiness will be gone. It may also look milky. This should be discarded. When the tails comes, turn off the heat. After the distillation process, it's important to clean your still carefully. Part 4 Finishing the Brandy 1 Pour the hearts into a large glass jar. You should have 300 mL of drinkable brandy for every 1.5 liters (0.4 US gal) of wine you distilled. Store the brandy in the jar with a tight lid.

2 Smell and taste the brandy. If you smell strong hints of acetone and methyl alcohol in your finished brandy, you can store the jar with a piece of cloth rubber banded over the top to let it breathe for a few days. The unpleasant smell and taste will leave the brandy as the acetone and methyl alcohol evaporate. 3 Age the brandy. If you're not in a hurry to drink your brandy, you can mellow it out a bit by waiting a few months before drinking. Screw the lid on tightly and store it in a cool place for several months. When you open the brandy, it should have a smoother taste than it did when you first distilled it. 4 Consider re-distilling your brandy. It's not commonly done at home, but you can distill the brandy a second time to increase the alcohol content and refine the flavor. However, since doing this makes the distillate very flammable, its not advisable to do so until you have plenty of experience operating your still. Community Q&A Can I use a stainless steel still to make the brandy or does it need to be copper? wikiHow Contributor Yes.

Some people say that brandy made in copper tastes better, but most people can't tell whether it is made in a copper or stainless steel still. Can you use aluminum still instead of copper without adverse effects on the end product? wikiHow Contributor I did use a aluminium still the first year I made shine and it works but the still gets grimy and takes on the color from your mash, lots of cleaning needed. It may also give it a bit of metallic flavor but it's barely noticeable. What final distilled proof can I expect from a 5 gallon run? wikiHow Contributor It depends on so many factors, the alcohol content of the wine, the temperature you run at, how much water comes through etc. Get an alcoholmeter and measure it. Remember that it only measures accurately at 20 degrees Celsius and at sea level -- you can get an online chart to adjust your measurements. Where can I buy the equipment I need? wikiHow Contributor Home Distillation of Alcohol (Homemade Alcohol to Drink) Brandy Ups474 writes .. It seems that the flavor of the brandy can be improved by fermenting the wine out to a lesser amount of alcohol.

Most of the time, when reading about someone who made a brandy (don't get me wrong here, I'm positive you are already making top of the line stuff, I'm just showing another way of doing it) they use a starting wine with a minimum of 10% alcohol. It is a well known (obvious) fact that distilling concentrates alcohol, it is a lesser known fact that it also concentrates flavor. If you have ever had (or made) a very high alcohol white wine, you've probably noticed that it was pretty insipid in the taste department, that is because alcohol seems to displace flavor, so the less alcohol there is, the more the flavor can come through. Consider these numbers: A wine of 10% alcohol that is distilled to a final 70% has been concentrated seven times (so has the flavor!), a wine of 5% alcohol distilled to the same final 70% has been concentrated a total of 14 times! This would allow for a richer flavor to be concentrated in the resulting spirit.

This is how commercial apple brandies and the like are produced (no added sugar is allowed-keeping the starting % low), and may be part of the reason for the great flavor they have. Hope this helps someone. Cheers! Wal offers ... Brandy in Australia, if made in a pot still (getting rarer), is a double distillation process. The heart of the run has a strength of between 74%abv and 83%abv. By law it must be below 83%. The Australian pot still differs from the pot still used in the Cognac region of France (alambic Charentais) in that there is a tall tower (no plates) and an upwardly inclined lyne arm. Both have some reflux capability. In the French version, reflux is limited to the header chamber. Therefore removing scrubbers from a tall reflux column, or using a short reflux column could give the equivalent strength in one run. No access to grapes? You could get the same taste profile using raisins or sultanas. 8kg of fresh grapes produce 5l of wine.

Raisins have a drying ratio of 1:4, therefore 2kg of raisins or sultanas (shredded) with 5l of water would be a reconstituted equivalent. 14lbs of grapes produce approx. one U.S. gal of wine(4l). To reconstitute raisins, for each 1kg (2.2lbs) add 4l (1U.S.gal) of water. Since raisins are 60% sugar, you could use 1.5kg of raisins for each 4l of water or 2kg of raisins/5l water which is the max. yeast can ferment (about 2lbs of sugar/U.S. gal). Most commercial raisins are sulphited and covered in vegetable oil - preferably use naturally dried raisins, or wash well in hot water. This page last modified Tue, 20 Jan 2015 20:51:05 -0800 Brandy You are here: Home / Library / Distilling / Brandy Brandy Information provided by Bavarian-Holstein Partners .

“Brandy” originates from the Dutch brandywign, which means, “burnt wine.” Dutch traders introduced the secrets of brandy making to Northern Europe after learning about it in France and Spain. It is said that Brandy was spread to these western Mediterranean countries by word from the Arab alchemists of Moslem states back in the 7th and 8th centuries. After so much traveling, one can imagine the variance among brandies across Europe. Brandy can be categorized in three ways: grape brandy, pomace brandy, and fruit brandy. Grape brandy, perhaps the simplest of all three, derives from fermented grape juice or crushed grape pulp and skins. This type of brandy is frequently aged in oak casks that help mellow the harsh flavor and adds additional aromas and flavor from the wood itself. At the same time, the original grape flavor tends to be lost to the stronger oak flavor. Pomace brandy results from the fermentation of the pressed remains of the wine making process. This includes grape pulp, skins and stems. Although the taste is rougher, it carries a stronger fruit aroma because it is not aged in wooden casks, if aged at all.

Pomace brandies include such spirits as the Italian Grappa and the French Marc. The third type and also the most common is the fruit brandy. All spirits distilled from fermented fruit other than grapes is a fruit brandy. More specifically, most fruit brandy derives from distilled fruit wine. Berries, on the other hand, are a special case because they do not contain enough sugar to make a wine with enough alcohol to be distilled into a proper fruit brandy. Instead, the berries are soaked in a high-proof spirit, which extracts their flavor and aroma and are then distilled once at a low proof. Examples of fruit brandy are the wide variety of German Schnapps, Slivovitz or plum brandy from Eastern Europe, France’s Calvados, or Apple Brandy, and Eau-de-vie, which is French for “aqua vitae”, “water of life”, which is a colorless fruit brandy. Cognac is probably the most popular brandy in the world. It is exclusive to the Cognac region of France and is made from three types of grapes: Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, and Colombard. These grapes produce tart wines with low alcohol content, perfect for making Cognac.

The wine is distilled twice and then aged in oak barrels. All cognacs are aged in new oak barrels to create a mellow flavor and aroma. The batches chosen for long-term aging are then transferred to used barrels, in order to not further saturate the oak flavor in the cognac. Cognacs can age anywhere from 6 to more than 20 years and afterwards are blended by the Master Blender to create the perfect Cognac. Make note that with different means of distilling come different results. First, it should be known that wine has already rid itself of many unwanted chemicals found in fermented fruit, thus requiring fewer passes through the still. As few as two passes would suffice and, depending on the equipment used, once may be enough. Just as important as the material used is the speed of distillation. If using an alembic, we recommend a slower speed. The slower the speed of distillation, in this case, the more gently and effectively the alcohol separates from the raw material and unwanted chemical elements. While a less efficient and slower process, this method results in a finer, more aromatic brandy. The reflux still, on the other hand, allows for a speedier production rate and is very efficient.

Unfortunately, its speediness destroys many of the elements that give brandy its distinctive character traits. So, if wondering which method and still to use, first decide what you consider most important in making your brandy. Brandy can also be colored or clear. Aging the brandy in oak barrels adds color, flavor and an even deeper aroma. Suggested fruit for aging are grapes, apples and plums. Brandy, in general, can be aged months to years and, ultimately, depends on the desires of the distiller. If using fruits such as pears, apricots, cherries, strawberries, or raspberries you might prefer not to age the brandy because these fruits are flavorful and aromatic on their own. In this case, the brandy remains a clear spirit (eau-de-vie). Given a potstill with a 50-gallon mash capacity using a wine with a 12% alcoholic content, the resulting pure alcoholic yield would be 4.2 gallons. Once this liquid is diluted, or cut, down to a drinkable level of 40% alcoholic content the result would be 10.5 gallons of brandy.

Bavarian-Holstein Partners produce and provide the proper equipment to make all the above spirits, both the traditional and the more modern, efficient way. Brandy, Best Brandy, Brandy Drinks,wine,fruit,alchohol,grape,distillation,fermentation | Buy Online Liquor | LoveScotch Books & Accessories ❯ Brandy Brandy is made by distilling wine or fruit and then aging it in oak barrels. Brandy normally contains 40-60 percent alcohol and that is why brandy drinks are considered as the best after dinner drinks. When brandy is produced, it undergoes four basic processes - fermentation of the grape, distillation to brandy, aging in oak barrels and blending by the master blender. This process is essential for getting the best brandy. Brandy is made in most countries that produce wine. Lovescotch.com stocks the best brandy bottles from all over the world, so that you can get the best brandy drinks at your doorstep. Read more Please be advised! Lovescotch.com only ships its products within the United States. We do not ship overseas. We also do not ship to the following states (OR, OH, GA, UT, MI, NH, ME).

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please allow all orders to be processed within 24 hours. Cheers! Copyright © 2006-2017 Love Scotch Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited. Products are distributed by Case Liquors, dba Gourmet Pantry. Website Powered by Sabrox Visitors must be 21 years or older to enter Lovescotch.com By checking this box I hereby agree to these terms and conditions and state that I am of legal purchase age. Bookmark Lovescotch.com (optional) How is brandy made? | Making Brandy | Brandy & GInger Distillation Copper potstills are used to distill brandy from base wine There are two main types of distillation used in making brandy, Potstill Distillation, and Columnstil distillation. For most of South Africa’s premium brandies, Potstill distillation provides the majority of the end spirit, so that is the one we will focus on for now. The base wine once ready is pumped into large copper potstills, which are massive round copper kettles that allow the base wine to be heated.

All distillation processes run of the principal that alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature than water when heated, which allows its extraction from the base wine to turn into brandy. The base wine is heated in the potstill until the alcohol starts to evaporate from the wine. As the steam rises, it is captured at the top of the potstill by a pipe system that then cools the evaporated alcohol and converts it back into liquid. This alcohol, known now as “Low wine” (at around 22% volume) is then captured in thirds for purity reasons. The first third, known as the heads is not used in making brandy, nor is the last third known as the “tails”. Only the middle third of this low wine, known as the “heart” is used for the final brandy. The heart of this low wine is then put back into a fresh potstill and distilled again. The same process occurs again, in the second distillation, resulting in the end spirit now roughly 70% alcohol. Again, only the hearts fraction is kept and put into oak barrels for aging Maturation in Oak.

Oak barrel aging and maturation for anything up to 20 years plus This is the most important stage of making brandy. When the final spirit comes out of the potstill, it is clear white alcohol, infused with the double concentrated flavours and aromas of the original base wine used. Through maturation of the spirit in oak barrels for any number of years it is given its final character. Its golden hue is passed on along with complex flavours and aromas that may never have been present in the original base wine. In South Africa brandy regulations require that this spirit is matured for at least 3 years in Oak barrels in order to be classified as brandy. The barrels used are also toasted inside using an open flame to further allow transfer of flavour and character to the spirit aging inside them. A lot of magic happens in the oak barrels, transforming and moulding a clear white concentrated alcohol into the brilliant deep coloured, rich and flavoursome brandy we enjoy once it is blended and bottled. Final brandy, blended and bottled for our appreciation and enjoyment Blending and Bottling Once the brandy has finished its maturation, the master distiller will select different brandies form different barrels and work out each of their individual characteristics.

Then, depending on the final style of brandy they wish to make, each will be blended meticulously over and over again until the right balance of nose and flavour are reached, critically ensuring that what is promised on the nose is followed through to on the palate. If you think this process sounds simple, I can assure you it really is not! (I was lucky enough to attend a blending session at Van Ryn’s with Johann Venter, previous master distiller for Distell’s brandie) Once blended and bottled no further maturation of the brandy takes place, though of course there is a process of all elements getting used to each other and settling into their final place in the spirit. The final brandy is diluted with distilled water to get it down to desired final alcohol strength, in the case of most brandy 38% per volume. Making Brandy: A Quick Note on Column Still Distillation Column still distillation uses the distillation theory in a slightly different manner to produce a neutral wine spirit from base wine. This spirit is 96% alcohol when it comes out from the still, and is completely colourless and odourless. This wine spirit is used in making some types of South African brandy .

Step-by-Step Home Distilling - DIY - MOTHER EARTH NEWS Print Email To start distilling at home, you’ll need some technical knowledge about the equipment, process and how to handle the delicious results. Start small and cheap. You can produce flavorful eau de vie using a tea kettle and a condenser made with plastic tubing to distill wine made from a few pounds of fruit. If you know you are interested in home distilling and don’t need a test still, then the first still to purchase is a 1 1/2- to 2-liter copper alembic pot still. These often ship from Europe and represent a comparatively small investment for what could become a lifelong hobby. The small still is good for small batches of anything, and for redistilling alcohol you have produced in a larger still. The largest still appropriate for home use is 5 gallons (25 liters), a size that matches the scale of home-scale fermenting buckets. But even one run in a 5-gallon still makes a substantial quantity of alcohol.

While it is always nice to dream big, stills holding less than 1 gallon (4 liters) encourage you to be creative and keep the enterprise well within the bounds and spirit of home-scale craft distilling. Operating a Pot Still Heat source: Stills under a few liters are best operated over natural gas or propane, and ideally in a water bath. This is because when distilling for maximum flavor, one needs to keep the distillation as slow as possible. It is easier to control the heat in a small still if it is indirect. Getting ready to distill: Clear a work area around the heat source you will use for the distillation. You will need the following: • the still • a dozen small glasses to collect the distillate • a pitcher for mixing the alcohol you are saving to drink • a jar with lid for the saved drinkable distillation • a jar for “heads and tails” if you plan to redistill them at some point • a permanent marker that writes on glass • a mixing bowl along with flour and water to form the paste for sealing joints • and a damp sponge and towel for use polishing the still and cleaning up spills.

If your still will need polishing either inside or out, then also have on hand vinegar and salt. Preparing the still: Make sure your still is clean. If copper sits unused for a long time it naturally oxidizes. The traditional way to polish the interior of a copper is to warm it slightly and then pour some vinegar (1/8 to 1/4 cup for small still) into the still, chased by a tablespoon of salt. Then spread with a sponge. You can polish the exterior of your still with vinegar and salt as well. Step by Step Setup: Follow these steps to set up your still for a distillation run. Place the pot still over the heat source. If using a water bath, set the still in a pot that is large enough to be 3/4 immersed in water. For example, a 2-liter still comfortably sits in a dutch oven. Next, fill the still approximately 3/4 full with the wine to be distilled and then assemble the still. The wine can foam up when first heated so don’t overfill. Assemble the still.

This usually means placing the lid on the distillation pot, running the tube from the lid to the condenser coil, adding cold water to the condenser, and finally putting a glass under the spout through which the alcohol will flow. As most home distillers improvise, their setup it may take a little adjusting to get it working. Once the still is assembled, make sure fittings are tight. For example, on a homemade still, ensure that any corks or rubber stoppers are tightly in place. All loosely fitting joints need to be sealed. In a traditional copper alembic still, this means sealing where the lid fits into the pot and where the copper tube leading from the swan’s neck lid fits into the condenser coil. A thick paste made of flour and water is the traditional sealant. If using a water bath, use aluminum foil to make an improvised lid around the still if practical. This reduces energy use and reduces evaporation from the water bath. If the condenser coil is not already surrounded by cold water, add the cold water now. Operating the Still: The simple part is operating the still.

There are just two rules: go slow, keeping the alcohol coming out of the still at no faster than a drip a second, and use lots of jars or glasses to collect the distillation so that after your run, when your judgment is better, you can throw away what is bad and keep the good. Turn on heat under the still. Start with a strong flame and if you are distilling in a bain marie, bring the water bath to a full boil. Once you become familiar with your still, you will get a sense of when the alcohol will begin flowing. From time to time, touch the copper tube close to the lid and also close to the condenser. The alcohol will begin flowing soon after the copper becomes hot where it enters the cooling water. I often notice steam beginning to rise from where the copper enters the water just before or just as alcohol beings to flow. It is especially important not to allow the still to get too hot. The ideal speed is no greater than 1 drip a second. Your nose is what you use to separate the “run” into its component parts: the foreshots, the heads, the heart, and the tails. The heads and the tails may be saved to redistill.

The hearts are consumed, though depending on taste, they may be diluted with water first. There isn’t a clear separation between the different parts of the run. The art and craft of distilling is how the distiller makes the call using his or her nose. Foreshots: The first alcohol to come out is called the foreshots. The foreshots are heavily contaminated with acetone and methyl alcohol. The still does not create these alcohols, but it concentrates them. In quantity, acetone and methyl (wood) alcohol are poisonous. They also smell horrible. Learn this smell. You cannot go too slowly at this stage. The foreshots are thrown away. Heads: The heads contain a mix of the undesirable alcohols and an increasing percentage of ethyl acetate, which is one of the important flavor compounds in grape wine, and methanol. Most commercial distillers save the heads to run through the still a second and third time. You may want to save them, toss them, or add at least some to the hearts. There is no fixed rule. Hearts: The hearts is the main run of ethanol.

The smell is bright and fresh and is strongly evocative of the underlying fruit or herb in fruit wines and fruit and herbal macerations. As you maintain the still at a steady slow drip you will find that you are slowly increasing the temperature of the still. One drop every second, or even every two or three seconds is what you are looking for from a small still. Collect in small glasses, like shot glasses. Tails: At some point the flavor changes, becoming more dilute (more water vapor is condensing) and the smell is less pleasant. At that point you are sliding into the tails. The tails contain a high percentage of water mixed with ethanol and fusel alcohols. Aging If you smell any of the undesirable alcohols of the foreshots and heads, you can leave the alcohol in a glass container with a cheese cloth lid. After a few days the acetone and methyl alcohol remaining will evaporate. Changes do take place within the glass. Letting the alcohol rest for a few months mellows the drink and reduces any metallic tastes picked up from the still. Redistilling Commercial distillers focus flavor by running the alcohol through the still two and three times.

Each time through the still a more refined cut of foreshots, heads, and tales is made producing an ever cleaner hearts. The trouble with redistilling on a home scale is that one has to start with an awful lot of alcohol to get enough to run back through a still, and then heating a pot filled with now highly flammable alcohol — as opposed to heating wine in a first distillation — clearly poses safety issues. It isn’t something I’d do in my kitchen nor is it something I’d do over or near an open flame. My advice is to be methodically slow about your primary distillation, gather the run in lots of small containers so you can make the cleanest, brightest mix possible, and be happy with what you have achieved. Boiling Temperatures of Alcohols The following is a list of the temperatures at which the different alcohols boil at sea level. In the real world liquids evaporate at temperatures below their boiling point. For example, water evaporates out of ice and snow and rain evaporates off of sidewalks even on cool days under cloud cover. Therefore, there are no clear demarcation points.

As the acetone boils out of the wine at 134 degrees, ethanol and water are evaporating too, even though they are below their boiling temperatures. But the steam rising from the still at 134 to 147 degrees is richer in acetone and methanol than in ethanol, so these are the foreshots. A pot of boiling waters boils for a long time before all the water evaporates. Thus, it isn’t as if your wine reaches the boil. What you can see from this table, though, is that to isolate the acetone and methanol, you want to go very slowly so the temperature of the wine creeps up to the 172 degrees of the ethanol, the alcohol that is at the heart of the run. If you go slowly, then it will be clear where the foreshots and heads separate. Everything above ethanol (boldface) listed below is the foreshots and heads; ethanol is the desirable middles; and everything below the Ethanol is the tails.

• Acetone: 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.5 degrees Celsius) • Methanol (wood alcohol): 147 degrees F (64 degrees C) • Ethyl acetate: 171 degrees F (77.1 degrees C) • Ethanol: 172 degrees F (78 degrees C) • 2-Propanol (rubbing alcohol): 180 degrees F (82 degrees C) • 1-Propanol: 207 degrees F (97 degrees C) • Water: 212 degrees F (100 degrees C) • Butanol: 241 degrees F (116 degrees C) • Amyl alcohol: 280 degrees F (137.8 degrees C) • Furfural: 322 degrees F (161 degrees C) What is Brandy? (with pictures) What is Brandy? Last Modified Date: 11 December 2016 Copyright Protected: These 10 animal facts will amaze you Brandy is a spirit made by distilling grapes to a higher proof than they achieve as wine.

Most is made from actual grape wine, though some may also be made from the pulpy mixture of stems and seeds left after grapes are pressed, and some is made from the fermented juices of fruits other than grapes. The name is a shortening of the Dutch word brandewijn, which means “fire wine”. This spirit has been an extremely popular drink for hundreds of years and is most often enjoyed as an after-dinner drink. It is often suggested that brandy should be warmed slightly, using a candle or small flame, before drinking it. This causes the vapors to become much stronger and the alcohol to become more liquid, an effect many people enjoy. This method, however, tends to overpower many of the subtle tastes and textures of brandy, and so many connoisseurs recommend treating it like any other wine and drinking it at room temperature or slightly cooler. Ad Brandy is grown throughout the world, since it is an obvious extension of the wine industry and wine grapes are such a massive crop. Some regions produce brandy named specifically for their small growing region, such as Metaxa in Greece and Cognac in France.

The spirit produced in the Cognac region of France is by far the most well-known and admired brandy in the world. There are strict requirements dictating its production — at least 90% of the grapes used must be of the Colombard, Ugni Blanc, or Folle Blance varieties, and it must be distilled in a traditional method using copper pots. Famous Cognac varieties include Hennessy, Rémy Martin, and Courvoisier. Armagnac brandy, though perhaps not as well-known as its Cognac cousin, is another French variety that is usually treated in its own class. It is produced in the Armagnac region of southern France and has similarly strict rules governing its production. Famous varieties include Delord, Laubade, and Baron de Sigognac. American brandy has become more respected and popular in recent years, with the vast majority coming from the state of California — unsurprising, given the thriving wine industry in California. American varieties also have a set of rules governing their production, though they are not quite as strict as the French procedures.

Some brandy, most notably the Italian variety known as grappa , is made using the seeds, stem, and residue pulp left over from pressing grapes into juice for wine. This mash is then fermented, and the remaining pomace is turned into brandy, which is usually referred to simply as pomace brandy. Brandy may also be made using fruits other than grapes, such as cherry, apricot , plums, and apples. These fruit brandies usually bear a strong flavor of the fruit they represent and are often strengthened using fruit extracts or sweetening syrups. Popular fruit brandies include the cherry-flavored Kirsch from Germany, the apple-flavored Calvados from France, and the plum-flavored Mirabelle from France. Ad How is Brandy Made | Online Liquor | Santa Fe Spirits MicroDistillery How is Brandy Made Subscribe to our Newsletter How is Brandy Made ​Brandy is a spirit distilled from fruit, with grape brandy being the most common. Santa Fe Spirits takes advantage of the extremely flavorful apples of the Mountain West, giving Santa Fe Spirits Apple Brandy a distinctive terroir unlike any other brandy.

Just like the best grapes for wine grow in climates that stress grape vines into producing more flavorful fruit, the best apples for brandy grow in regions like the Mountain West where a harsh climate stresses apple trees into producing spectacularly flavorful fruit. Santa Fe Spirits celebrates the annual variations in flavor that the climate of the Mountain West imparts on its apples, and labels each bottle of brandy with a batch number and a bottle number, similar to a vintage for a wine. Turning these apples into brandy is a simple, four step process. Next → First, the apples are harvested and pressed, separating the apple juice from the apple flesh, or “pomace”. This is the traditional method employed in the production of Calvados. In order to retain delicate flavors and aromas, Santa Fe Spirits does not subject the fresh juice to any further treatment such as filtration, UV sterilization, concentration, pasteurization, or sulfites. Next, the juice is fermented by a combination of yeast and the native microflora present on the apples at the time of pressing. This symbiotic fermentation process adds a layer of subtle complexity typically found in fine Calvados.

← Previous Next → Once fermentation is complete, the apple juice has been turned into hard apple cider and is ready for distillation. Santa Fe Spirits uses a hybrid of the traditional alambic charentais used to produce Calvados with the modern distillation column. This design gives the distiller the ability to produce a spirit with the precise flavor profile that best expresses the flavors and aromatics of a particular batch of cider. Finally the spirit is aged to perfection in 25 gallon oak barrels. The size and type of barrel is crucial to giving Santa Fe Spirits Apple Brandy its characteristically bold spice and vanilla notes that balance so well with its unusually bright and vibrant fruit profile. How to Make Apple Brandy – Copper Moonshine Still Kits - Clawhammer Supply Clawhammer Supply Your Cart This blog provides information for educational purposes only. All copper "moonshine" distillers featured on the site are non-functional props. All recipes and "how to's" are theoretical. All scenarios are fictitious. No laws were broken during production of the material found on this site. Products sold are intended to be used in accordance with the proper licensing or permitting procedure of the respective jurisdiction of the user. Read our complete legal summary for more info.

September 18, 2014 How to Make Apple Brandy Apple Brandy Brandy is created by distilling fruit wine. After the fruit has been fermented into a wine, the wine is then distilled to produce a strong, clear spirit with the essence of fruit it was made from. Traditionally Brandy was distilled in pot stills; today column stills are often used, as they can be used for continuous distillation. Brandy obtained from a column still has a higher alcohol concentration but is less aromatic than brandy distilled from a pot still. The style of still depends on the style of brandy produced. Cognac (a popular French Brandy) is produced in pot stills while many American brandies use fractional distillation in column stills. It is thought that wine was first distilled as a preservation method and as a way to make it easier for merchants to transport. After distillation, the clear brandy is placed into oak barrels to mature. Brandies with a natural golden or brown color most likely have been aged in oak casks. Some brandies mostly from Spain, are aged in a system where the spirit is transferred to a different barrel each year.

After a period of aging, which depends on the style, class and legal requirements, the mature brandy is mixed with distilled water to reduce alcohol concentration and bottled. I will be the first to admit- I am not an expert on the nuances of brandy. I spend most of my drinking-time, drinking whiskey. Though, I’ve tried quite a few commercial examples of brandy including Calvados. If you are a brandy connoisseur then you already know that Calvados is an apple brandy from the French region of Lower Normandy. Calvados is distilled from apple cider which is made from over 200 varieties of locally grown apples. The fruit is harvested and pressed into a cider which is then fermented into a dry cider. Once it is fermented it is distilled and aged for 2 years in oak casks, it can be sold as calvados. The longer it is aged, the smoother the drink becomes. If you have not tried brandy I suggest you start with one of these great cocktails: Brandy Sour, the Brandy Alexander, the Sidecar, the Brandy Daisy, or the Brandy Old Fashioned.

How To Make Brandy In order to make homemade brandy you first must choose the fruit you want to use for the wine. Pears, apples, grapes, peaches and plums are all great fruits which can be processed into wine. If the wine is being made from berries, sugar will need to be added as berries are lower in sugar than other types of fruit. Making brandy at home is a great way to capture the flavors and fragrances of summer and fall fruits all year long. Fall is a great time to pick apples which once turned into cider can then be fermented into dry cider. The dry cider will then be distilled into apple brandy. To make brandy at home you'll need to gather your fruit and start the fermentation process at least a month before you plan distill it to make brandy. Apple Brandy Recipe In order to make apple brandy you will need apples. 16 pounds of apples will yield about 1 gallon of cider. If you are planning on doing a 5 gallon batch of cider will need roughly 80 pounds of apples. If you choose to use apples you will need to grind and press the apples.

If you do not have access to a press a heavy duty juicer will work, but it is not efficient and takes a long time. If you are like me (lazy) head down to the local farm and buy 5 gallons of fresh pressed cider. Once you have the fresh pressed cider it is time to start the fermentation process. Feel free to use a yeast nutrient of choice, I personally don’t add yeast nutrients to my ciders and they always ferment dry. I have had great luck using wine yeast, WLP775 English Cider Yeast, and Safale US-05 ale yeast. I prefer the English Cider yeast and US-05 as they both ferment dry, but retain a lot of flavor from apples. Always take a hydrometer reading and make sure to aerate the cider before pitching the yeast. Keep the cider between 64-68 during fermentation for best results. The cider will finish fermenting in a week or two, take a hydrometer reading to verify the fermentation is finished. Once fermentation is finished leave it for a month to settle before running it.

You can get real nice final product with a single slow spirit run in a pot still, but you can get a bit cleaner higher ABV product by running it twice. I prefer brandy that has been distilled in pot stills over column stills, as I feel the fruit flavor comes though more pronounced in a pot still. Always make good cuts, but with apple brandy we have found that you can get away with more lenient cuts as the apple flavor is more forgiving. Apple brandy goes perfectly with toasted oak. Feel free to use oak chips, oak spirals, or oak cubes,- taste the product frequently as you don’t want to over oak the brandy. Once you feel the oak flavor in the brandy is at its peak, strain the brandy and bottle it. Do not store the final product in the refrigerator as a true fruit brandy does not belong there. Orange /black cherry with coconut sugar fomenting in a basement.

Going to make brandy in about a month will let you know how it came out Posted by Mike on December 29, 2016 Can you add me to your list so that I can read the answers to the questions – which would be my questions ( From the UK) Posted by Malcolm on August 02, 2016 I run 2.5lbs of green apples in 5 gal buckets of brandy mash. I add a capful of yeast to warm water, let it set overnight, and then add 4lbs of sugar and yeast mixture to my diced apples in the 5gal bucket filled 1" from the top with the mixture and distilled water. This mixture sets 2 weeks. I like to sour 3 of these mixtures so that the distilling renders a larger amount. when distilling I use the first run at 1gal of distilled output per 6 gals of sour apple mash ran (about 65 proof)the second run I pull out 2 of the smaller mason jars per 6 gals of sour apple mash ran (about 130 proof). the proof of the mix varies depending upon the temperature. in the winter months I get a weaker brew.

Summer I get the best results. I dice up a few apples and line the bottom of the jar before filling them. seal them and let them set for a least a week. This gives a nice pleasant aroma to the brandy, and knocks some of the bite off of it. Posted by Joey on February 10, 2016 i plan on using a column still to run 5 gallons of hard cider. My concern is flavor. I want to avoid “gasoline”. Can I add cut apples to the top of the column to impart an apple flavor? Posted by Tom on December 09, 2015 wow everone heres so stupid they think if you age a wine its a brandy.. Brandy is created when (natural wine is distilled like moonshine.. just instead of crapy corn mash (corn and water) they use expensive wine and destill it.. No just becuase you have aged wine means nothing..still good shit but not brandy Posted by ky on November 20, 2015 Hi. when distilling wine to brandy do you need to degas it first?

Posted by Lamar on August 22, 2015 I noticed in your recipe that you did not mention the amount of sugar or no need to add sugar. Posted by rick fernando on July 31, 2015 hi i have just come across a batch of apple wine i had fermenting for about 17years in my parents house and it’s a real nice smooth sweet taste what would this be wine or brandy? Posted by billy on February 01, 2015 What should your first reading be before fermentation begins? Posted by Greg on December 24, 2014 if using a one gallon still, when do you cut the tails, at a pint or a quart…? Posted by Dee James on September 19, 2014 Perfect timing on the post. I have an apple cider that’s been in the fermenter almost a month. Now it’s gonna be a brandy. Posted by Robby on September 18, 2014 Leave a comment Please note, the design of our website does not allow us to respond directly to blog comments. Please email us directly regarding questions about products.

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Question: Brandy is made from distilling what?
Answer: Wine