How To Make Brandy - Fermentation Episode

[@robgrizzle1293]

Hey Boo...Here's just a quick tip I've learned after many batches of running straight fruit and water - Cook the chopped up fruit in a pot with just enough water to cover the fruit at 180 degrees for an hour. This helps to release flavor compounds as well as convert longer chain sugars into short chain sugars (AND kill those competitive wild yeast you talk about), very similar to preparing all-grain whiskey mash. It makes a big difference in flavor AND yield...at least I've seen anyway...

[@milehidistilling1]

Very good point, Rob! I will definitely remember this for future batches, thanks so much for the tips brother.

[@wldtrky38]

We also cook it for that exact reasoning 👍👍

[@berkaberk]

15:50 - my heart almost stopped when I saw you drop the hydrometer XD

[@milehidistilling1]

That's why I always keep an extra or two on me! I'm a clumsy dude, I'm very accident prone

[@jamesramey3549]

Pectic enzymes help to break down the sugars. If you want to kill off the natural fruit yeasts you should use kamden tablets 24 hrs before pitching your yeast. Thank you for the videos.

[@milehidistilling1]

I know Campden tablets are a great sterilizer and that would have been a great additive for this fermentation. I always forget to add sterilizing agents since you don't use them much in distilling. Thanks for the tip for next time!

[@Newbrewer]

Awsome video. I have a quick Q how many pineapples did it take to hit your 20lb mark please

[@milehidistilling1]

Thanks! Our pineapples averaged out at about 3.5 LB per unit, so it took us about six of them per run.

[@d9inger544]

Great video, thanks If doing something similar with peaches I know you said to remove the pits/stones, how about the skin?

[@milehidistilling1]

Thanks so much! Peach skin is loaded with different polyphenols that can wack out your pH which can POTENTIALLY make fermentation a little higher maintenance but they're also loaded with tannins and other things that I think can add some character into the distillate, so I recommend keeping them on. I've seen it done both ways, though.

[@d9inger544]

@@milehidistilling1 Red Star doesn't call out EC-1118 that I can find, Lalvin does.

[@milehidistilling1]

@@d9inger544 Yep, Lalvin does. I never said Red Star makes EC-1118

[@Bill-e6r]

I wonder if you could harvest the yeast off of the pineapple. There is a Mexican (wine) that they make from pineapple rind, skin what ever you want to call it. My spelling will probably be wrong but they call it Tapche

[@milehidistilling1]

Yeah, I think it'd work! Really wish I did research on that before I made this, I would've saved the skins and done it.

[@CharmaineElliot]

If you boil the skin of the pineapple you can get a nice juice that you cam use.

[@milehidistilling1]

Dang it! Going to have to try this next Summer. Thanks!

[@debonpanton3366]

Yes we use it to make Pineapple Tepache. A very fizzy and flavorful drink. The skin contains ton loads of flavor so I simply remove the leaves at the top and then dice up the rest of the pineapple and rough blend it whenever I am making Pineapple Wine. Waste not. Want Not.

[@milehidistilling1]

@@debonpanton3366 I've heard of Tepache. Next time I make pineapple brandy, I'm definitely going to make some Tepache as well

[@debonpanton3366]

@@milehidistilling1 Hey Boo you will need to boil the skin and core of the pineapple with ginger then sweeten it. At this stage you can either refrigerate the Tepache then drink. OR, ferment it into a wine. If you are going the wine route then pitch your yeast. After fermentation is complete rack to secondary and about quarter stick of cinnamon per gallon of wine, add about 4 cloves per gallon and a grate about one nutmeg per 5 gallons of wine and let it age for I would say about 6 months in it afterwards. Be careful with the cinnamon as it can overpower the brew.

[@rdjohnson206]

Where were your sanitation steps?

[@robgrizzle1293]

This isn't brewing beer...sanitation is not that important in distilling. Distillers yeast out-compete almost all other contaminants for nutrients, and they produce a high enough ABV that basically self-sanitizes the system. A good cleaning of the equipment to remove residues from the previous batch is basically all that's necessary, and that's just to prevent cross-contamination of flavors.

[@ZeGhost13]

Where is your better video on the topic? Link please.

[@d9inger544]

This is a strange comment situation, for some reason they just get deleted with no explanation of why. Boo, why not just answer the question or ask me to contact you by email?

[@milehidistilling1]

HI, not sure what you're even referring to. What question? Email me if you want. [e-mail]

[@festerallday]

Dropping that hydrometer makes my butt pucker

[@davidmc2861]

Soothing jazz while cuting pinapple could have been cut out

[@milehidistilling1]

Appreciate the feedback, I thought it was a cool scene and shows the process more thoroughly, but duly noted

[@BillMooney-r5c]

Don't waste those peels. You can make Tepache from them

[@milehidistilling1]

Dang! The peels are already gone! I'll do a future batch and keep them that time around. Thanks for the tip!

[@BillMooney-r5c]

@@milehidistilling1 Waste not.... want not...LOL

[@milehidistilling1]

@@BillMooney-r5c 😆

[@debonpanton3366]

Thats not yet brandy. That is Pineapple Wine. Distilling it will make it into Brandy.

[@milehidistilling1]

Correct. This is the fermentation episode.

[@ScottBryant-wi7gb]

I have a shot nearby. I have a shot of apple pie. Cheers.

[@milehidistilling1]

Yummy stuff man! Classic! Cheers!

[@festerallday]

Yeast do not literally fight each other directly. They compete for resources. One strain may eat a sugar faster than another. Or one strain may release a waste product that's toxic to another

[@milehidistilling1]

Fair enough, it's just the terminology I use. They can technically kill one another off by taking the resources away from the other yeast strain so I just consider it a war for resources.

[@robgrizzle1293]

😂

[@kjdevault]

1118 is a killer strain. It will kill other yeast present.

[@OutlawSpirits]

WTF......pineapple brandy??!!! GET OUT OF MY BRAIN HOLE!!!!! I just started this the other day..😅 Cheers!! 🤠🥃

[@milehidistilling1]

I don't want to, it's comfy in here Outlaw. I get free Wifi. Let me know how yours turns out brother!

[@jaybeeman3628]

Hey boo sent u a email hadn’t got my reply back. Ain’t like u busy or anything. Lol

[@milehidistilling1]

Hey, Jay. That's strange man! I don't think it got through for some reason. Do you mind emailing me again at [e-mail] and I'll get it sent over to you?

[@jaybeeman3628]

@@milehidistilling1 sure will

[@jaybeeman3628]

@@milehidistilling1 hey I sent it think I’m haveing problems with it. Let me know if u don’t see it

[@milehidistilling1]

@@jaybeeman3628 I'm for some reason not seeing your email come in, Jay. Please leave us a private message on any of our social media with your email, and I'll email you with the chart. You can also call us at 303-987-3955 and I'll jot down your email there. Not sure what's going on, but apologies on the troubles.

[@jaybeeman3628]

@@milehidistilling1 hey I got it thanks again man.

[@rdjohnson206]

How much video can you waste showing pineapples being cut up?

[@milehidistilling1]

Just skip through the video if it's too much for you, geez. I'm trying to be thorough in showing how they're prepared.

[@ZeGhost13]

Do you have better videos to show us on the topic? No..... Then shut up. Thanks boo for taking the time to make these free videos for us!!

[@milehidistilling1]

@@ZeGhost13 You tell him Ghost! Give it to him! Haha. Thanks for your compliments, I really appreciate it.

[@thealchemist-hr8me]

MAN! I need to make some more spirit with pineapple, last batch is almost gone! 😬 Pineapple is always a hit with everyone because its flavor carries through in the distillation decently well ⚗🧪 Just a few things I wanted to mention though, since I make tons of what I call "fruit rum" (fruit fermented with sugar from sugar cane or with sugar cane byproducts like molasses) that's just what I call them since brandy doesn't typically chapatalize to increase the specific gravity of a mash, but regardless of what it's called I have some great tips to share on the topic 😄 First off, a good immersion blender can be one's best friend for fruit ferments! It pulverizes everything which really increases surface area and flavor potential🤫😅 And generally, with any fruit. it's really advantages to freeze & thaw the fruit prior to mashing which breaks open the cellular walls and releases more flavor Cooking can also do the same thing, but some fruits take an extremely long time to cook properly, though I often like to invert my sugar then cook the fruit in it🤤 If you're worried about wild yeast, you can either cook it or use Metabisulfite (Campden) to sanitize the wash itself prior to fermenting... Though personally I think it's unnecessary especially if you're using a modern brewing yeast strain and if using a fruit specific yeast that can even often enhance the flavor of the distillation Plus, EC-1118 and K1-V1116 are two killer strains (I believe the champagne yeast you used is as well tbh) which are sure to wipe out any other yeast that could be present if one just wanted to go that route, though they can be less flavorful than others it really just depends on what you're looking for🤷‍♂ Whenever you're dealing with fruits it's generally a good idea to add pectinase enzyme because when yeast ferment with an excess of pectin they can begin to ferment the pectin into methanol, so to keep this from happening as much or at all the pectinase just goes in and breaks the polysaccharide bonds down into fermentable sugars that the yeast can ferment without producing as much methanol. Though even if pectinase isn't used the methanol can just get cut out during distillation so it's not really a huge deal but it's certainly helpful and handy for fruits. Pineapple enzymes themselves have proteolytic properties though which may itself act similarly to pectinase in that it can possibly break down saccharides like pectin 👨‍🔬 There are two main factors I find plaguing fruit fermentations with stalling and slow fermentation speed.. one is the lack of nutrients as fruits generally do not contain sufficient nitrogen which is like the fuel yeast use to ferment the sugar to alcohol, so nutrients are vital to keep most fruit fermentations as healthy as possible. It can be done without them but it's not ideal for the yeast. Neither is DAP though if I'm honest, it's like caffeine to the yeast and may give them a short and fast burst of fermentation but due to the non-organic nature of the diammonium phosphate is detrimental to yeast health in larger doses and in later stages of fermentation. So, I think there's much better alternatives out there that work much better and produce a much better flavor and product overall. I personally try to avoid it or only put a dash in at the beginning of primary to kick off the fermentation when the osmotic pressure is high from all the excess sugar in the water which is a harsh environment for the yeast, I'm sensitive to phosphates though and can easily tell the difference when it's used without even needing to add much Secondly is definitely pH, specifically too low. Because typically fruits tend to be high in natural acids which are what gives them their sourness and tartness😋 A quick side note on that; Citric Acid lowers pH and is typically the exact opposite of what's needed for already acidic fruit ferments, what you'd be looking for if it's too acidic with a low pH is sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) which has a higher pH and would raise it, calcium carbonate like in oyster shells or eggshells is a higher pH as well which is a great addition to help stabilize and buffer the pH in the fermentable zone. Definitely stay away from that off the shelf 5.2 pH buffer shit though IMHO, the mix of phosphate salts contained in them is not ideal for fermentations and is detrimental to the smell and flavor of the mash and spirit without even having that much actual buffering capability 🤦‍♂ Hopefully you can learn a little something from the knowledge I share, it's much easier learning from other people's mistakes rather than doing it yourself the hard way 😁 --RuneShine, Michigan's Norse-Druid Alchemist✌💚🙃

[@milehidistilling1]

All great tips, brotha!

[@robgrizzle1293]

😂

[@thealchemist-hr8me]

@@milehidistilling1 🙏Thanks, you too! 😄 Shine on ⚗🥃

[@milehidistilling1]

@@thealchemist-hr8me Shine on my friend! 🤟