How To Make Brandy With Cheap Wine Kits

Lets ferment a wine kit from the homebrew store and distill it into brandy. This is going to be a whole lot cheaper than buying wine!
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#distilling #homebrew #whiskey
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[@mefirstyoulater]

This is kind of adjacent to my current project. I'm calling it Bastard's Brandy. It's all off the shelf ingredients meant to pack as many complimentary congeners into one place as I can. I'm using apple juice as the base, adding raisins and dates, and filling out the fermentable sugars with honey. Add a little black tea for tannins and oatmeal for mouth feel and ferment. Double distill it and add freeze dried apples and a handful of raisins to the pot on the spirit run. Age it on a blend of toasted oak and apple wood.

[@mefirstyoulater]

I think I should update this, since it's going in the still today. I wound up recalculating my abv and topped it off with brown sugar. The wine itself is phenomenal and I decided to reserve a gallon of it to drink by itself. (though it's going to need some time to cool off, between the brown sugar and the high abv, it tastes like rocket fuel right now) The recipe I used was (per gallon) 0.5 gal apple juice 0.5lb raisins 0.25lb dates 1lb brown sugar (inverted, lightly caramelized) 0.75lb honey. 1 cup black tea Lalvin 71b yeast. It fermented out in about 2 weeks, i left it to finish up for another week before racking it off. Them I had a great idea that I recommend everyone do who plays with sugar shine and chunkier recipes. Immediately run a sugar wash in the fermenter with the spent material. No new yeast, no real prep, just sugar, a few packets of instant oatmeal, and warm water right back in the fermenter. My second run batch is about halfway fermented and tastes sort of like oatmeal raisin cookies. I could see it working to make a better sugar shine as a second run on any spent fruit, sparged grains, whatever.

[@ryanleamen5883]

Make a video of your process. Would be good to see

[@cobusdavids898]

You would not believe me but I bought some the cheapest box wine I could find and distilled it. The most amazing flavors came out of it. The wine was a South African Fynbos Rose, 50 % and a second distilling of the same brand, the other 50%, white wine Fynbos, on French Oak . The most amazing honey and Fynbos Konjac kind of spirit I have ever tasted. It is still young at 4 months but can't wait for the year mark to have a taste. Awesome vid Jessy.

[@TPGMatt]

We need more rum videos Jesse! Love this one though. Keep up the good work.

[@travelingman45]

Seconded! Rum is what I always want to make!

[@ronford1086]

And a use and upkeep of a dunder pit video

[@MrSomethingElse]

I wanna do a proper sour mash

[@wldtrky38]

My 1st Rum is coming soon. Not sure about the recipe, but it looks fairly simple. Any tips from Jesse would be GREAT !!!

[@TPGMatt]

@@wldtrky38 Do a 100% molasses wash and make sure it’s not sulphured. I ran one through 4 bubble plates and it turned out to be one of the best tasting products I’ve made. I’ve kept some as white dog for Pina Colada’s as well as for ageing some on American oak. Currently got some spiced rum infusing. Tastes great!

[@RiggerBrew]

I have used a Merlot kit, but didn't use any of the stabilizing stuff. Turned out great with French oak chips.

[@qwaqwa1960]

I did exactly this a couple years ago. Turned 3 barely drinkable Chards into a quite serviceable brandy. Crazy. More recently, another meh chard into 60% unwooded eau de vie...

[@StillIt]

Nice! Thats the way

[@StillFunBrewing]

That’s a fun one, always interesting to see what goes through the still. Looking at other comments though. I also echo the need for more Rum. I’m about to run my second batch of rum with my first attempt at some muk/Dunder pit thrown in. I can’t wait to see how it compares to my coconut honey hive rum.

[@Cowboy18941]

Ive heard of someone making a mountain brandy with these and using the flavored sugar packet that came in his kit to post flavor. It turned out surprisigly well

[@jvergen]

Just wondering if you ever looked into how the proofing water changes the final product? Reason thinking about how beer water is formulated to help with flavor

[@dimash244]

Whatever animal made that sound at the end of video - made my day :))

[@jonathanhatch7033]

Hey Jesse I work at a place that has apples growing on my property so at the end of the season, I get to use a bunch of these apples to make Brandy we’re thinking of using Alan Bishop’s recipe plus the office office to make 200 L of wash and then putting a bunch of brandy away

[@akaosok2063]

Do something with peppers! Maybe a chilli pepper vodka?

[@tattoolover5753]

I’d like more videos on making rum please

[@LordRaa]

Depending on what you've got access to, you could try additional fruit and possibly some honey. I think that would be an interesting experiment. If you've not got access to real fruit, I don't see why certain concentrates wouldn't work, though you would have to check for sulphites and other preservatives.

[@samiamm5764]

Cheapest way in my experience is to buy two arrels of grapes from a big vinyard. Im in california tho, edge o the mojave desert, so table grape growers are aplenty just north of here. I usually deal with a harvest crew foreman, theyre given a quantity of grapes which theyre glad to trade for beer.

[@SFERDIAN]

I want to try this kit

[@racerothery2716]

Funny because I started this craft to make bourbon and whiskey. Now in practice favorite thing to do is make fruit brandy. Good show brotha

[@jakesimpson64]

I had a bumper crop of plums last year and made a plum brandy. Added sugar to bump up the ABV, but I reckon I'll chuck one of those kits in this year instead

[@jamesh1984]

I’ve waited years for this video

[@brettmoore3194]

I make a strawberry kiwi wine out of juicy juice with a high octane yeast. Usually finishes around 18% , many have said its too good. It can be dangerous for beginners

[@Abbynorml1979]

I did a pear wine brandy thing, so good. Vintners Best.

[@lmy5pence481]

Thanks Jesse will test this one as soon as I can place orders. I have checked out your calculator but could not make out the grain to speck sheet %'s. could you please enlighten this old young man please.

[@myvodkamaker]

4:40 The key is to not rupture the yeast cell walls and burst out the yeast guts, then you can't and pass yeast flavor to your spirit, you can do this with low heat exposure and short wash residency... but you cannot do this in a batch still, only in a micro continuous still where the wash stays in the still for less than a minute and moves out of the vapor path even faster.

[@NE-BO]

I thought it'd be fun to run a bunch of fresh fruit through a juicer, separate out some of the gunk, maybe add some of the skins back in, of different fruits and see how it ferments out. From personal experiments, a lot of the weird notes from some fruits come out with the seeds.

[@brianspilsbury8953]

Great video! A local brew on premesis wine store was closing and a small group of us purchased about 30 kits for $5 CDN each. We have a LOT of brandy! I am curious about this Allan Bishop brandy recipe. Is there online details about it?

[@fatman5514]

Question how about ginger beer into a still be it air or what ever is it doable

[@lordsqueak]

I just had an intrusive thought, and I have to pass it on. Can you re-mash the stuff that doesn't distill over, and how will that affect the flavor? (and can you trippel mash it?)

[@tomecrcev3332]

Love your videos Jesse i was wandering i make grape brandy since i was little and we never used yeast in the mash we leave it to ferment naturally can you compare them side by side and give your opinion witch is better. Have a kick ass weekend.

[@StillIt]

Nothing wrong with doing it that way. It's going to turn our very different from region to region depending on what wild yeast is likely to show up!

[@MrSomethingElse]

bugger that micky I'm running this peach wine through the still, if it sucks you will have to help me drink it

[@user-ef4ld7tg1b]

If I run a couple bottles of wine in my 8 gallon steel do I still need to take off four shots

[@jameseden6676]

Hey great content. I would also like to know more about what your cuts are ABV percentage wise and their volumes.. a pain I know. And in this case at what percentage ABV you stopped collecting hearts.

[@DarkHawg]

Hey Jesse great video!! I’m glad you did a Brandy video because I have a question on proofing and saponification. Have you ever experienced this and maybe have a video touching on it so some of us can get a better understanding how it happens and why. Allen over at One Piece at a Time touched on it recently with very good informational video but would love to hear your thoughts as well. Love your work my friend!!!

[@Rubberduck-tx2bh]

Hey Jesse: if you want a wine kit recommendation for you & the wifey, try Green Apple Riesling. It by far was my wife & my, as well as many friends' favorite.

[@eknuds]

I have an Apple Cider concentrate kit that has been sitting around for more than a year and I have been trying to decide what to do with my empty fermenter. Maybe an Apple Brandy would be good.

[@josephcaliguire9245]

You mention how the organic acids go through an esterfication during the stilling process that can translate into some of those wonderful fruity flavors. Do you or any of the other Chasers out there have any more information about this esterfication and what compounds might aid or be beneficial? Am I able to acidulate a wash with organic acid like lactic or citric and and achieve that same esterfication effect?

[@edwardbowers4350]

Some wines undergo "sur-lie" aging, where the wine is left on the lees until the yeast cells begin to autolyse (break down), creating (hopefully) good flavours. Some strains of yeast are known to be good for this, while others create off flavours. I wonder if this could be an indicator for whether or not a particular yeast will create off flavours in the still? The strains I can remember off the top of my head are EC-1118 and D47, which are known to be good, and 71B, which is considered not good.

[@ironmck9826]

Agreed best tip ever. Kits are fine, beer, wine, cider....etc. yeast included is garbage! Good yeast, nutrients and even boiling to kill baddies and you can make good stuff from any kit!

[@Kroiznacher]

But how would you still Surstömming

[@TimmyB1867]

So, right now, I only have access to an air still. Is this sort of thing going to be just not worth trying, or is is just going to take a crap ton of time, but otherwise worth trying?

[@PoppaLongroach]

They call wine made from grape juice, Hippy wine here. It makes good shine from my experience

[@Rolli6669]

Can you ferment and distill cordial? I'd love to see you do Orange, Fruit Crush, Lime and Sarsaparilla.

[@briannorton525]

Hey jesse and community. Been making stuff with my cheap vevor 8.9 gallon kit. It has definitely been a experience. what do you think of this still setup. 8 Gallon Moonshine Still with 2" Stainless Reflux Column from afordable distillery equipment. Also 2" Copper and Stainless Pot Still Column & Built in Condenser, Whiskey Column from same company to cover all my basis. Also was thinking of adding a 2" Copper Onion Head from oak stills. Would the head work with my reflux column? Also if i decide to add a 2" bubble plate setup from oak stills later can i use it with the head? Thank you in advance for all your input. Also love the videos.

[@briannorton525]

I know I said also a lot.😂. As a follow up. I ferment in 7.9 gallon buckets. Should I go bigger with a 13 gallon 3 inch system? I use induction heating but also have propane setup as well.

[@heymulen1840]

Great video ! And I agree, more rum videos. Off topic question, I am curious on : has anyone measured how many watt an Airstill / Airstill Pro actually use when running. Think there rated 340-380 watt ? I got a water distiller (no name) that was only collecting dust. Rated 750 watt. I put a volt-amp-watt meter in line, an it only draws 625 watts. I'm going to use it with a scr inline so I can control the speed and make Jesse's : My New Favourite Gin Recipe 🍸 hypothetically that is 😉😉 Happy Distilling 😎

[@havoc_64]

Great Video! You made some Mead Whisky in the past. How about a Melomel Mead Brandy?

[@AJ-on-youtube]

If you have to boil out all the nasty stuff in the heads first, doesn't that mean that that stuff is normally in wine, and you drink it when you drink wine? Or do winemakers have a process for removing/neutralizing it? Is that what aging it does?

[@mykolaspangonis1992]

Distillation is commonly used by homebrewers as a process to concentrate ethanol but all other compounds that have a lower boiling point than ethanol are concentrated and spat out at the beginning as well. Methanol is a commonly used example, its boiling point is about 10 degrees below ethanol and is usually present in wine but at very low and not dangerous concentrations. As you distill it tho the first few drops will be very concentrated so tasting that would be a no no. Even a few ml’s can make you blind permanently. So taking off the heads is an important part of distillation.

[@KiloChan21]

So I have a question. The small distiller machine you use in your videos, how do you clean them? I have a machine at home that I use for just distilling water.

[@theghostofsw6276]

You mean from "water scale"? Vinegar cleans them just fine.

[@KiloChan21]

@@theghostofsw6276 I was hoping for other tips. Currently I run the pot without the lid on and boil water in it with a good dose of citric acid. My husband gets sick from the smell of vinegar so I minimize the use of it. He also doesn't want vinegar in the distiller because for the most part the water we distill is used in his CPAP machine.

[@kevin_ninja_jones2363]

Add less water to raise the starting gravity to where you want it

[@chubbyschillis1065]

Really want to see a milk vodka as well

[@mikestevens4879]

Hey bro why do we have to do 2 runs all my 1st runs of everything turn out fine to me maybe I don't know but I don't have a smaller still but the spirits Make turn out really strong and I just mix water to bring them down can you please educate me!!! I'm a novice at best bro!

[@terrelllinnell7257]

Best I've been able to gather is you do a 1st run hot and fast not worrying about cuts (stripping run) to reduce your wash size as that'll cut down on how much time you spend making cuts at the still on the 2nd run. And also will increase your abv if your wash came out low. I've only done research, never actually made anything, so maybe someone who really knows can chime in better than I

[@warrengrangehorticulture9339]

There’s a big supply of oxygen in that jar which offers ample opportunity for oxidation of the ageing product. Would it not be better to use a jar of much smaller volume to minimise the airspace? Just a thought….🧐

[@terrelllinnell7257]

He put a note on screen stating he'll be moving the againg product to a smaller jar when he can get one

[@TheSquirreless]

Whoa whoa. Where is this Alan Bishops brady recipe you speak of?

[@TheSquirreless]

Nvm. Found it

[@morepork281]

@@TheSquirreless I came here looking for this, do you have a link? 👍👍

[@the_whiskeyshaman]

Box wine bandit. That was a low abv. Maybe next time add 2 box’s to get like 10%

[@jackmehoffe9372]

I like you mate

[@soverysleepy]

you didnt use their yeast, so you dont really know what the wine kit is like also, a close up of the yeast packet could maybe reveal info about it

[@DaveMutsaine]

On a vaycay Jess?

[@robertfontaine3650]

MMm, Welches grape juice brandy.

[@skepticfucker280]

I often see wine and beer kits for really cheap and even free in my area, can you do a beer kit and leave out the hops? Also, slab of smoked bacon in the still?

[@Miata822]

You can use the liquid malt extract (LME) found in beer kits or sold individually to make whiskey. Jesse has a video doing this. It is easier than mashing grains yourself but far more costly. I have added some dark malt LME to all grain mashes to add a little more flavor. and definitely leave out the hops.

[@skepticfucker280]

@@Miata822 most of the beer kits I see that are free or $5-10 usually are either the Mr beer kits or refill packs that have the hops in the malt extract or 5gal all grain kits that have everything included besides equipment. The all grain ones have hops separate and am what I've been looking at. A lot of people get them as gifts and never plan on using them so they get given away or sold for almost nothing. Just type in beer kit or wine kit into your local online marketplace and you might be amazed. Cheers!

[@tommygun83]

Love to see you attempt a traditional Irish poítin (Irish moonshine, also known as potcheen or mountain dew). It's got its roots as far back as the 15th century around Galway and Connemara and is kind of the grandfather of all whisky. It was made on rural irish farms and wasn't aged on wood, but was the basic recipe for whisky as we know it today.

[@MereCashmere]

Temperature of PC water is ABSOLUTELY a part of the equation. Cool your product too fast, and you cause "vapor collapse" that can cause "huffing" or "panting" in your column. this will throw the balance of your column off and entrain your cuts which you do not want. Water in the PC should be exiting it at 120f-140f, but your still may be different. This is a game of trial and error.

[@DaveMutsaine]

Just tune it til it stops huffing. It's not that hard with a 50 cm PC..

[@MereCashmere]

@@DaveMutsaine correct. Shouldn't be hard depending on how you route your water. It is indeed a large part of the equation.

[@DaveMutsaine]

It is, but comparing a 50 cm shotgun to a 0,5 x 10 cm liebig is like night and day.@@MereCashmere

[@nicholaskeys7150]

I may have "hypothetically" used vintner's BlackBerry wine with some extra blackberries on a brewZilla gen 4 with a sight glass with extra blackberries in it to make BlackBerry brandy? I may have also "hypothetically" back sweetened and added more blackberries! So it's definitely a thing!

[@deemushroomguy]

I was excited, 'till I realized you weren't showing how to make a good still. 😅😂

[@stevefair6445]

Look at some of the earlier content - Jesse builds out a CCVM. That and a little Google of CCVM will get you going.

[@deemushroomguy]

@@stevefair6445 Much appreciated, dude. To be honest, I've got some aromatic plants I want to get hydrosols and essential oils from, so this might be a good project.

[@stuartsmith4882]

At 5% that’s not wine

[@stuartsmith4882]

Ok found the brain fart comment 13.5% sounds much better