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POT DISTILLATION:
With column distillation the goal is to produce as pure alcohol as possible from
pure sugar. Pot distillation is the opposite and one ferments mash with water,
sugar and fruit. The goal is to get the genuine taste from the fruit in a fruit
wine with maximum alcohol content, and this will then be distilled in a pot (alembic)
still without column so the fruit taste follows the alcohol.
Instructions for fermenting Fruit mashes with Prestige yeast.
For 25 litres
1. Add your fruit into a 25-30 litre clean plastic bucket and add 5 litres of boiling water. Now add 3kg sugar and stir for 2-3 minutes then leave to cool. Once the liquid temperature has dropped to 50C add Pectolase enzyme and stir well.
2. After 1 hour, top up to 18 litres with cold water, stir well for 2 minutes - then wait to the liquid temperature has dropped below 25 C. The ph should be adjusted to between 4-5 (add 1/4 teaspoon chalk per k g of fruit.) Now add the yeast and stir well.
3. After 3 days fermentation, remove the fruit using a straining bag. ensure you squeeze the straining bag tightly to release all fruit juice.
4. Separately dissolve another 4kg sugar into 4.5 litres hot water. Once dissovled, wait until the temperature drops below 30 C before adding into the fermenter
5. Ferment for 7-10 days at as near to 20C liquid temperature as possible until fermentation stops.
6. Discard heavy sediment and add clearing agent to liquid and leave for 2-3 days. Siphon liquid again from heavy sediment, now the crystal clear liquid can be distilled. (in counries where distillation is legal) Unclear mash will give a bad taste.
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Prestige Pot Distillers yeast 18%...$7.50 Pot Distillers yeast 18% can ferment fruit brandy, fruit schnapps, grappa, brandy and other mashes to 18% which greatly improves taste after distillation, and gives a better yield. It's a hit with all schnapps distillers. Also, it can sometimes be used to ferment larger batches to 18% alcohol by using one sachet to 50 liters of sugar or fruit mash (half dosage). This is normally impossible with high alcohol Turbos: they ferment violently and produce so much heat early in the process that the yeast dies |
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Italian 5 litre copper
pot still. $POA |
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This Cider book has an excellent section on the distillation of Apple Cider: including
features on ...........Price AUD $29.95 |
(note: the distillation of alcohol in Australia is illegal without licence. ibrew disclaim all liability incurred in connection with the use of information supplied in this book)
Pot Distillers yeast
We have developed a pot distiller’s yeast to achieve more alcohol; better
taste and higher quality in pot distilled spirits. We have ended up with Pot
Distillers yeast, which ferments faster, produce more alcohol, less volatiles
and get more fruit taste from the mash. To achieve this one must ferment with
higher pH in the liquid and keep control of the liquid temperature.
Yeast strain
The strain we use in the Pot Distillers yeast is a genuine clean (bacteria
free) wine yeast which is used widely for fruit brandies. Furthermore, the
strain is grown under sterile conditions to ensure absence of bacteria which
could otherwise influence quality of alcohol produced and the % yield from
sugar. Much other yeast is a by-product (deposit) from molasses fermentation – and
therefore not bacteria free.
Never ever use our instructions on other brands of yeast. If the other brand of yeast is not bacteria free (grown under sterile conditions, cost more) you will end up with a serious bacterial contamination. With other brands of yeast’s you must lower the pH to be safe.
pH in the fermentation
It is normal to have a pH of 3 in fruit mash fermentation’s, usually
reached by adding citric acid. At this low pH the yeast can ferment (slowly)
but bacteria’s can not survive.
Pot Distillers yeast works best in a pH between 3.8 and 5 and very best between pH 4.5 and 5. This is possible only because this yeast is bacteria free and starts fast and produce a lot of alcohol the first 48 hours, which kills the bacteria’s anyway.
To achieve this pH one adds 1/4 teaspoon of chalk per kilo fruit used. With this one achieve 18% alcohol, which extracts more flavor from the fruit and gives a much better yield and faster fermentation. If you prefer to have pH 3, alcohol will reach 14% only and the fermentation will be much slower with a risk for it to stop to early.
Alcohol strength in fermentation
In old traditional recipes 6% alcohol was often the yield from fruit. With
Pot Distillers yeast this is quite different. By adding sugar one can get
18% of alcohol. This alcohol and the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation,
also extracts more flavors from the fruit.
When adding sugar one uses 17 grams of sugar to produce 1% alcohol in 1 liter mash and have to remember to calculate space for the water. With 18% mash one sometimes get a better product in one distillation then with 2 distillations with the same mash at 6%.
Liquid temperature influences quality and alcohol strength
Pot Distillers yeast is selected to produce as less volatiles as possible.
In alembic distillation some volatiles (like fusel oils) always follows the
spirit. Pot distiller’s yeast reduces the amount of volatiles. The
amount of volatiles can be even more reduced by controlling the temperature
of the fermenting mash.
Difference of taste quality scored out of 10 is:
At 20°C air temperature 9,
At 25°C air temperature score 8,
At 30°C air temperature score 6,
At 35°C air temperature score 4.
As the fermentation produces heat this means the liquid temperature must not go over 30°C to score 8. To score 9 the liquid temperature shall not increase 24°C. To score 10 the liquid temperature shall be 20°C, but this will take very long time to ferment. If the liquid temperature increases 30°C, the mash can not reach 18% alcohol.
Do not ferment more the 25 liters in the same batch, the heat will increase too much. The heat must in this case be controlled by cooling or by slowing down the fermentation. Slowing down the fermentation is often possible by adding 1/3 of the sugar in the start and 2/3 after 1 week. Another way, worth a try, is to use half dosage (50%) of the yeast – but not less, then fermentation will stuck. This will increase the fermentation time from 7-10 days to 3-4 weeks.
Carbon dioxide produced during fermentation is a great solvent for flavors. Carbon dioxide helps the alcohol to extract the flavor from the fruit. When carbon dioxide leaves the fermentation it also contains some flavor.
When the liquid temperature is over 30°C, the amount of flavor leaving the mash increases very much. So try to not let the liquid temperature go over 30°C to keep the flavor in the mash.
Taste and distillation
To get maximum taste from the fruit one add pectolytic enzymes to the fruit
in the start of the fermentation. Pectolytic enzymes is destroyed in temperatures
over 55°C and works best at 40°C – 50°C.
Pectolytic enzymes breaks down pectin and cellulose in the fruit so the fruit taste (flavor) can come free. In Grappa distillation it is often a good idea to add enzymes to the press rests, even if enzymes already have been used when the grapes was pressed. One use to get more taste from the mash.
If one distills a cloudy mash it taste bad. It is that simple. To make a god fruit schnapps there is 2 ways to go:
1. Distill with the boiling vessel heated by hot water in a water bath. This is how most distilleries do, using a jacketed tank to heat the mash. Then they can distill very thick pulpy fruit mash and get a great taste anyway.
Or:
2. Clear the mash so it is crystal clear. Then it can be heated with any heat source without producing bad taste. The easiest way to do this is to do pulp fermentation for 3 – 4 days, then sieve through a straining bag and then complete the fermentation using a bucket.