Plum Brandy

[BackyardBrewer]

ring around or go for a drive there are thousands of ton of unpicked grapes in the Mc Calren vale area or the Barossa

Not sure how to explain it but I'm so much more interested in fruit brandies than grape. I have an orchard hook up, but yeah I'd kill for that amount of plumb.

[BackyardBrewer]

I got EC1118 yeast from up the road, grabbed all they had and the young girl looked shocked :laughing-rolling:

So oak aging? Or drinking white?

[MacStill]

I think I've gone plum crazy, what a messy shit of a job FFS I got plum from head to toe :angry-banghead:

The squisher didnt work as well as I thought it would, not a lot of juice but more the consistency of lumpy snot, but I dont think it's the squishers fault.

I'll upload some pics as soon as I'm done with todays PM's :D

[MacStill]

I got EC1118 yeast from up the road, grabbed all they had and the young girl looked shocked :laughing-rolling:

So oak aging? Or drinking white?

You know that taco add ? :laughing-rolling:

[BackyardBrewer]

I got EC1118 yeast from up the road, grabbed all they had and the young girl looked shocked :laughing-rolling:

So oak aging? Or drinking white?

You know that taco add ? :laughing-rolling:

WHY CAN'T WE HAVE BOTH!!!

[MacStill]

ok here's a few pics, next time I'll wrap the squisher with shade cloth and sit it in a big plastic tub I got so it catches the droppings :D

First squeeze started looking good when the juice came

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But the snot started and my thoughts were WTF, this aint no fun :wtf:

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Here's where I realised I was knee deep in the shit, it only half squished em and I had to get em in the fermenter with a shovel.

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So once in the tub I got the paint stirrer out on my 550w trusty old makita and set to it with a evil look in my eye.... I'll learn you little fuckers not to squish properly, now ya's are gunna get smashed.

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[MacStill]

So here's what 60kg of plums, 8kg sugar, 40L water looks like in a 120L fermenter, thick gooey snot

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I did a yeast starter, added bi carb and airated the fuck out of it as suggested by our mash master crow advised over the fone, it's all stirred in and just waiting for signs of life now so I'll get a couple of pics over the next few hours to show my success or failure.

Fuck me it's not for the feint hearted doing a mash like this, I've only got 1140kg of plums left :laughing-rolling:

Fingers crossed :pray:

[Kimbo]

I've only got 1140kg of plums left :laughing-rolling:

Fingers crossed :pray:

:laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

[emptyglass]

Buy yourself some time, since you got so much,
Get the little plummy fuckers in a drum/s with some water. After 4 days they just go to goo and mashing them up is so much easier.
If you could juice a ton of plums before they rot, your doing well.

Either way, you're going to want to shake your money maker, or you'll have sticky, oozy, plum juice all over the place!

Just my preference, but there is heaps of yeast on the plums that came with them, why use something else?

I don't know too much about this toutchy topic, but I don't like to crush the pits, rumor has it they contain cyanide type stuff, but are ok not crushed. Too aggressive on the paint stirrer can split them.

My chzech mate drinks the stuff by the shot glass, I hope you plan to do the same. Pissa score mate.

[MacStill]

Yeah I knew about the seeds and poison, I've check quite a few and they're all intact.

I'm going to get a few, maybe 6 x 180L olive barrels tomorrow so thanks for the tip on the soaking... I think with this many plums I dont have much choice.

The good thing is that 99% of the plums are still pretty hard and need to ripen a little, they're not pig food either and are really good chewing :D

One of the problems I am facing is the ton of juicing apples I gotta pick up next week :laughing-rolling:

[emptyglass]

Jeez mac, you really are going fruity :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Edit; the plums look like they are prepared for market, they might be polishied and might not have much yeast. I'm sure with that much to ferment, you'll try all the things possible. I'm keen to see what you come up with. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MacStill]

Yeah well for the price of a couple bottles per ton I'm not going to knock back a trade like that, and pears will be ready in a few weeks too :happy-partydance:

All thanks to a member here and his contact at the fruit wholesalers market :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MacStill]

Jeez mac, you really are going fruity :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Edit; the plums look like they are prepared for market, they might be polishied and might not have much yeast. I'm sure with that much to ferment, you'll try all the things possible. I'm keen to see what you come up with. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

No not at all mate, there's heaps of yeast on them :D

[emptyglass]

Well, I guess you got one on the go with added yeast, would be interesting to see how one goes without additional yeast, as a comparison.

Are they all the same type of plum?

I have found different plums yeild and taste different, no surprises there. The dark ones taste the best to me. They seem to smell worse than the light flesh ones to start with, but get better as time goes on.

[crow]

Yeah the only thing I'l say on traditional Sliv is its a fair amount of work for a very meager return and I couldn't really taste the difference. I you did it traditionally ( pot stilled and no cuts) yep then ya might , Just MHO ;-)

[MacStill]

Well I left a good 6" head space even though I thought I wouldnt need it, apparently plums and EC1118 isnt the most vigorous ferment :laughing-rolling:

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[blond.chap]

Are you making brandy or baking a cake?

Seriously mate, that's ridiculous :laughing-rolling:

[MacStill]

it didn't feel ridiculous cleaning it up with my hands, it's warm, soft and lumpy :puke-huge:

[blond.chap]

it didn't feel ridiculous cleaning it up with my hands, it's warm, soft and lumpy :puke-huge:

Yeah, not fun. I feel for you, my first rum wash exploded and went everywhere (I'd used about 150g of yeast per 20L and it was a warm day).

[MacStill]

after getting myself in a bit of a jam today I've managed to get 1/3 of the plums going, the rest are up for grabs.

pics soon.