Apple butter-jack?

[Jayjay1976]

I have 12 pints of homemade apple butter at my disposal. Heavily spiced and sugared as one would expect, im imagining an apple pie flavor would result.. Can I just add it all to a fermenter and top up with water to make a wash? If the gravity comes up short I have LME to boost it, does any of this sound like a good idea?

 

[doug293cz]

I wouldn't boost with LME (or DME) unless you want to add some malt character. Probably better to just use table sugar.

You may need to add some yeast nutrient to get good fermentation. And hopefully, since it's homemade, it doesn't contain any preservatives that could interfere with fermentation.

Brew on

 

[Jayjay1976]

I wouldn't boost with LME (or DME) unless you want to add some malt character. Probably better to just use table sugar.

You may need to add some yeast nutrient to get good fermentation. And hopefully, since it's homemade, it doesn't contain any preservatives that could interfere with fermentation.

Brew on

Thanks for the reply. It is all natural, no preservatives other than lemon juice to lower pH. I have DAP, is that sufficient? I'm going to dissolve one jar of the apple butter in a gallon of water to assess the sugar density, and use frozen (non-preservative) apple juice concentrate if it needs a boost.

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks for the reply. It is all natural, no preservatives other than lemon juice to lower pH. I have DAP, is that sufficient? I'm going to dissolve one jar of the apple butter in a gallon of water to assess the sugar density, and use frozen (non-preservative) apple juice concentrate if it needs a boost.

I'm not an expert on what types of juice need what nutrients, only that pretty much anything other than beer wort needs nutrients added. I would think that whatever is used for normal apple ciders would work.

Brew on

 

[Jayjay1976]

Just checked my apple butter stash, I have a dozen pints and 16 half-pints for this project; 2.5 gallons of concentrated apples and sugar, which I'll be topping up to 7 gallons with RO water. With that much I doubt additional sugar will be needed, though I still need to dissolve a pint into a gallon of water to assess the sugar content. I will be happy to end up with anywhere from 6-10% ABV.

My plan is to add DAP at the rate listed on the packet, 1 tsp/gal, 1/2 tsp/5 gal Wyeast beer nutrient blend dissolved in boiling water, and 1/2 tsp/gal of pectic enzyme, then oxygenate before pitching 2 packets of Premier Blanc. Does this sound reasonable? Is there another yeast I should use?

 

[Jayjay1976]

Here are some photos, fermentation has finished and it'll rest in the cold garage till next weekend when I'll have the time to run it real slow.

2.5 gallons spiced apple butter plus 2 pints of peach preserves. All homemade.

I didn't get a photo of it before fermentation, but I topped it up with water and added 3 cans of frozen concentrated apple juice to bring the SG up to 1.065. Pitched 2 packets of premier blanc and set it in the warm laundry room where it finished out in about 3 days. Here is the end result, not sure how I'm going to extract all the liquid from the spent fruit sitting at the bottom.

 

[bracconiere]

i would think molasses would be the doping agent of choice.....distills sweet....stick some allspice, or cinamon stick in the top of the column,, Mmmmmm...age maybe on cherry wood or maple?

(but that would be a kids drink, not an ' adult' beverage, wouldn't want the tea totallers after you!)