Cold temperatures allowed us to move the left-over apple cider outside to make applejack. We concentrated 8 litres down to about 2 litres. If the apple cider was 8 or 9% to begin with (a guess based on how it affected me), this will be in the 32-36% range.
It tastes fairly good--clearly apple-based and with a bit of a kick. An interesting sipping experience. I'm not sure what to do with 2 litres. I wonder if there are cocktail recipes? The apple cider vinegar continues to ferment. It certainly smells vinegary but I'm not getting much acidity in the taste and very little mother of vinegar has formed on the top. Maybe a shot of cider vinegar might kick things along?
Tell us more about making applejack. Moved it outside? I haven't a clue.
ReplyDeleteOnce you have fermented the apple juice into alcohol (hard cider), you can then increase the percentage of alcohol by removing water. As water freezes but booze doesn't, if you set a pail outside in the cold, the water will form ice (which can be scooped out).
ReplyDeleteIf you scoop out three quarters of the cider (as ice) by volume, then the remaining booze (called apple jack) is 4 times as strong as the original hard cider. Only downside is that some of the yuckier stuff (that you would remove through proper (but illegal!) distilling) remains when you concentrate by freezing so apple jack can cause hangovers if consumed in quantity.
Not really an issue for me, but worth knowing.