For those who keep saying that applejack is dangerous since freeze distillation concentrates the impurities, could you help me out with the logic? Since you are concentrating all of the alcohols more or less equally, shouldn't the resulting applejack have the same ratio of ethanol:methanol as the cider itself? Hence, if you can get drunk off of the cider safely, you can get drunk off of the jack safely as well. Am I missing something here?
Hi James --- yes, and I and many other brewers who have been brewing for years have tried to explain this to the whiners.... distilling cannot magically create alcohols in the resulting distillate. When the hard cider is distilled, a calculated percentage of the water content is removed (in this case, the ice that remains behind) --- the alcohol quantity in reality is the same --- the only thing that has changed is the ratio of alcohols to water. In addition, when hard cider is fermented, if done correctly, it is made using cider / apple juice -- with no solids ie. no stems, seeds or skins. The resulting cider has an insignificant amount of methanol, acetones and aldehydes. This is then distilled by freeze distillation, resulting in Applejack, or hard cider that has had some of the water stripped from its composition. This results in a more flavorful, sweeter apple drink with a higher alcohol ABV. Thanks for your interest, and thanks for watching!!!
That is really cool!!! I am making a batch of cider right now. I May try making some of it into apple jack if it turns out. I always wondered if this process would work. Thanks much!!!
Hi --- sorry for the confusion... in North America apple cider is plain apple juice.... for apple jack, you want hard cider, which is fermented apple cider. It is normally between 5-7% ABV. The freeze distilling process fortifies the alcohol, converting it to apple jack. -- please message if you need anything else -- thanks for watching!!!
Hi --- no, the quantity of liquid you collect as it defrosts will dictate how strong the resulting applejack will be. If you start with 1 liter of hard cider or wine at ABV 15% and collect 500ml of distillate, the ABV will be almost 30%. if you only collect 400ml the ABV will be almost 37.5%, and if you only collected 300ml, the ABV will be almost 50%. I say almost, because a little of the alcohol will always remain trapped in the ice, even although it is still liquid while the ice content is frozen. Freezing the resulting distillate is not really going to achieve better than this. Thanks for your interest and thanks for watching!!!
For those who keep saying that applejack is dangerous since freeze distillation concentrates the impurities, could you help me out with the logic? Since you are concentrating all of the alcohols more or less equally, shouldn't the resulting applejack have the same ratio of ethanol:methanol as the cider itself? Hence, if you can get drunk off of the cider safely, you can get drunk off of the jack safely as well. Am I missing something here?
Hi James --- yes, and I and many other brewers who have been brewing for years have tried to explain this to the whiners.... distilling cannot magically create alcohols in the resulting distillate. When the hard cider is distilled, a calculated percentage of the water content is removed (in this case, the ice that remains behind) --- the alcohol quantity in reality is the same --- the only thing that has changed is the ratio of alcohols to water. In addition, when hard cider is fermented, if done correctly, it is made using cider / apple juice -- with no solids ie. no stems, seeds or skins. The resulting cider has an insignificant amount of methanol, acetones and aldehydes. This is then distilled by freeze distillation, resulting in Applejack, or hard cider that has had some of the water stripped from its composition. This results in a more flavorful, sweeter apple drink with a higher alcohol ABV.
Thanks for your interest, and thanks for watching!!!
That is really cool!!! I am making a batch of cider right now. I May try making some of it into apple jack if it turns out. I always wondered if this process would work. Thanks much!!!
Hi Joel --- tell us how it turned out!!! Thanks for watching!!!
do you mean apple cider that you by from the grocery all ready has alcohol or it gets alcohol after you ferment it? this exciting!
Hi --- sorry for the confusion... in North America apple cider is plain apple juice.... for apple jack, you want hard cider, which is fermented apple cider. It is normally between 5-7% ABV. The freeze distilling process fortifies the alcohol, converting it to apple jack. -- please message if you need anything else -- thanks for watching!!!
can i freeze it again? is that how I would make it stronger?
Hi --- no, the quantity of liquid you collect as it defrosts will dictate how strong the resulting applejack will be. If you start with 1 liter of hard cider or wine at ABV 15% and collect 500ml of distillate, the ABV will be almost 30%. if you only collect 400ml the ABV will be almost 37.5%, and if you only collected 300ml, the ABV will be almost 50%. I say almost, because a little of the alcohol will always remain trapped in the ice, even although it is still liquid while the ice content is frozen. Freezing the resulting distillate is not really going to achieve better than this.
Thanks for your interest and thanks for watching!!!