Eau de Vie

[NFG]

Bonjour, hello,

 

For all French dwellers or people wanting to have a go at this, here is my method for making Eau de Vie - plum brandy or you can use any fruit. Its probably not perfect but it works for me...

 

1. Collect fallen plums and add to large container say 60 litre with 1kg of sugar to 10 litres of plums - roughly 1 bucket. Mash it all up as you fill the container. Place the lid on, but do not seal. A mixture of varieties of plums including Mirrabells is good.

 

The plums must be fallen because this will start the fermentation process once they have had a bit of sun on them - or thats what I understand.

 

2. Allow the juice to ferment, stir about once a week during which it should smell good & bubbles continue to rise. Ensure lid is loose fit to allow gas to escape.

 

3. Once your tonneau is full, observe the fruit starting to sink & clear liquid forming on top - this is good.

 

4. When your local alambique (distiller) is in the area arrange an appointment & take your juice to be distilled. Take a bottle of wine or two & a glass bidon or suitable container - you will make anything between 10:1 to about 6:1 depending how strong your fermented plums are.

 

5. Grin as you sample the new Eau de Vie which dosnt cost much to distil.

 

6. Allow the Eau de Vie to breathe for about a week, by this I mean dont put the cork/bung in the bottle / carbouy just leave the bung loose on top.

 

Thats it, you can now use it for preserving fruit, making Pineau des Charantines and anything else involving strong alcohol. Take care if you drink it because its about 60 percent.

 

N

[arbmark]

C'est la bloody vie, eh! All play and no work frog-side then!!!

 

I got a taste for pineau de charantes when i was wwoofing down that way near ruffec.

 

i know its warmer in france but my plums will be rock hard till august! Sounds simple - when my trees are bigger i might like to try that.

 

Cheers for posting!

Mark