Grappa – This is a rather unpretentious version of grape brandy originally from Italy. In order to prepare this drink at home, first of all, you need the following: a moonshine still (aka a distiller; theoretically, a classic copper alambik is desirable), a vat or similar container with a tight-fitting lid, an oak or cherry barrel, a classic triad, consisting of water, sugar and yeast, and, if possible, their own vineyard. Let’s start with the last one.
Raw materials and preparation
You will probably be interested to know the grappa recipe for cooking at home, but the fact is that the whole recipe comes down to certain technological processes, which we will tell you about.
First of all, it should be borne in mind that for the preparation of grappa, it is best to use slightly unripe grapes. The increased level of acidity inherent in it will make your future drink more aromatic and rich. That is why it is desirable that you can decide for yourself at what point to cut a very significant number of grapes.
Further, if you do not want chacha or rakia instead of grappa, cut grapes must be rid of juice as carefully as possible. The fact is that real Italian brandy is not made from whole berries, but from the squeezes obtained after squeezing the juice that goes onto the wine.
Mash preparation
The next step is to prepare mash from the resulting grape pomace. To do this, the prepared material must be placed in a vat or some other capacious container. Then, 0,5 shares of sugar, 3 shares of boiled water at room temperature, as well as wine yeast should be added to one share of the squeezes, with a calculation of 10 grams per kilogram. At the same time, if you do not want your grappa to be noticeably bitter, do not put grape combs in the fermentation container.
When 5-7 days after the laying of the material, the contents of the vat begin to ferment, the container should be tightly closed with a lid and transferred to a dark place for 2-3 weeks. At the same time, the ripening mash must be stirred twice a day so that the yeast “cap” regularly moves to the bottom of the container. At the end of the fermentation process, it is strongly recommended to strain the mash twice. This is done in order to save the future grappa from the rather unpleasant smell obtained in the case of distillation of the skeletons of grapes.
Distillation and final stage
Moving on to the distillation stage, it should be noted that the classic grappa goes through this procedure twice. Moreover, during the re-distillation, the producers of the drink leave only the most aromatic part of it, obtained in the middle of the distillation process. So to speak, cut off the “head” and “tail” of the distillate.
Thus, those who want to cook grappa at home have three options.
Be content with an approximate similarity of the drink, without bothering to separate the necessary part of it during re-distillation.
Buy a more complex moonshine unit and do everything according to the rules.
Obtain a real copper alambik, similar to those with which grappa has been made since its inception.
After the end of distillation, before you open, again, 3 possibilities:
Immediately pour the drink into bottles and immediately start drinking it.
Before direct use, for several days or even weeks, insist grappa on your favorite fruits, berries, roots or aromatic herbs.
Be patient and pour the drink into a barrel for subsequent aging (on average, this process lasts from six months to one and a half to two years).
In conclusion, it is worth noting that even the first experience of making homemade grappa will not disappoint you. And the experience gained during the first distillation will significantly improve the quality of your drink in the future.
Relevance: 05.09.2015
Tags: Brandy and Cognac, Brandy Recipes