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The really good ones are way too expensive. Therefore, I decided to study the technology of making this drink and tried to make it at home.
This is the story of Inga R., my reader, who shared her recipe.
Why I decided to try making cognac at home
First of all, because of the high price of real cognac. Cognac making is a long-term process that requires a lot of patience. Therefore, a quality drink always has a high cost.
Even with minimal aging, a quality product will cost at least $20 for a 0.5l bottle. Cheap drinks that manufacturers pass off as cognac are not.
The production involves grape spirit obtained from the distillation of semi-dry young wine. Warmed by the warmth of the hands, poured into a glass, cognac manifests itself with magnificent aromas.
Among them is the smell of oak barrels in which grape spirit has been aged for years. Behind him comes the turn of vanilla, tobacco and fruity aromas.
Attention! An alcoholic product that does not change its aroma or has the smell of alcohol is not a natural cognac.
Ingredients Used
Usually for brandy they take ripe grape berries, from which the juice is squeezed out, and put on fermentation. I decided to cheat a little. The fact is that in Moldova and some other countries, grape pomace is often used to produce semi-dry wine.
I made a very tasty fortified wine from berries, and reused the spent pressings. In a 60-liter barrel I fell asleep:
- grape cake – 1.5 buckets;
- warm water – 30 l;
- sugar – 5 kg.
The mixture must ferment for at least 48 days.
The process of making homemade cognac
The first step is to prepare a suitable container. I took a plastic barrel with a large neck so that it was convenient to mix the wort and control the process. I drilled a hole in the lid, into which I inserted a hose of the appropriate diameter. Got an airlock.
Fermentation
Cake is poured into the barrel and warm water with sugar dissolved in it is added. The screw cap screws on tightly. The gases generated during fermentation will exit through the hose. The first 3-4 days I opened the barrel and thoroughly mixed its contents, trying to drown the cake from the cake.
Distillation
The technology of French cognac producers provides for distillation in a copper cube. In the absence of such, I used a standard aluminum can.
Having filtered the resulting wine from the cake, poured it into a can, and distilled it like moonshine. The result was 10 liters of natural grape alcohol, a strength of 50 degrees.
Exposure
The main criterion for obtaining a quality drink is the aging of grape spirit in an oak barrel, in which the wine was previously stored. I don’t have one, so I had to improvise. She poured the liquid into 3-liter jars filled with oak chips.
Attention! Before laying in jars, the chips must be boiled in wine or grape juice, and dried well. Dry wood is tarred over the fire and washed.
For every 3 liters of grape spirit, vanilla should be added at the tip of a knife. Banks can be rolled up and put into storage. To get a good drink, there must be an exposure of at least two years.
What result did I get
But after 1.5 years, I could not stand it and opened the first can of amber drink. The aroma was stunning. The tasting was conducted by my son-in-law, a connoisseur and connoisseur of cognacs. He didn’t expect it to be so great.
The result is worth the effort, it has become a true decoration of the festive table. Rich color, amazing aroma and truly impeccable taste were appreciated by all guests.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to health. Take care of yourself!
Even if the drink falls short of French cognac in many ways, it is better to use a natural product than a store-bought surrogate. I’m right?
