First time freeze distilling. Anything I should know?

7

u/gphotog 5d ago

Piggybacking this to answer a question we both probably have: how much of a concern is oxidation? Both during the jacking process, and particularly once it's distilled and being stored.

In my case, I've got some sugar wine I jacked to about 35%, and wondering if there's a possibility of oxidation.

Edit: have fun with it! It's definitely more of a "backwoods" process than the high-minded pursuit of winemaking.

3

u/philma125 5d ago

Unless ur jacked hooch has a whole load of sugar, spices, fruit, acids or any other stuff don't worry about it. I've made some jacked hooch before it lasted a good time.

Hooch normally oxizes due the O2 molicules binding to micro solids such as sugars, acids, or other stuff. That's why a red wine will oxydize quicker than a white wine.

4

u/gphotog 5d ago

When you say "micro solids", would you count edible glitter?

1

u/philma125 5d ago

No pal needs be a organic solid how can a molicules of oxygen bind to a small peice of plastic :). U can scrub some oxydation by adding some tannin if its needed. Best to use some potassium sorbate and sodium metabisufite if Ur to worried about oxydation. Then again just drink Ur hooch before it goes bad and Ur good 👍🏻👍🏻

1

u/Buckshott00 5d ago

I've never seen it made at home in a closed system. If it oxidizes it will taste off. But the typical amount of time in a freeze collect cycle should not hurt it

6

u/dadbodsupreme 5d ago

If you've got acetones in your alcohol, it was never going to taste good to begin with.

I would recommend using a big, thin walled plastic jug instead of anything rigid. I would also recommend taking a long handled knife and poking a hole through to the bottom before you turn it over and let it drain over a few minutes into your receiving vessel.

I know some fellas, including myself, who have tried to do it twice, and while it does further concentrate the alcohol, the returns diminish and it's not worth any extra effort. One time freeze jacking is enough to get a 30 something percent.

1

u/Party_Stack 5d ago

Thank you. This is very helpful.

Also, how cold should I go? Would I have better results in a deep freezer or would the kitchen freezer work fine?

3

u/gphotog 5d ago

-15C should get you to 30-35abv. That's kitchen freezer territory

1

u/Buckshott00 5d ago

Most US kitchen and deep freezers max out 0°F resultinf in applejack (you said you're using apples) at 30-35% if you live in the north or have access to cryo equipment you can get below this.

I'm thinking about trying with dry ice, but the concentrated flavors start to taste different at those concentrations

1

u/Interesting_Try8375 5d ago

At that point just get an air still or make a pot still, get 60-80% there depending on patience.

2

u/Buckshott00 5d ago

The flavors truly are different between simple distillation and jacking. If you're just looking for high abv, a fractional or refluxing still is not hard to obtain or work.

Sometimes you just like the challenge. Sometimes you want to get to a specific taste

3

u/VisualHuckleberry542 5d ago

Yeah the virtue of jacking is it concentrates sugars and flavours that are left behind by distillation

2

u/Buckshott00 4d ago

Agreed. Never understood the desire to try and push things toward neutral spirits when neutral spirts by definition are meant to be flavorless, or near flavorless. Don't get me wrong. I like a good vodka or gin if that is the intent, but those aren't whiskey and most folks are going to age these in any kind of wooden barrel.

3

u/Buckshott00 5d ago

Here's one that a lot of first timers don't realize. It takes multiple freeze-thaw cycles with multiple collections and refreezing to get close to the theoretical abv of the temp you're freezing to.

4

u/DonAurelius1 5d ago

It probably wont taste great, but that's about the worst of it ig. You dont need to worry about acetone or whatever because youre drinking the same wine just with water removed.

2

u/Zelylia 5d ago

What is the point of actually freeze distillation if your essentially putting in effort to remove dilution but will realistically be just as drunk if you drink all your wine and it will probably taste better ?

4

u/philma125 5d ago

Use a mixer with the jacked hooch. U get a good kick, stronger and tastes better. Also some folk would rither get drunk sooner of poor hooch jacked to say 1L at 30% than drink a gallon of hooch at say %8 Coukd u drink a gallon 😂😂 not saying ops hooch sucks but ye never know. Plus that one shot or 1 drink if good saves having to open a full bottle to have to drink that full bottle if u get my drift.

2

u/Zelylia 5d ago

That's fair enough ! Could definitely understand if it's sub par hooch 🤣

2

u/philma125 5d ago

I've jacked good hooch before now was very good but was good to begin with. More like a sweet wine so only had a small glass at a time it's worth doing if done right and depending on what ur end goal is.

3

u/Party_Stack 5d ago

A) If the alcohol is diluted I drink it slower and subsequently get less drunk.

B) While it is good I’m generally not a huge fan of how the wine tastes. I don’t really care if the distillate tastes worse if I have to drink way less of it.

C) Racking takes a while. It also hurts my back to stand there and slowly pour out a heavy ass carboy. I’d rather just freeze it once than repeatedly refrigerate and transfer containers.

TL;DR it’s faster

1

u/Zelylia 5d ago

Also pretty understandable at that point ! I find I quite enjoy homemade fruit wine and will happily drink a few glasses but could see it's not for everyone and a quick buzz can be ideal.

2

u/VicTheSage 5d ago

Have you heard of apple pie moonshine? I made it before with Everclear and while it was certainly strong the promise of it tasting exactly like apple pie was not fulfilled at the % I hit. While I did forget a can of apple juice concentrate this shit was so high octane I doubt it would've made a difference.

Currently I'm thinking a hard cider or cyser made with champagne yeast, freeze jacked and then blended with the flavorings could taste exactly like apple pie at 30-40% alcohol.

I'm a bit confused by the folks mentioning not having to rack when jacking. My understanding is you finish your wine, cider or mead completely removing as much particulates as possible and then jack it to boost alcohol content.

Alternatively there are oak spirals and small scale home use whiskey barrels for sale so you could ferment a traditional whiskey mash or rum sugar wash, jack it to 60-80 proof and then age it for a passable whiskey or spiced rum in an environment where a still is not available or feasible.

1

u/Zelylia 5d ago

Would love to try and apple pie moonshine 🤤 sounds delicious ! And I'm guessing this process would also freeze most of the sediment leaving the alcohol behind in liquid form which is why racking isn't important ! That said I have 0 actual clue as I haven't attempted it yet

2

u/VicTheSage 5d ago

Yeah that seems like people's assumption but I personally would still rack. Leftover dead yeast imparts off flavors. I would rack and clarify before jacking, little extra work is worth it to ensure quality in my opinion.

2

u/60_hurts 4d ago

It’s a fun thing to bring to parties, and is a smaller load to carry while being the same amount of alcohol. But for personal consumption only? Yeah, not much point except for the fun of experimentation.

1

u/VisualHuckleberry542 5d ago

Try the salad spinner method

-4

u/sgtsteelhooves 5d ago

No experience but Ive heard hangovers can be super brutal if you over imbibe due to not being able to separate forshots and such.

5

u/dadbodsupreme 5d ago

It's more to do with the residual sugars also being in the final product whereas they wouldn't evaporate out in a still run.

2

u/cuck__everlasting 5d ago

You'd really need to be freeze jacking some hot garbage to have a significant head/tails problem. If you start with good hooch, you end with good hooch.