#LAIRD APPLEJACK ALCOHOL CONTENT HOW TO#

You’re not making the drink any less safe than it was before. However, all you’re doing is concentrating the chemicals found in cider. This issue means that drinking large quantities of homemade applejack could easily give you a splitting headache and a nasty hangover. There are concerns that freeze distilled applejack is unsafe, because compounds like ethyl acetate, aldehydes, and low boiling point alcohols aren’t removed with the water. If the apples are bitter or acidic, those flavor notes will become concentrated in the applejack and ruin its flavor. This also means that cider made with sweet apples will create the best applejack. However, if your apple cider wasn’t that great to begin with, concentrating it can easily give you a harsh drink that doesn’t taste good at all. Importantly, this process doesn’t just increase the alcohol content of applejack, it concentrates the flavors as well, giving you a delicious drink. It’s even possible to make freeze distilled apple cider using an ice maker. Strange as it might see, the salad spinner trick seems to work a treat. Just keep going until the liquid won’t freeze anymore.ĭoin’ the Most Brewing suggests using a salad spinner to separate the applejack from the ice. Regardless of where your cider comes from, you need to freeze it for a day or two, get rid of all frozen material, and then repeat the process a few times. You can do this with hard apple cider you’ve purchased from the store or with homemade hard apple cider. Modern freeze distillation is similar, except that you’re probably throwing the apple cider in your freezer, rather than keeping it outside. This approach can even lead to an alcohol content of 30% or above. The more ice was removed, the more concentrated the cider became. Chunks of ice would form in the cold temperatures, which could then be removed. Traditionally, applejack was made by leaving barrels of hard apple cider outside in the winter.

#LAIRD APPLEJACK ALCOHOL CONTENT HOW TO#

How To Make Applejack Basic Freeze Distillation This blended version doesn’t have such a strong flavor profile and can be disappointing if you’re expecting straight applejack. However, you’ll also see blended apple brandy, which uses a combination of apple distillate and a neutral spirit. Applejack is often considered just the liquid distilled from hard cider, which simply makes it a type of brandy. The purity of applejack is another interesting distinction. Apple brandy is more often produced in France, using different apple varieties, which leads to different flavors.Īpple Pear Spiced Oat Crisp Is Applejack A Blend? That said, applejack tends to be sweeter and has a slightly different flavor because it is most commonly made in the United States from American apples. The similarity is partly because most companies produce applejack through distillation rather than using the traditional jacking approach. Both are traditionally made from 100% apples and taste similar. Applejack Vs Apple BrandyĪpplejack is often called apple brandy, as there’s no little legal distinction between the two. It’s experiencing a resurgence these days, with some people discovering the spirit for the first time. Still, applejack never entirely disappeared.

The popularity of applejack naturally decreased over time as other spirits became cheaper and easier to make. Production was as simple as pressing the apples to get juice, fermenting them, and then using cold temperatures to freeze the resulting liquid. Colonists needed something they could make where they were and stumbled on applejack.Īpplejack was a logical choice, as there were plenty of apples to go around.

Colonists weren’t well set up to distill in America’s early days, and importing wine, beer, and spirits was expensive. Freeze Distillation With High Alcohol CiderĪpplejack was one of the first spirits to be consumed in the United States, largely because it was so easy to make.Bottled at 100 proof in a charred new oak barrel, the applejack is aged for a minimum of five years to hit that colorful flavor profile. The area that was once home to dozens of applejack distilleries pre-Prohibition has made a revival with the Bonded Apple Jack, known for its deep baked apple, caramel-like flavor. Made from Jonagold apples, Black Dirt Distillery’s take on the applejack is a 100 percent apple brandy that honors the tradition of the black dirt region of New York. But don’t worry, their original recipe is still on the table-Laird’s Straight Applejack 86 is a 100 percent apply brandy that calls back to their historic 86 proof label, a favorite of Founding Fathers and modern applejack connoisseurs alike.īlack Dirt Distillery’s Bonded Apple Jack Their concept of Applejack has evolved over the years, resulting in their blended applejack, a rich blend of 35 percent apple brandy and 65 percent neutral grain spirit. The Laird family has produced apple liquor, specifically applejack, in New Jersey since 1698.

Laird applejack alcohol content