Apple Calvados

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 100 day

1. STEP 1

   

   How to make Calvados at home from apples? Prepare the necessary ingredients. Choose fragrant apples. Autumn or winter fruits with firm flesh are best. Special wine yeast is needed for white wines. In addition, you will need a large container for the mash, a moonshine still and an oak barrel. Wash the apples well.

2. STEP 2

   

   Cut the apples into pieces, removing the stems and core.

3. STEP 3

   

   Make porridge from the prepared apples. If there are not too many apples, a food processor or meat grinder is suitable for this purpose. If you plan to make a large volume of Calvados, it is best to use a manual or electric vegetable and fruit chopper.

4. STEP 4

   

   Transfer the apple porridge into a mash container. I got about 20 liters.

5. STEP 5

   

   Add sugar or invert syrup to the apples. How to make invert syrup can be read at the end of the recipe.

6. STEP 6

   

   Add water.

7. STEP 7

   

   Dissolve the yeast in 100 ml of water, cover and leave for 15 minutes, and then add it to the rest of the ingredients.

8. STEP 8

   

   Mix everything well and leave to ferment. The optimal temperature is 25-28 degrees. A foam cap will appear on the surface of the mash; it must be stirred periodically. You can make a water seal, but this is not necessary.

9. STEP 9

   

   This is what the mash looks like after 2 weeks, when it has fermented.

10. STEP 10

    

    The finished mash must be filtered. To do this, pass it through two layers of gauze.

11. STEP 11

    

    Pour the resulting cider into a moonshine still and put on fire.

12. STEP 12

    

    Distill the cider into a distillate. Follow the instructions for your device.

13. STEP 13

    

    Measure the strength of the resulting distillate. Bring the distillate to 42 degrees with water.

14. STEP 14

    

    Distill the distillate again. The result is almost Calvados, only now it needs to be aged in an oak barrel.

15. STEP 15

    

    Pour the raw Calvados into an oak barrel (it should be about 70% full), close tightly and leave for 2 months.

16. STEP 16

    

    Pour the Calvados into a glass container and measure the strength. This time I got 52 degrees. Bring Calvados with water to a strength of 42 degrees and let it sit for another month or longer.

17. STEP 17

    

    This is the color of the drink.

18. STEP 18

    

    Enjoy your tasting!

Comments on the recipe

siga

21.08.2023

4.9

Good! I also recommend this tincture from apples.

Moderator Ksenia

21.08.2023

5

I decided to make Calvados at home from apples. I prepared it for 4 kg of apples (orchard apples). Of course, the quantity is small, but I wanted to try it. I didn't have wine yeast. According to the calculator, I needed 2.6 grams. I didn’t buy yeast for such a small amount; instead I added three handfuls of wheat. I left it to ferment for three weeks instead of two. After three weeks, I ran the mash twice through a moonshine still. The result was 200 ml of distillate, 40 degrees. I don’t have an oak barrel, so I added oak chips (1g) to the moonshine. And I left it for 2 weeks (in accordance with the instructions on the package. Calvados turned out to be too strong for me, I don’t drink such drinks. But for the male half of the family, the drink turned out to be normal. I noticed that Calvados has a pleasant apple aroma. Thank you very much for the recipe!