I'm looking for the country way or the hillbilly way of making home-made apple-jack?

Question

Apple-Jack is an apple flavored Alcohol. Years ago hiking while in Appalachia; I drank some of this. A guy I met told me to start this at the end of apple season: to put enough rotten apples in a 55 gal drum w/ a lid and let it sit. After it goes down a bit, add more apples, a slice of white bread, some raisins and sliced oranges; put the lid back on w/ a heavy weight and put a cloth over it to keep the bugs out. Check on it before the summer and after running it through a filter, I should have Apple-Jack alcohol.
Does this make sense? Will this actually work? Apple season will be over soon, please let me know.

Answer 1

Applejack is a strong alcoholic beverage produced from apples, originating from the American colonial period. It is made by concentrating hard cider (as British cider, i.e., fermented alcoholic apple juice, is called in American usage), either by the traditional method of freeze distillation (see fractional freezing), or by true evaporative distillation. The term "applejack" derives from "jacking", a term for freeze distillation.

From the fermented juice, with an alcohol content of less than ten percent, the concentrated result contains thirty to forty percent alcohol, is slightly sweet, and usually tastes and smells of apples.

Freeze distilling can concentrate methanol and fusel alcohols (by-products of fermentation that true distillation separates out) in applejack to unhealthy levels. As a result, many countries prohibit such applejack as a health measure.

Due to the relatively higher cost and lower yield of alcohol produced from fruit fermentation, commercially produced applejack may be composed of apple brandy diluted with grain spirits until the drink reaches the desired alcohol content.

Answer 2

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RE:
I'm looking for the country way or the hillbilly way of making home-made apple-jack?
Apple-Jack is an apple flavored Alcohol. Years ago hiking while in Appalachia; I drank some of this. A guy I met told me to start this at the end of apple season: to put enough rotten apples in a 55 gal drum w/ a lid and let it sit. After it goes down a bit, add more apples, a slice of white bread,...

Answer 3

OK, that just sounds nasty. "Rot" is bad..."fermentation" is good, and the two are not the same.

What you want to do is research making hard cider...if you have a local homebrew store, they have everything you could possibly want to make *good* hard cider. If you want to start small, you can get the one gallon glass jugs of preservative-free unfiltered apple juice and use it as your stock to ferment.

Word or warning, according to US Federal law, any means of concentrating the alcohol content in a fermented beverage, by means of freezing or distilling is strictly illegal.

That said, the theory behind apple jack is this:
You take the finished hard cider (which is plenty good on its own, *and* perfectly legal) and you freeze it. Because alcohol has a lower freezing temperature, you essentially pour off the part that doesn't freeze (of if the whole thing freezes, is the first to thaw). This is known as "freeze distillation."

What you're describing is essentially hard cider with some raisins and orange in it for added flavor, acid, and sugar. These are actually techniques homebrewers frequently use to make their home brew (beer, cider, wine, etc.) work better...but if you just toss it all together, it's a crapshoot whether it turns out really well or becomes sewage. Using supplies from the home brew store, you have more control and a greater likelihood of it turning out drinkable.

Answer 4

im a hard core alcoholic and spent some time with broke rednecks in florida and the catskills in ny, with just food stamps and an urgent need for alcohol in our system this is how you do it. start with apple juice no pulp [ the alcohol binds quicker and tighter then with cider. fill a empty gallon wine bottle fill it up 90% with juice, 4 cups of white sugar and 2 packets of store bought yeast. put a condom on top of bottle so that its air tight [ get condom free at a STD clinic or church out reach program]. when condom starts to fill with air from fermentation prick it with a needle usually someone has one in their swiss army knife, if not freaking steal a pack. poke additional holes as needed wait as long as possible 3-5 day. until then panhandle or collect empty cans return for 5 cents a piece after 3 days the stuff will get you drunk after 5days it will put you on the ground, I guess you could freeze it if your rich and have access to a freezer you could make high gravity freeze the jack after it ferments scoop of the ice on top repeat,But be careful if your an ameture drinker ive literally seen this concoction kill more then once. have a good one.

Answer 5

Summertime Blues Alan Jackson

Answer 6

i took 5 gallons of cider then put it in a 5 gallon bubbler if there is room for sugar then i add it i dont drink it for quite some time and if you have to much you will cry and pray to god that the buzz will go away with some dry heaving action so uh be carefull and know your limit mines more of a apple wine

Answer 7

country hillbilly making homeapplejack

Answer 8

I just went to cooks.com and I found several there. If you dont like of theres you could also try foodnetwork.com

Answer 9

i would try it. all wine is fermented grapes, so it would make sense. haha. not much help!