The Jolly Fox
Find Food & Frolic.
Homemade Applejack. Or Brandy. Or Brandywine.
I was looking at a recipe a while ago that called for Applejack or Apple Brandy–which I thought were the same thing. Turns out applejack is a type of brandy, but the definitions are a little confusing. Information about applejack will tell you that it was originally made by distilling concentrated apple cider. And if you look up brandy, you will find that it is made by distilling wine. The word brandy comes from brandywine, which comes from a Dutch word. You will also find some information on different types of brandy and on the list you will typically find applejack, the American apple brandy and calvados, the French apple brandy distilled from apples….Not sure if they are actually different or just the country is different. So, I figure that applejack, calvados, and apple brandy can be used interchangeably.
I had a leftover bottle of brandy from when I made Brandied Cranberry & “Beef” Stew. With all of my new found information on applejack and apple brandy, I decided to make something along those lines. I combined some organic white wine, brandy, cinnamon sticks, a touch of sugar and a bunch of apples that I picked last week with a friend.
I needed a big bottle to store my apple/wine/brandy mixture in and I decided to use one of my empty beer growlers. If you don’t know what growler is…omg…you need to know. Right now. When you visit a microbrewery, not only can you get beer by the taste and by the pint, but you can also buy a giant bottle full of beer called a growler. A growler is typically about a half gallon of beer. Yessss! One of the disadvantages of the growler though is that you have to buy a new one for every brewery you visit. You also have to drink the beer in a day or so, but you know, that can be done. 😉 Anyhow, my Eagle Rock Brewery growler was calling for me to fill it with alcohol again, so I obliged and poured my mix in. Now it has to ferment for a while and will not be ready until early to mid November. I will, of course, update the blog with results and recipe/method if it turns out well.
The Jolly Fox 
OMG one of my friend is an own at Eagle Rock I need to go there! This looks AWESOME! MMM booze would be good at my long day at work.