Tag Archives: spirit

Honesty Pear Brandy

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A white pear brandy, or eau de vie.

A white spirit means, you guessed it, no oak aging.  ‘Honesty’ goes nearly directly from still to bottle.  We also bottle it a bit warm. 95 proof.  We ‘re trying to get as much as pear into the bottle as we can.

So what’s honest about ‘Honesty’?  A more traditional French, German or Austrian ‘Poire Williams’ would have been distilled from 100% Bartlett (aka Williams) pears.  Those have a very distinct and powerful aroma.  AeppelTreow Honesty comes, in great or lesser part each year, from distilling the stuff at the bottoms of our pear wine and perry tanks. And what’s left over in the filters and pumps during transfers.  While we take great care in local-sourcing Brown Dog Whiskey and WI Apple Brandy, Honesty just kind of happens.Movie Fifty Shades Darker (2017)

Light pear bouquet followed by fire. Honesty is pear lightning.  Not as brilliant ‘pear skin’ flavor as the best of its class, Honesty does have a nice balance and a lingering hint of spice that makes for a nice digestif or cocktail spirit.

Bottled in 375mL at 95 proof.

Honesty Pear Brandy

New Barrel of Apple Brandy Released!

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Come by the winery to try the new barrel :  12C03.  Oh boy, did we get the fruit and spice thing going on this one.

Oh, wait – we’re open  by appointment only right now.  Well, to be honest, we’re doing a lot of winter work right now – so give a call and see if we’re there.

262.878.5345

Wisconsin Immature Brandy

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Wisconsin grown grapes in Wisconsin White Oak.

This brandy is a varietal brandy – just one kind of grape went into it. LaCresent grapes grown at Vernon Vineyards.  LaCresent is known for it’s aroma, and this brandy is nearly perfume.  It’s brilliant and floral and very not Korbel.

In keeping with our historic inspiration, our Brandy was aged in new, charred oak, as we believe all early American spirits would have been.  That adds a certain smoky/spiciness that is unusual for a brandy.

Why ‘Immature’?  No, it doesn’t spend its time whinging. Sorry – whining.  Federal regulation say that ‘brandy’, unadorned, must be at least two years old.  But we didn’t want that much oak infusion. Or to loose any more aroma to oxidation through the wood grain.  So we bottled it early.

Wisconsin Immature Brandy

Wisconsin Apple Brandy

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Wisconsin Apples distilled and aged in new, charred Wisconsin White Oak.

Warm apple and spice notes. Less heady than French Calvados.
Intentionally made to show off fruit and wood.
A modern interpretation of colonial ‘apple jack’.

Out of the barrel, Charles’ favorite. Into the barrel, Milissa’s favorite, as our Distillatrix isn’t fond of oak and prefers white spirits off the still.  Bottled by the barrel – and each one is a little different.  There is just so much going on in this spirit that it’s hard to decide what to do with it – first.  Neat? An ice cube? A little raw sugar and bitters? Oh, I know, a champagne cocktail!

Bottled in 375mL at 80 proof.

Apple Brandy

Brown Dog Sorghum Whiskey

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Brown Dog Whiskey is distilled from sweet sorghum grown in Elkhart Lake, WI. It’s aged for at least a month in Wisconsin White Oak barrels – lightly charred and often previously used for apple brandy.  Then it’s steeped with chips and planks of Wild Cherry, American Chestnut, Apple and more American White Oak.

Sorghum is an unusual grain choice for whiskey.  We chose it because we can get it ready in a syrup form that looks superficially like molasses.  Since AEppelTreow is primarily a Cidery, and Cider Is Wine Not Beer, we don’t have the brewing equipement that would be used for a more standard whiskey mash.   Also, since sorghum is naturally gluten free, as is cider, we can keep the whole site gluten free – and still make whiskey.

AEppelTreow Yeast Herder, Charles, runs the original fermentation slow and easy.  It may take 10 to a fortnight to complete. That’s much slower than typical in the industry.  Our Distillatrix, Milissa, runs little batchs in our still and carefully cuts spirit hearts from tail by taste for a spirit that nice, and even better after the brief aging we employ.

The result is a bit like Scotch, without the smoky peat notes.

If moonshiner slang for unaged whiskey is ‘White Dog’, and our young whiskey is a light amber color, it’s naturally… ‘Brown Dog’.

Bottled at 375mL at 80 proof.
And 750mL at Cask Strength – usually about 104 proof.

Brown Dog Whiskey