Posted by shiny on October 13, 2026 at 07:23 and edited at October 13, 2026 at 08:00

Last year, before i bought a still, i tried freeze-distilling. This is an old method of turning apple cider into apple sprit, that does not need a still. Traditionally the apple cider still in the fermenting barrel is taken outside to the snow. There the water will freeze over night. In the morning, you lift out the frozen water, leaving behind the apple spirit

I fermented some lovely apple cider from neighbour's apples, and then emptied out a freezer drawer. there i put about 8L of cider (no carbonation) into a food safe bucket, and froze.

Lifted out the ice in the morning. it smelled like Rotorua sulphur.

And then bottle the left overs. Wow it was nice.