The word brandy is derived from the Dutch term "brandewijn," which translates to "burnt wine." It described wine that had been "burnt" or boiled, in order to distill it. The boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit , while that of alcohol is 176 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, if heat is applied to an alcohol containing liquid and the temperature is kept below 212 degrees, all of the alcohol may be separated from the original liquid. The process of distillation is simply the boiling off of the alcoholic vapors from wine or any fermented mash through intense heat, and collecting them as condensed liquid.

At Brandy Peak, we begin the distilling process by first, carefully selecting the best, fresh fruit available for fermentation. Because of this, our process usually begins in early Fall, when the pears and grape varietals are harvested. Fully ripened, the fruit is crushed and fermented. After fermentation, when the natural sugars have converted to alcohol, the fermented mash is put into one of our unique wood-fired pot stills for distilling. Using a mixture of different woods harvested off the property,  the pot still is heated. When the still gets hot enough, the material will begin to boil. Since alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water, the boiling liquid will release the alcoholic vapors before the water boils. The vapors will go through the pipe to the condenser, where they are cooled to liquid form, then gathered in glass containers. This distillate, like all spirits when they first come off a still, is clear and colorless.

There are two basic kinds of stills; pot stills and continuous stills.

Continuous or column stills utilize two enclosed copper or stainless steel columns. They allow for a "continuous" feeding of fermented liquid to steam heat, producing a very consistent, if unexciting product. This method is very efficient, and can distill up to very high strength. But in this process, the congeners, or flavoring elements, are lost. The resultant product, however, is very smooth in texture and finish when reduced to bottling strength, and thus has definite commercial value. Most large scale producers use the continuous stills, many of them multi-storied in height.

The continuous still method came about in the early nineteenth century, when Robert Stein invented and put into production a still which successfully distilled a continuous flow of fermented beer into good spirit. Stein’s invention was demonstrated before the Excise authorities in London, and a Dublin excise officer called Aeneas Coffey took Stein’s design and further improved upon it. Coffey’s development of the still has since spread around the world and formed the basis of continuous distillation.

Up until the development of the continuous still, distillation was always carried out in variations of the pot still method. This method of distillation allows for a careful crafting of the final product, but the pot still has to be recharged after each individual operation.

Then, as now, the pot still is usually made of copper. This is because copper is a very "clean" metal, removes unwanted sulphides, is resistant to acid and is an excellent conductor of heat.

This "old world" style of distillation, with the use of pot stills and careful crafting of each production run, is re-emerging in popularity. It is an art form that allows us at Brandy Peak to produce the many award-winning fine brandies, grappas and  eaux de vie.