Homebrew Underground

Clarifying the Liqueur – "Racking"

After 4 weeks, the macerated spirits will take on a golden yellow color. Now it’s time to clarify and separate the macerated spirits from the sediments.

CAREFULLY pour off the nearly clear portion from the top of the jar into a clean jar through a metal coffee filter. This is called "racking" (this is the first racking). When the sediments start to flow into the filter, stop pouring and setup a saucepan with a kitchen strainer.

Pour the remaining solids and "sludge" into the saucepan through the kitchen strainer.

Below is a shot of the saucepan with the strainer and all the solids from the jar. Let it settle for several minutes to allow all the liquid to pass through the strainer.

Tip: Save the chopped almonds from the strainer and put them into a plastic bag and put them into the refrigerator and save them for making almond liqueur cookies.

Pour the sludge collected in the saucepan into a separate "sludge jar". Allow the sediments to settle for a few days in this jar, then rack off the top part through a metal coffee filter similar to the first racking above.

Repeat the racking steps over and over several times over a period of weeks, allowing the sediments to collect at the bottom of the jar, then racking off the clarified parts into a clean jar. Use two jars – one for the main part that is nearly clarified and one for the cloudy part. As more an more of the macerated spirits are cleared up from the cloudy part, you can transfer the clarified part to the other jar. Use paper coffee filters periodically to filter out the sediments. BE PATIENT and do not be in a hurry. You will be rewarded with a high quality finished product that you can bottle and give as gifts or serve to guests. Shown below is a shot taken 9 days after the first racking. It’s nearly clarified, but not finished.

After several rackings, you will have a clarified product ready to sweeten and bottle. Shown below is a shot of the macerated spirits 30 days after the first racking. It is completely clear.

Sweetening (and Bottling) the Liqueur

After the final racking, it’s time to add vanilla extract and sweeten the liqueur. Typically I will add extracts and sweeteners to home made liqueurs after clarification, but not always (with some fruit liqueurs I will add the sugar before maceration). The amount of vanilla extract and sugar syrup will depend on the volume of clarified macerated spirits. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for every cup of clarified macerated spirits and sweeten with 1 cup of sugar syrup for every 2 cups of clarified macerated spirits. Sweeten with Standard Sugar Syrup using the recipe found here at this blog. The vanilla extract can be McCormick brand or other brand available from a grocery store. Shown below is a bottle of Kirkland brand vanilla extract which I bought from a local Costco store. On the left is a jar of Standard Sugar Syrup. You can vary the amount of sugar syrup to taste. A good liqueur should not be too strong (not too alcoholic). It should be a little bit on the sweet side.

After adding the vanilla extract and sugar syrup, the almond liqueur is finished and ready to serve or bottle.

Making almond liqueur is one of the easiest liqueurs to make and is an ideal home made liqueur for beginners. It is very tasty and very easy to make and is something you can serve to guests.

You will need to obtain raw (not salted or roasted) almonds. I have bought raw almonds from Trader Joes (in Southern California). I was also very surprised to see them available in 3 lb. bags from Costco for a very good price. If you plan to make a lot of almond liqueur, then perhaps it would be an economical choice to buy them from Costco.

Like most nut liqueurs, it requires a 4 week maceration period to infuse the full flavor into the spirits. After maceration expect to wait an additional 3 to 4 weeks for the macerated spirits to fully clarify. After the macerated spirits is fully clarified, then it can be sweetened and bottled.

I have worked out this recipe from other similar recipes I have read on the Internet. This is my version:

Making The Liqueur

Obtain the ingredients from your local grocery store. Make sure you use raw, uncooked almonds. Do not use roasted almonds. I bought mine from Trader Joe’s here in Southern California for a very modest price. I was able to obtain a bag of cinamon stocks in 1-inch pieces from Herb Products Co, but you can use any brand of cinnamon sticks readily obtainable in the spice section of most any grocery store.

Measure out the almonds first then grind the almonds in a coffee grinder. Keep the grind pretty coarse and be careful not to overdo it. If it’s too powdery it will be difficult to strain and filter. You’ll have to do it in parts. Add only as much as will fill the metal cup in the grinder at one time.

Pour off the ground almonds and repeat until all the almonds are ground up. Note the measuring cup on the right where the almonds were measured first before grinding. After grinding the almonds, use the coffee grinder to finely chop the the 3 inches of cinnamon sticks.

Add the ground almonds and chopped cinnamon to the 1/2 gal Mason jar, then add the 1/2 cup of sugar.

Finally, add the 6 cups of vodka.

Close the lid tightly, then thoroughly shake all the ingredients.

Now, set the jar aside and let it macerate for 4 weeks. Every few days, shake the jar up again to keep the ingredients mixed. Do not shake the jar after 3 weeks. Let it settle in the last week to make it easy to rack off the clarified part. In the next post I will show you how to clarify the macerated spirits before sweetening and bottling.

Continue to Almond Liqueur Recipe – Part II