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How is applejack made by the process called jacking?
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distilled spirit
The fermentation and distillation process for producing whiskey. The production of whiskey begins with grinding grain into a meal, which is cooked. Malt is introduced to the meal, which results in mash that is cooled and pumped into a fermenter, where yeast is added. The fermented mixture is heated in a still, where the heat vaporizes the alcohol. The alcohol vapours are caught, cooled, condensed, and drawn off as clean, new whiskey. This liquid is stored in a cistern room, and water is added to lower the proof (absolute alcohol content) before the whiskey is placed in new charred oak barrels for aging and later bottling.
Applejack is an alcoholic beverage that can be produced through two distinct methods. While it is often defined as a brandy distilled from hard cider, it is also traditionally made using a process known as "jacking".12
The jacking process does not involve traditional heat-based distillation. Instead, it relies on freezing hard cider. Because water freezes at a higher temperature than alcohol, the water in the cider turns to ice while the alcohol remains liquid. By siphoning off the remaining concentrated liquid from the ice, the producer creates a potent, higher-alcohol beverage.12
This method is a form of fractional freezing rather than the heat-driven distillation used for commercial brandies like calvados.32