Our craft

Distillery Keuris distils alcohol from fresh fruit locally grown in the Green Heart region, using traditional methods.

The most important ingredients for the Keuris Apple Eau de Vie are ripe handpicked apples from local orchards in the Green Heart region, the most beautiful region in the Netherlands. The unsprayed, fresh fruits are taken from the orchard directly to our distillery, where they are washed with clean water first. Then, the fruits are checked and cored to remove the seeds, and bruised parts are also removed before it is grinded into smaller pieces using a special apple-grinder. These apple pieces are pressed and the juice that comes free is filtered until the apple juice is clear. A special type of yeast is added to ferment natural sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

This whole process is carefully monitored with regards to temperature and acidity. After approximately three weeks, this yields about 5% alcohol in the apple juice. Due to a relatively slow fermentation process and a low final alcohol percentage, the fruity flavours are preserved rather well. This apple juice containing 5% of alcohol is then added to a handmade copper cauldron for distillation. The principle of distilling is based on the fact that alcohol boils at 78°C whereas water boils at 100°C. Therefore, the alcohol can be separated from the solution by heating it up to 78°C. The evaporated alcohol is collected and condensed by a cooling system and the first distillate contains approximately 30% alcohol.

By using an old fashioned traditional and relatively slow method of distilling, flavours are optimally maintained in the first distillate. After an aeration and ageing period, the distillate is poured into the copper cauldron for a second time and distilled again. The second distillation round yields a more pure and delicate distillate containing approximately 60% alcohol. Likewise, this distillate is aged for a second time on either European oak casks, or glass carboys depending on the final product to be obtained.

During the ageing process the quality is controlled carefully and the final product is transferred into bottles for sale and only when the highest standards are met. The whole process from handpicked fresh fruit until transferring from cask to bottle lasts approximately ten months. It may be a labour intensive and time consuming process, but we can guarantee that you will be able to taste the difference.