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2 week ferment with airlock. Red Star Premier Blanc Wine yeast. Very dry wine with a hint of fruitiness. Tastes pretty boozy but extremely drinkable. I dont have the ABV unfortunately :(
- Buy some juice without preservatives i.e. benzoates or sorbates. Apple or grape is a good start. 64 oz container work well.
- Pour out a cup or two or juice.
- Replace that with a cup or two of table sugar.
- Replace cap, shake vigorously to saturate all the added sugar.
- Adding the yeast. Baking yeast from the grocery store will work but wine yeast from Amazon will be even better. 6 bucks.
- Activate about a teaspoon of yeast in a 1/4 cup of 100 degree water. Wait 10 min.
- Add that mixture to the bottle.
- Replace cap and give a little shake.
- Now it will start to ferment and we need to let the CO2 out without letting bacteria or bugs in.
- We don't want our bottle to explode so the easiest option is to leave the original lid on and unscrew it a little so the CO2 can escape. Next best bet is to put a balloon around the opening and wait for it to expand and put a needle prick in it once it does. Better option buy an airlock 6 bucks, with a bung and fit that in there and you don't have to worry about.
- Wait 3-5 days to ferment in a dark warm place. Check on it occasionally. Enjoy watching it bubbling.
- Once you think it's done and doesn't smell funky pour into a separate container without stirring up the yeast. Don't want to drink those funky flavors.
- Leave in the fridge for a couple days for the sediment to settle and fall to the bottom.
- Enjoy that hooch life.
Fantastic post overall!!!
> Remove balloon and slowly pour into separate container, careful to leave dead yeast at the bottom of container
Use a coffee filter if you're going this route. Otherwise, using a siphon or puncturing a hole near the bottom of the container is much more effective.
> 64 fl oz bottle Great Value 100% juice
Are you sure this doesn't have preservatives that may affect the wine? It's definitely usable, but perhaps Welch's or an organic brand would produce a higher-quality yield.
> 1 packet Fleischmann's Baker's Yeast
While baker's yeast works well, consider that real wine yeast is just as cheap, and is on Amazon. Wine yeast produces a better yield, and if you can get it for the same price as baker's yeast, I highly reccomend it.
Maybe I've just been really lucky, but I haven't found sanitation to be a huge issue with prisonhooch style brewing. I take some basic precautions like washing the containers with soap and water and washing my tools, but the wine yeast (or even bread yeast) seems to be so robust that it easily out-competes anything else that might have been lurking in my hooch.
You can look up the specific strain of wine yeast that you purchased to find its maximum ABV, but I've found that chasing max ABV doesn't result in the best drinking experience. It can stress the yeast and get you some funky off-tastes/sulfur smells unless you're really careful with the nutrients and/or use some specialized equipment. My favorite wine yeast is EC-1118, and it maxes out around 18%. If all you want is high ABV, look up birdwatcher's wash / tomato paste wash and go with turbo yeast. Honey is kind of an expensive ingredient to use for a glorified sugar wine... you can make some delicious mead-style hooch or use honey in place of some of your sugar to add a distinct flavor to a juice hooch but it doesn't seem worth it in the setup you describe. BTW, the best deal I've found for online honey is this listing on Amazon at $18 for 5lbs, and it's been working well in my brews.
Lately I've been mixing up a lot of fortified fruit wines that are a bit more elaborate than the basic prisonhooch setup, but are still essentially throwing a buch of sweet stuff in a container with yeast and letting nature do its thing. The rule of thumb that I've been working with has been 19g of sugar per liter of water per per percent of alcohol at the end, so for a 10% brew with a gallon of liquid I'd use (19g/*10/*3.8) = 722g = 1.6lbs of total sugars, some of which will come from the fruit/juice that I'm starting with.
a FastFerment there is a link to check it out there is all kinds of stuff for it
Personally, I think glass is a pain in the ass.
https://www.amazon.com/FastFerment-Conical-Fermenter-Fermenter-fermenter/dp/B077X2261T/
This is my favorite vessel. It's a healthy medium for batch size.
I still use 1 gallon glas jugs for experimental though.
I was reading I could use between 3 to 5 lbs per gallon. and Im shooting for strong, and still on the sweet side. So I went with 4. I used red star premier blanc which has an 18% tolerance.
But I didn't really account for the sugar in the cider. (Also I added a huge can of pineapple tidbits in pineapple juice)
I'm just worried that maybe I should have undershot, instead of overshot, because I could always back sweeten, but it's probably harder to unsweeten.
My Recipe... ::clears throat::
100% Cranberry Juice (2 Qt plastic bottle) - Take out a cup or more of the juice
sugar (1 cup but should have used 1.5 cups or more)
2 teaspoons Yeast (SAF Instant Yeast)
​
Put cap back on and shake the bejesus out of it.
Double up some foil and squeeze it over the top to let air out and no bugs in.
But in a dark place for 4 weeks. Hide it!
Move to fridge and sneak off a glass here and there. Remember, it's more potent than you think.
Note: I did buy this Brix refractometer which told me it was 10% alcohol. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DL2NJYS
should work pretty well. wine yeast is super cheap on amazon, it can tolerate higher levels of alcohol. I use Red Star Cuvee to make Skeeter Pee, which is a baby step up from Kilju in difficulty.
Amazon has tons for around $1 a pack but you did say no online....so you're stuck with bread yeast I guess.
This is what you want: hydrometer
'Super wine yeast' plus yeast nutrient from the same company. I think using something a bit more... sophisticated might produce a better flavour but it is really fast acting and tolerates high alcohol levels.
First bubbles usually occur about half an hour after adding it and within a day or two (took slightly longer this time because it was colder) it is foaming like crazy with a bubble in the airlock about every 0.5 seconds. It's become even faster now than it was when I filmed this 5 hours ago.
The price of both of them seems to have gone up by £1 since I ordered though so there may be better options at the moment.
Another way to degass is to get a long stirring rod that you can attach to a drill. You put the rod into the vessel and spin spin spin.
Here is an example of what one will look like, but there's a lot of products that do something similar The Stainless Steel Mix-Stir https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0064OG79E/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_4JHCXYXB9YDGZX7N42JP
Also I think adding oxygen to the mixture in the first few days of fermentation is ok because the yeast is still active and pushing out CO2. Oxygen won't affect the liquid like it would if it was in a secondary.
From amazon.ca, check these: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07Y9K27K8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_M6G397K9QESGZED82S65?psc=1 I'm not endorsing these ones in particular (I don't have these, haven't used them), but these have a picture in the products where you can see the exact measurements of the bungs in each size.
https://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bubble-Airlock-Carboy-Bung/dp/B00A6TRKO4/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=homebrew+airlock&qid=1625629739&sr=8-5 “universal” rubber bungs like these can fit a lot of different sizes, on account of their sloping shape and the flexibility of the rubber. I used these and they fit most jugs (milk, Arizona iced tea, etc.). I just wash out the jugs with a sterilizing liquid first and they work great.
I use a mini auto siphon like this one for racking, but I have a 500ml syringe that I like to use to take gravity reading samples, and even bottling if I have someone else to help. This is the siphon though.
there is a bag you use to cold shock the the brew, that way the yeast WILL drop to the bottom. using the sorbate, and campden tablets alone wont do it. using dualfine might, havent tried it since my supply of it has vanished. however, other then placing the entire thing in my fridge i aint figured out how to cold shock mine yet without buying the bag. Amazon link for bag
exactly how I did it, except the black gasket came with the airlock.
It’s a brewing cleaning product in told that’s pretty much oxyclean on steroids.
Five Star P.B.W. Cleanser - 4 Pounds https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D6IVZG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_XBXQV2V0FGQ40Q6HDKTN
PBW is an alkaline, non-caustic, environmentally and user friendly cleaner Cleans everything, plastic, glass, stainless steel, tanks, carboys, bongs, pipes, hose, anything
I have personally had much better tasting products since I moved on from bread yeast and switched to EC1118 yeast.
It ferments much faster, ends up clearer, and a much higher ABV.
Nothing wrong with using bread yeast, I used it a bunch of times in the past but if its a new hobby to you I would recommend experimenting with different yeasts and see what works best for you.
https://www.amazon.com/Lalvin-Dried-Wine-Yeast-1118/dp/B003TOEEFG/
Cheers!
I mean, you can. As to what you'll get, no idea. It's a controlled toasting. Also depends on what kind of oak. Hungarian, French, American, all will give different notes at different char points. If you want to oak, do some research as to what kind of flavors and aromas you're hoping to achieve. Here is a link for some chips though. They'll give good tannins and backbone. Wine and mead love oak.
Not OP, but I use one of these 'can colanders'. I freeze the hooch in a mason jar then invert it over a large cup with the strainer over the top and let it drip through. It takes a while for the first run of low ABV hooch, but the second and third rounds of jacking go pretty quickly.
>Nice rant and I love all the technical details.
Thanks it's what I'm good for.
Hmm since space is a concern have you considered something like this: Stackable Emergency Water Storage Tanks
The cost is a bit pricey so you might be able to find something cheaper at a local farm supply story, but they should be food / potable water safe, stackable, and airtight. Plus the 3/4" and main opening give you some potions for getting a flush liquid free self-venting seal in there.
It's an expensive proposition, especially it's only for primary fermentation; but if it's what you're looking for there's no price tag for self-satisfaction 😃
this is the stuff I used that tasted bad, I was fermenting unrefined sugar so maybe that's why it tasted gross, it did work faster than advertised but the taste was rough for sure.
I use this stuff. And 1 packet is good for 5 gallons. Roughly around half a teaspoon per 1 gallon jug.
For home brew stuff, I normally use mason jars and oak cubes. The Medium char French oak cubes I'm using now can be bought on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074DBJRBD. I've also used Hungarian oak cubes that work well too. Good color after about a week but mellowing out and actually "aging" a spirit can take up to a year or even longer (i.e. getting similar results to barrel aging). My dad and I have a nice tradition going where we'll make a batch of corn whiskey while I'm visiting for Christmas, fill a few jars, add a few oak cubes to each, and let it age until the following Christmas. Then we drink while we make the next batch the next year :)
A local brew shop if you have one, Amazon if you don't: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Drilled-Airlock-Set/dp/B07115V3F7/ref=mp_s_a_1_15?adgrpid=54897881206&gclid=CjwKCAjwpKyYBhB7EiwAU2Hn2R2D49vrvm4VIbOIwxgA140VfKEK5fNp-9SU6hgE8WndEPmSvPXPcBoC4zcQAvD_BwE&hvadid=274686704157&hvdev=m&a...
If I'm distilling it, I run it through the air still right away without waiting. If I'm drinking it as is, I move it to a new container (normally a swing top resealable bottle or mason jar) and let it sit in the fridge for a couple weeks. I haven't noticed much difference in taste since the watermelon is pretty good immediately, it's more of a habit that's developed from making other fruit wines that do need to sit and rest for a while, sometimes even months, to get some of their off flavors to go away.
My suggestion is to move it to a new bottle once it's fully settled and take a sip. If it tastes good right away, then go ahead and enjoy. If there's anything that tastes a little "off", then let it rest for a few weeks and hopefully that "off" taste will dissipate.
If you wind up liking using watermelon, a shortcut in the future so you don't have to cut up and puree it every time is to use watermelon juice like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Omura-Moluccan-WATERMELON-Juice-6-76/dp/B00G15UONQ/. Any brand will work if you can find some locally (the Aldi's near me has some occasionally). Just make sure there are no preservatives and you're good to go. Then it becomes as easy as "pour in fermenter, add sugar, shake, add yeast, and wait".
Did look into getting apple juice concentrate. It isn't cheap 1 L @ 70 Brix £12.90, and that is the cheap stuff. The industrial standard uses Suma what costs even more.
Sometimes even an airlock isn't enough for vigirous fermentation and you have to use a blow off. If you use a typical 3 piece airlock you can remove the cap and the part that moves and put a 1/2" (might be a different diameter, be sure to measure) tube on it, put the other end in something heavy like a glass jar half-filled with water. Let that bubble so you're not cleaning it up off of the ceiling, walls, and floor.
I've had airlocks be shot off of fermentation vessels before. Sometimes you can expect it other times it's a surprise. If it's going to cause a huge mess just bite the bullet and do a blow off preemptively. I pretty much always do that when using baker's yeast instead of yeast from a local home brew shop.
Here's a 1 gallon (4-ish L) jar, with pre drilled lid, and airlock: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01AK8GPIW/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_BRSRB92MXJSS5PR03C62
Amazon US would have the same.
Though, some version of this is a common brew shop kit. Buy local if you can.
You can also brew juice in the jug it comes in, and loosen the cap enough for CO2 to escape, or use a balloon with a pin hole in it.
I believe what you use to propagate yeast are agar plates. Like petri dishes but made of sugar. This book has some chapter about it. Read some time ago but can't remember the details.
I made a cranberry mead using honey and fresh cranberries and so I definitely had a pectin haze after fermentation. It was about as clear as Sunny D. My pectic enzyme bottle said 1/2 teaspoon (for one gallon) at the beginning of fermentation, which I didnt do. Someone over at r/Winemaking said to double it if you're using it after, which I did. It cleared it a little. Then I bought this stuff linked below, which is a two-step process and had the kieselsol and chitosan that another commenter suggested. Worked really really well. Super clear. The product below is packaged for a 5 gal container and I measured it out and found that 3/4 teaspoon of the kieselsol and 2 1/2 teaspoons of the chitosan is what's needed for 1 gal.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KW2H1ZC/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_HGCHFSQ5PYJMV876JXMG
Use frozen concentrated juice for a higher OG.
Use real yeast - Lalvin D47 is what I use. 10 packets is enough to make like 50 gallons. More if you can harvest and re-use it .
If you are doing a 1 gallon batch use ~1 gallon juice (drink about 32 oz) add about 2 (12oz) cans of frozen concentrate - maybe throw in some brown sugar. Multiply or divide as fitting your volume. You can get a 5 gallon water jug pretty cheap, drink the water and use the jug as a carboy - or get a homer bucket with lid - put the whole thing in a trash bag and burp it regularly.
Make sure you leave some head space when filling your fermentation vessel or you will have a mess on your hands.
Improvise an airlock or blow-off tube to avoid the trash bag thing.
I think this is the one I bought (at least it is very similar)
FastRack One gallon Wide Mouth Jar with Drilled Lid & Twin Bubble Airlock-Set of 2, multicolor (B01AKB4G9E)
Wine yeast is better, not expensive and can produce higher abv. 1118 can get ya to 18%
I used this yeast:
North Mountain Supply - RS-PC-12 Red Star Premier Classique Wine Yeast - Pack of 12 - Fresh Yeast https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0883G4C58/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_E4JMV9TV79MP4G435P10?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Try racking from the top downward, as in have the end of the tube be just below the surface and follow the liquid as it drops.
Bread yeast is bad at making a firm yeast cake so this will always be a difficulty. If you can afford it, something like kveik ferments fast and this pack could be stretched to use on a dozen batches.
If you did use something like kveik, boil some bread yeast to add as nutrient.
I recommend first of all to put it in a bin, maybe even enjoy the offspill if there's any. I would do that immediately to ease overall cleanup, pour some out like maybe a modest mug sized because the tapered vessel your using will provide so much more surface area as it get's lower. Maybe even keep the removed brew and replace when it settles. Then I would replace the airlock with a clean one (or just cover the vessel with something and clean that one) and wipe the threads/ inside and outside top of the brewing vessel to prevent gunk/bacteria. I use an easy to clean 2 piece airlock like this and I had a serious violent ferment with 1 whole teaspoon of the 1118 yeast along with yeast nutrient in my 1 gallon of nice apple juice with lots of added sugar and a steady 85° and when the foam got into the airlock I think the turbulence turned the foam into liquid and it kinda stabalized after I took it out of the climate control and took some out. I found out fermcap-s is a cheap product you can just put 2 drops in a gallon to not worry about it if the excess foam ever becomes a thing. And it will settle down eventually cause that's just what happens when the yeast doesn't have much sugar to consume or the overall alcohol content is too high, at least I think that's why they settle down.
​
If TLDR, I don't blame you lol it's a doozy.
You totally can. It can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. I like to brew it in the already clean jug it comes in but you gotta make sure it doesn't have any of the ingredients that hinder fermentation. They are on the wiki here, if I remember correctly. Basically you want 100% juice with limited ingredients.
I like to put in 1.5C of sugar into a gallon, 1C into 1/2 gallon. It's not proportionate but it's what I do. and after trying a few yeasts, this is my favorite. The quickness is very noticeable and I don't even use yeast nutrient anymore. But even bread yeast would work but if you got the money, get some of that ec-1118 I linked. I use an airlock it's better than a baloon and not super expensive. But hell if you just want to use a ballon or even close the cap and then slightly open it to allow airflow out it's not a big deal. In fact I think fermentation was first used as a preservation method. There is a lot of room for error and it's kinda cool having a constant flow of super cheap booze once you figure it out.
​
I currently roll with that apple juice from the store that's just apples and even looks foggy like mud, ferment that, then put it in a bottle to ferment more, which makes it carbonated to basically create a 12% alcohol fizzy champagne wine thing that kicks ass for $3 a gallon lol.
I used one of these for the bottles in the front
https://brew2bottle.co.uk/collections/bottle-cappers/products/twin-lever-bench-capper
And one of these for the two in the back
DigeZyme has all the enzymes needed for brewing (coveting things that can't be fermented by the yeast into simple sugars the yeast can use) and costs a fraction of the cost of Rainbow Light Advanced Enzyme System.
Appreciate it! Could you possibly comment on the yeast I'm using? Not sure if it's bread or turbo, it's for brewing though
Add some food grade bentonite with everything at the beginning, before you add your yeast. This will polarize the various particles and cause them to clump together more. I do this with all my batches now. Just follow the instructions, and no need for coffee filters. The art to learn is the willingness to leave behind the small amount of finished product with the lees.
​
Lees are perfectly safe to consume, just not pleasant.
Bentonite are also not really recommended if you are working with delicate flavors, as it can strip them out.
no problem - also this was the grommet I use to seal the lid with an airlock - the lid just comes with a drilled hole and its quite wide
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005MZYWC0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Its fast because it has all the nutrients and you pitch a fuck load of it. Alcotec 48 Fruit & Grain Turbo Yeast is 143g for 25L. That is insane. I use a combo of dead yeast and Tomato Passata. Puree if in the US and I can get it to ferment just as fast as Turbo yeast and use 75g of basic bread yeast for 25L.
If the OP doesn't want to mess with putting holes in lids, or a collection of bungs, they can keep loose capping it (or use balloons with a pinhole) for now, then make the jump to wide mouth gallon jars like this: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01AK8GPIW/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_R10NV3CSCA65X7NDQ0XX They often get sold as kits with airlocks. Buy it from a local brew shop (not Satan) if you can. These jars often go on sale in sets of 1 or 2, and the wide mouths make them nice to work with.
I usually throw in one packet (I usually use these and it does well), but if you go overboard on yeast it won’t hurt cuz it settles out :)
Looks great but for about $150 with tax you could just buy this and have a better set up that let's you see if it's what you want to do then go up from there.
The answer to why you have a still is always essential oils if your state regulates owning a still....well its a start. Check your local laws. I am not a lawyer lol
If I cold crash it how long would I have to keep it in the fridge to completely stop fermentation? With aging you want it to stop fermenting right? Sorry if these are obvious questions I am new to this.
I am going to buy a couple of these. Seems like a good deal and would make the process easier.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BO12A0G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
So I found this on a quick search and it seems like it's intended use is actually for wine. The reviews are all mostly for skincare lol.
Idk the history between the UK and US regarding imperial units but I do know y'all's pints are 18 oz. I've seen that in the US referred to as an imperial pint where our pints are 16 oz. So the gallon thing makes sense.
Just checked and a US gallon is 3.78 liters and an imperial gallon is in fact 4.54. TIL lol.
But yeah when I get around to the lactic acid, I'll probably split off a gallon and try it for just that as a test until I start coming up with a plan.
I actually prefer 1 gallon jars because the wide mouth lids make life easy. Like these: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01AK8GPIW/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_64WSA2KNS11V409WSQVK
Cold crashing will make yeast go MOSTLY dormant for as long as it stays cold. On a fermentation that's done, and has cleared on it's own, it makes things just a little clearer.
You may also want to look into a mini-autosiphon kit, like this: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07WFQL4CK/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_R1JA1FFQR9F71152CB8B The mini kit works well up to about a 3.5 gallon bucket.
Buy from a local brew shop if you can. Grabbing some campden tablets is also a good call. Those two kits and campden tablets are a better starter kit than most starter kits, IMO.
Ok thanks for the quick response. If you’ve ever had experience with this kind of yeast please let me know
If I get something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/SWN82-Masterplug-Individually-Switched-Extension/dp/B01L4P56KI/
If one starts up a bit quicker then the others I can just kill the power to that one.
A Christmas Eve start to my next batch. Most of that rice will liquefy and turn to sugar, which will then hopefully turn to yummy alkeyhaulz. Day Three, there's already a lot of.liquid forming.
5# bag Calrose rice, steamed in my rice cooker. Spread it on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Cool to 110F.
Smash up four dried yeast pills (example: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01DHHD5KO). Sprinkle evenly over rice. Dump the whole thing into a large container. I used a Costco pretzel jar. Cover with a small brew bag, slap a saucer over that.
Six weeks in a cabinet, and Bob's your uncle.
Happy Whatever-holidays-you-observe! May your Xmas hooch be as the finest Montrachet.
you can find them at most homebrew shops. Otherwise amazon has them as well.
LD Carlson - Gelatin Finings. It works due to a charge.
If you don't want to mess with fire, buy water heater elements, wire them to extension cords, submerge JUST THE HEATING ELEMENTS and plug them in (in different circuits to avoid blowing fuses). You'll need to cover it to get it hot enough without losing heat though.
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-02583-Screw-Foldback-Element/dp/B0006JLVC6
https://www.amazon.com/Bergen-Industries-Inc-PS915143-Appliance/dp/B07BQ8PY21
Plz don't electrocute yourself though.
9527 Product 100 Sheets Sticker Labels Shipping Address Labels for Laser/Ink Jet Printer,100 Labels. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WVYGWMD/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_X7JF1F0K6PDN0QXG8SSB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
When I first made the "Honey Mead" Labels I accidentally clicked 'print' instead of 'print one copy' in Photoshop. It printed 5 of them on regular printer paper. I was going to throw them away but I thought maybe they'd look good framed or something someday.
What better idea for a holiday gift than a homemade bottle of spiced Mead and a framed copy of the label for said mead?
20 bucks for an airlock? I got these on Amazon for like $6.
Twin Bubble Airlock for Wine Making and Beer Making (Pack of 3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008ACWSZU/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_8QJR2Q8X0SEJNHXXQEZC
A high speed drill works great, put a piece of wood underneath the lid so you don't crack it. You can order silicone grommets and put one of those in the drilled hole to make it airtight when you put in the airlock. Example on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Airlock-Fermenter-Silicone-Grommets-Diameter/dp/B07WNHS4TP
The bottom of it has dead yeast built up called lees. It's pretty gross to drink. You'll want to siphon off the good wine from the lees before you drink it to avoid that. You could also trying pouring the good part of the wine thru a fine mesh filter like this
Toncoo 5.5-Inch Premium Food Filter Strainer, 200 Mesh Food Grade Filter Mesh, Tritan BPA Free Strainer Compatible with 5 Inch Kitchen Funnels, Ideal for Filtering Coffee, Juice, Oils, Wine, Soy Milk https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07QHSFCTC/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_5DK292Y0P880JE65W9Y5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I boiled mine with some sugar until they were soft and ran them through a food mill. It seemed to do a pretty good job of separating out the seeds and skins from the good stuff. Still a fair while left until it's done fermenting, but it's bubbling away and everything looks promising!
Alcotec 48 Fruit & Grain Turbo Yeast is way better and is faster if you want it stronger then 14% ABV. Can hit 20% ABV in 4 days.
It has everything in it to brew pretty much everything.
Yes I also have a stirring spoon I got like this secondhand
Home Brew Ohio 18" Plastic Spoon & Paddle Set https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B071KVFSBB/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_XC2SJ2P2PJ3KXNNBAJJD
Works well for 1 gal jugs.
I ran back to the store and topped them off with Simply Lemonade.
https://imgur.com/gallery/k5LLJFC
Thank you for the advice brother. Do I need to do anything to incorporate the lemonade? I put some citron/ginger tea mixture in there as well for flavor and that is sitting at the bottom. Just over 1/3 cup per gallon of this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082QZGJ2Z/
Cheers.
I think this is the one I have.. about $18 but it seems to work well enough. https://www.amazon.com/Brix-Refractometer-ATC-Dual-Scale/dp/B01LW2ZU6R
Idk where you are located but if you can just get some starsan. Some people say it’s too expensive but either A: You’re not brewing very much and a bottle will last a long time or B: you are brewing a lot and it will more than pay for itself in time savings.
A 16 oz bottle will make 80 gallons.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064O7Y64/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_AH41Q771EHEZPR1K5M9Y
Trying to ferment a bottle of "Tropical Colada V8 Smoothie Splash" was a terrible, terrible idea. I mentioned it a few years ago here, and it's still among the worst outcomes I've had.
A weird 'wine' that actually came out well was fermenting one of these honey/plum tea jars that I found on clearance at a local Korean grocery store. I didn't particularly like the tea you got from mixing a spoonful of the stuff with hot water, but it made for a fruity mead-like drink that I'd definitely brew again if I got a deal on another jar.
I use a bottle filler with my racking cane and tubing to transfer from my carboy to jugs. If the syringe idea doesn't work out maybe try this since it's literally intended for filling bottles lol.
Also that syringe is hilariously large and I sort of want to buy it just to have.
The most delicious thing I've made was apple cider, which tasted like it was missing something, so I added about 2 packets of hot apple cider powder per quart, and WOW so good. Felt like cheating, but fuck it this is prison hooch.
It's the excess oxygen that has been introduced when you opened the bottle and especially when you drank some and increased the room for gasses in the bottle. Over a short period of time it's not a big deal but after days it takes a toll if you're a wine snob: https://www.winemag.com/2019/04/09/wine-oxidation/
You can actually buy little wine gizmos that replace the air with carbon dioxide so it'll keep longer.
Point is, oxidation is the least concern when storing all of our... creative... creations.
What I did to make one that I made taste AMAZING (I don't care if it's cheating)
I added 1 or 2 packs per quart of that apple cider powder mix, that you would normally mix with hot water to make hot apple cider. And it made my apple hooch go from gasoline to something delicious!
I've fermented fruit jelly before with some good results and some that were ...not good. Make sure you have plenty of [pectic enzyme](www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Pectic-Enzyme/dp/B01BSNU67Y/) to help break down the jellied stuff. My first guess is that it would taste terrible once it ferments dry so you'll probably want to back sweeten once it's done fermenting.
This makes me want to keep an eye out for cans that are on clearance after the holiday season is over... let us know if you end up trying something!
Can you clarify how a baking soda reaction would be used in the context of hooch making? PH strips are pretty cheap if you're aiming for a target acidity, and most recipes are forgiving enough to just add some acid blend and call it a day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiGu6PxcSUQ
Watch this video. I just started making some based on his recipe. I would increase the speed to 1.25 the guy talks way too slow for me. You could order some airlocks and some yeast on amazon and all he would need is any 2 quart juice he wants that does not have preservatives in it.
The Great Value walmart brand is working well for me, also the Aldi brand Apple juice is working well.
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Premier-Blanc-Yeast/dp/B00WFBRV18/
Air lock would be completely optional as the dudes video he shows you just to do it with the lid on.
- Well the available resources I’m working with are very limited ( the same reason I used bread yeast), I used an oxygen mask since it’s available and cheap where I live, and cut the tubing from it lol. https://www.amazon.com/1-Pack-Westmed-Medium-Concentration-Resistant/dp/B083T99VZP/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=oxygen+face+mask&qid=1602543538&sr=8-4
- Edit: grammar
I'm not sure honestly, I'd never really considered it. I use this, and I think the yeast is properly dead rather than dormant, but it might not be. I pretty much exclusively use kv1-1116 and it'd kill off anything else anyway, so I've no idea if they can reactivate. Certainly can't hurt to boil it, but probably not needed.
When I've brewed small batches between 300ml and 1/2 a gallon I've found the ferment is usually done in only a few days. 4 at most. This, in comparison to my 5 gallon wine batches fermenting for 2-3 weeks.
Bubbling is a good sign of ferment being alive, but not bubbling doesn't suggest it's over. You can't visually see fermentation's happenings. That's why they made hydrometers.
I'll suggest you to swirl the container until all of the co2 is released (like trying to make a bottle of soda flat), and then letting it sit in your fridge overnight. In the morning the scum will sink down to the bottom and you can drink it with a straw and not get the yeast.
The yeast won't hurt you, but I always get the shits when I eat more than a half a teaspoon or so of live yeast from a brew
Yes, the three in the middle with the cork are from the grocery store. You can find the corks and fermentation locks easily on Amazon. Here's the link to the jars with the locks: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Drilled-Airlock-Set/dp/B07QVLG638
I bought 2 lb of yeast from Sam's Club right before the pandemic. It was only like $5. Idk if you have access to Sam's or if they have it in stock right now but it's worth checking.
Otherwise Amazon has it in 1 lb packages but for gouged prices. But tbf, $12 for a lb is still cheaper than buying the small packets.
I've considered trying to brew something with my sourdough starter but haven't gotten to it yet. If I do I will report back on this sub. If it works then that would be a yeast packet-less route. It would be similar to cultivating your own yeast so I'm not sure of how high the abv would be able to go. I might aim for something around 6% at first and then go from there if I did do it.
Also buying it online wouldn't really put you on a radar since there are a lot of people baking right now. I think only hoochers and maybe police would be keen on someone buying sugar, yeast, and juice all at once.
>To get a more proper ones from amazon or whatever would still take weeks in the mail, given the current pandemic going on messing up the mail system, and the cheapest ones I could find on Amazon were 5 bucks each
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I'm not sure what country you are in, but in the USA I order these airlocks for $1.81 each. They are guaranteed delivery in 2 days.
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Yup, it would. Amount isn't super important when dealing with pre-packaged juice though. Also you'll get much better mileage out of some cheap champagne yeast if you can swing it: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Premier-Blanc-Champagne/dp/B00434CB74
You also might consider simply wrapping your fermenter with a blanket or a couple of towels - yeast produce heat when they convert sugars to alcohol (you may already know this), and by both insulating and increasing the thermal mass of the fermenter, you might do enough to allow the yeast to keep itself warm and also limit the fluctuations in temperature. I have no experience with this, though, as I use an STC-1000 to regulate my temperature with a minifridge and a heater like this one https://www.amazon.com/Homebrew-Fermentation-Heater-by-TheBrewersCorner/dp/B00TP9MLFE
Thank you for posting! Is this what you were making? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaoxing_wine This sounds delicious. This is also Arrack from the Island of Java? Can you post pictures? Can you post the recipe? There aren't very many rice wine users on this website. Thank you for posting. https://www.amazon.com/Shanghai-Yeast-Balls-Chinese-Starter/dp/B00L7D4N3Y Is this the yeast starer you used?
The marmalade is a great idea! If you can get any shipped there, I'd recommend packets of champagne yeast for this kind of thing. You can get a 10 pack for around $6 usually: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Pasteur-Blanc-Champagne/dp/B00434CB74/ref=pd_lpo_328_bs_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=841QNEASRRXPE63T2FKH
Don't forget that many actual breweries "mix" their fermented products to get the final result. If you don't like the taste you can try adding more water, some lemon juice, fresh ginger, or other things to make it taste better.
What yeast did you use the first time? Baking yeast? The off taste could also have been caused by the raisins, usually they add more than just yeast and can make it a bit funky.
And in my own experience, aging this kind of project isn't always the best idea, often they are good in 1-3 weeks after fermentation finishes. Next time you should try some every week or so and see what it's like at each stage!
Not really, sorry... Stay away from Orange Juice. Apple or grape. If you follow the water directions for the juice and add some decent yeast, you'll be fine. I learned all I know about making apple cider from this: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00F0XW3QG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1 worth getting the kindle version.
Also, theres some recipes floating around this sub, too.