Homebrew / Moonshine - Sink vodka appreciation

[I mean I'm just saying]

I've been experimenting with making alcohol with the whey from my strained kefir, and found some actual success with some brews that were certainly alcoholic and other brews which actually tasted nice.

General recipe I use when going for alcohol is 300g sugar and 3 quarts whey in a 1 gallon jug (I just use cleaned milk jugs but I understand others may not be into that), left to ferment for 2 weeks to a month. Juice or tea can add flavors which work well to suppress the funkier notes of straight kefir whey and sugar, and I've had decent success with pineapple juice and hibiscus tea. I haven't taken proper SG measurements yet but I'd estimate it ends up around 5% abv, feeling similar to a beer.

You can do the same process with less sugar (about 150-200g) and less time (about a week) to yield a non-alcoholic carbonated soda which is similar to kombucha or water kefir.

Anyone else have experience making or tasting drinks involving whey?

 

[Terrifying Organisms]

I ferment straight dextrose with turbo yeast to make a roughly 20% wash. I distill it to around ~92% ethanol with a reflux still, water it down to 40% and soak dried botanicals in it to make sub-par, extremely cheap bathtub gin that totals out to cost around $6 a liter (without taking into account power or water).

There are many ways to improve this process, but I'm no snobby connoisseur. Fermenting straight dextrose also has the added benefit of not producing much, if any, methanol - so I shouldn't die. I could also make shitty versions of basically any other spirit by purchasing these little flavor bottles from the local homebrew shop and mixing them in. I don't, but I could.

Seasoned and amateur distillers alike may look down their noses at this process. My friends may refuse to drink the stuff at parties. But let it be known I am content with my nothing. You could be too if you gave up on indulgences like flavor.

 

[asystole]

I got a ton of fresh muscadines one summer so made wine out of it, and it was much easier than I thought. An easy way to start is to find one of those small online kits you can get to get a general idea of the process. Even better if you can find a small shop that sells equipment, you can just talk to the owner about how to get started and what you need. To clean the equipment I used Star San acid sanitizer. I used a Weston fruit press (Roma), Buon Vino filter, pectic enzyme, Red Star Premier Cuvee active dry yeast, and LD Carlson Company yeast nutrient, potassium metabisulfate, and potassium sorbate. I went to a local shop and picked up the other things like glass jugs for them to ferment in, tubing, plugs for the jugs, etc. I cleaned out some old wine bottles I had kept (buying new bottles has been getting a lot more expensive) and got some corks and a corker and that's about it I believe.

 

[Catgirl Tyranid]

If I may ask what was it that you didn't like about it? Was it too dry? Flavorless? Didn't like that it was flat? This isn't trying to convince you that you just had the wrong mead. I'm just curious.

I don't mind dry wines, it was literally the underlying flavor of mead specifically. I tried some bottled mead my liquor store was selling and I still didn't like it. I've fermented honey multiple times with various different kinds of fruit, but each time the underlying flavor of fermented honey hampered my enjoyment.

I like the flavorless swill I get from fermented white sugar (with some angostura bitters poured over ice) better than I like the flavor of fermented honey. I'm willing to bet I'd get a better flavor profile that I could possibly enjoy if I used local honey instead of buying bulk clover off amazon, but that's expensive and is contrary to the reason I started brewing in the first place.

Very true and even more so if you want something like apple blossom or clover.

When I first started out the cost of a 1 gallon pail of Clover honey on amazon really wasn't that bad. Or maybe I didn't care because I didn't have kids yet. But the next time I went to order honey to try some new recipes it had spiked which really hampered my drive to experiment.

 

[Ralph Barnhardt]

I like the flavorless swill I get from fermented white sugar (with some angostura bitters poured over ice) better than I like the flavor of fermented honey. I'm willing to bet I'd getter a better flavor profile that I could possibly enjoy if I used local honey instead of buying bulk clover off amazon, but that's expensive and is contrary to the reason I started brewing in the first place.

Have you tried using any flavorings like a berry concentrate when you used white sugar just as an experiment? I like my stuff to have flavor and I'm curious if it worked and or just threw off the batch.

 

[ForTheHoard]

Have you tried using any flavorings like a berry concentrate when you used white sugar just as an experiment? I like my stuff to have flavor and I'm curious if it worked and or just threw off the batch.

It works well. Not all the white sugar is fermentable but you will get some okay brandy/cognac out of it.

 

[Catgirl Tyranid]

Have you tried using any flavorings like a berry concentrate when you used white sugar just as an experiment? I like my stuff to have flavor and I'm curious if it worked and or just threw off the batch.

Peach was good, strawberry was and always is a foamy disaster, but good tasting.

The one time I tried cinnamon I used store bought ground cinnamon (not my finest of ideas, cinnamon floats) which coagulated with the yeast and forced itself out the airlock like a slime monster. It was something like a solid week of cleaning up cinnamon slime beast, switching from my test mason jars into a 1 gallon carboy, being horrified that it jumped the air gap AGAIN and started oozing out that airlock too. It smelled fantastic, like baking snickerdoodles, while fermenting, but ultimately the smell didn't persist and the flavor was flat cinnamon. It is by far my biggest disaster fermenting. I still drank it all though.

Blackberries are by far the best thing I've ever fermented and the closest I've ever come to what I'd consider an actual wine. I'll have to dig up my recipe at home, but can post it later. There's room for improvement, but I love it as is.

Blueberries were awful. The yeast just never got a good foothold and just sat in the carboys barely fermenting. My end product was something like 2.5% - 3% ABV using yeast that regularly had no trouble getting up to 10% or higher. I think I still have 1 bottle sitting around I haven't gotten around to drinking because it just tastes like overly sweet blueberry juice. I tried to fortify a bottle's worth with Gin later down the line to make a fortified wine for cocktail purposes and the jar I stored increased in pressure to the point where the mason jar lid launched itself right past my face when I started to unscrew it one day. I'm lucky it didn't explode in my liquor cabinet, but I have no idea what caused the pressure change since the yeast should have been well and truly incapable of further fermentation with how much Gin I added.

 

[Doctor Love]

Yes, please go start that thread and continue this discussion there.

Spoiler

the skills to do 200 imps at 60 are perfectly transferrable to building flamethrowers

 

[mindlessobserver]

Tasting history did a pretty good episode on home brewing black mead.

 

[We've all been there]

Completely brand new to mead and flying blind, I've made two batches of mead that turned out alright. 3 lb of honey from the local cheapo place at $10 a bottle, a pound of fresh blueberries in one and oranges in the other and topped it off with tap water and half a packet of cheap champagne yeast off Amazon. Sat them in a closet for two weeks on primary, two weeks on secondary and then bottled in old wine bottles.
The orange turned out alright but I could not get it to clarify. Stayed cloudy the whole time. The blueberry turned out initially lackluster, but the bottles eventually cleared up into a nice dark golden color and ended up being very alcoholic. Almost tasted like a sweet brandy.
Bottling a gallon made with maple syrup/honey mix, raisins and oranges and another with blueberry mash this weekend. The first batch of blueberry I just put the berries in whole. Transferring a gallon of blackberry into secondary as well.
Anyway, would bentonite have cleared up the orange? Why was it so cloudy? Also, what the hell happened with the blueberry?

 

[NormalPornForNormalPeople]

I've been brewing for about two years now without any equipment at all, besides a glass carboy I bought for $10 off the internet.
I just make sure all of my containers are boiled. I start off in an old 5 gallon pickle bucket for a week, then siphon it to the carboy when it slows down. To off-gas, I just use plastic wrap with hair bands or elastics to seal them. Any escaping air will go around such a seal well before it blows any container.
My last batch was garden rhubarb and store-bought watermelon, with some lemon juice concentrate for acidity (to prevent spoilage) and black tea for tannins (mouth feel).
I buy E-119 yeast from the local wine store for $1.30 a pack, and it can brew up to 19% alcohol. I tend to add more simple syrup as the process goes depending on taste, since I don't have any exact ratios worked out yet or way to measure. You can even do this after you transfer out of your mash.
My last batch of ~16% wine cost $15 to make about 40-50 liters, which is like 20X more cost-efficient than the stores.

To preserve it for longer, you can add a probiotic pill and give it a lactic fermentation finish, as some wines do. I enjoyed the results the one time I used it.
I also like to drink the brew when it's still fermenting, has natural carbonation and live yeast.

 

[Pill Cosby]

I’m thinking about brewing some cider this year. I’m going to take my boy to the fields at the end of the month to go picking wild fruits and berries.

Can anyone recommend any good yeast or sugars as it’s been over ten years since I made some cider.

I would make wine but I’m not a French faggot.

 

[Troonos]

I’m thinking about brewing some cider this year. I’m going to take my boy to the fields at the end of the month to go picking wild fruits and berries.

Can anyone recommend any good yeast or sugars as it’s been over ten years since I made some cider.

I would make wine but I’m not a French faggot.

The best cider I've ever had used White Labs WLP004 Irish Ale yeast. It was only mildly backsweetened (tasted like maybe 1.016) and I could tell they used citric acid to balance it (I'd use about 0.125g per gallon). After my current cyser finishes and is kegged, I'm going to do a big batch using the same recipe but with WLP004 instead of EC-1118.

Bottling a gallon made with maple syrup/honey mix, raisins and oranges and another with blueberry mash this weekend. The first batch of blueberry I just put the berries in whole. Transferring a gallon of blackberry into secondary as well.
Anyway, would bentonite have cleared up the orange? Why was it so cloudy? Also, what the hell happened with the blueberry?

Bentonite in the primary could've helped, and if that didn't give perfect clarity, some DualFine or Biofine in the secondary would've done it. You should never bottle until something clears, though. Let the large lees settle to the bottom of the primary before racking, then put a fining agent in the secondary and let the tiny stuff settle before racking again. Then you can bottle. I see way too many posts on Reddit of people bottling while it's still totally opaque and clogged with yeast. Then again, brews don't have to be perfectly clear; lots of people like hazy IPAs.

And as far as the blueberry goes, brews always get better with time. Suspended lees will give it a sickly, pungent taste, so all of that probably settled out, plus the flavors had time to mingle. "Very alcoholic" is a symptom of a young brew, though. If it has a lot of jet fuel burn, you just need to let it sit for a few months.

Why raisins?

I just make sure all of my containers are boiled. I start off in an old 5 gallon pickle bucket for a week, then siphon it to the carboy when it slows down. To off-gas, I just use plastic wrap with hair bands or elastics to seal them. Any escaping air will go around such a seal well before it blows any container.

Boiling is cumbersome. Just pick up some StarSan concentrate, dilute it, and shake it around the vessel without rinsing.

And I wouldn't trust that ghetto airlock to sufficiently allow offgassing or to not pop off entirely if pressure gets too high and risk infection. A bung and airlock are a couple of dollars.

 

[Pill Cosby]

The best cider I've ever had used White Labs WLP004 Irish Ale yeast. It was only mildly backsweetened (tasted like maybe 1.016) and I could tell they used citric acid to balance it (I'd use about 0.125g per gallon). After my current cyser finishes and is kegged, I'm going to do a big batch using the same recipe but with WLP004 instead of EC-1118.

I will give it a try. I’m planning on fermenting about 4 gallons. I’m going to have to find a wild apple or pear tree. My grandad had an apple tree and I used to get my apples from there but he’s since passed.

Black berries grow everywhere so they’re not a problem.

 

[Troonos]

Holy shit. I pitched Kveik Voss into my 1.062 Moscow Mule mead on Tuesday night and let it ferment at 100°F, and it was at 0.996 this morning. I've never seen such a fast fermentation in my life.

 

[Orange Rhymer]

Hey,

I have been home brewing (beer, cider, wine) for a long time. I mention my brews in a couple DMs and now I can unload here!

People have DM'ed me about starting - Can you make instant ramen noodles? You can make beer.
Limitations for beginners: Understand you will be starting in the ALE spectrum - not LAGER,
Lagers require a cooler, longer fermentation, at controlled temps. Advanced techniques.
Also, you won;t be making hard seltzers or PB&J flavored stuff. You can do this later - walk before you run.

Why are you brewing? Fun and personal development? Honing a complicated skill into an art? Brag rights with friends and family, while they enjoy the fruits of your labor? All GREAT REASONS. And in the USA you are legally allowed to brew 100 gallons (200 if married) annually for PERSONAL consumption by Federal Law! (The only good thing Jimmy Carter did).
Money? Nope. You will never beat the cheapness of mass-produced beer, plus the US ATF would like to have a word with you.

Let's look at the cost.
Starter kits for extract are ~ $100 - $200. Buy once, cry once. Buy a good kit with ingredients and equipment.
Equipment varies. Everyone needs a big pot (5 gallon) and 2 sealable buckets for fermenting. Dealers will add/remove other items.
Final product enjoyment: You can buy disposable beer bottles that look like brown water bottles, or you can buy caps and glass bottles.

Some rules:
0) Sit Back. Relax. Have a Home Brew - as long as you are over the legal age in your country/state.
1) DO NOT BUY A MR. BEER KIT.
2) You are going to need to read and understand a little. Do that first.
(Don't be TOO hypnotized by the oldhead 'Kings' of home brewing - they have been proven wrong on many levels.
HOWEVER, most of their knowledge/instructions are correct.)
Download: Papazian - The Art of Home Brewing from your fav torrent site. Russians love to share this book.

3) I don't want to read. Watch some YouTubes: Here's a Northern Brewing youtube. There are tons of others.

or here's a vlog

https://www.northernbrewer.com/blogs/new-to-brewing-start-here/how-to-brew-beer-homebrewing-101

I'm not shilling - but I like their stuff. Too convenient and ok prices. They make their own extract syrups too.
There is always a sale

4) Be wary of Amazon - expired and substandard ingredients/equipment are common.
5) Try to support your local store - if you have one. Home brewing is in a valley-cycle now. Give the little guys a break.

Some Laws:
I) SANITIZE LIKE IT'S A MENTAL ILLNESS. Use (brewing) PROFESSIONAL cleaners. DO NOT USE ANYTHING WITH BLEACH or CHLORINE.
II) Use CLEAN water. I use distilled - but most spring/purified water works. You cannot get the chorine/fluoride out of tap water by boiling.
III) Yeast are geniuses at making tasty alcohol, but geniuses make mistakes. Respect each yeast strain's temperature and ABV limits.

If you need any help - post here or DM me.

 

[God's strongest milkman]

Sadly owning a still is expressly illegal in my state. Not even just making moonshine. But even owning the equipment for it.

 

[Dartos Cremaster]

When I make shine I usually just use table sugar and yeast nutrient and it comes out fairly decent from my reflux still. I typically separate out about the first 100ml of distillate and put it in a jar that’s labelled poison about five times. It makes a good fire starter and passable cleaner.

For my next batch I think I’m going to try using potatoes to see how it changes the taste. Doing some quick math, for the same cost at my local grocery store I would get about as much carbohydrate out of the potatoes as the table sugar, it’ll just make the boil step a lot longer as I need to allow the amylase enzyme enough time to break up the starch. I may add cornflakes too. I did that once with a pot still to mimic corn liquor and the shine came out tasting like corn flakes, which was pretty good. At some point I also need to use some corn grown by my farming buddies to make a batch of shine.

And if you haven’t tried it, it’s fun to add ice to the liquor out of the reflux still before you deproof it because the ice sinks.

 

[Orange Rhymer]

Not a moonshiner- but I have read some scathing reviews/critique regarding the air stills (StillSpirits products).
The root of the problem is Plastic, Silicone, and Rubber.
Leaching of plasticizers and solvents into the final product has been detected. Glass Stainless, and copper being the only acceptable materials.

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[Joshua Connor Tomar]

Sadly owning a still is expressly illegal in my state. Not even just making moonshine. But even owning the equipment for it.

Just don't break any other laws and you'll be fine.