I'm a frustrated bootlegger!

[jvs]

As I said before, a slow cooker makes a dandy counter top still, and a counter top electric roaster would be even better.
 
A regular slow cooker would give you roughly a quart per batch of contents, and a counter top electric roaster would give you a gallon or more.
 
I suppose it alll depends on how snockered you want to get between batches.
 
And.....the possibilities of an explosion due to high heat is almost nill with the counter top versions.  You can control the temperature alot better.  Alcohol evaporates at 180 degrees.

[doc623]

In reference to wine making and secondary fermentation:
It is my understanding thatif the sugar is used up and the alcohol is high enough that the yeast will be killed off due to the lack of sugar and co2 content remaining.  Is this correct? I also do know that there may be some yeast left over and if not stabalized and air - O2 - is kept out  - by various methods of introducing inert gases -that the remaining yeast will turn the wine to vinegar.
However, once the wine is sabalized by what ever method; there is a secondary fermentation iva malolactic bacteria called malolactic  fermentation that takes place over time and ages or smooths out the wine and does not produce a lot of CO2 but other naturally occuring gases as a by product of this fermentation and escapes when a wine is opened to let breath - prior to consumption or by other methods. i.e., stirring prior to bottling.
And this brings up the subject of bottle vs bulk aging; but that is a topic for another thread.
And the questions this: is my information incorrect or am I just misunderstanding the subject of secondary fermentatioon?

[jvs]

There is at least 2 major byproducts of fermentation- Alcohol and CO-2 (bubbles).
 
Your enemy is not CO-2 in the process, Oxygen and contamination is.  Fermentation produces an artificial atmosphere (CO-2), which is why a fermentation lock is usually always recommended for the act.  You want that artificial atmosphere in there as long as possible.
 
As for the alcohol content...  That all depends on the hardiness of your yeast.  Most yeast can give you a 10% to 12% alcohol content with no problem.  You can boost that to between 16% and 20% with better strains of yeast, but you have to know what you're doing and you have to play with it near the end.  I have a friend who got a batch of 22%, but he played with it for months.  This all happens through trial and error until you find out what works best.
 
With regular yeasts, they can eventually alcohol poison themselves out of existence with alcohol production, therefore a better strain os yeast is usually called for for higher content.   
 
I have found that if I want to have a secondary fermentation in the end, I should use a Champange Yeast in the beginning and I should be happy with the alcohol content I initially end up with.
 
You can find better strains of yeast by using Google and looking for "Wine Yeasts"  or  "Red Star Yeast"

[Cornbelt]

 JVS, is champagne yeast the stuff they reccomend for rootbeer and gingerale for producing more carbonation and less alcohol? If so, that might be a better option than the stuff Premier has in their kit.
  As to rootbeer, I'm gonna try that someday. I've had gingerale in Holland made from left over whey from cheese factories. Not much alcohol, but lots of fizz. And it just tasted like gingerale. (I expected a sour milk flavor.) But they were professionals, too.
 
 As to my fizz, I think I found out where it went...    Away.    I ran out of spring-top bottles and gave them away. For my own, I put it in mason jars. The tops are buldged at room temp, but in the icebox it won't work. Since they are made to seal w/heat, I'm guessing they didn't and it's been leaking out. (Might dunk one under water.) So it looks like I'll either have to drink it warm or put it in bottles.

[jvs]

I have no clue what yeast you would use to make root beer or ginger ale.  It would be news to me to find out that yeast is used to make any soft drink.  I know that Champange yeast is different enough that it allows secondary fermentation to take place alot easier.  My knowledge on making root beer would include the use of flavored powder and seltzer water for fizz, and that's about it.
 
I know that root beer is an old time drink and I always wondered why the word 'beer' is in there, but I never looked into or dabbled in it.  The same with ginger 'ale'.
 
You would be leading the way for me on this one.
 

 

[KotaWood]

I got into winemaking once.  Can't remember why but I know it started with one of those little plastic barrels and raisins! 
 
It didn't turn out bad!  Kinda like pop wine before pop wine was cool!  Remember Boone's Farm!?   
 
For a while there I was trying to make wine out of just about anything I could get to ferment!  I also got some well known grape concentrates from a "Wine Art" shop.  Made some pretty good stuff but never seemed to have enough for it to age properly... 
 
At that time it was illegal to make beer in Jawja so I never tried it.  I'm gonna though!  My youngest girl bought me a plastic beer making kit years ago and I've never even opened it!  Soon though!  Soon... 
 
'course, makin likker is still (no pun intended) illegal.     Even though you can buy distilleries on the internet!  plenty small enough to set up in my basement... Do you think the rev'nooers would believe I just want a source of distilled water for my rust bluing tanks?   

been there done that i was 16, now im 19 lol, to make it legal u sign a document with atf to make ethanol gas takes a month and 150 dollars (OR NOT LOL) to make a decent still, things youll need
Teapot
thermometer
copper tubing
cork (rubber is better)


drill a hole in the teapot sized correctly for the thermometer
drill a hole in the cork sized correctly for the copper tubing
put the thermometer in the hole of the teapot
put the tubing in the cork and insert the cork into the spout of the teapot
run the copper (preferably after u made it into a coil) through a jug of ice water and out
put the other tip of the coil not inserted into the cork over your collection jug


to distill refers to boiling something at a specific heat to wich the impurities leave
to distill turn stove on pour mash into the still and boil (i hate saying this)ethanol boils best at 82 degrees Celscius (hate metric system) you have to keep the still anywhere from 78 degrees celscius to 85 degrees celscius did the math 78 degrees celscius is 173 degrees farenheit so anywhere between 173 and 200 is decent you cannot let the water reach boiling point 100 celscius or 220 farenheit ortherwise u have what u began with
pour off the first 1/8th cup to remove most impurities, 


to make a simple alcohol u need three things, SUGAR WATER YEAST


1.5 cups of sugar to 4 cups water add yeast let ferment for 5 days at 75 degrees farenheit (makes around 18 abv 36 proof)


thats a basic mix and should help u get started and making beer is not illegal making liquor is, meaning anything above 28 proof



18 posts while i typed this lol, to keep out oxygen is pretty easy use a balloon on the end of the bottle after u drill a hole into the lid if the c02 stays in it can explode but the balloon allows it to expand but assuming the basic beer fermentation set was given to him he has the jug with a hole and a c02 trap(the thing u pour water into and cap the bottle with)

[KotaWood]

basic bread yeasts works well, the key i have found is proper amount of yeast, proper heating and no light exposure, and proper mash

[jvs]

This thread has got to wandering all over the place, and nobody is more guilty for this hijackiing than I am.  I should know better.  AtlLaw is probably wondering what happened to his thread.
 
May I suggest that we start threads for the winemaking comments and the root beer / ginger ale making comments, and we can leave this thread for the bootleggers.   

[AtlLaw]

AtlLaw is probably wondering what happened to his thread.

Heck NO!     I wanted to start a discussion about something that interests me and whether likker, beer or wine, it's all good!   
 
'course, as far as I know makin likker for home consumption is illegal just about everywhere so we have to be careful not to seem to be promoting any such activity, but I imagine discussing theory would be okay with Will'am (GrayBeard).  Heck!  I've even seen advertisements for a new TV show (Discovery Channel I think) on Moonshiners!   
 
Long ago I settled on using champagne yeast for all my wine fermentation.  Unfortunately I can't remember why... CRS.     When I start making some more I'll continue to use it.
 
Now with beer, I've been looking for recipes using actual ingredients, malt and hops, instead of the pre mixed kits.  I've found suppliers of these items but so far no actual quantity measurements per 5 gallon batches for example.  Maybe I need to read a few brewing books...

[jvs]

There's enough room for everybody in the forum, and if things were seperated by subject, it tends to be easier for everyone to look up later.
 
There is practical knowledge that came out in this thread about alot of things, but right now it's alll jumbled up under one unrelated subject.

[Cornbelt]

 "All jumbled up" is just about how the home brewery around here goes. Once in a great while, something turns out exceptionally good, but I've never had much luck repeating it.
  As to hops, they grow wild, but the wild ones get sprayed. People don't know what they are, but they are perennial. But I think my watery brew might need some for a little more flavor.
  As to gingerale and rootbeer, I got the yeast from Lehmans. Supposed turn out a low alcohol product with lots of fizz. It was just champagne yeast.
 
 By the way, there is a forum called "homebrew talk" where the gurus hang out. It's mostly over my head, but that's where I learned about amalyse enzyme being in saliva.
 
 Another by the way, if it ain't koscher to talk about stills, we could share our knowledge about how NOT to do it. At least to avoid flames from floor to ceiling when the lid blows loose.  But its all about "the experience"eh?

[AtlLaw]

There is practical knowledge that came out in this thread about alot of things, but right now it's alll jumbled up under one unrelated subject.

Of course your right.  I didn't mean to imply we shouldn't seperate the subjects out.  Mia culpa!   
 
A Root Beer thread is a good idea.  When I was a kid my Daddy had a bunch of stuff, capper and such, in the barn that he said was for making root beer when I asked what it was.  Naturally I accepted that then.  Now I wonder...     Wish he was still around so I could ask.   

[jvs]

I dont really mind when a thread turns into a bunch of old roosters sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch talking about anything that pops up. 
 
But for orderliness in the forum and just for the sake of future reference of our experiences to others, new threads should be started if/when the subject changes. 
 
OR - having a thought in one thread and starting a thread on the subject isn't a bad idea either.
 
Commence rocking.

[Cornbelt]

  Well, lets see. We've got the following topics addressed. How about catagories?
 
  I. Fermented
     A. Hard Cide
     B. Beer, Porter, Stout   
     C. Wine
     D. Gingerale/rootbeer
 
  II. Stills and Distilled Spirits
     A. Sugar or syrup to Rum
     B. Fruit to Brandy
     C. Grain to Whiskey
 
  III. John LAW
     A. How to Legally
     B. How Not To
 
  IV. Equipment and technique
 
Anyone want to take a crack at it?  Brewing must be what gardeners do in the off season.
 
 

[blind ear]

    Brewing must be what gardeners do in the off season.

And consumption of the fruits of thier labors of worthwhile endevors. ear
 
 

[AtlLaw]

  Well, lets see. We've got the following topics addressed. How about categories?
 ... Anyone want to take a crack at it?  Brewing must be what gardeners do in the off season.

That's a heck ofa neat breakdown!     Let's go for it!!
 
When I started this thread it had just dawned on me that the forum was titled Gardening and Home Winemaking.  I was thinking about brewing so I thought I'd bring it up here since, well, GBO is the only place I can always find a forum where there I have IN friends that share an interest in whatever it is that has my attention at the moment!   
 
This thread is a prime example!  Our motto should be "You grew it, now ferment it!"   

[jvs]

author=Cornbelt -- Brewing must be what gardeners do in the off season.

 
I like when all of the bulbs in the Chandelier are the same brightness.

[blind ear]

Red solo cup, I fill you up. Boom boom out go the lights.  ear