Anonymous https://bbs.gikopoi.com/atom/thread/1704728318 2024-12-05T17:45:29+00:00 https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/1 2024-01-08T15:38:38+00:00 2024-01-08T15:38:38+00:00 Interested in making booze at home?<br>Is saving money or making delicious drinks an appeal to you?<br>Experimenting with new recipes or techniques? <br><br>This a thread for homebrewers and distillers to ask questions, give<br>advice, or share progress reports. <br>(Pictures and experiences are very welcome!) https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/2 2024-01-08T15:42:56+00:00 2024-01-08T15:42:56+00:00 I've been making alcohol at home for about a year now. I started with<br>various wines (grape juice, apple juice, sugar water, and even orange <br>juice) and naturally progressed to distilling about 9 months ago. <br><br>These days, my favorite wines are lower % apple juices or meads, along<br>with ginger ale, while my preferred spirit is vodka, in part because <br>it's cheap, as well as because it can be further flavored after <br>production... eg, going from vodka to gin is very simple <br><br>For my "drinking wines" (as contrasted with "distilling wines") I prefer<br>making lower % stuff because they have more flavor and are more <br>generally drinkable. Everything I make, I ferment to 100% "dry" (no <br>sugar remaining) and if I want to correct the taste, I'll add artificial <br>sweeteners after fermenting. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/3 2024-02-10T07:15:32+00:00 2024-02-10T07:15:32+00:00 Making tomato paste wash (birdwatchers): 18L of 10% <br>https://imgur.com/a/58rhQQc<br><br>Doing a "stripping run" to produce "low wines"<br>https://imgur.com/a/8DWdYKH https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/4 2024-02-12T15:18:20+00:00 2024-02-12T15:18:20+00:00 Can I know if baker's yeast can make mead from honey https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/5 2024-02-13T10:01:07+00:00 2024-02-13T10:01:07+00:00 Sure can!<br><br>I go for 150g honey per 1.5L, works out to be <br>beer strength (around 5%). For best results, you <br>want to keep adding small batches of honey every<br>week or two. This keeps the yeast from getting <br>stressed, improving flavor, and also lets you <br>work to higher percents.<br><br>Black tea and fruits at the end of fermentation, <br>or throughout, will definitely improve the flavor https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/6 2024-02-13T16:53:58+00:00 2024-02-13T16:53:58+00:00 stop drinking anon, you'll become gay dick lover like everyone.<br>go out and r.pe someone instead. its better for your health https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/7 2024-02-15T22:06:32+00:00 2024-02-15T22:06:32+00:00 Nigga please, it's just honey, yeast and water in a bottle. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/8 2024-02-24T06:46:49+00:00 2024-02-24T06:46:49+00:00 Doing a "spirits run" now.<br><br>I stripped ~60L of ~10% sugar wine to ~10L of ~40% low wines. diluted <br>down to 12L. Feeling optimistic for how this will turn out, it's been<br>a good while since I did some proper distilling... https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/9 2024-02-24T10:54:34+00:00 2024-02-24T10:54:34+00:00 Ack, maybe I should make the spoiler syntax be two percent signs instead <br>of one, annoying formatting error... https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/10 2024-03-05T11:59:45+00:00 2024-03-05T11:59:45+00:00 One of my last experiments was 4 parts apple juice to 2 parts cranberry <br>juice (well, storebought juices, and the cranberry also has pear and<br>grape juices mixed). It turned out fantastic! More sour than a typical<br>cider -- in a good way -- with a lot more complexity. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/11 2024-03-14T16:07:06+00:00 2024-03-14T16:07:06+00:00 Started three new wines:<br><br>1. Apple:cranberry (5:1)<br>2. Blueberry:honey-water (5:1)<br>3. Mango:apple:peach (1:1:1)<br><br>All should work out to be 10% in about a week from now, curious to see<br>how they turn out. I really liked the cranberry:apple from before; <br>wanted to try to do something with blueberry and honey just felt like a<br>natural fit https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/12 2024-03-20T20:14:42+00:00 2024-03-20T20:14:42+00:00 The apple cranberry finished first: really I have to say, it's an utter<br>delight to drink. Apple ciders fermented *dry* on their own can <br>sometimes be a bit unpleasant, but somehow the more sour cranberry <br>matches these off-tastes, and really ups the end result. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/13 2024-04-06T07:06:36+00:00 2024-04-06T07:06:36+00:00 Distilled ~14L of 40% alcohol from tomato paste wash (72L, 14%) this <br>week. Sadly, they need another distillation or two yet to become a <br>vodka, but it's been nice to keep busy. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/14 2024-04-28T19:43:31+00:00 2024-04-28T19:43:31+00:00 A few kilograms of dry malt extract, various hops, food grade <br>20L / 5 gallon buckets, and airlocks with grommets are coming in <br>the mail. My beer and whisky making arc will begin soon. <br><br>I'm thinking of initially trying to make whisky via UJSSM tech but also<br>considering making one from dry malt extract sans hops -- I hear hops<br>are neither necessary nor desirable when producing whisky ... <br><br>Big concern for beer production: I don't have any feasible way to <br>carbonate beverages, whether in glass bottles or keg. So I guess<br>it'll be "not even beer!" depending on one's definition. I'd love to<br>buy a keg and CO2 tanks, maybe even a devoted fridge down the line, but<br>wife is already annoyed as-is by the malt/hops/buckets/airlocks <br>purchase. We'll just have to wait and see. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/15 2024-05-03T18:53:25+00:00 2024-05-03T18:53:25+00:00 For those who wondered, I got roughly 7 liters of 80% as an end result<br>of hearts pickiness from a batch of low wines https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/16 2024-05-25T04:40:36+00:00 2024-05-25T04:40:36+00:00 A month out and here's where we stand on the order:<br><br>1. Airlocks came first<br>2. Buckets came second<br>3. Dry malt extract is still in transit (???)<br>4. The hops seller cancelled the order. Tried ordering a few different<br> kinds of hops from a few different sellers; they all seemed to cancel.<br> I will have to try sourcing hops again later. Until then, I can<br> try making a whisky once this DME shows up. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/17 2024-06-05T15:45:44+00:00 2024-06-05T15:45:44+00:00 Made like 3 liters "low wines" last night, probably going to get 5<br>liters tonight. One of the ferments didn't go well and I couldn't get it<br>to really pick back up. Ah well, still getting my fun + cheap booze out<br>of it :D <br><br>I'm planning to make gin after doing a spirit run on this. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/18 2024-07-11T19:05:33+00:00 2024-07-11T19:05:33+00:00 Sipped on some apple cider with spices added, then some homemade vodka<br>with coca-cola. Very tasty. <br><br>In a few days, my first generation of UJSSM (kilju with cracked corn)<br>will finish fermenting; after I distill that, I'll throw some backset<br>back in the bucket with some new sugar to start a proper sour mash of<br>corn whisky. Looking forward to it! https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/19 2024-07-11T22:47:52+00:00 2024-07-11T22:47:52+00:00 <span class='deleted'>Message removed</span> https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/20 2024-07-15T05:29:48+00:00 2024-07-15T05:29:48+00:00 Distilling my "sweet mash" UJSSM whisky now. I was surprised, the top <br>layer of corn is gray but most of the corn is still good and yellow.<br>It fermented pretty quick and it smells a bit corny but nothing<br>really impressive. <br><br>Once my distillation is done, I'll pour some of the "backset" (the <br>beer without alcohol left in the boiler) back into my corn yeast sugar<br>bucket and kick off a "sour mash fermentation." <br><br>Right now I'm using cracked corn for flavor, partially because it's<br>so damn cheap, but I've seen people speak very highly of corn flake <br>whisky. <br><br>Made about 6L more of apple cider this afternoon, too. I am a busy <br>little bee! https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/21 2024-07-24T15:07:49+00:00 2024-07-24T15:07:49+00:00 I did the second batch of UJSSM whisky yesterday (aka, a proper sour <br>mash bourbon) and ran it with the low wines from the first stripping <br>run. After taking decent cuts, I diluted and blended all the jars today<br>and mixed the better tasting stuff together. Ended up with 4x 700ml <br>bottles around 43% each. <br><br>It's nowhere near as smooth as it could be if I distilled it another<br>time or carbon filtered it or aged it on charred oak for a few years.<br>But for what it is, it's pretty good. I've been mixing it with Sprite <br>and sipping it on the rocks. The bourbon is sweet, corny, and... creamy,<br>almost buttery. It's a little hard to drink neat, but it adds some nice<br>flavor to mixed beverages. <br><br>My 3rd generation UJSSM is currently fermenting, 20L worth, along with<br>another 20L of sugar-wine (kilju) that will end up as vodka. There is<br>no more tomato paste for sale in my town so I tried adding some of the<br>bourbon backset with some boiled yeast to serve as a nutrient for the<br>new vodka. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/22 2024-07-25T01:57:48+00:00 2024-07-25T01:57:48+00:00 I managed to drink 3/4 of a bottle of my bourbon last night (mixed with<br>Sprite and Coca-Cola) while the most I've ever been able to drink of<br>commercial whisky in a night is 1/4 of a bottle. And that 1/4 a bottle<br>of whisky would always give me a terrible headache while I'm feeling<br>terrific today. <br><br>Whether that's a statement in favor of or against moonshining depends on<br>your point of view... only $2 down the drain on that bottle, at least. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/23 2024-09-05T13:37:42+00:00 2024-09-05T13:37:42+00:00 6 bottles of corn whisky, 3 liters of apple cider, and 1.5 liters of<br>ginger ale ready for consumption. Bringing it to a party tomorrow night! https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/24 2024-09-06T18:37:28+00:00 2024-09-06T18:37:28+00:00 My friends (2/3) preferred the apple cider to ginger ale, but they all<br>enjoyed everything. They were really impressed by the homemade whisky --<br>per my advice, they mixed it with Sprite (I brought several bottles of <br>Sprite) and they had several servings of it. <br><br>Had fun bringing the party in a dry county for $10-ish. https://bbs.gikopoi.com/post/1704728318/25 2024-12-05T17:45:29+00:00 2024-12-05T17:45:29+00:00 Recently produced ~12 liters of "low wines" from sugar washes.<br><br>Biggest game changer in my fermentation for distillation lately:<br>I add a tablespoon or two of diammonium phosphate and tiny pinch of <br>magnesium sulfate per ~20L of ferment I do. Seems to make a pretty<br>big difference: ferments go faster and cleaner. <br><br>Picked up about 200g of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) today and<br>converted it to washing soda (sodium carbonate) by throwing it in a<br>saucepan on the stove at a low heat and constantly stirring. Sure <br>enough, I could see the powder "boiling" -- despite wearing a face<br>mask, some funky smells came through. After about 20 minutes or so,<br>the texture of the powder appeared to change, and the powder seemed to<br>stop reacting. <br><br>Spilled a little in the process. Post-cook weight of sodium carbonate <br>was about 120g which is consistent with the theory. <br><br>Tomorrow I'll be throwing my 12 liters of "low wines" into the pot still<br>with 3-4 liters water and 4 tablespoons of washing soda. This should<br>result in a large volume of hearts, which will be turned into... gin!<br>this Saturday. <br><br>Stay tuned for updates.