Sugar + Yeast = Alcohol .. Anyone else doing this?

Ringodoggie · May 1, 2020

I can't buy ISO anywhere and my bongs and pipes still need cleaned. LOL

And, with Corona Daze upon us, alcohol is a great disinfectant.

And, since I am almost out of Whiskey..... well, OK, that's the real reason. LOL

I have been making my own beer for about a year and I thought I would try my hand at distilling.

Sugar and yeast are still available so I stocked up.

I bought a still that arrived yesterday. Tomorrow, it gets put together and I start with that game.

Just for shits and giggles, I made some 'ghetto wine' or 'prison wine' as I saw it was called.

1/2 gallon of pure fruit juice. 1/2 gallon of water. 4 cups of sugar and a tablespoon of yeast. It's bubbling away in the fermenter right now. I'll test it in 7 days.

As I understand it, when I distill corn whiskey, the top quart or so is undrinkable. More like Everclear. So, that will be great for disinfectant (mixed with some glycerin) and for cleaning my bong.

The next couple quarts should be almost drinkable. A little oak aging and it should be acceptable. We'll see.

Worst case scenario is I have some fun and waste some money.
LOL

Anyone else doing this? Either for alcohol extraction or just plain drinking?

.

bushed · May 1, 2020

Dont have any interest in making my own liquor, Ive tried several from home made small batch to winery and brewery attempts at rum they all tasted terrible, that cheap vodka taste, I dont see how mine would come out any better.

I do love to brew my own beer though, I brew southern hemisphere style stout, it comes out great very similar to store bought beer, no skill involved just a fair bit of labour mashing, cleaning and bottling.

armedoldhippy · May 1, 2020

have made beer, wine, and shine. first two are simple, shine is harder to make consistently good. alcohol content always high, as you note, but drinkability can vary. :biggrin:

ran some of my wine through my still in my first attempt, tasted/smelled great. some since then was suitable for burning in my chain saw. gotta keep learning. wish i had an old shiner to learn from...

MindEater · May 1, 2020

Gem Clear cut with h20

I'm down to 2 quarts of 91% iso. Rinsing with hot water before iso helps. Warming the iso helps.

TakenByTheSky · May 1, 2020

I bet denatured alcohol from home Depot would work the shit eats right thru paint

troutman · May 1, 2020

Make sure you use an airlock on your fermenter. Otherwise, you may end up with some vinegar. :tiphat:

If you get making moonshine tell them you need the alcohol to fight Corona with alcohol wipes. :laughing:

G.O. Joe · May 1, 2020

You just have to be careful with a few things, and realize that good fractional distillation is not fast or possible without being careful.

Ringodoggie said:
Anyone else doing this?

You don't really want to know that my first sugar wash was in 1985 and I never progressed and lately I purify Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash for anhydrous alcohol, do you? Or that it doesn't taste that great, but I don't drink because I never had the taste for it?

flylowgethigh · May 1, 2020

I would be less harsh on the homemade wine. Here is my recipe, and it will take you a few months to finish. Any 100% juice will do, but this stuff makes the best wine of them all IMO.

4 gallon jug, bubbler (water trap) rigged into the lid and sealed to it. You can also use a hose that goes into a bottle of water.

3 gallons white grape and peach flavor "juicy juice" from WMT
4 pounds sugar
1 pack Lavin EC-1113 yeast.

The jug has to be clean!

Mix sugar and juice. Save the juice bottles for finished wine.

Start the yeast in a cup of warm water. You can add a skosh of the juice/sugar, but just a skosh!

Dump it into the jug, put the lid and bubbler on, move to a 70* room. After a few days if the yeast have slowed, you can put in some "energizer", which is like cocaine to them.

After maybe a month, I will rack the wine into another bottle with a siphon, leaving the dead yeast in the first bottle on the bottom. The idea is to not disturb them, as that stuff on the bottom is nasty. Rinse that used jug and save it for the next racking.

Repeat in a month. Repeat in another month. You can taste test the stuff along the way, but the longer the wine sits and the dead yeast fall out, the clearer and better tasting it will be.

If you return the wine to the orig bottles, please don't let kids make a mistake and drink it. It does taste like wine, but is sweet..

Ringodoggie · May 1, 2020

One thing seems to be unanimous... it tastes like shit. Well, more like gasoline. LOL I am just starting to read about that and I ordered some oak for aging. I did grab some corn and rye to make a blend. The oak seems to be what makes it drinkable. Or, so the story goes. LOL In a gallon run, the first quart or 2 is like Everclear. After that, the % drops and it becomes more likely to end up drinkable. Again... so the story goes.

We will find out soon enough.

@G.O.Joe, I figured someone had to be doing it. With the shortage that is most everywhere now, doing for self is about the only way. I'm sure you're not alone.

A plain sugar wash is going to be the first thing I try.

Seems we are most in the same boat. Beer is easy. Wine a little more. But, distilling.... well, I'll let you know. LOL

Thanks for the input.

.

Ringodoggie · May 1, 2020

flylowgethigh said:
I would be less harsh on the homemade wine. Here is my recipe, and it will take you a few months to finish.

4 gallon jug, bubbler (water trap) rigged into the lid and sealed to it. You can also use a hose that goes into a bottle of water.

3 gallons white grape and peach flavor "juicy juice" from WMT
4 pounds sugar
Lavin EC-1113 yeast.
........

How much yeast?

Guest · May 1, 2020

Just finished up my sacrifice run with the new still.
Parts are soaking in citric acid and I'm gearing up for another turbo yeast sugar wash.
The stuff I just made I'm using in lieu of iso.

My goal is for extracts and iso replacement etc.

But I'd love to be able to show off some impressive shine once I learn how to dance with this thing.

*you can turn that wine into your starting mash if it doesn't work out*

flylowgethigh · May 1, 2020

1 pack of yeast is all that is needed for 3 gallons. There is a gizmo for racking that is a plastic tube and has a nice tip, which helps avoid stirring up the dead yeast on the bottom.

Some people re-use yeast. I just put it in the sink.

You can't get everclear? How about E-85, then wash it with soap/water or dishwasher?

troutman · May 1, 2020

G.O. Joe said:
You just have to be careful with a few things, and realize that good fractional distillation is not fast or possible without being careful.

I used a Vigreux column and distilled very slow to get 95% Ethanol from 40% Vodka which is about
as high as you can go with just normal distillation alone because it forms an azeotrope with water.

Azeotropic Ethanol (95+%)

I then dried the Azeotropic Ethanol with molecular 3A sieves for about a month and redistilled carefully and got 98+% Fire Water. :woohoo:

bigpeter · May 1, 2020

My recipe. 1200 grams sugar dissolved in half gallon very hot water. Pout into 1 gallon demijohn top up with cold water. When around 100F add 1 tablespoon of turbo yeast. Will ferment out in about 3-4 days. let sit to clear, racking and mixing a few spoons of bentonite clay will speed up the process. Run a stripping run in an airstill. Then a slow distillation in copper still and let trickle through a column filled with activated carbon. Fermented sugar produces very little methanol so I never throw any heads away. Fermenting fruit however will produce larger amounts of methanol so you will need to collect the heads and use for anything except drinking. I get around 1 pint per gallon average 90% ABV.

THC123 · May 1, 2020

Hi, I'm preparing a batch right now : But I use it for CO2 in my tent. It work really well.

However, soon, but not now as I spnt a lot on growing equipment, I do want to make my own liquour with it.

But I don't have the means right now to purify the alcohol from the mixture.

It's a shame, last time, to feed the yeast, I added some frozen berries from the freezer and that batch smelled like a tropical drink mmmm

St. Phatty · May 1, 2020

isn't there a way you can share the CO2 with your plants ?

i've been making sugar water yeast mixes for about 20 years.

when i started i lived in an apartment and made water yeast flour mixes.

Ringodoggie · May 1, 2020

I think this might be an important question.....

I have the still all assembled and I am doing the vinegar wash run and then a test run called the 'sacrificial run". I guess this makes sure every thing is cleaned and seasoned for the first real batch.

I just read something in the manual and it's in big RED letters.

NEVER USE AN OPEN FLAME HEAT SOURCE WHEN DISTILLING INDOORS.

I was planning on doing this in my kitchen on a gas stove. No?

Am going to need to buy a portable heat source. All I have is a small electric hot plate. I don't think it's big enough for this 5 gallon pot.

Really? Can't do this indoors with a gas stove?

Thanks

.
EDIT: Never mind. I did a little reading on the subject and it doesn't sound quite as bad as making BHO inside but it still doesn't sound like a great idea. LOL Induction cooktops will not work with my stainless steel still pot. I do have an electric ceramic cooktop but it's the standard 7" or so around. My still pot is 13". I can't seem to find a large diameter, electric hot plate. LOL Hard to believe I didn't read about this while I was reading the other stuff about distilling. I wonder what most people use? @G.O.Joe has been doing it forever, what do you use? Or, are you just using a smaller pot? LOL

Well, at any rate, gas stove is out and I'm on the search for a large format hot plate. LOL

Again, thanks

.

Cvh · May 1, 2020

St. Phatty said:
isn't there a way you can share the CO2 with your plants ?

i've been making sugar water yeast mixes for about 20 years.

when i started i lived in an apartment and made water yeast flour mixes.

Yes you can. Look up 'Yeast CO2 generator'. Several guides out there.
In the past there were a few members on the forum who did this. I'm not sure if they are here still.

aridbud · May 1, 2020

troutman said:
Make sure you use an airlock on your fermenter. Otherwise, you may end up with some vinegar.

If you get making moonshine tell them you need the alcohol to fight Corona with alcohol wipes.

And rather a strong smell, at that.

Try WD-40. Everyone has some on a shelf somewhere.

THC123 · May 1, 2020

To share it with your plants just connect a tube that leads to your room and make sure it is close to an oscillating fan.

I don't do this because I don't drink the alcohol, I jut want co2. I tried many ways with co2 ppm meter.

To be honest, I just place a few reservoirs (can be water bottle of empty protein shake container whatever) between the plants and always one close to the oscillating fan.

I know co2 is heavier than air but there is enough ventilation for it to spread.

Works like a charm, only downside is you cant maintain a stable level. I mean you could I think if you really did calcultions but I don't.

With the exhaust now on 20% I get 700-800 PPM and I am preparing a few more batches and recharges to get to 1000PPM.

And when I go to bed I always put the air intake tube in my bedroom for extra co2

Sugar + Yeast = Alcohol .. Anyone else doing this?

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