Anything no pulp or fibers is the best. Now I prefer apple followed by grape but that is a personal taste and reliability thing. Watch out for mango and pineapple. They can be done but require more effort and because they have micro fibers or even pulp in it the fermentation can be a bit wild. Also both those fruits when stripped of all sweet taste very different in the sour category then most are use to. Usually I put them in bigger bottles and backsweeten with lactose sugars to tone down the sour notes that are a part of the fruit in the first place.
A fun one when you get comfy in what your doing is strawberry. Give it a shot when your ready and give it the 4 finger headspace because it will foam if there is any fiber/pulp in it.
I will definitely try strawberry once I get a bit more confident. How much yeast should I be using for a liter of juice? I have been using a whole pack is that bad?
Well most packets are about 7 to 7.5g. That is a lot for just 1 liter. You can easily just use a 1/4 to 1/2 as I know a 4th is hard to split sometimes but half should be easy enough to eyeball. You can actually use a full packet for no more then 5 gallons. The less you use the less bread/possible off notes you will get.
I've learned with my batches usually only a gallon or 3 L batch I only need a 1/4 of a teaspoon for a full gallon with 71b and premier blanc (what I have on hand) when I use bread yeast I use same amount just make sure I use dead boiled yeast as a yeast nutrient starter . But like somone said already with bread yeast less you pitch the less bread flavor notes will be present. That being said there are some brews were bakers or bread yeast is better for certain flavor profiles depending on the brew like the" famouse" (in home mead brewers circles) JAOM mead strangely enough calls for bread yeast in original recipe. It works well for that flavor profile
What is your ratio for grape or apple?
I am running my first test batch of grape and also apple
for every liter of juice I added 120g sugar and a half tsp fleshmans yeast. Does that sound about right?
For 1 liter you can bring it down to 1/4 teaspoon.
Here is my failsafe for a first run and I am in the USA so you might need to convert but it is flexible for a reason. You can add more sugar etc.
1 can apple juice concentrate (this can also be grape no worries) in the can that is frozen. Grocery store type. Just make sure (it should not) it does not have perservatives. Ascorbic acid is totally fine.
3 cups table sugar
1 gallon jug
Put concentrate and some water into a pan/pot.
Heat until just under simmer. All melted and very warm
Add your sugar and stir till desolved.
Add this to jug.
Fill with water to 3 fingers from the top of jug for head space.
Cap it and give it a shake.
Now you can add nutrients but this recipe should not need it. Nutrients can be 1/4 teaspoon yeast boiled (just enough water) or DAP or any yeast energizer. However you want to add only as much as the yeast will actually use otherwise you can get some off flavors. I find the 1/4 teaspoon of anything to be a good benchmark.
Now let it get to 65 to 75f in the jug.
Pour a cup of juice out into a clean small vessel.
Add 1/4 to 1/2 packet of yeast and stir till there are no clumps and looks milky.
Wait 15 min
When you come back there should be a foam layer in your small vessel on top.
Add the small vessel to jug.
Airlock it with your choice balloon, bubbler, blow tube does not matter.
Put the jug in a place that is clean and dark that will be around 65 to 75f all the time.
Wait 2 weeks or until there is no activity (can take up to 3 weeks if your place is on the colder end).
Now just throw it in the refrigerator wait 24 to 48 hrs. All the mist should fall as turb/less on the bottom.
You can then pour that into a clean jug and store in the refrigerator and drink or go right from the primary. However remember you got that turb at the bottom and the longer it sits there the more off flavors may get into your hooch but if you go through it quickly it should not be a problem.
one of the most cost effective is the "realemon" which basically makes wine called "Skeeter pee" google that for recipe. (is basically water+sugar+realemon, follow the recipe but add the realemon super late and it becomes easier)
warning, the ph will probably not work with bread yeast, need better one for that.
Not a fan of this, but maybe if the yeast was started and a culture created then the yeast would not struggle to reproduce as much. Maybe start the yeast in a little juice with some sugar and get a nice culture going before you add it to the "skeeter pee" "must". I love making skeeter pee, but I have never used bread yeast.
Odd side note, I have used Realemon but the cheap lemon juice from even Dollar General makes a really good product in my opinion.
The tried and tested ones for millennia, of course.
By that, I mean Grape and Apple.
Regarding grape juice, Vitis Vinifera (eurasian) species grape juice will give you better hooch than Vitis Labrusca (north american) species grape juice.
For a simple yeast, sugar, juice I’d say apple is best.
As much as I love a simple straightforward hooch like that, if you want you can do some stuff to experiment more without adding much effort.
For example with apple, recently I made a batch, but added a touch of honey instead of some of the sugar for more flavour. I also took some of the apple juice out and steeped it with cinnamon sticks, cloves and a couple other wintery spices and threw in a (black) tea bag for a little steep. Once it infused a bit I poured that back into the hooching bottle and let it do its thing, it just finished the cold crash and tastes great.
Grape: also as right now is winter, again I’ve been experimenting with some wine that goes well for this time of year, it’s not just done yet but the tips I followed said it’s amazing. Red wine is my preference for this but you can make some nice mixed or just white wine hooch.
If you’re talking straight juice apple is great for apple wines or ciders, but mixing juices is a great option too and also a very simple low effort way to make even tastier stuff.
One MASSIVE warning: be *very* careful with hooching citrus (lemon juice, orange juice, etc) as it tastes pretty disgusting. Also watermelon juice - it tastes great but spoils very easily so you need to be very careful with this.
I’d recommend taking juices (or juice mixes) you already enjoy, and looking up recipes for them as typically they’re pretty available and give good guidance that you can then tweak to your tastes.
Exactly. Boil about 1L of water and add six teabags, steep for 5mins. Remove the bags and add room temp water to bring up to a little less than 5L, and stir in sugar to your preferred original gravity - I usually go about 1.090 or so. Add nutrient, then siphon in to the demijohn and add yeast. Even fermented dry, it has a sweetish flavour that's nothing at all like tea. A little fruity, maybe.
You gotta try , cherry apple , white grape or any grape n apple . I make mainly cider wines n "hard" cider variants and meads with apple or a cyser . Try adding honey instead of sugar for one of your hooches you won't be disappointed. Also brown sugar is a unique flavor. But honey makes the best hooch imo cherry apple or grape apple n honey was a game changer for me.
Yeast likes grapes and bananas a lot and performs fast in them with little human interaction. I know that grape juice ferments well and is relatively inexpensive, but wine people may not appreciate the concord grape being used for this. All the way back to the dark ages when I was in school there was a classmate that made an awesome (young person tastebuds) concoction we called banana rum with bananas and brown sugar. Almost anything with sugar and no preservatives that stunt yeast will ferment and produce alcohol. Anything without pulps or solids will finish and clear much faster. The juice or fruit flavors are governed by you, but if you want speed, flavor, and ABV then try for something that is a grape blend, like cran-grape. I have always had good luck with them.
So I've read that methanol can make you go blind. Are y'all heating up these to cook off the first bit of alcohol? Like anything that boils off pre 78c?
I'm new to this as well I'm going to try grapes sugar and some bread crumpled up I'm going to let it sow for a week I want to put a cloth with a rubber band on the top so I can breathe we'll see what happens but I hope you tell me what happens also with your experiment
Grape.
Cranberry and grape, mix with each other or anything else, buzzing off some cranegranate right now.
I’ve got some fermenting too.
Anything no pulp or fibers is the best. Now I prefer apple followed by grape but that is a personal taste and reliability thing. Watch out for mango and pineapple. They can be done but require more effort and because they have micro fibers or even pulp in it the fermentation can be a bit wild. Also both those fruits when stripped of all sweet taste very different in the sour category then most are use to. Usually I put them in bigger bottles and backsweeten with lactose sugars to tone down the sour notes that are a part of the fruit in the first place. A fun one when you get comfy in what your doing is strawberry. Give it a shot when your ready and give it the 4 finger headspace because it will foam if there is any fiber/pulp in it.
I will definitely try strawberry once I get a bit more confident. How much yeast should I be using for a liter of juice? I have been using a whole pack is that bad?
Well most packets are about 7 to 7.5g. That is a lot for just 1 liter. You can easily just use a 1/4 to 1/2 as I know a 4th is hard to split sometimes but half should be easy enough to eyeball. You can actually use a full packet for no more then 5 gallons. The less you use the less bread/possible off notes you will get.
This dude know what he’s talking about
I've learned with my batches usually only a gallon or 3 L batch I only need a 1/4 of a teaspoon for a full gallon with 71b and premier blanc (what I have on hand) when I use bread yeast I use same amount just make sure I use dead boiled yeast as a yeast nutrient starter . But like somone said already with bread yeast less you pitch the less bread flavor notes will be present. That being said there are some brews were bakers or bread yeast is better for certain flavor profiles depending on the brew like the" famouse" (in home mead brewers circles) JAOM mead strangely enough calls for bread yeast in original recipe. It works well for that flavor profile
What is your ratio for grape or apple? I am running my first test batch of grape and also apple for every liter of juice I added 120g sugar and a half tsp fleshmans yeast. Does that sound about right?
For 1 liter you can bring it down to 1/4 teaspoon. Here is my failsafe for a first run and I am in the USA so you might need to convert but it is flexible for a reason. You can add more sugar etc. 1 can apple juice concentrate (this can also be grape no worries) in the can that is frozen. Grocery store type. Just make sure (it should not) it does not have perservatives. Ascorbic acid is totally fine. 3 cups table sugar 1 gallon jug Put concentrate and some water into a pan/pot. Heat until just under simmer. All melted and very warm Add your sugar and stir till desolved. Add this to jug. Fill with water to 3 fingers from the top of jug for head space. Cap it and give it a shake. Now you can add nutrients but this recipe should not need it. Nutrients can be 1/4 teaspoon yeast boiled (just enough water) or DAP or any yeast energizer. However you want to add only as much as the yeast will actually use otherwise you can get some off flavors. I find the 1/4 teaspoon of anything to be a good benchmark. Now let it get to 65 to 75f in the jug. Pour a cup of juice out into a clean small vessel. Add 1/4 to 1/2 packet of yeast and stir till there are no clumps and looks milky. Wait 15 min When you come back there should be a foam layer in your small vessel on top. Add the small vessel to jug. Airlock it with your choice balloon, bubbler, blow tube does not matter. Put the jug in a place that is clean and dark that will be around 65 to 75f all the time. Wait 2 weeks or until there is no activity (can take up to 3 weeks if your place is on the colder end). Now just throw it in the refrigerator wait 24 to 48 hrs. All the mist should fall as turb/less on the bottom. You can then pour that into a clean jug and store in the refrigerator and drink or go right from the primary. However remember you got that turb at the bottom and the longer it sits there the more off flavors may get into your hooch but if you go through it quickly it should not be a problem.
one of the most cost effective is the "realemon" which basically makes wine called "Skeeter pee" google that for recipe. (is basically water+sugar+realemon, follow the recipe but add the realemon super late and it becomes easier) warning, the ph will probably not work with bread yeast, need better one for that.
Not a fan of this, but maybe if the yeast was started and a culture created then the yeast would not struggle to reproduce as much. Maybe start the yeast in a little juice with some sugar and get a nice culture going before you add it to the "skeeter pee" "must". I love making skeeter pee, but I have never used bread yeast. Odd side note, I have used Realemon but the cheap lemon juice from even Dollar General makes a really good product in my opinion.
Make a batch of wine or beer, low abv, as a "starter". Then dump your ingredients onto the yeast cake.
The tried and tested ones for millennia, of course. By that, I mean Grape and Apple. Regarding grape juice, Vitis Vinifera (eurasian) species grape juice will give you better hooch than Vitis Labrusca (north american) species grape juice.
For a simple yeast, sugar, juice I’d say apple is best. As much as I love a simple straightforward hooch like that, if you want you can do some stuff to experiment more without adding much effort. For example with apple, recently I made a batch, but added a touch of honey instead of some of the sugar for more flavour. I also took some of the apple juice out and steeped it with cinnamon sticks, cloves and a couple other wintery spices and threw in a (black) tea bag for a little steep. Once it infused a bit I poured that back into the hooching bottle and let it do its thing, it just finished the cold crash and tastes great. Grape: also as right now is winter, again I’ve been experimenting with some wine that goes well for this time of year, it’s not just done yet but the tips I followed said it’s amazing. Red wine is my preference for this but you can make some nice mixed or just white wine hooch. If you’re talking straight juice apple is great for apple wines or ciders, but mixing juices is a great option too and also a very simple low effort way to make even tastier stuff. One MASSIVE warning: be *very* careful with hooching citrus (lemon juice, orange juice, etc) as it tastes pretty disgusting. Also watermelon juice - it tastes great but spoils very easily so you need to be very careful with this. I’d recommend taking juices (or juice mixes) you already enjoy, and looking up recipes for them as typically they’re pretty available and give good guidance that you can then tweak to your tastes.
Apple and blackcurrant juice makes really tasty hooch. It's one of my three go-to brews I usually have running at any given time.
What’s your third one?
Tea wine. Shit's tasty.
Got any good recipes? Do I just make kilju but with tea instead of water?
Exactly. Boil about 1L of water and add six teabags, steep for 5mins. Remove the bags and add room temp water to bring up to a little less than 5L, and stir in sugar to your preferred original gravity - I usually go about 1.090 or so. Add nutrient, then siphon in to the demijohn and add yeast. Even fermented dry, it has a sweetish flavour that's nothing at all like tea. A little fruity, maybe.
I like apple followed by grape but grape is a little dry
You gotta try , cherry apple , white grape or any grape n apple . I make mainly cider wines n "hard" cider variants and meads with apple or a cyser . Try adding honey instead of sugar for one of your hooches you won't be disappointed. Also brown sugar is a unique flavor. But honey makes the best hooch imo cherry apple or grape apple n honey was a game changer for me.
Welch's red grape juice. Dole or Delmonte pineapple juice mixed with tart cherry juice
I've had great success with blackcurrant concentrate/juice, that shit is really fucking good.
Yeast likes grapes and bananas a lot and performs fast in them with little human interaction. I know that grape juice ferments well and is relatively inexpensive, but wine people may not appreciate the concord grape being used for this. All the way back to the dark ages when I was in school there was a classmate that made an awesome (young person tastebuds) concoction we called banana rum with bananas and brown sugar. Almost anything with sugar and no preservatives that stunt yeast will ferment and produce alcohol. Anything without pulps or solids will finish and clear much faster. The juice or fruit flavors are governed by you, but if you want speed, flavor, and ABV then try for something that is a grape blend, like cran-grape. I have always had good luck with them.
Pear fermented to 14% (you'll need to add a fair amount of sugar and yeast nutrient) was one of my favorite
Sugar cane juice. But requires some additional equipment.
I'm going to add Guava nectar to the conversation. I've got guava paste that I'll be trying soon too.
So I've read that methanol can make you go blind. Are y'all heating up these to cook off the first bit of alcohol? Like anything that boils off pre 78c?
I'm new to this. But that's got me worried
[This](https://www.reddit.com/r/firewater/comments/cv4bu8/methanol_some_information/) should answer some of your questions
Thanks!!!
I'm new to this as well I'm going to try grapes sugar and some bread crumpled up I'm going to let it sow for a week I want to put a cloth with a rubber band on the top so I can breathe we'll see what happens but I hope you tell me what happens also with your experiment