Does anyone make their own liquor or beer? (white wine, liquors, whiskey)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I tried the Mr. Beer thing to make your own beer. I wouldn't recommend it.
Good luck!
Mr. Beer isn't real homebrewing.
OP: That's what you want to look into: "homebrewing". See if you can find a homebrew shop or club in your area - google it, and also look up the American Homebrewing Association.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt. Cave Man
Every homemade beer/liquor I've tried tasted like crap.
Then they weren't made by anyone who knew what they were doing.
My friend's dad has always made homemade wine out of various fruits. You'll have to look up some directions but it was pretty basic and easy to do. A good jug, some juice, yeast, and balloon to put over the top of the jug. Place in a dark place like under the kitchen sink. When the balloon is inflated it's done. I know I'm missing some details like how to check on it, how much yeast and all that, but's its not difficult.
He used to make brandy from the wine too. I liked the blackberry brandy with a little 7-up.
Liquor in the Virgin Islands is very inexpensive but I did make some "genip rum" a couple of years ago and it's aging quite well, and smells rather similar to the guavaberry liqueur which is commercially distributed via St Maarten but is also available here around Christmas time from local sources.
The genip tree produces clusters of grape-sized hard-shelled fruit which mature around September and are sold on the side of the roads for the most part. To eat them you crack the outer green shell with your teeth and then suck the pithy pulp from the big seed before spitting out the pit and removing all the pith from your teeth.
I just sniffed that bottle of genip rum and it's smelling better and better as time goes by but it was a real pain in the butt to produce even a small quantity!
Many years ago I had friends in Connecticut who made real hard liquor in an old bathtub and that stuff was LETHAL and only drinkable with fruit juice unless one wanted to temporarily lose one's ability to use the vocal cords.
Home-brewed beers are very iffy at best. Very dependent upon constant temperature, water quality, they seem to be a hit and miss venture but many have fun screwing around with it and claim that theirs is the best!
My now-deceased father used to make potato wine. He loved gardening throughout his very long life but I do remember as a child that (a) a couple of the fermenting bottles exploded and (b) my two older brothers got a bit inebriated when, as teenagers, they decided to pop open one of the bottles and take a taste...
Making beer and wine is one thing - distilling alcohol is another matter entirely. Beer brewing is pretty easy, but there is some equipment to buy - a large cooking pot, about the size of a turkey fryer, a 5 gallon glass bottle, a primary fermenter that can be a clean polythene trash can, bottles, caps, and a capper, some siphon tubes, a fermentation lock, and some sanitizer.
With beer, you can use canned malt syrup extracts, some of which have hops added. You can also use powdered malt extracts and fresh hops, or use all grain. I think the best combination of simplicity and final results is to "partial mash," which means you use malt extracts along with a fairly small amount of actual grain for flavor.
Essentially, you boil the malt extract and steep the grain and hops in it. If you overheat the grain, you release tannins from the grain hulls, which gives the beer an acidic taste. After this mixture cools you put it in the primary fermenter along with yeast, put a plastic sheet over the top and a rubber band around it to seal it, then let it ferment for a few days. After fermentation has slowed down, you siphon it into the secondary fermenter put the fermentation lock on the top, which lets co2 out but keeps air from getting in, and let it ferment until it's done. Then you siphon it back into the primary, add a small amount of malt or sugar to re-start fermentation, and bottle it. The final amount of sugar/malt allows for enough fermentation to carbonate the beer in the bottle. Set it aside for a month or so, open and drink.
Home-brewed beers are very iffy at best. Very dependent upon constant temperature, water quality, they seem to be a hit and miss venture but many have fun screwing around with it and claim that theirs is the best!
It all depends on how you approach it.
ANY beer, home-brewed or not, is affected by water quality and temperature. If you actually take the time to learn how brewing is affected by those factors (among many others) and how to deal with them, then you can consistently make a good beer. What do you think the breweries do?
Pie Cherry Liquor
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn79/Cuisinette/Beverages/Cherry%20Liquor/04_02_8.jpg (broken link)
2 lb sugar
5 lb pie cherries
1/2 L clear alcohol (90%) could use vodka or plum brandy
Select the fruits to be whole, undamaged and ripe, remove stems. Wash well and place fruit in glass, gallon jugs, preferable the ones used for wine like this one: http://batchandbrews.com/store/images/1%20gal%20jug
Alternate layers of fruit and sugar, until used all.
Take the jug and live it in the sun for 3-4 days.
After this take the jug and place it in the dark (closet or basement and cover with something) for another 8-10 days.
After this process add alcohol to cover the fruits. Put a cork and wrap the cork with plastic wrap and tie well. Keep in the dark for about 30 days.
Drain the liquid and let it set... consume the clear liquor.
The drained liquid will leave some fruit residue to the bottom, but with a tiny hose you can separate all the clear liquor from the residue.
Everything taste well, I used to love to eat the cherries, and my grandmother used to keep them for pastries and sweet breads or if you remove the pit the fruit could be used in chocolate bon bons.
1 L orange essence (preferably using organic oranges)
2 lb sugar
1 (8 oz. water)
While you are consuming oranges, collect the peel and cut in thin strips, easy to insert in the gallon bottle then cover the peel with alcohol (90%), could use vodka or plum brandy.
Place a cork and tie with plastic wrap and place in a cool and dark place.
After 3 weeks drain the alcohol and measure 1 L.
(You could make this all in once or fruit by fruit, just make sure the peel is covered with alcohol.)
Take the sugar and one glass of water and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil remove from heat and add the essence in thin stream, mixing the syrup with the other hand. Strain the liquid through paper towel or coffee filter.
Place the liquid in the bottles and let it "cure" for 3 weeks.
Edit to add: Same recipe could be used for mandarins or lemons.
Last edited by Cuisinette; 09-23-2008 at 05:23 PM..
Reason: To add
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
