[QUOTE=RD’S Alias - 1A;1134428]During my original learning process, I used all manners of store bought yeasts. I got the bets results from a Champagne yeast. However, what I found eventually was that the natural air born yeast yields the strongest, longest lasting ferments, with the highest alcohol content. I don’t remember the specifics so far as numbers and such, because it was like 8 years ago when I started this.
Today, I ferment the same way Italians cook. I basically wing it. …[/QUOTE]
What good fortune - you’ve got a strong ‘natural yeast’ in your area which produces good ferments & good flavors. I know some people who’d be pretty jealous for that. Cool that you’re comfortable enough so that you can wing it & not over-analyze!
I’ve seen a natural yeast go to work (in a few Zinfandel vineyards) and it cranked out a whopping 18.5% alcohol, which was amazingly good (although too alcoholic for a table wine made from grapes…it was really out of balance & hot).
Lee Chiang Po, it sounds like you’ve got this whole thing nailed down…
The malt used to convert the rice starches is a good idea, though it may change the color and flavor slightly, it should provide a must easier for the yeast to work on & complete.
[QUOTE=1 Black Mantis;1134474]What good fortune - you’ve got a strong ‘natural yeast’ in your area which produces good ferments & good flavors. I know some people who’d be pretty jealous for that. Cool that you’re comfortable enough so that you can wing it & not over-analyze!
I’ve seen a natural yeast go to work (in a few Zinfandel vineyards) and it cranked out a whopping 18.5% alcohol, which was amazingly good (although too alcoholic for a table wine made from grapes…it was really out of balance & hot).
Lee Chiang Po, it sounds like you’ve got this whole thing nailed down…
The malt used to convert the rice starches is a good idea, though it may change the color and flavor slightly, it should provide a must easier for the yeast to work on & complete.[/QUOTE]
Aside from Malt, and boiling the rice untill it is just goo, how many other ways are there to convert the starches to sugar?
[QUOTE=RD’S Alias - 1A;1134509]Aside from Malt, and boiling the rice untill it is just goo, how many other ways are there to convert the starches to sugar?[/QUOTE]
There are a number of enzyme preparations on the market to do that, but they are expensive - and higher cost is what you’re trying to avoid, so that doesn’t make sense.
Considering what you’re making, perhaps some koji (Aspergillus oryzae, or “q meí jn” I think it is in Chinese?) would be a better fit.
Maybe your natural fement already has some of this in it…
I keep it hot only during the initial ferment. After that, i have found clearing it works better at cooler temps.
[EDIT 9-23-2011]
Muahahahaha!!
My wine is now past the initial raging fermentation stage, and has settled into a nice steady simmer. This means there is enough alcohol in it to slow down the yeast. However, the culture now has a massive population, so I am seeing a strong steady sea of smaller CO2 bubbles through out the entire container.
The first phase lasted a bit longer than usual, so I think this will be a particularly strong batch.
[QUOTE=RD’S Alias - 1A;1134509]Aside from Malt, and boiling the rice untill it is just goo, how many other ways are there to convert the starches to sugar?[/QUOTE]
You can purchase the amylase sp? enzyme at a site called Still Drinking, and most brew shops will sell it for that express purpose. You just brew the rice slurry with the enzyme and bingo, it turns the starches to sugars. The best method for making alchohol is to use cane sugar, corn syrup, Molasas, and of course most super sweet fruits. Most all whisky and rum, brandies and such that are distilled will retain some of the nasties that are created during brewing. These are the things that give you the hangover. The purer the distillate, the fewer or less by volumn of these impurities. good vodka and cut everclear will not give you a hangover unless you really do it up big. The worst hangovers come from drinking low proof brandies. They are loaded with aldihydes and things that are slightly poison.
[QUOTE=RD’S Alias - 1A;1134459]The solar still is an interesting idea. I was not aware they could be used for alcohol. I have seen some for purifying water though. Seeing that makes me think that a solar still may evaporate too much water, and thus produce a weak final product. Although, for making Jow 50% water is ideal anyway.[/QUOTE]
Water can be distilled quite easily, but it would require longer to do it. Water boils at 212 degrees at sea level, but alchohol will boil at far less temp. Mix them and it goes in between somewhere. At about 20% it will boil at around 172 degrees. This is important when using a good metal still, but not so much with the solar job. The alchohol will begin to evaporate quickly, and it will cool the wash some as it does so, but will continue to evaporate at a fairly fast pace. It slows considerably as the alchohol depletes. It is quite impossible to remove all the water from the distillant. The closest you can get is about 97.5 percent, or about 195 proof. The solar still will probably produce at around 75%, or 150 proof. If you are not satisfied with the purity, you can always run it through again, and this time it will be even purer. You can not drink this, and it would not be economical to use at that proof, so cutting it with distilled water might will make it whatever proof you want, depending on the amount of water you add. It is best to make it as pure as you can and then mix with distilled water so that the end product will have fewer and less of the nasties.
The good thing about the solar still is that it is easy to make, works really well even if slightly slower, produces a pretty good distillate, and most people would not have a clue of what they were looking at if they did find it.
As for legalities, I don’t see where it should not be legalized to distill for your own purposes. We are allowed 250 gallons per year per person in the household of either wine or beer or both, so seperating the alchohol from wine or beer that is substandard in taste should be an option. Maybe not at the tune of 250 gallons per year per person in the household, but at least a few gallons now and then. That would make between 500 and 600 gallons of drinking alchohol.
[QUOTE=Lee Chiang Po;1135036]Water can be distilled quite easily, but it would require longer to do it. Water boils at 212 degrees at sea level, but alchohol will boil at far less temp. Mix them and it goes in between somewhere. At about 20% it will boil at around 172 degrees. This is important when using a good metal still, but not so much with the solar job. The alchohol will begin to evaporate quickly, and it will cool the wash some as it does so, but will continue to evaporate at a fairly fast pace. It slows considerably as the alchohol depletes. It is quite impossible to remove all the water from the distillant. The closest you can get is about 97.5 percent, or about 195 proof. The solar still will probably produce at around 75%, or 150 proof. If you are not satisfied with the purity, you can always run it through again, and this time it will be even purer. You can not drink this, and it would not be economical to use at that proof, so cutting it with distilled water might will make it whatever proof you want, depending on the amount of water you add. It is best to make it as pure as you can and then mix with distilled water so that the end product will have fewer and less of the nasties.
The good thing about the solar still is that it is easy to make, works really well even if slightly slower, produces a pretty good distillate, and most people would not have a clue of what they were looking at if they did find it.
As for legalities, I don’t see where it should not be legalized to distill for your own purposes. We are allowed 250 gallons per year per person in the household of either wine or beer or both, so seperating the alchohol from wine or beer that is substandard in taste should be an option. Maybe not at the tune of 250 gallons per year per person in the household, but at least a few gallons now and then. That would make between 500 and 600 gallons of drinking alchohol.[/QUOTE]
Very interesting. I see the making of a solar still in my future.
As for the nasties, if you toss out the first 10% of your distillation, that will cover it because they distill out first.
[QUOTE=RD’S Alias - 1A;1135056]Very interesting. I see the making of a solar still in my future.
As for the nasties, if you toss out the first 10% of your distillation, that will cover it because they distill out first.[/QUOTE]
True, but I would toss a bit less. Beers, wines, and meads create and hold some rather nasty stuff, but we drink it all the time without harm. The problem with these heads and tails off the distilled stuff is that it is concentrated. Some of the more volitile alchohols and aldahydes evaporate first, and then there are the ones that require more heat. When the alchohol level gets low then the wash heats up and out comes the worst part.
In the military myself and a bunch of recruits were in the field for more than a month. We found a bunch of pear trees that were completely loaded down. The pairs were big and ripe and really sweet. We crushed and squeezed the juices and set it to fermenting. Got the yeast from the mess tent. It tasted nasty and bitter, so we dug a hole, set a big pan of the wine down in the hole and placed a big pickle jar under the clear plastic and laid a big rock over it. We only made about a quart of alchohol in a full day, so next day we lined the hole with black plastic bags. We doubled production and we were distilling half a gallon every day. We had trouble keeping up with the still. We brewed a 55 gallon drum of wine, cooked out about 9 gallons of strong alchohol, cut it with bottled water and ended up with close to 19 gallons of drinking. We done that with a solar still.
Well, the first batch is settling now. The clear stuff on top warms my tummy!
However, the second batch seems to have failed miserably. I am not sure what went wrong. It started fermenting, but not really strong. The rice liquifiedy over night, which is odd. It normally takes a few days, and a lot of fermentation to do that.
When I sampled the liquid, it was yeasty tasting water. There’s no alcohol in it that I can taste.
I may have to throw this batch out and start over.
[QUOTE=Lee Chiang Po;1135629]True, but I would toss a bit less. Beers, wines, and meads create and hold some rather nasty stuff, but we drink it all the time without harm. The problem with these heads and tails off the distilled stuff is that it is concentrated. Some of the more volitile alchohols and aldahydes evaporate first, and then there are the ones that require more heat. When the alchohol level gets low then the wash heats up and out comes the worst part.
In the military myself and a bunch of recruits were in the field for more than a month. We found a bunch of pear trees that were completely loaded down. The pairs were big and ripe and really sweet. We crushed and squeezed the juices and set it to fermenting. Got the yeast from the mess tent. It tasted nasty and bitter, so we dug a hole, set a big pan of the wine down in the hole and placed a big pickle jar under the clear plastic and laid a big rock over it. We only made about a quart of alchohol in a full day, so next day we lined the hole with black plastic bags. We doubled production and we were distilling half a gallon every day. We had trouble keeping up with the still. We brewed a 55 gallon drum of wine, cooked out about 9 gallons of strong alchohol, cut it with bottled water and ended up with close to 19 gallons of drinking. We done that with a solar still.[/QUOTE]
This gives me an idea to get some clear plastic sheet that can be manipulated with a heat gun.
I have an idea to make a still that works over a camp fire as well.
[QUOTE=RD’S Alias - 1A;1135977]This gives me an idea to get some clear plastic sheet that can be manipulated with a heat gun.
I have an idea to make a still that works over a camp fire as well.[/QUOTE]
If it can be manipulated with a heat gun it might also be manipulated by the camp fire heat. I know what you are talking about though. I know of people distilling small amounts of wash in a large pot in the kitchen. they place something in the put to sit a small container on, then pour in some wash and seal the lid down on it. The problem with this method is that you have to be careful or you will blow the lid off. An inclosed system can build up pressure. The pipe drain of the sun still will not allow any pressure to build as it is an open system.
Well, there was no saving that last batch. i tossed it and started over. I am transferring my next batch of Rice mash to the fermentrer now. Hopefully this batch will be as good as the first one…because the second one just suxored.
