Kilju (Sugar Wine)

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Satori

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I've been trying to make sugar-wine (pure rocket fuel) to ferment to dry. So far it hasn't happened. I must have tried 4 batches so far, and to date, no joy.

I've been using 3 lbs. sugar with 1 tsp nutrient and 1/2 tsp energiser for a 1 US gal batch.

It does primary fine with EC-1118 but it does not seem to finish dry. Believe it or not 3 lbs works out to about 16% AP, which is two points below where it should finish at.

Can anybody recommend another yeast to try, or should I just lower the amount of sugar?

Thanks!
 
The yeast are probably nutrient starved, plain sugar just has no nutrients for the yeast to reproduce and grow.

You'll probably need to do a staggered nutrient addition over the first week, make sure your yeast nutrient contains more than just DAP too, you'll need amino acids, b-vitamins maybe yeast hulls.

I'd also check the PH, ec-1118 has a pretty wide tolerance, but I have no idea what range plain sugar might be.

What was your FG? 3lbs per gallon is over 17% abv, that's close to ec-1118s limit.
 
I gave a good deal of thought to your post and decided to try something a little different. :)

Add 1 oz of raisins to the must. WOW! What a difference!

I read somewhere that you can add up to 1lbs. per gallon without adding flavor.

Once I saw how well this works with Kilju, I just started my first Mead and it's fermenting away like crazy! :)

Now I just hope I have the patience to see it finish before I drink it all :p.

Thanks for your post. It really made me think. :)
 
Turbo yeast is a bad idea. Yes, it is fast and has a high tolerance, but you get higher alcohols that are nasty and in some cases poisonous.

It can be useful for drying out a high ABV batch, but never use it for the primary fermentation.
 
Interesting I did not know that.. I guess that's why it is used mainly for the production of wash in distillation. So is it even legal to purchase?
 
Yeah, turbo yeast expels a higher percentage of fusal alcohols. It also doesn't like to settle out, requiring filtering. That's too much work.

Anyway, I've recently found that I've been using a deficient yeast nutrient. It's this brown powder I got at my local HBS and it would settle out of the must. I just got this new stuff that's almost clear and it dissolves completely into the must.

The raisins help, but it's no substitute for good nutrient.

P.S. yes the yeast is legal to buy and sell in the US. You are able to buy and own distillation equipment too, but it's still illegal to use it to distill spirits. So don't do it.
 
You should only use Turbo yeast if you plan to distill after fermentation and I recommend you ferment with brown sugar(unrefined cane sugar) because after distillation you get a tasty rum!:D
 
I have been using Turbo yeast in 12 to 15 (6 gal each) batches over the last year or so and never had a problem. There are certain techniques that have to be adopted to make the most out of it and reduce the VOCs to very little if at all..

1) Use an open fermenter and stir at least once a day during fermentation to help remove any VOC's.
2) Do not ferment in wood barrels. The wood can break down into the wine and increase VOC's
3) Do not use pectic enzymes.

Here are a couple of quotes as to why I won't use the enzymes.

The methanol comes from the pectin, which mainly composed of methyl esters of galactose. When pectin breaks down, by enzymes introduced by microorganisms, or deliberately introduced, the methyl esters combine with water to produce methanol, so the aim should be to leave the pectin well alone if you can.
Click to expand...

The Long Ashton Research Station did some studies that showed that ciders and apple juices clarified with pectic enzymes are higher in methanol due to the demethylation of juice pectins. The methanol content varied from 10 to 400 ppm in the test samples.
Click to expand...

None of my batches came out with high methanol levels and I drink it young. I have bought store whiskey that has a strong smell similar to acetone or fingernail polish remover before.
 
Satori said:
i put yeast sugar and grape juice in a bottle nothing specific and it's pretty good so far if you just want to make some killju to drink and not care about do what I did it's quite good I'd you want to do a specific thing I can't help you
Click to expand...
 
You pretty much using the best yeast for kilju if you want to try and get it to ferment dry. I would agree raisins are a good idea or any kind of nutrient for the yeast, or it will stall. Is there a specific reason you want to ferment plain sugar rather than adding a bit of lemon/lime/any juice for a hint of flavour?

That said, I've made a lower alcohol version with US-05 as a type of cider, drinkable, but a hell of a lot better if you add pretty much anything for flavour...
 
I’ve thought about making a batch of kilju, using the nutrient amount and schedule used for mead like BOMM or TOSNA. What’s putting me off is the difference in the smell during fermentation. I’ve used the same Nutrients and gravity for making starter/culture of a liquid yeast, and the difference in smell between using honey and plain sugar was huge. The honey was pleasant to smell as the yeast grew, just like the small batch of mead that was. The starter I made with sugar was pure yeast/doughy smell. I’m sure once it’s cleared and aged it would be fine, but the room smelled a bit funky until I pitched the yeast into the fruit.
 
From a purely pragmatic position, what would be the point of making a "kill you" wine if you have the means and the ability to ferment fruit, (honey), or grains? In my book "kill you" is ethanol but fermenting fruit results in a wine and fermenting grains makes for a beer. Both wine and beer can be delicious. Drinking ethanol simply makes you drunk or gives you a buzz... :(
 
I'd rather improve cheap sugar than degrade edible fruits. This could be the reason the ancient mandarins switched from beer and wine to rice wine. Overall better for the food supply, just steep a little fruit or flowers (or poisonous reptiles) in the finished product.
 
Last edited:
For me it’s More as a curiosity. I was thinking about the difference between mead and sugar wash for distilling. If following good practice, the proper SNA methods like BOMM, could you make a wash that was drinkable.
 
But if you are distilling the goal for many distillers is to make vodka and not a flavor rich brandy (from fruit or simple sugars) or whisky (from grains). If you want vodka then fermenting sugar might work. If you want an flavorful spirit then kill you may not be the way to go (just because it is spelled to make you ignore the raw materials does not make kill you taste good: kill you is quite literally, a drink you would make if making wine or beer was prohibited by law and you had access to bread yeast (or wild yeast) and table sugar.
 
Sounds like a even rougher version of prison pruno. Mead would be better. You could use some potatoes and make old school vodka. LOL.
 
I wonder what the price per pound of fermentable sugar from potatoes costs compared to say, the same amount of fermentables from barley? My guess is that potato vodka in the US is probably far more expensive than making the same vodka from grain... But that is only a guess.
 
bernardsmith said:
I wonder what the price per pound of fermentable sugar from potatoes costs compared to say, the same amount of fermentables from barley? My guess is that potato vodka in the US is probably far more expensive than making the same vodka from grain... But that is only a guess.
Click to expand...
Probably true. :mug:
 
I'm playing with this to as well.. the 16% is a hard miss you must of done something wrong... I used 8 pounds of sugar and only was able to achieve 9%
in a 5 gallon batch
 
What I was saying is that check brewer's friend... 8 pounds of sugar in a 5 gallon batch yields 9.66% abv. He missed 0.66% ab, how is that a hard miss, particularly with measurement error likelihood?
 

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