Mcarson415$
New Member
So.... I was just fooling around with my limited ingredients I have in my affordable housing apartment. (I have 3 state assigned roommates and one other roomie who is my house manager. We are both trained chefs.) Anyway, all I had was:
-64 oz. bottle of organic apple juice
-fleischmann’s bread yeast (active dry)
-granulated sugar
-honey
-Saran wrap
-glass bowl
-hot water
-apples
And, surprisingly I was able to push this lead wayyyyy past its usual limit of 8%-10% Abb with some.... albeit savage, and rather interesting brewing techniques. I’ll explain below.
First, I placed the yeast in approx 130 degree farenheight water (2c) with a cup of sugar, and I placed Saran Wrap over the top of it and stretched it across the bowl in a technique I like to call “smothering the yeast”
Basically, make sure no air can enter, and look for the tan residue on the Saran Wrap and wait for it to inflate and possibly pop the plastic. However, once you see the yeast bloom you’re pretty much set.
Then, I immediately removed about 3 cups from the gallon container of apple juice, and poured the solution in to replace it. Any additional space in the jug, I filled with sugar.
Next, I took the Saran Wrap across the top of the bottle and poked a small hole in it with the tip of the knife.
Then, I poked a small hole in the cap in the same fashion
Once screwed on, this created an air release with a give of 225 psi, far beneath the give point of a plastic bottle.
Now, I removed the Cap every 8 hours for 3 days.
At the end of day 1, I removed a cup of liquid from the mead, and I added 2 chopped up apples and a touch of boiling water. I shook the mix vigorously after opening the cap every 8 hours following the addition of the apple chunks
.......NOW, what did this achieve?
First, I was able to aerate the solution, and get the yeast to enter rapid fermentation right as the fermentation would’ve been slowing down at 8 hours
Second, I did a two stage fermentation. (I forgot to mention that I added more yeast solution with the apples).
Third, I gave the new yeast a highly nutritious atmosphere to begin with, essentially negating the high level of alcohol already present. Surprisingly, it didn’t die within the first 16 hours as I anticipated, but went for 2 additional days and ended with a 3 day, 15.6 abv fermentation. FROM BREAD YEAST.
I’m not sure if this is a fluke, or maybe I just lucked out.... but in my experience bread yeast can never surpass an abv of around 12%. This is something I really want feedback on. I double and triple checked my measurements and math and I see no errors. I will be doing a controlled reproduction of the initial experiment and I will report back soon!
-64 oz. bottle of organic apple juice
-fleischmann’s bread yeast (active dry)
-granulated sugar
-honey
-Saran wrap
-glass bowl
-hot water
-apples
And, surprisingly I was able to push this lead wayyyyy past its usual limit of 8%-10% Abb with some.... albeit savage, and rather interesting brewing techniques. I’ll explain below.
First, I placed the yeast in approx 130 degree farenheight water (2c) with a cup of sugar, and I placed Saran Wrap over the top of it and stretched it across the bowl in a technique I like to call “smothering the yeast”
Basically, make sure no air can enter, and look for the tan residue on the Saran Wrap and wait for it to inflate and possibly pop the plastic. However, once you see the yeast bloom you’re pretty much set.
Then, I immediately removed about 3 cups from the gallon container of apple juice, and poured the solution in to replace it. Any additional space in the jug, I filled with sugar.
Next, I took the Saran Wrap across the top of the bottle and poked a small hole in it with the tip of the knife.
Then, I poked a small hole in the cap in the same fashion
Once screwed on, this created an air release with a give of 225 psi, far beneath the give point of a plastic bottle.
Now, I removed the Cap every 8 hours for 3 days.
At the end of day 1, I removed a cup of liquid from the mead, and I added 2 chopped up apples and a touch of boiling water. I shook the mix vigorously after opening the cap every 8 hours following the addition of the apple chunks
.......NOW, what did this achieve?
First, I was able to aerate the solution, and get the yeast to enter rapid fermentation right as the fermentation would’ve been slowing down at 8 hours
Second, I did a two stage fermentation. (I forgot to mention that I added more yeast solution with the apples).
Third, I gave the new yeast a highly nutritious atmosphere to begin with, essentially negating the high level of alcohol already present. Surprisingly, it didn’t die within the first 16 hours as I anticipated, but went for 2 additional days and ended with a 3 day, 15.6 abv fermentation. FROM BREAD YEAST.
I’m not sure if this is a fluke, or maybe I just lucked out.... but in my experience bread yeast can never surpass an abv of around 12%. This is something I really want feedback on. I double and triple checked my measurements and math and I see no errors. I will be doing a controlled reproduction of the initial experiment and I will report back soon!
