VERY Inexperienced Beginner- Please help!

[Mrironcell]

Okay so this is gonna be a weird post... anyways I'm kinda worried! Okay to start, I wanted to try and make some alchohol for extremely cheap (for my friends and I's lan party) and I believe it's called "Hootch". I used a bottle of Grape-peach-something 100% juice, fleischmanns fast acting yeast, 1/2 cup raw honey, rasins and Crasins, and 1/2 cup of course sugar. (Also was experimenting on making a beer more alchoholic, lol. Used same yeast and the honey/sugar, and rasins+craisins) The beer should be fine, but i started fermentation with the cap barely bent up on it, so kinda open (I will post pictures after work). So starting on the juice, I poured about 8ish ounces into a spare oatmeal container (REMEMBER!) And then added all the sugars, rasins, and yeast. I shook to mix, and soon after i lightly put the cap screwed back on but not tight, as to let air out. I left both in a dark section on a closet covered up, and they've been there for about 4 days, with me checking to re-adjust the caps every now and then. They've gotten cloudy, bubble alot, and the rasins are floating in the top.
Okay so here's the thing. I am concerned after reading that raw honey contains botulism spores, and I'm worried that the ph wasn't high enough to start with. I'm hoping our first little batch of bready, crappy hooch is gonna be okay, but if it comes down to botulism I'll just try again and do it right this time (buying an air release and all). I have an air lock on hand now, so should I put ut on it and just see how it turns out? Is it bad that these were partially open for a while? And will it hurt us to drink it, or is there a possibility with alchohol content? Any feedback helps.


P.s- That little 8 ounces of juice sat on my bedside table for 4 or so days, and when I woke up I was thirsty. So I drank a swallow or two, and then kept it in my mouth to taste a bit, and noticed it was fizzy! It tasted like room temperature juice, not bad, but fizzy. So I think it's fermenting, but being a (i thought) sealed container, it would seem the bacteria to be entirely self contained. So far, the only time I've felt funny today was when I thought about it, so I doubt its because of the drink itself. What are yalls thoughts on this? Should I toss it or try it again?

 

[Kickass]

Disclaimer: I rarely get too concerned about anything and probably eat/drink stuff that others may be afraid of.

It’s hooch, it ain’t supposed to be perfect, or even good for that matter. Open air fermentation (absence of one way airlock) wouldn’t concern me, regarding botulism. Also, most people eat raw honey without concern of botulism. I rarely boil my honey but do add it while the wort is warm enough to kill most wild bugs. It think you’re well on your way to a terrible tasting, yet safe to drink batch of prison wine. Next time use bread instead of yeast, more authentic.

Finally, it’s impressive that you took a healthy tug of unfinished hooch as you woke up thirsty.

 

[Mrironcell]

Disclaimer: I rarely get too concerned about anything and probably eat/drink stuff that others may be afraid of.

It’s hooch, it ain’t supposed to be perfect, or even good for that matter. Open air fermentation (absence of one way airlock) wouldn’t concern me, regarding botulism. Also, most people eat raw honey without concern of botulism. I rarely boil my honey but do add it while the wort is warm enough to kill most wild bugs. It think you’re well on your way to a terrible tasting, yet safe to drink batch of prison wine. Next time use bread instead of yeast, more authentic.

Finally, it’s impressive that you took a healthy tug of unfinished hooch as you woke up thirsty.

Thanks! And I was wondering, can I use your disclaimer? I do the same quite a bit, but have been wary since I got food poisoning from salami 2 days ago... XD

 

[Lefou]

I think you should just calm down and try experimenting with a known recipe to get familiar with the basics of fermentation.
Throwing a quantity of stuff together haphazardly under uncontrolled conditions is just asking for an inconsistent experiment to happen.
One of the easiest ways to learn is start with basic sanitation, measurement methods and a simple cider, then progress from there.

 

[WBB]

Probably be safer, cheaper, and less frustrating to pick up some Barton charcoal filtered vodka. Or maybe even Mad Dog 20/20, if they still make that.

 

[grampamark]

Probably be safer, cheaper, and less frustrating to pick up some Barton charcoal filtered vodka. Or maybe even Mad Dog 20/20, if they still make that.

“What’s the word? Thunderbird!”

 

[Kickass]

You likely got sick because you didn’t wash it down with old faithful on your night stand.

 

[bracconiere]

for my friends and I's lan party

people still have lan parties? or did i just travel back to the 90's? lol

i agree with @Kickass ...

You likely got sick because you didn’t wash it down with old faithful on your night stand.

lol x2

 

[bracconiere]

Grape-peach-something

maybe this would be better in the wine making forum...or mead, don't think i've seen them worry about botultoxin...

 

[dwhite60]

Easy and good.

Joe's Ancient Orange Mead. Google is your friend.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[Mrironcell]

Thank you all for the help! I think I'll just treat my party and I to some woodford reserve, and try to get a proper brew for next month. I'll get to learning my brewing for now, and we'll see about having a good homebrew in two months time. Any suggestions for what I should (and could) make for the homebrew? I did quite a bit of studies of chemistry in school so I can do all the proper procedures, but after my distillation rig broke I decided I wanted to try something easy that turned worrisome...

-Im also thinking about pitching yeast again today and waiting a week or two with my one way airlock on it
Anyways, I'm gonna try my Hooch to see if I die or not, I'll let y'all know how it is! I'll just visit the hospital if there's an issue. As for Old Faithful... I'll let 'er ferment as long as she wants and then I'll try her! Best wishes y'all, thanks for the help.

 

[Mrironcell]

Easy and good.

Joe's Ancient Orange Mead. Google is your friend.

All the Best,
D. White

Also will be trying this

 

[Lefou]

people still have lan parties? or did i just travel back to the 90's? lol

Fun days.
We'd tie off a section of the cabling and make our own peer-to-peer network running DOOM matches after work hours. Half the fun was hearing your buddy curse across the room when you pegged him or laughing at the poor sap who got motion sickness from watching the monitor too long in a dim room.

 

[bracconiere]

Fun days.
We'd tie off a section of the cabling and make our own peer-to-peer network running DOOM matches after work hours. Half the fun was hearing you buddy curse across the room when you pegged him or laughing at the poor sap who got motion sickness from watching the monitor too long in a dim room.

i just remember it being a PITA, IPX, TCP/IP...but it was awesome when it worked! i mostly played stuff like AOE, StarCraft, WarZone 2100...(damn i loved warzone 2100, besieging a enemy base was orgasmic)

Thank you all for the help! I think I'll just treat my party and I to some woodford reserve, and try to get a proper brew for next month. I'll get to learning my brewing for now, and we'll see about having a good homebrew in two months time. Any suggestions for what I should (and could) make for the homebrew? I did quite a bit of studies of chemistry in school so I can do all the proper procedures, but after my distillation rig broke I decided I wanted to try something easy that turned worrisome...

-Im also thinking about pitching yeast again today and waiting a week or two with my one way airlock on it
Anyways, I'm gonna try my Hooch to see if I die or not, I'll let y'all know how it is! I'll just visit the hospital if there's an issue. As for Old Faithful... I'll let 'er ferment as long as she wants and then I'll try her! Best wishes y'all, thanks for the help.

Can't go wrong with apple juice.....

 

[Mrironcell]

Okay, just an update y'all, the Hooch is VERY strong and just to be safe I UV treated the portion I drank (to kill the yeast, I wanna be safe from the farts ). The beer tastes like water, and I have to filter it. I'm gonna let the Hooch sit for another day or two, and if it doesn't stop fermenting soon then I'm just gonna toss it in the UV sanitizer to kill the yeast off. I'm starting a few smaller Mead brews, and I have everything I need this time. I'll soon test aging it with my Ultrasonic cleaner too, and we'll see how that goes. Haha, I guess if I die next morning then I was true to be concerned! Doubt it, though XD.

Also, I made some homemade Bailey's Irish Cream, and by god! it is strong. Good in a coffee but a little strong on its own for my taste (made it with a friend's "bourbon"... I'm a whiskey guy and that stuff he makes knocks me back a Lil)

 

[Gulo_gulo]

I did quite a bit of studies of chemistry in school so I can do all the proper procedures, but after my distillation rig broke I decided I wanted to try something easy that turned worrisome...

Me too

 

[Mrironcell]

Okay so an update after a while, I've learned plenty and done many more experiments. The hooch was good after aging for 3.5 months, and I was right to think it was odd because that flavor was very pungent and not like many wines I've made since, so I added some Tannin and its a good, dryer wine. The rest of my later ones have gone okay, my persimmon batch failed badly, but cranberry wines are by far my favorite. The joe's orange mead was a flop, but I think I'll let it age for another 2 months before I lose hope (it's aged for 3 months and I think the tangerines were the issues, cause I used them -and too many- instead of orange rind). Very aromatic, but not very tasty because it's still to pithy. However, I am making two more meads, a twist to Joe's, and one completely new one I'm using my own honey, lavender, cloves, and rosemary. The "my own honey" is from my farm, and it's predominate clover with hints of alfalfa.

 

[Mrironcell]

Oh and my Bud Light copy failed, so I just distilled it cause I suck at beers XD

 

[bracconiere]

I suck at beers XD

lol, never stops me!