Aquarium Hooch - From One Hobby to Another

[ChunkofWhat]

Hey guys,
Home brewing is a hobby I plan on getting into eventually, but not today. At least not in great depth. My current pass-time is freshwater planted aquarium keeping, something I've enjoyed immensely for the past couple of months now.

You may or may not know that many freshwater aquarium owners with living plants use fermentation in order to add carbon dioxide to their tanks. Unlike terrestrial plants, aquatic flora can have a difficult time obtaining adequate CO2 without supplementation. Those of us without the cash for a pressurized system use bottles of yeast, sugar, and water to generate the CO2, which we siphon off into the tank water.

Normally, after a couple of weeks when the yeast runs out of sugar and there's no more CO2 left to produce, aquarium owners dump out the solution and start over again. I'm sure to many of you guys, this would seem incredibly wasteful. I agree! But it's not the best tasting stuff, you have to understand, and I'm too busy/poor fighting algae to turn every CO2 reactor into a delicious IPA.

My question to you guys, then, is if there is any way to turn yeasty-tasting sugar water hooch into a drinkable beverage. I've been trying to freezer distill this one batch in the hopes that I'll have to drink less of the foul-tasting stuff for the same desired effect, but it still has a very rank yeasty taste. Is there a way to just remove all the yeast taste and retain the ethanol and water? It would even be nice to just tone the flavor down enough to mask it with something else.

Sorry for the tl;dr wall. I would appreciate any help you guys have to offer!

 

[InLimbo]

This isn't the appropriate forum for this question, but I'll take a stab at it.

I don't think you understand just how generalized "sugar" and in particular "yeast" is. Saying that you use "yeast" to create CO2 in an aquarium is analogous to saying I have "plants" growing in my yard. There are tons of strains of yeasts in the same way that there are thousands and thousands of species of plants.

My short answer is that I highly doubt you're a) using a source of sugar that will yield a decent taste. In brewing, we traditionally (and specifically) rely upon sugar--and other residual flavor compounds-- extracted from malted barley that specifically create the flavor of beer. Likewise we use a special species of yeast specifically selected and suited for brewing beer (saccharomyces cerevisiae) which I can say for 99.9% certainty is not what you are using in your hobby.

The only way for you to actually have this garbage aquarium water turn into beer at the end is if you were to change your sugar source to malted barley, and your yeast strain to one of the many strains within the saccharomyces cerevisiae species, plus maintain sanitation and do all of the other things that we do to ensure a quality product at the end.

 

[freisste]

I'm sure I'm dumbing this down considerably, but isn't OP suggesting putting his blowoff tube into an aquarium instead of a jar of sanitizer?

 

[InLimbo]

I'm sure I'm dumbing this down considerably, but isn't OP suggesting putting his blowoff tube into an aquarium instead of a jar of sanitizer?

Essentially, yes. Obviously he doesn't want to pump the yeast into the aquarium, but would in theory want to capture the CO2 that's being created. But he's not starting with a quality sugar source, nor is he fermenting with the right yeast strain etc..

 

[Tutsbrew]

Fish create CO2. So says my 55 gallon aquarium that housed several nice fish and a handful of live plants for several years. Aquarium out. Sold on Craigs list. Beer in. ...Can't remember the rest!

 

[adamdillabo]

I could see something like this working.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=195681

It's like a mikes hard lemonade I'm guessing. Simple to make. Should put out some Gas and catch a buzz. I like the Idea of trying to salvage a beverage out of it. Dried brewing yeast is cheap. Sanitation might be hard work next to a fish tank.

I feel like I should get a plant for my blow out bottle.

 

[reefriot]

Besides brewing my other hobby is saltwater reef tanks and i use Co2 to liquify aragonite rock (coral skelatons) back into calcium. This is all done in a special piece of equipment thats monitored by a PH controller.
I say you could attempt to ferment a beer and use the blow off co2 in your tank but you dont have a way to monitor levels and the chance to infect your beer is great.
If you really want to brew beer then invest on the co2 tank and do it right. The co2 tank can be used for force carbonating beer and also on your fish tank. The cost of the tank and regulator is not a huge investment.
Also if you know how to monitor and adjust most the parameters in a fish tank then brewing beet is not hard. Being sanitary is the harsest part to nail down.

 

[passedpawn]

Besides brewing my other hobby is saltwater reef tanks and i use Co2 to liquify aragonite rock (coral skelatons) back into calcium. This is all done in a special piece of equipment thats monitored by a PH controller.
I say you could attempt to ferment a beer and use the blow off co2 in your tank but you dont have a way to monitor levels and the chance to infect your beer is great.
If you really want to brew beer then invest on the co2 tank and do it right. The co2 tank can be used for force carbonating beer and also on your fish tank. The cost of the tank and regulator is not a huge investment.
Also if you know how to monitor and adjust most the parameters in a fish tank then brewing beet is not hard. Being sanitary is the harsest part to nail down.

Dosing is so much easier.

 

[reefriot]

I disagree. My cost to run my calcium reactor is soo soo much cheaper then dosing.
I set and forget. Have to change media once every 6 months and im not having to buy BRS stuff and dosing pumps and always checking levels of supplements.
My tank is super stable and has been this way for over 3 yrs with only one mishap from a clogged line.
Dosing is a great method if you like having to test and tweak tank regulary

 

[passedpawn]

I disagree. My cost to run my calcium reactor is soo soo much cheaper then dosing.
I set and forget. Have to change media once every 6 months and im not having to buy BRS stuff and dosing pumps and always checking levels of supplements.
My tank is super stable and has been this way for over 3 yrs with only one mishap from a clogged line.
Dosing is a great method if you like having to test and tweak tank regulary

haha. Don't talk to me about cost. If I cared about costs I would have left the reef hobby 25 years ago.

I shouldn't have brought it up. See you on the reef forums. Which one do you hang out on?

 

[ChunkofWhat]

I don't think you understand just how generalized "sugar" and in particular "yeast" is.

Sure I do. I just forgot to include it in my post. I use packet backer's yeast.

The only way for you to actually have this garbage aquarium water turn into beer at the end

Ah, I never said I wanted to make beer. My impression from the website icon and the forum subcategories was that this wasn't a beer-exclusive website. Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place, but the "Beginners" part seemed appropriate.

Really, I'm just trying to see what I can do with a waste product that most people throw away. You guys seem like experts on fermentation and booze, so I was hoping I could get some advice on how one could, with the fewest and cheapest steps possible, make something drinkable out of this stuff.

Fish create CO2.

Not enough for the plants I have

I like the Idea of trying to salvage a beverage out of it.

Thank you! See, this guy understands me!

I could see something like this working.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=195681...

Dried brewing yeast is cheap...

I feel like I should get a plant for my blow out bottle.

Three excellent excellent ideas. This Skeeter Pee stuff looks just like what I'm looking for.

[marine tank mumbo jumbo]

[marine tank mumbo jumbo]

You saltwater guys are nuts. That stuff is just crazy complicated. I can get away without touching my tank for weeks if I have to.

 

[Malted_hops]

I think you could get something usable, but not with your sugar water/ yeast combo as you have it right now. Maybe add some grape or apple juice to the sugar solution and use some yeast meant for beverages (turbo yeast or distillers yeast is really cheap). also check this site
http://homedistiller.org/sugar

If you do a search here for "fractional freezing", it will give you several threads discussing the freezing you talked about in your OP.

 

[ong]

Yeah -- I think trying to turn sugar and yeast into something tasty is the wrong approach. Anything you ferment with yeast will produce CO2, so maybe start with the beverage you want to make, and direct its CO2 output into the tank. Cider, beer, wine, or even stuff like skeeter pee will produce the same CO2... So maybe start by putting together a small batch recipe of what you want to drink.

 

[reefriot]

haha. Don't talk to me about cost. If I cared about costs I would have left the reef hobby 25 years ago.

I shouldn't have brought it up. See you on the reef forums. Which one do you hang out on?

Dont hang on the forums anymore. Honestly my brewing has taken over my time and im considering taking a break from coral for a bit. Just wish i could find a local to take all my prized pieces.
Back to the subject. About 12 yrs ago Turbo yeast came out and i was intent on trying to brew a high grav beer with it. Since DME was spendy i decided to use table sugar to practice. Made 6g of the worst tasting **** ive ever had. Me being a cheapskate didnt want to dump it so i blended up a watermelon and added in to referment.
After it was done i placed bucket in a chest freezer and froze the water. Removed the layer of ice and repeated this process until i only had 1 1/2g left. It was alot stronger but still tasted like **** and had a ton of pink crap in bottle. Left it for 1 yr and broke into a bottle at a party. It had settled out and was a pretty golden color. Still was a bit ruff around the edges but did the trick and got alot of people toasted.
Alot of work and time to make something bums would think twice to drink.

 

[trigger_andy]

Take a look at this Link.I intend to give this a try tonight. Ive just collected an aquarium Heater and Turbo Yeast. Im sure as you are using the Yeast to generate CO2 then you are in no hurry to make the Hooch, but maybe next time scale up the quantities and when its done producing CO2 follow the instructions in the Link. From speaking to guys who have made this already there should be no bad taste, they also pass the 40-50% ABV Hooch through a three stage Active Charcoal filter but they say thats not really needed.

Hope it helps

http://nationalprepperexchange.com/forum/downloads/PlasticStill_pup.pdf

 

[ChunkofWhat]

What a lovely community! Thanks for all the advice.

I think you could get something usable, but not with your sugar water/ yeast combo as you have it right now. Maybe add some grape or apple juice to the sugar solution and use some yeast meant for beverages (turbo yeast or distillers yeast is really cheap). also check this site
http://homedistiller.org/sugar

This is good to know. I'm hoping to make this a very low cost thing. After all, the whole point of this endeavor is to make use of a waste product, so it doesn't make sense to add excessive amounts of other inputs.

maybe start with the beverage you want to make, and direct its CO2 output into the tank. Cider, beer, wine, or even stuff like skeeter pee will produce the same CO2... So maybe start by putting together a small batch recipe of what you want to drink.

I would love to make cider, beer, wine, and many more beverages, and I will certainly look into that in the future. Lurking this forum has really piqued my interest! But for this project, I don't know if I could afford to constantly brew high quality beverages while also keeping my freshwater aquarium, at least at my current pay grade (I just graduated undergrad). Making a nice wine or beer would be a every now and then sort of project, where as the fermentation for my aquarium has to be cheap and easy because I need to have it running every day, all the time.

On the advice of this forum, I'll certainly be buying some higher quality yeast, but I'm not sure if I can spring for more expensive sugar or fruit juices. Maybe concentrate, and even then only when it's on sale.

... Left it for 1 yr and broke into a bottle at a party. It had settled out and was a pretty golden color. Still was a bit ruff around the edges but did the trick and got alot of people toasted.
Alot of work and time to make something bums would think twice to drink.

http://nationalprepperexchange.com/forum/downloads/PlasticStill_pup.pdf

I'm going to combine these lovely ideas. Thank you!
I was under the impression that time only improved the fancy stuff. I didn't realize it could make a difference for bum brews as well.
This aquarium heater still looks super simply and fun to make. I think I'll get cracking on it next weekend!