Is it Prison Wine?

[shick019]

How's everything /hooch/,

So, I'm going to be doing a project that ends up with a byproduct of an alcoholic concoction of the following mixture, several times:

-.7lbs/11.2oz/313.6g Sugar
-.25gal/1qt/4cups Water
-1tbsp/3tsp Brewer's yeast (yet to decide what kind, since I do brew beer so I'm aware there's many kinds, and that its does impact taste/proof and such)

My questions are:
What is this? I know its not moonshine, cause moonshine involves adding cornmeal to the mash and distilling afterwards. Is it prison wine, basically, sans toilet?
Is this drinkable, and I mean more so is it bearable to drink? I'm sure it probably tastes like watery rubbing alcohol? I'm trying to avoid making a sketchy still to distill it and such. (Unless there is such thing as a cheap still you can buy)
How long would you expect this to ferment for? 1 week, 2, less? I kind of expect 4-7days. Thoughts?
What yeast would you suggest?

Any help you can all provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

[smalltownbrewer]

Sounds like a waste of time, brew something worth while like BEER!

 

[gandalfiii]

 

[evrose]

Why? Just why?

 

[ChaosStout]

Ok if your going to do something like this at least use some juice. 5 gallons of Welches grape juice, 10lbs of sugar and some champaign yeast will make a pretty good wine. Back sweeten with sugar and you have yourself a Mogan David Concord grape clone

 

[cosmatics]

I think the OP is just doing it for fun to see what happens. You can make prison hooch out of anything that has sugar in it. You could just get some koolaid, add some sugar, and put in there some left over pieces of bread. Let it go for a week or so, baboom. Booze. Do I want to drink that, hellz no. If I were in prison would I chug that like my life depended on, you bet'cha.

 

[Stauffbier]

If you insist on doing this try using a clean yeast. Probably a chico strain. Maybe 05 or wlp001. You could also use wine yeast, like montrachet or something. I agree with the above posts.. If you are just doing it for fun, keep it cheap and use bread yeast. If you actually want to drink it use brewers/wine yeast and get some fruit juice in the mix. I made some awesome cherry hooch last year with bakers yeast, believe it or not. I drink a glass every now and then, and it only gets better with age. Fun experiment, but if I did it again I would use wine yeast.

 

[scottab]

Def wounds like prison hooch.... if you want to use a nearly completely fermentable i personally would use honey though the cost is much higher than sugar. Just make sure you use a high attenuating yeast since you are producing rocket fuel...

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Alcohol-from-Common-Table-Sugar

 

[Raenon]

That's quite a bit of sugar for that amount of water, as well. You're looking at a SG of around 1.118, with it being completely fermentable... most yeast are likely to conk out from the alcohol before they're finished, leaving sweet rocket fuel.
Sounds disgusting, honestly.

If you just want something cheap to drink. follow one of the quick and easy recipes around here- hell, even a young apfelwein (with too much sugar, even) is likely to turn out far more drinkable than this, and won't cost much more.
If you want to keep it really simple, buy a gallon of apple juice, add a packet of yeast, and put on an airlock- even a makeshift loose aluminum foil over the top would likely do it.
Give it a couple of weeks in a cool dark place, booze for around $5, with an alcohol content about equivalent to a session beer (a bit higher than your average Bud/Millers/Coors offering), and it'll even taste alright.

 

[BigKahuna]

Even distillers brew better wash than this for distilling into vodka.
Your yeast will quickly die from lack of nutrients.
Will it ferment? Yes.
Will it be drinkable? No.
Will you wish you'd saved your $$$? Yes!

 

[agcorry00]

Well, at least it won't make you go blind.

 

[esvoytko]

Hmmm...since the OP said this mix was a "byproduct" of a project, I am assuming he/she is not primarily brewing this hooch for consumption.

So of course my question is: what kind of mad-scientist stuff are you up to?

And please, please, please: video tape yourself tasting this stuff and post the link here!

 

[BigKahuna]

Well, at least it won't make you go blind.

Funny thing is.... Methanol is what makes you go blind.... cure for methanol poisoning is Ethanol.
Keep Drinking. You'll only kill your liver!

 

[gatorforty]

and please, please, please: Video tape yourself tasting this stuff and post the link here!

+1

 

[hwilshusen]

LOL

Location: Shenanigans, MA

 

[agcorry00]

Funny thing is.... Methanol is what makes you go blind.... cure for methanol poisoning is Ethanol.
Keep Drinking. You'll only kill your liver!

Yeah, I knew an old-school doc who remembered actually giving cheap whiskey at the VA for methanol poisoning.

 

[Keithww]

I use to do something like this, Sugar and water with a little bakers yeast. I would then pipe the CO2 in to a bubble chamber in my planted aquarium, so the goal was CO2 not hooch. Once on a dare I tasted it and it was beyond nasty.

 

[makomachine]

Guess I don't get the attraction to hooch nastiness. Is apple juice and wine yeast too hard to come by? That product is easy AND drinkable.

 

[bigdaddybrew]

Its called a sugar wash. Add more water. It wont taste good and you will need yeast energizer and yeast nutriment with a good wine yeast like lalvin ec1118 to ferment that much sugar. It will distill into a neutral alcohol if you fractionally distill it. It will taste bad from a pot still. Try the artisan distiller forum. This is primarily a homebrew forum.

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

Isn't the technical term

Seriously. Go to the grocery store and get whatever fruit juice appeals to you.

Then go to a homebrew store and get champagne yeast. EC-1118 or anything else they recommend for dry wine. And some yeast nutrient. wine type - fermax or similar. buy a jug of appropriate size, and an airlock.

Add a little yeast nutrient to juice, dump in 5g packet of yeast, install airlock, wait a week or two. it'll be better.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Erm, you guys realize that encouraging the making of hooch is a one-way ticket to Bansville, right?

 

[cfonnes]

Any help you can all provide would be greatly appreciated.

Come back after your 21st birthday.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Good catch.^

 

[CBXBob]

I'm just curious what the project is, alternate fuel source?

 

[BierMuncher]

Done.