is this safe

[germanwolf]

Don't know where to put this. But I took plum juice poked a hole on the side of the bottle a small one, poured bakers yeast in it and let it sit. It smells like alcohol, tastes sweet and has a tiny kick. Safe to consume?

 

[Beernik]

You took plum juice and put yeast in it.

Yeah, it should have alcohol in it now. Water + sugar + yeast => water + alcohol.

It won't kill you but it won't be delicious either. Making alcohol is easy. Making it taste good is hard.

 

[Homercidal]

It's safe. Basically it's plum wine.

If you really want to know how this works, just read. There is a TON of information on this site and MANY other sites that describe the fermentation process in fine detail.

I remember when I was a youngster, I took a Tupperware glass of cider and put it in the basement behind some canning jars. Couple days later the top blew off and I had a nice, sparkling hard cider.

 

[neo71665]

Lmao, I had my Apple juice in a milk jug with a balloon "hidden" in the shop. Thought never crossed my mind the balloon would swell and a big orange ball give my hiding spot away. Came home from school and dad was sitting there drinking my work. Luckily he thought it was funny and started letting me make my own gallon batches of wine. Not that I'm saying its OK for anybody underage to be brewing or drinking.......

 

[Homercidal]

Lmao, I had my Apple juice in a milk jug with a balloon "hidden" in the shop. Thought never crossed my mind the balloon would swell and a big orange ball give my hiding spot away. Came home from school and dad was sitting there drinking my work. Luckily he thought it was funny and started letting me make my own gallon batches of wine. Not that I'm saying its OK for anybody underage to be brewing or drinking.......

I know what you mean. It's not for us to encourage this kind of behaviour. That's why we don't allow anyone under the age of 21 to sign up here.

 

[germanwolf]

Well, I had a few glasses last night. Woke up with a migraine

 

[WillyB]

Well, I had a few glasses last night. Woke up with a migraine

Haha, well, you know it's somewhat safe now. Your scientific contributions are appreciated.

 

[germanwolf]

Could it be methanol?

 

[Beernik]

Methanol is only a health risk when distilling.

Its probably acetaldehyde. It's a natural byproduct of fermentation. With an uncontrolled fermentation and bread yeast, you probably produced a lot of it.

My above equation should really read:

Water + sugar + yeast => water + alcohol + carbon dioxide + X

X is all the byproducts of fermentation. X is comprised of: esters, phenols, aldehydes, fusel alcohols (longer chain alcohols than methanol & ethanol), acids, and more.

If you want it to taste good and not give you headaches, then you need to control X. That's the difference between hooch and wine.

 

[germanwolf]

How would I go about controlling it

 

[Beernik]

Sanitation, yeast selection, fermentation temperature control.

Find a home winemaking book and read up on the wine forum.

 

[Homercidal]

Some juices are going to be more prone to creating the headache-inducing fusels, and mostly at higher fermentation temps.

Seriously, do some reading. There is a TON of information all over this site on temp control and the equipment needed. I'd get a bit of real fermentation containers and set up a "swamp cooler" device to keep the temps down. You don't have to build a fancy automated rig to help bring the temps down to a decent level.

Also, don't drink a bunch. Wines and fruit juice based alcohol are just naturally more prone to giving a headache after too much imbibing.

 

[evrose]

I know what you mean. It's not for us to encourage this kind of behaviour. That's why we don't allow anyone under the age of 21 to sign up here.

What's the screening process? Asking the person if they are over 21? Good thing no one could just lie!

 

[Homercidal]

What's the screening process? Asking the person if they are over 21? Good thing no one could just lie!

You'd be surprised at how many kids sign up without reading the rules and just put their actual ages in. The hard part is participating in the forum while behaving like an adult. But that's difficult for some adults to do, too, now that I think of it.

 

[Jacob_Marley]

How would I go about controlling it

aspirin.

 

[evrose]

The hard part is participating in the forum while behaving like an adult. But that's difficult for some adults to do, too, now that I think of it.

I hear you there. I'm 40 and I struggle with that sometimes.

 

[germanwolf]

Well I gawd some left over on the bottom so filled it with sugar water

 

[roastquake]

Now we're talking some real prison hooch, are you logged in from the big house?

 

[mattd2]

Well I gawd some left over on the bottom so filled it with sugar water

That is going to be even better!

Methanol is only a health risk when distilling.

Its probably acetaldehyde. It's a natural byproduct of fermentation. With an uncontrolled fermentation and bread yeast, you probably produced a lot of it.

My above equation should really read:

Water + sugar + yeast => water + alcohol + carbon dioxide + X

X is all the byproducts of fermentation. X is comprised of: esters, phenols, aldehydes, fusel alcohols (longer chain alcohols than methanol & ethanol), acids, and more.

If you want it to taste good and not give you headaches, then you need to control X. That's the difference between hooch and wine.

I have heard that it is the metabolism of acetaldehyde that causes hangover systoms (being ethonal gets metabolised into acetaldehyde then broken down even further) - and this is the reason the hair of the dog method is supposed to work as it slows the metabolism of acetaldehyde in favour of metabolising ethonal first.
So if you have hooch with a higher amount of acetaldehyde then it would make sense you get a worse hangover from it

 

[sweetcell]

another aspect that might help the quality of your wine is exposure to oxygen. at certain times it's great, at others it leads to oxidation.

Well I gawd some left over on the bottom so filled it with sugar water

are you interested in making interesting beverages, or just plain cheap alcohol? that will help us give you the correct advice. hint: there is one of those two options that we don't encourage here.

 

[neo71665]

Is "bottle" code or slang for toilet bowl now days?

 

[germanwolf]

Bit of birth. Hoping it tastes sweet

 

[sweetcell]

Bit of birth. Hoping it tastes sweet

you really need to do some research about fermentation. fermented sugar water likely won't taste sweet. you'll get hot alcohol, and that's about it.

learn the easy way (reading), or learn the hard way (hangovers). for now you seem to be into method #2...