Just sugar, water, and Yeast! Why not? Emancipation is Nigh!

[cryofan]

Got my well-washed 5 gallon brewing kit bucket. Put a bunch of water in it and sugar in it, and some champagne yeast. Stirred well. And it is fermenting.

I figure when it stops bubbling, I will just pour me a glass of it and mix in some cheap, store bought fruit-flavored sugar water and drink. Probably cost me about 1 dollar a gallon.

Why is there not more talk about this sort of alcoholic beverage recipe?

THe problem with the vast, vast majority of the beer and wine recipes out there is that they are just too darn complicated. I do not see the need for labor intensive recipes that preserve the traditional flavorings of beer and wine as they were developed hundreds of years ago when technology levels were not as they are today. Why not just use the cheap flavorings that we have at our walmart fingertips? It is the alcohol itself that is expensive and hard to make and hard to buy. Just focus on the alcohol. THere are dozens of cheap and easily obtained flavorings. No need to laboriously brew beverages just in order to obtain the same traditional flavorings that were necessarily simply byproducts of the brewing technologies of hundreds of years ago.

Brewing today, and especially craft brewing, is a sort of cargo cult endeavor. We are following traditional recipes and not using what we have today. Wine and beer recipes were the product of the desire for alcohol hundreds of years ago and also the product of the technologies of hundreds of years ago. They did not have dozens of store bought flavorings and refrigeration at their fingertips. We do. So use it.

We want to be EMANCIPATED from the onerous tax burden put on beer and wine, etc, and we do not want to have to trudge through some onerous recipe.

Brewers, to your battle stations! Come up with super simple recipes!

 

[Kuglehaus]

well, I can think of a couple things that your are going to realize:

1.) Suger is cheap, but converting starch to sugar with time and process aren't expensive either, heck, adjucts can bring down the cost of sugar in solution.

2.) if you have yeast and you add sugar, you'll get another fermentation.. until your alchohol % is enough to kill the yeast, or you kill them with campden...etc.

3.) There are different sugars producing different alcohol characteristics. Maltose is the jewel we seek.. Table sugar is sucrose. You're going to have a harsh brew there.

4.) It's a hobby, one with hella benefits, but a hobby.. We want to spend time and learn new things

5.) Price per alcohol % Puregrain and syrup is cheaper if you just wanna drink some nasty booze

6.) Seriously? WTF? are you 15?

 

[cryofan]

well, I can think of a couple things that your are going to realize:

1.) Suger is cheap, but converting starch to sugar with time and process aren't expensive either, heck, adjucts can bring down the cost of sugar in solution.

Way too much trouble!

2.) if you have yeast and you add sugar, you'll get another fermentation.. until your alchohol % is enough to kill the yeast, or you kill them with campden...etc.

Or just add two packets of yeast and let the yeast eat all the sugar. Then it starves. You wind up with a dry beverage with no sugar so it will not turn to vinegar. Let the yeast settle (use a a champagne yeast that settles easily). You siphon some of it into a glass and add cheap, artificially flavored walmart sugar water. Voila!

3.) There are different sugars producing different alcohol characteristics. Maltose is the jewel we seek.. Table sugar is sucrose. You're going to have a harsh brew there.

The alcohol is always the same. It has a certain and definite chemical composition. Alcohol is colorless and tasteless. All these different flavors come from chemical compounds that are not alcohol.

4.) It's a hobby, one with hella benefits, but a hobby.. We want to spend time and learn new things

Maybe you do. I just want some cheap, easily made, tax free booze.

5.) Price per alcohol % Puregrain and syrup is cheaper if you just wanna drink some nasty booze

Nope. even if you buy 40 oz malt liquor, you pay over 4.50/gallon for cheap beer (1.50 for 40 oz bottle of malt likker times 3). I figure that my method will cost me less than a dollar a gallon; in fact, much less than a dollar because cheap beer is about 6 percent alcohol. My hooch will be 12 percent or even more. So five gallons of 12 percent equals 10 gallons of cheap beer. 10 gallons of cheap beer costs 45 dollars.

That savings will pay my internet bill this year. And frankly, I suspect that my hooch, flavored with cheap walmart sugar water, which costs a dollar a gallon, and will flavor 5 gallons, will taste better than cheap malt liquor.

6.) Seriously? WTF? are you 15?

51, actually.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I looked in my crystal ball. This thread won't end well.

 

[cronxitawney]

"I suspect that my hooch, flavored with cheap walmart sugar water, which costs a dollar a gallon, and will flavor 5 gallons, will taste better than cheap malt liquor."

I suspect not.

If you want authentic prison hooch, you should spontaneously ferment that in your toilet.

 

[snailsongs]

I really want to be a smart-ass, but instead I'll just offer that beer brewing is an endeavor that embraces tradition - even when it is actively snubbing it by "breaking the rules". This is not because no one was ever smart enough to think of your brilliant plans here, but because beer is really good and using traditional methods, it can be made at home without sacrificing an ounce of flavor or quality. I'd venture that 98% of the people on this forum are in it to make GOOD beer over cheap beer. You may be in it for the ultimate economy of DIY brewing (in which case, you might just consider diluting that vodka in the plastic bottle at the corner store to five gallons, then mixing your kool-aid in there), but I'm not. good luck with your emancipation, though.

 

[Ballistic]

I aspire to make things better as opposed to break them them down to the lowest common denomenator. I guess if you are really desperate for cash and \ or alcohol, you may see this as a viable solution. Most people aspire to refinement and other higher aspirations. If you were to take your argument and use it in relation to the food you eat, we would be eating a vitamin pill, a cup of sugar and 5 oz of bran every day and suffering the consequences.

 

[cryofan]

"I suspect that my hooch, flavored with cheap walmart sugar water, which costs a dollar a gallon, and will flavor 5 gallons, will taste better than cheap malt liquor."

I suspect not.

If you want authentic prison hooch, you should spontaneously ferment that in your toilet.

Just in case things are not clear, I do not want anything other than a cheap, easily made alcoholic beverage. Prison or whatever and whatever they drink in there is irrelevant to me

 

[cryofan]

I aspire to make things better as opposed to break them them down to the lowest common denomenator. I guess if you are really desperate for cash and \ or alcohol, you may see this as a viable solution. Most people aspire to refinement and other higher aspirations. If you were to take your argument and use it in relation to the food you eat, we would be eating a vitamin pill, a cup of sugar and 5 oz of bran every day and suffering the consequences.

I am not desperate for cash. In fact, I have lots of savings in the bank. Ya know why? Cuz I don't spend much. I'm cheap. And I am going to save even more once I refine this recipe. Most people are idiots. That is why they have to work like dogs in the sun. I work less because I save more. I can spend more of my time with friends, more time learning, more time creating instead of working to pay for expensive beer or expensive brewing aids.

 

[flyangler18]

Just in case things are not clear, I do not want anything other than a cheap, easily made alcoholic beverage. Prison or whatever and whatever they drink in there is irrelevant to me

MAKE YOUR OWN PRUNO AND MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/edworts-apfelwein-33986/

 

[cryofan]

I really want to be a smart-ass,

on the internet? go figger....

but instead I'll just offer that beer brewing is an endeavor that embraces tradition - even when it is actively snubbing it by "breaking the rules". This is not because no one was ever smart enough to think of your brilliant plans here, but because beer is really good and using traditional methods, it can be made at home without sacrificing an ounce of flavor or quality. I'd venture that 98% of the people on this forum are in it to make GOOD beer over cheap beer.

Craft brewing is cargo cultism and marketing.

You may be in it for the ultimate economy of DIY brewing

No "may" about it

in which case, you might just consider diluting that vodka in the plastic bottle at the corner store to five gallons, then mixing your kool-aid in there), but I'm not. good luck with your emancipation, though.

I already crunched the numbers there. The cheap malt liquor is cheaper than vodka per ounce of alcohol, especially when you figure in the cost of added mixer flavorings.

 

[cryofan]

I looked in my crystal ball. This thread won't end well.

too subversive? Won't sell any product?

 

[flyangler18]

This forum is interested in making quality beer, wine, cider and mead - not cheap rotgut. You'll be better served in your quest by googling 'hooch' - because the community here isn't just about a cheap buzz.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I looked in my crystal ball. This thread won't end well.

too subversive? Won't sell any product?

No, because it's a one-legged frog. It will stumble along for a little while, then croak early.

 

[JesseRC]

I think they are looking for you over at the Greenboard. Goodluck to you.

Unless you want to move this to the debate forum, we'll try to answer your question of why not. Well because we are trying to make beer and not just anything that qualifies as beer, we're trying to make tasty beer that has certain characteristics and falls into the many styles of ales and lagers. Even with all the HBT'rs on here, I've never heard anyone say "I like all beers ever served to me." Most of us prefer and dislike certain styles which is why we homebrew, cuz we can choose the style and refine it and because I do consider it a hobby, however this sounds more like sustainability for you. Again, goodluck.

 

[Peregris]

I'm confused - if all you want to do is make fermented sugar water and cheap rotgut, then why did you join a forum devoted to the art and science of making good, craft beers, wine, and mead?

 

[Peregris]

Wow - flyangler and me must have been sharing a brain - he can just type faster. The same message in the space of 3 minutes!

 

[MULE]

I am not desperate for cash. In fact, I have lots of savings in the bank. Ya know why? Cuz I don't spend much. I'm cheap. And I am going to save even more once I refine this recipe. Most people are idiots. That is why they have to work like dogs in the sun. I work less because I save more. I can spend more of my time with friends, more time learning, more time creating instead of working to pay for expensive beer or expensive brewing aids.

That's great that you enjoy making cheap sugar water alcohol. To each their own. But insinuating that I am an idiot for enjoying my hobby is BS.

 

[snailsongs]

Craft brewing is cargo cultism and marketing.


QUOTE]

Actually, craft brewing has survived and thrived despite and in direct opposition to the marketing and "cultism" of the BIG breweries, and they did it solely by putting out good beer and giving people an option.
You shop at Walmart for brewing supplies, so it's a little ironic for you to be trashing "craft brewing" suppliers and retailers.

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

That's great that you enjoy making cheap sugar water alcohol. To each their own. But insinuating that I am an idiot for enjoying my hobby is BS.

Let it go, the OP has just 6 posts and all in this thread.... I smell a troll...

Just like bad advertising, ignore it and it will go away....

*slowly turns and walks away*

 

[JesseRC]

I vote to move this to the drunken ramblings seciton so we can have our way with him.

 

[cryofan]

Let it go, the OP has just 6 posts and all in this thread.... I smell a troll...

I think you might be smelling my groundbreaking brew!

 

[Yooper]

Why is there not more talk about this sort of alcoholic beverage recipe?

There is! Google Pruno and have had it.

Hooch is alive and well on the internet. There are plenty of sites that will give you the support that you're looking for. This is not one of them.

 

[Kool-aide_hooch]

I'm very much in agreement with you on this, I also do this. My recipe is 7 cups of water 2 cups sugar and a packet of yeast and I put that in a closet in a 2 liter bottle for about two weeks and it's perfect because wen I want to drink it is usally with friends so we pull out a bottle, add some koolaide sugar and have a good time. It costs me about 15 cents and has an alcohol content from about 10% all the way up to 18%.