Moonshiners tv show

[william_shakes_beer]

I've been watching moonshiners on youtube because its fun. Several times they have described using malted grains instead of yeast to start fermentation., I assume that's a mistake purposely inserted to mislead people who use the descriptions as a recipe to break the law. Please verify there is no "natural" yeast in malted grains aside from airborn wild yeast.

 

[olotti]

That's a good question I watch the show and the 50 gal drums are always covered after they add the corn but wouldn't they have to use yeast at that point. Idk good question. I could see corn adding the fermentables plus the sugar but if the drum is covered what kicks the fermentation into place unless when they put a bag over the drum they account for airborn yeast to just do its thing.

 

[paperairplane]

Actual shiners use bread or turbo yeast - you need a lot of powerful yeast for the amount of sugar in the mash.

Also a lot of 6 row / distillers malt to get some enzyme conversion.

 

[olotti]

I do remember in one episode one of the guys emptying packets of dry yeast into the barrel it looked like the bread yeast or quik rise stuff you can buy at the store.

 

[fastengine]

Malting grains creates sugars in the grain along with activating the enzymes needed to convert starches to sugars. The yeast is natural in the enviroment and just comes along for the ride on the malted and converted grains. It is a natural wild yeast just like using the wild yeasts on grapes or berries to make wine. Some of the natural yeasts are strong, some not so strong, some make good flavors and some not so good flavors. Enviroment has alot to do with the quality of natural yeast.

 

[fastengine]

An added note is that ALOT of the show is fake and misleading.

 

[vincentAlpha]

Oh yea you'd need a lot of yeast to kick off a good wash, bread yeast is cheap and easy. Not like you have to worry too much about off flavours terribly given how much they'll be stripping the wash (and it is moonshine, superior quality isn't the top goal for all of them after all ). Also yea quite a bit of it is not really how it works, they make it sound like they get the wash fermented in a few hours from what I've seen which as we know doesn't really happen.

 

[Oberon67]

Malting grains creates sugars in the grain along with activating the enzymes needed to convert starches to sugars. The yeast is natural in the enviroment and just comes along for the ride on the malted and converted grains. It is a natural wild yeast just like using the wild yeasts on grapes or berries to make wine. Some of the natural yeasts are strong, some not so strong, some make good flavors and some not so good flavors. Enviroment has alot to do with the quality of natural yeast.

I assure you, real moonshiners do not depend on ambient yeast for their fermentations.

 

[1977Brewer]

I know a dude who uses Fleischmann's. Massive pitches of it, too. Used to steal it from the pizza joint we both worked at.

 

[fastengine]

I am assuming that by "real" you mean "for profit".
Then yes you would be correct.

 

[d3track]

I think in the very first season they showed one of them dumping what looked like a solid pound of turbo yeast in - I wonder if that clip is still out there somewhere.

 

[Oberon67]

I am assuming that by "real" you mean "for profit".

Yes, that's what I meant... I should have been more specific.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Yes. A lot of them are shown pouring commercial yeast in. However, there is more than one place in the series where they talk about using "natural yeast" from malting grain. The episode I watched last night showed them malting barley (soak grains, spread on burlap till sprouted, smoke) at the end he looked at the milled grains and said " see that white stuff? that's the natural yeast" IMHO that's bogus. I am not aware of anything besides enzymes that are present in the grains. I'll see if I can post up an episode number and time index tonight.

Update: here it is. search youtube for Moonshiners Season 2, episode 7 time index 18:20. The sequence describes in technical detail the process of malting and then smoking a batch of grain. At the end he identifies the " white center" of the grain as the yeast.