Sugar wine... got any advice?

[Symbiote]

Ebay may have the lowest prices, but forming a relationship with a local homebrew store is very conducive to your future brewing endeavors. Failing that, a good relationship with a good Internet brew store is also good... but Ebay might fit that bill, depending on who is selling and what they are actually like as a merchant.

Why would a brew store not use eBay in addition to brick and mortar?

Good products and smiling faces are nice, but at the end of the day traffic is king.

eBay has traffic. Also the ratings system is nice, lets you know who you are dealing with.

Anyway, the closest brew store I know of is in Birmingham and gassing the truck for a trip that far is not a winning deal. Nobody ever got a big pile of money by throwing it down a hole.*

I checked out the usual suspects of online brew stores from this board and found out that the shipping kills it. The tablets were actually just over half price, but the 6.99 and 7.99 flat rate shipping is a deal-breaker for a single item.

----

* On a side note:

I once read an interview with Donald Trump. The interviewer asked Trump how much he had personally spent that day. Trump replied to the effect that he had spent less than 2 dollars on a breakfast sandwich, and that was all.

.

Edit: I did contact Brewmasters to see if they will work with me on shipping 100 Campden tablets. It will be interesting to see if they are just after bulk orders, or if they actually take care of the little guy too.

 

[BeerWars]

Is it crazy to make the sugar wine solution for airlock filler? I have been using Kettle One (its all I have). LOL Seems logical to me.

 

[Symbiote]

hahhhah that is pretty good

Been using 50/50 starsan water for the airlock, but some of the high octane might not be a bad thing.

 

[ChshreCat]

to the op: just because you can, doesn't mean you should. but hey, do what you want.

That's what it comes down to as far as brewing this up. You can do what you want and it's no skin off our nose.

It's the insulting of people who are trying to offer advice that sucked.

 

[Symbiote]

sweet oscilloscope!

You know it is literally so easy to model things with computers now that the oscope just sort of sits there. It is weird how electronics changed. Used to be the soldering iron stayed on the bench, these days not so much.

Cars are the same way.

I would recommend finding some cheap (or free) source of fruit, like ground apples. Then take the juice of that, triple it with water, then bump the SG up to 1.100 with sugar, and toss in some 1118 yeast.

Your idea is sound. I'm going to try it.

As I mentioned in another thread, the apple wine is pretty sweet and I am wondering if maybe the yeast stalled out due to lack of nutrients.

The next batch is going to use wild pears for the fruit, then be fleshed out with sugar. Been getting some advice about ways to sterilize raw fruit without making it into jam and it sounds good.

 

[batonrougegu]

using distillers yeast is ok,I'm saying this from experience,but ec 1118 with the right amount of nutrients is a lot better,and taste better on the dry side.

I used alcotec 48 hour turbo yeast,I got it around 18-19% and dry,with 39 pounds of blackberries(picked alll by me and weighed in at dry weight minus bucket weight)
SO SO Strong

My friend in NOLA got it up to 26-27% and its was still a little sweet.
smelled like rubbing alcohol,and tasted like it

 

[Symbiote]

I used alcotec 48 hour turbo yeast

How long did you let it run?

 

[Rossnaree]

That's what it comes down to as far as brewing this up. You can do what you want and it's no skin off our nose.

It's the insulting of people who are trying to offer advice that sucked.

(shhh! don't you know that's James Carville?!?!?)

 

[batonrougegu]

till it almost died,then secondary to as dry as possible.
sometimes we couldn't get it to dry

 

[Germelli1]

This seems similar to the idea of keeping carbonated water on tap and adding soda syrup to each glass...except this is gross.

The OP sounds like the typical liberal media watching lazy american who refuses to listen to any opinion that does not fit his agenda and believes this is a fairy tale world.

Seriously, get over yourself...people are offering advice on why not to do it and the entire thread consists of you ignoring all the advice except that which makes your doomed idea sound plausible

 

[batonrougegu]

your % is your hard lemon and pine.

 

[Symbiote]

till it almost died,then secondary to as dry as possible

Good answer.

What is your source for turbo yeast? Might be worth a shot.

 

[Symbiote]

your % is your hard lemon and pine.

Why do you say that?

Because it has more nutrients?

 

[batonrougegu]

what ABV is your hard lemonade and pineplefelwein
I meant what % is your stuff

 

[dwarven_stout]

Bulk rubbing alcohol is cheaper than sugar. I say you dilute the over-the-counter stuff. It's 70%, and you only need 15% for "wine", so you could dilute it 5 times or so and spike it with some concentrated coffee flavoring syrup. That opens up other flavors besides fruit, too- amaretto, anyone?

I learned that trick from one of my old hourly employees.

 

[Germelli1]

Just for the record...your goal is to make alcohol with the cheapest ingredients possible, with very little taste and as quickly as you can. How is this different than prison hooch?

 

[Symbiote]

what ABV is your hard lemonade and pineplefelwein
I meant what % is your stuff

I have no idea. Didn't take a reading.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Bulk rubbing alcohol is cheaper than sugar. I say you dilute the over-the-counter stuff. It's 70%, and you only need 15% for "wine", so you could dilute it 5 times or so and spike it with some concentrated coffee flavoring syrup. That opens up other flavors besides fruit, too- amaretto, anyone?

Though I'm certain you meant that post in jest, let's clarify:

Most rubbing alcohol is primarily isopropyl alcohol, which is rather toxic. Even if the rubbing alcohol you buy is mostly ethyl alcohol, it is almost certainly denatured with methyl isobutyl ketone and acetone (specifically to prevent it from being consumed as a beverage). Don't dilute and/or flavor rubbing alcohol and expect to get a beverage that is safe for consumption.

 

[roadymi]

I'm relatively new here but I would suggest that rubbing alcohol post be deleted for fear some poor unsuspecting soul may not recognize the sarcasm and actually try it. IT IS DEADLY!!!

 

[Justibone]

This whole thread is beginning to reek of distillers doing code-talk.

I think I'm not interested in helping anymore.

 

[Justibone]

Why would a brew store not use eBay in addition to brick and mortar?

Good products and smiling faces are nice, but at the end of the day traffic is king.

eBay has traffic. Also the ratings system is nice, lets you know who you are dealing with.

Ebay has a *preponderance* of good people, however: it is also full of scams. If you don't believe there are scams on Ebay (buyer side and seller side), then I have a profitable home business plan to sell you...

Traffic is how you make more money, but it is not a *life*. Money is not a *life*. Building strong relationships with customers, educating them and watching them grow, offering them new opportunities, being part of a community... it sounds like hippie-dung, but I swear to you, it is a fulfilling way to live. I dream of it... and when I've finished my medical training I know that I will never surrender my patient relationships just to make more money.

Radiologists make a ton of cash, sitting in a room looking at films. "Cancer. Cancer. No cancer. Aneurysm..." I think I'd rather shoot myself than be sentenced to doing that for forty years, but there is a TON of money in it.

If you don't have a LHBS, I'm sorry, but relationships will make you far happier in this world (and far more secure) than almost any conceivable amount of money ever can.

 

[Symbiote]

Edit: I did contact Brewmasters to see if they will work with me on shipping 100 Campden tablets. It will be interesting to see if they are just after bulk orders, or if they actually take care of the little guy too.

No luck.

Even if they ship a single tablet, it is the same flat rate shipping.

Here is the reply I received via email:


The flat rate shipping charge is $6.99 for all items on the order to all locations excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and all other countries.

If you have anymore questions or concerns feel free to ask,
Scott
Brewmasters Warehouse

Maybe it was an automated reply..?

 

[brewingmeister]

the little guy? come on man, 100 tabs is an aspirin size bottle and the smallest i've seen. brewmasters warehouse shipping is 7 bux for anything, 100 tablets or 1000 dollars of equipmant....maybe you misunderstood flat rate. you want to bet a bottle of campden tablets a real person sent it? the owner called me when an item i ordered(yeast) was not available and asked if i wanted another strain or to wait for the new batch.

you seem to be making a lot of friends with how cheap, how much alc, i don't care about taste and your better than everyone talk. remember better ingredients get better results and sugar(not sugar wine) attracts more flies than vinegar.

anxiously awaiting for the 'so there' response...

-cheers

 

[Germelli1]

the little guy? come on man, 100 tabs is an aspirin size bottle and the smallest i've seen. brewmasters warehouse shipping is 7 bux for anything, 100 tablets or 1000 dollars of equipmant....maybe you misunderstood flat rate. you want to bet a bottle of campden tablets a real person sent it? the owner called me when an item i ordered(yeast) was not available and asked if i wanted another strain or to wait for the new batch.

you seem to be making a lot of friends with how cheap, how much alc, i don't care about taste and your better than everyone talk. remember better ingredients get better results and sugar(not sugar wine) attracts more flies than vinegar.

anxiously awaiting for the 'so there' response...

-cheers

You will be waiting for a long time. The OP ignores every bit of sound advice, then insults the posters, and takes advice from new members reccomending methods NONE of the established members would ever reccomend.

I can also garuntee that with pressure on him now, he will come back and report he made the best fermented beveraged since Jesus turned water into wine...despite how it actually turns out

 

[Justibone]

You will be waiting for a long time. The OP ignores every bit of sound advice, then insults the posters, and takes advice from new members reccomending methods NONE of the established members would ever reccomend.

I can also garuntee that with pressure on him now, he will come back and report he made the best fermented beveraged since Jesus turned water into wine...despite how it actually turns out

+1

He's probably distilling it. I hope he doesn't go blind.

 

[Rossnaree]

perhaps a troll formulating posts designed to elicit responses that may or may not vaguely violate one or another vague laws that may or may not get this forum shut down is not so far from the truth; I'd strongly suggest employing good manners and a strong adherance to forum rules each and every time you cannot resist the urge to respond.

 

[batonrougegu]

Well @ 6 bucks for distiller's yeast.Thats a buck for 6 gallons,just buy a cheap wine kit for about 1.50 a bottle on ebay,unless you buy 6 i think its 230 shipped for 6 kits.

 

[Ouroboros]

+1

He's probably distilling it. I hope he doesn't go blind.

Or incinerate himself.

 

[Ouroboros]

I can also garuntee that with pressure on him now, he will come back and report he made the best fermented beveraged since Jesus turned water into wine...despite how it actually turns out

Even the Westvleteren 12 of jailhouse hooch would be hard to choke down.

 

[pimento]

Considering where the OP is from, it doesn't seem like a terribly good idea for him to post about his homemade sizzurp