Tepache!

[Will319]

So mine after a week has green fuzzy mold on top of a piece of pineapple that floated to the top. Any ideas on how to salvage the batch it if possible.

 

[duffman2]

This sounds awesome. And perfect for SWMBO as she is not a beer girl at all. Not much of a wine girl either, but this looks like just the thing for her. I'll save the prison "hooch" references till after she's tasted it!

 

[hroth521]

This sounds awesome. And perfect for SWMBO as she is not a beer girl at all. Not much of a wine girl either, but this looks like just the thing for her. I'll save the prison "hooch" references till after she's tasted it!

Just remember to taste every day after the first two or three days. Put it in the refrigerator when you like the flavors and residual sweetness. If you let go too long it will try to dry out and get very tart.

 

[duffman2]

Good call Hroth, I'll be looking at this hopefully soon and i'll let you know how it goes

Cheers!

 

[duffman2]

Anybody have any updates yet? I'm about to try my first batch on Wednesday probably. I'm kinda thinking about tinkering with it on the first go - maybe adding some different fruits like mango, orange, etc. Or maybe I should leave it alone for the first try and see what works after that. And also I was wondering if 70 F was warm enough for it. And should it be in the window for some sunlight?

Anyways, I'm still looking forward to trying it. Anybody do anything different with theirs?

 

[duffman2]

Alright i finally made mine 3 days ago. 72 hours and it's not there yet. Slightly sweet, and the pineapple is there but it's weak. So my problem is I'm going out of town for fire school tomorrow and won't be back till Thursday just in time for the St Patricks Day party at my house. I'd love for this to be ready for the party but I don't want to overdo it.

Sounds like its better to ferment for a short period of time. And also I have a white film on the top of mine with bubbles. I kinda figured this was natural and would be skimmed off when straining so no harm no foul.

Thoughts?

 

[wulfsburg]

Here is mine so far. I used 2 full pineapples, about 2 1/4 pounds each. I used 1.25 pounds brown sugar, 1.25 lbs corn sugar, and threw some cane sugar in there for good measure. I couldn't chop up the coconut so I peeled some of the white stuff of and threw it in there. I put this in a sanitized jar 4 days ago. Some white funky mold film is growing on top. I did seal up the lid like the tutorial said, but it is not airtight. My airlock doesn't bubble, but that is ok with me. In the posters picture, the pineapple seemed to fill most the jar, I was not so lucky. I used 5 sticks of cinnamon though on accident. (I think it might be too much)

There is what appears to be yeast floating in the middle, stuff that is suspended in the middle, I have not yet tasted it, as I am scared of the mold, but will probably dip into it later tonight.

I have the suspicion that this wild yeast will not appear visually the same as what I am used to with beer strains. That is why I am not sure if anything is really happening. It is really dark in there , so I can't really see any sediment.


How did everyone else who did this turn out? What did you come across ?

Thanks!

 

[Jewrican]

I believe your issue is your grommet / airlock. It should be in rubber seal instead of stainless lid.

 

[passedpawn]

I believe your issue is your grommet / airlock. It should be in rubber seal instead of stainless lid.

Yep, grommet goes onto silicone gasket, not the metal lid. I have a Montana Jar build thread somewhere, I think I have pics there. I'm happy to see someone else made one of these.

Soon, you'll see little bubbles forming on all the fruit. Those bubbles will increase and you will eventually see some bubbling (but not to the extent you see in beer fermentation). There will not be krausen.

The white sheeting mold is normal. I had that too. Everything looks normal.

I did not taste any of the cinnamon or cloves in mine. I don't think you overdid it.

I had more fruit in my jar... maybe my pineapples were larger. No worries, it will be fine.

 

[duffman2]

St Patricks day I strained my Tepache in hopes of serving it at my house party. But it smelled pretty bad and scared us off. So I threw the jar in the fridge and I might give it a whirl tonight.

I'll let you guys know how it turned out

 

[passedpawn]

St Patricks day I strained my Tepache in hopes of serving it at my house party. But it smelled pretty bad and scared us off. So I threw the jar in the fridge and I might give it a whirl tonight.

I'll let you guys know how it turned out

How bad? Mine came out pretty sour (should have stopped it earlier).

 

[Jewrican]

has anyone had success with this recipe yet? Curious to see if we have any good results.

 

[passedpawn]

has anyone had success with this recipe yet? Curious to see if we have any good results.

I have 3 friends that brewed it. 1 was excellent and I must say was as good as any mead I've ever had.

The other 2 were as sour as mine. I think mine might become part of a marguerita mix or something. It needs sugar added for sure. Other than the strong sour pineapple taste, though, there aren't any defects.

I think the key is stopping it early (through refrigeration, and possibly other more permanent measures). I think mine passed through the tastey stage before I paid attention.

 

[wulfsburg]

Revisited, this past weekend I had cracked my Tepache. I bottled it with 1/4 cup of honey, and my yield was approx 13 12 ounce bottles. Beware using so much honey for priming sugar, as it is potential for a bottle bomb. It bubbles like CRAZY and is super high in carbonation. Reminds me of champagne. I had some friends over and one of them is getting married (we were all drunk) . Well they all tried it and the bachelor keeps saying that he wants me to make it for his wedding (for over 100 people). No thanks!!! It tastes good, somewhat sweet, totally pineapple, but has an odd finish.... I will be making this again when my produce co op produces more pineapple for free!!
I will post a picture of it soon....

 

[wulfsburg]

Here is a video of my Tepache, one is a bottle bomb, and the other is of the pour. Don't prime with 1/4 cup of honey . . . and also wait until fermentation is finished.

<---- bottle bomb
<----- after its in the glass

 

[passedpawn]

Not a bottle bomb (that's when you hear a "bang" and find shards of sticky glass). What you have there is a helluva gusher.

 

[wulfsburg]

Not a bottle bomb (that's when you hear a "bang" and find shards of sticky glass). What you have there is a helluva gusher.

One of them, I barley put any pressure on the cap and it made a loud pop sound and I lost half of the bottle opening it. I have not had an explosion, but I think the potential for one is there. That Tepache is good stuff. I am going to Mexico on Monday, I wonder if I can find it there.

 

[duffman2]

Made my tepache for St Patty's day (way back in mid april) and when it came to bottling or serving it smelled terrible and way too strong. So I stuck it in the freezer to sit for the most part at 50 F. Even after racking and straining it developed a white layer on top.

And I still have the stuff in the freezer, and it still has the white stuff on top.

And I'm still scared to drink the stuff

 

[LFCider]

Cool thread: I've never made tepache with coconut, or with spices beyond cinnamon; I'll have to try it! I'm glad so many people have taken an interest in a drink that even now is slowly losing its cultural relevance in Mexico. Apparently, my grandmother used to get the stuff when she was a kid in Mexico City, but two generations in, tepache has been replaced by things like Jarritos or other big name-brand fruit sodas. My cousins and their kids don't even know what it is!

But let's put the longing reminisces of another generation aside and get down to what we're really here for: the old family recipe. From what I understand, tepache was more a small beer/soda than it was a proper alcoholic drink, so my preparation of it has always gone accordingly.

Abuelita's Tepache (Mexico City variant)
The unwashed skins and core from 1 pineapple
~1 gal.* water
2 cups piloncillo (raw brown sugar)
1 stick of cinnamon

Leave the tepache somewhere warm for 3-5 days. I know it sounds like heresy, but I've always been encouraged to leave it in a sunny place, - even (gasp) with nothing but a clean dishtowel over the top! Cold crash it at the desired sweetness, or drink it fresh. Just make sure to serve it while it's carbonated!


I know, it seems like a minimalist recipe. But really it's more than just a recipe. Most old timers from Mexico would give you a weird look if you tried to use a whole pineapple for tepache: you can eat most of the darn thing, why throw it in the booze bucket?! The pineapple for them wasn't so much the means for tepache as it was an end solution for a hungry family. In that light, the family recipe says to only use the skins and cores of the pineapple.

*the volume was never specific, but for such little pineapple I decided to standardize at a low volume

 

[gerryhz]

So I am attempting to brew this too, but a little differently.

Making a 2 gallon batch

Ingredients:
-2 pineapples
-2 gallons of water
-3 whole cinnamon sticks
-13 allspice berries
-12 whole cloves
-24 oz of piloncillo (equivalent to 3 whole bars)
-32 oz of barley

I used a 5 gallon carboy with airlock for this. I cut the pineapple and had to cut the rinds into small slices to make them fit through the neck of the carboy. I added a bit of water into a blender from the 2 gallons of water used, and added the pineapple fruit (not the rinds) to liquify it. Then I added the thin pineapple puree from the blender onto the carboy. Added the 3 cinnamon sticks (broke all of them in half), and added the allspice and cloves.

Note: I did clean the pineapples since I was told not washing it can cause bacteria to grow during fermentation. Cleaning the pineapples with soap will not affect the wild yeast.

Going to let it ferment for 2-3 days, then add the piloncillo and barley.

In regards to the barley, I was told to boil the barley in a pot, then add it to the tepache 3 days after initial fermentation. Then let it ferment for an additional 3 days and it should be ready.

 

[passedpawn]

Refrigerate it before it gets too sour. That's the key.

 

[gerryhz]

Refrigerate it before it gets too sour. That's the key.

During fermentation or after?

 

[passedpawn]

During fermentation or after?

After. Just taste it every day or two and when it tastes good, strain and refrigerate. I didn't do that and it got really sour. If you want to bottle before fermentation is done, you'll have to pasteurize.

 

[gerryhz]

After. Just taste it every day or two and when it tastes good, strain and refrigerate. I didn't do that and it got really sour. If you want to bottle before fermentation is done, you'll have to pasteurize.

Good tips. Thanks! I have never tasted tepache, so unsure what good tepache is suppose to taste like.

 

[passedpawn]

Good tips. Thanks! I have never tasted tepache, so unsure what good tepache is suppose to taste like.

Done right, it's like pineapple mead. Very very tasty. Wrong, it's a sour pineapple bomb. Even at its sourest, it had great flavor, but the intensity of the sourness was overwhelming.

 

[brewgazer]

Just made my first batch of tepache this weekend using pretty much the same recipe as Abuelita's. Fermented it on the kitchen counter covered with a cheesecloth for 48 hours, and it came out with an unpleasant acetone-y, solvent aroma. I ended up throwing out the whole batch unfortunately. Any ideas what that could be?

 

[passedpawn]

Just made my first batch of tepache this weekend using pretty much the same recipe as Abuelita's. Fermented it on the kitchen counter covered with a cheesecloth for 48 hours, and it came out with an unpleasant acetone-y, solvent aroma. I ended up throwing out the whole batch unfortunately. Any ideas what that could be?

You only fermented for 2 days? That sure doesn't seem long enough (although I'll admit I want way too long - several weeks if I remember correctly).

 

[brewgazer]

Yeah - this is the recipe I used:

http://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/2013/07/tepache-easy-homemade-pineapple-brew.html

They caution against letting it ferment for too long lest it turn into pineapple vinegar.

If you could get past the acetone aroma, it was actually pretty tasty! I'm just wondering if anyone else had encountered that and what might be the cause.

 

[mattmmille]

I just started a batch of tepache last night. A Mexican store owner where I bought the raw sugar (piloncillo) told me to definitely only use the skins and core. From the reading I've done, the initial ferment should be about 48 hours, then strain and add some more water or some water and a beer. Then ferment it another 12 hours and chill. Serve over ice. Very short start to drink time. In the fridge, over time, it supposedly continues to slowly ferment and eventually you have a funky spiced pineapple vinegar. I had not seen anyone try to bottle it until I read through this thread.

At the Mexican store, there was a commercially bottled, non-alcoholic version for sale. I poured a glass and it was VERY sweet. I topped it of with a citrusy citra American wheat beer and it was MUCH better...still a little sweet, but tasty! So, I invented Mateo's Tepache Shandy!

My batch is 20 hours old and I haven't gotten any fermentation signs yet. I'm doing it in a 2 gallon fermentation bucket with an airlock. I've taken the lid off and stirred a few times. I wonder...if the fermentation doesn't take off, maybe I should add a gram of yeast?

 

[hroth521]

Don't bother with the airlock.


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