Author Topic: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work  (Read 16673 times)

MustacheMike

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Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« on: May 08, 2014, 08:46:14 AM »
MMM is cheating you out of your hard-earned dollars! He's advocating unnecessary spending when you could be saving valuable employees. MMM is the definition of fancy. I'll share a better way of enjoying delicious homebrew for less than MMM is advocating. First...

I never knew how easily I could be amused until I tried making MMM cider.

I'm like a kid that can't wait for Christmas.

After being unable to find a bung the right size for the hole of the glass applejuice jug, I learned that all you need for an airlock is a balloon. Or a latex glove and you wife's hair elastic in my case.

That's it. No airlock. No sterile liquid (delicious and expensive bourbon in my case).

Better than shadow puppets, you can watch bubbles cascade up the sides of your bottle as that yeast does its job.

Who else is brewing? Who else is using a balloon instead of a megafancy airlock? Who else feels like a kid in a candy store?

johnadamian

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2014, 01:53:13 PM »
This sounds intriguing because since I'm up here in Canada I haven't been able to find the right equipment as easily. The Simple Brew Kits site MMM linked to in his article can't ship up to Canuck Land. So, i'm guessing the balloon needs to be large enough to stretch and withstand all the C02 that will be released while fermenting?

I really want this idea to work because I picked up the Champagne Yeast 2 days ago, but haven't quite figured out how I was going to go about the Bung/Stopper/Airlock situation.

electriceagle

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2014, 08:11:28 PM »
I took a layer of aluminum foil and punched some holes in it, and then added a second layer of foil in a non-airtight, cone-shaped configuration.

Before setting up the foil, I drank a little of the juice to make sure that the bubbles wouldn't let liquid reach the foil and possibly carry contaminating bacteria down to the brew.

I used ordinary, supermarket brand 100% juice. I did not add any extra sugar. The result was a nice, dry cider.

Threshkin

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2014, 10:06:42 AM »
After being unable to find a bung the right size for the hole of the glass applejuice jug, I learned that all you need for an airlock is a balloon. Or a latex glove and you wife's hair elastic in my case.

Balloon wine is fun!  I learned how do make it back in the '70s.  We made some pretty awful "wine" back then.  But we just used wild yeast so the results were pretty random.

I had the same idea when I saw this article.  I am having trouble sourcing the yeast though.  It is available on Amazon fairly cheap (10 packs for $5.50 free shipping) but I am hoping to find it locally.


Allison

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2014, 11:14:08 AM »
I just finished my first batch of cider and I am not sure I like it better than the store bought stuff.  It lost a lot of the apple flavor and although it is strong. 

Any hints on keeping more of the apple flavor?

MustacheMike

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2014, 06:21:46 PM »
Allison, I've seen videos where people add frozen juice concentrate to their regular juice and more sugar. The yeast will eat the sugar until they can't eat anymore and will leave some and hopefully some apple flavour behind.

This of course extends the cost and time of the original post.

George_PA

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2014, 07:41:39 PM »
I have been home brewing cidar and other various juices to alcohol for about a year now.  The airlock really does not cost that much, I think it costs about $2 at a home brew store.   

Really the biggest expense by far with this home brew is the juice itself.  Thus, to get your money's worth make sure that every batch turns right, a gallon of juice will cost you $5 so if mess up a batch you are out $5.  The only risk I see is that your balloon may let in some air after fermentation if you wait too long and ruin the batch or make it taste not as good.

I would agree with you though that you don't need sterile liquid in it, most by-the-book experts would recommend sterile liquid, and you could do this, but I just put tap water in it and it has worked for me every time.  Even if you were to put sterile liquid in, boil some water and use that so that you don't waste any good bourbon. 

A balloon is ok.  if you plan on doing many many batches over time just fork over the $2 and get the airlock.  It really will not set back your FI date that much.


MustacheMike

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #7 on: May 09, 2014, 10:58:47 PM »
Thanks George_PA. I do have an airlock. My issue is with the rubber bung or stopper. The three sizes available at my local brew store don't fit.

I carved a large one down with a knife on my own. I did a terrible job, and it doesn't work, so I've resorted to a glove.

If you can get the bung to fit, go for it!

On a side note, I do hope that I have maintained the sterility of my brew environment. I didn't do anything special. It's still bubbling away, and now I can high-five the inflated latex glove at the top!

Edit: High-fiving your very own brew I think has to be the highlight! You know how they used to give bags of sugar to high school students to simulate a baby and prevent teen pregnancy? I think they should do that with home brew. This bottle of frothing apple juice is my new baby.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2014, 11:09:07 PM by MustacheMike »

George_PA

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2014, 07:02:52 PM »
Yeah, the stopper needs to fit just right,

On one of my plastic bottles for fermenting, I made a hole in the original plastic lid and shoved a rubber bung into it, I cut the hole in the plastic lid by hand and it did not fit exactly (some small gaps and holes on the sides).  I ended up just running a think layer of hot glue (with a hot glue gun) on from both sides (top and bottom) around where the hole was and this seems to have sealed it up fine.  I have had several good batches with it.

 

Allison

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #9 on: May 12, 2014, 10:23:35 AM »
Ok, started my second batch.  Smaller quantity and added a squirt of honey.  Hopefully this will keep more of the apple flavor.

gecko10x

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #10 on: May 12, 2014, 10:37:18 AM »
My first two batches just finished:

Apple juice - We added extra sugar, but it was still pretty dry and not a ton of flavor. Tasted better after a little honey and nutmeg or cinnamon.
Pineapple juice - Extra sugar added. Tastes barely like pineapple, and pretty yeasty. Won't be drinking this.

The wife didn't like either one, but I think it's fun!

Will start 3rd/4th batches tonight probably, both apple juice. I think I will add some spices right at the beginning, and maybe some more sugar and/or finish it sooner (1st batch went 14 days).

MustacheMike

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #11 on: May 12, 2014, 09:40:58 PM »
After four days, my rubber glove deflated. I poured the juice into a container sans sediment. I did a taste test and it actually has become quite tart.

I washed out the original jug and refilled it gently with the juice, this time adding some brown sugar. I then sealed the top with the regular lid. My hope is that the leftover yeast will eat the sugar and carbonate it at the same time. I will leave it in this sealed state (in the shower we don't use in case of explosion) until the weekend.

George_PA

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #12 on: May 13, 2014, 11:11:49 PM »
I always let my batches ferment for 2 weeks, if you are only going 4 days, there could still be some sugar in the juice, it probably did not fully ferment, thus you will probably get carbonation even without adding any brown sugar,

If you need tips on the process, I recommend, going to you tube and typing in "Craig tube"; craig is a very wise and smart, I learned a lot from him.

MustacheMike

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #13 on: May 15, 2014, 11:17:46 PM »
Well, it has been one week and a day since I began fermenting my beverage and today I had to have a taste.


The first glass: meh, probably 3%
Second glass: Hey, this is pretty good
Third glass: Why am I rolling around on the floor.

Defnitly stronger than 3%. Not a good idea on a work night.

Mustache on!

Allison

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #14 on: May 19, 2014, 09:37:48 AM »
FYI....DO NOT DRINK THE SEDIMENT!  Not even a tiny bit.  It is not a good feeling.

Second batch is going through the secondary fermentation to see if I can get some good carbonation.

LiseE

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #15 on: May 19, 2014, 10:12:35 AM »
I tried this as well with Mango nectar that I bought at Costco ... yeesh!  Soooooo dry!  I added some sugar as well just to see if it was going to be palatable .. still pretty hard ... should I have fermented it shorter?  Does that make it less dry?

merula

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #16 on: May 19, 2014, 10:49:06 PM »
My husband is an avid homebrewer, but hadn't tried cider before because he didn't want to deal with the pressing equipment. I think my batch turned out well, but I thought I'd share some tips I learned from him.

First, the cider turns out dry because of the champagne yeast. Basically, yeast convert sugar to alcohol until they've made so much that they can't survive in the environment anymore. Different types of yeast have different alcohol tolerances, and the higher the tolerance the more sugar they'll eat, leaving less to sweeten the cider. If yours is drier than you'd like, apparently red wine yeast will result in a sweeter cider.

Second, if yours isn't as carbonated as you'd like, you can add a sugar water solution and then siphon it off into bottles. (Mustachian bottle sourcing: reuse regular wine bottles or non-screw-top beer bottles and borrow a corker or capper so your bottling costs are just the corks or caps. If you can't borrow the equipment, find flip-top bottles at Goodwill or on CL.)

Allison

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #17 on: May 23, 2014, 06:27:43 PM »
2nd batch is better.  Secondary fermentation gave some very nice sharp little bubbles.  Still not much of the apple flavor but I am happy with the taste and end product.  Fantastic journey in crafting my own cider.

MustacheMike

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #18 on: May 24, 2014, 09:31:12 AM »
Good work Allison.

I will have to be a little more patient next time. I don't know if it was the juice or the amount I drank (probably the latter), but I got a wicked-bad hangover.

Allison

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #19 on: May 27, 2014, 09:18:56 AM »
I am trying cherry cider this week.  I have used up my first packet of champagne yeast and I think I will switch to a different type next time.  That might also help with the juice flavor.

MustacheMike

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #20 on: May 27, 2014, 04:21:14 PM »
So, does that mean you use cherry juice? Is it organic in a jug?

Allison

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #21 on: May 28, 2014, 10:52:27 AM »
I think it is organic.  From Whole Foods on sale in a glass jar/jug.  I made sure it had no preservatives.  Only juice.

TrulyStashin

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #22 on: June 12, 2014, 03:01:02 PM »
I tried this as well with Mango nectar that I bought at Costco ... yeesh!  Soooooo dry!  I added some sugar as well just to see if it was going to be palatable .. still pretty hard ... should I have fermented it shorter?  Does that make it less dry?

I'm starting a batch today with mango juice.  Anyone have any tips related to that?

George_PA

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #23 on: June 12, 2014, 03:13:39 PM »
The procedure is basically the same no matter what type of juice you use. 

Fonzico

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #24 on: June 13, 2014, 09:29:01 AM »
So this is a little in advance, but we have an insanely heavily-producing apple tree in our yard, and I was thinking of making my own juice from these, and then fermenting that. Anyone tried this? Any tips?

Oldguy

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #25 on: June 13, 2014, 08:08:19 PM »
I can give you a few tips on what not to do from a family member's recent experience :)
1 stick to fruit juice at first. Don't go way out in left field with your own honey mead recipe using lots of honey.
2 the bread yeast in the fridge isn't going to work.
3 make sure the balloon is large enough
4 on the carpet in your bedroom next to your bed is not the best place to so this
5 when you do inevitably find the small balloon a foot and a half in diameter and three quarters full of foam, carry it outside. Do not stop in the bathroom.
6 if you do stop in the bathroom, do not try to relieve the pressure with a pin.
7 if you manage to disregard all of the above, clean it all up. Dried flecks of this are hard to get off the walls.
Life is interesting here :)

taekvideo

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #26 on: June 13, 2014, 11:21:40 PM »
I tried this as well with Mango nectar that I bought at Costco ... yeesh!  Soooooo dry!  I added some sugar as well just to see if it was going to be palatable .. still pretty hard ... should I have fermented it shorter?  Does that make it less dry?

I'm starting a batch today with mango juice.  Anyone have any tips related to that?

The "mango passion" juice blend from Aldi was my favorite of the 8 or so I tried.
I just made it the same as the rest, comes out fine.

I add sweetener to all of mine before drinking it (usually just in the glass after I pour it).. hate dry wine/cider.

palebluedot

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #27 on: June 29, 2014, 09:17:59 AM »
So I started fermenting my first juice last night. I left it on the diner table so I can see the action in the upcoming days.

When I woke up this morning I found my bottle of juice inside the fridge (should have left a note!). Is the yeast dead at this point? Do I have to discard this batch? Or can I add another teaspoon of yeast and re-start the fermentation? I left the bottle inside my closet before I left for work this morning. Just wondering if I should just pick up a new bottle on the way home.

Rezdent

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #28 on: June 29, 2014, 11:56:56 AM »
Refrigeration slows the yeast but doesn't kill it.  I do this intentionally with some of my ferments to slow them down.  Once they get back to room temperature the yeast should start working.  You should start seeing little bit of foam or bubbles soon.

Anti-ComplainyPants

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #29 on: July 01, 2014, 11:55:51 AM »
I'm looking forward to making my own wine for the first time as soon as my champagne yeast and airlocks/plugs arrive in the mail ($10 total on Amazon).

I did a lot of Googling after MMM's original post, and found several suggestions to add white sugar to boost the ABV (% of alcohol). Of course this will lengthen the fermenting time, and it will also sweeten the batch. I like dry wine, so my intention is to add sugar and let it ferment long enough to yield a nice, strong, dry white (champagne yeast will keep munching on sugar up to an ABV of 18%!). You could, of course, stop the fermentation process before its completed by putting the wine in the fridge and have a sweeter, less strong product.

Unfortunately, I've heard a lot of comments about the fermenting of white sugar yielding a chemical that contributes to hangovers. Of course, drinking too much will cause a hangover no matter what, I'm not an idiot. But I'm also not a chemist, and apparently a by-product of fermenting white sugar is one that will increase the likelihood and severity of a hangover.

The solution then is to add thawed cans of 100% concentrated juice to the original jug of juice instead of white sugar. The only problem is that I don't know to what extent that will increase the ABV, and I haven't bought a hydrometer yet (which would answer my question). It might be too good to be true to hope that someone else has already tried this and has numbers to offer...assuming a 3/4 gallon jug, 1 gallon, or whatever you used.

dragoncar

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #30 on: July 01, 2014, 12:09:52 PM »
Refrigeration slows the yeast but doesn't kill it.  I do this intentionally with some of my ferments to slow them down.  Once they get back to room temperature the yeast should start working.  You should start seeing little bit of foam or bubbles soon.

Yeah, I wish that refrigeration killed fungus!

George_PA

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #31 on: July 01, 2014, 09:15:28 PM »
I always add sugar to mine for extra ABV, I try to shoot for about 10% Abv.  8.5% or 12% is ok too.  Anything above 15% becomes harsh to drink, IMO.   

The fruit juice concentrate change is going to depend on a lot of factors such as how much juice is present before you adding the concentrate and how much sugar is in the concentrate itself.  Thus, the only way to know for sure is to get a hydrometer.  This is also useful because otherwise you will not know for sure when it is done fermenting.  I always ferment mine until I get a hydrometer reading of 1.0 for the final reading so that all the sugar added turns to alcohol.
 

NewStachian

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #32 on: July 09, 2014, 02:41:02 PM »
I spoke with a friend of mine who is a pretty intense home brewer and worked at a microbrewery for a while. he told me ciders are much better if you age them 6 months to a year. I tried the MMM way and it was very sour. My friend recommended letting the yeast sit in the cider for 2 months, then an additional 4 months after being filtered. He also said you can mix it with normal apple cider before drinking to add some sweetness back, but the yeast will convert nearly 100% of the sugars since they're simple mono and di-saccharides. Leaving the yeast in for longer will also remove some of the bitterness instead of drinking after a week.

That's just 1 person's opinion, but he seems to know what he's talking about.

gimp

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #33 on: July 11, 2014, 08:33:18 PM »
Come on. Airlocks with a bung are $2 at the local homebrew store. Buy once, use forever. Various hacky solutions are penny-wise, pound-foolish - you avoid spending $2 but now $15 of your ingredients get infected.

lpep

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #34 on: July 11, 2014, 08:56:10 PM »
I've never made cider, but I've brewed beer before, and think I can help some people having issues!

For those wanting to add sweetness/booziness: don't use table sugar. It'll taste weird, or at least does in beer (if you don't care, then it's definitely cheap!). Clover honey is really nice, maple syrup, or you might consider adding some malt extract syrup from your local homebrew supply store. Probably something light would work best.

If you want to measure the alcohol content, you can do it with a cheap ($5) instrument called a hydrometer.

If you're missing the apple or fruit flavor, you can add chunks of the actual (organic only) fruit to the fermentation! Just add it when you add the yeast. This gets more complicated though, since you'll probably want to get the fruit chunks out before you drink it, and there's issues of sanitation doing that. But you could try chopping the fruit into small pieces (with tools sanitized with bleach) and then filtering the fruit chunks out of your cider when you pour it. Mango would be super good, I think :)

You might also try adding some spices to your cider: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves. Go easy on these though, a little goes a long way.

Also also: try ale yeast for cider, rather than champagne if you don't like the dryness. Maybe a saison yeast, since those are nice and fruity.


I'm living vicariously through you all. Homebrew supplies are nonexistent in Hanoi!

MustacheMike

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #35 on: July 18, 2014, 10:58:19 PM »
For those of you interested in a homebrew adventure update, I've brewed eight two litre jugs of juice. I'm at the two week mark.

For those of you looking for tips, /r/homebrewing on reddit.com has a cider guide in its right-hand menu. One of the tips I picked up was split your batch after it has fermented out, if using champagne yeast, which is what MMM uses.

So, I threw a packet of  yeast into each of the four bottles of various juices (apple, wildberry, cranberry-something, grape-something). Then, after a week, I bought four more of the same juices and mixed each bottle together then separated it back into two bottles, doubling my brew.

A week later, and I've dipped into the wildberry. Unfortunately, it tastes like mildly fizzy lime juice and water. Fortunately, I am pretty drunk.

According to the cider guide on /r/homebrewing, you want to let your split batch age a little bit. They recommend three months. Which seems like a long time, but if you go with the view that the brew you make now is for fall, then it works out.

We're all mustachians here, so we have a natural eye to the long-term.

My goal is to freeze distill one of the other juices in the fall after it has aged and mellowed. My goal with the actual apple juice is to let it age as well and turn into a nice cider or apple wine.

I'll definitely be setting up batches in the meantime, and that will take care of some winter drinking.

Anyone else thinking of leaving a few batches to age?

PS: I've heard you can save your yeast, so when I transfer all my batches to different containers, I plan on saving the dregs. The yeast should still be good for other brews.

RelaxedGal

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #36 on: July 24, 2014, 11:39:54 AM »
My husband taps a maple tree in our back yard and makes maple syrup.  We've been tossing around the idea of a maple mead for a while, and this was the perfect chance to try it out.  I picked up the champagne yeast, bung, and airlock from a hobby brewing store by work.  He picked up distilled water and a friend's refractometer so we could dilute the maple back to a brewable strength.  I think we went with 22% sugar because we like to drink sweet things like ice wine and knew the champagne yeast would gobble up all the sugar. 

For those having problems with bung size, we brewed ours in a quart mason jar.  I cut a canning lid sized hole in an oatmeal lid (nice thin plastic) and then cut a hole the size of my bung (I meant to get one pop bottle sized, and fell short).  Stuck the airlock in the bung, the bung in the lid, the lid on the jar and screwed it down.  It worked really well. 

We left the brew on the dining room able for 2 weeks, then poured our first glass.  Sweet, but it smells like bread dough.  It was better cold, and better yet a week or so later.  I think that jar is 2 or more months old now, and thanks to the slow growth in the fridge is getting drier and more mellow as time goes on.  We haven't decanted, though reading the comments above I'm thinking that maybe we should.

Threshkin

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #37 on: August 05, 2014, 02:57:44 PM »
I have a gallon of apple cider that has been brewing on the kitchen table for two weeks today.  On the recommendation of the local brewery supply store I used a dry ale yeast.  They also suggested letting it age for a while.

I plan to taste it tonight and then put it in the basement to age.

gecko10x

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #38 on: August 18, 2014, 09:17:58 AM »
I've done a couple batches, and have been pretty happy with the results.

For those suggesting to age, what is the process? Decant it, then put the airlock back on and leave it out?

Threshkin

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #39 on: August 18, 2014, 09:41:08 AM »
I have a gallon of apple cider that has been brewing on the kitchen table for two weeks today.  On the recommendation of the local brewery supply store I used a dry ale yeast.  They also suggested letting it age for a while.

I plan to taste it tonight and then put it in the basement to age.

It is good, quite good!  It is not a light, crispy cider like the local brewers produce, it is more of a solid, meaty brew.  It reminds me a lot of the natural hard cider we used to get from the farms when I was a kid.  I did not measure the ABV but it packs a nice kick.  Stronger than a 6.2% beer but not as strong as wine.  My first bottle is aging in the basement and I intend to get another bottle cooking soon.  This time I might try a clear apple juice, rather than unfiltered cider.

LiseE

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #40 on: August 28, 2014, 08:48:13 AM »
HOw much bubbling should you see?  My first batch (with Mango Nectar) did not produce much bubbling.  I thought the high sugar content would result in more bubbles?  ALso, I will use the champagne yeast again (since I bought so much of it!) and will add simple syrup to sweet but what other yeasts could I use in the future?

I love the new hard ciders you can buy in the store now .. just the right blend of tartness and sweetness .. wonder what yeast they use??

mrsggrowsveg

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #41 on: September 10, 2014, 02:38:30 PM »
I started my first batch from fresh apples I got for free.  We juiced the apples in our juicer, then pasteurized and strained the juice.  I used Lambec yeast.  It is bubbling like crazy.  I cannot wait to try some.

Booritocat

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #42 on: September 24, 2014, 04:40:20 PM »
Started making wine at the beginning of this year.  We were given a wine equipment kit as a gift from our son after expressing interest in taking up wine making as a new hobby.  We are hooked and so are many of our friends after trying some of the wines we have made.  In addition to some kit wine (about $60 for 30 bottles) we make wine from frozen fruit juice.  Total cost comes in well under $1 bottle.  We watch for the juice to go on sale for $1 can and fill the freezer.  It's a fun hobby!

Bob W

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #43 on: October 08, 2014, 10:35:21 AM »
Here's the absolute cheapest method of making homemade alcohol --

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/homemade-vodka-easy-4-cents-a-drink/msg418509/#msg418509

I don't use a stopper or even a balloon.  A paper towel laid on top works just fine on the bucket.  (apparently bacteria hates alcohol over 10% ABV)

Very few variables to mess up.

At 4 cents per serving I don't believe anyone can beat that.   I suppose if you like your alcohol flavored with apple juice or grape juice you could always add that to  a more precise measure at the end.

tmac

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #44 on: October 16, 2014, 01:05:20 PM »
My first batch of hard cider is quite drinkable. It tastes like an apple wine, but a little bubbly. Local cider ($8), poured into a sterilized gallon wine jug with a 1/2 t of champagne yeast. Topped it with a balloon with a pin-hole on top. Two weeks on the counter. Pour 1/4 C sugar in, then cap and two more weeks in the fridge.

It's a bit too dry right out of the bottle, but if you add a spoonful of sugar or other sweetener, it's quite nice. Not as sweet as the bottled options, which we happen to like. We're guesstimating that the alcohol content is between beer and wine, based on the amount we drank before we got tipsy.

I just started the second batch with some on-sale no-additive grocery cider ($5).

Anti-ComplainyPants

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Re: Frugal yet Fancy Homebrewing – with 30 Seconds of Work
« Reply #45 on: October 18, 2014, 10:41:28 AM »
I've been replicating this for a few months now:

  • 64oz bottle of Welch's Grape Juice - Pour out ~12oz and reserve (I buy them 2 at a time at Sam's Club)
  • Add 1 cup white sugar, shake until dissolved, and add Champagne yeast. Cover with towel or paper towel (rubber banded)
  • 4-6 days later, dissolve either 1 cup or 1/2 cup of additional sugar in ~4 oz of boiling water (depending on how strong you want the finished product, more sugar = more ABV) and let cool to room temp before adding to mixture. NOTE: If this extra sugar-water doesn't refill the bottle, top-off with the juice you originally reserved at room temp.
  • Switch towel for airlock after ~7 days from when you began
After about a month, most of the sugar has been fermented and you have a finished product. At this point, I pour the wine out of the original bottle and into another one so that it isn't sitting on the dead yeast at the bottom. It can be aged (the longer, the better) but it is absolutely drinkable after about a month. I've been following these steps every weekend, effectively making a gallon of wine per week. It starts to pile up, which means a lot of it will get to age and be even better by the time I get to it.

I don't have a hydrometer to know the exact ABV, but we call the 2-total-cups-of-added-sugar recipe "Face-eater." It's...strong.