ginger beer to spirit
john robinson
apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to distil
some ginger beer.
James Silverton
Ground glass joint chemical glassware tends to be rather expensive but
setting up a flask and water condenser couldn't be simpler.
--
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland
Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
Andrew Mawson
"john robinson" <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
news:ieqqnf$jmf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
HM Revene and Customs would be very interested to hear were your
friend to be doing this. Illegal without a licence and duty to pay
were a licence to be granted, (which is very unlikely).
AWEM
Chemo the Clown
<andrew@no_spam_please_mawson.org.uk> wrote:
> "john robinson" <bluestar...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
Fer christ's sake...go tell the net cops. Let's put this guy behind
bars for life!
Tim Watts
I believe that freeze-distillation is OK - but needs checking.
It is also reckoned to be safer - regular distillation done wrong can
produce a bottle with high concentrations of less desireable alcohols -
these can occur naturally as part of the fermentation and are OK if
spread around 8 bottles of wine, but less good if concentrated into the
first small bottle of distilled output.
But I'm sure google will turn up lots of info on making a simple still.
Boiling pot, lots of soft copper tube and a cooling bath.
--
Tim Watts
newshound
Verte (Countrywide)
Jethro
try these guys : http://www.stillspirits.com/ - look for a local
distributor to you. Most UK home brew shops sell these.
HMRC have let these pass (they were good enough to admit they were
caught on the hop). So you can distill in peace - just don't sell it.
Not sure how you'd go about distilling ginger beer ... the potential
for off flavourings and yukky heads/tails would be enormous.
John Rumm
To be fair, they would be particularly interested if you were selling
the stuff, but in all liklihood far less so if just doing it for
personal consumption.
--
Cheers,
John.
/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/
Doug Freyburger
> Andrew Mawson wrote:
>
>>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
>>> apparatus that they can share?
>
>> friend to be doing this. Illegal without a licence and duty to pay
>> were a licence to be granted, (which is very unlikely).
The licenses probably aren't that easy to get.
> It is also reckoned to be safer - regular distillation done wrong can
> produce a bottle with high concentrations of less desireable alcohols -
> these can occur naturally as part of the fermentation and are OK if
> spread around 8 bottles of wine, but less good if concentrated into the
> first small bottle of distilled output.
I've read that the first and last 10% are discarded to get rid of most
of the toxins and bad flavors. I've never tried it myself and have
never seen it in person since decades ago in someone's basement. I have
no idea if that personal discarded the first and last 10%.
> But I'm sure google will turn up lots of info on making a simple still.
> Boiling pot, lots of soft copper tube and a cooling bath.
Making the still itself is trivial to anyone with good mechanical
skills. Simple tube bending and seal making. I think the worst
temptation would be to use solder made from lead and/or tin that could
add heavy metal toxins to the liquor. You want to make the seals with
some non-toxic material or plain copper which takes more heat than
brazing, less than steel welding.
Andrew Mawson
"Tim Watts" <t...@dionic.net> wrote in message
news:ieqt3i$r54$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
The first distillates to come over in a still are ketones iirc at
arround 79deg C, and it is these that are the nasties and to be
avoided. If the first few drops are rejected it's probably safest.
I think it is producing spirit that attracts taxation, and HMR&C don't
mind whether it's done by distillation or freeze separation.
AWEM
The Medway Handyman
Bob Eager
And no doubt dennis would report you...it's what he does.
--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor
Harry Bloomfield
> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling* apparatus
> that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to distil some ginger
> beer.
Isn't doing that slightly illegal?
--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
Chemo the Clown
Do you really care?
dennis@home
"Bob Eager" <rd...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:8ncj9q...@mid.individual.net...
> On Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:46:28 +0000, Andrew Mawson wrote:
>
>> "john robinson" <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:ieqqnf$jmf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
>>> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
>> distil
>>> some ginger beer.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> HM Revene and Customs would be very interested to hear were your friend
>> to be doing this. Illegal without a licence and duty to pay were a
>> licence to be granted, (which is very unlikely).
>
> And no doubt dennis would report you...it's what he does.
Is he intimidating someone else by doing it?
Is it actually illegal? I don't think it is. It depends on what he does with
it.
Would I report someone for ignoring part P, no.
would I report someone charging for a job that needs part P, probably.
It depends on how it affects others and who the victim is.
Spamlet
"john robinson" <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
news:ieqqnf$jmf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to distil
> some ginger beer.
>
A problem with distilling is that if 'successfully' done, one ends up with
alcohol and no flavour, so you would not get ginger spirit from your still.
The flavour in gin is added afterwards, and that in whisky comes from the
barrels it is aged in. That said, there was a Food Programme, on Aqua
Vitaes, which described the vast quantities of fruit required to get real
fruit flavoured spirits, and I don't quite see how that works.
On the other hand, if you ever make sloe gin - ie with gin that the tax has
already been paid on - you may want to recover some of the spirit that
remains in the fruit after you have decanted the bulk of the liquid. I was
surprised at how much I had been throwing out with the fruit. Got a fair
bit back by using 2 big 'champagne' bottles, a cork and a length of flexible
plastic tube. Tubed and sealed the first bottle with fruit in, and then
heated it in a saucepan of boiling water. The tube trails down into a
second bottle, on the floor, cooled with ice. You have to get a good seal,
and take care not to melt the tube if you are on gas.
S
Bart Goddard
news:mn.acf87dac0a...@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk:
> john robinson expressed precisely :
>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
>> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
>> distil some ginger beer.
>
> Isn't doing that slightly illegal?
>
Not everywhere. In the US it's illegal to concentrate
alcohol by any means (including freezing) without a
license. Part of getting a license to run a still in
the US is having a separate building, which must pass
inspection as adequate for operatoin of a distillery.
Setting up a personal distillery has been compared
to starting your own restaurant, in terms of paper work,
inspections, taxes, etc.
This PDF is a collection of articles that might be
useful.
http://www.distilling.com/newsletters/AD0101.pdf
B.
--
Cheerfully resisting change since 1959.
spamtrap1888
wrote:
> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to distil
> some ginger beer.
Considering ginger beer consists of ginger, sugar, and water,
distiling ginger beer would at best produce some ginger-flavored rum.
Why not just macerate some ginger in rum, and call it a day?
Phil L
Go to your local home brewing store - I went past mine today and had a look
in, they had a sign in the window which read 'distill your own spirits' and
underneath this sign was a stainless steel contraption, but I was in the car
and didn't really have time to investigate further, but i doubt it is
illegal as they had lots of these things in boxes in the window, and part of
the name was 'still' - it's obviously intended for distilling and must be
legal - this shop's on the main road through the town centre.
--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008
Bob Eager
> "Bob Eager" <rd...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
> news:8ncj9q...@mid.individual.net...
>> On Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:46:28 +0000, Andrew Mawson wrote:
>>
>>> "john robinson" <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
>>> news:ieqqnf$jmf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
>>>> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
>>> distil
>>>> some ginger beer.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> HM Revene and Customs would be very interested to hear were your
>>> friend to be doing this. Illegal without a licence and duty to pay
>>> were a licence to be granted, (which is very unlikely).
>>
>> And no doubt dennis would report you...it's what he does.
>
> Is he intimidating someone else by doing it? Is it actually illegal? I
> don't think it is. It depends on what he does with it.
How gracious of you to make any distinction.
> Would I report someone for ignoring part P, no. would I report someone
> charging for a job that needs part P, probably.
>
> It depends on how it affects others and who the victim is.
Now you're trying to tell us you're capable of judgement.
Doug Freyburger
Where's the home brewing fun in that? No welding up new equipment. No
brewing something with yeasty beasties. No splashing the must all over
the place. No watching the bubbler on the primary fermenter. No going
through the whole licensing process so you can do it legally. No
wondering if the bottles will detonate and spill all over the place.
Ginger goes well as a spice in meads. I've never tried it to spice and
ale.
rgb
neverc...@hotmail.com says...
> Go to your local home brewing store - I went past mine today and had a
> look
> in, they had a sign in the window which read 'distill your own spirits' and
> underneath this sign was a stainless steel contraption, but I was in the car
> and didn't really have time to investigate further, but i doubt it is
> illegal as they had lots of these things in boxes in the window, and part of
> the name was 'still' - it's obviously intended for distilling and must be
> legal - this shop's on the main road through the town centre.
I believe it's illegal to distill in Canada and the US (without a
license) , but I do remember a shop in Canada selling a small still as
an "essential oil extractor"
I know it's legal in New Zealand to distill your own spirits for non-
commercial purposes, and frankly it *should* be legal anywhere in the
civilized world. I can understand state control over the sale of
alcohol, but the production of it for personal use should be fair game.
Andy Dingley
> Not so long ago you could buy small stills in France in places like Gamme
> Verte (Countrywide)
Every time I've seen a still for sale, I could buy a lifetime's supply
for the same price.
Except in Jugoslavia(sic). There it's a little bloke with a handcart
wheeling around something built by his great grandfather. You give him
firewood and a tithe of the end results, he distills your home-brew
for you.
Etian
would use an insulated hot/cold beverage container (5 gallon or bigger),
an immersible beverage heater attached to some kind of float to boil the
liquid, and some copper tubing to capture and cool the vapor. Figure
out how to pass the wires and tube through the top and seal around them,
so vapor escapes only into the tube, which rises a few inches, then
falls so that liquid can run out. It is best to have a thermometer and
watch the vapor's heat rise, discarding the early fraction while the
temperature is rising, save the fraction beginning when the temperature
holds steady, and stop when the temperature starts climbing again. That
way you don't collect any of the nasties.
You want to start with the highest alcohol concentration you can obtain.
Think ginger wine, not ginger beer.
Don't forget that the vapor and distillate can be flammable and
explosive. And you might end up with nothing more than the equivalent of
strong vodka (which you can dilute and flavor to your liking).
Ala
"Paul Arthur" <flower...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:slrnih28l3.5ue...@shasta.marwnad.com...
> On 2010-12-21, Spamlet <spam.m...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> "john robinson" <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:ieqqnf$jmf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>
>>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
>>> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
>>> distil some ginger beer.
>>
>> A problem with distilling is that if 'successfully' done, one ends
>> up with alcohol and no flavour, so you would not get ginger spirit
>> from your still. The flavour in gin is added afterwards, and that in
>> whisky comes from the barrels it is aged in.
>
> the flavours come from the barrel, but others (like the peatiness in
> some Scotch) is there from the get-go. You only get no flavour if you
> distill it several times (a column still does this internally, while
> with a pot still you would have to do multiple runs).
>
> As for gin...gin is made in several ways. "The flavour is added
> afterwards" is a good description of compounding, which is the least
> popular. London gin is the most popular type of gin and is required by
> law to be produced in a more traditional manner, where the flavour is
> added before the final distillation.
>
>
I believed or read that the difference was that compounding means "dump it
in" whereas distilled means more like infused with vapor of
barn...@ureach.com
distillation "The Blue Flame"
It's easy to make bad spirits.
http://www.expats.org.uk/features/alcohol/theblueflame.html
Roger
Jethro
> In article <Hp9Qo.67927$N41.43...@newsfe23.ams2>,
> neverchec...@hotmail.com says...
The US is overly paranoid about distilling - I read an article a while
ago, on a still manufactures site, that advised US customers to never
use the word "still", but "water purifier", and to order them in
separate boxes to avoid confiscation by customs.
New Zealand accidentally legalised home distilling in the 90s, by
removing the need for still operators to continue to pay the $100
annual license, which cost a lot more to collect (inspectors were
required to travel to each still). By the time they realised, every
man and his dog had bought, built, begged or borrowed their own still.
Hence New Zealand is the home distilling capital of the world. (Notice
where the www.stillspirits.com website leads).
From what I have learned, home distilling in the UK (IANAL, and there
may be English/Scottish variations here) has never been illegal per
se. However there was a requirement for still owners to register their
stills, and declare and pay duty on what they distilled. Obviously
this is not what home distillers are going to do, and where the breach
of law comes in. However it's not *criminal*, it really is "a civil
matter sir", so HMRC have no enforcement capability for home
distillers. I met the UK rep for Still Spirits, and he showed me a
letter from HMRC confirming this. Apparently HMRC never dreamt that
commercial manufacturers would make and sell a device *capable* of
distilling alcohol (the actual still spirits still is designed
primarily as a water purifier), and by the time they had realised,
like in New Zealand, every man and his dog had one. They decided that
discretion was the better part of valour, and not to enforce the
requirements for registration and duty payment for people home
distilling. Judging from most peoples reactions, when I mention I home
distill, their centuries long campaign of FUD has permeated the
publics mind, so it will probably remain a minority pursuit.
The basic still spirits still is a pot still - the most basic form. It
is less effective at isolating the ethanol from the higher fusels, but
the result is certain very palatable, as long as you follow all
instructions *precisely*. If you want to start making purer stuff,
you'd need to look into reflux stills, which is where copper tubing
and the likes starts to play a part.
stuart noble
>
> "john robinson" <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
> news:ieqqnf$jmf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
>> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
>> distil some ginger beer.
>>
>
> A problem with distilling is that if 'successfully' done, one ends up
> with alcohol and no flavour, so you would not get ginger spirit from
> your still. The flavour in gin is added afterwards, and that in whisky
> comes from the barrels it is aged in. That said, there was a Food
> Programme, on Aqua Vitaes, which described the vast quantities of fruit
> required to get real fruit flavoured spirits, and I don't quite see how
> that works.
>
> On the other hand, if you ever make sloe gin - ie with gin that the tax
> has already been paid on - you may want to recover some of the spirit
> that remains in the fruit after you have decanted the bulk of the
> liquid. I was surprised at how much I had been throwing out with the
> fruit.
I rub them through a metal sieve to get the stones out and have them
with a dollop of cream.
Looks like it was a good year for sloes but I just didn't get round to
picking them. Waited for a hard frost and then got overtaken by events.
Adam Funk
> john robinson wrote:
>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
>> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
>> distil some ginger beer.
I've heard that _The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible_ is good.
> Go to your local home brewing store - I went past mine today and had a look
> in, they had a sign in the window which read 'distill your own spirits' and
> underneath this sign was a stainless steel contraption, but I was in the car
> and didn't really have time to investigate further, but i doubt it is
> illegal as they had lots of these things in boxes in the window, and part of
> the name was 'still' - it's obviously intended for distilling and must be
> legal - this shop's on the main road through the town centre.
I think they're sold for purifying water. Similarly, I've seen signs
in shop windows that say "These products are sold for tobacco use
only." ;-)
--
Do you know what they do to book thieves up at Santa Rita?
http://www.shigabooks.com/indeces/bookhunter.html
Steve B
"Andrew Mawson" <andrew@no_spam_please_mawson.org.uk> wrote in message
news:trudnX5pDomYa43Q...@bt.com...
>
> "john robinson" <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
> news:ieqqnf$jmf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
> distil
>> some ginger beer.
>>
>>
>
> friend to be doing this. Illegal without a licence and duty to pay
> were a licence to be granted, (which is very unlikely).
>
Too late. He already posted it on Mr. Obama's New Internetspeak, and with
the new federal regulations, I bet if you go to his house today, it is a
vacant lot, and all the neighbors have amnesia. That is IF they are home
from deprogramming yet.
Steve
Steve Bonine
Thank you for sharing this. I found it fascinating in more ways than
the technical details for building a still.
If you believe the document, it's pretty easy to make good spirits, too.
Peter Twydell
<blues...@mail.invalid> writes
>Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
>apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to distil
>some ginger beer.
>
>
I've drunk a bit a couple of times, and it's interesting to say the
least.
--
Peter
Ying tong iddle-i po!
Doug Freyburger
> Spamlet <spam.m...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> A problem with distilling is that if 'successfully' done, one ends
>> up with alcohol and no flavour, so you would not get ginger spirit
>> from your still. The flavour in gin is added afterwards, and that in
>> whisky comes from the barrels it is aged in.
>
> the flavours come from the barrel, but others (like the peatiness in
> some Scotch) is there from the get-go. You only get no flavour if you
> distill it several times (a column still does this internally, while
> with a pot still you would have to do multiple runs).
Many years ago I knew a guy who made his own apple brandy. The liquor
as it dripped from the end of the tube was very strong in alcohol but it
had a very distinct apple flavor.
Michael Kuettner
>
<snip>
> A problem with distilling is that if 'successfully' done, one ends up with
> alcohol and no flavour,
No. It depends on what you distill.
Pure alcohol is double distillation.
> so you would not get ginger spirit from your still. The flavour in gin is
> added afterwards, and that in whisky comes from the barrels it is aged in.
> That said, there was a Food Programme, on Aqua Vitaes, which described the
> vast quantities of fruit required to get real fruit flavoured spirits, and
> I don't quite see how that works.
>
It works by letting the mash rest for some months.
We did the last of mashing in November; in April we'll distill the mash.
Cheers,
Michael Kuettner
spamtrap1888
In France are les bouilleurs de cru, who operate similarly to the
handcart man. Historically they could distill up to ten liters of
alcohol tax-free, per year, from their own fruit, but supposedly they
will distill yours as well for a tithe.
Man at B&Q
wrote:
> "Bob Eager" <rd...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
>
> news:8ncj9q...@mid.individual.net...
>
>
>
> > On Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:46:28 +0000, Andrew Mawson wrote:
>
> >>news:ieqqnf$jmf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> >>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
> >>> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
> >> distil
> >>> some ginger beer.
>
> >> HM Revene and Customs would be very interested to hear were your friend
> >> to be doing this. Illegal without a licence and duty to pay were a
> >> licence to be granted, (which is very unlikely).
>
> > And no doubt dennis would report you...it's what he does.
>
> Is he intimidating someone else by doing it?
> Is it actually illegal? I don't think it is. It depends on what he does with
> it.
>
> Would I report someone for ignoring part P, no.
> would I report someone charging for a job that needs part P, probably.
If you think there's something wrong in paying someone to do a job
that needs part P, and it's beyond your DIY skills, how do you propose
to get the job done?
MBQ
Spamlet
"Paul Arthur" <flower...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:slrnih28l3.5ue...@shasta.marwnad.com...
> On 2010-12-21, Spamlet <spam.m...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> news:ieqqnf$jmf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>
>>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
>>> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
>>> distil some ginger beer.
>>
>> A problem with distilling is that if 'successfully' done, one ends
>> up with alcohol and no flavour, so you would not get ginger spirit
>> from your still. The flavour in gin is added afterwards, and that in
>> whisky comes from the barrels it is aged in.
>
> the flavours come from the barrel, but others (like the peatiness in
> some Scotch) is there from the get-go. You only get no flavour if you
> distill it several times (a column still does this internally, while
> with a pot still you would have to do multiple runs).
Which is what I meant by distilling *properly*. As a chemist I would have
equipment that generally separated the individual fractions quite well by
their boiling points. In practice, I would throw out the first fractions as
likely to contain methanol, even if this meant throwing out some of the
flavour compounds. The stillers for booze must all have their own
techniques for keeping a mixture of flavour compounds in the distilled
product (Keeping everything that distills over between a range of
temperatures, instead of just at the boiling point of alcohol), but to a
chemist these would all be ways of producing impure alcohol. And even the
best stills don't prevent the water that is bound up with the ethanol
molecule distilling over, so that to get pure alcohol extensive drying
processes have to be carried out.
As a long time home wine maker and lab tech, I did test the alcohol content
of some of my wines chromatographically. They can exceed 20% so, in many
ways, no point in distilling, but when I did try, I decided it was easier in
the long run to buy gin or vodka and add fruit to it, rather than distill
from a fruit ferment and try to keep the flavour.
S
>
> As for gin...gin is made in several ways. "The flavour is added
> afterwards" is a good description of compounding, which is the least
> popular. London gin is the most popular type of gin and is required by
> law to be produced in a more traditional manner, where the flavour is
> added before the final distillation.
>
> --
> You mean you didn't *know* she was off making lots of little phone
> companies?
The Medway Handyman
In the case under discussion "how it affects others" - you hoped it would
damage my ability to earn a living & feed my family. The "victim" in this
case was a woman deliberately trying to avoid payment.
You grassing spineless little cunt.
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
barn...@ureach.com
on the sly, in a hurry to get results, is not conducive to quality.
if you read their recipe for beer at end of document, it is pretty
vile stuff. Another home brewed beer was made by dumping sugar and
yeast into non-alcohol beer, fermenting for 1 week, and drinking the
turbid slop.
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember John Rumm
<see.my.s...@nowhere.null> saying something like:
>To be fair, they would be particularly interested if you were selling
>the stuff, but in all liklihood far less so if just doing it for
>personal consumption.
Several years ago, someone posted up here an interesting link to a C&E
page where it laid down the quantities you could legally distill for
personal use in the UK.
Fubberd if I can find any sign of it.
Iirc, you can do some, but it's not a lot and most certainly not for
sale.
Reentrant
>
> The flavour in gin is added afterwards
Not according to "Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar" on the Beeb earlier this
week - see
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00x333v/Oz_and_Hugh_Raise_the_Bar_Episode_1/
about 48 minutes in.
--
Reentrant
spamtrap1888
wrote:
How much fruit for how much liquor?
What fruit did you use? Apples, plums, grapes?
Ala
"Steve Bonine" <s...@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:8needk...@mid.individual.net...
Yes, I know, I think that is great. I really like it
Michael Kuettner
> How much fruit for how much liquor?
Depends on the sugar content of the mash.
Can be anywhere from 15 to 40 liters of mash for one liter of Schnaps.
> What fruit did you use? Apples, plums, grapes?
Apples and pears.
It's not a good idea to mix stone-fruit (like plums) with seeded
fruit (like apples). Somehow the result doesn't turn out well.
Cheers,
Michael Kuettner
a
water does ;-) Just scoop the ice out and (eventually) enjoy the rest.
Instead of ginger beer, try making ginger wine with a high alcohol wine
yeast like chanpagne yeast, water, ginger and sugar. That will get you to
18%. I did this years ago with about 2kg of ginger root minced up into a
25litre batch. Put the result into P.E.T bottle into the freezer. After a
few days, take them out and give a good shake. Squeeze the "toothpaste" out
and suck the "goodness" for a fairly good hit. Must have been a good 30% or
more. If you like ginger then you'll love this!
:-)
"Adam Funk" <a24...@ducksburg.com> wrote in message
news:8869u7x...@news.ducksburg.com...
Scott Dorsey
>Try freeze distilling for a start to save outlay. Alcohol doesn't freeze,
>water does ;-) Just scoop the ice out and (eventually) enjoy the rest.
I would agree.
Part of the issue with ginger beer is that the stuff that makes ginger
aromatic is somewhat more volatile than alcohol, and it's going to come
out in the heads. If you run ginger beer (or a higher proof ginger wine)
through a pot still, most of the actual ginger flavour is going to disappear
completely.
Freeze distillation removes water, leaving behind the lighter fractions,
and consequently leaves behind a lot more of the flavour of the original
mash. Unfortunately it can leave behind undesirable flavours as well, and
the stuff that causes headaches. But it is much more apt to result in an
interesting product given ginger beer to begin with.
If you really want to start distilling, there are a number of homemade pot
still options including the classic Kenmore water distiller. They all have
various advantages and disadvantages depending on what you are trying to
distill and whether you need more diffuse heating to prevent pectins from
burning or whether you can live just with an immersion heating element.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Bryan
All true, but I expect that there are plenty of folks out there who
don't even want to see the word beer today,
> --scott
>
--Bryan
Scott Dorsey
>
>All true, but I expect that there are plenty of folks out there who
>don't even want to see the word beer today,
Hey, man, I would have told you to leave that stuff alone and stick with
the veuve cliquot.
john brook
"a" <a...@b.com> wrote in message news:4d1e6103$1...@news.orcon.net.nz...
> Try freeze distilling for a start to save outlay. Alcohol doesn't freeze,
> water does ;-) Just scoop the ice out and (eventually) enjoy the rest.
>
> Instead of ginger beer, try making ginger wine with a high alcohol wine
> yeast like chanpagne yeast, water, ginger and sugar. That will get you to
> 18%. I did this years ago with about 2kg of ginger root minced up into a
> 25litre batch. Put the result into P.E.T bottle into the freezer. After a
> few days, take them out and give a good shake. Squeeze the "toothpaste"
> out and suck the "goodness" for a fairly good hit. Must have been a good
> 30% or more. If you like ginger then you'll love this!
>
> :-)
Interesting. How much sugar would go with the 2kg ginger and 25 litre of
water please?
As a newcomer I'm trying to find out roughly how much sugar turns to how
much alcohol.
nicknoxx
about right
Dick Adams
> "a" <a...@b.com> wrote:
>> Try freeze distilling for a start to save outlay. Alcohol doesn't freeze,
>> water does ;-) Just scoop the ice out and (eventually) enjoy the rest.
>>
>> Instead of ginger beer, try making ginger wine with a high alcohol wine
>> yeast like chanpagne yeast, water, ginger and sugar. That will get you to
>> 18%. I did this years ago with about 2kg of ginger root minced up into a
>> 25litre batch. Put the result into P.E.T bottle into the freezer. After a
>> few days, take them out and give a good shake. Squeeze the "toothpaste"
>> out and suck the "goodness" for a fairly good hit. Must have been a good
>> 30% or more. If you like ginger then you'll love this!
>>
>> :-)
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting. How much sugar would go with the 2kg ginger and 25 litre
> of water please?
> As a newcomer I'm trying to find out roughly how much sugar turns to how
> much alcohol.
2kg of ginger seems like overkill to me.
If you add whole or sliced ginger root, it will candy.
Since Ginger is a spice rather than a sugar,
the following is probably correct:
For 35 liters of water:
Sugar SG ABV
----- ----- _____
5 kg 1.075 10.12
6 kg 1.090 11.97
7 kg 1.105 12.78
8 kg 1.120 15.54
9 kg 1.136 17.36
Dick
dennis@home
"Dick Adams" <rda...@panix.com> wrote in message
news:igihpi$lip$1...@reader1.panix.com...
> Since Ginger is a spice rather than a sugar,
> the following is probably correct:
>
> For 35 liters of water:
>
> Sugar SG ABV
> ----- ----- _____
> 5 kg 1.075 10.12
> 6 kg 1.090 11.97
> 7 kg 1.105 12.78
> 8 kg 1.120 15.54
> 9 kg 1.136 17.36
>
I think you will struggle to find a yeast that will ferment to 17.36, most
die at around 15 or less.
This is why wine tends to be 14-15% AFAIK
Scott
>>
>
> I think you will struggle to find a yeast that will ferment to 17.36,
> most die at around 15 or less.
> This is why wine tends to be 14-15% AFAIK
Looking at the Wyeast website, most ale yeasts can handle about 10% max.
Wine yeasts tend to handle 14-17%.
Scott Dorsey
>"Dick Adams" <rda...@panix.com> wrote in message
>
>> the following is probably correct:
>>
>> For 35 liters of water:
>>
>> Sugar SG ABV
>> ----- ----- _____
>> 5 kg 1.075 10.12
>> 6 kg 1.090 11.97
>> 7 kg 1.105 12.78
>> 8 kg 1.120 15.54
>> 9 kg 1.136 17.36
>>
>
>I think you will struggle to find a yeast that will ferment to 17.36, most
>die at around 15 or less.
>This is why wine tends to be 14-15% AFAIK
The turboyeasts used for some spirits production will ferment considerably
higher, BUT at the expense of having a lot of off-tastes. Since these are
mostly heavier molecules that come out in the distillation tails, that's not
a problem, although it would be a serious problem if you use them for something
that wasn't distilled.
If you are making non-distilled beverages, in most cases you make sure the
original sugar content is sufficiently high that, after the yeast dies off,
you have as much sugar as you want in it. You use the yeast attenuation to
set the proof. If you are looking to make a super-dry beverage, though, you
will want the sugar to run out before the yeast does, and so you use the sugar
content to set the proof.
Champagne is a special case of the latter; the sugar runs out, then you
add a little more sugar (dosage) to ferment in-bottle. For brut champagnes
you add only enough dosage to make it fizzy while still not killing off the
yeast.
Joel
>> I think you will struggle to find a yeast that will ferment to 17.36,
>> most die at around 15 or less. This is why wine tends to be 14-15% AFAIK
>
>Looking at the Wyeast website, most ale yeasts can handle about 10% max.
> Wine yeasts tend to handle 14-17%.
While I ahgree it can be hard to punch up above ~13-14% with
most beer/wine yeasts, I'd not put a hard limit of 10% on any
beer yeast. I've fermented more than a few batches of beer and
mead using beer yeast and had no trouble getting above 10%.
Mostly using British, Belgian, and American labeled strains.
--
Joel Plutchak
"I don't like beer. I tried it once and thought it was terrible."
- Overheard at a restaurant
Martin Bonner
> On 2010-12-21, Phil L wrote:
>
> > john robinson wrote:
> >> Does anyone have any information about making a simple *distilling*
> >> apparatus that they can share? My friend is thinking of trying to
> >> distil some ginger beer.
>
> I've heard that _The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible_ is good.
>
> > Go to your local home brewing store - I went past mine today and had a look
> > in, they had a sign in the window which read 'distill your own spirits' and
> > underneath this sign was a stainless steel contraption, but I was in the car
> > and didn't really have time to investigate further, but i doubt it is
> > illegal as they had lots of these things in boxes in the window, and part of
> > the name was 'still' - it's obviously intended for distilling and must be
> > legal - this shop's on the main road through the town centre.
>
> I think they're sold for purifying water. Similarly, I've seen signs
> in shop windows that say "These products are sold for tobacco use
> only." ;-)
And the home-brewing kit exported to Saudi Arabia. It came with lots
of recipes for what you can do with a tin of malt extract. One of the
recipes was "Hop flavoured vinegar". One bullet point in the recipe
was "at this point you have beer, but it would be illegal to drink
it. You must allow it to go sour ..."
James Silverton
> On Dec 22 2010, 12:07 pm, Adam Funk <a24...@ducksburg.com> wrote:
>> On 2010-12-21, Phil L wrote:
>>
> >> john robinson wrote:
> >>> Does anyone have any information about making a simple
> >>> *distilling* apparatus that they can share? My friend is
> >>> thinking of trying to distil some ginger beer.
>>
>> I've heard that _The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible_ is good.
>>
> >> Go to your local home brewing store - I went past mine
> >> today and had a look in, they had a sign in the window
> >> which read 'distill your own spirits' and underneath this
> >> sign was a stainless steel contraption, but I was in the
> >> car and didn't really have time to investigate further, but
> >> i doubt it is illegal as they had lots of these things in
> >> boxes in the window, and part of the name was 'still' -
> >> it's obviously intended for distilling and must be legal -
> >> this shop's on the main road through the town centre.
>>
>> I think they're sold for purifying water. Similarly, I've
>> seen signs in shop windows that say "These products are sold
>> for tobacco use only." ;-)
A bit like the bottles of unpasteurized apple juice (cider) sold in
Prohibition times with the warning, "Keep closed to prevent
fermentation". Incidentally, even now, a little fermentation improves
the taste of apple juice a lot.
--
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland
Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
geoff
<plut...@see.headers> writes
>Scott <acepilo...@bloomer.net> wrote:
>>> I think you will struggle to find a yeast that will ferment to 17.36,
>>> most die at around 15 or less. This is why wine tends to be 14-15% AFAIK
>>
>>Looking at the Wyeast website, most ale yeasts can handle about 10% max.
>> Wine yeasts tend to handle 14-17%.
>
> While I ahgree it can be hard to punch up above ~13-14% with
>most beer/wine yeasts, I'd not put a hard limit of 10% on any
>beer yeast. I've fermented more than a few batches of beer and
>mead using beer yeast and had no trouble getting above 10%.
>Mostly using British, Belgian, and American labeled strains.
Rochefort and Chimay both produce live beers at 10% or more IIRC
--
geoff
Frank Erskine
Chimay gives me a bad headache... :-)
It's very nice though.
--
Frank Erskine
geoff
<frank....@btinternet.com> writes
Yeah, 20 bottles and that's me knackered the next day
>
>It's very nice though.
I'm on the wine tonight - stop tempting me
--
geoff
a
"john brook" <blues...@mail.invalid> wrote in message
news:ighq48$qll$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Champagne yeast can be coaxed to about 18%. Just start taking it easy when
you get past 12% or so. Only add maybe a cup of sugar at a time in a 25
litre batch after the 12% mark but you should get a feel for how the yeast
is coping as the days go by.
a
Hi Dick,
The ginger is for flavour and yes, 2kg mincewd in the food processor gives
quite a 'pronounced' flavour. Just right for those of us who love ginger,
probably too strong for 75% of the world. :-)
spamtrap1888
wrote:
Fresh apple cider I buy at the farmers markets inflates their plastic
jugs after a week or so -- a very pleasing beverage.