I have recently learned how to make my own alcohol and things are going
great so far. If I would have know how easy it was to make it, I would have
done so a long time ago...
I will give instructions for a NEUTRAL WASH only because my purpose with
the making of alcohol is to distill the wash and make Spirits at a later time
through distillation. You can make other types of washes with hops, for
example.
Here are the things you will need to get started:
- 23 litre bucket
- air lock (you will have to drill the hole for it on the bucket top yourself)
- 22kg of dextrose (you can use regular sugar if you prefer)
- 15g of yeast (preferably wine yeast that can go up to 18-20% alcohol)
- yeast nutrient (any kind, at least 60grams)
- hydrometer (to measure your specific gravity before and after the wash)
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The hydrometer will help you find out how much alcohol is in your wash by
the following equation: (Initial SG - Final SG) x 129 = alcohol %
You can also look up the potential alcohol meter on the hydrometer before
and after and find out the difference between both numbers for your content
ie. 15 and 0.5 would mean 14.5% alcohol.
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First, dump about 6kg of dextrose in the bucket and slowly add near-boiling
water to it, stirring continuously to ensure that no foaming over happens.
After you mixed all of the water and sugar properly, add more cold water to
get around 18-19 litres worth in the bucket. Stir well again. Once you have
done this, it is time to add the 3 yeast packets and some nutrient, stirring
well as we don't want any big pieces floating around. You can then take one
hydrometer reading to know your first SG and close the bucket, adding a bit
of water to the airlock so both chambers have an equal amount of water. Do
not worry if when the fermentation starts one side is higher: this is normal
as carbon dioxyde is leaving the bucket, pushing on the water until forced
out of the airlock. Check back on it for the first 72-96 hours, stirring in a bit
more sugar and nutrient (maybe a cup or two each time, watch for foaming)
and checking the SG reading. After that time period, only stir the contents
once every 3 days until fermentation seems to have stopped: you will know
because no more carbon dioxyde will leave the air lock and the water in the
chambers should be around the same level...
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This should get you started for now. If you have any questions, ask and I
will answer as much as possible! I will continue this a bit later, telling you
how to proceed after fermentation is over and it is time to start transfering,
flavouring, aging and storing your alKEEhaul ...
