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Moonshine

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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
I'm taking a 100-level Chem class at my college to satisfy the second portion of our sciences requirement. I'm sure all of your school carry classes that are geared toward helping non-science people fill science requirements, but this one is incredible. It's called Caveman To Chemist. Each week we have two different projects where we take fairly ordinary materials and create cool stuff.

This week we started our alcohol project.

That's right, I'm making moonshine for a class project.

You can buy books at any age in any book store that will teach you how to do this, so there shouldn't be any problems with me sharing it in the forums. The way we do it in class is incredibly easy.

I'm going to update this thread with instructions and tips over the next month or so as I go along, and if anyone else wants to try this, feel free.

Oh, and just to cover my own ass, DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU'RE 21! There, I said it.

If you're 21, this is completely legal in most places. The final product I'm making right now is like a honey wine or champagne depending on carbonation, but you can use roughly the same process to make all different kinds of wine or beer. I won't tell anyone how to distill the final product to make hard liqour though, because that IS illegal pretty much everywhere I can think of, and I'm pretty sure it'll get the thread taken down.

-Knox
Sep 10 2007 9:07PM
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Tinga
Posts: 11349 - Karma: 2,333
or you can buy one of those things the looks like a backwards "N" where you put water in it just enough to fill the bottom part so the co2 can get out
Sep 18 2007 12:27AM
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Calvin.
Posts: 771 - Karma: 10
dude that's what I was talking about, except those are made for big glass brewing containers, not 2 liter bottles.
Sep 18 2007 12:32AM
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ProducerXXX
Posts: 1776 - Karma: 13
Ok, I'm going to try this.
Sep 18 2007 12:45AM
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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
Ok one of my bottles is starting to calm down. It's not producing as much pressure and the liquid is starting to look a lot like apple juice and less like tomato juice. A lot of the particulate has settled at the bottom.

Once this happens to you, you need to start "racking." Basically all this means is that youre trying to completely eliminate the yeast sediment that's left over. You do this by transferring the liquid a couple times into empty plastic containers (maybe new bottles, whatever you want, just something that you can close).

Pour the liquid into a new container and be careful to leave as much sediment behind in the old one as possible. If you want, you can use a fine strainer or a coffee filter system for this.

Once you've strained the booze a couple times and moved it to a new container, squeeze any air out of the new container and cap it off to protect the mix from oxygen for a little longer.

Let it sit a few days until more particulate settles out, then repeat the process.

Repeat this a couple time over a period of a week or so, and you're set. Then transfer your booze into some sort of glass container (jar, bottle, whatever, alcohol just doesnt store very well for long periods in plastic) and throw it in your fridge. You're done!

Oh, and if you want to carbonate it, go to the grocery store and ask them for carbonation pellets. They sell them for home-brewers all over the place. Two or three should be plenty to carbonate your whole bottle.

I'll put up all my pics when the whole process is finished in a week or so, hopefully.
Sep 19 2007 1:10AM
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cmeriptahoe
Posts: 1785 - Karma: 12
i should try this in my dorm haha. do like 10 bottles and ill be set for a week of drinking in a month haha.
Sep 19 2007 1:46AM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
i just made a small batch in a one pint bottle and the yeast is going so crazy im afraid it will blow up tonight!!
Sep 19 2007 2:11AM
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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
yah if youre using a glass bottle that could be a bit touchy, since it can't contain pressure with the same flexibility as plastic. make sure to release the pressure as often as possible for the first couple weeks so that it wont shatter everywhere.
Sep 19 2007 12:17PM
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Barmski
Posts: 4342 - Karma: 811
boys boys boys.....the closest thing to legal moonshine available in liquor stores is.......

corn whiskey

yes there i said. this is the most awful shit in the world and NO ONE likes it, although it really fucks u up and makes your wake up drunk experience mad fun. It comes in a mason jar and it is only aged 40 days. It is also illegal in the state of Ohio. Google that shit- Georgia Moon Corn whiskey.
Sep 19 2007 12:28PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
will shaking it cause it to go flat as if it was a beer or will it help the yeast eat the honey?
Sep 19 2007 3:37PM
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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
I'd say Diesel. It's like everclear or something, except it doesn't call itself everclear. It's close to 190 proof and there's a picture of an 18 wheeler truck on the front, I guess cause the aftershock makes it feel like you're getting hit by one. Go pick some up sometime, when you take a big gulp of it your mouth goes completely dry for some reason, like it temporarily shuts down your salivary glands. We had a bad night with it one time in high school, I highly suggest you experiment with it at least once.

And about the shaking, no, it won't make it go flat. In fact, this stuff CAN'T go flat until you carbonate it, which is the last thing you do. When it goes flat it means the yeast are finished working, so shake it all you want, I do it every day, I think it helps.
Sep 19 2007 5:20PM
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396222687862
Posts: 0 - Karma: 350
your racking step seems somewhat confusing,

1. how long after you first start should you first start racking (basically just filtering out all the extra yeast so there is only liquid)

2. when racking, is it possible for the oxygen to get to the mixture and screw it up?

3. how long after you first rack should you continue, and when should it be finished by?
Sep 19 2007 5:38PM
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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
1. you start racking after the yeast are pretty much finished doing what they do. you can tell when this is through two different indicators. firstly, they will have eaten up all the sugar, so they will no longer be producing gas, so the bottle will stop getting super pressurized. basically when you open it to let the gas out, it's not a violent PSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH sort of thing, but more of a little fart.

also, the liquid will start getting fairly light and clear, except for the sediment at the bottom. think of something along the lines of apple juice or apple cider.

it gets to this point after 2 and a half or 3 weeks.

2. yes, it's possible, but it's not THAT big of a deal since the yeast have pretty much finished digesting the sugar, so they wont produce any vinegar at this point since they have no raw material to work with. when you do your racking stages just squeeze your bottles before you cap them so that the liquid is almost at the top and there isnt much air inside. it isnt that big of a deal though, you just want to avoid having a bunch of new air in there.

3. do the first rack, wait a day or two, do the second rack, wait a day or two, etc. you probably want to do 2 or 3 racks before you drink it. it'll start looking fairly clear. the gunk settles out pretty fast from what i can tell. essentially it's your call on how long you want to wait for the sediment to settle out, if you dont mind drinking fairly cloudy shit after the second rack, go for it. if you do plenty of racks though it still shouldn't take more than like a week and a half. so total brew time from start to finish is about a month. if you let it sit a week or two longer at the end the alcohol content will rise by a couple percentage points.

hope that fills you in, i gotta go to the library right now so i wont be around for an hour or so, tell me if you've got any more questions though.
Sep 19 2007 5:59PM
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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
I just did my first "rack" and shit looks good. The bottles stopped generating loads of pressure several days ago, which means they're done fermenting. I waited for as much crap to settle at the bottom as possible.

When you rack, all you do is CAREFULLY pour all the liquid from one of your fermenting bottles into a clean one. I say "carefully" because you want to do your best to avoid disturbing the shit at the bottom, that way when you'll avoid transferring it into the new bottle.

Let it settle in the next bottle for a day or two, then repeat the process. Do it as many times as you want until your booze gets to where it looks like apple juice.

I tasted mine today, and it definitely doesn't taste like apple juice. It tastes like fucking Andre's or something...with vodka in it.

I'll post pics whenever we finish drinking the shit and all the results are in. If it works I'm definitely making 5-10 batches before winter break.
Sep 30 2007 8:57PM
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Shpadoinkle
Posts: 10437 - Karma: 84
awwww man. i want some. lol.

my friend had a home brew/ski season party friday in boulder. i'm so bummed i missed out.
Sep 30 2007 11:05PM
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lushlaxstr
Posts: 3063 - Karma: 41
bump
Sep 30 2007 11:13PM
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steevner
Posts: 4502 - Karma: 47

Sep 30 2007 11:58PM
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Lord_Piot
Posts: 3727 - Karma: 13
this is bum wine "do you like it? its merlot. i make it in the toilet"



white lightning is 180 proof distilled bum wine.

and you go blind from methyl alchol not ethyl alchol so just bleed the first few ML's off when you start to distill.

Oct 1 2007 3:28AM
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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
mostly right, but not when it comes to white lightning

i would be dead if white lightning were actually 180 proof, i drank 2 liters of it one night in scotland...

180-190 is in the everclear range, i dont think you can drink 2 liters of everclear and survive

ill keep the distilling part in mind though, we're building stills in a couple weeks so im gonna brew a bunch more batches of this shit to distill
Oct 1 2007 3:43PM
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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
actually, im thinking of brand-name white lightning cider, im pretty sure youre talking about the generic vernacular term for bum shine
Oct 1 2007 3:45PM
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Shpadoinkle
Posts: 10437 - Karma: 84
everclear is just plain disgusting. there is absolutely no point to it.
Oct 1 2007 4:36PM
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Jake...
Posts: 11976 - Karma: 296
i am going to do a test bottle this sounds interesting
Oct 1 2007 7:35PM
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skogenjake
Posts: 6685 - Karma: 511
jungle juice
Oct 1 2007 10:24PM
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lushlaxstr
Posts: 3063 - Karma: 41
im making some, i started on the 1st. when i release the gasses its all fizzy, like a soda and when i shake it up, it like builds up gasses again, like a soda, is this normal?
Oct 3 2007 2:41PM
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Shpadoinkle
Posts: 10437 - Karma: 84
it's cuz ur stirring it up again.
Oct 3 2007 2:43PM
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DrStrangelove
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3
dude, read my other posts...

when the yeasts perform fermentation, they GENERATE GAS that acts just like carbonation, so yeah, they have a tendency to foam up pretty good

it's normal

shaking it up isnt bad either, i used to do it a lot cause i felt like it helped the yeast interact with the sugar better/more efficiently
Oct 3 2007 8:54PM
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line1260skier
Posts: 1570 - Karma: 16
Ok i jsut did the first rack of my bottel that has been fermentign for 2.5 weeks now, i tasted it a bit and it is just like cheep wine, im guessing thats good. Sorry to pull up an old topic.
Nov 13 2007 6:08PM
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Schmidnj
Posts: 387 - Karma: 10
My threads..
Apr 24 2008 7:33PM
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Rainbow*Stylin
Posts: 1042 - Karma: 24
dope.... i want to try this
Apr 24 2008 7:50PM
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eastcoastsoloMAN
Posts: 1048 - Karma: 16
ha when i think of moonshine i see this, Moonshine also should run a car with zero emmisions.... i saw a dukes of hazzard episode
Apr 24 2008 8:31PM
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thecounty
Posts: 1450 - Karma: 290
wheres the pics?
Apr 24 2008 8:42PM
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Pman13a
Posts: 3800 - Karma: 451
im gonna try this sometime soon
Apr 24 2008 8:54PM
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Ski_Midwest
Posts: 551 - Karma: 10
my threads
Apr 24 2008 11:16PM
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SolMi
Posts: 337 - Karma: 14
my threads
Apr 24 2008 11:37PM
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Pman13a
Posts: 3800 - Karma: 451
allright i just started this process, ill post some updates sometime, i set it up so that there are tubes comming from the bottles into a cup of water so i dont have to worry about them
Apr 26 2008 7:51PM
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Pman13a
Posts: 3800 - Karma: 451
a picture of my operation

Click for larger image



Apr 27 2008 1:17PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
me and miralas just made 8 liters of various wines using the same method... the grape juice turned out amazing, it definately has a very high alcohol content for being wine now we are going to try making some honey wine
Apr 28 2008 12:22AM
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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
haha, i live next to the county that started nascar from running moonshine. theres probably more stills within 50 miles of me than newhere else in the world. been drinking that shit since freshmen year, i recommend putting blue berrys in it.  North carolina baby
Apr 28 2008 1:00AM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
i will definately try that. also when the huckleberries get ripe i will throw some of them in
Apr 28 2008 1:21AM
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