Clear Brew ?

[deepinvader]

Having played about with the Monin Flavouring syrups in TC and Mead, the down side is that the amber colour of the base drink is spoiling the effect of the syrup colour ( especialy the flouro pink of the bubblegum )

Is it possible to just brew sugar to a clear liquid ?

[DREADSKIN]

yeah mate. get water the juice of one lemon and add a teaspoon of yeast nutrient and way ya go! did this once for the boss with champers yeast and made it very strong. she just mixed it with diet coke for a not so strong vodka substitute. it was about 20%

[Providence]

Hi DREADSKIN

I've got some Condessa flavourings that I bought when you could still get Condessa kits for high alcohol. I would like to try and use these up. What is the exact recipe for your 20% 'sugar wine'? Does it clear completely?

[deepinvader]

OK, giving it a try

3kg sugar
2 teaspoons yeast nutrient
2 teaspoons Youngs Super Yeast
4 tablespoons PLJ

Made up to 10 litres which gave me a starting SG of 1.110
I'll see how it goes in a week or two

[DREADSKIN]

thats about right methinks. i would add the juice of one lemon, not for flavour, but for the acid. yeast loves and acidic environment

[Frankmastuh]

I'm fairly sure that's just Kilju. I've tried it a few times but never really done it properly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilju

It can come out fairly strong if you do it correctly.

[deepinvader]

Kilju it is then, looks like it's close enough for me.

(A rose by any other name is still etc.)

Makes it sound a lot posher if it has a foreign name and you can spout off about the origins

Anyone got a good recipe for absinthe ?

[Providence]

Have I got this wrong but working on the basis of 110 divided by 7.46, that recipe comes out at 14.7% ABV? That seems a bit low......

[BritishBelgianTwst]

I'm fairly sure that's just Kilju. I've tried it a few times but never really done it properly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilju

It can come out fairly strong if you do it correctly.

What a great story of Finnish antiestablishmentarianism (one of the longest words ever used on the forum?....do I get a prize?)

[deepinvader]

Have I got this wrong but working on the basis of 110 divided by 7.46, that recipe comes out at 14.7% ABV? That seems a bit low......

No idea where you got the formula, I just made it well off the top of the scale for starting wine on my hydrometer. Working on the principle that if wine is up to 14% this has no content other than sugar so it's got to be well over that.

[Providence]

Have I got this wrong but working on the basis of 110 divided by 7.46, that recipe comes out at 14.7% ABV? That seems a bit low......

No idea where you got the formula, I just made it well off the top of the scale for starting wine on my hydrometer. Working on the principle that if wine is up to 14% this has no content other than sugar so it's got to be well over that.

That calculation is based on a formula that they put in Coopers beer kits.

Original Gravity minus Final Gravity divided by 7.46.

I assumed final gravity at 1000 but probably it would be 990 so: 1110 - 990 = 120 divide by 7.46 = 16.08%.

This says less:

http://www.stonehelm.co.uk/browser.php? ... verter.php

My LHBS sells a 25litre turbo alcohol kit which uses 9kgs sugar to achieve 20%. I haven't used it but that would imply that 3.6kgs are needed in 10 litres to achieve 20%.

The only thing that might be a bit variable is the hydrometer. I don't know how accurate they are in general and particularly if they are that high out of the liquid!

Anyway I'll start mine over the weekend and try 3.6kgs. Hope yours turns out all right.

[Providence]

Kilju it is then, looks like it's close enough for me.

(A rose by any other name is still etc.)

Makes it sound a lot posher if it has a foreign name and you can spout off about the origins

Anyone got a good recipe for absinthe ?

Still Spirits do an absinthe flavouring. I can't vouch for it containing any wormwood though!

[Providence]

I was raking through my cupboard and found a Condessa alcohol kit instruction sheet. It says to use 1.63kgs sugar to make 4.5litres of 'up to' 21% alcohol. This factors to 3.62kgs in 10 litres.

The good part is that it says not to use all the sugar at once but to dissolve all the sugar into 1 litre of boiling water. Put 2.3 litres of cold water into DJ and add 1140ml of the solution, nutrient and yeast (it also adds bentonite but I'm assuming that the lemon juice will replace this) . On day 4 add the rest of the sugar solution. These figures apply to make 4.5 litres.

It reckons at day 21 (approx) it should be finished and you're looking for a FG of 980-988.

So I'll be trying this method. Just thought anyone reading this might want to know. I would be interested in DREADSKIN's comments, if you're out there.....

[deepinvader]

That makes sense, I'll rack it off once it's quietened down and top up the DJ's with sugar solution.

Thanks for that

[deepinvader]

Seems to be working but a bit slow compared with TC which often blows the airlock off !!

I added extra sugar when I racked it off, not sure what the total content would have been as it was a bit hit and miss but if it works out I'll try again and keep a log.