home made liquor recipes?

[CYF]

Anyone have any good booze recipes? I know we have members from all over, would be interesting to recipes from different parts of the world.

Here's one for an apricot brandy type liquor:

1 glass gallon jar.
mostly fill with washed apricots, do not peel or pit
add 3 cups granulated sugar (you can also add some brown sugar)
add 26 ounces of cheap vodka.
seal the jar.

flip the jar over once a day for 3 months. Strain the liquid into a new jar, you can use a Brita water filter.

[Spunky]

Would be better with good vodka?

[Jdoughs]

Home made Irish Cream is bad ass, don't have a recipe handy for it though. All I remember was 'MOAR WHISKEY'

[CYF]

Originally Posted by Spunky

Would be better with good vodka?

I used Russian Standard, which is good but not nearly as expensive as a Grey Goose or Belvedere.

[Deej]

Originally Posted by Jdoughs

Home made Irish Cream is bad ass, don't have a recipe handy for it though. All I remember was 'MOAR WHISKEY'

I had some homemade kahlua... not too shabby...

[beemk]

Originally Posted by Jdoughs

Home made Irish Cream is bad ass,

way to turn this thread gay.

[CYF]

so who's got the good moonshine recipes?

[Psylocybe]

I want to brew some more beer but I end up drinking a few pints everyday and getting fat..

[Waddymelon]

Originally Posted by CYF

Anyone have any good booze recipes? I know we have members from all over, would be interesting to recipes from different parts of the world.

Here's one for an apricot brandy type liquor:

1 glass gallon jar.
mostly fill with washed apricots, do not peel or pit
add 3 cups granulated sugar (you can also add some brown sugar)
add 26 ounces of cheap vodka.
seal the jar.

flip the jar over once a day for 3 months. Strain the liquid into a new jar, you can use a Brita water filter.

Brandy is wine that is distilled into a liquor... all you are doing is making apricot wine with vodka... and poorly at that. No yeast to ferment the sugars and using a sealed jar so that even if fermentation was taking place, nowhere for the CO2 to escape.

[CYF]

Originally Posted by Waddymelon

Brandy is wine that is distilled into a liquor... all you are doing is making apricot wine with vodka... and poorly at that. No yeast to ferment the sugars and using a sealed jar so that even if fermentation was taking place, nowhere for the CO2 to escape.

That's a good point, and its a recipe I found on the net.

You have any moonshine recipes to share?

[KILL_FRENZY]

Pretty much any alcohol fermented fruit will give you a decent booze. You can use grapes, cherries, berries, plumes, even strawberries you name it. I have a few hundred liters of wine, both white and red. They're not too bad but a bit sweet this year...

[Honez]

Originally Posted by Jdoughs

Home made Irish Cream is bad ass, don't have a recipe handy for it though. All I remember was 'MOAR WHISKEY'

Having some now along with homemade Kaluha in my coffee. The folks made it so I don't have the recipe handy. I will have to get it from them and post.

[baddog]

I used to make kahlua, but has been way too many years to recall the recipe.

[Quagmire]

http://www.blacktable.com/gillin030901.htm

[idtapdat]

Originally Posted by CYF

I used Russian Standard, which is good but not nearly as expensive as a Grey Goose or Belvedere.

Russian standard vodka is amazing!!

[brassmonkey]

be careful man if u do something wrong it can blind u

[$5 submissions]

Weird slightly offtopic question: What kind of liquor can you get from potatoes?

[CYF]

Originally Posted by $5 submissions

Weird slightly offtopic question: What kind of liquor can you get from potatoes?

they make vodka out of potatoes, grains, rye, wheat, corn. Luksusowa and others are made from potatoes.

[CYF]

Originally Posted by idtapdat

Russian standard vodka is amazing!!

yeah, it's decently priced and pretty good

[aubreythree]

http://www.warpbreach.com/6/6.htmlStep 1: Gather the Ingredients.

You're probably wondering what exactly we consider "household items" in this article. I mean, if we consider a bottle of vodka and kool-aid household items, this article is going to be pretty short. But we don't. These are the items you will need:


The materials and ingredients we used.

1) 3 cans of 100% frozen grape juice (I use Welch's 100% grape juice concentrate). In total, the cans should make 144 fluid ounces of juice when properly prepared. We aren't properly preparing it, so that number is only relevant in determining how concentrated the juice is. Cost: Roughly $2.00 a can. Total: $6.00.

2) 1/2 cup of sugar. I purchased a huge bag of sugar for $2.00, so I probably only used a dime's worth in this project. You can even steal packets of sugar and use them if you are REALLY, REALLY CHEAP. Just don't try to use a sugar-free sweetener, because it won't work.

3) A 1 gallon container. I use a milk jug because it is free. You can buy an expensive container if you want to, but then why not just spend the money on an expensive bottle of wine instead? CHEAP is the idea here!

4) Balloons. You'll need ONE unless it breaks. These cost a few pennies each, or you can get a bag containing dozens for $1.00.

5) Water. Distilled water is a no-no, but almost any other type that is healthy will do. I use tap.

6) A pin. You'll need to poke a few small holes into the balloon later.

7) Magic Fairy Dust - AKA yeast. We'll talk more about this in a moment. You can purchase packets of baker's yeast at any grocery store. It will run about $0.75 to $1.50, though you will usually get more than one "packet" in a strip.

In addition to these items, I'd also recommend a measuring cup, a rubber band, a siphoning hose (any small, thin piece of tubing will do), and a funnel. You don't NEED these items, but they'll help.

Once you have all of the ingredients, place them together on a table and stare at them. You will be turning these common items into wine very shortly. But first...



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A Note About Yeast.

I called yeast "magic fairy dust" earlier because it is what turns grape juice into wine. Without yeast, there would BE NO wine/beer/vodka/tequila/rum/whatever. So the next time you take a sip of alcohol, give thanks to the Big Guy for creating it.

But what is yeast? Specifically, yeast is a fungus that exists everywhere around us. That's right: Fungus. There are many different strains of yeast, but the ones we will be using all have one thing in common: they eat sugar and water and excrete alcohol. Yes, you read that correctly - alcohol is basically fungus piss. Think about THAT the next time you see some attractive member of the opposite sex downing a shot at a bar!


We use one of the three packets of this baker's yeast in our wine.

But as I said earlier, there are different strains of yeast. Each strain will produce different flavors when used to "ferment" alcohol (what the process of turning "grape juice" and other sugars into alcohol is called). In this article, we use baker's yeast - something most vintners (makers of wine) would NEVER think about doing. Baker's yeast will create a strong taste in the wine that many people do not like, but it IS commonly available. On the other hand...


A packet of wine yeast.

..you could also use a yeast specifically FOR winemaking. They run between $0.50 and $1.00 per packet (only slightly more than common baker's yeast), but can usually only be found at a specialty store. Wine yeast WILL improve the flavor of your alcohol considerably, so keep this in mind when brewing future batches.



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Step 2: Mix Some Concentrate!

Now thaw the concentrate and POUR IT INTO THE GALLON CONTAINER. Mix in TWO cans of water for each can of concentrate - NOT THREE as the packaging indicates. Because the yeast will eat a lot of the sugar, we need more concentrate than normal juice to make the concoction even remotely sweet. Thus, we use less water.



This is what happens when you try to pour the concentrate without a funnel.
Once all of the juice and water is added, cap the jug AND SHAKE IT UP. Not only does this greatly improve how well-mixed the juice and water are, it will also put air into it. This is called AERATING THE MUST in proper winemaking terminology (the must being the juice). Just FYI.


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Step 3: Add the Sugar.

Dump that 1/2 cup of sugar into the jug with the juice. It is a lot easier if you use a funnel. After that, SHAKE VIGOROUSLY WITH THE CAP ON. Don't let the sugar settle at the bottom, or else there may be flavor problems later.


The concentrate, sugar, and water have all been added.



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Step 4: Prepare and Add the Yeast.

Preparing and adding the yeast is more complex than just ripping open a packet and dumping the powder into the juice. If you want the yeast to work properly, you need to HYDRATE it first. Follow the directions on the package in order to do this properly. If you're too lazy to follow them precisely, just pour some warm water into a cup and then dump the powder into it. DO NOT STIR the yeast right away - For best results, give it time to hydrate on its own before messing with it.


The dry yeast begins to hydrate.

Once the yeast is completely hydrated, add a few spoonfuls of sugar and stir. How will you know when the yeast is hydrated? It will look like this:


The yeast is now MOSTLY hydrated.

Wait for the yeast to foam up. And when I say "foam up," I mean FOAM! It is not uncommon for the yeast to foam up at least an inch. Pour the yeast into the juice once this happens and again SHAKE VIGOROUSLY WITH THE LID ON. Quickly move on to the next step once the juice and yeast are properly mixed.



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Step 5: Add the Balloon.
Here's an activity that may make a few readers nervous: Get a pin and put 3-10 holes in the top of the balloon. These holes will allow the gases the fermentation process creates to escape, but are so small that they will mostly close when the pressure of fermentation decreases.

Once the holes are made, pull the balloon around the top of the OPEN gallon container. You don't need the lid for a while, but make sure to keep it around so that you can securely "seal" the finished wine in a few weeks.


A properly closed jug of grape juice begins its transformation.

When placing the balloon around the opening, do your best to push it "down" into the container. It shouldn't stick up.. YET. If you want to make sure the balloon doesn't pop off during fermentation, place a rubber band around the bottom of it or tape it to the jug. Tying it with string also works.


Notice how the balloon is hanging downward?

Congratulate yourself! Once the balloon is on, you've completed your part of the deal! Make sure the jug is in a warm place where it will not be disturbed and LEAVE IT ALONE.



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Now It Is Time To Play.. THE WAITING GAME!

Probably the hardest part of this whole process is allowing the yeast to do their work of convert the sugar to alcohol. How will you know if the little guys are doing their job? Within 12 hours, VISIBLE and AUDIBLE signs of fermentation should appear. These include seeing small bubbles rising inside the container and hearing a hissing sound. Even more obvious should be the balloon.


See the balloon? Fermentation has begun to occur in this jug.

When the balloon begins to inflate, you know the yeast is working! If it hasn't started to inflate within 24 hours from the time you poured in the yeast, the fermentation has probably stalled and you need to try adding new yeast.

[BigBen]

Lots of recipes here: http://www.guntheranderson.com/liqueurs.htm

Handy calculator: http://www.brewcraftwa.com.au/spirit_calculators.html

[munki]

Unless I conveniently come across the Jameson recipe, I'll stick to bottled...