# So... I Finally Got Around To Making My Alcoholic Water



## Tanga (5/1/11)

So... got some oztops for my birthday (thanks Mum, for listening to my oh so blatant hints). One of the things I brewed was some alcowater and, mixed with cordial, the flavour is actually remarkably like an alcopop (does anyone remember sub-zero? - pretty close to that). So far I've only tried lemon and barley cordial and I get a nice pub squash (though it does have a little bit of a winey back-bite which I'll be looking to eliminate in the future). I still prefer it to cruisers though. Next I'll be trying it with a ginger beer cordial.

*Recipe*

1.8 L boiled (cooled) water
180g dextrose
20 mL lemon juice

It was a slow ferment (especially for oztops), probably because of the lack of nutrients and because the bottled juice has preservatives (oops, should have checked first). Next time I'll be using some nutrient and real lemon juice (probably only 10 mL though, since that's closer to the recommended acidity).

It ends up as 6% alc. / volume, so with cordial added not much meatier than cruisers, but for around 50c / L (taking into consideration the yeast, nutrient, dextrose, etc). I call that a success.

Oh, and my cider's better than most commercial varieties I've tried (except for bulmers).


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## MarkBastard (5/1/11)

What colour does it end up? I remember when I used to make spirits you'd start with 7kg dextrose / 20L water and it'd end up being a milky colour at the end and something I can't imagine drinking, though that was over 20% probably.


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## Tanga (5/1/11)

Mark^Bastard said:


> What colour does it end up? I remember when I used to make spirits you'd start with 7kg dextrose / 20L water and it'd end up being a milky colour at the end and something I can't imagine drinking, though that was over 20% probably.



Lightly cloudy yellow (before adding to cordial). This uses nearly 1/4 the amount of dex (it would be 2kg in 20L). I'd imagine that brewing up that high the yeast would be much more stressed, and so throw some pretty off flavours (obviously removed by distilling). Mine has next to no flavour at all (which was the plan), just a slight 'winey' after-taste similar to sub-zero and some other alco-pops. Some alco-pop drinkers may object to it, I'm not sure - I'm taking some around to a mate's place today to see what they think.


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## zebba (5/1/11)

I was actually wondering to myself the other day whether it would be possible to make a clear beer-like beverage. Dextrose (for alc), maltodextrin (for body) and lactose (for sweetness) + hops. I can't imagine it being something enjoyable to drink, but I was curious if it could be done. 

Curious to hear how it will go with nutrient added. I can see a number of my wives bogan friends being interested in your experiment. (note: the wife is not a bogan, she's all class )


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## brettprevans (5/1/11)

Im glad your happy with the results but can you explain the attraction of oztops? its just a bottle with a stupid 'nipple/valve' thing that pops out when ready and yeast (and maybe some flavouring?). thats nothing differant than what you could make using a fermentor juice and yeast and a few normal bottles 

just buy some Wyeast 5151PC - Brettanomyces Claussenii and use it to ferment juice to make cider. lovely pineapply slightly tart flavours. it would be seriously better than oztops. in fact just about any yeast would be. SO4 is a nice clean yeast also. or a wine yeast. hell add sugar if you like to byump up to the %alc. 

or just buy a 'water purifier' to make stuff we cant talk about on AHB. 

to me alcowater sounds hidious. but to each their own. mind you i think sub zeros taasted horrid



Zebba said:


> I was actually wondering to myself the other day whether it would be possible to make a clear beer-like beverage. Dextrose (for alc), maltodextrin (for body) and lactose (for sweetness) + hops. I can't imagine it being something enjoyable to drink, but I was curious if it could be done.



*uncle arthur falling down water*
1 good bitter or ale kit
1.5kg light malt extract 
2kg glucose/dextrose 
15g Fuggles hop pellets 

now of course you could just sub out the fermetables as you like with dex or malto dex and experiment. but again i cant imagine it tasting any good, yeah it will get you pissed but...


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## Tanga (5/1/11)

I'm an experimenter [strike]Zebba[/strike]citymorgue, with a short attention span, who is also generally lazy, and kind of poor - so oztops suit me down to the ground. Failed experiments cost 2-3 dollars tops (though so far they've all worked). I don't have to spend ages cleaning equipment. And if something really tastes great, than I can redo it in a full batch (x 10).

There's nothing saying that I have to keep using the oztops yeast though, and I'm going to grab a few cheap yeasts and do some side by side comparisons to compare flavour's (something else oztops are good for), as well as some malo-lactic fermentation as well. All in manageable 2L batches.

EDIT: You know Zebba, that would probably work (below) as well, if not as quickly. I like being able to retain some of the sweetness though. It would certainly work for experimenting with beer and very dry wines / ciders though.


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## zebba (5/1/11)

Just FTR, I wasn't the one questioning OzTops, and indeed I know nothing of them besides the fact they exist 

Although I will ask if you'd considered just using gladwrap and a rubber band around your 2l bottle top, after adding yeast of course, and once fermentation has finished add enough sugar to prime and put a standard lid on.

I'm all for experimentation, and if I weren't so lazy I'd have a few aldi-apple juice ciders going right now


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## brettprevans (5/1/11)

Zebba said:


> Just FTR, I wasn't the one questioning OzTops, and indeed I know nothing of them besides the fact they exist


it was me 



Zebba said:


> I'm all for experimentation, and if I weren't so lazy I'd have a few aldi-apple juice ciders going right now


my 30L of cider with W5151 (BrettC) is with aldi juice and added sugaz.. been fermenting slowly for 3 weeks now and tastes lovely.


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## stillscottish (5/1/11)

Mark^Bastard said:


> What colour does it end up? I remember when I used to make spirits you'd start with 7kg dextrose / 20L water and it'd end up being a milky colour at the end and something I can't imagine drinking, though that was over 20% probably.



You need to "purify" it to get rid of the milkiness. <_<


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## MHB (5/1/11)

Well yes the nutrient would be a good start and will possibly reduce some of the off flavours. Many of the commercial versions are White Wine that has been Carbon filtered.
You would only need a teaspoon/Litre of a good quality Activated Carbon to strip out most flavours.
With a simple mixture like your alcoholic water, after fermentation is complete, add the carbon, leave for a couple of days then chill until the "Water" drops bright before decanting.
Should get your brew clear and basically flavourless, ready for whatever flavour you want to add.

MHB


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## Phoney (5/1/11)

citymorgue2 said:


> just buy some Wyeast 5151PC - Brettanomyces Claussenii and use it to ferment juice to make cider. lovely pineapply slightly tart flavours. it would be seriously better than oztops. in fact just about any yeast would be. SO4 is a nice clean yeast also. or a wine yeast. hell add sugar if you like to byump up to the %alc.



Ive never heard of this yeast until now....

How does it compare with 4766?


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## manticle (5/1/11)

Brettanomyces is a wild yeast - found in lambics, some wines (not always favourably) and funkier beers like orval and some Flanders beers.

If you do decide to use it, consider using a glass carboy or buying separate gear or all your brews may turn out with an unwelcome brett characteristic.

Brett is a great yeast for those who love it (me included) but it's not for everyone and not for every brew.

I like the idea of brett cider though. Is yours called Brett's Brett cider CMII?


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## Tanga (5/1/11)

I had the feeling it did funky things to fermenters. It'd be perfect for a trial run in the juice bottle me-thinks. If it's good I've got a couple of glass carboys now. Win.

MHB - no off flavours. Just a winey kind of aftertaste. I've just been informed that it's much more like ruskis than sub-zero. I knew it was something from my disreputable past. I might give the activated carbon trick a try if it's not too pricey.


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## brettprevans (6/1/11)

phoneyhuh said:


> Ive never heard of this yeast until now....
> 
> How does it compare with 4766?


Chalk and cheese. Brettanomyces as manticle said is a wild yeast. There are several strains
Brett B - sweaty horse blanket etc of Orval
Brett C - pineapple citrus slightly tart. Very differant to Brett B


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## Airgead (6/1/11)

citymorgue2 said:


> Chalk and cheese. Brettanomyces as manticle said is a wild yeast. There are several strains
> Brett B - sweaty horse blanket etc of Orval
> Brett C - pineapple citrus slightly tart. Very differant to Brett B



You have to let me know how that comes out. Its nearly apple season and a brett cider sounds great. Did you use 100% brett or did you start it off with a regular yeast?

Cheers
Dave


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## brettprevans (6/1/11)

Airgead said:


> You have to let me know how that comes out. Its nearly apple season and a brett cider sounds great. Did you use 100% brett or did you start it off with a regular yeast?
> 
> Cheers
> Dave


Sorry for the thread OT Tanga, but maybe youll be interested.

Brendo picked up the wild yeast in some pure fresh apple juice from kellybrook winery. BrettC took off becuase he was a little lax in pitching his yeast. he ended up pitching another yeast at it, to keep it at bay but the Brett C had taken hold.

So once he had kegged etc i took 700ml of his cider and used that as primary innoculation yeast in my cider. so it should pretty much be all Brett C (which is what i was wanting). I wanted a big Brett C hit. Happy to report back on results.

edit: grammer


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## MarkBastard (6/1/11)

sweaty horse blanket!!!


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## brendo (6/1/11)

citymorgue2 said:


> Sorry for the thread OT Tanga, but maybe youll be interested.
> 
> Brendo picked up the wild yeast in some pure fresh apple juice from kellybrook winery. BrettC took off becuase he was a little lax in pitching his yeast. he ended up pitching another yeast at it, to keep it at bay but the Brett C had taken hold.
> 
> So once he had kegged etc i took 700ml of his cider and used that as primary innoculation in my yeast. so it should pretty much be all Brett C (which is what i was wanting). I wanted a big Brett C hit. Happy to report back on results.



a bit of a happy accident that one... certainly adds some interest to the cider and makes it that much more drinkable!!


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## Tanga (6/1/11)

No worries - it certainly is interesting, and I've probably done my fair share of thread hijacks, so it's only fair. =)\

Would love to hear those BrettC results. So I'm guessing it's not one you can buy from the brew shop then?


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## manticle (6/1/11)

You can buy various brett cultures from Wyeast and I think also from whitelabs. If your local hbs doesn't stock it you can order it from one who does.


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## BjornJ (6/1/11)

MHB said:


> Well yes the nutrient would be a good start and will possibly reduce some of the off flavours. Many of the commercial versions are White Wine that has been Carbon filtered.
> You would only need a teaspoon/Litre of a good quality Activated Carbon to strip out most flavours.
> With a simple mixture like your alcoholic water, after fermentation is complete, add the carbon, leave for a couple of days then chill until the "Water" drops bright before decanting.
> Should get your brew clear and basically flavourless, ready for whatever flavour you want to add.
> ...




Hi MHB,
I had never thought of that, thanks for pointing it out.
Does that mean I could use Tanga's approach in say a 2 litre soda bottle and after fermentation is complete just chuck in some active charcoal?
Shake it up and "lager it" and decant off the liquid when the charcoal sediments out.

The add this "alco water" to bottles with flavour and carbonation drops to get alcopops?

(the wife likes the odd alco pop)

I have only seen charcoal filtering years and years ago when trying to filter bad moonshine. We filled a long plastic drain pipe with the stuff and a piece of cloth at the end. Poured water through first to wet them, then the bad moonshine. Came out as slightly less bad moonshine  
Interesting if possible to do that in small scale in a bottle.

Bjorn


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## brettprevans (6/1/11)

Tanga said:


> Would love to hear those BrettC results. So I'm guessing it's not one you can buy from the brew shop then?





manticle said:


> You can buy various brett cultures from Wyeast and I think also from whitelabs. If your local hbs doesn't stock it you can order it from one who does.


yup.
 Wyeast 5151PC Brett C
 Wyeast 5112 Brett B
 wyeast 5526 Brett Lambic -


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## Tanga (6/1/11)

Noooo *Bjorn!* Add the carbonation drops. But leave adding the flavour (cordial) until she's ready to drink them, then either pour it out into a glass, or just add the cordial to the bottle. If you want to use artificial cordial then I guess it would be OK to add it to the bottle, but regular cordial will be adding sugar as well and you'll get some spectacularly sticky bottle bombs.


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## BjornJ (6/1/11)

Tanga said:


> Noooo *Bjorn!* Add the carbonation drops. But leave adding the flavour (cordial) until she's ready to drink them, then either pour it out into a glass, or just add the cordial to the bottle. If you want to use artificial cordial then I guess it would be OK to add it to the bottle, but regular cordial will be adding sugar as well and you'll get some spectacularly sticky bottle bombs.




ok, ok, no need to yell :lol: 
Understand, no flavour until ready to drink.

but the question around using charcoal still stands, hopefully ?


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## Infinitee (6/1/11)

2kg invert sugar and too much hops to 15L water was my last brewski.
And whilst not quite alcowater (tastes like a strong fizzy hops tea) it's certainly a minimalist, functionalist brew.
Gets the job done, soothes the aching muscles and delivers near instant somnambulance.

But why are we here (on this forum, this planet, this existence?!) if not to throw crazy **** in the fermenter, mix microflora, define new taste sensations and get blotto'ed in as much cheap, self-sustaining style as we can muster, eh?

I'm with zebba on using the plastic bucket, glad wrap and rubber band outfit though.
Nothing stopping you from brewing world class bevvo's in a bucket and no reason imbibable alcohol need cost any more than a dozen cents a litre.
At least when your at your poorest and suffering, anyhow (which I seem to excel in).

I have wondered for a looong while, if alcowater could not be 'cleaned up' simply by a long maturation?
Surely these unpleasant-byproducts denature after some time under pressure?

There's been so many brews presumed infected failures that have turned out as gourmet, taste-exciters and crowd-pleasers given a mere few months in the coolroom.
And yes, my coolroom is a hole in the ground under shade.


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## MHB (6/1/11)

Before home distilling became so popular there were a lot of products on the market that worked exactly this way (with varying degrees of success).
Make a high alcohol wash (dex/sugar to 17-18%)
Fine, with Casein and Kaolin clay rack and add fine activated carbon, leave to settle, and rack/filter, add flavour.
No reason at all why it won't work, just make sure you have enough nutrients and get a good carbon, see a HBS shop that sells distilling supplies. Kaolin Clay is used in kitty litter, any effective fining will work well enough. We are only talking about a teaspoon of each/L.

Fun to play around with
MHB


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## Tanga (6/1/11)

Certainly are *MHB*

There are 14L water filters (with activated carbon, ceramic, silica, and 3 other kinds of filters) on ebay at the moment:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-CERAMIC-WATER-F...=item3a60c6967a
I'd imagine putting your alcowater through one would purify it pretty well (to the extent that you'd have to re-introduce yeast for carbonation purposes). I can't really justify 'wasting' money like this.

If activated carbon is cheap enough I may do a couple of experiments. But filtering is not really necessary as long as you keep the percentage alcohol low. The taste is fine, in fact I prefer it to normal alco-pops because at least it has a little alcohol feel to warn you off overimbibing, and it's not sickly sweet (though if that's what you want, just add extra cordial).

I'm going to the brewshop tomorrow to get the ingredients to do a 20L batch. Stuff it, why not. About $7 for all the ingredients to make the water, then I can experiment with which cordial flavours go well. Already got plenty of fans =).


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## browndog (6/1/11)

Tanga said:


> Certainly are *MHB*
> 
> There are 14L water filters (with activated carbon, ceramic, silica, and 3 other kinds of filters) on ebay at the moment:
> http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-CERAMIC-WATER-F...=item3a60c6967a
> ...




Tanga, after you have used your carbon a couple of times you can reactivate it by boiling it for a while then putting it in a hot oven for 30 mins. 

cheers

Browndog


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## Tanga (6/1/11)

Hahaha! Now that's ghetto. Thanks Browndog. I may just do that. =)


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## browndog (6/1/11)

Tanga said:


> Hahaha! Now that's ghetto. Thanks Browndog. I may just do that. =)



Very worthwhile if your carbon filter happens to hold a kilo of the stuff


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## Tanga (6/1/11)

browndog said:


> Very worthwhile if your carbon filter happens to hold a kilo of the stuff



=O

Your bottled water filter?


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## browndog (6/1/11)

Tanga said:


> =O
> 
> Your bottled water filter?




Correct, I used to love my bottled water before I found AG brewing :chug:


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## Tanga (7/1/11)

Holy crap! Probably the best alcoholic ginger beer I've ever had. Bunderim's Ginger Refresher made up with this. Shits all over the kits, and even alcoholic GB from the bottle-o. Fans of Bundy GB will love it. The ginger kick hides that after-taste (stomps it into submission). I am about to make 20 L of this stuff. Wish me luck - this could be dangerous. =)


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## TonyC (7/1/11)

Tanga,
i could supply a kilo or two of activated carbon if needed no cost, pm if needed.

Regards Tony


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## technoicon (28/8/11)

mrs Fury wants to do one of these.

would a lager yeast work ok? and what do you use for nutrient? does it need some boiled yeast like a cider?? or is there just one yeast addition?

I have danish and bavarian.

tanga, did you add the juice in the ferment or after or when serving?


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## Tanga (28/8/11)

Do you mean the lemon juice or the cordial Fury? Lemon juice is added as nutrient / pH at the beginning of the process, cordial is added in the glass. I don't use any other nutrient, at these alcohol levels it's not necessary.

Any neutral yeast _should_ work, which most lager yeasts are meant to be. I haven't tried it, but at a guess I'd say it'd work. Lavlin champers yeast 118 definitely will (even at low temps).

What was Mrs Fury after exactly? An alcopop?

PS: If you leave it a few weeks it becomes pure and clear (like water) and the winey aftertaste drops off. I'm in the process of sitting some on activated carbon now to see if I can eliminate it entirely. Then I will lager both bottles (one with carbon, one without) and then carbonate (with added yeast). All this extra faffing about isn't necessary though. Just thinking of doing a full fermenter of pure, clean tasting, carbonated alcowater is kinda irresistible.

PPS: If you want to do a larger batch the 10-12 L spring water containers with gladwrap and rubber band airlock works a treat. 1kg dextrose in 10 L water, 50 mL of real squeezed lemon juice.


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## Tanga (3/9/11)

So I'm doing 20 L of the stuff. I've had the ingredients for a while and nothing's fermenting atm =(.
2 kg of dex,
100 mL of lemon juice,
1 tspn of yeast nutrient,
the washed yeastcake from my last cider (nottingham)

I'll let interested parties know how it turned out. If there are any left? If you have tried this I'd love to know what you / your Mrs thought of the results.

PS. Will probably not use activated carbon. It does remove some of the edge, but not enough to warrant the extra faffing about filtering.


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## technoicon (5/9/11)

we are doing one now.

180g of Coopers brew enhancer
25ml of lemon juice
10ml of danish lager (wyeast2042)
1.8l of boiled water

will let you know how it goes.

next we will try a rasberry. would i be possible to put the cordial in, instead of sugar/dex?? if i did a gravity reading?


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## Tanga (5/9/11)

Brew enhancer 1 should be fine, a little heavier in body and lighter on the alcohol. Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

I haven't tried sugar instead of dex yet. It might work, it might end up being cidery. I'm pretty sure a dry (not sweet at all) raspberry wouldn't be for me, but by all means give it a go. Top crop or use a bit more of the lager yeast in 600 mL as a test maybe? Need to read the sugar content and add as much as the alcohol content you want needs.

I will do a sugar test sometime, not soon though.


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## technoicon (5/9/11)

will be interesting. was dead easy to do! used a 2lt coke bottle and glad wrap


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## Stinger (6/9/11)

Has anyone pitched yeast into Coke, Fanta, Lemonade?


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## petesbrew (6/9/11)

citymorgue2 said:


> Im glad your happy with the results but can you explain the attraction of oztops? its just a bottle with a stupid 'nipple/valve' thing that pops out when ready and yeast (and maybe some flavouring?). thats nothing differant than what you could make using a fermentor juice and yeast and a few normal bottles
> 
> just buy some Wyeast 5151PC - Brettanomyces Claussenii and use it to ferment juice to make cider. lovely pineapply slightly tart flavours. it would be seriously better than oztops. in fact just about any yeast would be. SO4 is a nice clean yeast also. or a wine yeast. hell add sugar if you like to byump up to the %alc.
> 
> ...


Ah Sub Zero's, reminds me of the days of them, Lemon Ruskies and Two Dogs (is that still around? That was great)


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## Tanga (6/9/11)

Stinger said:


> Has anyone pitched yeast into Coke, Fanta, Lemonade?



No... really? Can't see that tasting good. It'll work. I just looked at a coke bottle and it has about the right amount of sugar to end @ 6%, but non-sweet cidery coke? You'd be better off making the alcowater and then adding soda stream flavouring (they have cola, lemonade and that syrupy orange), or coke syrup if you can get it. I think it'd work for lemonade and orange, not sure about how well cola would go with that winey finish.

*Petesbrew*. Give the original recipe a go and serve with a good (real juice) lemon cordial. Very bloody close, and only around $1 a litre all up (including the cordial).


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## Airgead (6/9/11)

Folks

With the amount of preservative and acid in those drinks there's no way it will ferment. I suspect you would pour the yeast in and it would scream and jump straight back out again.

Cheers
Dave


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## benno1973 (6/9/11)

Airgead said:


> Folks
> 
> With the amount of preservative and acid in those drinks there's no way it will ferment. I suspect you would pour the yeast in and it would scream and jump straight back out again.
> 
> ...



I'm pretty sure my brother did it and it worked well. I'll ask him tonight.


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## technoicon (6/9/11)

I'm trying to think this one through, so any thoughts would be appreciated

If I cool to serving temp or below, say 3 Degree's.
add cordial, flavour ect.

Then cabinate via CO2, would it still bottle ferment? (BOOOM??)

shouldnt the low temp stop the yeast working?


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## petesbrew (6/9/11)

Tanga said:


> No... really? Can't see that tasting good. It'll work. I just looked at a coke bottle and it has about the right amount of sugar to end @ 6%, but non-sweet cidery coke? You'd be better off making the alcowater and then adding soda stream flavouring (they have cola, lemonade and that syrupy orange), or coke syrup if you can get it. I think it'd work for lemonade and orange, not sure about how well cola would go with that winey finish.
> 
> *Petesbrew*. Give the original recipe a go and serve with a good (real juice) lemon cordial. Very bloody close, and only around $1 a litre all up (including the cordial).


Sorry, Tanga, I think I'll stick with beer.


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## Tanga (6/9/11)

No preservatives Airgead, but acidity may be an issue for some yeast. Best to let it go flat before adding yeast.

Awesome Fury - if you use a fine filter you may be okay (as long as it's fine enough to filter out the yeast), otherwise I see sticky bottlebombs in your future. Lots of faffing around though. Easier to bottle it sans-cordial then add some as you drink / a day or so before the event then refrigerate it. I'll probably bring some to the case swap as a bit of a stir. You're more than welcome to try some.

Petesbrew - no worries mate. Except for the odd ginger beer most of mine are taken to barbecues, etc, to share with non-beer-drinkers.


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## mkstalen (6/9/11)

Awesome Fury said:


> If I cool to serving temp or below, say 3 Degree's.
> add cordial, flavour ect.
> 
> Then cabinate via CO2, would it still bottle ferment? (BOOOM??)
> ...



Cooling it to 3C will stop it fermenting while it is at that cold, but it's won't kill it. If you then force carb with CO2 and keep at 3C you'll be ok. This is what people do with kegs to keep sugars in ciders and ginger beers. But you have to keep it that cold from then on.

If you take your carbed bottle out of the fridge it will warm up again, the yeast will wake up and start chewing through the left over sugar and start farting CO2 and you'll end up with exploding bottles.


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## Airgead (6/9/11)

Tanga said:


> No preservatives Airgead, but acidity may be an issue for some yeast. Best to let it go flat before adding yeast.



I used to work for a factory that made the concentrates for that kind of stuff...

Fanta - Carbonated water, sugar, food acid (330), flavour, preservative (211), antioxidant (300), colour (110).

Lemonade is pretty much the same. Coke uses phosphoric acid to drop the Ph to something stupid which acts as a preservative. Yeast wouldn't survive in that stuff.

Cheers
Dave


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## Tanga (6/9/11)

Oops, sorry, just looked at some non-coke bottles Airgead. Kinda glad it won't work; it sounds nasty. Now that I think about it I imagine they'd get some spontaneous fermentation if the softdrink didn't have preservatives. Adding the real syrup (either sodastream or from the boxes if you know a publican / someone in your old job) to the alcowater would be best. Or even vodka and normal water if you have kegs.


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## benno1973 (6/9/11)

Airgead said:


> Lemonade is pretty much the same. Coke uses phosphoric acid to drop the Ph to something stupid which acts as a preservative. Yeast wouldn't survive in that stuff.



And of course someone has experimented with it. A small amount of fermentation, but not much, probably due to the low pH.


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## Airgead (6/9/11)

Tanga said:


> Adding the real syrup (either sodastream or from the boxes if you know a publican / someone in your old job) to the alcowater would be best. Or even vodka and normal water if you have kegs.



No thanks.. not that desperate. Just trying to save someone some time. Spending the time and effort on alcopops just doesn't do it for me.

Made a very nice German Lager today... just chilling now.

Cheers
Dave


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## technoicon (6/9/11)

so adding like coke or lemonade after the ferment should kill the yeast then?


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## Tanga (6/9/11)

No, because it'll be diluted and there will be much more yeast by then.

If you can't filter it your best bet will be using artificial cordial to sweeten it, if you _have_ to have it in the bottle made up. Why can't you store the alcowater and cordial separately until required?


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## technoicon (7/9/11)

I could do that, but i'm just wondering.. would be easier to take it around if it's just all in one bottle and you dont need to mix it, ect.

i found you can add 
Potassium Metabisulphite	
Potassium Sorbate

These is stop the yeast reproducing.

I couldnt find the ammounts yet though


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## Tanga (7/9/11)

Not 100% with that though. How about 4/5 fill the bottles (600 mL, 1.25, or 2 L) and add the cordial when you refrigerate? I've done that before. Works well.


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## QldKev (7/9/11)

Stinger said:


> Has anyone pitched yeast into Coke, Fanta, Lemonade?




Get a 2L orange juice (or what ever flavour) bottle, make sure it is preservative free and add yeast. 

QldKev


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## drsmurto (7/9/11)

If you really got desperate and given this thread is making alcoholic water...... 

The pH of coke is reported to be 2.5 which is not an issue for a wine yeast such as EC-1118. You could help it along by increasing the pH using K2CO3 to 3 or slightly higher and some yeast nutrient such as DAP wouldn't go astray.

I highly doubt there are enough preservatives in coke etc to stop EC-1118. It's what winemakers use when they get a stuck ferment.

Once you do make this hooch do you wrap the bottles in brown paper bags before drinking it? 

Not sure why you would bother, would be easier to remove the methanol from methylated spirits h34r:


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## MHB (7/9/11)

Actually they dont add Methanol to Metho any more, just vile tasting hard to remove Denaturing Agents in an attempt to make it undrinkable.
Methanol was abandon because; well imagine the legal consequences of adding a known toxin to something that you are adding flavouring to stop people drinking, there is a clearly identified possibility/certainty that someone will drink the product, deliberately poisoning people to prevent tax evasion isnt an option.
Wiki article on Metho is worth a quick read.
Please dont think Im encouraging anyone to try and clean up Metho and drink it. Some of the chemical used are very bad news and these days quite a lot of the alcohol used is synthesised from Ethane and may contain traces of Benzene which really is a good way to give yourself liver cancer.
Likewise I dont really get the point of this whole thread I have long ago outgrown the desire to make cheap piss in any form, rather concentrate on quality be it whiskey, wine, beer.....
Mark


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## Synthetase (7/9/11)

I believe the agents added to metho are difficult to remove without a decent set-up because they have vapourisation temps close to ethanol. The idea being that if you have the time money and equipment needed to separate them, you could either afford to just buy some decent booze or simply make it yourself.


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## Airgead (7/9/11)

MHB said:


> Likewise I dont really get the point of this whole thread I have long ago outgrown the desire to make cheap piss in any form, rather concentrate on quality be it whiskey, wine, beer.....
> Mark



This thread is a bit like watching a dead bird being eaten by ants - horrifying but strangely compelling... h34r: 

Cheers
Dave


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## Tanga (7/9/11)

Heh, harsh.

I never laid any claim to class. These are an alternative to alcopops... Not usually my thing, but the ginger beer is refreshing, an improvement on any of the kits or other recipes I've tried. Only brewed alternative I've found that's actually sweet. And the lemon squash goes down well with alcopop loving mates at barbecues. Objective achieved.


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## chug!chug! (7/9/11)

I think its an interesting thread thanks tanga. If you dont like it don't read it?


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## MHB (7/9/11)

Sort of comment that always makes me wonder how you know whether you like apple pie? Until after you try it.
M


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## Tanga (26/9/11)

So, an update. I have just compared the flavours of the two bottles. The one I added carbon to is pretty much tasteless, whereas the one without has a definite wine tang in the finish. I just put them both in the fridge and will report back how they taste with cordial tonight or tomorrow.


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## bingggo (27/1/15)

I Was thinking of doing this and adding non-fermentable flavourings, lactose for sweetness, and bottle priming like beer. Would that work in theory


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## stux (28/1/15)

citymorgue2 said:


> Im glad your happy with the results but can you explain the attraction of oztops? its just a bottle with a stupid 'nipple/valve' thing that pops out when ready and yeast


Hasn't actually been answered yet. My wife had some oztops. As far as I remember, the clever thing with oztops is the lids act like one-way pressure sensitive valves. This means you get the benefit of an airlock, no exploding bottles and because of the pressure sensitiveness, a fuzzy or lightly fizzy beverage, depending on which colour lid you use. 

Likewise, you also get two types of yeast, a cleaner one and a fruitier one. 

Not a bad toy for $10


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