# Prison/Improvised Grog?



## zarniwoop (1/7/14)

Just vaguely watching a series on ABC2 called Hard Time (National Geographic program on a prison in Georgia), they mention in passing the use of onions for making illicit alcohol. So if you were in jail and in between attempts to avoid romantic liaisons in the shower how would you make alcohol?

(Yes this is just a hypothetical question about unusual ways to make grog I'm not seriously suggesting that you hit the bottle the moment you go down - just making it clear in case someone lacks a sense of humour....  )


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## Ducatiboy stu (1/7/14)

Helloo 

Well....I was in a former life a contractor that serviced/replaced the inmates phones. I am talking about actually going into the prison. As in in to where the cells are.

Yes...I had to mix with proper hard core crims..

If they could work it out they would.

They have lots of time on there hands..

Did get to see some "interesting" things..


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## Judanero (1/7/14)

Juice and bread. Nasty.


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## slcmorro (1/7/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Helloo
> 
> Well....I was in a former life a contractor that serviced/replaced the inmates phones. I am talking about actually going into the prison. As in in to where the cells are.
> 
> ...


Completely unhelpful and didn't answer the OP's question at all. Try again.


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## Ducatiboy stu (1/7/14)

slcmorro said:


> Completely unhelpful and didn't answer the OP's question at all. Try again.


Ok.


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## slcmorro (1/7/14)

Good job!


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## slcmorro (1/7/14)

*insert higher post count figure here*


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## Ducatiboy stu (1/7/14)

slcmorro said:


> *insert higher post count figure here*



I am happy with that.


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## slcmorro (1/7/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> We will never be friends, but you've already said that.
> 
> I am happy with that.


But that is all I want. Much sadness has entered my life 

Now... to be honest to the OP, neither myself or Stu have anything constructive but our post counts to add to your thread. God speed and best of luck.


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## Ducatiboy stu (1/7/14)

Yeah...well considerng I have actually been and worked inside a few prisons...there are more than a few stories that have come my way....

Few of my mates are (and some who are no longer ) screws..


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## Ducatiboy stu (1/7/14)

Back to Zarniwoop's question..

You would be suprised what they will try and ferment in jail.

Everything and anything.

And in any vessel possible.


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## manticle (1/7/14)

It's a fun thread, not a serious one so how about we let the intra-forum point scoring rivalry go for once?

General point that anyone could take on board.


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## Ducatiboy stu (2/7/14)

zarniwoop said:


> how would you make alcohol?


Fruit.

If you can get hold of a balloon inside, it makes a very good fermenting vessell.


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## indica86 (2/7/14)

Milk bottle, fruit and water stashed behind the kitchen fridge, with some bread thrown in.

Now that cigarettes are prohibited in QLD prisons, nicotine patches soaked in water, this water then has tea leaves put in it. The tea leaves are dried. Toilet roll wrapping is used as tally-ho. Lit from toaster or battery and wire.


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## manticle (2/7/14)

Prohibiting smoking in institutions containing hardcore criminals? Smart move. Love to be the prison guard enforcing that ban.


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## indica86 (2/7/14)

Hasn't been too bad.


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## Maheel (2/7/14)

sugar from the coffee supply
squirt of tommy sauce for nutrients
little bit of lemon juice to reduce PH (from Friday nights fish and chips)

yeast is the issue... bread yeast would do muled in by some redneck i guess


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## Maheel (2/7/14)

indica86 said:


> Now that cigarettes are prohibited in QLD prisons,


do the cons supply their own patches or am I funding them ?


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## slcmorro (2/7/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Fruit.
> 
> If you can get hold of a balloon inside, it makes a very good fermenting vessell.


There we go! Now you're getting it.

I've seen a few prison docos (never been inside one for any reason) where prisoners horde their apples, and make a scrumpy type beverage they call prison hooch.


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## indica86 (2/7/14)

Maheel said:


> do the cons supply their own patches or am I funding them ?


Your taxes are.


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## zarniwoop (2/7/14)

Bread for the yeast? I'd have thought the oven would kill it?


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## indica86 (2/7/14)

I would have thought so too, but it works...


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## Not For Horses (2/7/14)

I'd put aside jam from breakfast. Capture some wild yeast and lacto using the slice of bread. Sour beer prison style.


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## indica86 (2/7/14)

Not For Horses said:


> Capture some wild yeast


Do you think there is more of that in a women's prison? :icon_vomit:


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## Dave70 (2/7/14)

I read about a good one somewhere called 'bush champagne'. Basically lemon ENO, water and cleaning spirit. _Smooth_.

A good mates wife is a guard, and like any cop or ambo, has plenty of stories. The substances some inmates will ingest to get off make _pruno_ sound like Westvleteren 12.


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## Dave70 (2/7/14)

indica86 said:


> Do you think there is more of that in a women's prison? :icon_vomit:


Only lacto. 
Harvested on a paddle pop stick.


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## manticle (2/7/14)

> Hasn't been too bad.


Possibly because most are ignoring it I'd be guessing. I know some psych wards in Vic have the same policy (general hospital policy) and the staff are more than happy to allow patients to continue to smoke. Very misguided policy in my opinion, dreamt up by some ridiculous OHS twerp who thinks going to the toilet requires a SWMS.


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## indica86 (2/7/14)

manticle said:


> Possibly because most are ignoring it I'd be guessing.



No, tobacco and related products are prohibited items now.


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## indica86 (2/7/14)

Dave70 said:


> Only lacto.
> Harvested on a paddle pop stick.


Candida albicans


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## wynnum1 (2/7/14)

Bioethanol _production_ from white _onion_ by yeast in repeated



In terms of sugar and nutrient content, it was
simple to use discarded onions as a source of
medium as they had been rejected mainly on
account of their shape or size [7]. Onions usually
contain sulphur-containing amino acids and alliin,
which are converted to allysine compounds
(propylallysine, methyl propylallysine) by cellular
alliinase during processing [9]. The allysine
compounds have a keen, stimulating smell and an
anti-microorganism function, which inhibits the
growth of yeast. In preliminary experiments, it was
found that raw onion juice was difficult to ferment
by yeast. However, the allysine compounds are
volatile and could be removed by autoclave
treatment before fermentation [9].
Ethanol production by nor mal S. cerevisiae and a
genetically modified strain of S. cerevisiae was
compared (Fig. 1). The modified strain had more
CO2 above the ethanol. The application of
modified yeast to improve ethanol production
from glucose is key in many biofuels production
programs [13].


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## manticle (2/7/14)

Do the prisoners have to wear hi-vis at all times as well?


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## Dave70 (2/7/14)

Hopefully just the pedos.


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## JDW81 (2/7/14)

manticle said:


> Possibly because most are ignoring it I'd be guessing. I know some psych wards in Vic have the same policy (general hospital policy) and the staff are more than happy to allow patients to continue to smoke. Very misguided policy in my opinion, dreamt up by some ridiculous OHS twerp who thinks going to the toilet requires a SWMS.


Yeah a lot of inpatient psych facilities won't allow smoking, so they provide patches, other have a smoking courtyard as they figure it isn't a battle worth fighting. 

Hospitals have a "no smoking policy", but unless someone is shackled to the bed (which is rare) they can't really stop them going outside for a smoke. I knew of a guy who was i hospital with head injuries, who would head down to the pub for few pints each evening after dinner, hard collar and all. GO out the front of any hospital and you'll see people, IV poles and all having a few darts, often alongside hospital staff.

Where there is a will there is a way sums it up best I think.


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## sp0rk (2/7/14)

I've heard of prisoners in the US using lollies, water and bread to make prison wine
Another one prisoners do when they're not allowed fresh fruit is sauerkraut and orange juice
And you've got your good old pruno


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## TimT (2/7/14)

One of my brewing books has an anecdote the writer heard from a mate in prison.

They used bread, juice, and spit. My favourite bit is the spit as it will aid in the sugar-starch conversion! Probably get some lacto fermentation happening too. (Do we also have yeast in our mouths?) I suppose water was involved as well.

Maybe yeast isn't a problem - as a result of successive attempts to brew ilicitly in prisons the places are now a yeast-rich environment? If food scraps attract insects, rats, etc, they'll often carry the yeast with them.


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## Airgead (2/7/14)

Guy one the internet had a go at pruno a few years back. Fruit juice, whatever sugar you can get hold of and moldy bread shoved into a sock.

My favorite quote from the article - 

It's hard to believe this started out as a bag of fruit snacks and grape juice. Yet somehow these ingredients went from sweet and child-like to harsh and alcoholic quicker than Lindsay Lohan.

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000373.php


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## pcmfisher (2/7/14)

manticle said:


> Prohibiting smoking in institutions containing hardcore criminals? Smart move. Love to be the prison guard enforcing that ban.


and I bet some of the guards would have a nice little industry going to suppliment their income.


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## mje1980 (2/7/14)

Aftershave ?


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## mje1980 (2/7/14)

pcmfisher said:


> and I bet some of the guards would have a nice little industry going to suppliment their income.


I'd be handing them out for free if it kept them manageable


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## jaypes (2/7/14)

I read this book (and actually met the dude on my last visit to Alcatraz) http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nativeson/article/Old-ex-con-back-at-the-Rock-telling-prison-4971412.php

In the book he described making prison hooch from fruit and placing it in garbage bins to ferment, he states the smell would direct the guards directly to the source.

I will get the excerpt from the book, interesting read


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## Ducatiboy stu (2/7/14)

slcmorro said:


> There we go! Now you're getting it.


Getting what....


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## tavas (2/7/14)

Wait a week and ask Rolf. he should be able to get some ideas.


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## Dave70 (2/7/14)

TimT said:


> One of my brewing books has an anecdote the writer heard from a mate in prison.
> 
> They used bread, juice, and spit. My favourite bit is the spit as it will aid in the sugar-starch conversion! Probably get some lacto fermentation happening too. (Do we also have yeast in our mouths?) I suppose water was involved as well.
> 
> Maybe yeast isn't a problem - as a result of successive attempts to brew ilicitly in prisons the places are now a yeast-rich environment? If food scraps attract insects, rats, etc, they'll often carry the yeast with them.


I recall seeing an episode of No Reservations where Tony enjoyed a beverage made from some plant, a tuber or some description I think, that was chewed up and spat into a suitable receptacle by the village women and left to do its thing.

And I'm sure Dogfish Head passed the spittoon around the office once for some ancient inspired brew. 

The women in their office, the women in the village, spitters the lot of em.


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## sp0rk (2/7/14)

Dave70 said:


> I recall seeing an episode of No Reservations where Tony enjoyed a beverage made from some plant, a tuber or some description I think, that was chewed up and spat into a suitable receptacle by the village women and left to do its thing.


That would be Cauim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauim

There's also a similar drink called Chicha De Yucca


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## Ducatiboy stu (2/7/14)

tavas said:


> Wait a week and ask Rolf. he should be able to get some ideas.


Bet he wont be singing Jake the Peg....


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## indica86 (2/7/14)

No he'll be crying and saying "Rolfy got pegged"


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## TimT (2/7/14)

_There's also a similar drink called Chicha De Yucca_

Yeah, I love the 'spit' factor so much that I keep going on about it.

I was reading a book review a week or so ago and apparently in some countries the chicha is just made by young and old chewing and spitting, whereas in others chicha is just made by young maidens. Wonder what the flavour difference is? (Would quote but the article is paywalled and I don't have my copy here).


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## Vini2ton (2/7/14)

Plastic bags watertight,any veg fruit bread scraps sugar.Buried in orchard.Shhh.


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## slcmorro (2/7/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Getting what....


There's that wonderous post count bump again 

Getting that you *can* contribute to a thread with a related answer to the question that was asked, and also at the same time bump up your post count. It's a marvel.


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## Ducatiboy stu (2/7/14)

Why are you so interested in my thread count. No one else gives a fat rats...including me...


Except for you.


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## Dave70 (2/7/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:



> Bet he wont be singing Jake the Peg....


..deedle, eedle, eedle, um..


Sounds creepy now..


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## Camo6 (2/7/14)

Guards! Call a cell toss. Sounds like someone's gonna get shivved.

Not quite about prison hooch but I saw an interesting link to contraband made in prison the other day. Like a sai made from dried toilet paper. Such improvisation. Surely making hooch would be childs play. NO Rolf, it's a figure of speech.


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## Ducatiboy stu (2/7/14)

Not sure how to explain this to kids now.....


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## Beertard (2/7/14)

TimT said:


> _There's also a similar drink called Chicha De Yucca_
> 
> Yeah, I love the 'spit' factor so much that I keep going on about it.
> 
> I was reading a book review a week or so ago and apparently in some countries the chicha is just made by young and old chewing and spitting, whereas in others chicha is just made by young maidens. Wonder what the flavour difference is? (Would quote but the article is paywalled and I don't have my copy here).


From watching brewmasters when dogfushhead tested all the saliva for enzymatic usefullness, the girlies spit was better. Be fucked if I'd drink prison hooch made from some hepatitis riddled spit, bread spooge sounds not much more inviting.


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## Ducatiboy stu (2/7/14)

Camo6 said:


> Guards! Call a cell toss. Sounds like someone's gonna get shivved.
> 
> Not quite about prison hooch but I saw an interesting link to contraband made in prison the other day. Like a sai made from dried toilet paper. Such improvisation. Surely making hooch would be childs play. NO Rolf, it's a figure of speech.


The prisons I had to work in had cabinets of contraband weapons...

Blokes where even using false teeth to make weapons....

A favorite was to heat up a plastic knife which would harden the plastic then sharpen it by rubbing it on concrete.....amazing what lots of time and nothing to do can lead to.


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## Online Brewing Supplies (2/7/14)

Plastic knife, sounds better than being stabbed with a pork sword.


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## Dave70 (3/7/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> ...amazing what lots of time and nothing to do can lead to.


In my case, masturbation generally.


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## hellbent (3/7/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Yeah...well considerng I have actually been and worked inside a few prisons...there are more than a few stories that have come my way....
> 
> Few of my mates are (and some who are no longer ) screws..


I knew a woman who was a warden in a prison.... she was a fantastic screw


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## Ducatiboy stu (3/7/14)

Dave70 said:


> In my case, masturbation generally.


I remember going into one of the pods to replace the inmate phone after some one had a " Dear John " phone call......I was asked by the guys in green if I was there to re-fill the condom vending machine....they where very dissapointed when I said no. 

Apparantly that particular vending machine went thru twice as many condoms as any other machine in that jail...


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## Salt (4/7/14)

We are way more advanced over here in Aotearoa! 

Orange Juice and Hand Sanitizer is the way to go! The alcohol based hand sanitizer that evaporates as it sanitizers your hands...

There has even been big problems in the hospitals with people stealing the hand sanitizer to mix with their Juice to get tipsy.

Chur to the Hand Sanitizer!


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## TimT (4/7/14)

"Dogfushead". What's that. An NZ brewery? 

(Apologies NZers, feel free to make canny observations about us convicts across the ditch).


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## manticle (4/7/14)

Dogfush hid


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## Beertard (4/7/14)

I get a bit of a kiwi accent when I type drunk


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## mckenry (4/7/14)

This doesnt help but it gave me a laugh


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## Mardoo (4/7/14)

My father in law started a Wednesday night prayer group while in prison. He immediately located one fermenter in the chapel altar and one in the lectern. Very popular prayer group it was.


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## Wolfman1 (5/7/14)

Is this research for Rolf?


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## i-a-n (21/7/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Not sure how to explain this to kids now.....


Try explaining how he was an under 18 backstroke champion, and 20 years later was doing under 14 breaststroke.....


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## monkeybusiness (21/7/14)

Reminds me of a link someone posted on this forum a few years back.

It's a blog called "steve don't eat that". Scroll down to volume 8 and he describes his experience making replica prison hooch.

Then read the rest of them because they're fkn funny, especially the _Cuitlacoche_ one. I was in tears the first time I read them and they're still funny.

....Oops should've read the rest of the thread. someone already posted that link


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## Bribie G (21/7/14)

Wolfman1 said:


> Is this research for Rolf?


Tie me little girls down sport, tie me little girls down.

When I worked for Rothmans back in the early 1990s we used to deliver 3 shipping cartons of White Ox a week to the newsagent at Woodford. They were the agents for supplying the prison with tobacco, confectionery and newpapers etc to the jail.

Apparently smoking among the criminal classes is almost universal.


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## Feldon (21/7/14)

Bribie G said:


> Tie me little girls down sport, tie me little girls down.
> 
> When I worked for Rothmans back in the early 1990s we used to deliver 3 shipping cartons of White Ox a week to the newsagent at Woodford. They were the agents for supplying the prison with tobacco, confectionery and newpapers etc to the jail.
> 
> Apparently smoking among the criminal classes is almost universal.


Even non-smokers put their hand up for the 'snout' ration. Its the currency of exchange inside.


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## mattlea266 (21/7/14)

I would guess 95% smoke. When u consider what else most of them are into smoking seems minor. Im pretty sure there is a smoking ban in nsw prisons coming next year. Should be a fun couple of months. 

They had to get rid of the flavoured condoms in gaol. 3 points for a correct guess what inmates did with them.

And the alcohol sanitiser was removed a few years back for the previously stated reasons.


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