20% liqueur recipe?

[stehowardtlr]

Does anyone ever make a clear 20% ABV liqueur without a still? Just want to try a cheap recipe that I can add essence to. Want to know what to buy and what to do. Cheers

 

[indica86]

no.

 

[mr_wibble]

You can partially freeze the beer, then lift out the water ice which concentrates the remaining alcohol.
This technique is used for making eisbock . However eisbock typically tops-out at around 10% AbV.

 

[Maheel]

plenty of recipes around but most if not all taste like crap......

there are some good forums for the other method and it is pretty easy

you could build a high quality unit for under $100 assuming your have some tools and a keg
or buy one for about $200 (not from the HB shop but...)

 

[Bribie G]

You could try just making a basic fermented dex based liquid using one of the turbo yeasts then charcoal filter it. Alcotec 24 turbo yeast claims 24% if you simply ferment at a lower temperature for a longer time up to the tolerance of the yeast, that would probably reduce any off tastes. According to their site:

The finished product, pure alcohol between 14% - 23% alcohol, can then be used as a base for mixing drinks, mixing with essences to make lower alcohol versions of many spirits...

It then goes on to describe other processes that we don't discuss here. Similarly I haven't provided a link to their site as we are not, on this forum, interested in those other procedures.

 

[Yob]

why not just make a %20 beer?

 

[Airgead]

I make a heap of 20%+ liqueurs but I do it by taking a base wine (or beer) and fortifying it up with an appropriate spirit. Like cider mixes 2:1 with brandy then sweetened to make an apple liqueur (lovely).

Or I steep ingredients in a spirit then water it down, usually with a light sugar syrup to 20%. I made a really nice quince and honey brandy that way.

The turbo yeast & sugar stuff tastes foul. Don't bother. You are better off buying a cheap vodka and flavouring/sweetening.

 

[Bribie G]

Aldi do an Aussie brandy for around $20.

Hey Airgead, I take it that when you mix the brandy with the cider it kills all further fermentation?

 

[Airgead]

Yep. You need to fortify it up above the alcohol tolerance for the yeast. My cider yeast is 71B which snuffs it at over 14% so I bump it up to 16%+ to be sure then sweeten to taste.

I find 1/3 brandy. 2/3 cider and a dash of honey makes an amazing liquid panty remover.

 

[TimT]

The champagne yeast I've been using on most my meads and ciders and wines is pretty powerful stuff; regularly ferments the must to around 14 per cent alcohol. Wine makers will sometimes use a trick to nudge the alcohol content of their wines up by rewarding yeast that survives in the later stages of fermentation (ie, in higher alcohol concentrations) with additions of sugar. Apparently you can keep this going for another 5 - 10 per cent or so, and get your wine up to 20 per cent. Haven't tried it myself and I'm not particularly interested in doing so, but it seems simple enough - get a high alcohol tolerant yeast, and then feed it in the later stages of fermentation to nudge the alcohol concentration in your booze up a few notches.

 

[Airgead]

DV10 or EC1118 will handle 16-18% pretty easily. Wouldn't be too hard to get them to 20.