alcotec nooob

[midnightmik]

making 20%ish spirit sounds interesting...
So I gather i need alcotec48, potassium sulphate, turboklar and some activated carbon granuals to filter thro..
anything else?

2 questions... 1. whats the recipe/method
& 2 whats turboklar

thxs :mrgreen:

 

[oldbloke]

I think Alcotec have a full set of instructions on their website. Kinda makes sense to use their instructions with their yeast (and I think they sell all the other bits you need)

 

[midnightmik]

thxs

 

[clum]

This sounds very exciting.

I am having a Halloween party for this so think I may brew some of this for it as it seems to have a fast brewing turn around from what I have read..

Don't know if I want 23 litres of the stuff though :shock:

Funny thing is when I tell everyone I have started brewing they all say they have old demijons in their garage somewhere.. Not seen one yet though :wha:

I think I may just use a 5 litre water bottle for my first attempt at this and try different flavours..

Let me know how yours turns out midnightmik :grin:

Regards,

Clum :electric:

 

[godfrey]

apparently the turbo yeast are very active and too much for an airlock

you would want an open bucket with plenty of head space

 

[GeanieO]

I made some of this stuff a few years ago, thinking it would save me money on festival booze...wrong :sick: ! Admittedly I didn't filter through charcoal, but it came out tasting awful. I had to buy all sorts of stuff to flavour it with because plain old coke/juice didn't seem to cover the taste! The only thing that (kinda) fixed it were the little bottles of flavouring from the hb shop, and loads of sugar! not very cheap at all!

I'm interested to see how yours turns out, I hope it tastes better than mine did too :)

 

[Moley]

2 questions... 1. whats the recipe/method
& 2 whats turboklar?

Method: Follow the instructions on the packet, especially with regard to temperatures.

As I understand it from another forum, the Alcotec 48 should ferment 6kg sugar in 2 days or 8kg sugar in 5 days, giving around 15% or 20% alcohol respectively, and if you're going for 20% then you should really be using brewing sugar.

It is advisable to add the Turbo Carbon at the same time as the yeast, this acts to remove some of the impurities and off tastes as fermentation progresses. If you add the liquid carbon then you will also have to use finings. TurboKlar is a particularly aggressive finings which will also strip out flavours. This makes it unsuitable for use in regular winemaking.

It might still be advisable to filter your resultant wash through a carbon packed column, as in this topic.

 

[clum]

I am looking at a way to filter the end product and I have read somewhere you can use a Brita water filter to filter the end product..

Is this possible or will I still need activated charcoal filter? :hmm:

If so how the hell :twisted: do I filter make/buy one.. Rather make one as I am quite DIY handy and like to do things on a budget..

Regards,

Clum :electric:

 

[MattN]

I am looking at a way to filter the end product and I have read somewhere you can use a Brita water filter to filter the end product..

Is this possible or will I still need activated charcoal filter? :hmm:

If so how the hell :twisted: do I filter make/buy one.. Rather make one as I am quite DIY handy and like to do things on a budget..

Regards,

Clum :electric:

Filter jugs are on offer at Wilko's at the moment for £1.25 including a filter..... Cheaper than replacement filter.

Matt

 

[Moley]

If so how the hell :twisted: do I filter make/buy one.. Rather make one as I am quite DIY handy and like to do things on a budget.

I've posted the link once already, blue text is clickable.

>>> click here <<<

 

[mm707]

Britas filters don't work, they remove some of the impurities but the end result is not too good, I tried it :)

Go to the link posted above and have a look at cupid_stunts filter ( it's better than mine ) , make one of those and you will and up with a really nice clean 20% + drink which can be flavoured if you like.

 

[clum]

Morning all,

I have done my alcotec turbo yeast batch.. Left it for 2 half days now and the pack says 24 hours..

Think my batch might have been slightly colder than recomended..

Still fermenting aswell..

My question is I took specific gravity reading just after I added yeast as I forgot to do it just before I added it..

Will this affect the true alcohol level? If so how off would you think + or - the alcohol reading.. I have about 13.6%Vol on it just now..

Regards,

Clum :electric:

 

[Moley]

If you took the OG reading within a couple of hours of pitching the yeast then it should be fairly true.

Ignore any timescale printed on the packet, particularly if temperature might be a little on the low side, and just leave it until there is no sign of fermentation and your hydrometer reading is unchanged after a day or two.

 

[SloeBrewer]

If it goes all the way to 20% you will need a spirit alcohol meter, as I don't think many hydrometers go beyond about 15%.

Also, if you do one of the liqueur kits, like prohibition, or Classic liqueurs, the carbon goes in after fermentation, but before clearing. The Alcotec instructions also state to add any carbon after fermentation, so I don't know why people put it in at the start. Even if you use the liquid carbon though, it's still not as good as filtering it in a column.

 

[Moley]

A spirit hydrometer won't give a meaningful reading if there is any residual sugar whatsoever.

And I can't check it just at the moment but I'm pretty sure that if you use the Triple wash yeast, they tell you to add the carbon from the start.

 

[SloeBrewer]

And I can't check it just at the moment but I'm pretty sure that if you use the Triple wash yeast, they tell you to add the carbon from the start.

Fair enough, I guess they each have different instructions, as I've not seen the triple wash one.

 

[clum]

Thanks guys.. :thumb:

I have a 3 stage filtration kit thingy-ma-jig so i am going to be doing that tonight and it will be ready to consume in 24 hrs.. :pray:

I am going to add some flavourings to different bottles.. Vanilla, Orange, Apple and Lemon & Lime

Have my halloween party this weekend aswell so I might add some red food colouring to a bottle :evil:

I will let you know how it turns out.. :grin:

Am I right in assuming that I need a distillers hydrometer to get a proper reading on this? I only took specific gravity reading on it originally so will I be able to get an accurate vol% on it? :wha:

Regards,

Clum :electric: