Concerned about bacteria infection in my hooch

[cruno]

I decided to make hooch as my first brewing adventure.
The recipe (just bread, sugar orange juice and water) that I made it from says to use a t-shirt to filter out the bread from the yeast solution. All the equipment, the bottles etc were either brand new or well cleaned. However I am concerned that the t-shirt may have infected the brew. The recipe guide says to leave it for 5 days. I am currently on day 4 and their seems to be allot of carbon dioxide build up in the bottles.
Are my fears justified? Any help would be appreciated please!

 

[phettebs]

CO2 is a natural by product of fermentation. Is there anything else that is making you think it's infected? It's usually quite obvious: rancid smells, floating pellicles, etc.

When you are new to the miracle of fermentation, much of it seems rather nasty which can lead you to believe that something went wrong. Just give it some time, and then try it.

Baz

 

[cruno]

CO2 is a natural by product of fermentation. Is there anything else that is making you think it's infected? It's usually quite obvious: rancid smells, floating pellicles, etc.

When you are new to the miracle of fermentation, much of it seems rather nasty which can lead you to believe that something went wrong. Just give it some time, and then try it.

Baz

There is nothing in particular that is making me think it is infected. It just seems strange that using a t-shirt to filter the yeast solution is a safe way to do it? Maybe I am just been paranoid as the source the recipe came from is quite reputable!
By the way to I have to wait until it has stopped producing C02 before I can drink it?
Thanks for your help :thumb:

 

[Moley]

I am currently on day 4 and their seems to be a lot of carbon dioxide build up in the bottles.

Please explain what you mean by "in the bottles", what ever you are brewing should be under airlock and never sealed until fermentation has finished, then if you want it fizzy you add just a little more sugar when bottling, by which I mean no more than one teaspoonful per pint.

Straining through any sort of fabric will stop the bulk of the solid matter but won't stop the yeast, the cells are just too small and there are billions of them throughout your brew. However, any fabric you use should be boiled for 10 minutes first.

And yes, you have to wait until CO2 production has ceased, and then some.

 

[calumscott]

CO2 is a natural by product of fermentation. Is there anything else that is making you think it's infected? It's usually quite obvious: rancid smells, floating pellicles, etc.

When you are new to the miracle of fermentation, much of it seems rather nasty which can lead you to believe that something went wrong. Just give it some time, and then try it.

Baz

There is nothing in particular that is making me think it is infected. It just seems strange that using a t-shirt to filter the yeast solution is a safe way to do it? Maybe I am just been paranoid as the source the recipe came from is quite reputable!
By the way to I have to wait until it has stopped producing C02 before I can drink it?
Thanks for your help :thumb:

:rofl: This reminds me of making ginger beer when I was about 11!!! I nicked a starter from a "plant" that my mum had going and did the whole lemonade bottle brewing thing of letting the pressure build then let it out then let it build then let it out then...

...it was rank!!!

You might want to progress reasonably quickly to a couple of demijohns and airlocks... :thumb:

 

[cruno]

I am currently on day 4 and their seems to be a lot of carbon dioxide build up in the bottles.

Please explain what you mean by "in the bottles", what ever you are brewing should be under airlock and never sealed until fermentation has finished, then if you want it fizzy you add just a little more sugar when bottling, by which I mean no more than one teaspoonful per pint.

Straining through any sort of fabric will stop the bulk of the solid matter but won't stop the yeast, the cells are just too small and there are billions of them throughout your brew. However, any fabric you use should be boiled for 10 minutes first.

And yes, you have to wait until CO2 production has ceased, and then some.

Oooops. I did not boil the t-shirt!
The bottles are just 2 litre plastic water bottles. I open them up everynow and again to release the CO2.
There does not seem to be any problem so far but from what you have just told me I fear there might be?
Also can I stop the fermentation process myself by cooling down the bottles and then putting them in the fridge and then drink them?

 

[cruno]

CO2 is a natural by product of fermentation. Is there anything else that is making you think it's infected? It's usually quite obvious: rancid smells, floating pellicles, etc.

When you are new to the miracle of fermentation, much of it seems rather nasty which can lead you to believe that something went wrong. Just give it some time, and then try it.

Baz

There is nothing in particular that is making me think it is infected. It just seems strange that using a t-shirt to filter the yeast solution is a safe way to do it? Maybe I am just been paranoid as the source the recipe came from is quite reputable!
By the way to I have to wait until it has stopped producing C02 before I can drink it?
Thanks for your help :thumb:

:rofl: This reminds me of making ginger beer when I was about 11!!! I nicked a starter from a "plant" that my mum had going and did the whole lemonade bottle brewing thing of letting the pressure build then let it out then let it build then let it out then...

...it was rank!!!

You might want to progress reasonably quickly to a couple of demijohns and airlocks... :thumb:

I have bought some of those items, on the way from ebay! Thanks for your help

 

[calumscott]

I have bought some of those items, on the way from ebay! Thanks for your help

This will make your life (and brewing) better. Now, those bottles...

Got any balloons?

 

[cruno]

I have bought some of those items, on the way from ebay! Thanks for your help

This will make your life (and brewing) better. Now, those bottles...

Got any balloons?

Nope, but i think I see where your going with that. Good idea!
Is it absolutley nessesary to wait untill all activity (i.e C02 release) has stopped in the bottles before drinking it?

 

[Moley]

Is it absolutely neccesary to wait until all activity (i.e C02 release) has stopped in the bottles before drinking it?

Yeast converts sugar into alcohol plus carbon dioxide.

The longer you leave those yeasts to get on with their job, the more alcohol they are making for you.

You can drink it whenever you want, how desperate are you?

It will probably give you the shits and ferocious headaches but it will get you ******, if that's the sole objective.

 

[cruno]

Is it absolutely neccesary to wait until all activity (i.e C02 release) has stopped in the bottles before drinking it?

Yeast converts sugar into alcohol plus carbon dioxide.

The longer you leave those yeasts to get on with their job, the more alcohol they are making for you.

You can drink it whenever you want, how desperate are you?

It will probably give you the shits and ferocious headaches but it will get you ******, if that's the sole objective.

Its not the sole objective. So I think i will try and avoid the shits etc :drunk:

 

[Gayle]

Wait until it's well finished, it could take a week or two. Let the sediment build up at the bottom so you can siphon the brew off it easily into clean bottles. (Do you have a siphon? Order one if you don't, works much better than a t-shirt) You can add a little sugar to the bottles at this stage and let them carbonate for two weeks in the warm, then two weeks in the cold before drinking. You can of course start drinking at any time now but there will be negatives to it...

What was the recipe? If there was a lot of sugar in the brew the bread might not be of much use for alcohol production.

It does sound like a fun experiment, and you may well end up with something drinkable... but it's more fun and tasty with proper basic equipment and brewers yeast