Homemade Hunchpunch Experiment

[Bruno]

I found a recipe on http://homedistiller.org for a cheap wine for distillation.

It costs about $10 and should produce the approximate equivalent of 2 gallons of vodka, or about a keg of beer. Should finish at 14% - 18%. The original recipe is for 25 liters, or about 6.6 gallons. That wouldn't fit in my bucket, so I'm doing a scaled down 5 gallon batch.

Actual recipe used :

Water to 5 gallons
Sugar  10 lb
can of wench's white grape juice concentrate (340ml)
1 pint extra pulp orange juice
2 5G packets of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
3 tsp yeast nutrient
1.5 tsp yeast energizer
20g citric acid.

Followed original instructions:

Method
Invert the sugar by bringing 2 1.5 L water to the boil in a large pan and adding the sugar
and malic acid. Boil for 15 minutes, stirring well. Turn off the heat, and add water to cool.
Pour into a clean fermenter. Add grape concentrate, orange juice and nutrient. Make up to
25 L 5 gallons with water. Stir well. Allow to cool to 25 – 30 degrees C. Reactivate the dried yeast by
pouring into 50mL of filtered tap water which has been boiled and cooled to 30 degrees C.
Stir well. After 15 minutes add the yeast suspension to the fermenter. Put a fermentation trap
in place. Insulate the fermenter by wrapping it with a towel, or, in cold weather, a sleepingbag.
Partial aeration — by gently blowing air through the ferment for a minute or so — once
daily for the first three days and at the end of fermentation, when the SG is about 0.990 and
the bubbles are becoming infrequent — is beneficial. Allow the wine to rest in a cool place.
Fine if necessary, and rack off the yeast when clear.

Right now it's sitting in my shower so it won't make a mess if it overflows. According to the writer, the brew is drinkable as is. I'm gonna try diluting it with 1-2 parts fruit juice and see how it tastes. If it's crap, meh, I'm out $10 and 2 hours of my time.

[East Coast Hustle]

that's not wine.

that's fucking Pruno.

[Bruno]

It's a specialized high grade hobo wine — high in alcohol, thin, lacking tannin, rather acid, but it actually tastes blandly
pleasant, and would probably mature in bottle quite well, and, by reason of its alcoholic
strength, might stay at its peak for a year.

[Richter]

Plan to distill anything out of it, or just making hobo wine?

Also: shower is wise.  I once filtered 3 gallons of hard cider through my apartment floor when a bottle ruptured.

[East Coast Hustle]

that's not wine.

that's fucking Pruno.

[Bruno]

I'll try making a variety of punches with it first. If I decide it's not fit to drink without distillation, I will distill.

I should add that I used citric acid instead of malic acid, and am not using a blanket or towel to insulate. It seems to be bubbling along nicely.

I aerated it for the first time today when I added the first dose of nutrient. (I'm splitting it up into 3 doses every two days.) I used a laboratory wash bottle and an aquarium bubble stone to filter the air through a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water. The air bubbles through the water/H2O2 and goes through a few feet of sanitized tubing, into the must through a second bubble stone.

I just used my mouth to blow through it this time, but by the end my face was getting really, really tired. I've rigged up an air pump from a pneumatic motor that I can turn by hand, and it will pump air.

[fomenter]

sounds like....

Prison wine...or prison hooch is made all the time by those that really want a taste of grandpa's old' cough medicine. It is commonly made in the cell toilet. The better choice, however, is to brew it in a trash bag.

Step #1: Make a strong bag by double or triple-bagging plastic trash bags.

Step #2: Pour warm water, your choice of fruit or fruit juice, raisons, tomatoes, yeast, and as much sugar as you can get. If sugar is not on hand, powdered drink mix will work also (kool-aid).

Note: (Many prisons make yeast illegal on the premises. In this case moldy bread does just fine. Slices should be moist and can be put in a sock to strain any stray elements.)

Step #3: Tie off the bag with a knot. Penetrate the bag with a straw, or some other type of tube to allow carbon dioxide to release.

Step #4: Hide the bag where your prison guard can't see it. Three days is enough, if you really can't wait. A week is a more reasonable time. Normal wine takes around a month to brew.

It is crucial that you hide the smell. Burning incense or spraying deodorant can help.

[Bruno]

that's not wine.

that's fucking Pruno.

It's a horsefeed bucket full of liquid freedom.

[East Coast Hustle]

I didn't say I wouldn't drink it.

sounds delish.

[Bruno]

Everybody knows Discordians make the best Pruno.

[East Coast Hustle]

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Dude you have to tell us how this turns out.
i'm interested in hearing about it, but wouldnt try it myself.

i did however buy some of those muscadine grapes that only grow around here (south east) and i now see where that weird flavor/wang in florida wine comes from.

[Bruno]

I've heard of those, but I'm not sure if I've ever eaten any.

It was looking a little flat earlier today when I aerated and added nutrients, but it's pretty fizzy right now.

I try not to peek in on it more than 2-3 times a day, but it's hard sometimes. 

[East Coast Hustle]

Dude you have to tell us how this turns out.
i'm interested in hearing about it, but wouldnt try it myself.

i did however buy some of those muscadine grapes that only grow around here (south east) and i now see where that weird flavor/wang in florida wine comes from.

...Florida wine?

[Cainad (dec.)]

Dude you have to tell us how this turns out.
i'm interested in hearing about it, but wouldnt try it myself.

i did however buy some of those muscadine grapes that only grow around here (south east) and i now see where that weird flavor/wang in florida wine comes from.

They put wangs in their wine there?