Expert: Alan Ward - 6/13/2007

Question
I am just starting out brewing and don’t have the money to buy any of the ready made kits, so I’ve just kind of gone at it to see what happened.

I have a bucket (maybe a gallon of water… I wasn’t really measuring) in my kitchen filled with brown sugar water, 3 apples, and a packet of bread yeast. It’s been in there for a week, it’s bubbling… that’s about all I know.

I’m sure whatever it is that’s brewing in there will taste terrible… but I think brewing is really interesting and want to keep at it!  So I’ve got some questions.

(1)   I’ve found a lot of brewers yeast online. Amazon.com sells some. You can buy tablets from GNC, but they’re both being sold as food supplements. Would those work for my purposes?
(2)   My concoction in the kitchen. When should I drink it? Do I have anything to worry about when drinking it? (Like, oh, going blind or dying).
(3)   Any other advice?

-Dave

Answer
Dave,

I am not sure what your making either.  Most likely it will taste extremely bad.

1. use brewers yeast as it will give a much nicer taste.

2. if you put hole apples in most likely they will not do much.  You will get alcohol from the brown sugar.

What you are making is more like hooch than beer.  Most of the stuff make in this manner runs through a still later.  I knew some guess in the military that would make great hooch with raisons and brown sugar.

If you wish to continue I would let it sit until it stops bubbling and then drain it to a second container.  Maybe even stain it through a piece of cheese cloth.  

Then if you want it carbonated you will need to add a little more sugar maybe an 1/8 of a cup to the mix and seal it up for about 3 to 7 days.  You should then be able to drink is.

What you are making will not cause you to go blind or dye.  The worst thing it could do is give you the runs or upset your stomach.

3. You can use almost any equipment to brew with.  There are several books available that will give you instructions on how to make your own equipment.  I would purchase one and build my own.

I would also purchase brewers yeast.  It is worth the expense.

Lastly keep in mind that in ordered to brew beer you must have grain (either whole, liquid, or powder form)along with hops.  Anything else is just hooch.

Good luck

Alan