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Homemade alcohol.

  • 20-12-2014 3:51pm
    #1
    RonanP77
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,182 ✭✭✭


    I'm sampling some homemade vodka and gin today and the vodka especially is quite tasty. Possibly a little sweet for me and it could be dangerous because there's very little taste of alcohol.

    I was just wondering if anyone else makes or samples homemade alcohol?


Comments

  • #2
    The_Valeyard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,452 ✭✭✭✭The_Valeyard


    Im seeing trip to the hospital OP.


  • #3
    irish_goat
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 5,805 Mod ✭✭✭✭irish_goat


    I make beer and cider, there's a while subforum on it too.http://touch.boards.ie/forum/1353

    Homemade spirits are illegal though.


  • #4
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    Is your name John Lee Pettimore OP?


  • #5
    Banjo String
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,380 ✭✭✭✭Banjo String


    Moonshine man.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwdwhGkdB3Y


  • #6
    anncoates
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,925 ✭✭✭✭anncoates


    I've started on the homemade whiskey and am now just brushing up on my shotgun, shack-building and incest skills.


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  • #7
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    I still have a bottle of the wash (or whatever you call it) from the old alcohol factory that closed down nearby. Mighty stuff, put hairs on your chest. Unless you actually put it on your chest. Then it burns them off.


  • #8
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    anncoates wrote: »
    I've started on the homemade whiskey and am now just brushing up on my shotgun, shack-building and incest skills.
    If moonshining was good enough for Daisy Duke, it's good enough for us.


  • #9
    anncoates
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,925 ✭✭✭✭anncoates


    The Backwards Man wrote: »
    If moonshining was good enough for Daisy Duke, it's good enough for us.

    .....


  • #10
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    anncoates wrote: »
    .....
    Ha!


  • #11
    The One Doctor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,339 ✭✭✭The One Doctor


    Home distilling is seriously dangerous for two reasons:

    1. The fumes are extremely explosive.
    2. Methanol kills in a few hours and the taste is indistinguishable from ethanol.

    However, there's a fair chance that the OP is actually drinking 'pretend' vodka from a vodka kit - made from a powerful yeast that gets the alcohol content up to 20%.

    If it is really homemade spirit of the 40-60% variety, stop drinking it now.


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  • #12
    DEFTLEFTHAND
    Registered Users Posts: 16,500 ✭✭✭✭DEFTLEFTHAND


    Is it possible to run liquor down the Shannon these days, what's the security like, would a mark 9 speedboat look suspicious on Irish waterways? I need a quick and efficient way to get my product from bathtub to buyer.


  • #13
    Macavity.
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,745 ✭✭✭Macavity.


    My Dad has made homemade beer before, turned out pretty good I have to say.


  • #14
    Ruu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,622 ✭✭✭Ruu


    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1353 <--these folk

    although see a thread titled 'Ladys tights'...not so sure! HAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!


  • #15
    RDM_83 again
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,116 ✭✭✭RDM_83 again


    The One Doctor wrote: »
    Home distilling is seriously dangerous for two reasons:

    1. The fumes are extremely explosive.
    2. Methanol kills in a few hours and the taste is indistinguishable from ethanol.

    However, there's a fair chance that the OP is actually drinking 'pretend' vodka from a vodka kit - made from a powerful yeast that gets the alcohol content up to 20%.

    If it is really homemade spirit of the 40-60% variety, stop drinking it now.

    I've drank it myself and seen it made, it obviously has risks attached but if the person making it has a clue, pays attention to temperature, removes all the heads and tails and generally doesn't try and cut corners or try and increase the yield it should be safe, its a simple process particularly if the person carrying it out has any lab training.
    The stuff I've drank has smelt a lot less of methanol and the higher alcohols than some of the cheap legal vodkas I've had (and gave much less of a hangover than them)


  • #16
    Dexter Bip
    Closed Accounts Posts: 142 ✭✭Dexter Bip


    I've five gallons of elderberry wine sitting in the garage that I made as an experiment. Looks Like wine but smells a bit iffy. Maybe I'll turn it into a distillation experiment.


  • #17
    the groutch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,096 ✭✭✭✭the groutch


    Rex Banner is onto you


  • #18
    antodeco
    Registered Users, Subscribers, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,585 ✭✭✭✭antodeco


    I make my own beer, wine, cider, stout and vodka!


  • #19
    dubscottie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 854 ✭✭✭dubscottie


    I overheard some hipster bollox going on and on last night about "craft spirits" being the next big thing..

    Cant wait to see what happens when all these homebrew/craft spirits come out..
    Hispsters will need to replace the fake glasses with real ones as that stuff will make you go blind..

    Or how a company can have a 8 year old whiskey when they have only been in business for 2 years.. Unless its homebrew.


  • #20
    Kevin McCloud
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,797 ✭✭✭Kevin McCloud


    dubscottie wrote: »
    Hispsters will need to replace the fake glasses with real ones as that stuff will make you go blind..

    Hipsters would want to be shot with a ball of their own shit.


  • #21
    uch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,012 ✭✭✭uch


    me Uncle Tom used to make this stuff that he called "Good Stuff", it was a mixture of Whiskey, Port and whatever was in me Da's top shelf, it'd make you blind, but hey, you could also get about 2 days good sleep after drinkin it

    21/25



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  • #22
    Links234
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,944 ✭✭✭✭Links234


    I brew my own beer sometimes, it's a lot of fun and you have a big load of beer for your hard work. Great! :)


  • #23
    _Brian
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,618 ✭✭✭✭_Brian


    Beer and wine made here, interesting hobby and who doesn't need cheap beer.


  • #24
    rubadub
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,382 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    The One Doctor wrote: »
    Home distilling is seriously dangerous for two reasons:

    1. The fumes are extremely explosive.
    2. Methanol kills in a few hours and the taste is indistinguishable from ethanol.
    haha, was waiting for this fucking bull**** to be spouted. Its people like you perpetuating these myths which will mean it will unfortunately probably never be legalised here. Its legal to distill in plenty of more enlightened countries without a licence. Some have restrictions like only have a certain size still which is intended to make it for personal use, like some countries have limits on cannabis plants.

    Have you any links to how explosive it is relative to other chemicals? or links to articles on explosions in peoples houses making it? remember you said explosive not merely flammable.

    And can you point to a single, just ****ing 1 link -where somebody had died from methanol poisoning due to drinking homemade spirits made from fermented material. I'll even make it easier and find 1 link where someone was even hospitalized due to methanol.

    I have challenged people before and they turned up nothing, as I expected. I predicted they would find certainly cases of methanol poisoning due to criminal gangs selling methanol as ethanol. This is in no doubt at all, this is very common. It is happening in Ireland, not the deaths but counterfeit vodka which is comprised partially of industrial alcohols. The media will often call this criminal industrial alcohol "moonshine", but I have never seen any case of them using naturally fermented alcohol which was distilled.

    Methanol is certainly produced by fermentation of alcohol, to poison yourself would take real dedication and careful distillation methods to separate it out. Homedistillers using poor techniques sent samples off for comparison against commercial vodkas and had far less levels of methanol even though they used shoddy setups. Most hobby distillers will use sugar based washes which create only trace amounts of methanols, there would be far more naturally occurring methanol in unfermented apple juice than in a gallon of 95% vodka.

    Nothing is produced during the distillation process, your cans of bulmers and cheap wine have plenty of naturally occurring methanol in them.

    The only poisoning going on is the poisoning of the public's and the authorities minds with these myths.

    Cooking chicken at home is more of a risky business.


  • #25
    dubscottie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 854 ✭✭✭dubscottie


    rubadub wrote: »
    haha, was waiting for this fucking bull**** to be spouted. Its people like you perpetuating these myths which will mean it will unfortunately probably never be legalised here. Its legal to distill in plenty of more enlightened countries without a licence. Some have restrictions like only have a certain size still which is intended to make it for personal use, like some countries have limits on cannabis plants.

    Have you any links to how explosive it is relative to other chemicals? or links to articles on explosions in peoples houses making it? remember you said explosive not merely flammable.

    And can you point to a single, just ****ing 1 link -where somebody had died from methanol poisoning due to drinking homemade spirits made from fermented material. I'll even make it easier and find 1 link where someone was even hospitalized due to methanol.

    I have challenged people before and they turned up nothing, as I expected. I predicted they would find certainly cases of methanol poisoning due to criminal gangs selling methanol as ethanol. This is in no doubt at all, this is very common. It is happening in Ireland, not the deaths but counterfeit vodka which is comprised partially of industrial alcohols. The media will often call this criminal industrial alcohol "moonshine", but I have never seen any case of them using naturally fermented alcohol which was distilled.

    Methanol is certainly produced by fermentation of alcohol, to poison yourself would take real dedication and careful distillation methods to separate it out. Homedistillers using poor techniques sent samples off for comparison against commercial vodkas and had far less levels of methanol even though they used shoddy setups. Most hobby distillers will use sugar based washes which create only trace amounts of methanols, there would be far more naturally occurring methanol in unfermented apple juice than in a gallon of 95% vodka.

    Nothing is produced during the distillation process, your cans of bulmers and cheap wine have plenty of naturally occurring methanol in them.

    The only poisoning going on is the poisoning of the public's and the authorities minds with these myths.

    Cooking chicken at home is more of a risky business.

    Shake the bottle.. If it foams at the top, like washing up liquid, then don't drink it.. Its fake and/or Dangerous.

    But we will still have all these "brewing experts" telling us that sticking crap in it is the best thing ever.. Craft this and craft that..

    Ive worked in the drinks trade and am very familiar with the whiskey one.. A lot of so called "craft spirits" out there that are bought from Bells etc..

    Looking for links.. Just google it.. 100's die in Russia and in Thailand from "home-brew"..


  • #26
    qt3.14
    Registered Users Posts: 262 ✭✭qt3.14


    irish_goat wrote: »
    I make beer and cider, there's a while subforum on it too.

    Homemade spirits are illegal though.

    Always wondered why that is.


  • #27
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    qt3.14 wrote: »
    Always wondered why that is.

    Really? I'll give you a clue, think of a three letter word that starts with t and ends with x.


  • #28
    Zombienosh
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,911 ✭✭✭Zombienosh


    remember that time I learned how to make wine and I forgot how to drive


  • #29
    Hoop66
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,442 ✭✭✭Hoop66


    My mother used to make fantastic perry from the pears in our old garden.

    She's passed away now, and I tried making some with her recipe. Turned out ****e, so I gave it all to a mate who likes to experiment with distillation. Made some cracking pear brandy.


  • #30
    rubadub
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,382 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    dubscottie wrote: »
    Ive worked in the drinks trade and am very familiar with the whiskey one.. A lot of so called "craft spirits" out there that are bought from Bells etc..

    Looking for links.. Just google it.. 100's die in Russia and in Thailand from "home-brew"..
    I have searched -many, many times, its a comical topic on distillation forums. The layperson I can forgive, but FFS, you worked in the fucking drinks industry and are spreading this utter shite. Just shows the appalling level of ignorance out there.

    I suppose it favours the drinks industry to spread these known lies though.


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  • #31
    strobe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,872 ✭✭✭strobe


    Bread ****ed in orange juice and left under a radiator for a couple of weeks. Anything else is for nancy boys.


  • #32
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    rubadub wrote: »
    haha, was waiting for this fucking bull**** to be spouted. Its people like you perpetuating these myths which will mean it will unfortunately probably never be legalised here. Its legal to distill in plenty of more enlightened countries without a licence. Some have restrictions like only have a certain size still which is intended to make it for personal use, like some countries have limits on cannabis plants.

    Have you any links to how explosive it is relative to other chemicals? or links to articles on explosions in peoples houses making it? remember you said explosive not merely flammable.

    And can you point to a single, just ****ing 1 link -where somebody had died from methanol poisoning due to drinking homemade spirits made from fermented material. I'll even make it easier and find 1 link where someone was even hospitalized due to methanol.

    I have challenged people before and they turned up nothing, as I expected. I predicted they would find certainly cases of methanol poisoning due to criminal gangs selling methanol as ethanol. This is in no doubt at all, this is very common. It is happening in Ireland, not the deaths but counterfeit vodka which is comprised partially of industrial alcohols. The media will often call this criminal industrial alcohol "moonshine", but I have never seen any case of them using naturally fermented alcohol which was distilled.

    Methanol is certainly produced by fermentation of alcohol, to poison yourself would take real dedication and careful distillation methods to separate it out. Homedistillers using poor techniques sent samples off for comparison against commercial vodkas and had far less levels of methanol even though they used shoddy setups. Most hobby distillers will use sugar based washes which create only trace amounts of methanols, there would be far more naturally occurring methanol in unfermented apple juice than in a gallon of 95% vodka.

    Nothing is produced during the distillation process, your cans of bulmers and cheap wine have plenty of naturally occurring methanol in them.

    The only poisoning going on is the poisoning of the public's and the authorities minds with these myths.

    Cooking chicken at home is more of a risky business.

    Happens in Bali a bit when they make Arak and cock it up - you only get to hear about when a tourist, usually an Ozzie, gets poisoned. It's never clear whether the methanol is there as an adulterant or because of poor distillation......

    http://www.thepoisonreview.com/2013/04/10/cases-of-methanol-poisoning-among-tourists-in-indonesia/

    We did a bit of distilling in uni - bit of craic, but there are easier ways to get better tasting alcohol.

    I do cider and apple wine now.


  • #33
    ShadowHearth
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,929 ✭✭✭✭ShadowHearth


    One of my buddies makes his own homemade vodka. It is about 50-60% and it is.... Nice when you get used to it...
    Very strong stuff and can black you out very fast if you are not careful.
    Xmas will be a lot of fun this year!


  • #34
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    strobe wrote: »
    Bread ****ed in orange juice and left under a radiator for a couple of weeks. Anything else is for nancy boys.

    Pu$$y :D

    Torpedo juice ftw

    Or if you were in the Red Air Force - filtered engine coolant........

    ........or filtered break fluid if were a tank crewman in the Red Army

    If you were I the infantry you were limited to spread shoe polish on bread, leaving it overnight before scraping it off and eating the bread to get a buzz......


  • #35
    rubadub
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,382 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Jawgap wrote: »
    We did a bit of distilling in uni - bit of craic, but there are easier ways to get better tasting alcohol.
    Well I hope you weren't studying chemistry if you believe it could have been due to a "faulty distilling processes"...

    I have read that link and can still confidently say I have never heard of a single case. I have read numerous reports of contaminated alcohol in these countries.

    It could happen in theory, I have said this in other threads, but it would not amount to being a crime of selling alcohol, it would be premeditated murder/manslaughter, and not some oversight or mistake. And if you did want to poison someone there are far easier ways to go about it. You would have to ferment huge amounts of alcohol and carefully refine it to get all the methanol concentrated. It would certainly not happen on a home producers scale, which is what the first poster talked of.


  • #36
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    rubadub wrote: »
    Well I hope you weren't studying chemistry if you believe it could have been due to a "faulty distilling processes"...

    I have read that link and can still confidently say I have never heard of a single case. I have read numerous reports of contaminated alcohol in these countries.

    It could happen in theory, I have said this in other threads, but it would not amount to being a crime of selling alcohol, it would be premeditated murder/manslaughter, and not some oversight or mistake. And if you did want to poison someone there are far easier ways to go about it. You would have to ferment huge amounts of alcohol and carefully refine it to get all the methanol concentrated. It would certainly not happen on a home producers scale, which is what the first poster talked of.

    Funny enough, it was undergrad chemistry, and no we weren't worried about methanol - just the yield.

    I didn't say I believed it was down to faulty distilling, I was just repeating a phrase from the article.


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  • #37
    Conall Cernach
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,952 ✭✭✭Conall Cernach


    ShadowHearth wrote: »
    One of my buddies makes his own homemade vodka. It is about 50-60% and it is.... Nice when you get used to it...
    Very strong stuff and can black you out very fast if you are not careful.
    Xmas will be a lot of fun this year!
    Homemade vodka? Is that not just poitin?


  • #38
    Ronan|Raven
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,147 ✭✭✭Ronan|Raven


    Freeze concentration is your friend OP.
    Make a nice strong cider and freeze the hell out of it. End result is tasty applejack.


  • #39
    Dave Maher
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭Dave Maher


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/93532665#Comment_93532665

    100% agree, a lot of misinformation and disinformations about how to and if its safe to make moonshine



  • #40
    Dave Maher
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭Dave Maher


    100% agree a lot of misinformation and disinformations



  • #41
    frosty123
    Registered Users Posts: 565 ✭✭✭frosty123


    Can't beat homebrew cider, esp if made from apples not concentrate

    and if it's apples from your own garden it's a bonus 🙂



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  • #42
    Ubbquittious
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,256 ✭✭✭Ubbquittious


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/93524125#Comment_93524125

    Turned out hipster bollox was right



  • #43
    mariaalice
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,619 ✭✭✭✭mariaalice


    Many moons ago, a back-to-nature grow you own everything couple moved in beside a colleague, anyway the couple were lovely apparently but the big issue was avoiding the homemade gooseberry wine when visiting my colleague reckoned it could have made a great disinfectant and household cleaner.

    I fear homemade gin or vodka would be the same unless the maker was an expert, it's not like homemade beer and cider which are relatively easy to make and can be tasty.



  • #44
    silliussoddius
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,425 ✭✭✭silliussoddius


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/93563233#Comment_93563233

    Isn’t poitin just unaged whiskey?



  • #45
    cj maxx
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,551 ✭✭✭✭cj maxx


    The rabbits near me used to make poitin. I used to find bottles in the rabbit holes . Tasty enough stuff. I planned on making a few beers but instead I just buy 5l kegs.



  • #46
    Trigger Happy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,104 ✭✭✭Trigger Happy


    I have had some brutal hobbies over the years but brewing beer is one of the most rewarding. Well, 40 pints of beer worth of rewarding. Not too expensive to get started too.



  • #47
    fryup
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,067 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    coopers canadian blonde 🍺 hiccup



  • #48
    hatrickpatrick
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,797 ✭✭✭✭hatrickpatrick


    I make beer and liqueur, both highly enjoyable, very very cheap and extremely tasty. Haven't tried making anything stronger than 23% though as that requires distillation which is both ludicrously expensive equipment-wise and very easy to dangerously mess up. 



  • #49
    blackbox
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,444 ✭✭✭blackbox


    It's not that easy to mess up distillation.

    However, you should not be in possession of distilling equipment without having a licence for it, even if home made.



  • #50
    Gregor Samsa
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,089 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118754955#Comment_118754955

    This is definitely the post of someone fully enjoying copious amounts of homemade alcohol.



  • #51
    Ray Palmer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,453 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    I was surprised when I saw this for sale as I assumed all of Europe made home made spirits illegal.

    https://eur.vevor.com/alcohol-distiller-c_10688/moonshine-3-gal-2pots-distiller-copper-wine-maker-water-still-boiler-p_010299814502

    One thing to point out vodka by it's very nature is not meant to taste. The whole point is it isn't meant to taste. I did find the sudden influx of premium vodka labels going on about how great they are amusing. There really isn't anything you can do to vodka to make it special and it still be vodka.

    In the 90s there was a bit of a trend for flavored vodka shots. I worked in a place where they charged double vodka prices for a shot. All they did was add bonbons to the vodka and let it dissolve. I was a closely guarded secret and they wouldn't let staff into the room they did it in. Of course we did notice all the bonbons about in the stock room and knew we didn't sell them.



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