Making liquor

Treatment and handling of your distillate.

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Uncle Jesse
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Posts: 3924
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Making liquor

Post by Uncle Jesse »

from the old message boards:

Talisker
(newbie)
08/16/04 08:08 PM
subject: Making Liquour

If I make Liquour in the method of covering fruit in 70% alcohol then drain cover them in sugar, drain the juice and so on..... The stuff I'll drain has different % of alcohol, so when i'll mixed it together to get the desired flavour and % how do I control the %?
Does the alcoholmeter still work? Since the fruitjuice and sugar is added....
Help..... *lol*


theholymackerel
(enthusiast)
08/16/04 08:12 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: Talisker]

True, ya won't be able to get an accurate hydrometer readin' after addin' the fruit and sugar.

I did it with 50% (100 proof) alcohol and just guessed it was around 80 proof after it all was done.

I'd suggest ya just add water to taste when yer done.

I wish ya luck

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.
-Mark Twain


tater
(enthusiast)
08/16/04 08:22 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: theholymackerel]

what THM said


Talisker
(newbie)
08/16/04 08:23 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: theholymackerel]

Well, I guess I have to ad the reason for my question... My Dad likes the sweet liquours and he likes sipping..... and sipping...... and sipping...... and sipping..... and if you do that... you end up with an hangover. So I'd like to make an liquour with about 15% so he can sipping along without gatting all wasted....

PS: I dramatized a bit...*S*


tater
(enthusiast)
08/16/04 08:27 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: Talisker]

Bet Yttrium could answer this ,


theholymackerel
(enthusiast)
08/16/04 08:41 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: Talisker]

Sounds like ya should make him some wine... ya said 15% right?

Either that or mix yer brandy with about eight parts soda for him.

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.
-Mark Twain


Talisker
(newbie)
08/16/04 09:06 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: theholymackerel]

If you ad soda to it you basicly water it down and there goes the tast of course it is the easy way to go.... i'd like to preserve the richness of the fruit and still be able to have it with low %....
Anyhow, I appreciate the help... *S*


linw
(member)
08/16/04 09:34 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: Talisker]

The probable flaw to this approach is that the low alcohol will turn the "sippin'" to "gulpin"!!

Cheers, Lindsay.


Talisker
(newbie)
08/16/04 10:16 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: linw]


*HAHAHA* remember Einstein.... E=MC2? Everything is relativ....


grayson_stewart
(journeyman)
08/16/04 10:22 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: linw]

I ran into this problem because I add a little honey and maple syrup to mine and it throws the readings off quite a bit. You can compensate by knowing the proof and volume of what you originally add to the recipe, then always keep it tightly covered with a lid to prevent evaporation...what goes in must come out. Determine the amount of alcohol you initially put in then divide that by the final total volume after you have collected the alcohol/disolved sugar/juice to get the new alcohol by volume. There may be a little alcohol left behind in the fruit, but it shouldn't be much...if you prefer it to be exact, leave the fruit in and give him a spoon. ;-)

Good things may come to those who wait. But only the things left by those who hustle.


Talisker
(newbie)
08/16/04 10:32 PM
Re: Making Liquour [re: grayson_stewart]

Grayson, you are the man.... I think I can use the Dilution Calculators on this page. As soon as I know the total amount of liquid, it should allow me to calculate the dilution factor....?
At least I think so..... *G*


leglessboot
(stranger)
08/17/04 04:21 AM
Re: Making Liquour [re: Talisker]

The formula for calculating the alcohol strength of a liqueur is as below:

(C x D) + (E x F)
-------------------
G

C = No of oz of sweetened wine/juice/syrup, times
D = Alcohol strength of sweetened wine (juice/syrup = 0)

plus

E = No oz of fortifying spirit, times
F = Alcohol strength of fortifying spirit

divided by

G = Total volume of sweetened wine/juice/syrup and fortifying spirit in combination.

Example:

20 fl. oz of your drained juice with no alcohol content is combined with 5 fl. oz of 140 proof spirit (70%) then:

(20 x 0) + (5 x 140)
------------------------- = 28.8 proof or 14.5% ABV
25

I have used the US standard for proof i.e. proof = 2 x %

Hope this helps. It originally was used for calculating final strength when adding spirit to wine - that's for those who buy their spirit - for making a liqueur but if a sugar syrup or juice is used with no alcohol content instead of wine then it works just as well.

Edited by leglessboot (08/17/04 04:34 AM)


Talisker
(journeyman)
08/17/04 09:31 AM
Re: Making Liquour [re: leglessboot]

Legless... thanks, I think it should work that way....*S*

Alea jacta est ...


Yttrium
(member)
08/17/04 11:13 AM
Re: Making Liquour [re: Talisker]

Legless's method works well when you are only adding stuff to your alcohol. Soaking alcohol in fruit and then straining is a bit different because some alcohol will remain in the fruit, while some the fruit flavor and sugar will remain in the liquer. If you want to get a really good reading of the ethanol percentage, you can use a refractometer and hydrometer in tandem:
http://www.makewine.com/makewine/measurealcohol.html

Another way to figure out the ethanol concentration is to distill a tiny amount of your final product, use a hydrometer to find out how much ethanol is in the distillate, and then back calculate to find the ethanol concentration in the liquer.

Yet another way to figure out the sugar content is to take a small sample of known volume of your final product, weigh it it, and then let it evaporate. Wheigh what remains and you'll have the amount of sugar in a given volume. Once you know the sugar content, you can figure out the ethanol.

Probably the easiest thing to do is to just make sure that you get almost all the ethanol out of the fruit. That way the total ethanol content in the final product will be the same as the undiluted stuff. Simply take into account the change in volume and you have your percent ethanol.
guest

Post by guest »

Figure out how much distillate you need to make your final volume and proof of liquor. For example, 135 grams of 91.6% alcohol is enough for 750mL at 20%. Just keep adding sugar and water until you have 750mL. The only problem could be if you aren't careful or patient enough to get all the alcohol out of your fruit.
Lucent
Novice
Posts: 64
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 3:29 am

Re: Making liquor

Post by Lucent »

You want the mathamatics of adding a variable number to a variable number in order to reach a static outcome?
?
MIT is still working on the Pulaski Theary Einstein never touched it.

Best plan know your distillate know your backwash. Add subtract and divide as totally un nessasary to produce a quality beverage. This is like making love in the dark gentlemen. No one cares how much you wave it around only the flavor matters.

Thanks
chrisc69
Novice
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun May 19, 2013 9:43 am

Re: Making liquor

Post by chrisc69 »

i just guess it a bit well educated guess and with use of calculators (google search) of my expected volume of water i use and just use a approx amount as long as my brew is under 50% with say a flavored vodka or less depending on what im making as some things need to go as far as 20%
all depends on the strength that you have decided on for what your making im really not that fussy about 5% either way or a little more as long as its nice
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