Sody pop...

[Still_Tinkerin]

Okay - so I'm a noob.

and if this post belongs elsewhere, by all means, move it?

Getting that out of the way, I read thru the subjects, and correct me if I'm wrong, but can't seem to find if any info exists on this topic right here:
Can I make alcohol outta a bunch of sugared soda pop?

*I don't intend to drink it* I just want to see if it'll burn in say a lawnmower engine.

I've got access to about 1000 20 oz. bottles of Pepsi-products. (Pepsi, Code Red, Mt. Dew, A&W Root Beer, etc..) They're outdated - meaning they have to be discarded. What a waste! That's a lot of sugar! Each bottle equals ~75 grams of sugar...

I have used the bottles empty as fuel for some of my metalcasting furnaces...actually - burn bottles in my scrap reducer, along with other fuels: used oil, plastic wrap balls, wood, charcoal, etc.. Not really into saving the environment - just that all this is free!

[hornedrhodent]

I have used the bottles empty as fuel for some of my metalcasting furnaces...actually - burn bottles in my scrap reducer, along with other fuels: used oil, plastic wrap balls, wood, charcoal, etc.. Not really into saving the environment - just that all this is free!

Probably the best way to recycle them - less energy usage than purifying them to be reused as bottles, plastic wrap, wheelie bins etc.


Wood and charcoal are carbon neutral - burn them to your heart's content!

[Still_Tinkerin]

yeah.. that's what I keep telling everybody - but people are people.

(I don't think we should be saving the environment - Mother Earth has been around for millions of years and will be without us puny humans. Evar see the ferocity of volcanoes? "She" can put out some wicked crap. - Worse than anything we got.) .. and who's t' say we gotta save it for us? The plan may be for us to perish, so that other conceits can claim dominance..

But, I digress.

So can I use sugared pop for ethy? Or is the acid content waaaay outta line?

[hornedrhodent]

I read somewhere that some preservatives stop the yeast from breeding but dont stop it from making eth. So make a big starter culture and breed up your yeast - add the pop and wait for the big bang.

[rangaz]

chuck some bakers yeast in and see. if it works, good, otherwise, you havent really lost much. I just had a bottle of plum syrup made in the tater style ferment spontaneously, without any yeast added. The fact that soda doesn't do this doesn't instill hope in its ability to support fermentation

[possum]

I don't have experience with soda. However, I found a Snoopy lunch box in the attic, with red Kool-aid in the thermos....turned to wine. It had spent 20 years up there.

Anyway, The pH can be brought down by dillution with water. You might want to check the soda pH with some test strips. Reducing pH with neutral water; increasing volume to 10X the original volume will move the pH 1 full point twards neutral 7.

Ive fermented Apple "cider" from Grocery store that had Potasium Sorbate (I think that is what it was) used a real big yeast starter, and made a real nice hard cider.

[Still_Tinkerin]

chuck some bakers yeast in and see. if it works, good, otherwise, you havent really lost much. I just had a bottle of plum syrup made in the tater style ferment spontaneously, without any yeast added. The fact that soda doesn't do this doesn't instill hope in its ability to support fermentation

Yeah.. I had thought of that.. Last year, I did it with just Mt. Dew, but my "still" wasn't a still. It was just a tank, cobbled with a water heater element, and a thermostat set to "About" 170-ish°F. Plus, my "condenser coil" was open-air, short, and mostly steam and a few small drips happened, which I collected, and burned, but they burned rather weakishly. As for the "mash" - it formed a cap, cap sank, and then I 'stilled it. This summer, I have a still built out of a SS 5 gallon can, and some stainless exhaust tube, etc. Silver-soldered, and complete with a water cooling condenser, and thermometer in the tank and one in the condenser jacket. I thought I'd first try a cheap bag of wine, but then this soda pop turned up at the end of the fiscal year, and....

So, we'll see. I have to wait for the temp to come up a bit, as it's cold where I yam..But I'll collect the bottles this weekend. I even get 55 gallon barrels from werk for free, too! - I've given some of them away as some friends were trying to make biodiesel.. but thats another story..

[pintoshine]

I don't think that pepsi has any preservatives. The on preservative it does have, the acid is your friend in this case. Pour about 4 gallons of it in a bucket, stir in a can of tomato paste and top up to 5 gallons with water. Add some yeast. It should go fine. And as far as distilling, as long as you are using a reasonable amount of reflux, it should be fine to drink also. On of the mint extracts that pepsi has, pepsin, tastes ok with alcohol. I had some pepsin a while back and have since let it die, but I once made some Pepsin schnapps. I Like the flavor and was trying for a pepsin gum flavor. It was drinkable but most of my friends couldn't get past the Pepto-Bismo flavor.

[Still_Tinkerin]

Unfortunately, I have no actual PepsiCola. I've got Dew, A&W, Sunkist, some Dr. Pecker, and some Lipton teas.. I did have a 5 gallon BIB (bag-in-box)- which is a concentrate - that the boss wanted me to throw simply cause the cardboard box was ripped, but I saved it by fixing with tape. The plastic bag had not opened, so the product was fine. Good for me and for the bottler, but bad for the hobby eh? Oh, well. Pays to be honest... (but I'm still waitin for "payday"!)

Thanks for the info - I'll try it, see about preservatives in the others..

[Aidas]

Back in the bad old days when the Soviet Union was still around (and still kept their occupation army in Lithuania), Pepsi had a joint venture in Lithuania. I remember that the Pepsi tasted diffferent, though it was close.

Also, what was wierd about this pepsi was that it had an expiration date -- oh I know, everything has an expiration date. But this one was real -- i.e. if you didn't consume it by that date, you were sure to find your Pepsi fermenting or fermented out when you opened it.

This is by personal experience.

BTW the Pepsi "wine" wasn't all that bad

Aidas

[Still_Tinkerin]

..Now I can't WAIT to try it. One of the guys used to haul pop to us from Mankato, MN was from Carolina (North), and used to "get" shine from ~somebody~, and talked about it.. I then told him I was gonna try make some outdated pop into "booze", but told him just to burn, yaknow? anyways, he wondered why I didn't try use grains and sugar beets, which are pretty plentiful around here.. I said I dunno. Just that the pop is discarded, and it's a horrible waste.

Now, the guy has had an aneurism, and is pretty much retired. Poor Rog.. Oh well - He was sure a fun dude to chat with! Working in a warehouse, ya kind of get friendships going with these guys, esp if they're regulars.. Well, he never got to see the Pop experiment, but I still plan on screwin around with it - Just for fun.

[schnell]

there are some serious soda fuel producers in the midwest that do exactly what you're suggesting. they get expired products and divert the waste from landfills. crush the containers to pack the debris tighter and recover the sugary liquids. then they run it through a continuous fermenter. millions of gallons a year from some of these "refineries".

the acid is helpful, just dilute it to a reasonable pH (3-5). also make sure the sugar isn't too concentrated or the osmotic pressure will kill the yeast. add a little nitrogen (DAP, tomato paste, etc) and let er rip.

might not tast great as beer, but should yeild a fine neutral spirit after rectification.

[Still_Tinkerin]

schnell: I've read about one place in Ohio.. they get waste product from factories around, and use it for the sugars.. Yeah, seems more and more possible as I read from you all.

The actual barrels that I intend to use had had a concentrate in them - so acidic that they have warning labels on them as a corrosive! (I now have to pay for any I order, but it's waay cheap)(can't buy a pail for the same) I still intend to rinse them out tho, then, I guess, fill one with pops, and water, and mix in some Hunt's? I'll agitate then test the ph before I add any started yeast. So, my next thing is to make an air valve on one of the bungs..shouldn't be a problem...

[Still_Tinkerin]

Ok! Pretty pumped now.. Tonite I tried this apparatus with plain ol' tap water, and tho the results were less than perfect, proof of concept - it worked pretty good. I hadn't rinsed out anything before hand, and I got a little cloudy distillate, but everything worked as planned. There're a couple tweaks I gotta tend to before going again.. like getting better clamps on water line, cuz it leaked all over the place..LOL (not to mention getting more water - I used 5 gallons in a cooler - I was surprised how fast it heated up!!)

The brew is coming along nicely.. It sure smells like wine. Hard to remember it has been so long ago, but dad used to make 25 gallons of Chokecherry wine every year, and he saved all his old Canadian Club bottles to bottle it.. Tasted like Sweeter Mogen David.. .Then, we used to scrape the scum off daily, but as I understand for mash, ya ain't supposed to. 'Course theres lots o schools of thought on that, as I think I've seen.. Mix or not mix, skim or not skim.. whatever. I'll just leave it alone til cap falls and try from there. I am just beginning yaknow.

This may turn out to be alotta fun!

{edit = P.S... I gotta get a (an?) Hydrometer}
{edit = Got one, but it's for batteries.. Couldn't get bulb to float.. maybe don't have any alcool at all - will find out t'morra.. I'll be runnin what I got - I'm gettin real anxious}
{edit #3: Well.. Guess what? Had no alcool whatsoever. I was heating it up, temp was around 80-82°F, then while watching it, it spiked to 200-208°F. Then, I opened the collection valve (I had had the reflux valve closed at that point), and got a pissin' of the fowlest smelling yuk, yet.

I'm sure sody pop will produce some alky, but not by me - not a newb. I may just try a corn mash later on.. I've got SO much to learn (everything) - that it's time, I think, to re-read this entire site a few more times...

Thanks everybody for your input, and I'll see ya'll in another topic!!
-Still_Tinkerin