Interesting question on Reddit

[Aunti-mater]

For those not familar, there's a subreddit on Reddit called ELi5 - Explain Like I'm 5.

Question - Eli5: how do prisoners make “toilet wine”?

Top Reply -

I worked at a prison for 16 years. This is how the inmates made it at mine.

The inmates would steal the following items to prepare. Several large garbage can bags to create layers for security so the bag does not break. They would horde fruit cups from meals or sliced peaches or diced pineapples. They would supplement those fruits with hordes packages of sugar or, if not available, filtered bread. This would be done by getting a new loaf of bread and poking holes in the bottom half. Then they would get the bread soaked in water and squeeze it out, hanging it up to let it drain. A mop bucket would be lined with your bags, and you'd mix your ingredients with warm water, saving a small amount of sugar and fruit to add to the end to mask the taste. The bag would be tied tightly. With a pen casing at the top. They would put this in their locker under their bed wrapped in several layers of a wool blanket for insulation. Some stole catheter hose and put that on the pen casing and run the other end into a hole under their cell window to the outside air.

The number of days I don't remember, but the smell was atrocious. Many inmates did it this way, but only a few made batches with brewers yeast that was smuggled in. Not very many inmates would drink this.



A reply further down -


So, first, prisoners will acquire a trash-bag and something to secure the neck of the bag to control the smell and prevent the brew from getting contaminated/infected.

Prisoners essentially mix sugar-containing food items (e.g., fruit, juice, drink mixes, sauces, etc.) with hot water and a yeast from either previous batches - similar to what folks do with sourdough bread - or smuggled from the kitchen.

The hot water is mainly used to reactivate the yeast and begin the fermentation process. Given a sufficient temperature, the contraband brew will be stored somewhere (like a toilet) away from the eyes of correctional officers. Towels, blankets, or clothing can be used as insulation to help keep the mixture sufficiently warm.

The brew will have to be occasionally "burped" by unsecuring the neck of the trash-bag as the conversion of sugars to alcohol also produces carbon dioxide, which can cause the trash-bag to burst. The brewing process can take as little as five days, after which it can be strained and bottled.

Due to the rudimentary tools used and the generally unsanitary conditions present in prisons, prisoners consuming toilet wine have been known to suffer from serious bacterial illnesses, like botulism.

Wow.

[Salt Must Flow]

If they made better decisions they wouldn't be in prison and wouldn't want to make toilet wine.

[Saltbush Bill]

Can somebody please tell me how this post is at all relevant to anything we do here.
I'm not in this hobby to make toilet wine.
If I needed to know stuff like this I'd go read at Reddit.

[Twisted Brick]

+1

Indeed Bill. Stick to the craft.

[8Ball]

Can somebody please tell me how this post is at all relevant to anything we do here.
I'm not in this hobby to make toilet wine.
If I needed to know stuff like this I'd go read at Reddit.

+1

[8Ball]

+1

Indeed Bill. Stick to the craft.

+1

[Aunti-mater]

I assumed people involved in the craft would find this humorous, so I shared it. I meant nothing more.
I certainly didn't think it would be an affront.
My apologies to all that are offended.

[Copperhead road]

Can somebody please tell me how this post is at all relevant to anything we do here.
I'm not in this hobby to make toilet wine.
If I needed to know stuff like this I'd go read at Reddit.

+1
Toilet wine pfttt this is home distilling

[SW_Shiner]

Might have gotten more traction on a wine forum, which this is not.

[Yummyrum]

Well hell , I thought it was a fun read .
It shows how posh we are

[Dancing4dan]

I don’t get the responses and personally think they are uncalled for. It is appropriately posted in “Off-Topic Discussion”. Many posts in this section have nothing to do with the “craft”. If you don’t care to read off topic topics. Don’t read them.

[Aunti-mater]

I don’t get the responses and personally think they are uncalled for. It is appropriately posted in “Off-Topic Discussion”. Many posts in this section have nothing to do with the “craft”. If you don’t care to read off topic topics. Don’t read them.

My thought exactly, but I wasn't going there. I'm sure if I scrolled through Saltbush Bill's posts, and all the +1's that piled on, I'd find plenty of off topic posts in other areas of this forum. But I'm Nick the new guy with 7 posts, so I must be kicked. It's not worth my time to offer a retort, it's best to humble.
I hope I can redeem myself in future posts.

[Saltbush Bill]

"Explain like I'm 5"
I'd hope that most here wouldn't need that.

[Copperhead road]

lol you’re a funny bugger SBB

[quadra]

I don’t get the responses and personally think they are uncalled for. It is appropriately posted in “Off-Topic Discussion”. Many posts in this section have nothing to do with the “craft”. If you don’t care to read off topic topics. Don’t read them.

My thought exactly, but I wasn't going there. I'm sure if I scrolled through Saltbush Bill's posts, and all the +1's that piled on, I'd find plenty of off topic posts in other areas of this forum. But I'm Nick the new guy with 7 posts, so I must be kicked. It's not worth my time to offer a retort, it's best to humble.
I hope I can redeem myself in future posts.

Well there is the thing.. if you are reposting the flotsam of reddit here chances are your internet history is a bit of shit as well right?... without a bit of opinion..editorial ..or comment it just looks like some bot seagull dropped an unwanted gem on my screen.
Feel free to offer something to make us give a flying fuck about Nick 7. We are not a bunch of literary critics but that brings nothing to the party.
Honestly... why I that worth reposting? Do you worry about botulism? Looking for garbage bag recommendations? Do you see a lack of rando wisdom about end of the world brewing options here...

Get some ointment for your butt and up your game


For those who do not want to waste the time... this wounded dove showed up last March and said he was going to build a 4" still to make fuel for his drone... making a lot of progress as you can see.

[Dancing4dan]

I don’t get the responses and personally think they are uncalled for. It is appropriately posted in “Off-Topic Discussion”. Many posts in this section have nothing to do with the “craft”. If you don’t care to read off topic topics. Don’t read them.

My thought exactly, but I wasn't going there. I'm sure if I scrolled through Saltbush Bill's posts, and all the +1's that piled on, I'd find plenty of off topic posts in other areas of this forum. But I'm Nick the new guy with 7 posts, so I must be kicked. It's not worth my time to offer a retort, it's best to humble.
I hope I can redeem myself in future posts.

Well there is the thing.. if you are reposting the flotsam of reddit here chances are your internet history is a bit of shit as well right?... without a bit of opinion..editorial ..or comment it just looks like some bot seagull dropped an unwanted gem on my screen.
Feel free to offer something to make us give a flying fuck about Nick 7. We are not a bunch of literary critics but that brings nothing to the party.
Honestly... why I that worth reposting? Do you worry about botulism? Looking for garbage bag recommendations? Do you see a lack of rando wisdom about end of the world brewing options here...

Get some ointment for your butt and up your game


For those who do not want to waste the time... this wounded dove showed up last March and said he was going to build a 4" still to make fuel for his drone... making a lot of progress as you can see.

Here is the thing. It’s a rule for the forum. Should be called out more often and not tolerated. This piling on to new members about something that you don’t perceive to be worthy is BS. This behavior contributes nothing to the “craft” and actually detracts from the purpose of the forum. Shouldn’t need an explanation. Shouldn’t be tolerated. Should be discouraged by moderators. Not encouraged.

RULE # 3 “Be polite and courteous. Remember that nobody is perfect and nobody knows everything. We've all got our strengths and limitations, which is why we share information with each other in the first place. Remember that we're all different and nothing is going to change that fact. #”

[quadra]

As has been pointed out this is off topic Dan, a lot of interesting and thought provoking things get posted here..our interests, hobbies and experiences and other ephemera that typically are not related to distilling but something interesting enough we want to share it for discussion. Not surprisingly, this leads to opinions of all flavour - you might consider mine salty and while I appreciate your thoughts on pilings on ( and somewhat agree ) there is room for expression and disagreement, if you don’t like the heat stay out of the kitchen.
There have been lots of varied and interesting posts in off topic but they are not typically the copy and paste ( copy pasta) type of low effort posts that clutter up so many other social platforms... and that and the apolitical stance of this forum and our members is why I enjoy this site. I don't think the bar is set too high for new members that are actually engaged in distilling and the progress of many of the new members in the last year shows there is far more assistance and help than curmudgeonly gatekeepers.

Go have a look at r/firewater to see what happens to copypasta. I am sure there would be equal "constructive feedback" here if I were to post a copypasta of why Budweiser is the King of beers.

Talking about rules.. Rule 15), this forum is dedicated to the art and experience of its members


... was added to address the issue of AI articles or paragraphs as contributions. It is my personal opinion that the original post is no better than that! as it offers us nothing experienced or created by Aunti-mater.

Don't get me wrong, I am still a grumpy bastard but I come here for the subject matter and shared experiences of community members, not questionable reposts.

[8Ball]

[ I'm sure if I scrolled through … all the +1's that piled on, I'd find plenty of off topic posts in other areas of this forum.

Go for it. Let me know how many you come up with.

I’m one of the +1’s that agree that instructions of how to make toilet wine are not relevant here. Maybe if you offered up a few original thoughts of your own regarding the copy & paste it wouldn’t have generated member responses that hurt your feelings.

[Kareltje]

I assumed people involved in the craft would find this humorous, so I shared it. I meant nothing more.
I certainly didn't think it would be an affront.
My apologies to all that are offended.

Humorous I did not find it.
But it is a storu of how people managed to make shine. Just information.

I someone is offended, I think it is because his/her preoccupation.
Information is neutral, is it not?

[Dancing4dan]

if you don’t like the heat stay out of the kitchen….

Talking about rules.. Rule 15), this forum is dedicated to the art and experience of its members

.. was added to address the issue of AI articles or paragraphs as contributions. It is my personal opinion that the original post is no better than that!

I don’t mind the heat. It’s why I called out the behaviour. I have worked for 23 years in the penitentiary system. 23 years of dealing with the occasional window warrior who acted provocateur from the safety of a cell OR an armed sub control. I’ve seen this behaviour before.

Read rule 15 again! “and experience of its members”. Who are YOU to tell us what our experience is? Don’t presume to police what others experience may be.

It’s an interesting off topic that has a long world wide history and some of us may deem it worthy of an off topic discussion. If you don’t, please find other topics to read!

I get tired of the BS behaviour that appears to be meant to shut down discussion, dominate conversations and run off members of the site. There are more than a few who chose not to participate because of the toxic history of this site. It is much improved from when I joined and I believe that is due to BS behaviour being called out. The last time we went around on this problem people involved in this conversation stated they would no longer assist New members.

If respect is earned it does not give the right to disrespect. Anyone engaging in this BS loses the respect of the rest.

[Yummyrum]

I think this topic is done .
Be nice .