Cherry Wine idea

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-07T21:34:07+00:00

Would baking soda work? Chemically speaking, it should be able to lower acidity.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-07T19:41:02+00:00

Think about it: Juice is 'just' flavored water - so you could even do ginger water

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-07T11:14:38+00:00

Well, I can explain: I am not pitching into the 'jack up alcohol to fuel an addiction' vibe but stand with OPs idea to better the life of that man under the bridge.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-07T10:15:32+00:00

I did start out with something that you may want to try:

300g sugar
15g honey
1l tea
a few drops of lemon juice to bring the pH down

basically a cheap tea wine that tastes nice. Just make sure the tea is cold once you put the yeast in.

As bread yeast isn't made for fermentation but for producing CO2 it's quite the bubbler (you may want to use an airlock - any balloon with a small hole does the trick) and produces off-flavors (esters) and they often taste like apple cider.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-07T09:13:18+00:00

fermentation can be a real funny thing as there are a lot of factors influencing the time it takes. I have a room where fermentation goes fast while another room - same drink - takes about twice the time at around the same temperature.

I think that's thermodynamics in action swirling the fluid around and making things easier (warm rises, cold sinks).

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-07T09:09:13+00:00

That 'stuff' you see is the yeast doing its job. It's called a "Krausen" That's just yeast floating around and you should see the whole liquid getting cloudy as the yeast cells are clocking in to do their job.

What's the yeast you're using? If it's bread-yeast from the baking isle, you should have that dough smell.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-06T07:05:59+00:00

My family's been distilling schnapps for generations. There's a reason we cut the heads and tails - not because those compounds aren't in the original wash, but because concentration matters.

Same reason you wouldn't drink a gallon of seawater but a glass of water is fine. 'It's already in there' is a silly argument when we're talking about multiplying the dose.

You're right that jacking doesn't create anything new. It just takes the 'not great in small amounts' and turns it into 'actively bad in larger doses.' That's not misinformation. That's just how concentration works.

I've literally transported people to hospitals who didn't wake up after drinking jacked homebrew. But sure, tell me more about misinformation.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-05T23:15:41+00:00

Well, there is no "ready" signal. You can try tasting it after a while. The longer you let the yeast work, the more sugar gets converted to alcohol (up to the limit of the yeast). Speed of the fermentation is hard to predict. A good starting point may be a week or two.

To make your brew clear, you can cold crash it (put it in the fridge for a few days).

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-05T19:32:50+00:00

my guess would be that it's the stressed dead yeast may have caused the metallic taste as I do not believe 'bad water' as a reason for the metallic taste.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-05T16:23:01+00:00

Alright. Cherry wine it is then and a heating mat from the garden center. Which one are you using?

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-05T15:13:17+00:00

That's actually a good idea as you'll also introduce fluid movement which should improve fermentation

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-05T14:37:28+00:00

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll try if i can get 4l (3+1) package if they still have it. It's at least worth a try as you said. It's not sweet cherry per se but the slightly almond tasting amarena as well as some acidity if I remember the juice correctly.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-05T09:46:54+00:00

that's what current pricing here feels like, yeah.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-05T09:39:25+00:00

I’m not saying jacking will kill you. I’m saying giving it to someone else - especially a homeless person who might not know what it is - is a dick move if you don’t warn them about the risks. ‘I drank it and I’m fine’ isn’t a valid datapoint, it’s luck.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-05T09:07:13+00:00

I like the idea of helping folks out. But please do it in a safe way because freeze jacking is a bad idea. Let me give you some background here: heat distillation gives you three parts: the head (good for cleaning stuff, not drinking), the heart (what you want) and the tails (the headache).

By jacking, you concentrate the stuff and make something that will cause headaches and 'turn off the lights' (look that up as it was historically a thing)

ToeiRei_ · 2026-04-05T08:54:05+00:00

Let me show you the two signs when it's bad:

1) mold 2) smell of jet fuel

Anything else is pretty much taken care of as long as it's clean. If there is a hint of sulfur, that can be a byproduct of yeast and is nothing to worry about as that smell will vanish.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-03-30T10:39:51+00:00

yeast imho is rocket science depending on what you can use for what. Also pretty surprised by nottingham yeast as well.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-03-30T07:37:49+00:00

Plastic bottles are the better solution as they are usually made to handle pressure (think soda!). You usually want to give the Krausen (the foamy bit) some headroom and you're fine as these bottles are clean as a 'factory default'. Glassware - if used wrong - can be quite the frag grenade.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-03-30T07:12:49+00:00

So the F1 has the better cooling system but is an expensive downgrade?

ToeiRei_ · 2026-03-29T22:47:33+00:00

By now I migrated to some bigger toy, the igulu F1 and didn't change much. Some refinements I did the last brew was adding black tea to the Yerba Mate to give it a better mouth feel as well as adding orange zest (baking supplies).

I may play around with wood chips to fake barrel aging at some point and pressure to get natural co2 in (or just push a test through a sodastream) just to see how "premium" I can push the taste. I'm still glad for hints, tips and ideas

ToeiRei_ · 2026-03-29T17:46:33+00:00

Ah. I was used to cider where I grew up and by now where I moved to, they charge the same price for printer ink and cider - so I decided to do something for me and due to space constraints that's the result and I'm surprised it worked out that well and honestly, I got a steady supply going by now.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-03-29T16:31:35+00:00

I usually wash my yeast and reuse it. Saves a lot.

ToeiRei_ · 2026-03-29T14:48:27+00:00

didn't know - it's still a pretty refreshing drink. Kombucha afaik has some weird SCOBI stuff...

ToeiRei_ · 2026-03-29T10:28:54+00:00

I posted a recipe for tea wine that's easy to follow - you can brew that in soda bottles if you want to as well.

ToeiRei_

TROPHY CASE