Recipes for liquors
According to dictionary.com,
Liquor is defined as:
An alcoholic beverage made by distillation rather than by fermentation.
Actually, since
fermentation is step one of the process, I find that definition a bit misleading. Here are several
recipes for the most common types of liquor.
Contrary to popular opinion most
vodka is not made from potatos. The term "
vodka" describes any spirit which is
colorless,
odorless, and
tasteless.
Vodka can be made from any number of ingredients, and the label on most commercial
vodka states that it is made with "
100% grain-neutral spirits" Common "base" ingredients are
wheat,
barley,
rye,
corn, or even
potatoes.
- Wash and rinse the potatoes, then grate them
- Boil the potatoes in 3 quarts of water for 15 minutes
- Remove any foam that collects on the top Continue boiling until no more foam collects
- Strain the water into the fermenting vessel with the sugar and raisins
- Cool to room temperature and add the yeast
- Juice the fruit, and add it as well. Mix very well, and allow to ferment for a week stirring or shaking daily
Distill in the method allowed by law where you live. (Most places do not allow
home distillation!) However the result of
distillation is very good
potato vodka. If you do not
distill, then after
fermentation siphon the liquid into a
secondary airtight container (leaving the sediment), and let sit for a few months. The result of this is
potato wine.
Rum is made from
molasses, which is made from raw
cane sugar. You could make
rum as well by boiling some raw
sugar cane and
fermenting the whole mix, but you would need quite a bit of
sugar cane.
- Boil the water and dissolve the molasses and sugar.
- Cool to room temperature
- Add yeast and optionally, the yeast nutrient
- Mix well and allow to ferment for 2 weeks
- Distill as allowed by law
If you want
dark rum carmelize 1 cup
molasses on the stove stirring continuously until it is very very dark (burnt) and vaguely liquid. Dissolve this mixture in one cup of water, and add this to the
rum produced above.(approximately 50ml per 750ml)
- 20 lbs corn
- 5 gallons of water
- 1 Tablespoon yeast
- Grind all the corn to a powder
- Add to 5 gallons of water and bring to ~154F mixing very well
- Steep at this temperature for at least 45 minutes
- Let cool to room temperature, and add yeast
- Mix well, and place in fermenting vessel for at least a week
- Distill as you like, but remember it is illegal in most of the world to do this at home!
Bourbon must be
straight whiskey with corn comprising between 51% and 79% of the
mash grains (the remander usually being barley and rye), and must be made in the U.S. to be labeled
Bourbon in the United States. In other words,
Bourbon is exactly the same as whiskey, instead use corn for 51% of the mash and
barley and
rye as secondary ingredients. Very little to no
yeast is used. Instead save some of the mash from the previous batch to kickstart it. The
naturally occuring yeast typically does the trick.
- Grind all the grain to a powder
- Add to 5 gallons of water and bring to ~154F mixing very well
- Steep at this temperature for at least 45 minutes
- Let cool to room temperature
- Mix well, and place in fermenting vessel for at least two weeks
- Distill as permitted by law
- Bourbon is typically filtered through charcoal and aged in white charred oak barrels for two years or more
These recipes are mostly my own creation. I built upon many I found either on the Internet, or from books found at your local library.