• Brewing in Prison. London UK

    From john west@mail.invalid456@mail.invalid to rec.crafts.brewing on Wed Apr 11 11:28:05 2018
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.brewing


    A little while ago i was watching a documentary about our prisons. (I am
    in London,UK).
    Inmates were making an alcoholic brew in plastic bags, just using all
    their old fruit peelings and some bread yeast.
    Seeing how much we 'waste' old fruit peelings at home, i just thought i
    would try this out as an experiment.
    My question is: are there any fruit peelings that i should *not* use,
    like banana skins or orange peel, etc ? Or are there any vegetable
    peelings that i could also use, that would not give an undue bad taste?
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  • From Joerg@news@analogconsultants.com to rec.crafts.brewing on Wed Apr 11 07:28:51 2018
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.brewing

    On 2018-04-11 03:28, john west wrote:

    A little while ago i was watching a documentary about our prisons. (I am
    in London,UK).
    Inmates were making an alcoholic brew in plastic bags, just using all
    their old fruit peelings and some bread yeast.
    Seeing how much we 'waste' old fruit peelings at home, i just thought i
    would try this out as an experiment.
    My question is: are there any fruit peelings that i should *not* use,
    like banana skins or orange peel, etc ? Or are there any vegetable
    peelings that i could also use, that would not give an undue bad taste?


    Be careful. Peelings in our "modern" world can contain all sorts of
    pesticide. When you drink this stuff you might expose your body to a
    high concentration of those.

    Personally I would never do this.

    --
    Regards, Joerg

    http://www.analogconsultants.com/
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  • From ernest.p.worrell@ernest.p.worrell@vernal.equinox.edu (T.J. Higgins) to rec.crafts.brewing on Wed Apr 11 16:25:34 2018
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.brewing

    In article <fj6kctFgaonU2@mid.individual.net>, Joerg wrote:
    On 2018-04-11 03:28, john west wrote:

    A little while ago i was watching a documentary about our prisons. (I am
    in London,UK).
    Inmates were making an alcoholic brew in plastic bags, just using all
    their old fruit peelings and some bread yeast.
    Seeing how much we 'waste' old fruit peelings at home, i just thought i
    would try this out as an experiment.
    My question is: are there any fruit peelings that i should *not* use,
    like banana skins or orange peel, etc ? Or are there any vegetable
    peelings that i could also use, that would not give an undue bad taste?


    Be careful. Peelings in our "modern" world can contain all sorts of >pesticide. When you drink this stuff you might expose your body to a
    high concentration of those.

    The solution to that problem is to use only organic fruits and
    vegetables.

    To the OP: here in the States, prison wine is called "pruno."
    Lots of info about it online.

    I've never tried it, but my guess is that potato peels would be
    useful in such an experiment. Millions of vodka drinkers can't
    be wrong.

    The guy I bought my house from was a prison guard. He said they
    keep their yeast locked up, using the same security measures they
    use for the drugs in the infirmary. The prisoners love getting
    their hands on real yeast.

    --
    TJH
    tjhiggin.at.hiwaay.dot.net
    --- Synchronet 3.17a-Linux NewsLink 1.108
  • From baloonon@baloonon@hotmail.com to rec.crafts.brewing on Wed Apr 11 17:12:22 2018
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.brewing

    ernest.p.worrell@vernal.equinox.edu (T.J. Higgins) wrote:

    In article <fj6kctFgaonU2@mid.individual.net>, Joerg wrote:

    On 2018-04-11 03:28, john west wrote:

    A little while ago i was watching a documentary about our prisons.
    (I am in London,UK).
    Inmates were making an alcoholic brew in plastic bags, just using
    all their old fruit peelings and some bread yeast.
    Seeing how much we 'waste' old fruit peelings at home, i just
    thought i would try this out as an experiment.
    My question is: are there any fruit peelings that i should *not*
    use, like banana skins or orange peel, etc ? Or are there any
    vegetable peelings that i could also use, that would not give an
    undue bad taste?

    Be careful. Peelings in our "modern" world can contain all sorts of >>pesticide. When you drink this stuff you might expose your body to a
    high concentration of those.

    The solution to that problem is to use only organic fruits and
    vegetables.

    Home grown will work too if you know what you've been using and can
    verify that it's safe.

    To the OP: here in the States, prison wine is called "pruno."
    Lots of info about it online.

    I've never tried it, but my guess is that potato peels would be
    useful in such an experiment. Millions of vodka drinkers can't
    be wrong.

    You would need something to convert the starch in potatoes to
    fermentable sugar.

    South Americans manage this with plants like yucca by chewing it and
    then spitting it into a container. Enzymes in saliva make it happen. The
    drink is called Chicha, but to be honest it sounds very much like an
    acquired taste.

    Crushed apple peels from a safe source should ferment on their own,
    although it's a bit of a crap shoot whether it's a wild yeast that
    produces good flavors that dominates fermentation, or if it's either a
    bad yeast or bacteria that ends up running the show. You would need a
    lot of apple peels, though. It takes quite a few pounds of apples to
    produce just a quart of cider.

    The guy I bought my house from was a prison guard. He said they
    keep their yeast locked up, using the same security measures they
    use for the drugs in the infirmary. The prisoners love getting
    their hands on real yeast.

    Prison fermentation was described in The Autobiography of Malcolm X too.
    I seem to remember him describing kitchen jobs being really prized
    during his stint in prison in the 1940s because of the access to sugar,
    fruit juice and yeast.
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