How to make Hard Liqour, Wine and Biofuel (E85).

Step 2 Primary to Secondary

After the fermentation is done, you want to pour the liquid part into another container. Leave the settled stuff behind. This is called Racking.
You can do this 3 different ways.
You can pour it in (not recommended)
Use a manual siphon (not recommended)
Use a Auto siphon (recommended)

After it is in the secondary let it settle. If there is more stuff on the bottom rack it again. Finally, after it looks relatively clear, use the clearing agent to get it really clear.

If you are making wine, that is it. Your done. Just let it age, usually 6 months is the recommended. You could always drink it after it is done, but i hear its not that good.

For E85 and hard stuff, you need to do something called Distillation
Which means, we go to the next step!

Comments

[Ned Peppers]

I'm impressed! you sound like you know what yer doin. maybe you can answer a couple of questions for me. first, whats an " auto-siphon" and where can i git one? second, can you add more sugar and yeast and re-rack it again?

[sk187]

Ok, well here is the thing. An auto-siphon basically allows you to siphon without creating a suction with your mouth. I would highly recommend it and can be purchased from really any home brew store. As for the add more sugar and yeast re-racking, well there it can depend. I am not real sure what you are asking, but if you mean a solution that you already fermented sugars in, aka already has an alcohol content then its a yes but only to a certain degree. Basically, certain yeast are only capable of fermenting to a certain percent then they die from alcohol as it messes with the stability of the yeast. the typical yeast does around 8-13 percent. if you get champagne yeast, it can prob do up to 18% and some mixtures (with yeast, yeast hulls, and other nutrients) can prob do up to 21 or 22%. However, i wouldn't recommend really anything above 18 cause it really isn't all that good tasting. You get alot of fusal and other weird tastes. As for figuring out how much sugar to add to how much water, I would suggest you by a hydrometer, which is a floating weight with a scale on it that measures specific gravity. the specific gravity of water is 1 and as you add more sugar, it goes beyond 1 and when it is fermented all the way, the meter should be lighter than 1. I think it was .999. There is a certain ratio of sugar to alcohol conversion and most of these hydrometers have a thing on it as well that will tell you. Hope that answered your questions.