Introduction: Pineapple Beer - How to Make Tepache (Mexican Pineapple Beer)
UPDATED INSTRUCTIONS!
Hey everyone!
This is my first instructable, and I really hope u like it!
This is an Instructable on how to make Tepache, a Mexican drink made of Pineapples ( PINEAPPLE BEER!! ) Its fairly easy to make and it tastes awesome!
I'm not sure on Alcoholic Potency... I added way too much sugar to mine and left it for 10 days and it got pretty strong.
Step 1: Ingredients Needed:
You are going to need the Following:
3 Large Pineapples
5 Cups Sugar - (Preferably brown works best, and makes it sweeter and gives it color)
Cinnamon (Just a pinch!)
4 Liters Water (A Gallon)
Yeast - Adding just a teaspoon of instant bakers yeast to your Pineapple Beer will make it much more alcoholic, than using the natural yeasts in the rind alone.
- Not much eh? Easy stuff this.
Step 2: Tools / Other Stuff Needed:
To make my Pineapple Beer, I used an empty cooler box and sealed it around the edges of the lid with duct tape and tied it down with 'tie down straps'.
Tools:
1 Cooler Box
Duct Tape
Tie Down Straps
AND a 5 Liter Water bottle with a seal-able lid (OR any other container that can be sealed)
This will be used to Further Ferment it later (important - this carbonates it and makes that beer foam we all love)
Step 3: Preparing the Pineapples / Ingredients
Important: if you are not adding your own yeast, you will need to leave the skin of the pineapple on when you cut it up!
So now you will have to take your pineapples, and cut them into decently sized chunks/cubes, preferably at least an inch across.
Other Ingredients (other than pineapples): You will need plenty of sugar (Generally, the more sugar there is, the more can be converted into alcohol, and the stronger your beer will be. BUT be careful! Too much sugar calls for far too sweet Pineapple Beer!)
Cinnamon: For flavor, not too much either.
Water: Just enough water to cover the pineapples in the cooler-box.
Step 4: Primary Fermentation
This is to kick-start the fermentation process to get it going, this step accounts for most of the alcohol that is produced.
First clean out your cooler box well, disinfect it perhaps.
Put in your diced Pineapples.
Add enough water to cover them, not too much!
Add the sugar! (Just experiment with that, I added WAY too much my first time)
Now, add a bit of cinnamon for flavor.
NOW SEAL IT UP!!
Tie down your cooler box and seal it up with duct tape!
Impatience will kick in, BUT DO NOT OPEN BEFORE 3 DAYS!!!
Warning: if you do open it before you intend to bottle/drink it, you risk infecting it with foreign bacteria. This will make it go off, and you will probably get sick if you drank that.
Step 5: Secondary Fermentation
TIME TO OPEN!
After 3 days of fermenting you can open it!!!
Sadly, you cant drink it yet! Well you could... but it would have no fizz. Boring.
Now for Secondary Fermentation:
Pour everything into your 5 Liter Bottle... but make sure to leave out all the pineapple chunks! You want to only get the juice, not the fruit matter!
Now seal your 5 Liter container for AT LEAST another day or two. This will be your storage container for your Tepache. The longer you leave it, the stronger it gets.
Step 6: Perfecting Your Tepache - IMPORTANT
Your Tepache will probably look pretty... disgusting. You need to perfect it.
Option 1: If its Too thick, add more water and re-do the Secondary Fermentation step.
Option 2: If there's things floating in it, filter it! The best way it to get a carbon filter, this makes it look ALLOT better and makes it look even more appetizing. I used that thing called Bobble to filer it, its a water bottle with a carbon filter mouth piece. (see picture)
Option 3: EXPERIMENT!
Try:
Adding more / less sugar next time.
Add other spices, ginger maybe?
Even better: Add more fruits, try making it a tropical drink.. add Coconuts and other fruits!
Step 7: Cool Fact!!!
You can use this method to make any alcohol! Just use different fruits, make spirits (Like moonshine/vodka: Use plain white table sugar instead of fruits, and buy brewing yeast) by fermenting simple carbohydrates (sugar/potatoes) and then distill that into spirits!
PS - Have Fun!
