Is Having Your Own Onboard Brewry A Good Addition

[GoingWalkabout]

Looks like we have a lot of drunken sailor's. ... reminds of that old song... Anyway I can see the issues of having an extra device on a small boat and concerns for proper storage of yeast, but for my plans sailing on a relatively large cat (floating condo) none of these issues are of concern. Now I have to decide if I should have a floating still or a simple home brew kit. I think beer wins since going blind from a bad moonshine is a serious fear of mine. Now I am not in favor of drinking cheap wine. It gives me a headache. So no wine making on my boat. But cherry brandy is another thing. :-)

One other good thing that has come out of this thread is it answers the question raised in another thread asking how to make money onboard.

:-)

[LLCoolDave]

To quote another member here, "I joined a drinking club with a sailing problem." Delos also has a video with their distillery.

[socaldmax]

I used to brew my own beer, and it was a lot of work. Boiling the wort, fermenting, sanitizing the stainless pots, copper tubing, carboys, 5 gal corny kegs. It took a lot of time and water. Not to mention the cost of grains, hops, yeast, possibly honey and fruit flavorings if you like that. Brewing your own beer really isn't a money saving venture, especially when you factor in all of the equipment to do it right and the energy necessary to heat 5 gal of mash.

I ordered the champagne yeast and I'm going to try out the 30 second method. Just add it to a gallon of apple or grape juice, put an air lock on it and let it ferment for 2 weeks. Cool it down in the fridge and serve it from the same bottle. Toss the old bottle and do a fresh one. This looks like the easiest, simplest way to brew something alcoholic and refreshing.

I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how the first batch came out. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you use an air lock, contamination can ruin an entire batch or make you sick.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

I used to brew my own beer, and it was a lot of work. Boiling the wort, fermenting, sanitizing the stainless pots, copper tubing, carboys, 5 gal corny kegs. It took a lot of time and water. Not to mention the cost of grains, hops, yeast, possibly honey and fruit flavorings if you like that. Brewing your own beer really isn't a money saving venture, especially when you factor in all of the equipment to do it right and the energy necessary to heat 5 gal of mash.

I ordered the champagne yeast and I'm going to try out the 30 second method. Just add it to a gallon of apple or grape juice, put an air lock on it and let it ferment for 2 weeks. Cool it down in the fridge and serve it from the same bottle. Toss the old bottle and do a fresh one. This looks like the easiest, simplest way to brew something alcoholic and refreshing.

I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how the first batch came out. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you use an air lock, contamination can ruin an entire batch or make you sick.

Yes, good quality brewing consumes a lot of the very things that are in short supply on a boat...water & energy.

Ive never measured, but I bet I go thru at least 10 gallons, probably a bit more, to brew a 5 gallon batch of beer. In combination water for cleaning/sanitizing (lots!), evaporative loss during boil, grain absorbtion loss, losses during transfers (you never get it all)...a lot of water gets consumed that never finds its way into beer.

And then of course getting ingredients...

Quick and dirty stuff like your simple cider/wine above or basic mead would be best. You can get everthing you need almost anywhere (bread yeast will work, but wont tolerate higher ABV). Or, you could just do jail house hooch from old bread and fruit.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

I used to brew my own beer, and it was a lot of work. Boiling the wort, fermenting, sanitizing the stainless pots, copper tubing, carboys, 5 gal corny kegs. It took a lot of time and water. Not to mention the cost of grains, hops, yeast, possibly honey and fruit flavorings if you like that. Brewing your own beer really isn't a money saving venture, especially when you factor in all of the equipment to do it right and the energy necessary to heat 5 gal of mash.

I ordered the champagne yeast and I'm going to try out the 30 second method. Just add it to a gallon of apple or grape juice, put an air lock on it and let it ferment for 2 weeks. Cool it down in the fridge and serve it from the same bottle. Toss the old bottle and do a fresh one. This looks like the easiest, simplest way to brew something alcoholic and refreshing.

I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how the first batch came out. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you use an air lock, contamination can ruin an entire batch or make you sick.

Im eagerly awaiting your research results. Perhaps when you report back and if it works well, you could provide product names for both the champagne yeast and the best air lock bottle you know. If it works it could be a great new sundowner solution.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Yes, good quality brewing consumes a lot of the very things that are in short supply on a boat...water & energy.

Ive never measured, but I bet I go thru at least 10 gallons, probably a bit more, to brew a 5 gallon batch of beer. In combination water for cleaning/sanitizing (lots!), evaporative loss during boil, grain absorbtion loss, losses during transfers (you never get it all)...a lot of water gets consumed that never finds its way into beer.

And then of course getting ingredients...

Quick and dirty stuff like your simple cider/wine above or basic mead would be best. You can get everthing you need almost anywhere (bread yeast will work, but wont tolerate higher ABV). Or, you could just do jail house hooch from old bread and fruit.

If you have a watermaker onboard I don't see a problem with the 50% water loss. Making 5gallons of beer out of 10 gallons of water doesn't sound a bad thing at all. If you calculate the cost of running your water maker to make 10 gallons of water that in turn makes 5 gallons of beer I am sure you will have bottles of beer that cost only cents for the water. As far as the ingredients they aren't bulky. You don't need a lot of storage space for packets of yeast. Cheers.

[RaymondR]

Is there a problem with doing your cleaning with sea water. Seem to recall I used it when I home brewed without problems?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by GoingWalkabout

If you have a watermaker onboard I don't see a problem with the 50% water loss. Making 5gallons of beer out of 10 gallons of water doesn't sound a bad thing at all. If you calculate the cost of running your water maker to make 10 gallons of water that in turn makes 5 gallons of beer I am sure you will have bottles of beer that cost only cents for the water. As far as the ingredients they aren't bulky. You don't need a lot of storage space for packets of yeast. Cheers.

While yeast packets are very compact, and should be refrigerated, other ingredients, like grains, can indeed be quite bulky. I have a chest freezer ashore used for nothing but storing ingredients. Two more chest freezers, externally controlled for fermentation chambers.

For brewing on a boat I would stick with dry yeast, which has less critical storage requirements than liquid cultures.

A very simplified, malt extract based, brewing process would reduce storage and equipment requirements, but malt extract goes bad more rapidly if not stored properly.

Brewing something other than beer, like mead, would be even easier because the ingredients (honey, water, and yeast), could be acquired locally in most venues. Regular bread yeast will work and is almost universally available.

I can tell you from experience, that brewing in remote locations, where ingredients must be imported, is rarely cost effective compared to the low cost of the local mass produced swill in many locations.

True, you can do things to help reduce cost, but generally by sacrificing quality. I brew because I love well crafted beer, doing that requires more resources than are realistic on a typical cruising boat. If Im just going to drink swill then its generally much easier and cheaper to buy the local mass produced beer. In areas where beer is expensive, then the import duties on ingredients are likely to be high too.

[Ribbit]

I've given up on beer brewing, but do a lot of fruit wines. I buy the cheap tetra packs of fruit juice with no dodgy preservatives. Cheap apple juice makes great cider, though I do a strong apple wine instead by adding 1lb of sugar to the demijohn.

Get brews to about 15% and they keep very well.

My favourite is 3ltrs Cherry Juice and 1 ltr grape juice, plus 1lb sugar, to a demijohn, topped up with a cupful of fresh brewed strong tea and some lemon juice. Apart from being nice to drink in its own right, it is superb when distilled. eta: the Cherry Juice ferments vigorously, so start with just 2 ltrs + the grape juice to leave enough room for expansion, then when the initial fermentation has settled down, top up with the last 1 ltr Cherry Juice.

I gave up on expensive yeast, I just use tubs of Allinson's dried bread yeast.

The only thing that upsets the bread yeast, is recent sugarbeet sugar. There's something wrong with it and it kills the yeast (so what's it doing to us? I've stopped buying it). The 'sugar' crystals of the present stuff are noticeably smaller than the proper size crystals, they are more the size of grains of table salt.

The apple wine makes extremely nice Calvados (apple brandy), and even if I say so myself, my legal copper still puts a lot of the French producers to shame. A demijohn gives me about a litre of 50% Calvados. I don't sell the stuff, that would be breaking the law, but I do have friends and neighbours that are partial to some when I can spare any.

I treat my still right, and don't have any problem taking off the nasty stuff (there isn't much of it if you brew right) to separate it out.

I'll have to get my boat back here to pick up my still, and I'll put 3 demijohns on board for the brewing (one always empty for sterilising and racking, in rotation) at the same time.

There's an excellent copper still maker in Italy, that goes by the name of La Ramera, and I bought mine off them.

You can make some very tasty and inexpensive fruit teabag wines too. I had to stop making it because my kid sister and her friends were drinking it all before I had a chance of a glass myself.

There's some very good recipes available via internet search engines.

I have started getting into making liqueurs. Coffee Maria, Walnut, and Plum are first class, but my first attempt at a Limoncello type drink, turned out more like Lemsip.

Win some lose some.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

I commented to another yachty in Townsville on a 20' Wharam that he seemed to run his genset a lot and were his batteries shot.

He replied that he ran it on his reflux still.

I commented that he must be an alcoholic to need to run it all day every day.

He replied that he sold the alcohol to make a living.

I had stumbled on a cruising bootlegger.

Can you make booze on a small boat? Yes.

I'm wondering what are the implications of making and selling your own liquor are? I would think if you brewed and bottled the precious liquid while in international waters you wouldn't be breaking any laws. Mind you, I think though in places like North and South Carolina even owning a still could be illegal. Not sure if that applies to onboard stills or not. I'm also not sure what the Federal laws are for the likes of the Coast Guard.

You could always put the still in a closet and write water maker on the outside.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by GoingWalkabout

I'm wondering what are the implications of making and selling your own liquor are? I would think if you brewed and bottled the precious liquid while in international waters you wouldn't be breaking any laws. Mind you, I think though in places like North and South Carolina even owning a still could be illegal. Not sure if that applies to onboard stills or not. I'm also not sure what the Federal laws are for the likes of the Coast Guard.

You could always put the still in a closet and write water maker on the outside.

Selling opens up a whole other can of worms. Every country has laws regulating alcohol. In some it is still illegal to even brew it (really about protecting tax revenues and brewing monopolies). In every country I know of, it is certainly illegal to sell without proper permits/taxes.

Fermented beverages are not likely to make you seriously ill, but distilling, if not done properly, can produce hazardous by-products. Personally, I would not be comfortable buying distilled hooch from a cruiser.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

I brew because I love well crafted beer, doing that requires more resources than are realistic on a typical cruising boat. If Im just going to drink swill then its generally much easier and cheaper to buy the local mass produced beer. In areas where beer is expensive, then the import duties on ingredients are likely to be high too.

No wonder you are snooty about the local brews. Did you know The Gallo's live across from Catamaran?

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by Ribbit

I've given up on beer brewing, but do a lot of fruit wines. I buy the cheap tetra packs of fruit juice with no dodgy preservatives. Cheap apple juice makes great cider, though I do a strong apple wine instead by adding 1lb of sugar to the demijohn.

Get brews to about 15% and they keep very well.

My favourite is 3ltrs Cherry Juice and 1 ltr grape juice, plus 1lb sugar, to a demijohn, topped up with a cupful of fresh brewed strong tea and some lemon juice. Apart from being nice to drink in its own right, it is superb when distilled. eta: the Cherry Juice ferments vigorously, so start with just 2 ltrs + the grape juice to leave enough room for expansion, then when the initial fermentation has settled down, top up with the last 1 ltr Cherry Juice.

I gave up on expensive yeast, I just use tubs of Allinson's dried bread yeast.

The only thing that upsets the bread yeast, is recent sugarbeet sugar. There's something wrong with it and it kills the yeast (so what's it doing to us? I've stopped buying it). The 'sugar' crystals of the present stuff are noticeably smaller than the proper size crystals, they are more the size of grains of table salt.

The apple wine makes extremely nice Calvados (apple brandy), and even if I say so myself, my legal copper still puts a lot of the French producers to shame. A demijohn gives me about a litre of 50% Calvados. I don't sell the stuff, that would be breaking the law, but I do have friends and neighbours that are partial to some when I can spare any.

I treat my still right, and don't have any problem taking off the nasty stuff (there isn't much of it if you brew right) to separate it out.

I'll have to get my boat back here to pick up my still, and I'll put 3 demijohns on board for the brewing (one always empty for sterilising and racking, in rotation) at the same time.

There's an excellent copper still maker in Italy, that goes by the name of La Ramera, and I bought mine off them.

You can make some very tasty and inexpensive fruit teabag wines too. I had to stop making it because my kid sister and her friends were drinking it all before I had a chance of a glass myself.

There's some very good recipes available via internet search engines.

I have started getting into making liqueurs. Coffee Maria, Walnut, and Plum are first class, but my first attempt at a Limoncello type drink, turned out more like Lemsip.

Win some lose some.

Ribbit, Thank you so much for sharing your invaluable information. I checked out the Italian still maker. They look amazing. A true piece of art as well as functional. alambicco 15 litri a colonna

My grandmother back in Europe used to make cherry brandy. Apparently it was a common thing amongst my ethnic forebears.

Your own artisan drinks for sundowners sure would save a pretty penny if cruising for a long time. not to mention the generous fun sundowner party's you could have without much cost. You could even exchange some bottles for whatever (can't say money because of course that would be illegal).

Thinking about it perhaps you could have drink tasting nights onboard with a donation plate for takeaway bottles. Or have a sign saying the bottles are made of rare glass and cost x amount and they come with free liquor of your choice.

Sounds like a party and a business all in one.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Selling opens up a whole other can of worms. Every country has laws regulating alcohol. In some it is still illegal to even brew it (really about protecting tax revenues and brewing monopolies). In every country I know of, it is certainly illegal to sell without proper permits/taxes.

Fermented beverages are not likely to make you seriously ill, but distilling, if not done properly, can produce hazardous by-products. Personally, I would not be comfortable buying distilled hooch from a cruiser.

Well I agree about being careful. You don't want to get blind drunk, literally.

I realize the selling of the stuff could be a problem. But there could be creative ways to facilitate a legal exchange. What I'm concerned about are parts of the world where owning a still onboard could be illegal. Mind you the copper one I'm looking at from Italy comes in three parts and could easily be stored amongst the pots and pans. Not sure if any one would work out that it is a still in your cupboard.

[bobnlesley]

As with all things boaty, we go for the KISS option.

We've never tried brewing any beer, but we've been producing drinkable white/rose wines for the last couple of years at a cost of less than $1/litre:

Wine Recipe – it only works in warm places, so Florida and points south are good, Maine – even in summer - is bad.
1 litre/1 quart of 100% fruit juice, but not citrus fruit – white/red grape, apple and lichee have worked the best for us – it can be reconstituted juice, but it must not have added sugar, vitamin-C, etc; look for the cheapest bottle/carton that says ‘100% juice’ somewhere on it.
1 kilo/2lbs sugar
6.5 litres/quarts of water
1 packet of dried yeast – we’ve used 14 gram/0.5 ounce and 21gram/0.75 ounce packets, it doesn’t seem to matter, though we do think that ‘normal’ yeast works better than the ‘fast reacting’ versions?

Mix all the ingredients together in a jerry jug and stow in a locker - we use the stern locker for a bit of extra agitation – with the cap on loosely.
Take it out and Shake the brew once each day until it stops (or just about stops) ‘fizzing’, generally this’ll be 10-12 days.
When you decided it’s stopped fizzing, let it stand for 24 hours after you last shook it, then siphon/decant it into another jerry jug, leaving the sediment behind and stow it somewhere (cap on tight now) that doesn’t move around too much – we strap ours under the chart table, close to the boat’s centre-line.
Let it stand (no more shaking) for a further 10 days – a week will do, two weeks might be better? – then siphon/decant it into smaller/fridge-sized bottles, leaving the rest of the sediment behind. – Plastic milk/fruit-juice cartons work well.
Stow it wherever is convenient (we’ve left some for three months and it was still OK) then chuck it into the fridge to chill before drinking.

If you try it and like it, then look out for the RSA-flagged yacht 'Kaya Moya' and offer John & Shirley a glass of your brew; that's who gave us the recipe