How to Make Hooch with Paul Holmes
Apple juice hooch
Ingredients:
1 gallon apple juice
1 cup/200g brown sugar
1/2tsp bread/ale/wine/champagne yeast OR 2-3tbsp active sourdough starter
Airlock options:
Commercial airlock, blowoff tube/straw glued airtight to a hole in the lid, balloon/condom/latex gloves stretched over the top with a small hole poked in it
Method:
Pour out a few ounces of juice, shake in sugar until combined, add yeast, seal with airlock, store in a cool, dark place for two weeks, siphon/pour out hooch to a serving vessel and enjoy!
Ginger beer (from Fifth Season Gardening in NC)
Ingredients:
400g/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2c ginger, peeled and grated
1/2c fresh squeezed lime and lemon juice, any combo
1tsp cream of tartar
1/2tsp champagne yeast
Equipment:
Gallon jug or bucket, food-safe tubing, airlock, sanitizer, 6qt kettle, thermometer
Method:
Boil ginger, citrus juice, and cream of tartar with 7 cups cold tap water. Once boiling, add brown sugar, stir and simmer until dissolved, then turn off heat and add 9 cups cold tap water. Cool wort to 75F, by waiting or placing the kettle in ice water. Siphon into fermentation vessel, pitch (add) yeast, seal with airlock. Ferment 3-5 days in a cool, dark place (more time=more alcohol, less sugar), siphon into pressure-safe vessels and refrigerate, releasing built-up CO2 once a day until consumed.
Apple wine
Ingredients:
2 lbs white sugar
2 lbs light brown sugar
4 gallons fresh cider, highest quality available
1 packet Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast
3 tsp yeast nutrient, divided
Equipment:
5 gallon carboy with large funnel OR bucket with airtight lid, kegging system OR many bottles, food safe tubing, airlock, sanitizer
Method:
Pour cider into the fermentation vessel and add sugar, mixing until dissolved. Pitch yeast and add 1tsp yeast nutrient, then seal with an airlock. Add 1tsp yeast nutrient each of the next two days. Ferment in a cool, dark place for two weeks, siphon apple wine into bottles or preferably, a keg, then refrigerate. If kegging, carbonate at 30psi for a delightfully effervescent treat
Resources:
Subreddits: /r/prisonhooch, /r/homebrewing
Books: The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz, How to Brew by John Palmer
Retailers: Find and support your local homebrew store, which will likely still be shipping online orders! My favorites: Grape & Granary in Akron, OH and Bitter & Esters in NYC. northernbrewer.com is a great specialty online retailer. I decline to name another e-commerce giant that might come to mind, but it’ll work, too.