Help with liquor making

Dawn - 1. This newsgroup is for winemaking. I have never heard of "condessa liquor" -- it sounds like a proprietary liqueur (flavored distilled spirits) but not one I've ever run across in the U.S. 2. I believe there now is a newsgroup for distilling. You might try there, although from the tone of your post, I'm not sure that's what you want, either. Note that home distilling is illegal in most English-speaking countries, except (apparently) in New Zealand. 3. If you are trying to ferment something, you should be starting with some sort of sugar solution. If the sugars come from grapes or other fruit, it is "wine"; if from grains (malted to convert the starches into fermentable sugars) it is "beer". The fermentation is accomplished by yeast, which you should have added. If the yeast find adequate nutrients and a supply of sugar, they will multiply rapidly (at room temperature or fairly close), and you should be able to detect some yeasty smell and bubbling. Under normal circumstances, this should be very obvious by "day 3". You can use baking yeast, but you are likely to get much better results by getting a packet of wine or beer yeast from your local homebrew supply store - it should cost no more than a dollar. 4. Regardless of what sort of stuff you are fermenting, yeast will not continue to function once the alcohol level reaches 14 to

18%. I believe baking yeast will become inactive at even lower concentrations. Most "liquors" are sold at somewhere around 40% alcohol (80 proof, in US terminology) or higher. To get anywhere near that level of alcohol, you must take the wine or beer and distill it to increase the alcohol level. As noted above, this is illegal in most places. Aside from legality, distilling is a more complicated and potentially hazardous process than simple fermentation. If you intend to attempt it, you really need to do some research on techniques and safety precautions. 5. If you are attempting to duplicate a proprietary liqueur, your best bet is to start with vodka or some other distilled spirits (purchased legally from your local liquor store) and add flavorings, and probably some sugar (depending on the specific product). There are companies that sell flavorings to be added to flavorless spirits. Again, these can often be found at your local homebrew supply store.

If (despite the name) this "condessa liquor" you are making is, in fact, some sort of wine (loosely defined), you will need to post more specifics for anyone else here to provide much help. Those would include the starting recipe (what ingredients and how much of each), what yeast was used, approximate temperature, what sort of container the fermentation is in, etc.

Doug

The Condessa High Alcohol Liqueur kits are available in UK. They ferment a sugar solution with the aid of special additives and nutrient at a very fast rate. They also need very strict and tight temperature control to achieve a 20% abv. When fermentation is complete activated charcoal and other thing are added to finish up with, hopefully a clear, fairly tasteless liquid a 20% abv -- you have to be very lucky to manage that! The concentrates are added ( they are included in the kit)

I tried one many years ago and to be honest the end results are very disappointing. I also stress that very tight temperature control is essential. The concentrates that are used also include what must be a derivative of chilli to simulate the "alcohol burn"

I make my own liqueurs by using commercial 40% abv vodka and buy concentrates which are available from most home brew suppliers. I adjust sweetness and also ( by using glycerine) adjust the syrup mouth feel to my own satisfaction. I then let sit, bottled and labelled for most of a ear -- usually Christmas time.

Trevor - Thanks for the info. I don't drink a lot of liqueurs, but thought I would at least have heard the name before, if it was a commercial product. Apparently the Condessa folks don't market their kits in the U.S. From your post, it sounds like my best guess advice wasn't too far off - buy some vodka, add some flavorings and sweetener to taste, and be happy. Even if everything goes right with the kit approach, the absolute best you would end up with would be 20% ABV, around half the level of the commercial products you are trying to imitate. Sounds like a losing proposition to me, especially for a beginner.

Dawn - I have a better idea now what your question is about, but most of my initial response still applies. You should see bubbles of some sort, and perhaps some yeast floating on top of the fermenting liquid. Since you are trying to produce an alcohol and water mixture with no real flavor of its own, I would guess the Condessa kit would include little more than sugar and small amounts of yeast nutrients. About all you should need to do to start the process off is mix those with water (anywhere near room temp.) and add the yeast. If you aren't seeing any signs of activity by day 3 (or 4 by now), you should follow standard winemaking instructions for a "stuck ferment". Here are a couple of good resources:

If the kit approach doesn't produce good results for you, try the vodka approach. (Light rum would work about as well, as it has relatively little flavor of its own.) It will cost a little more, but it's a lot simpler and (I think) is bound to give you a better end result.

Best of luck -

Doug

Thanks for your help I will let you know how I get on