RKH said:
Care to share the recipe? I have more apples than I know what to do with.
Ryan
Hehehe...I don't know the exact recipe for making a "rakija", but as a kid I've actively participated at collecting "raw material"-plums and pears, as my grandfather used do make very good rakija.
From what I remember, all these peas were collected and stored in big can until they "smelled bad" and "started to bubble", then they were put into this big device...(class A) heheh
Btw, here are some info (you'll need a translator though):
http://www.avalacolor.co.yu/dokumenta/rakija/pecenje.htm
Attachments
mostly in jest
... though no doubt, my neighbors, both lawyers with small children ,would find 'something' that didn't fall within the rules. The city even has the nerve to say i can't collect rain water in barrels from my down spouts.
(is this the appropriate smilie? I meant confused (by silly rules)
Having my own still would be great fun...
Ryan
... though no doubt, my neighbors, both lawyers with small children ,would find 'something' that didn't fall within the rules. The city even has the nerve to say i can't collect rain water in barrels from my down spouts.
(is this the appropriate smilie? I meant confused (by silly rules)Having my own still would be great fun...
Ryan
Yes, now I understand. You could find yourself in court for having your neighbors drunk of alcoholic evaporation during the distilling process. There is also chance of Feds showing and trying to collect taxes for alcoholic beverage...
I agree, there are laws that we are not even aware off but they are lurking to be used against potential brewer. This is similar. I brought Choky's present for Mr.Pass from home. On the way here I haven't had any problems in Belgrade, or London where I exchanged planes. When I landed in LA, and was getting ready to board plane for SF, first thing they asked me if I have any alcohol with me in my bags. ??? I wasn't going to surender it so I played dam and I ended up lucky that they didn't want to check my bags. Well the story goes... After arrival back home in SF I wanted to ship this to Mr.Pass. I nicely packed and went to post office, where I was informed that what I was trying is illegal. Than next stop was Fed Ex, and UPS and... same answer. I was really pist off. I waited to meet Mr Pass at Burning Amp to give him in person Choky's present in order to prevent myself being arrested for federal crime.
There is also chance of Feds showing and trying to collect taxes for alcoholic beverage...I agree, there are laws that we are not even aware off but they are lurking to be used against potential brewer. This is similar. I brought Choky's present for Mr.Pass from home. On the way here I haven't had any problems in Belgrade, or London where I exchanged planes. When I landed in LA, and was getting ready to board plane for SF, first thing they asked me if I have any alcohol with me in my bags. ??? I wasn't going to surender it so I played dam and I ended up lucky that they didn't want to check my bags. Well the story goes... After arrival back home in SF I wanted to ship this to Mr.Pass. I nicely packed and went to post office, where I was informed that what I was trying is illegal. Than next stop was Fed Ex, and UPS and... same answer. I was really pist off. I waited to meet Mr Pass at Burning Amp to give him in person Choky's present in order to prevent myself being arrested for federal crime.
Re: Re: mostly in jest
I'm not sure what the intent is. That makes some sense. But it's so darn dry here, mosquitoes are few and far between, most of the time. I grew up in MN where the little pests are aka the state bird. I'm sure those of you up north know of what i speak.
Once the grip of the drought in the southwest starts to tighten, I suspect they won't mind if I save a few drops of nature's own for my garden and trees.
"gurgle, gurgle ... boy, was that your still or water running out of your rain barrels? honest officer, it was just my indigestion"
ryan
planet10 said:
I'm not sure what the intent is. That makes some sense. But it's so darn dry here, mosquitoes are few and far between, most of the time. I grew up in MN where the little pests are aka the state bird. I'm sure those of you up north know of what i speak.
Once the grip of the drought in the southwest starts to tighten, I suspect they won't mind if I save a few drops of nature's own for my garden and trees.
"gurgle, gurgle ... boy, was that your still or water running out of your rain barrels? honest officer, it was just my indigestion"
ryan
Rakija
well - there is it , at least as I was learnt :
collect apples ( or whatever you have to collect ) ; they must be good - not rotten ; bruised from fall from the tree are ok
melt them ; more the merrier - dryish syrup is best shape ; in case of apples and similar fruit is good to remove sterns before melting ; in case of plum - remove plum stone
it's completely OK if you collect content for one barrel ( 150 to 200litres) in few days ,but it's important that every collected amount is melted same day.
sugar - with adding it you achieve that ferment bacteries have initial food ; everything up to 5% of entire barrel is OK , but - there is another and better way for it:
use 10 kg of honey ; take 30l of warm water , put honey in it and mix it slowly ; leave it overnight to honey will be dissolved in water .
that honey - water will be initial food for ferment bacteries , and also first what you'll put in barrel
so you only need to place apple syrup in honey water ;
when you barrel the barrel
, you must have enough liquid phase in it , innard can't be too dry ;
barrel must have tight top , to prevent wine flies and other DiyA fellow-like creatures to fly on alcohol fumes .
you must mix it every day once
if you have ( and that's wise to have ) sugar meter - you can measure every day percentage of sugar in mixture . when you see that sugar is lowest and stay there for few days - then brew is over and you can think how to distill it .
if you don't have sugar meter - then look at everyday's "cake" on top of barrel - when it's weaker for two days (on same temperature of day ) and you cant feel much sugar on your tongue (try it!) , then is time for distilling .
for distilling - you must have distillery .........
there are two etapes :
first one - where you distill it 'till moment when alcohol percentage in distillate is no more than 15% . you must have alcohol meter for that .
second etape is when you make second ( final) distillation , with entire quantity of several first distillations , in case that you have muuuucho apples .
when Rakija start to flow from condenser , you must trow away first 0,5 litres of each hand , because that is loonie phase - bad for eyes and for brain.......... dunno which exactly xxxxxxetyl is it , but trust me on that .
OK- each hand of second distillation is over when you reach bottom of ,say, 20% of alcohol .....
mix all you have as result of second distillation in one barrel.
add distilled water to uncut Rakija , to cut it to 42-45% of alcohol .
try your Rakija ;
if you are without headache after you really tried it , then is good
send at least one bottle to Papa
I hope that I wrote everything OK...... it's sorta early here and I really need to sleep , even if my crazy head isn't interested what's good for my health .........
well - there is it , at least as I was learnt :
collect apples ( or whatever you have to collect ) ; they must be good - not rotten ; bruised from fall from the tree are ok
melt them ; more the merrier - dryish syrup is best shape ; in case of apples and similar fruit is good to remove sterns before melting ; in case of plum - remove plum stone
it's completely OK if you collect content for one barrel ( 150 to 200litres) in few days ,but it's important that every collected amount is melted same day.
sugar - with adding it you achieve that ferment bacteries have initial food ; everything up to 5% of entire barrel is OK , but - there is another and better way for it:
use 10 kg of honey ; take 30l of warm water , put honey in it and mix it slowly ; leave it overnight to honey will be dissolved in water .
that honey - water will be initial food for ferment bacteries , and also first what you'll put in barrel
so you only need to place apple syrup in honey water ;
when you barrel the barrel
, you must have enough liquid phase in it , innard can't be too dry ;barrel must have tight top , to prevent wine flies and other DiyA fellow-like creatures to fly on alcohol fumes .
you must mix it every day once
if you have ( and that's wise to have ) sugar meter - you can measure every day percentage of sugar in mixture . when you see that sugar is lowest and stay there for few days - then brew is over and you can think how to distill it .
if you don't have sugar meter - then look at everyday's "cake" on top of barrel - when it's weaker for two days (on same temperature of day ) and you cant feel much sugar on your tongue (try it!) , then is time for distilling .
for distilling - you must have distillery .........
there are two etapes :
first one - where you distill it 'till moment when alcohol percentage in distillate is no more than 15% . you must have alcohol meter for that .
second etape is when you make second ( final) distillation , with entire quantity of several first distillations , in case that you have muuuucho apples .
when Rakija start to flow from condenser , you must trow away first 0,5 litres of each hand , because that is loonie phase - bad for eyes and for brain.......... dunno which exactly xxxxxxetyl is it , but trust me on that .
OK- each hand of second distillation is over when you reach bottom of ,say, 20% of alcohol .....
mix all you have as result of second distillation in one barrel.
add distilled water to uncut Rakija , to cut it to 42-45% of alcohol .
try your Rakija ;
if you are without headache after you really tried it , then is good
send at least one bottle to Papa
I hope that I wrote everything OK...... it's sorta early here and I really need to sleep , even if my crazy head isn't interested what's good for my health .........
Promise, Last OT post
So I got curious ... this from homedistiller.org (the website was funky and wouldn't let me get a link directly to the 'legality' page. Apologies for the long post/quote, mostly off topic.
-==== BEGIN LONG QUOTE ======
Americans
Tough out of luck - see the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, their FAQ page, and some of the latest ammended laws. You will find ....
Spirits
You cannot produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant. [See 26 U.S.C. 5601 & 5602 for some of the criminal penalties.] There are numerous requirements that must be met that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal or beverage use. Some of these requirements are paying special tax, filing an extensive application, filing a bond, providing adequate equipment to measure spirits, providing suitable tanks and pipelines, providing a separate building (other than a dwelling) and maintaining detailed records, and filing reports. All of these requirements are listed in 27 CFR Part 19.
Ray emailed the BATF for the reference statutes concerning home distillation. Here is their response:
Ray, you have not been able to locate anything on home production because there is no provision for it. Moonshining is still illegal!! Unlike wine or beer, the laws and regulations governing distilled spirits contain no provision that would allow someone to produce spirits in their home for personal use. Under 26 U.S.C. Section 5171 operations as a distiller, warehouseman or processor may be conducted only on the bonded premises of a qualified distilled spirits plant. To qualify such a plant, a registration, application for permit and bond must be filed in addition to other supporting organizational documents. 26 U.S.C. 5178 places restrictions on where a plant can be located. Hope this answers your question.
Carol Coy
Industry Specialist
National Revenue Center-Cincinnati, OH
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
e-mail: cjcoy@cinc.atf.treas.gov
What all this basically comes down to is ...
1. Americans can own a still, but it must be no larger than 1 gallon, and may only be used for water purification or the extraction of essential oils from plants.
2.Dealers/manufacturers of stills in the United States must surrender any address or other info on any customer who buys a still to the BATF, when they request it.(no warrant is required.)
What this means is that anyone who buys a still in America can at any time expect a knock at the door and a man with a badge demanding to see what is being done with the still they bought. How this effects the companies seen advertising 5 gallon stills for use as a water purifier, was not listed, nor is there any info on solar stills. It is probably VERY illegal to import a still too.
--===END LONG QUOTE====
So I got curious ... this from homedistiller.org (the website was funky and wouldn't let me get a link directly to the 'legality' page. Apologies for the long post/quote, mostly off topic.
-==== BEGIN LONG QUOTE ======
Americans
Tough out of luck - see the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, their FAQ page, and some of the latest ammended laws. You will find ....
Spirits
You cannot produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant. [See 26 U.S.C. 5601 & 5602 for some of the criminal penalties.] There are numerous requirements that must be met that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal or beverage use. Some of these requirements are paying special tax, filing an extensive application, filing a bond, providing adequate equipment to measure spirits, providing suitable tanks and pipelines, providing a separate building (other than a dwelling) and maintaining detailed records, and filing reports. All of these requirements are listed in 27 CFR Part 19.
Ray emailed the BATF for the reference statutes concerning home distillation. Here is their response:
Ray, you have not been able to locate anything on home production because there is no provision for it. Moonshining is still illegal!! Unlike wine or beer, the laws and regulations governing distilled spirits contain no provision that would allow someone to produce spirits in their home for personal use. Under 26 U.S.C. Section 5171 operations as a distiller, warehouseman or processor may be conducted only on the bonded premises of a qualified distilled spirits plant. To qualify such a plant, a registration, application for permit and bond must be filed in addition to other supporting organizational documents. 26 U.S.C. 5178 places restrictions on where a plant can be located. Hope this answers your question.
Carol Coy
Industry Specialist
National Revenue Center-Cincinnati, OH
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
e-mail: cjcoy@cinc.atf.treas.gov
What all this basically comes down to is ...
1. Americans can own a still, but it must be no larger than 1 gallon, and may only be used for water purification or the extraction of essential oils from plants.
2.Dealers/manufacturers of stills in the United States must surrender any address or other info on any customer who buys a still to the BATF, when they request it.(no warrant is required.)
What this means is that anyone who buys a still in America can at any time expect a knock at the door and a man with a badge demanding to see what is being done with the still they bought. How this effects the companies seen advertising 5 gallon stills for use as a water purifier, was not listed, nor is there any info on solar stills. It is probably VERY illegal to import a still too.
--===END LONG QUOTE====
Hello RKH,
No worries being off topics.
Great article. I was joking regarding taxes, but it seems like no DIY spirits in USA. If anyone try to regulate that freedom to my people back at home, would be like if someone makes the low that prohibits eating turkey for a Thanksgiving. So much for freedoms... Oh well, lets do not get stuck on current politics... Choky's distelery will need to supply gallons to ease the pain.
No worries being off topics.
Great article. I was joking regarding taxes, but it seems like no DIY spirits in USA. If anyone try to regulate that freedom to my people back at home, would be like if someone makes the low that prohibits eating turkey for a Thanksgiving. So much for freedoms... Oh well, lets do not get stuck on current politics... Choky's distelery will need to supply gallons to ease the pain.
Re: Promise, Last OT post
solution is obvious :
do not allow stinkin' neighbor to see what sort of "water" you pour in your still ...........
do not allow stinkin' badge wearing guy to knock an your door at day ; at night - you have your gun , dog called Bulls Eye etc ........
interesting thing - on Iceland ( which is one of most organized and least criminalized countries in the world) - is forbidden (by law) "DIY" slaughtering of Cattle ...........
it's needles to say that underground DIY slaughtering of Cattle is common praxis .......
and - just one interesting thing - they have veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery few serbs in country
weird ppl ....... behaving almost as serbs
RKH said:
solution is obvious :
do not allow stinkin' neighbor to see what sort of "water" you pour in your still ...........
do not allow stinkin' badge wearing guy to knock an your door at day ; at night - you have your gun , dog called Bulls Eye etc ........
interesting thing - on Iceland ( which is one of most organized and least criminalized countries in the world) - is forbidden (by law) "DIY" slaughtering of Cattle ...........
it's needles to say that underground DIY slaughtering of Cattle is common praxis .......
and - just one interesting thing - they have veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery few serbs in country
weird ppl ....... behaving almost as serbs
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