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whisky in the jar-o

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fireface

hi, i am thinking of making my first fermented pepper sauce, but I am also wondering if putting whisky in the mash would affect the fermentation, mainly by killing off the microbes needed to ferment properly. Should I put the whisky in with my mashed peppers and then boil it to rid the mixture of any alcohol first? Or will the microbes be fine with a bit of whisky in the mix?

I was thinking of making a yellow scotch bonnet sauce with Jamesons whisky and using the yogurt culture method.
 
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I believe it won't start to kill the goodies unless it's a high enough percentage (alcohol in total).
A quick google came up between 5-15% depending on the bacterial strain.
(Not sure about whey from yoghurt though).

I'm not sure whether it would slow the fermentation or not either.
 
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I have been playing with using a hard liquor in a sauce and what I'm finding is that when it's added to the sauce during the cooking phase, after the peppers have fermented. If you were to add the whiskey to the fermentation you may wind up with a different taste than what your looking for as the lactobacillus will dine on the sugers from the whiskey too. So, if it's the taste of the whiskey your imagining in the sauce then I'd add it after so your process would look like:

Ferment, cook, blend, add whiskey and cook, blend, bring to 190 for 15 minutes, bottle not letting the sauce get below 185 degrees F.

Hope this helps. I'll have to update the Fermentation 101 with some information on this.

Monsta, any input?

Cheers,
RM
 
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Thank you both, I think I will definitely add the whisky after i ferment and cook/blend the first time. Hopefully this will preserve the nice flavour I am hoping to get from the Jamesons.
 
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There are some lactobacillus strains that are sensitive to alcohol levels as low as 2-3%, there are however alcohol tolerant lactobacillus strains intended for brewing that are much more alcohol tolerant.

http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=148

BTW: Pure whiskey should not have any fermentables in and of itself, it's basically carbohydrate free.
 
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RocketMan said:
I have been playing with using a hard liquor in a sauce and what I'm finding is that when it's added to the sauce during the cooking phase, after the peppers have fermented. If you were to add the whiskey to the fermentation you may wind up with a different taste than what your looking for as the lactobacillus will dine on the sugers from the whiskey too. So, if it's the taste of the whiskey your imagining in the sauce then I'd add it after so your process would look like:

Ferment, cook, blend, add whiskey and cook, blend, bring to 190 for 15 minutes, bottle not letting the sauce get below 185 degrees F.

Hope this helps. I'll have to update the Fermentation 101 with some information on this.

Monsta, any input?

Cheers,
RM
Click to expand...

When canning i bring whatever it is that i am canning to a boil to kill any of the bad guys, blend taste, and it causes my jars to seal. Why is it you said bring it to 190 for 15 mins then not to let it get below 185 before bottling? Just trying to learn everything i can bc i plan on fermenting most of my peppers this year to make hot sauce. Last year it did not goes as plan mainly bc of the lack of info i could find. Thanks
 
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Growing up I can't remember a time when my Grandparents didn't can / freeze everything that came out of the garden. After I graduated High School and went to college they were the cloestest family I had and I would stay with them on holidays and summers. I was able to help and learn from them. Most of it was canned using Mason jars which they did the water bath to get the vacume seal on the jars but my Grandmother also made her own tomato sauce. Now I'm using 5 of 6 ounze woozies and not Mason jars which will vacume seal that way so by heating the sauce to 190 and not letting it fall below 185 the sauce is at a temp where if any nasties get into the sauce they will be killed by the temperature. Also after you place your reducer and cap on we invert the bottles for another 15 minutes so the sauce will steralize them. If it falls below, I think it's actually 180 degrees F I use 185 to be on the safe side, then their is a chance of contamination. I have a crock pot that I put on high and fill with boiling water when I start the cooking process. By the time I'm ready to start bottling it's steral and I can put the sauce in it and it will stay at the temperature I want it to be at for a longer period. Usually I can bottle the entire thing before the temperature starts to fall. Hope this helps to explain. Chili Monsta has been at this alot longer and has a greater knowledge of the science than I so hopefully he'll stop by and grant us access to his insight.

Cheers,
RM
 
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A couple of questions. What are 6 ounze woozies? Are they just plastic bottles? You also said " after you place your reducer and cap on we invert the bottles for another 15 minutes so the sauce will steralize them". What is a reducer and what do you mean by inverting for another period of time? Sorry man. I am just trying to get of the same page bro.

thanks for breaking things down to me
 
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rmardis said:
A couple of questions. What are 6 ounze woozies? Are they just plastic bottles?
Click to expand...

Woozies are the glass bottles that hot sauce is sold in. Most are 5 or 10 ounzes. I have picked up some though that are 6 ounces.
Example
http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=88

rmardis said:
You also said " after you place your reducer and cap on we invert the bottles for another 15 minutes so the sauce will steralize them". What is a reducer and what do you mean by inverting for another period of time?
Click to expand...

If you look down the page on the link a little you'll see a reducer. Some call it a dripper. It's the plastic inner cap with the small hole in it.

By inverting I mean you turn it over onto it's cap so that the hot sauce is touching the cap area. The heat of the sauce will kill any nasies that are present. Again why we heat the sauce to 190.


rmardis said:
Sorry man. I am just trying to get of the same page bro.

thanks for breaking things down to me
Click to expand...

No problem Bro! I love talkling hot sauce, also Beer! :beer:

Cheers,
RM :cool:

Edit: Oh, yes some woozies are plastic too. I just don't see or know of many that use them.
 
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rmardis said:
What are 6 ounze woozies?
Click to expand...

For woozy bottles for personal use I just buy 6 ounce bottles of Louisiana Hot Sauce at Dollar General for 65 cents.
I dump out their sauce and pour in the good stuff! :) They don't have a plastic reducer, so you do need a funnel with a small neck.
The little funnels intended for filling a whiskey flask work pretty good.

:cool:
 
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