Selfsufficientish.com

Oh and I also have to say that two bottles of the stuff are sitting in the TV studio for the Paul O'grady show. NOt sure if it will be featured on the show (in June), but there is a possibility as we did film. That aside Paul O'grady has been given a bottle of what I called "selfsufficientish water - Paul O'grady blend 15% volume." So thanks for the recipe!!

Result!!!

But I would like to point out that my original post envisages civilised people daintily sipping cordials with a hint of alcohol. Not plonkies chucking it down by the jug. If only I'd known then what I know now!!!

oooooooooerrrr better stay of the water then so I can see the show ...

Hi MKG, ta for such a great thread! I onlu had an old bottle (Have lent out all be demijons!!) but thought I'd give ur water a go...its been 4 days now and the waters gone yellow...and no fizzing- is this normal or have i made a forpar? xx sos if I'm asking a dumb q

Mirrie wrote:Hi MKG, ta for such a great thread! I onlu had an old bottle (Have lent out all be demijons!!) but thought I'd give ur water a go...its been 4 days now and the waters gone yellow...and no fizzing- is this normal or have i made a forpar? xx sos if I'm asking a dumb q

Same here Mirrie, mine just looks like wee and is doing nothing.

Yellow???? How???

C'mon - admit it, you two - you HAVE been peeing in it.

I can't think of a single reason (within logical range) why it should have gone yellow, so my advice is don't even think of drinking it. There's nothing in it, basically, but water, sugar and yeast and (eventually) alcohol. It should start out like water, go cloudy (bitter lemon type of thing) and then fall clear - like water.

More information, please, on your recipe, amounts, timings. You may have produced something poisonous or, on the other hand, the world may be in for a momentous discovery. Tell all ...

MKG- thnks 4ur input "wee" teehee no i can confirm there has been NO wee-y activity round me acoho water...heres what I did...

I melted bout 1+ 1/2 pound of sugar in water, added lemon juice, marmite + yeast (hlf teaspoon) and the ikkle bug*ers decided to pee in my water instead of making it booze :tongue2:

MKG - do u think its because im not using a demijohn?

Oh and sky I feel ur pain x xxx

Just how big is this bottle, Mirrie? And how much Marmite did you add?

I haven't been weeing in mine either ... I think the teaspoon of marmite made it the wee colour.
Will throw it out if you think it might be poison I made instead of alcohol
Wish my damn camera hadn't broken or I'd take a photo and post on here to show the colour.
And mines still doing nothing

The bottle holds 2ltrs and I used bout a quarter of a teaspoon of marmite- left some room for the bubbles and made small holes in the lid...advice would be great cause I really need a drink lol

Sky - you went a little over the top with the Marmite which may explain the pretty urine shade, but that shouldn't stop anything happening. I don't know how much sugar you used - if you were too ambitious, see below. It's possible - but not very likely - that the yeast has done its work quietly and you haven't noticed. Try a sip. If it's really sweet, give it a good shake to get some air into it and try adding a new live yeast starter - there's certainly nothing there to prevent fermentation. If it isn't sweet then Cheers!

Mirrie - 1.5 lbs of sugar in 2 litres equates to only a little under 3.5 lbs per gallon. That's a lot if you're using normal wine yeast and may have caused the yeast to give up before it started. Also, did you wait for the sugar syrup to cool before you added the yeast? The little holes in the top aren't a good idea because little insects can get through little holes. You'd be better plugging the bottle with cotton wool. As for Sky, try a little sip. If yours is very sweet - and I suspect it will be - it needs to be diluted with water. Take about 20% of the bottle contents out, top up with water and add some new yeast (the original yeast may have literally been torn apart by osmotic pressure). You also used a tad too much Marmite, by the way - not to the extent Sky did, but enough to give a yellow tint (pale straw in urine-testing terms).

Yeast gets its name (Saccharomyces) from the fact that it eats sugars. There has to be a good, sound reason for it not to - too much sugar, too much alcohol, lack of nutrients or old yeast are the main ones.

Hi MKG- Thanks for all your help...

yep I did wait for the sugar syrup to cool before you added the yeast, but only noticed that I was supposed to "re-activate" the yeast before I added it! So I did have alittle taste..it was VERY sweet but abit fizzy and smelt nice! So I did the yeast thingy, and added more water...as soon as I mixed it loadsa bubbles came up...great success! lol

Fingers crossed I'll have some rather wee looking, but alcoholic water soon

Let us know how you've got on Sky- xxx

The bubble thing as you added other stuff is an indication that fermentation had started (but not necessarily continued) ... that's dissolved carbon dioxide coming out which can be put in only by yeast action. If it at least started before, it should definitely start now.

Still wondering about Sky's though.

Mine looks foul but has started to bubble ever so slowly, I think I might just chuck it and start again.
I'll get some B1 tablets instead of using the marmite too I think.

Im just off to be brave and taste it to see if it tastes as bad as it looks .... wish me luck

It tastes very sweet, it has a bit of scum or something on the surface of it now too but it is bubbling slowly, what do you think, will it be ok or shall I give up on it?