Liquor quik ???

JohnR · Dec 11, 2009

I have been making wines for over 6 years. I started a chocolate port style wine with the intentions of running it out around 19 to 20% by feeding and not fortify beyond that. I foolishly added some orange zest(after the first racking) to the fermenting must with out treating it with k-meta and before long I had white spots on top of my must and in the neck of my carboy :tz

. So my response was to rack again, hit it (the whole batch) with k-meta, kill everything and then restart the ferment with lalvin 1118. My yeast starter failed to start ???? and I was out of yeast that would tolerate higher levels of alcohol. A local store (relativley new to wine supplies??, new to me) reccomended Liquor Quik. I bought it and some other yeast and went home to read the label as I had never used this stuff, well the label was enough to make me not want to use it and I started searching the product and discussions about it (thats how I found this site) and put the LQ on the shelf and started a new starter of 1118 which I am adding to and feeding to grow it and strengthen it b-4 adding to my unfinished wine. I hope to get my chocolate down below 1.000 (I have fed this a couple of times) which will get me over 19 1/2%. My current sg is reading 1.022 but the silods from the cocoa are clearly a factor, an accurate sg reading is not possible. Have I done the correct thing? will adding a super charged large 1118 starter help me push up or just die around 18%? What does one actually used LQ for??
:a1

JohnR

TheTooth · Dec 11, 2009

I don't know anything about LiquorQuick, but I think you're going to have a hard time getting your fermentation to continue when it's already at 18% ABV. My only advice is to make the biggest, healthiest starter you can and try to pitch when it's active. Best of luck!

cpfan · Dec 11, 2009

I assume that you are talking about a large package of yeast called "Liquor Quik Super Yeast". This is a Turbo Yeast for making 18-20% unflavoured alcohol from sugar and water. It should be fined with charcoal to remove an extreme taste profile before being flavoured with essence bottles or used as a vodka replacement.

I would not recommend it's use as a wine yeast, although I have never actually tried it. And never will try it as a wine yeast. OTOH you can can some decent 19% alcohol from it.

Steve

Luc · Dec 11, 2009

cpfan said:
I would not recommend it's use as a wine yeast, although I have never actually tried it. And never will try it as a wine yeast.
Steve

I did !!! Of course I did !!

I thought I could make a high alcohol elderberry wine with Turbo Yeast.

Not recommended. Tasted awful..........

It is indeed meant for fermenting pure water with sugar to obtain high alcohol for distilling. You have to filter it over coal to get rid of the smell and foul taste.
However when you do not try, you will never know. Now I know .......

Luc