The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

The alcohol content of plonk can be increased markedly as follows:
Pour the wine into a "conical" pyrex dish. The sort of thing one uses as a
jelly mould.
Freeze it hard.
Put it upside down in a shallow soup bowl
Allow it to unfreeze slowly.
The first liquid which comes off is of considerably higher alcohol content
than the original wine.
Pour off the liquid frequently, and taste it as you go.
The alcohol content decreases as time passes, until at the end the melt is
almost pure water.
The trick lies in making the decision when you should start discarding the
remainder.

Unfortunately, here in the UK it is illegal to concentrate alcohol by
any means without a licence, so don't try this at home folks - if
anyone's watching.

If you're really into it in a big way, thoroughly clean a spin dryer.
Put into it a pillowslip or clean woven sack with the mouth ready to
accept your ice.

You have, of course, put several gallons of cider or wine in the
freezer. If it has a decent strength it will freeze down into slush
which you can ladle or shovel into the pillowslip/sack.

Tie the top of the sack and start the spin dryer. Depending on how cold
you can get your freezer to go, you should have a product at about 30%
abv.

Don't try it with beer, as the hops' bitterness comes off with the
alcohol. :-·

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to reply.

On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 21:54:07 -0700
(murphy) wrote:

In article om,
"Cybe R. Wizard" wrote:

On Thu, 7 Aug 2003 02:35:15 +0100
"anne" wrote:

Are gnomes related to trolls?

No, GNOME is a desktop program for Linux. ;-]

Cybe R. Wizard


...yoo hoo!!!....fancy finding you here....i just stumbled in looking
for help with a tree question...G

murphy

Hi, Murphy! Nice to see you. I almost didn't recognise you without the
eyepatch. Which crossposted group are you posting from? I'm a fairly
regular rec.ponds kinda Wizard in addition to,... well, you know.
And, yes, I troll for Linux wherever I go. But nicely, only nicely.

Cybe R. Wizard
--
Unofficial "Wizard of Odds," A.H.P.
Original PORG "Water Wizard," R.P.
"Wize(ned) Wizard," A.P.F-P-Y.
Barely Tolerated Wizard, A.J.L & A.A.L

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message

No. I have never managed to reach that level. I would compare it more to
a
sherry or a vermouth in alcoholic content. (But not in taste!)

Sorry I ought to have specified... I meant taste

O

"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message

Unfortunately, here in the UK it is illegal to concentrate alcohol by
any means without a licence, so don't try this at home folks - if
anyone's watching.

I don't suppose if I do it I shall inform the authorities

O

"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these
words:

The alcohol content of plonk can be increased markedly as follows:
Pour the wine into a "conical" pyrex dish. The sort of thing one uses
as a
jelly mould.
Freeze it hard.
Put it upside down in a shallow soup bowl
Allow it to unfreeze slowly.
The first liquid which comes off is of considerably higher alcohol
content
than the original wine.
Pour off the liquid frequently, and taste it as you go.
The alcohol content decreases as time passes, until at the end the melt
is
almost pure water.
The trick lies in making the decision when you should start discarding
the
remainder.

Unfortunately, here in the UK it is illegal to concentrate alcohol by
any means without a licence, so don't try this at home folks - if
anyone's watching.

You surprise me. I have always assumed that it was only concentration by
distillation which was prohibited, since at the time the law came into being
nobody knew of any other means of concentrating alcohol.

It would seem to be the most unenforcable law ever dreamt up.

If you're really into it in a big way, thoroughly clean a spin dryer.
Put into it a pillowslip or clean woven sack with the mouth ready to
accept your ice.

You have, of course, put several gallons of cider or wine in the
freezer. If it has a decent strength it will freeze down into slush
which you can ladle or shovel into the pillowslip/sack.

Tie the top of the sack and start the spin dryer. Depending on how cold
you can get your freezer to go, you should have a product at about 30%
abv.

Don't try it with beer, as the hops' bitterness comes off with the
alcohol. :-·

There speaks the man with the experience.
Is that how some of the Islays get their soapy flavour?

[Franz Heymann]

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message

No. I have never managed to reach that level. I would compare it more
to
a
sherry or a vermouth in alcoholic content. (But not in taste!)

Sorry I ought to have specified... I meant taste
O

My understanding of vodka is that it is essentially diluted ethyl alcohol,
and has no taste other than that of alcohol. My "fortified wines" did
retain a fair amount of the flavour of the original wine.

[Franz Heymann]

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message

No. I have never managed to reach that level. I would compare it
more
to
a
sherry or a vermouth in alcoholic content. (But not in taste!)

Sorry I ought to have specified... I meant taste
O

My understanding of vodka is that it is essentially diluted ethyl alcohol,
and has no taste other than that of alcohol. My "fortified wines" did
retain a fair amount of the flavour of the original wine.

That does sound nice thanks

O

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 11:12:17 +0100, "Ophelia"
wrote:


"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message

No. I have never managed to reach that level. I would compare it
more
to
a
sherry or a vermouth in alcoholic content. (But not in taste!)

Sorry I ought to have specified... I meant taste
O

My understanding of vodka is that it is essentially diluted ethyl alcohol,
and has no taste other than that of alcohol. My "fortified wines" did
retain a fair amount of the flavour of the original wine.

That does sound nice thanks

Near Patras in Greece is a wine bottling factory.
http://www.greekwinemakers.com/czone...rs/Ahaia.shtml
Inside there is a 1870 German built still, out of this still pours a
liquid that is better than any single malt. This liquid is diluted and
stuff is added to make it into a bog standard Greek drink.
--
Martin

"martin" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 11:12:17 +0100, "Ophelia"
wrote:


"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message

No. I have never managed to reach that level. I would compare it
more
to
a
sherry or a vermouth in alcoholic content. (But not in taste!)

Sorry I ought to have specified... I meant taste
O

My understanding of vodka is that it is essentially diluted ethyl
alcohol,
and has no taste other than that of alcohol. My "fortified wines" did
retain a fair amount of the flavour of the original wine.

That does sound nice thanks

Near Patras in Greece is a wine bottling factory.
http://www.greekwinemakers.com/czone...rs/Ahaia.shtml
Inside there is a 1870 German built still, out of this still pours a
liquid that is better than any single malt. This liquid is diluted and
stuff is added

What a waste I have friends in Bosnia. There is a village still and all
the farmers take turns to make their plum brandy (slivovice)

O

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 12:35:25 +0100, "Ophelia"
wrote:


"martin" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 11:12:17 +0100, "Ophelia"
wrote:


"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message

No. I have never managed to reach that level. I would compare it
more
to
a
sherry or a vermouth in alcoholic content. (But not in taste!)

Sorry I ought to have specified... I meant taste
O

My understanding of vodka is that it is essentially diluted ethyl
alcohol,
and has no taste other than that of alcohol. My "fortified wines" did
retain a fair amount of the flavour of the original wine.

That does sound nice thanks

Near Patras in Greece is a wine bottling factory.
http://www.greekwinemakers.com/czone...rs/Ahaia.shtml
Inside there is a 1870 German built still, out of this still pours a
liquid that is better than any single malt. This liquid is diluted and
stuff is added

What a waste I have friends in Bosnia. There is a village still and all
the farmers take turns to make their plum brandy (slivovice)

Most German villages had/have a still where you could/can have your
home made stuff distilled. Some people have their own to make Obstler.
--
Martin

In article om, "Cybe R.
Wizard" wrote:

On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 21:54:07 -0700
(murphy) wrote:

In article om,
"Cybe R. Wizard" wrote:

On Thu, 7 Aug 2003 02:35:15 +0100
"anne" wrote:

Are gnomes related to trolls?

No, GNOME is a desktop program for Linux. ;-]

Cybe R. Wizard


...yoo hoo!!!....fancy finding you here....i just stumbled in looking
for help with a tree question...G

murphy

Hi, Murphy! Nice to see you. I almost didn't recognise you without the
eyepatch.

.....shhhhh...they dont know me that well....G....


Which crossposted group are you posting from?

......nay!.....neverrrrrr....it was individually crafted for rec.gardens
eyes alone...besides, i dont know how to cross post...)

I'm a fairly
regular rec.ponds kinda Wizard in addition to,... well, you know.
And, yes, I troll for Linux wherever I go. But nicely, only nicely.


...well of course...being the nicely wizard - what else...G

murphy, unpatched for a few more days...

The message
from "Ophelia" contains these words:

Sorry I ought to have specified... I meant taste

Some things are fine, but the flavour is often bound-up with the
alcohol, and you may concentrate that too.
/\
As I said up there || beer treated this way is just about undrinkable.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to reply.

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:158657

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

Sorry I ought to have specified... I meant taste
O

My understanding of vodka is that it is essentially diluted ethyl alcohol,
and has no taste other than that of alcohol. My "fortified wines" did
retain a fair amount of the flavour of the original wine.

It's very difficult to get alcohol without flavour if you distill a
fermented 'mash' or wine. Most flavours attach themselves to the alcohol
to some extent, and come over with it more or less during distillation.

Freeze separating is similar, and the ice remaining after you've taken
the juice is just about flavourless.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to reply.

The message
from "Ophelia" contains these words:
"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message

Unfortunately, here in the UK it is illegal to concentrate alcohol by
any means without a licence, so don't try this at home folks - if
anyone's watching.

I don't suppose if I do it I shall inform the authorities

sharp intake of breath

Naughty!

/breath

gasp!breathes again/gasp

But it's just as well to know.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to reply.

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

Unfortunately, here in the UK it is illegal to concentrate alcohol by
any means without a licence, so don't try this at home folks - if
anyone's watching.

You surprise me. I have always assumed that it was only concentration by
distillation which was prohibited, since at the time the law came into being
nobody knew of any other means of concentrating alcohol.

They've been making applejack since time immemorial in climates like
Canada, Russia, etc., and the principle is used in antifreeze, for a
start.

It would seem to be the most unenforcable law ever dreamt up.

Parliament isn't too bothered if it's enforceable. It kept HM Costumes
and Exercise happy.

If you're really into it in a big way, thoroughly clean a spin dryer.
Put into it a pillowslip or clean woven sack with the mouth ready to
accept your ice.

You have, of course, put several gallons of cider or wine in the
freezer. If it has a decent strength it will freeze down into slush
which you can ladle or shovel into the pillowslip/sack.

Tie the top of the sack and start the spin dryer. Depending on how cold
you can get your freezer to go, you should have a product at about 30%
abv.

Don't try it with beer, as the hops' bitterness comes off with the
alcohol. :-·

There speaks the man with the experience.

blush

Is that how some of the Islays get their soapy flavour?

Soapy? *SOAPY!?* All the Islay malts except Bunnahabhain have a peaty,
smoky flavour, with overtones of sea and Heaven. Some of the reek
(smoke) from the peat used for drying the malt is allowed to flavour the
grains. I would guess that other local plants are added to give a
particular character. Laphroaig, for instance, has a distinct nuance of
TCP: I wouldn't mind betting that some bog myrtle is burnt with the
peat.

The mash is made, rather like smoky ale, and the flavours come over with
the distillation.

--
Rusty Friend Of Laphroaig Distillery.
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to reply.