How to brew beer using only materials commonly found on a Research Vessel

**Mikey** · April 29th, 2009, 10:44 AM

Ok, this may be offtopic and scuttlebutt, but I think it's worth a post at least somewhere. Here's just a snippet of the article from southernfriedscience.com

Materials and Ingredients

The tools you need are simple: an electric drip coffee maker with hot plate, a coffee filter, 2 1-liter sample jars, 2 handkerchiefs, 2 rubber bands, and a source of clean (preferably R/O) water.

You’ll have to be more creative with your ingredients. What you need are some sort of grain, some malt, and, if possible, something that can act as a clarifying and hopping agent. You need a simple grain to release the tannins, starches, and enzymes. The best bet is common cereals - Raisin Bran, Cracked Wheat, Kashi, whatever you can find. The fruit and nuts will add flavor, but are not important.

Method

Grind up your ‘grains’ (but not so much that it becomes powder).
Place your ‘grains’ in coffee pot (not the filter basket, the carafe).
Run 2 cups of clean water through coffee maker and let it sit on the hot plate for an hour. This releases all the good chemicals from you ‘grains’ and creates a fluid called wort.
Strain the wort through the coffee filter and place the filter full of ‘grain’ into the filter basket. Add the ‘malt’ to the filter basket. Pour the strained liquid back into coffee maker and add 1 cup of water.
Run the wort through the coffee maker 5 times, each time adding 1 cup of water.
Pour the wort into the saucepan and boil for 45 minutes. Two minutes before boiling is done, add the hops.
Carefully pour the wort into the canning jars.
Let the wort cool to between 60 and 70 F. Once it is cool enough to touch the outside of the jars without burning, pitched the Bakers’ Yeast into the mixture.
Seal jar with a handkerchief and rubber band over the mouth.
Store in a cool, dark place where it will not be disturbed for a week.

Someone please try this and report back the results.

**Ordinaryseaman** · April 29th, 2009, 07:05 PM

WOW! We deckhands always wondered what the engineering guys did all day down in the EOS....

**bob** · April 30th, 2009, 12:37 AM

I doubt that guy ever really made it on a boat.. Let me tell ya who learned from a career alcoholic on a dry boat.

You need two ingrediants:
SUGAR + YEAST = ETOH (booze)

Get both from the cook. It may not be beer but it will get the job done. If you lack sugar try fruit cocktail and bakers yeast. Aint too bad and delightfully chewy . Just keep it above 70 degrees F and under 90 F.

Oh, another tip since your on a R/V. If the scientifics are saving biological samples nab some of the "lab alcohol" DONT drink the 99% ETOH it has benzine in it to dry out the last bit of water. It will kill you but the stuff labled 95% ETOH is good stuff.... We perloined a biologists tissue samples, filtered out the fish guts and scales through an old sock, mixed with juice and had a good time. Just think fish flavored vodka.

Have fun
Bob

**WildBlueYonder** · April 30th, 2009, 11:19 AM

Mikey, you started the thread, try the brew yourself !!

**seadawg** · May 1st, 2009, 07:36 AM

Anyone out there have a good recipe for "raisin jack"..worked w/ a CE than made a real good one down in the ER where it stayed warm.

**drkblram** · May 2nd, 2009, 07:55 PM

my dad was a WWII navy QM. Told me once the engineers had a still built in a fireroom on his DD, engineering officers never noticed...

**HawsePiper** · August 14th, 2011, 10:29 PM

You may have better luck with wine. It's a lot easier; less steps in the process so less to go wrong. Get a sterile container (Epi likes Brew Bags

fill it 3/4 of the way up with sweet liquid add some yeast and seal it with an airlock. If you forgot to bring one any Engineer or QMED should be able to make one. I've done it on a two week rotation (at HOME). I start it when I get home, rack it into a second sterile container to get rid of sediment before I go back and bottle it when I get home again.