How to Ferment Fruit to Make Alcohol

The reasons for fermenting fruit range from the not so obvious, like preserving food for longer to help you save money, to the glaringly obvious, such as turning fermented fruit into alcohol, namely wine.

There are also health benefits to fermenting certain foods. This includes helping your body fight off disease since you will be introducing good bacteria to your system via these foods and assisting in overall gut health.

When it comes to fermenting fruit into alcohol, though, the high sugar content in fruit plays a huge role as long as the right ingredients and steps are involved. So, skip that trip to the winery or liquor store, and try your hand at learning how to ferment fruit to make alcohol right at home with these steps.

The steps for fermenting fruit into alcohol are easier than you might think.

1. Start by filling a sanitized bucket with your choice of fruit and sugar. The amount of sugar goes by the 1:1 ratio, so use equal parts sugar to the weight of the fruit. 
   
   
2. Next, cover both the sugar and fruit with boiling water and let this cool to around 70 degrees Fahrenheit before adding in 1/4 teaspoon of yeast or more depending on how much fruit and sugar you used.
   
   Mix it together and then cap the bucket closed loosely. The fruit should ferment within a day or two but be sure to give it a good stir once a day.
   
   
3. After a week, filter the fruit wine through a strainer into a second jug or bucket that can fit an airlock. Taste it as you go. When the wine is clear and has the right taste, then you can bottle it. 

If you ever wondered if you can turn juice into alcohol, the answer is yes. By doing so, it saves you time instead of preparing your own fermented fruit first.

1. Start by pouring 2 ounces of whatever kind of juice you are choosing to use (just be sure it's 100 percent fruit and preservative free). This will help prevent any sort of overflow during the fermentation process. 
   
   

2. Add 1/4 teaspoon of champagne yeast to the juice. You can also add sugar

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   however much you'd like. 
   
   3. Lastly, top the bottle with an airlock and let the bottle ferment somewhere warm for around three to five days. 

If you want your fermented fruit juice to become less sweet and more alcohol-tasting, you can let it ferment for longer. If you do this, just be sure to replace the original cap each time and release pressure built up in the bottle every couple of days.

Moonshine has a rich history in the world of alcohol since it has been one of the most popular illegal drinks to make at home. There's been a lot of trial and error to get it right, but before you make any kind of moonshine, you have to prepare the moonshine mash, which is what gets fermented.

A gallon of mash will yield you around 3 to 6 cups of alcohol. The basic ingredients that go into making mash are cornmeal, sugar, water, yeast and malt. If you wanted, you could even look into making your own peach moonshine mash recipe.

1. Start by mixing all the ingredients into a large container. 
   
   
2. Leave this in a still, which is an apparatus that is used to distill liquid mixtures, and then leave it to ferment for a day or two.
   
   
3. From there, you can use this mash to complete the process of making moonshine by distillation.