I realized, during my morning meditation, that perhaps I have been too quick and fast with my descriptions, and I have not revealed any mysteries regarding ingredients, methods and sources.
Well, wait no longer, my children. I will endeavor to repeat some of the advice I have garnered from the community of spiritual extraction, those brothers and sisters who make it their avocation to learn the mysteries of the spirit world. I will give few references to sites or sources specifically,, those with a quick eye will ind out quickly where I have studied the illustrated manuscripts on this most holy of topics. But I will leave it to you, the lay person, to discover and lay in awe at the knowledge in the world regarding this beautiful avocation.
In other words, you have to do a LITTLE work.
A Sugar Wash
Why a sugar wash for the first trial? It is because I have yet to break in my still, the blessed device which will allow me to commune with the spirit world. You see, the first run through a still cannot be drunk!
Yea, verily. It cannot!
Why? The spirits needs to prime the still for prayer. Metals and chuff inside the still need to be tempered, and during the first run, these things come off into the liquor produced to make in UnHoly. The spirits need to come into contact and make holy the still, so that on subsequent runs, the spirit runs true, sound, and drinkable.
Secondly, it is because a sugar wash is both harder and easier than other washes (though not as hard as a true mash). It is easier and cheaper to experiment with white sugar than with other things. It is harder as you need to add nutrients to get the intercessor yeast to do its job.
So what shall I do with the initial, unholy spirits? Well, I shall distill them to absolute purity, and store them in glass bottles. I shall use them to clean the equipment and other things. Even unblessed, powerful spirits are an excellent solvent.
Now, on to the ingredients...
Ingredients
Sugar
This is ordinary, white sugar. This is the chief nutrient and will be converted to spirits, and its unholy brother, CO2, which shall be vented to the air and dispersed to the four winds. There are rum recipes that use other types of sugar, however in this one, it is the kind you can obtain at your local grocery.
Molasses
This is also a sugar source, however it is provided in this recipe for the vitamins and acids it contains, to provide trace nutrients and B group vitamins to the intercessors so that they may be more joyful, and have more vigor in their task
DAP
Di Ammonium Phosphate. A favorite of monks everywhere, this is an additional source of assimilable nitrogen and phosphorus and is very important for a sugar wash, as it is nutrient poor. Many advise that in any wash, you should add DAP. A substitute is Ammonium sulfate, but mainly in rum recipes where there is a surfeit of molasses to provide phosphorus.. Ammonium sulfate is a fertilizer, and a taxidermy supply. It is commonly called 20-0-0 in dry form. I will try an invocation using this substance in a sugar wash in future, to see how it performs during the long meditation.
Yeast Energizer
A commercial fermenting aid, it contains primarily more DAP, some yeast hulls, and a few vitamins and nutrients that the yeast like. Not necessary in this recipe (most likely), but it is added here, in the first wash, as a safety measure.
Yeast Hulls
This is ordinary baking yeast, which has been added to the boiling nutrient brew to render it inactive. The canonized intercessors supply additional nutrients, and it is possible to replace most of the products here with just this supply, used in a large enough quantity. It can be purchased in bulk at a cheap price. Get 3 lbs at least, 5 lbs if your prayer is more intensive.
MgSO4
Epsom Salts! The intercessors need lots of magnesium for their prayers, but not too much. These are supplied to help the intercessors build good, strong robes and to allow them to tolerate the harsh conditions of their prayer.
One A Day Vitamin
Some use women's, some say either works fine. I used an organic, one a day vitamin and crushed it to a fine powder before adding it to the swirling, boiling nutrient brew and stirred well. This provides trace nutrients to the intercessors and amino acids. Make sure they have folic and pantothenic acid in them.
Water
Ah water.. the crucial solvent in which the intercessors shall do their work. I used well water, from an actual well. It is very important that you use water that does not have any chlorine or chloramine in it! Rain water can be used as well. If you do wish to use water from the tap, make sure you research a bit on using activated carbon to remove these impurities.
The Yeast
I am using Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast for my sugar wash. It has been recommended by many, and is far less expensive than using a turbo yeast, even given the cost of my added nutrients. This yeast is actually designed to be added to an alcoholic must to impart additional alcohol and carbonation to the mix, so it is very resilient to alcohol. This also means that it, when used to ferment a wash solely, will probably produce flavors that are unpleasant, and so should only be used to produce high proof, well distilled spirits. This sword is too sharp for subtle work!
Equipment
Here, I shall deal with a few things which I may have given short shrift.. I pray you will forgive an old, formerly dead monk!
Aeration Equipment
The aquarium shoppe provides! This equipment is not a must, but it certainly helps get the yeasties happy in their intercessory chores. You will need 1 air stone (Glass or wood ONLY) for each fermenter, perhaps more if you have a large fermenter. You will need the tubing, and you will need an air pump. If you use a wooden air stone, make sure you boil it for 15 minutes afterwards to keep the demons at bay and resanctify it.
This is used during the first fragile hours, to help th intercessors reproduce their multitude. They need oxygen to reproduce well and bud, and we want a healthy colony so that when we shut them into their meditations, they will begin in earnest, and not be too lonely!
Mortar and pestle
Crucial for any monk, and looks good on a mantle, the mortar and pestle are used to crush dry ingredients in small amounts to add to the brew. If you've recently used it to pulverize pepper, make sure you clean it out first!
Heating pad(s)
Small heating pads, normally used to ease pain in the lower back, seem excellent to use for smaller fermenters, to keep them in their optimal temperature range of 25 - 30C. Don't place the fermenter on top of the pad.. attach the pad to one side of the fermenter.
Another option is using an aquarium immersion heater, but you must be sure to immerse it only up to the top of the glass, taking care not to allow the cord to touch the liquid.
Personally, I would rather heat the wash from outside, as it would probably be a more even heat, and will avoid the possibility of contamination.
Airlocks
There are many of these, but I am using the S shaped kind, which is filled with water and place into the lid of the font, through a flexible grommet to make an airtight seal. It is designed to let out the intercessors CO2 breath, and to prevent them from being disturbed by outside influences during their meditations.
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There you have it! Please feel free to send an emissary with your queries and I will be happy to correspond with you privately about the details of this holy work.
Pax Vobiscum.
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