Booze

RobertDyck · 2016-03-21 05:38:04

Of course I envision a Mars settlement with multiple technologies. One is Chloroplast life support. This requires growing peas, harvesting leaves from plants just 2 weeks after germination. Isolated chloroplasts will combine water and CO2 to form O2 and sugar. Chloroplasts then polymerize sugar to form complex carbohydrate, if the chloroplasts come from pea plants then the carbohydrate will be pea starch. I hoped to find a way to produce sugar directly. That means either genetically modifying a pea plant so it doesn't polymerize much of the sugar, or harvesting chloroplasts from leaves of a plant that produces sugar. So plenty of sugar as a byproduct of producing oxygen.

I envision growing sugar beets for types of sugar other than white sugar. Brown sugar, yellow sugar, demerara, turbinado, and molasses. Turbinado is also known as "sugar in the raw". I find internet descriptions of demerara vary: some say it's darker than brown sugar, others say it's pale like turbinado. Demerara available in stores in Canada is darker than brown sugar.

IanM · 2016-03-21 15:02:35

Table sugar is sucrose. A sucrose molecule is simply the combination of a glucose molecule and a fructose molecule. Starch is a polymer of glucose molecules. So in order to make sucrose one would need to both break the bonds of the glucose molecules in the starch and introduce fructose to it. This is essentially the process of making High-Fructose Corn Syrup. (http://blog.fooducate.com/2012/10/09/th … orn-syrup/) HFCS differs from sucrose only in that the glucose and fructose included therein are not chemically bonded to each other. Also, fructose is just a structural isomer of glucose, and an enzyme is used to convert glucose molecules into fructose molecules until the desired proportion is reached. So it'd be fairly easy to make HFCS from starch, though I'm not quite sure what processes would be used to turn that into sucrose if that's the desired product.

IanM · 2016-03-22 00:29:33

Going on my previous work with beer and wine, 1 bottle of Karlsson's Vodka uses 15 lb of Russet potatoes and 2 lb of heirloom potatoes (http://www.alcademics.com/2014/10/how-m … vodka.html). That produces a 750 mL bottle, so 2,464 gal, or ~12,436 of such bottles, of potato-based Vodka requires 186,545 lb of Russet potatoes and 24,873 lb of miniature potatoes. Granted, Martians would likely use more efficient processes as Karlsson's, but I'm using these values for the purposes of defensive pessimism. For Russet Potatoes, the yield in Idaho is generally 398 hundredweight (398,000 lb) per acre (http://www.idahofb.org/index.php?action … s.potatoes), resulting in 0.47 acres devoted to such usage, and the heirloom potatoes would vary but come in at around 5,000 lb/acre (https://www2.ag.purdue.edu/hla/fruitveg … Potato.pdf), resulting in 4.98 acres devoted to their usage. As such, 2,464 gallons of Karlsson's Vodka requires 5.44 acres of cropland, yielding 452.56 gallons/acre, slightly higher than wine. Of course, the settlers can ditch the heirloom potatoes and, assuming the lost volume due to such jettison is negligible, vastly increase the yield to 2,464/0.47 = 5,242.55 gallons/acre. Thus, at least in the interests of economy, potato vodka seems the clear winner, although I have yet to calculate stuff for other alcohol.

The table I have thus gathered so far is:
-Beer: 171.11 gal/acre
-Wine: 444.44 gal/acre
-Potato Vodka: 452.56 gal/acre (w/ heirloom potatoes)
-Potato Vodka: 5,242.55 gal/acre (w/ just Russet potatoes)

RobertDyck · 2016-03-22 01:17:03

Very interesting. But 1 hundredweight = 100 pounds, not 1,000 pounds. So that means 398 hundredweight per acre translates to 39,800 lb per acre. You slipped a decimal point there. Using your figures, potato vodka with just Russet potatoes slips a decimal point as well. It still works out to more than wine or beer, and vodka has more alcohol than wine or beer.

IanM · 2016-03-22 01:42:14

Ah! Thanks for that correction. Vodka's figures did seem to be a bit too good to be true haha.

Dexter2999 · 2016-03-22 09:26:04

So, in the Martian economy, based on supply and demand economics, beer would be the drink of the elite. At least until a 12 year Martian scotch comes into being.

IanM · 2016-03-22 12:11:37

Perhaps lol. Though I do believe that Whiskey and Brandy, which are, put loosely, the distilled versions of beer and wine, respectively, might be less efficient than those two, and thus even a mediocre bottle of Martian Jameson would be top shelf.

SpaceNut · 2016-03-22 16:22:25

Brings back memories of Boones Farms flavored wines...., oh wait a minute is that possible....did I remember that...

We can do anything but only once we are there.....

Tom Kalbfus · 2016-03-22 16:28:50

Booze could be deadly on Mars, lets suppose you have a wild party with a lot of drinking under one dome, and at the end of the party a bunch of drunken Martian colonists clumsily put on their spacesuits and forget to seal them properly before stepping into the airlock and cycling through. They immediately die and their bodies lie, fallen down through the outer door of the airlock so that door can't be closed, and those inside cannot get out!

Terraformer · 2016-03-22 16:48:59

What.

That's like, I don't know, saying that booze could be deadly on Earth, because people might try breaking into a building site and operating the cranes when drunk.

IanM · 2016-03-22 17:39:54

I don't drink, and I see Tom's point, but I don't think that should be grounds for prohibition. I think the early colonists will be vetted by any agency that sends them for ability to drink in moderation under Martian conditions, and in any case the airlock doors would be failsafe in the case of any obstructions, such that these drunkards wouldn't hurt anyone but themselves.

GW Johnson · 2016-03-22 18:09:32

PROHIBITION DOES NOT WORK. We already proved that in the 1920's and early 1930's with ethanol. And again with the prohibited drugs in recent years, still ongoing. Creating a mafia is a worse outcome than any drunken behavior problems, even if fatal. That's the lesson.

GW

RobertDyck · 2016-03-22 18:30:39

A "fluffy" article about High Fructose Corn Syrup.

More detail here: DIY HFCS Kit.
(I find this last page difficult to view. It flashes and resets when I try to scroll down. I use Firefox. It becomes stable in "Reader View".)

Interesting. The process uses Alpha-Amylase and Glucose-Amylase. "Alpha-" is the found in digestive fluids from the pancreas of animals. Also found in some plants, fungi, and bacteria. It operates in neutral pH, and unable to function without calcium.

"Glucose-Amylase" is also known as Gamma-Amylase, from a type of mould that grows on fruit. It operates in acid, optimal pH 3. It turns starch into glucose.

The interesting thing is the procedure to produce malt for beer starts by sprouting some grain to produce Beta-Amylase. That converts starch into malt. Optimal pH is slightly acidic: pH 4-5. So this is essentially the same procedure.

The DIY article says HFCS uses converts corn starch into regular corn syrup, then converts that into HFCS with another enzyme. But regular corn syrup would be good enough for yeast, so alcohol production wouldn't need the last (expensive) enzyme.

SpaceNut · 2016-03-22 18:31:54

Use the same system breathalizer that locks out a drunk from operating a car here on Earth for the habitual offender at the air lock and for the space suit locker as well. We do currently have booze on the ISS and I am not seeing anyone do that on the station so mars will be much the same....

IanM · 2016-03-22 19:02:07

GW Johnson wrote:

PROHIBITION DOES NOT WORK.

I am aware, I'm simply disarming theoretical arguments for it. I think that such heavy-handed laws as the War on Drugs are dangerous in fostering a disrespect for authority on Mars, and unnecessary as Mars'll be the environment where people more or less police themselves.

SpaceNut wrote:

Use the same system breathalizer that locks out a drunk from operating a car here on Earth for the habitual offender at the air lock and for the space suit locker as well.

To play the Devil's Advocate, Tom's scenario seems unforgiving the first time around, so there wouldn't be any "habitual offenders." Though, if we're so inclined, we could have a breathalyzer for everybody.

RobertDyck · 2016-03-22 19:03:40

Shannon Lucid reported Russian Cosmonauts on Mir sat around drinking vodka when they were supposed to be exercising. The reason exercises didn't work is they didn't do them. Currently Russia claims tubes labelled "Vodka" in Russian script are actually borscht with a fake label. Do we believe them?

IanM · 2016-03-22 23:10:11

A common spirit is Gin, made primarily from Juniper berries. The definition of Gin is rather nebulous, the only legally-mandated condition being that it must have a "predominantly" juniper flavor. In fact, many botanicals such as citrus zest, asine, and licorice can find themselves in Gin (http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2012/06/d … d-gin.html), but I'll limit myself to the ingredients of the given recipe. 2 tbsp of juniper berries yields 2 cups of Gin (http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012 … e-gin.html), extrapolated to 16 tbsp per U.S. gallon. 8 berries is 1 teaspoon (http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/ingredient … iper-berry), so 16 tbsp = 48 tsp = 384 berries. The canonical 2,464 gallons thus require 946,176 berries. Unfortunately, juniper berries take 18 months, or 1.5 Earth years, to mature, reducing their "annual" yield by a third, though perhaps a Martian growing season could alleviate that. Large trees of other juniper species can produce 100,000 to 250,000 berries per tree (https://texnat.tamu.edu/library/symposi … r-ecology/), and in the absence of any other data I can only assume that so can trees of Juniperis Communis whence juniper berries can come. This leads to 10 plants being needed. Plants should be planted 5-7 feet apart (http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/plant-s … een-plants), and that leads to a 3x3 square encompass 203 sq. ft. of land, which I'll round up to 225 sq. ft. to account for the extra tree and spread of the outside trees, which is in any case 5.17 * 10^-3 acres, negligible compared to the values of the other plants used.

The recipe also calls for, for every 2,464-gallon batch: 19,712 teaspoons of Chamomile, 9,856 teaspoons of Coriander and Lavender, 19,712 bay leaves, 59,136 cardamom pods, 78,848 allspice berries, and 39,424 pieces of 4-inch grapefruit peels. The surface area of a grapefruit is around 50 square inches, and assuming the width of such zest pieces to be 1 inch, this yields 12.5 pieces per grapefruit, necessitating 3,154 grapefruits, which, per https://cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals … efruit.pdf, can be obtained in 0.11 acres. Per http://murramarangcommunitygarden.weebl … omile.html, 986 Chamomile plants are needed for the job. Rounding that up to 1,000, a 50 x 20 rectangle, each head spaced 10 inches apart per http://growagoodlife.com/growing-chamomile-for-tea/ results in 100,000 square inches, or slightly less than 695 sq ft. The lavender needed is 275.97 oz, or 17.25 lb (http://www.eliteabar.com/blogs/tea-brew … aves-weigh), which can be made with 1.73 * 10^-2 acres (http://naturalingredient.org/wp/wp-cont … ng_web.pdf). The weight of needed coriander (further sources available upon request, but not given here as they're getting intrusive) is 29,568 g, using 1.22 * 10^-2 acres. Bay leaves are the real killer, needing 16.26 acres. Cardamom needs 0.70 acres. I could not find any useful data on Allspice, so I'll have to ignore it for now.

The total to be added is 5.17 * 10^-3 acres + 0.11 acres + 695 sq ft. + 1.73 * 10^-2 acres + 1.22 * 10^-2 acres + 16.26 acres + 0.70 acres = 17.12 acres. Without the Bay Leaves it's simply 0.86 acres.

The table I have been collecting of such data is now:
-Gin: 143.92 gal/acre (w/ Bay Leaves)
-Beer: 171.11 gal/acre
-Potato Vodka: 254.55 gal/acre (w/ heirloom potatoes)
-Wine: 444.44 gal/acre
-Potato Vodka: 524.26 gal/acre (w/ just Russet potatoes)
-Gin: 2,865.12 gal/acre w/o Bay Leaves, but in practice limited by Vodka

It seems Beer has been deposed as the Drink of Kings for Martians with the help of a little leaf.

SpaceNut · 2016-03-23 17:00:39

yes IanM the sensor would be for everyone as a preventative measure to not allow for such a tragedy to occur....I should have done a better job of finishing my thoughts.....

RobertDyck · 2016-03-23 17:10:43

Gin recipe from the page IanM linked...

2 cups vodka
2 tablespoons juniper berries
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon chamomile
1/2 teaspoon lavender
3 cardamom pods, broken
1 bay leaf
4 allspice berries
two 4-inch pieces of grapefruit peel, with no pith

I put the first line in bold. Notice the vodka. That's the source of alcohol. You need carbohydrate that can be converted into sugar to feed yeast. So Gin doesn't have the magical yield per acre that you hoped.

IanM · 2016-03-23 17:26:22

SpaceNut wrote:

yes IanM the sensor would be for everyone as a preventative measure to not allow for such a tragedy to occur....I should have done a better job of finishing my thoughts.....

It's alright. I think such a sensor would be worthwhile if we're getting serious about alcohol, and shouldn't be too resource-consuming.

RobertDyck wrote:

So Gin doesn't have the magical yield per acre that you hoped.

That is true, which is why I put the phrase "but in practice limited by Vodka" at the end of the Gin. Absinthe and several other flavored spirits are similar.

Dexter2999 · 2016-03-23 17:55:43

Doesn't have to be a "breathalyzer" either. security hand scanner could check identity and alcohol levels. Mobile-friendly - Jun 7, 2015 - New Car Alcohol Sensors Test Breath, Blood To Stop Drunk Drivers ... Meanwhile, the touch-based system detects a person's blood alcohol level by using infrared tissue scanners.

RobertDyck · 2016-03-23 18:39:13

Another website, with recipes for different varieties.
Home Distillation of Alcohol - Gin

IanM · 2016-03-24 01:04:39

I'll be looking at 2 recipes from here: http://www.coppermoonshinestills.com/id28.html

With Corn Whiskey, 10 lb of Corn kernels yield 5 gallons of water, so 2,464 gal of Whiskey requires 4,928 lb of Maize. Using data from the Swine thread, this leads to 0.57 acres of Corn needed, yielding 4,319 gallons per acre of cropland.

7 lb of Rye and 2 lb of Barley, and 1 lb of Malt which I'll assume is also made from Barley is enough to make 6 gal of Rye Whiskey, so 2,464 gal of the stuff needs 1,232 lb of Barley and 2,874.66666 lb of Rye. Using data from the Chickens thread and http://www.alseed.com/UserFiles/Documen … e-2010.pdf, that can be produced with 0.43 acres for Barley and a high of 1.71 acres for Rye, taking up 2.14 acres total and yielding 1,150.80 gallons per acre of cropland.

The table, excluding hitherto-included luxury versions of alcohols, is now:
-Beer: 171.11 gal/acre
-Wine: 444.44 gal/acre
-Potato Vodka: 524.26 gal/acre
-Rye Whiskey: 1,150.80 gal/acre
-Gin: 2,865.12 gal/acre, but limited by supply of sufficiently-alcoholic base
-Corn Whiskey: 4,319 gal/acre

RobertDyck · 2016-03-24 03:01:13

To make beer

Sprout:
If grain is stored for any time, it has to be dried first. When ready to make beer, soak in water. If you make beer immediately when grain is harvested, then you don't have to dry it, just soak. Grain will swell about 25% in volume, and produce heat. Drain, let grain sprout. The traditional Scottish way is to spread the wet grain on a wooden floor of an non-heated warehouse. One source says soak 2 days, 3 if climate is cold. Modern breweries move the wet grain to a storage bin called a "couch" to sprout. Grain will air dry and sprout: 5 to 14 days depending on temperature and moisture.

Kiln dry:
This will stop sprouts from growing and further break down starch. This is a little tricky: must be hot enough to kill sprouts, but not hot enough to destroy amylase. The whole point of sprouting is to produce beta amylase. Exact temperature and cook time determines type of beer: light, amber, dark.

Mashing:
Do you sprout all grain, or sprout some? If you sprout some, then add crushed grain. Either way, the next step is "mashing". That means soaking in hot water. The enzyme produced by sprouting will convert starch to malt. Exact temperature depends on type of beer. From what I read, there's a lot of debate about details: protein rest vs sachrification rest, etc.

Sparging:
Sieve to separate liquid from solid stuff. To get fancy, you could use a "lauter tun", which is a big pot with a sieve built into the bottom.

Boil:
Add hops and boil. Hops are a vine, there are male and female plants. To grow hops for brewing, grow female plants miles from any male plant to ensure they aren't pollinated. Hops are a cone, look like a pine cone but softer. They contain an oil, it has to be heated to melt the oil to get into the "wort".

Ferment:
Cool the resulting wort to room temperature, then add yeast. I use the double fermentation method: about a week in an primary fermenter. This is a food grade plastic bucket with a plastic sheet spread on top to keep out dust and flies. Then siphon into a secondary fermenter: glass carboy or demijohn. Carboy is a big glass jug, usually 5 gallons. Demijohn is a round flask in a basket to keep it from rolling over. Looks like a Florence flask but bigger: 5 or 12 gallon. A fermentation lock is added, CO2 gas must bubble through water to get out. This allows gas to get out, but not back in. Since it's on top, and CO2 is heavier than air, CO2 produced by fermentation quickly pushes out all air. The fermentation lock also keeps out flies. Yeast grows faster with open fermentation, in the bucket. But closed fermentation is required to keep out oxygen. Keeping out oxygen is important for red wine and dark beer.

Hops don't just add flavour, the oil acts as preservative. Without some form of preservative, beer will start to spoil as soon as it's made. Ancient Babylonians were the first to discover beer, there's a poem to beer that describes their process. It's a little different, I could post if you like, but they drank beer straight from the fermentation vat. The reason is it would spoil if they left it at all. Alcohol in beer isn't strong enough to act as preservative. Whisky or any distilled beverage is strong enough.

Measure specific gravity with a hydrometer. When it reaches a certain number, it has converted sugar to alcohol. Be careful not to disturb the beer when you siphon it. Let yeast remain as a layer at the bottom of the fermentation vessel. And when you siphon, be careful not to pick up any yeast. It forms a sticky goo. Yeast doesn't taste good, so don't let it get into bottles.

But you do add a little sugar to each bottle before sealing it. Yeast will grow a little inside the bottle, producing CO2. This will carbonate the beer. Be careful to add the right amount of sugar to each bottle, too little will be flat, too much could produce enough CO2 pressure to burst the bottle. I've never had a bottle burst, but when I was a child my dad did. A whole batch, blew the caps off, pushed some bottles off the shelf so they fell onto the concrete floor. Glass falling on concrete will break.

Last edited by RobertDyck (2016-03-26 08:26:21)

RobertDyck · 2016-03-24 03:11:10

The traditional way of making vodka from potatoes does require a little barley. The first step is sprouting barley, just like beer. Then mash, just like beer. But instead of adding malted grain with crushed grain to hot water, instead add malted grain to mashed potatoes. You start by cleaning potatoes, don't bother to remove skin, boil them hole. Then don't remove them from the boiling water, instead mash them right in the boil water. This keeps the starch from boiling potatoes with the mashed potatoes. And the mash is already hot, so you don't need to add energy to boil another batch of water. The mixture of mashed potatoes in hot water is called "mash". Add malted barley to the mash. Then mashing and sparging like beer. But you don't add hops, so no need to boil. Instead after sparging (sieve) put in a distillery. Vodka is typically triple distilled, 65% to 85% alcohol, then water is added to dilute to 40% alcohol.

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