making alcohol from jerusalem artichokes

Hi folks,

I don't have much interest from makes alcohol from sugar and other preprocessed stuff. I grew some jerusalem artichokes to try to make some alcohol and I have the book alcohol can be a gas but still have a hard time getting started on this project. Has anybody out done this on a small scale and was able to locate needed yeasts and other materials to make it from scratch on a small scale, like five or ten gallons? A nice step by step manual with materials and where to get them would be helpful. thanks for any assistance, jeff

Jeff Wesolowski : If you and I can make vodka from potatoes I see no reason you cant make a great wine or beer from jerusalem Artichokes !

Here are three sources of information !


1) You can Google (D.I.Y.) beer / wine making supplies and or supply shops and then just drop by. If the Shop is prosperous there will probably

be a bulletin board with group meetings and offers for equipment AND usually someone selling honey !

2) http://www.meetup.com/find/?allMeetups=false&keywords=Beer+making&radius=Infinity&userFreeform=Russell%2C+NY&mcId=c13684&mcName=Russell%2C+NY&sort=default

Meetup.com will probably produce several Beer / Wine Fans in your area!

3) http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/how-to/g143/how-to-make-brew-beer/

Worth a look at for #6 and number #19 ( I guy who came up with cleanliness is next to godliness was probably an imbibing Monk !


I hope you fine this timely and useful, for the Good of ALL the Crafts ! Big AL

- One more link to what is possibly the Cheapest Column Still ever made ! I would probably only use the Ethyl Alcohol (it will also contain some methanol )

as fuel for stoves and as an additive to regular bass to cool the internal combustion engine ! Definitely not sipping Whisky ! Big AL

Jeff Wesolowski :  did you ever make a successful batch?  I was thinking of embarking on a similar experiment.  Any steps you needed to take to convert the inulin to fructose prior to starting the fermentation process?

Inulin is a 5 carbon starch-like substance and regular amylase won't crack it. I've read reports about using HCl to convert it. Not sure how strong, what temperature, or for how long.

Alissa Barrett wrote:Jeff Wesolowski :  did you ever make a successful batch?  I was thinking of embarking on a similar experiment.  Any steps you needed to take to convert the inulin to fructose prior to starting the fermentation process?

From what I've read, during long term storage the Inulin converts to fructose.  That might make it easier to convert to alcohol, assuming you have room to store the roots for several months.