Help! Homebrew Rhubarb liqueur has begun fermenting (not part of plan)

[Bzfeale80]

My mum has made some rhubarb liqueur using some sugar, vodka and defrosted rhubarb chunks in a kilner type jar. Even though the jar was in a cool dark place in the house she noticed yesterday that there were bubbles in the liquid contained in the jar - a sign that an active fermentation is going on. As far as I'm aware no yeast was added to the mix when it was made. I thought I would ask here on the forum if anyone could offer some help or solution.....

At the moment the jar is in a fridge to cool down and hopefully slow down the fermentation. The liqueur was made similar to how you would sloe gin but switch the gin for vodka in this case. As far as I know kilner jars are not capable of withstanding pressure built up inside and we certainly don't want a 'jar bomb'! Is there anything that can be done to save this or something useful which it can turn into in time?

[irish_goat]

Was vodka the only liquid added? There would be wild yeast on the rhubarb but the high alcohol content of the vodka should have killed that off. Strange one.

[Bzfeale80]

I will ask later on. As far as I know only vodka was added maybe also some water but I'm not sure. I would have thought that freezing the rhubarb would have taken care of the wild yeasts that may have been present but obviously there is something causing it to ferment.

[Bubbles]

I will ask later on. As far as I know only vodka was added maybe also some water but I'm not sure. I would have thought that freezing the rhubarb would have taken care of the wild yeasts that may have been present but obviously there is something causing it to ferment.

My understanding is that some yeasts can actually survive the freezing process.

Why not put the mixture into a demijohn under an airlock and leave it to do its thing?

[irish_goat]

Yeast can definitely survive the freezer, Shiny has a good guide done up on how to freeze yeast at home.

Maybe you have a teenager living in the house who has substituted the vodka for water. 

[Leann ull]

Crack the lid under a towel if you haven't done so already and pasteurise at 72 for min 20 mins in a pot of water, put a thermometer in jar to ensure you have hit temp

[Will_D]

+1 on Johns suggestion above to pasteurise.

Why does this happen?

If you compare the volume of rhubarb (which is say 95% water) to the volume of vodka you can see that the vodka will be well diluted and so any wild yeasts may well be able o start fermenting.

[rje66]

Just curious,what does this taste like?
Have some rhubarb in the freezer looking for a home!!

[nigel_c]

Just curious,what does this taste like?
Have some rhubarb in the freezer looking for a home!!

DO IT. We need more funky spirits at out NCB meet ups.

[Beermonger]

I wouldn't worry about the jar exploding. I ferment kimchi in Kilner jars all the time: they just burp when the pressure gets too high (if you have a few of the jars it can sound quite odd:).

[Eoin]

I wouldn't worry about the jar exploding. I ferment kimchi in Kilner jars all the time: they just burp when the pressure gets too high (if you have a few of the jars it can sound quite odd:).

Throw up your kimchi recipe on the food board will ya?

I've started with sauerkaut, I even bought a 5l crock pot, but it constantly ends up with white moulds on top, the sauerkraut underneath does tend to be spectacular though.

[Beermonger]

Throw up your kimchi recipe on the food board will ya?

Sure thing. I'll be making a new batch soon and I plan on comparing my notes from the previous batches to actually figure out what my recipe is . So I'll post it soon. It does come out well though.