How Do Inmates Make Wine

[Ravenous Wolf 184]

I have seen this in lots of documentaries that mention that inmates in prison make their own wine.

I don't know how wine is made so how do the prisoners make it.

[LadynRed 325]

With anything they can ! My brother-in-law was a cook in a prison for 20 years, trust me they find ways. He said whenever they served rice, every last grain would disappear because the inmates would put it in their pockets, take it back to their cells to make rice wine !!

[virtualrn 396]

From: "You Are Going To Prison" Jim Hogshire.

Prison hooch can be made in your cell toilet (as long as you don't mind using other people's toilets or finding some other solution), or more often, in plastic trash bags. The recipe is simple: make a strong bag by double or triple-bagging some plastic trash bags and knotting the bottoms. Into this, pour warm water, some fruit or fruit juice, raisins or tomatoes, yeast, and as much sugar as you can get ahold of (or powdered drink mix). Now tie off the top of the bag, letting a tube of some kind protrude so the thing won't explode while it gives off carbon dioxide. Now hide the bag somewhere and wait at least three days. A week is enough.

One of the problems you have right away with making wine in prison is the difficulty getting yeast. It's a strictly forbidden item and you might not be able to get any. In this case you can improvise the by using slices of bread, preferably moldy (but not dry) and preferably inside a sock for easier straining.

If you choose to brew your wine in your cell, you'll need to hide it behind your bunk and do what you can to hide the smell. Burning cinnamon as incense is one way. Spraying deodorant around is another. Normal wine takes at least a month if not six weeks to make at all properly -- but in hell, this is all you get."

[sparky256DSL 18]

I use to fill the vending machine in the Minimum security prison (cell blocks included) in Iowa. When that Mountain Dew Live Wire hit the market I put that in the machines figuring they would like to try some new stuff (being in prison has got to be boring). Well at first it didn't sell very much but then all of a sudden I couldn't keep it in stock in any of the cell block machines. About a month later I got a call from the prison telling me to remove the Live Wire from the machines and to never put it back. This confused me and because I made commission I wanted to know why. So that night I asked the guards what the deal was. He told me the prisoners were using the soda, dry coffee and some other ingredients to get "HIGH". He could give me all the details. What kind of people like of stuff like that? I mean we must have chemists in there to figure all this stuff out. Well I guess that is why Iowa has such a Meth problem. Oh yeah and it was just Livewire not normal MD or any other soda.

[jq26 862]

...He told me the prisoners were using the soda, dry coffee and some other ingredients to get "HIGH". He could give me all the details. What kind of people like of stuff like that? I mean we must have chemists in there to figure all this stuff out...

I have a buddy in state prison in Gainesville. One of the most naturally intelligent people I know. He'd pick up an instrument and learn to play it in a few days. He'd read novel after novel, and absorb them as if he'd written 'em. He was even a gifted artist- he has tattoos from head to toe that are unreal that he did himself! Anyway, there are really smart people in prison. Dumb criminals, but smart people. The kind that know just how to improvise.

The stories he has told me are unbelievable (before he went to Florida he did a few stints in Pennsylvania klinks...). The toilet hooch story was right on.

[cj1capp 10]

I have seen this in lots of documentaries that mention that inmates in prison make their own wine.

I don't know how wine is made so how do the prisoners make it.

http://blacktable.com/gillin030901.htm

[pointman 717]

I interviewed an inmate once whose GF had smuggled LSD blotter paper into the prison. After he took the LSD hits, he'd urinate into a water bottle. He then sold capfuls of his urine to the other inmates. (His urine contained the acid that was processed out by the body) He affectionately called his "wine" RECYCLE...

[NASCAR_Devil 331]

I interviewed an inmate once whose GF had smuggled LSD blotter paper into the prison. After he took the LSD hits, he'd urinate into a water bottle. He then sold capfuls of his urine to the other inmates. (His urine contained the acid that was processed out by the body) He affectionately called his "wine" RECYCLE...

Thats just nasty. Is that from Lew Sterret Vineyards?...LOL

BTW Welcome back Pointman!!

[Ravenous Wolf 184]

I interviewed an inmate once whose GF had smuggled LSD blotter paper into the prison. After he took the LSD hits, he'd urinate into a water bottle. He then sold capfuls of his urine to the other inmates. (His urine contained the acid that was processed out by the body) He affectionately called his "wine" RECYCLE...

That is gross!!!

After seeing documentaries of what inmates stick up their [EXPLETIVE DELETED], it doesn't really surprise me anymore...

[thegame26 170]

As others have said, its actually pretty easy. One of my classes this semester was Drugs & Society and we made our own 'pruno'.

1. Get a ziploc baggie

2. Put in 1-3 cups of sugar

3. Put in 1-3 slices of bread

4. Pour in 1 can concentrated fruit juice

5. Pour in 1/3 cup of water

6. Seal the bag

7. 2-3 days later 'burp' the bag by opening it and resealing it

8. About a week later its ready

Of the 10 batches we made in class the highest alcohol content was only 2%-so don't expect much. Just shows you how desperate prisioners can be...

[SteveAR 24]

expired grape juice , a lot of sugar , bread for the yiest , a big bag , something with a nozzle to remove the air and you can even add fruit if you like. it takes a week or so to cook and hard to hide.

[Ravenous Wolf 184]

I have a buddy in state prison in Gainesville. One of the most naturally intelligent people I know. He'd pick up an instrument and learn to play it in a few days. He'd read novel after novel, and absorb them as if he'd written 'em. He was even a gifted artist- he has tattoos from head to toe that are unreal that he did himself! Anyway, there are really smart people in prison. Dumb criminals, but smart people. The kind that know just how to improvise.

Unfortunately, that is so true. There used to be a friend of friend of mine that went to the same university I went to. He was very gifted and super smart.

But once he got into the criminal system, he used his smarts to manipulate the system (he would only do certain types of thefts, like from a big department store because he knew employees were trained to do passive resistance). It was just a shame to see such a smart person in the criminal system but there are some smart people in jail.

[bleucheese38239 10]

haha, just came across this:

[outfini09 10]

Has anyone tried making a fruit wine. I tried some elderberry wine recently - it was pretty good? Where is a good place to get the ingrediants canned or otherwise?

[JodyLive 10]

I interviewed an inmate once whose GF had smuggled LSD blotter paper into the prison. After he took the LSD hits, he'd urinate into a water bottle. He then sold capfuls of his urine to the other inmates. (His urine contained the acid that was processed out by the body) He affectionately called his "wine" RECYCLE...

Oh my gosh, that's disgusting beyond belief. Did they know what they were buying from him?!

[Kinger1457 10]

If they like you they may tell you

[mason433 10]

Pretty... interesting.

[needinghelp87 15]

i believe its a class they take to kill time as well

[shellieh98 1,505]

my moms brothers used to make dandylion wine when they were kids, lol

[BTO429 456]

any thing with a sugar or starch content can be used to make wine.....or hooch as they call it in prison.

 

I grow my own grapes, blueberries and raspberries, i make several different type of wine,,this is wine and not hooch. My family has been making wine since they came to the states in the early 1700's. It has never been marketed. When my g-mother passed away I inherited the family recipe.

 

Anything with sugar content if left long enough and not let to overheat will start a fermentation process. If you do not know how to control this fermentation process you end up with hooch which is strong and only intended for the purpose of getting drunk, although some of it does taste pretty awesome. It will also spoil quickly and has hardly no shelf life.

 

True wine, on the other hand, can last for years in a proper bottle. I have wine that my grans mother made in the 1930's still in the bottle on my shelf.

 

This summer I will be entering the wine contest at my state fair. I will submit my red, white and my blueberry.

[usagi555 91]

any thing with a sugar or starch content can be used to make wine.....or hooch as they call it in prison.

 

I grow my own grapes, blueberries and raspberries, i make several different type of wine,,this is wine and not hooch. My family has been making wine since they came to the states in the early 1700's. It has never been marketed. When my g-mother passed away I inherited the family recipe.

 

Anything with sugar content if left long enough and not let to overheat will start a fermentation process. If you do not know how to control this fermentation process you end up with hooch which is strong and only intended for the purpose of getting drunk, although some of it does taste pretty awesome. It will also spoil quickly and has hardly no shelf life.

 

True wine, on the other hand, can last for years in a proper bottle. I have wine that my grans mother made in the 1930's still in the bottle on my shelf.

 

This summer I will be entering the wine contest at my state fair. I will submit my red, white and my blueberry.

 

I've also heard some of the prison stuff called pruno.  Either way, knowing what they have to work with, I don't think I'd want to drink it unless it was distilled first. 

[shellieh98 1,505]

@BTO429

 

You got a recipe?  Id love to try and make some.  I live in Colorado wine country, and would love to try my hand at a batch!

[CountryLady 34]

I was reading this with a smile. I worked in the correctional facility here...lasted about 6 months before running out with my arms flailing screaming for my sanity....(Not really, but sounded better than hated it so quit).  Anyway....

 

If any facility is worth its weight, there won't be much of a wine issue to deal with. Inmates aren't supposed to be taking items out of mess and certainly not cans of things.  Cans are deadly. And lighting incense?  That would take a source of fire. Deadly.  Hiding it? If a guard doesn't spot it or a dog doesn't detect it, very serious issues at the facility.

 

I've heard stories from inmates on making it, but every single one said it was too difficult here to do it.  They are searched when they go into a building and searched as they leave a building. One guy wrote a phone number on a piece of paper and shoved it in his pocket. He got 4 days in the hole and lost work privileges.  

 

That said...these guys are ingenious!  If they applied half the determination to working outside the walls as they do attempting to pull the wool over someone's eyes behind the walls, wow, can you imagine how successful these people would be!!!!