plum liqeur (not distillation!) oxidization worries?

[fredthecat]

hi, so i'm planning to get about 5 or 6 litres of 30% neutral alcohol and let green plums (maeshil, ume) infuse in it for a few months. however the glass jar is 10L. is there a danger of oxidization? if so can i do anything to avoid it?

 

[Homercidal]

Yes, you should be concerned. If You were me (Or if I were you and you had a kegging setup) I'd purge the excess air out of the vessel to keep the O2 at a minimum.

You could also buy a bunch of marbles, or some other easily sanitized objects, and add enough of them to bring the level of the hooch (sorry) up close to the neck. Just make sure they are food safe and easily cleaned again afterwards.

Another option is to just use a large plastic bag of some sort and place it in a bucket and squeeze the excess air out. I have some bucket liners that I sometimes use for fermenting beer or wine in that makes cleanup a snap.

Since you are listing your volumes in litres, I'm assuming you are not in the US or Canada, so I'm not sure how easily it would be for you to find these things in your God-forsaken area of the globe.

 

[ACbrewer]

Are you making the neutral alcohol? or buying it? if this is just an infusion, with purchased, they why not simply force the plums into the source, if you are making it, put the plums in when you reach say 20 to 25% and let the finishing of fermenting do the O2 purging.

 

[fredthecat]

thank you, just remembered the fact that the plums will take up space in the jar and the solid, sanitized object fill up trick.
btw the neutral alcohol IS real hooch stuff.. it's 35% ABV and 10 bucks for a 5 litre tub.

and in canada i always used litres, only people older than 50 there know about ounces, quarts and gallons really