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Alcoholic drinks from Finland

Kilju (Finnish sugar wine)kilju

Kilju is a Finnish home-made sugar wine of white sugar, water and yeast, sometimes with fruit or berries. It ferments in about three days with fast yeasts and takes longer if done slowly, and is cleared before drinking. Finnish law lets a private person make it at home for their own use, as long as it is not distilled.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Kilju itself.

Short entryAlcoholic drinks3 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo standard recipe; home makers use their own sugar-to-water ratios.
White sugar[WP:Kilju]
Water[WP:Kilju]
Yeast (brewer's yeast or quick "turbo" yeast)[WP:Kilju]
Fruit or berries (optional)[WP:Kilju]
Starterdefined-culture (S. cerevisiae incl. 'turbo yeast')

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days

Start
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What changes: Sugar dissolves in water

Step 1 of 3
Dissolve sugar in water
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts

Output: sugar syrup.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Kilju is a Finnish home-made sugar wine of white sugar, water and yeast, sometimes with fruit or berries. It ferments in about three days with fast yeasts and takes longer if done slowly, and is cleared before drinking. Finnish law lets a private person make it at home for their own use, as long as it is not distilled. Made in 3 steps over 3 days. The longest step, add the yeast and ferment, takes at least 3 days (Wikipedia). Saccharomyces cerevisiae does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 daysReported[WP:Kilju]Add the yeast and ferment

What makes this one different

Kilju has no grain or grape base, only sugar (or honey), so it tastes of little but alcohol. Making it at home for one's own use is legal in Finland; distilling it is not.

Related ferments

Made the kilju way

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Wikipedia says home making of kilju became legal in Finland on 1 March 2018, under the Alcohol Act of 2017.

  1. [finlex-alcohol-act] Alkoholilaki 1102/2017 (Finnish Alcohol Act), Finlex - a private person may make mild alcoholic drinks at home for their own use, other than by distillingspec
  2. [WP:Kilju] Wikipedia, Kilju (outline only)wiki