Muddy moonshine is a relic of the past, the color of the countryside and the working class. But cloudiness is not at all a sign of the quality of the drink, rather the opposite. High quality moonshine is transparent, has no foreign smell and does not burn the oral mucosa. So why does an alcoholic product become cloudy, and how to fix it?
There are several reasons why the distillate loses clarity. They are not always associated with the quality indicators of the drink, but in any case they may indicate that with alcohol home production not everything is fine.
The main causes of clouding:
- Too violent boiling.
- Use of low quality equipment.
- Use of hard water.
- Non-compliance with production technology.
- Non-compliance with hygiene rules.
When the mash is poured into the still and brought to a boil, this process requires control. Splashes from intense boiling can get into the coil, and then spoil the color of the drink. In this case, all the resulting moonshine will have a characteristic milky tint. Re-distillation and purification of the produced alcohol will help to correct the situation.
If this situation repeats several times, then as part of prevention it is recommended to fill the cube by no more than 70%, control the boiling process, and also equip the apparatus with a steamer. If the boil starts too vigorously, the spray will go into the steamer and not into the coil.
If the device is made of low-quality materials, then its use over time will lead to undesirable consequences. The materials will begin to oxidize, and their microscopic particles will get into the distillate and spoil its color and taste. Such moonshine cannot be drunk because it is toxic. Most often, problems arise when using low-quality silicone gaskets.
Needless to say, the quality of water in the production of alcohol plays an important role. Hard water taken to make mash can eventually give an unexpected result. On the pasture, the drink will have a cloudy color, sediment. Correcting the situation is simple: you need to defend the water or use bottled, spring water.
If mistakes were made at various stages during the production of distillate, the liquid loses its transparency. Turbidity testifies to many things, often it appears during the distillation of mash, which has already turned sour. For this reason, you should be more attentive to the quality of raw materials, follow the recipe and not deviate from the specified scheme.
When the distillation is completed, the apparatus must be thoroughly washed using products capable of reducing foaming. Hygienic procedures are necessary, since microscopic particles of mash remain in various parts of the device, and this can significantly worsen the quality of alcoholic beverages during further operation.
Under certain circumstances, turbidity can be eliminated, but much depends on the cause of its appearance. Filtration or purification of distillate will help in solving the problem.
Cleaning methods
There are several techniques that are successfully used by distillers, they improve the color of the drink and remove turbidity and sediment. But their effectiveness is called into question, because it is not always possible to achieve the desired result.
So how do you get rid of impurities? cloudy moonshine and improve its color?
- Use coal. This purification helps to eliminate all impurities and fusel oils. Preference is given to activated charcoal in tablets or made from coconut shells, it is the most effective.
- Apply repeated distillation with separation into fractions. It is believed that if, according to all the rules, the distillation is translated, separating the “heads from the tails”, then the drink will be transparent, like a tear. If, having overtaken the mash for the first time, this effect could not be achieved, it is worth repeating the procedure.
- Heating. This is the most inefficient way, because by heating the moonshine to 70 degrees, you can correct its color, but as the temperature drops, the shade will begin to recover. And this means that the use of heating does not differ in high efficiency.
You can quickly clear cloudy moonshine by using a water filter. A jug, a Barrier filter are used, alcohol is poured into it, the procedure is repeated several times. In fact, this is also charcoal cleansing.
How to make moonshine cloudy?
Popular are methods that do not affect the quality of the drink, simply changing its shade, allowing you to achieve the desired color, visual impression of a retro drink.
Proven ways to create haze:
- Add a small amount of whey to alcohol. We are talking about whey, not milk. Since the milk will immediately curdle, and the whey will dissolve, giving the drink a specific shade.
- Add 2-6 drops of vegetable oil to the drink. The oil is added drop by drop, then shaken until the desired color is obtained. In such quantity, the product will not affect the quality of the drink, will not spoil its taste and aroma.
- Dry cream or milk is diluted with water and the resulting mixture is added to moonshine. Add 5-15 gr. cream or milk into a 1 liter distillate. As a result of such manipulations, the drink will become cloudy.
- There is another way, it will change the color and aroma of the drink. At redistillation it is recommended to add dry mandarin peels to the cube. This method is considered experimental and does not always work.
Dregs in moonshine is not a sign of quality, but a stereotype created in Soviet times. It was believed that a clear distillate is a drink of the bourgeoisie, but a cloudy one is alcohol for the people. But you should not trust stereotypes, you need to pay attention to the quality of the drink, its taste and smell, evaluate the transparency and the presence of sediment. If the moonshine was not tinted, then these characteristics are considered decisive.
The taste and aroma of moonshine, as well as its safety for health, largely depends on third-party impurities that enter the distillate from raw materials, as a result of the vital activity of yeast or during its distillation. Modern equipment and compliance with the rules of fractional distillation solves almost 100% of the problems associated with these impurities, but often the conditions are far from ideal and moonshine has to be cleaned of smell, unpleasant tastes and harmful compounds. In this article, we tried to systematize and analyze all the methods of cleaning moonshine at home and draw certain conclusions for each of them.
Almost all components of moonshine, except for water, are harmful to our body and are, in fact, poison. Not all of them are equally dangerous (ethanol, for obvious reasons, we immediately exclude), and some of them endow the drink with the very “bouquet” of tastes and aromas for which we are engaged in distillation (and then we will only talk about it). But these components are dangerous and their quantity must be minimized, which is what this material is devoted to. So, from what we will clean:
- methanol (methyl alcohol) is the simplest monohydric alcohol that has the smell of ethanol. Its boiling point is only 64.7 ° C, that is, logically, it should go headlong with fractional distillation, but in practice everything is much more complicated. Fortunately, the content of matanol in sugar and grain moonshine insignificantly (for example, for sugar - no more than 0.01 mg / l), so it can be immediately ignored. It is not recommended to clean fruit distillates according to the methods described below, since organoleptics (a combination of tastes and aromas) suffer greatly.
- Acetaldehyde (acetic aldehyde) - an organic compound, aldehyde of ethanol and acetic acid. Formed during the oxidation of ethanol. Moonshine can contain enough large quantities(up to 400 mg / l and more), which can be very dangerous to health. In small concentrations, it is easily "digested" by the body to harmless acetic acid and gives the distillate a certain, familiar taste.
- Fusel oil - a mixture of higher monohydric aliphatic alcohols, ethers and other compounds. When it comes to cleaning moonshine from the smell, in most cases they mean the nauseating smell of fusel oil. The most dangerous component of sivukha is isoamyl alcohol. However, it should be understood that the taste profile of moonshine, especially grain, depends very much on the presence of certain components of fusel oil in it.
Canadian Crystal Head vodka is filtered three times through quartz crystals known as Herkimer diamonds.
I would like to note right away that when discussing cleaning methods, we are primarily talking about partially grain (for example, you can clean it) - it is not recommended to clean fruit and most grain distillates, as this can greatly worsen their organoleptic. Moreover, we are talking exclusively about the distillation of drinks, and not their rectification (haters-rectifiers do not need to read the article). Well, before you start: the most effective and expedient way to obtain a pure distillate with a pleasant organoleptic effect is the second fractional distillation with an accurate cut-off of "heads" and "tails". If you use good equipment and follow all the rules of fractional distillation, then you do not need to clean the moonshine. Strive for this first! But if the equipment or knowledge does not yet allow you to receive a good product after the second distillation, then purification will be appropriate. So, how can you clean moonshine from fusel oil and other impurities? Read on!
A good start is half the battle. Properly prepared mash in compliance with the technology will provide a cleaner moonshine with a pleasant organoleptic. This has long been confirmed not only by practice, but also by scientific methods. So, laboratory analyzes show that when using a smaller amount of dry yeast in the mash, raw alcohol (hereinafter SS) is obtained with a significantly lower content of fusel oil, isoamylol, isobutanol and others like it. There is also evidence that when the mash is fermented at a higher temperature (30 ° C) in the SS, a smaller amount of fusel oil is observed, but also less esters, from which we can conclude that for sugar mash a higher temperature is preferable, but for fruit - on the contrary. As for the clarification of mash, a lot is written about this in the recipe for sugar moonshine, and the process itself, I think, is mandatory.
Local output: for the preparation of sugar mash we use half the amount of yeast and observe a higher temperature regime. This is not a paradigm, but a certain round in distillation, which should be taken into account and, at a minimum, be tested empirically on a small amount distillate. Lightening the mash is a prerequisite for obtaining quality moonshine.
Methods for cleaning moonshine before the second distillation
After receiving the clarified mash, it should be distilled as quickly as possible, without separating the head and tail fractions, if it is a grain or fruit distillate, or with crushing, if it is sugar moonshine (not a paradigm - a recommendation). Before the obligatory second distillation, it is recommended that the obtained SS be cleaned of fusel oil and other impurities, which should have a positive effect on the finished product. For this, chemical cleaning, coagulant cleaning, physical oil cleaning and carbonization are used. Let's talk about each method in more detail and draw the appropriate conclusions.
Chemical purification of raw alcohol
Chemical purification refers to the treatment of SS with various chemical compounds in order to neutralize some of the impurities present in the distillate after the first distillation. This technology came to us directly from distilleries. The technique is based on the saponification of an alcohol solution with alkali (soda ash or caustic soda), which reacts with acids, neutralizing them, and the subsequent neutralization of the alkaline medium with potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate). The result: an insoluble flake residue containing a certain proportion of the "stinky" and "harmful" impurities from the SS.
On practice! The technique was developed on the basis of the information presented in the book "Production of alcoholic beverages", Dorosh A.K., Lysenko V.S. For 1 liter of absolute alcohol in SS, you need to take 4 g of soda ash, 0.4 g of potassium permanganate and 2 g of caustic soda (from the forum: for 10 liters of 40% distillate, you need to take 2 tsp of soda ash, 1 / 3-1 / 2 tsp potassium permanganate, 1-1.5 tsp caustic soda). Cleaning Method: soda ash(sodium carbonate, Na 2 CO 3) dissolves in 200 ml boiled water and poured with stirring into the SS, potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate, KMnO 4), also dissolved in water, is immediately poured in, and after 15-20 minutes, caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, caustic soda, NaOH) dissolved in a glass of water. After 15-20 hours of settling, the SS is drained from the formed precipitate and! Be sure to undergo a second fractional distillation).
Chemical cleaning from Western colleagues: for 1 liter of 50% SS, add 1 g of caustic soda dissolved in a glass of water. Wait 2 to 12 hours with occasional stirring. Do a pH test to make sure the medium is very alkaline (8-14pH). If everything is in order, add as much potassium permanganate by weight as sodium hydroxide was added (we will first dissolve potassium permanganate in water). After that, wait 15-20 hours until precipitation occurs. Then remove the SS from the sediment and distill. As an oxidizing agent, potassium permanganate can be replaced with 30% hydrogen peroxide (do not ask for proportions, I did not find an adequate manual).
Local output: chemical cleaning is definitely effective tool Improvements in moonshine and the Dorosh-Lysenko method described above have been tested by hundreds of experienced moonshiners. But recently, especially with the development of the technical equipment of the distillery, more and more practitioners refuse it - it is difficult to make a calculation required amount chemicals for a specific SS without prior laboratory analysis. There is only one conclusion to be drawn here: if you are looking for ready recipe chemical purification of moonshine, then this cannot exist in nature, and blindly following the instructions is more likely to worsen the quality of the distillate than improve it and, in the end, can harm the health of drinkers.
Coagulant purification of raw alcohol
Speaking in human terms, there is a certain group of substances, coagulants, which, when they enter the solution, “stick together” various compounds, forming larger fractions that can be filtered. Under various connections in this case fusel oil, esters, as well as a suspension that could somehow get into the distillate are meant. The principle of cleaning moonshine with coagulants is based on the content of proteins (casein and albumin) in some products, which coagulate in an alcohol solution of a certain strength, along the way “capturing” “stinky” impurities into the sediment, as they have adsorbing properties. These products are usually used egg white and milk.
Cleaning moonshine with egg white: for 1 liter of SS take 1-2 fresh chicken eggs, carefully separate the proteins, beat, add a glass of water, beat again and add to the SS. Wait until the protein coagulates and precipitates, filter, send for distillation. The difficulty of this method lies in the fact that the protein is reluctant to fold in a weak solution of alcohol - for fast folding, the distillate strength should be more than 40%, better than 50%. After the first distillation on a simple apparatus, it usually has a much lower strength. In addition, after the second distillation of protein-purified SS, a hydrogen sulfide smell or a boiled egg smell can be traced in the final product.
For 10 liters of SS, add 1 liter of skimmed (or up to 1.5% fat) milk, wait for the formation of a precipitate (can be accelerated with citric acid or lemon juice), filtered, diluted and for the second distillation. The problems are the same as with egg white: the distillate often smells of hydrogen sulfide and can remain cloudy (here you need to practice long and hard in slow distillation in order to prevent burning, etc.).
Local output: cleaning moonshine with egg white and milk before the second distillation is a rather controversial technique that is more likely to worsen the organoleptics than to improve it. Similar purification methods are also used after the second distillation, when you need to soften the distillate, and this is perhaps a more sensible approach, but with its own troubles.
Cleaning raw alcohol with oil
The method is based on the ability of some components of fusel oil to dissolve in other oils, while alcohol diluted to a certain strength does not dissolve in oil. At home, it is recommended to use refined vegetable oil without odors. The oil cleaning method is as follows: CC room temperature diluted to 15-30% (this is necessary not only to prevent the dissolution of alcohol in the oil, but also for more effective cleaning), poured into a container with filling it by no more than 2/3 of the total volume, 20 ml of oil per 1 liter is added solution and vigorously mixed. You need to mix three times for a minute with breaks of one to two minutes. After 12 hours, the main amount of oil should collect on the surface of the vessel (it is better to defend in a cool place) and the SS can be drained, leaving the bulk of the oil film in the container. The SS must then be thoroughly filtered through a cotton filter and/or coal column, and then overtake a second time with the separation of heads and tails.
Local output: cleaning moonshine with oil is an effective and, perhaps, the most harmless way to improve the quality of SS before the second distillation. The technique itself is mentioned in the work of Dorosh-Lysenko, has some scientific justification, shows a good, stable result and is always recommended as the main method of intermediate cleaning of moonshine.
Purification of raw alcohol with activated carbon
Primitive carbon filter column flow type
A lot has been said about cleaning moonshine with activated carbon on our website, which describes in detail the “infusion” method of carbonization. To clean the SS, it is better to use carbonization in the "column" way. There are laboratory studies confirming that after cleaning the SS in this way, the concentration of fusel oil in it is significantly reduced. This technique does not need a local conclusion, since it is considered generally recognized and effective at all stages of the preparation of high-quality distillate, including after the second distillation to give the drink a vodka taste. In the near future, material will be prepared on "column" carbonization and the manufacture of an efficient coal column.
Purification of moonshine by the second fractional distillation
It doesn’t need to be introduced, there is where the process of fractional distillation is described in more detail, including with “catching easy” - a method for cleaning moonshine from isoamyl alcohol. There is only one local conclusion here: repeated fractional distillation distillate is the most effective way cleaning moonshine at home. But the degree of purification is highly dependent on the equipment available and skills in distillation. In the process of mastering this skill, without having more modern moonshine stills, before the second fractional distillation of sugar moonshine and some grain distillates intermediate cleaning is desired.
Purification of moonshine after the second distillation
In theory, after fractional distillation, the distillate does not need to be cleaned, but in practice, especially for beginners, moonshine still may not have the most pleasant smell and taste. In such cases, I personally recommend doing another distillation with a more careful separation of moonshine into fractions, but if greed jumped in you, then you can try some methods of additional purification. finished product(and still lose in quantity).
Coagulant purification of distillate
The same cleaning methods are used: egg white and milk. Cleaning with egg white is carried out according to the same scheme and gives an acceptable result. Before cleaning, moonshine must be diluted to a drinking fortress, given that during the cleaning process the degree will drop by 2-3%. There are significant disadvantages: moonshine often acquires not the most pleasant egg flavor, and it is very, very difficult to filter the sediment. When cleaning the finished product with milk, which is preferable, you should reduce its amount per liter of moonshine or use powdered milk.
On practice: for 1 liter of moonshine drinking strength (42-45%, you need to take a little stronger, since cleaning with milk steals a couple of degrees) take 10 ml of fresh skimmed or low-fat milk or 0.62 g of milk powder. Powdered milk you need to dilute in 10 ml (for every 0.62 g) of warm boiled water and let the flakes swell for 2-3 hours, fresh - dilute with water 1: 1. Pour the solution into the distillate, mix well and leave to stand in a cool place until a precipitate forms and the distillate is completely clarified (from 1 hour to several days, depending on the quality of the milk). If the curdling of milk has not started after 6-7 hours, you can add a little citric acid or lemon juice (lemons on the tip of a knife, repeating until the milk curdles). After complete clarification, drain from the sediment and, if necessary, filter (it is possible through a carbon column).
Local output: as a way of softening and slight cleaning of the finished product takes place, but the result is highly dependent on the quality of the milk. It is not uncommon for moonshine to remain cloudy and no filtering will help here. Also, a distinct milky flavor can be traced in the final product.
Purification of distillate with activated carbon
I will not repeat myself, the principle has not changed. After carbonization, the finished product acquires a vodka taste due to the oxidation of alcohol: ethanol -> acetaldehyde -> acetic acid-> etc. If you don’t like this taste, then carbonization is not appropriate and it is not necessary to carry out it at this stage, especially if the technology is violated, the distillate concentrates acetaldehyde, and this bad smell and a terrible hangover in the morning. In subsequent materials, we will study in more detail the methods of cleaning moonshine with coal, but for now, be content with the previously mentioned article with "infusion" charcoal.
Charcoal filter from a Chinese pump and a charcoal container, like efficient system continuous carbonation of moonshine.
Moonshine smell masking
An ineffective technique that many mistakenly confuse with cleaning moonshine. The bottom line is to mask the unpleasant odor in the drink. various products, such as pulp rye bread, rice, buckwheat, barley, etc. I personally don't see the point in this. If you are sure that your distillate is safe for health, but the smell did not work out, then make based on it, the recipes of which on our resource are just great amount. Why soak the bread crumb when you can make an amazing ""? If the smell of moonshine is simply unbearable, then the technology of its production is clearly violated - such a product is not subject to consumption, only intermediate cleaning and re-distillation.
In the order of delirium - distillate freezing
Many “respectable” resources recommend freezing it out as a way to clean moonshine, saying that water with a transition to a crystalline form takes with it fuselage and other abominations, which is why the distillate becomes, well, just virgin purity. Wake up! Alcohol is a solvent and the greater its concentration, the better it dissolves various impurities. During freezing, the concentration of alcohol increases, along with the ability to dissolve. Freezing will help in only one thing - increasing the strength of the distillate, while increasing the concentration of all impurities present in it. By the way, for the curious, in the USA they practice the so-called sublimation distillation, when raw materials, for example, are frozen all winter, thus obtaining more Reviver(specifically from apple raw materials, this is how applejack is obtained). There is no mention of any cleaning here.
Everyone goes crazy in their own way. Icelandic Reyka vodka is filtered through lava rocks from Icelandic volcanoes.
Global cleanup output
There are many ways to clean moonshine from smell and harmful impurities, but not all of them are equally effective or have a lot of nuances, while others are completely crazy or dangerous to health. Some of them I decided, out of harm's way, not to mention at all. After analyzing all the data, I have long for myself derived the following algorithm for obtaining high-quality moonshine (mainly sugar and in the absence of the opportunity to conduct a decent level of distillation): proper preparation mash and its thorough clarification, intermediate cleaning with oil with charcoal, fractional distillation without subsequent manipulations with the finished product (I don’t like the taste of vodka). I have no complaints about intermediate chemical cleaning, but without proper knowledge and skills, I do not recommend putting it into practice. The softening of distillate with milk as a technique deserves the right to life, but before its application, a series of experiments will have to be carried out in order to find a suitable raw material for this. I cannot recommend other methods of cleaning the SS and the finished product, since I see them as untenable.
P.S. I do not claim authority. What is described in the material is only my thoughts and conclusions. To trust them or not to trust is a purely personal matter. Comments are welcome, but without swearing and any vulgarity (such as "but my grandfather ...", "and my dad, doctor of science ...", etc., etc.).
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Many distillers wonder why moonshine becomes cloudy when diluted with water. There are several answers to this question: everything depends not only on the characteristics of the drink, but also on the equipment on which it is produced.
For many years it was believed that the color of the distillate should be opaque. But this is just a stereotype that has developed under the influence of cinema and television.
However, it is worth turning to history first. About 200 years ago, almost all moonshine had a cloudy color, the color of milk, as the villagers said. It is difficult to call this drink even moonshine; rather, the definition of “surrogate” suits it. Turbidity was considered a sign of high strength, but in fact such alcohol was rich in fusel oils, esters and aldehydes, drinking it was dangerous to health. What cannot be said about the distillate that was present in noble houses. All kinds of liqueurs and tinctures were the decoration of the table of high society, they were often served for lunch or dinner as an aperitif.
When diluted with water, moonshine becomes cloudy
The nobles improved the technology, which eventually allowed them to produce high quality drinks.
But when the Bolsheviks came to power, they decided that it was more expedient to cultivate alcohol of national production. The directors made films, flaunting glass bottles with a cloudy liquid. And the audience did not have questions about what is contained in the bottles, the answer was obvious - moonshine.
Why did the moonshine go cloudy?
There may be several reasons for this. At its core, turbidity is particles of impurities that change the color of the drink.
There are several reasons why alcohol becomes cloudy:
- Turbidity may appear due to the dilution of alcohol with hard water.
- Poor quality equipment may affect the color of the product.
- The presence of harmful impurities and toxins in alcohol is the main reason for discoloration.
If the alcohol becomes cloudy after diluting with water, then water may be the cause of this phenomenon. The liquid that is used in the process of making the mash or the distillate itself affects the characteristics of the product. For this reason, it is best to dilute moonshine with bottled water, you can also use filtered water, mineral water without gas.
If moonshine becomes cloudy even before dilution, that is, immediately after receipt, then the reason for this may be poor-quality equipment. This includes the lack of a dry steamer, a poor cooling system, as well as the material from which the distillation cube is made.
If metal ions or other foreign elements get into the drink during the manufacturing process, then its color may change. Such transformations will affect not only the quality of the distillate, but also hopelessly spoil its taste and smell.
The main reason why alcohol changes its color is due to impurities. Fusel oils, of which there are about forty varieties, can cause significant harm to the drink. If the mash has undergone insufficient purification, then harmful impurities will be present in the final product - it is they that affect the transparency of moonshine.
In addition, during the boiling process, mash particles can get into the finished distillate. Intense boiling leads to the fact that the mash begins to bubble. It is difficult to control the boiling process, since the distillation cube is closed. So it turns out that after the pasture, the distiller gets cloudy moonshine. In this case, not only the color of the drink suffers, but also its quality.
When moonshine becomes cloudy when diluted, this may be temporary. Experts advise diluting the distillate according to the following scheme: pour moonshine into water, and not vice versa. This will help keep the product clear and avoid haze.
How to restore transparency?
It may take place in several stages. Everything largely depends on the reason that led to the color change.
So, how to return transparency to moonshine:
- subject the drink to additional purification, thereby ridding it of fusel oils, aldehydes and other harmful substances;
- replace some parts of the device with those that are inert;
- re-distillate the distillate.
Some lovers of producing alcohol at home subject it to additional purification - moonshine is passed through filters, which are filter jugs for cleaning tap water. Do-it-yourself filters can also be used, they also help restore the transparency of alcohol.
You can clean the drink from harmful impurities using tablets activated carbon, potassium permanganate crystals and even bread. But such methods are considered ineffective, since they often do not bring the desired result.
Because some parts moonshine still can be oxidized during distillation, ions can get into the mash, change its composition and affect the quality of the product. To prevent this, you should choose food-grade silicone hoses, copper or stainless steel pot stills.
Re-distillation - here good way purify alcohol from impurities, eliminate fusel oils, esters and aldehydes. It is carried out according to the same scheme as the first.
Turbidity may also appear if the drink has not been divided into fractions. To separate the "heads" from the "body" and select the "tails" - this is the main task of the moonshiner. If the distillate was expelled in violation of the system or rules, then there is a high risk that the color of the moonshine will be cloudy.
In principle, it is not necessary to clean the alcohol, filter it or change parts of the apparatus. Sometimes it is enough just to let the distillate settle. You can simply cover moonshine with a dark cloth and put it in a cool place. The sediment will settle to the bottom, and the color of the drink will change.
The container in which the product is stored can also affect transparency. It is worth using not plastic, but glass, since plastic can oxidize over time. Plastic particles that get into moonshine make it cloudy, for this reason plastic bottles and canisters should be avoided.
If you want to improve the quality of moonshine and its strength, then an oak barrel can handle this task. Such a container will not only give the drink a pleasant aroma, but also help to significantly improve its characteristics.
If the alcohol has become cloudy during the dilution process, then banal heating will help correct this oversight. The product is placed in a container and heated to 70 degrees. Then it is sharply cooled, which allows you to change the color of the finished distillate and restore its transparency.
But not everyone likes a drink with similar characteristics, often distillers strive, wanting to give it a peculiar charm in this way.
How to make moonshine cloudy?
Making alcohol opaque is immediately before drinking it.
To give alcohol a similar shade will help:
- Powdered milk.
- Milk serum.
- Vegetable oil.
Just 15 grams of powdered milk or cream will help to add color to the drink. You just need to pour milk or cream into a container with moonshine and carefully move it. It is desirable that the product be warm or at room temperature. But do not get carried away - 10-15 grams will be enough to change 1 liter of alcohol, make it cloudy. At the same time, the smell of the drink will not change, as will its taste.
Whey can also affect the characteristics of the distillate. But do not get carried away with the process: in order to change the color of the drink, it is enough to pour from 5 to 30 ml of the product into 1 liter. It is impossible to replace whey with kefir or milk, such a product can lead to food poisoning.
In addition, by adding milk to alcohol, you can witness a chemical reaction during which the milk curdles, and in order to rid the drink of flakes, it will have to be filtered.
If you are tormented by nostalgia for the village and cloudy distillate, then you can add a few drops of vegetable oil to it. This product will not affect the taste of moonshine, but it will help change its color. Just 5-6 drops of oil, and colorful alcohol is ready to drink. In order for the oil to be evenly distributed, the product should be shaken or mixed several times with a wooden spoon.
The color of the distillate may also change if it is infused with herbs or nuts. Such a drink will not only have the right color, it will be different good performance- taste and smell.
Turbidity should not be regarded as an indicator of the quality of alcohol. Opacity should alert the consumer or distillate manufacturer. Such a drink should be tried with caution. If, in addition to turbidity, moonshine has an unpleasant, pungent odor and a strange taste, then you should not drink it, such alcohol can only be used for technical needs, and then with caution.
Although for moonshiners this stereotype seems ridiculous, nevertheless, many people still continue to believe that it is certainly a whitish liquid.
The "right" drink always transparent!
Nevertheless, “haze” sometimes happens and it is not clear why the moonshine is cloudy, and what to do about it.
First you need to deal with the cause, so as not to repeat the mistakes in the future, and only then take steps to correct the situation.
Those who have sufficient experience in distillation will surely recall situations when moonshine is already initially dripping opaque or becomes so during storage. Sometimes this is observed after dilution with water. It is necessary to understand the reasons in more detail.
"Haze" during the haul
You filled the distillation cube according to all the rules, ensured the tightness of the connections, but already at the stage of obtaining the finished product, you are surprised to see that the liquid in the receiving vessel is not transparent, as it should be, but cloudy. The reasons for this phenomenon may be:
- Equipment cleanliness. You did not wash the device after the last run or left a little bard in it. It is unacceptable! The components, including the outlet tube, are washed after each use.
- Poor quality moonshine still. The use of aluminum is strongly discouraged. Over time, it oxidizes and these substances enter the moonshine, clouding the liquid and endangering health. Either the device is made of technical stainless steel, which is also unsafe, since the metal reacts with the components of the mash.
- Usage hard water causes haze.
- "Busting" product (in other words, greed) is another reason.
To keep the moonshine clean as a tear, select only the “body” for consumption. The first 10-12% - "heads"- cut ruthlessly. Their main component is methyl alcohol, which is dangerous for ingestion. Suitable only for rubbing, and even then - with a stretch.
Followed by body- a product suitable for drinking, in which minimal amount fuselage. Continuing the distillation into the same bowl, when the “tails” went, in which there are a lot of fusel oils, there is a high risk of getting muddy moonshine. Therefore, it was cloudy among our ancestors - they distilled everything without division into fractions and on primitive apparatuses.
Ethyl (drinking) alcohol evaporates at temperatures above 78.3°C. Everything before that is methyl, acetone, and up to 50 other toxic compounds. When this temperature is reached, the heating should be sharply reduced.
Attention. The body is taken when the temperature has reached 79°C and until it rises to 92°C. At the same time, at the end of the selection in the jet - 40 °.
The distillation is continued in another bowl until the temperature reaches 95°C. Further heating is impractical, there are almost no degrees in the stillage. What we managed to get is tails. They should not be poured out, since adding to the cube at the next distillation will increase the yield of a quality product.
Cloudiness after dilution with water
Diluting strong moonshine water, you can observe the formation of turbidity immediately or after a couple of days. What is the reason?
The main thing is that they poured water into the moonshine, but the opposite is necessary - pour moonshine into water, then the reaction proceeds correctly and there will be no turbidity.
Reference. In order not to make a mistake in calculating the ratio of water and alcohol, use the moonshiner's calculator.
It can be both opened online and downloaded to a gadget (including a smartphone) to have at hand.
In addition, water can also play a role. Do not use hard, filter through a household filter jug, or take a spring one after standing for a couple of days.
Mud from spray
If you throw the mash at the beginning of the haul, it makes sense to interrupt the process, wait until the mash cools down to at least 50 ° C (so as not to lose alcohol and not burn yourself) and disassemble the device. Wash all parts including coil.
Clue. The coil is a part that is difficult to clean. Try this method: take a strong long thread, securely tie such a piece of washcloth to it so that it enters the coil tube with a moderate tightness.
Lower the tip of the thread into the tube, and then substitute it under running water. She will pull the thread through the coil. You will have to stretch a washcloth for this thread, thereby clearing the tube of adhering foam.
- For a successful distillation, pour a little mash so that it occupies 50% of the cube and heat slowly.
- In the future, clean the mash before distilling it with bentonite (ordinary white clay will do if you know where to dig it).
- Use a dryer. It will help to get moonshine largely purified from fusel oils and protect it from splashing.
Reference. The most prone to foaming grain and honey mash. They should fill the cube only half the volume, the rest of the species - 2/3.
If splashing happened at the end of the selection of the body, it makes no sense to interrupt the haul, you will have to deal with the consequences after it is over.
Carefully. If the ejection of foam did not interrupt the flow of moonshine from the outlet pipe, there is nothing to worry about. But if the "dripping" stops, immediately turn off the heat. Apparently, a plug has formed in the tube, and this threatens with an explosion and fire.
What to do if cloudy?
Usually after spraying The best way turbidity removal - rerun. Water is added to moonshine in such a way as to get at a level of 20 ° and distilled again. Definitely split into factions.
If it is impossible to overtake, then you will have to resort to one of the following cleaning methods:
- An excellent result comes from the use potassium permanganate. Moonshine after settling and filtering becomes crystal clear. But, according to chemists, removing fusel oils, manganese forms other toxic compounds. So the method is not ideal, and sometimes unsafe for health.
- Charcoal cleaning- safe and effective. It is better to use birch or coconut charcoal. Activated gives excessive bitterness to alcohol.
- Milk"collects" the fuselage into flakes, it remains only to wait for the sediment, drain and filter.
- Heat is a simple method. Unfortunately, the effect is not always achieved. Homemade alcohol with haze is poured into a saucepan and, without covering it, is heated to 70 ° C. At this temperature, alcohol will not evaporate. Then the moonshine cools, and a precipitate forms at the bottom. It remains to filter, give a couple of days to rest in the glass, putting in the refrigerator.
Peculiarities. The easiest way to make a filter is plastic bottle 1.5 - 2 liters (preferably with a long neck). Cut off the bottom, discard the cork. Twist cotton pads into a tube (the number depends on the thickness, usually 5-6) and insert it into the neck a bit tight, but without fanaticism.
The filter is ready. If there is too much turbidity and the filter stops working, drain the rest back into the jar, discard the discs, rinse the “watering can” and replace the discs with fresh ones.
How and how to "stir up" moonshine?
But you personally like muddy moonshine or want to keep up with your neighbors (in some regions it is customary to make whitish-milk moonshine). It is not difficult to create an artificial and harmless turbidity. Here are three proven ways:
- Add whey (what is left after the cottage cheese) at the rate of 30-40 ml per liter homemade alcohol. Stir and uniform turbidity is formed. Milk or curd cannot be added.
- We drip (preferably from a pipette) 5 drops sunflower oil per liter of moonshine. The effect is the same.
- Add 10-12 g of powdered milk per liter and stir to dissolve. After this procedure, to stabilize the "turbidity", moonshine should stand for a couple of days.
To get clean “like a tear” moonshine, it needs to be cleaned, but how can this be done quickly and without unnecessary labor? Experienced "moonshiners" know many secrets of getting rid of turbidity and fusel smell, and among them - cleaning charcoal, soda, potassium permanganate and the freezing method. The first method may seem quite laborious, but after that alcohol turns out to be excellent. Other methods are simpler, but the result will not disappoint you.
How to clean moonshine with charcoal for barbecue (with video)
For filtering, you can use charcoal prepared by yourself or purchase ready-made charcoal for the barbecue. Firewood for charcoal must be properly prepared before burning by removing the bark from it. It should be remembered that firewood from old trees (more than 50 years old) is not suitable for making coal. The absorption capacity of coal depends on the type of raw material. The best from this point of view is the coal obtained by burning firewood from beech, birch, pine and linden. You can also use coals from spruce, oak, aspen, alder and poplar, but their absorption capacity is slightly lower.
Most often, charcoal for alcohol purification is prepared from birch and oak firewood.
Before cleaning moonshine with charcoal for barbecue, firewood is cut into small dies of 3-5 cm, chopped into logs, dried for 2-3 weeks in a warm room, then placed in a cast-iron or iron pot with a lid and heated over high heat in the oven or at the stake until completely burned out, which lasts 1.5–2 hours. The burnt coal is cooled together with the kettle with the lid tightly closed. The charcoal is then used to process alcohol and make filters. Store in a tightly closed container.
To clean moonshine with charcoal as thoroughly as possible, wood pieces are crushed to a size of 5–7 mm, sifted through a sieve and the dust that is not used is separated. Coal can be used repeatedly if its properties are restored before use. To do this, it is necessary to treat the coal with a 2% hydrochloric acid solution, rinse with water and dry, and then again ignite the coal over a fire in a closed pot.
It would seem that getting charcoal in a city apartment is impossible because of smoke and soot. But by making a simple device, these inconveniences can be avoided. It is necessary to take a massive cast pan like a goose dish (by no means enamelled). Drill a hole in the cover and cut the thread. On a piece of tube 80-100 mm, cut the thread according to the thread of the hole. Screw the tube into the hole - you get a fitting.
Then put a rubber tube tightly on the fitting, and lower the other end of the tube into a jar of water. Put fragments of birch, alder, willow twigs into the bottom of the pan, cover with a lid, smear clay around the perimeter of the lid so that there is no smoke leakage. Put the pot on fire and heat it up. The smoke will enter the water and be filtered. After heating, cool the pan, remove the finished charcoal.
Coals are poured with moonshine (at the rate of 50 g per liter) and, shaking the container 3-4 times a day, insist. After three weeks, insist another week, but no longer shaking, and then filtered.
Watch the video on how to clean moonshine with charcoal to get crystal clear alcohol:
How to clean cloudy moonshine with potassium permanganate and sodium
In order to clean moonshine from a cloudy color as efficiently as possible, you need to take the one that was obtained after the first distillation. It should be at room temperature, since at elevated temperatures many harmful substances are not captured. It is also better not to use high-grade alcohol, because it is very reluctant to part with its impurities.
The required amount of potassium permanganate is pre-diluted in a small amount of water. Water must be boiled. About 1-2 g of potassium permanganate is taken per liter of moonshine. This solution is used to process moonshine.
A solution of potassium permanganate is poured into the moonshine and mixed thoroughly. Then leave for 10-12 hours for clarification and precipitation. Next, moonshine is filtered through a cloth and a special distillation is carried out.
There is another way to clean cloudy moonshine quickly; alkali is also used for this - caustic sodium or caustic potash.
Alkali is added to the moonshine distilled from the mash at the rate of 2-3 g per liter of drink.
The mixture is stirred and allowed to stand for twenty to thirty minutes. Then add water solution potassium permanganate. The proportions and method of preparation are described just above. After about thirty minutes, alkali is again added to the moonshine, mixed and allowed to settle.
Caustic potassium (or sodium) is added a second time to accelerate the precipitation of oxidation products and neutralize the excessive acidity of the solution.
After ten to twelve hours, the liquid is drained from above, and the precipitate is removed.
The following describes how to quickly clean moonshine at home by freezing.
Freezing moonshine cleaning
For cleaning by freezing, moonshine is poured into bottles with thick walls. Perfect, for example, "dishes" from under champagne.
Then the bottles are securely corked and placed in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator for several days. Water, along with unwanted impurities, turns into ice. You will only have to drain the alcohol before the ice melts.
But do not think that in this way you will get almost 100% ethanol. Yes, it will be very strong, but not to that extent.
To prepare ethyl alcohol with a concentration close to 100 ° from moonshine, you need to buy copper sulfate at a hardware store.
Vitriol is calcined on fire in a glass, aluminum or copper dish. This results in dehydration. When it cools down, pour it into a vessel with undiluted moonshine. Such vitriol dehydrates moonshine. If you overtake such a hellish drink again, it will become almost 100-degree.
