Moonshine at home. Moonshine recipes from pears and pear juice

It is difficult to overestimate the popularity of home-made moonshine from sugar mash - it is driven by everyone who has a factory or home-made unit. There is a completely logical explanation for this - sugar is available, easily and quickly fermented, the finished product is pure. The whole process takes no more than 2 weeks. Most of the recipes differ only in the proportions of the main ingredients, so we will give a classic on inverted sugar, according to which both experienced luminaries and novice distillers can prepare a drink.

Preparatory process

We note right away that the odorless moonshine recipe from sugar and yeast implies the use of only clean dishes, from the mash container to the unit itself.

Ideally, all containers, bottles and pots should be rinsed with hot water (over 60°C) and wiped dry. Only in this case it is possible to guarantee that there will be no smell of third-party impurities in the finished product, and the mash will not turn sour even before it is time to distill it.

For fermentation, you need a transparent bottle with a volume of 15-20 liters with a wide neck.

You will need an aquarium heater - with its help, the fermentation temperature is maintained at around 27-30 ° C.

You will also need:

gauze for filtering;
coal column for filtering moonshine at home from a plastic container and charcoal;
cork bottles for the finished drink.

Ingredients

Calmly and without haste, you can cook a quality product only when all the necessary items and products are at hand.

Granulated sugar - 6 kg

Sugar - for the preparation of the classic moonshine recipe, the most common granulated sugar is used

Regular, which can be bought at any store. It is not advisable to make mash for moonshine from cane, brown and other analogues, since the result in all cases will be the same in taste, smell and strength. But at the fermentation stage, problems can arise.

Water - 24 liters

Fermentation of mushrooms depends on the quality of water, so its choice should be taken very carefully. Depending on the origin, you can use (in descending order of usefulness):

artesian;
spring;
purified;
bottled;
tap water settled for 2-3 days.

Pressed yeast - 600 gr. or dry 120 gr.

The amount of dry yeast may vary depending on the degree of dehydration. The packaging usually contains information about the proportions relative to pressed and recommendations for volume.

foam less;
fermentation is faster - 3-6 days instead of 10-12;
do not die at a high concentration of alcohol (live up to 18 °);
when the shell is broken (heated), less fusel oils are released.

You will learn more about the selection rules in the article ""

Citric acid - 25g.

This product is needed for the preparation of inverted sugar. It is not necessary to replace lemon juice, it is enough to use dry powder.

Bentonite - 4 tablespoons

This is a natural product made from white clay. Needed for absorption and clarification of mash immediately before cooking. Classic moonshine from sugar and yeast will not work if the mash is not clarified first - this will affect the taste and aroma in the future.

On the Internet, you can find recommendations for the use of cat litter (bentonite is also used for their production). But from experience, we say that it is better to buy one that is designed for winemaking - it does not contain third-party flavors.

Technology for the preparation of inverted syrup

It has long been proven that it is better to make mash from invert sugar, and not ordinary sand. The fact is that the speed and quality of fermentation depend on the time spent on the splitting of this product. If the mushrooms consume the invert syrup, the splitting into simple monosaccharides - glucose with fructose - occurs faster, respectively, it takes less time to ferment. In addition, when heated, harmful microorganisms are killed, which can lead to souring of the wort.

It is not necessary to make invert syrup to make mash, but if we want to get an odorless moonshine recipe from sugar and yeast, it is better not to ignore this process.

What do we have to do:

On the stove, heat 3 liters of water almost to a boil - white smoke will leave the surface.
Pour 6 kg of sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Try not to stop stirring so that the mass does not burn.
Bring the syrup to a boil and reduce the heat to a minimum, removing the foam from the surface all the time.
The syrup should boil for 10 minutes, after which citric acid is very carefully poured. Be careful - there will be a lot of foam.
Cover the pot and cook for an hour. Cool in a bowl of cold water.

How to prepare mash for distillation

We proceed to this stage after the syrup has completely cooled down - it will not be too thick, it is more like honey in consistency.

Of those products that we indicated according to the recipe for odorless moonshine from sugar and yeast, a total of about 30 liters of mash will be obtained. If there is not one large container for fermentation, mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and carefully pour into the bottles that you have.

First, dilute the invert syrup with a little warm water so that it dissolves.
At this time, we make yeast starter, for which we dissolve 0.5 kg of sugar and all yeast in a liter of water. You need to wait until fermentation starts and a foam cap appears on the surface.
We heat the rest of the water to 26-28 ° C, dissolve in it the pre-diluted inverted syrup and yeast starter. All this is well mixed and poured into eggplants or left in the same container.
The bottles are covered with a lid with a water seal or a rubber glove, in one or two fingers of which small holes are made. This is necessary to remove carbon dioxide formed during the activity of fungi.

There should be room in the bottles for the reaction - the mash is poured only ¾ of its volume.

They transfer the entire container to a warm, dark room and turn on the aquarium heaters at around 26-31 ° C - this is the optimal mode for the growth and development of fungi. It usually takes 4-12 days to prepare mash for moonshine, depending on the type of yeast.
During this period, the mash is stirred twice a day to remove excess carbon dioxide and connect all products, including those settling to the bottom.

VIDEO: Braga from sugar, yeast and water - a recipe for sugar moonshine

Readiness check

With experience, you will already learn to determine “by eye” when the mash has already prepared for distillation, but first you will need to correlate it with the following signs:

bitter taste - if the yeast worked well, there will be no sugar left in the mass, and the liquid will acquire a bitter taste without sweetness;
no carbon dioxide smell is emitted - the glove has fallen off or the water seal has stopped gurgling;
noticeably clear separation into layers - the upper one is very light and you can see the precipitate;
no slight hiss is heard even when stirring;
if you light a match directly above the surface, it will not go out;
alcoholic aroma is clearly perceptible.

The coincidence of 1-2 signs is not enough, they must all coincide so that you can confidently proceed to the next stage.

VIDEO: A classic recipe for moonshine made from sugar and yeast without odor

Degassing and clarification

At this stage, you need to remove as much carbon dioxide as possible - its concentration greatly affects the organoleptic properties of the finished drink. Degassing is carried out very simply - by heating and stirring.

First you need to carefully drain the fermented composition without affecting the sediment. It is best to use a thin hose for this - lower it into a container, suck it from the other side and wait for the clean layers to merge.

Next, put the pan on the fire and heat it up to 50 ° C - not higher, so that the release of alcohol-containing vapors does not begin. When heated, CO2 begins to actively exit, and by stirring this process can be accelerated. After 10 minutes, you can remove the pan from the heat and start clarification.

To do this, first grind bentonite and it in very hot water until you get a dense mass resembling rustic sour cream in consistency.

For 1 liter of mash use 15 gr. bentonite.

Pour bentonite into the mash, shake vigorously or mix and leave for a day and a half. After that, it is also carefully poured into a distillation cube, and the sediment is thrown into the trash.

Do not pour the mass with bentonite into the sewer - reacting with itself, it collects in cement pieces that clog pipes.

VIDEO: Description of the classic way to lighten mash

The first distillation of moonshine

At this stage, the task is to separate the moonshine body as carefully as possible from the head and tails, where fusel and other toxic impurities are concentrated.

We have repeatedly told what heads and tails are, and how to cut them off correctly (read ""), so now let's move on to practice.

We make classic moonshine from sugar and yeast, so we carry out a double distillation with intermediate purification.

At the first distillation, we heat the cube to 86 ° - in the first 15 minutes on high heat we bring it to 65-68 °, then we reduce the fire to a minimum and raise it to 86-88 ° С. The slower the heating is in the second stage, the more impurities will leave.

The first liquid that comes out of the refrigerator is heads. We take them in the amount of 180-200 ml (30 ml for each kilogram of sugar), but periodically we take droplets and rub them on the wrist. The heads are cut off until the sharp smell of acetone is felt.

After cutting off the heads, the sukhoparnik is washed out and the receiving container is changed.

The next is raw alcohol - the body or heart of moonshine. We collect it already in the fortress. On average, one kilogram of sugar produces 0.9-1.0 liters of alcohol, respectively, we should get about 6 liters of the body. Periodically measure its strength with an alcohol meter. As soon as it fell to 40 °, we proceed to cutting off the tails. We also collect them in a separate jar. There are not as many tails as there are heads, but it is important to select them before proceeding with the re-distillation.

Cleaning between distillations

Moonshine at home involves several stages of cleaning:

cooked mash;
between the first and second distillation;
after the end of distillation.

In this case, we are talking about intermediate cleaning to eliminate third-party elements. An ordinary coal column is suitable for this, when the bottom is cut off in a bottle, pieces of charcoal are poured tightly, this funnel is inserted into another container and alcohol is passed through it. Fast, convenient and very efficient. If you know and use other cleaning recipes, you can do as you please.

Re-distillation

Before pouring raw alcohol into the distillation cube, it is diluted with water to 20 ° - all this is done to maximize the removal of fusel oils and impurities.

Further, the whole process is completely identical - the liquid is gradually heated, the heads, body and tails are collected. The volume of heads is exactly the same - 200 ml of tails are collected from 6 kilograms of sugar, from which the mash was prepared.

The volume of the body is about 6 liters, depending on the intensity of the refrigerator (the colder the water in it, the higher the productivity).

Tail pruning is an optional step. You can simply stop the distillation as soon as the strength of the body drops to 40 °.

At the second distillation, aromatic herbs and spices can be added to the steamer to give the drink a light aftertaste.

Refinement of the drink

Each moonshiner has his own arsenal of recipes for cleaning moonshine. We practice good old carbon filtration. As an option - activated carbon, but it is better to use wood. This is fast enough and very effective, but you can also use potassium permanganate, milk, vegetable oil, etc.

Breeding moonshine with water

This is needed for:

reducing the strength of the finished drink from 80-88 °, obtained during distillation, to 40 °, perceived by the body;
rupture of molecular bonds and more complete purification from harmful impurities.

Dilute with water according to the formula:

(A / B) x C - C \u003d D

A - the strength of the finished drink;
B - required strength after breeding;
C is the volume of the product obtained;
V - the required volume of water

If we got 6 liters of moonshine with a strength of 75 °, then for dilution to 40 ° we need 5.25 liters of purified or artesian water.

This is the final stage of moonshine. After which the drink is simply bottled, closed and allowed to brew for a week.

After that, you can make different derivatives - the legendary Italian or strong - or just enjoy the pleasant moonshine without the characteristic fusel smell.

VIDEO: How to cook moonshine from sugar and yeast

The most popular drink - moonshine was driven by our distant ancestors and, for sure, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will drive. But not everyone knows how to make moonshine right, especially if this activity was not part of the family culture.

There is some knowledge, but they are fragmented and not always correct. Therefore, those who wish to join this interesting and creative activity must first acquire theoretical knowledge.

In principle, you can even make moonshine with the help of two pans and a film. But this is if there are no other options. We propose to do everything in a civilized way, according to the rules.

For our grandparents, and parents, an aluminum milk flask was considered normal utensils for preparing mash and subsequent distillation. Today it is not just an atavism. It has been experimentally proven that aluminum enters into chemical reactions with an aggressive environment, which is in such dishes. Therefore, we recommend abandoning the use of aluminum both for the maturation of the mash and for its distillation. What remains?

For setting the wort it is better to take:

glass bottle the right size. It is supplemented with a rubber glove fixed on the neck, or with a water seal;
plastic utensils, specially designed for the maturation of mash, also equipped with a water seal;
food grade stainless steel tank. For example, when setting sugar mash without additives, you can immediately use a distillation cube. If this is a grain or fruit must that needs to be filtered before distillation, then it is better to take the dishes separately.

The moonshine is preferably made of food grade stainless steel. A good material, especially for the distillation of grain wort, is copper, but apparatuses made from it are much more expensive than those made from stainless steel. You can limit yourself to a copper coil, with its help sulfur compounds are removed, which are certainly present in the grain mash.

Before use, all the dishes are thoroughly washed, otherwise the finished product can be spoiled - it will acquire an unpleasant odor, and the mash can turn sour in a dirty fermentation tank.

Equipment needed by a moonshiner

If the use of a pot or a bottle is acceptable as a container for fermentation, then you cannot do without a moonshine still. It can be homemade or industrial production.

The first option for a skilled owner will be cheaper, but it will require careful selection of materials and a lot of effort.

Advice. For starters, you can try a pressure cooker as an apparatus (if you have one).

It is equipped with two blast valves, one of which is left, and the other is removed and a silicone tube is put on its place (the fitting remains). But you will have to deal with the manufacture of a cooler with a coil.

It is advisable to equip a home-made moonshine still with a steamer, even better - two for partial purification of moonshine from fusel oils and other impurities that occur during the fermentation process.

When buying a ready-made device, you save yourself the trouble, but approach the choice responsibly. Do not chase cheapness, but choose a reliable device with good user reviews. Additional options - a steamer (preferably two, one of which is collapsible for flavoring moonshine already during the distillation), a strengthening column will be very useful in the production of high-quality home-made alcohol.

Another moonshiner can not do without:

alcoholometer. You need to know what your moonshine has;
thermometer. It will help to correctly separate the distillate into fractions and will not allow the temperature in the cube to be brought to the point of splashing (ejection of mash or foam into the finished distillate). The best thermometer is digital, but you can get by with a bimetallic one at first;
correct and simple mash recipes and the subsequent run.

Raw material selection

Remember from the first steps: a distiller who wants to achieve mastery and make delicious moonshine will never use low-quality raw materials. This applies to both sugar and fruits, vegetables, cereals or grains. Waste raw materials are called so because they are suitable only for disposal.

Buying cheap, for example, swept sugar (in fact, its waste) or deciding to process jam covered with mold, you will only waste your time and effort, and you will remain extremely dissatisfied with the resulting moonshine. Therefore, in order not to be disappointed from the first steps, use fresh raw materials.

Safety Compliance

This question is extremely important. You have probably heard about cases of explosions of moonshine stills and fires, sometimes claiming the lives of people. So you shouldn't joke about it. Here are the basic moonshiner safety rules:

Never don't leave moonshine during the haul unattended. If splashing occurs, which cannot be insured against, the thick part of the mash can clog the tube and coil. As a result, an explosion will occur. Alcohol ignites easily and a fire cannot be avoided.
Before you put the mash for distillation, check tightness of all connections. If you hear a whistling sound during heating, or even see the release of steam, immediately stop heating. Due to the release of alcohol vapors, you will not only feel a lack of product, but can also cause a fire.
Follow steam cooling in the refrigerator. If the cooler is of a closed type (most of them today), it should always be cold, especially at the point where the distillate exits. Water in a non-flowing refrigerator should also not heat up. Otherwise, some of the non-condensed vapors will escape, filling the room, and then bang!

How to expel moonshine

Obtaining moonshine at home includes the mandatory steps:

, its clarification, filtration and preparation for distillation.
The first "straight through" distillation.
divided into factions.
Purification of the resulting distillate.
If necessary - dilution to the desired strength, aromatization and tinting.

Since all stages are important for obtaining a product that is not embarrassing to put on the table and be sure that it will not harm the users, we will consider them in more detail.

Compliance with the technology of making mash

In order for the braga to succeed and live up to expectations, there are rules that are not recommended to be violated:

Clean dishes.
soft water. In no case do not take distilled or boiled. It does not contain substances that feed the yeast. It is better to take a spring or purified household filter. If you are sure that you have soft water flowing from the tap (there are no deposits in the kettle), you can not filter it specifically for brewing.
Quality ingredients.
warm room in which fermentation will take place. For all types of wort, the recommended room temperature is from 22 to 28°C. The higher the temperature, the more rapid and short fermentation will be. In other words, the mash is more likely to become ready for distillation.

10 liters of prepared water;
2 kg of sugar;
dry yeast - 30 g, pressed - 200 g.

A few words about yeast. For moonshine, the best are alcohol (see:). They are sold either in specialized stores (including on the Internet) or on the market. In almost every market there is a "grandmother" who specializes in the sale of yeast. In her arsenal there will always be alcohol.

Heat the water to 28 degrees, add sugar, stir. It is better to space the yeast first: adding a pinch of sugar and a little water, wait for the formation of a “cap”. This is evidence of yeast activity. They quickly convert sugar into alcohol.

Carefully! Do not add yeast to hot water - it will die. The maximum temperature is 30 ° C, but it is better - less than a couple of degrees.

It is not necessary (although desirable) to put Braga under a water seal. Can be covered with a lid. Fermentation lasts from several days to two weeks (this is if it is cool). Check the readiness for driving on the following grounds:

the hissing has completely stopped, there is no foam;
Braga tastes bitter without the slightest sweetness and alcohol is felt in it;
liquid cleared, at the bottom of a small yeast sediment.

Braga lightening

Sugar mash, although popular because of its simplicity, the best homemade distillates are obtained using grain () or fruits, berries, grapes. The wort after the end of fermentation requires clarification. To do this, use or white clay. Perfect for cat litter.

Advice. See ingredients on the package. It should say: bentonite and no flavors, odor eliminators, etc. All this will turn into moonshine! Before use, the filler is crushed or ground.

2-3 tablespoons of powder are poured into a glass, water is added, diluted and poured into a brew. Stir and wait until it settles to the bottom, at the same time taking with it suspensions that make the mash not transparent. Shake several times for an hour necessarily! The process takes about a day. Then the mash is removed from the sediment. Better - with a silicone tube, like wine. And the sediment is poured, but not into the sewer (it can clog pipes).

Note. White clay will not only lighten the mash, but also remove harmful components from it. Because of what the resulting moonshine will have a pleasant taste and not a sharp smell.

First distillation

Previously, moonshine was driven at a time to the state of "while burning." That's why he was smelly, and the hangover was heavy. Today, this method is unacceptable. And moonshine should be distilled twice. The first time - without division into factions. Exactly the way our ancestors did.

Second stage

After the end of the distillation, the resulting liquid must be diluted to 20-30 °, no more. Do not forget that - a highly flammable liquid! Secondary distill, dividing the moonshine into fractions:

head or- this is a pure poison, which should not be consumed categorically. The amount of this fraction is about 50 ml for each kg of sugar that you put in the mash;
body. The main part that you will put on the table. They are taken until the fortress is 40 ° in the jet. There is an opinion - 50 °;
tails- low-grade and low-grade liquid. It is also selected separately (see:).

Attention. Approximately from 1 kg of sugar you can get up to 1.2 liters of moonshine.

This means that the body or heart of the distillate will be approximately 1 liter. But it is better to leave a little more on the "tails", which do not differ in taste or pleasant smell and contain a large amount of fusel oils.

Proper temperature control

The distillation cube is put on fire and heated until the temperature reaches 70 °. Another guideline is until a “fog” of distillate appears in the receiving tube (preferably transparent silicone). Then the heat is sharply removed to a minimum and the heads are taken very slowly, drop by drop, avoiding a jet.

Having finished the selection of heads, substitute other dishes, add temperature so that the moonshine flows in a thin stream. When the thermometer reaches 85-88°C, the dishes are changed again and the tails are taken to 98°C. It doesn't make any sense - it's almost water.

Purification of drinking moonshine

To achieve an almost perfect homemade distillate, it is purified. The best ways are wood or, soda, milk. Many people use a household water filter jug. At the same time, the filter is used only for moonshine, and between cleanings it is stored in the refrigerator, wrapped in a film.

Moonshine is very popular, because this way you can prepare good quality home-made alcohol with special taste properties. The gurus of this process have been perfecting the recipe and technology for years, constantly trying to improve the design of the apparatus for making moonshine. Each distiller has his own recipe for homemade alcohol, because. many try to add their own “zest” to the composition, while using original cleaning methods.

What is homemade moonshine

Making moonshine at home is popular due to its low cost, because. the price of finished products will be almost 3-4 times cheaper than factory alcohol. In addition, the technological process of preparing a homemade drink is relatively simple and accessible to everyone. Alcohol made at home often surpasses factory products in taste, and when insisted on different components, it can have medicinal properties. For example, tinctures based on plant roots, prunes, cherries are widespread.

Important: the strength of the homemade drink can be adjusted according to taste preferences. With proper attitude and compliance with the preparation process, such products are devoid of fusel oils and low molecular weight aromatic compounds. This is achieved through additional purification in the form of re-distillation, freezing or the use of sorbents. If not removed, these impurities can cause serious damage to health. A significant advantage of home-made products is the guarantee of product quality.

moonshine technology

You can make moonshine from sugar, wheat, corn or other raw materials using a compact unit, the installation of which requires a minimum of space - you can find such devices at specialized outlets. The design of a modern device guarantees an almost complete absence of odors in the process of preparing an alcoholic beverage due to good tightness. The technology includes several stages:

First you need to prepare a special solution, which consists of sugar (beetroot or cane) and water that meets hygienic requirements. The first component is used in its pure form, but if necessary, it can be replaced with any sugar-containing raw materials (polysaccharides, monosaccharides), for example, fruits, berries. The end result will be wort.
At the next stage, the previously prepared solution is processed into mash with the help of yeast. During fermentation, the yeast begins to "eat" granulated sugar, resulting in the production of carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol.
The resulting mash already contains alcohol, but the percentage of its content is too low - about 8-12%. To isolate alcohol from the solution, it is necessary to overtake it on a moonshine still. The meaning of this process is that the mash is brought to a boil, and the vapor evaporating at the same time is cooled to the state of a liquid, which is then poured into a previously prepared container. The resulting condensed liquid is moonshine.
This is followed by a stage, as a result of which raw alcohol is purified. During the fermentation procedure, in addition to ethyl alcohol, by-products of the vital activity of yeast appear, which must be disposed of. To do this, they resort to chemical, biological or physical methods of filtration and purification. In the first case, potassium permanganate can be used, in the second - egg white, milk (as it is infused, pellets are formed, which are removed with a cotton-gauze filter), in the third - absorbent substances, for example, activated carbon.
In conclusion, you can do flavoring and tinting the product. To give it a rich aroma and color, insist the prepared homemade alcoholic drink on various herbs and spices.

Raw material selection

You can use granulated sugar or sugar-containing products (for example, sugar beets). Other raw material options are starchy products: rice, rye, wheat, corn. Although starch does not undergo fermentation, it is easily processed into sugar under the influence of enzymes contained in malt, i.e. sprouted grain. Raw materials must be of high quality, otherwise the finished product will be far from ideal.

An affordable option is granulated sugar, but better products come from mash based on berry or fruit raw materials. Even if sugar needs to be added to the fruit must to increase the sugar content, the final taste will still be better. Cereals are considered a good option, but making mash from them is more difficult. You need to choose raw materials, taking into account what kind of drink you want to end up with. For the production of cognac or Georgian chacha, you need grape mash, for calvados - apple, for whiskey - grain.

Settling of water

Since water is the basis, the moonshine recipe will be more successful when a high quality liquid is used. It should not be hard and have an extraneous taste, smell. This can be achieved if the preparation of alcohol is based on purchased, high-quality purified water. If you decide to use tap liquid, then collect it in large containers, let it stand for several days and carefully drain it, leaving the sediment at the bottom. Water must not be distilled or boiled.

Tank preparation

Be sure to rinse any containers you intend to use in the home alcohol production process with hot water. The taste of the finished product will depend on the purity of the container. To prepare the mash, do not use galvanized dishes, because. its contents will begin to oxidize. As for plastic containers, for example, bottles, they must have the inscription “for food”.

Moonshine recipe from sugar and yeast

Decide on the volume of moonshine that you want to get at the exit. From 1 kg of sugar, you can get 1.1-1.2 liters of a product with a strength of 40 degrees. When calculating, it is recommended to increase the amount of ingredients used by about 10-15%, because. due to various reasons (quality of raw materials, temperature, incorrect distillation), the real final volume always comes out less than the theoretical one by this value.

Sugar inversion

Inverting refers to the process of obtaining syrup from granulated sugar. Thanks to this procedure, it is possible to achieve a more complete breakdown of sugar raw materials (into glucose and fructose) and the destruction of pathogenic microorganisms by raising the temperature. In addition, this process improves fermentation, which greatly facilitates the work of the yeast and helps to achieve a better mixing of all components. Sometimes the setting of the mash is performed without inverting the raw sugar using a hydromodule. The conversion consists of several steps:

First you need to heat 3 liters of water to a temperature of 70-80°C.
Then pour in 6 kg of raw sugar and slowly mix everything until the mass becomes homogeneous.
Bring the syrup to a boil, boil for about 10 minutes, not forgetting to remove the resulting foam.
Very slowly pour in 25 grams of citric acid, after which you can reduce the heat to a minimum.
Close the container with a lid, boil for another 60 minutes.

How to cook mash

Braga for moonshine is the result of mixing several components. To do this, add water at room temperature to the syrup, remembering to gradually stir the mixture. Its final indicator should be about 27 ° C. Make sure that the resulting homogeneous mixture does not take up more than 3/4 of the volume of the container taken, otherwise the foam of the mash will constantly overflow. Yeast application procedure:

Add pressed yeast to the container, after kneading with your hands. The best option is to dissolve the briquette in a small amount of wort, cover the container with a lid and wait for the foam to appear. This will take 5-10 minutes.
When using dry yeast, it must first be activated. To do this, follow the instructions on the package. Often the actions consist of the following: water (boiled) is cooled to 32-36 ° C, pour the required amount of yeast, cover the container with a lid, and then put it in a warm place or wrap it in a dense cloth to maintain a stable temperature. A uniform foam head will appear in about 20-40 minutes - this indicates that the diluted dry yeast is ready to be added to the wort.
If you decide to resort to baker's yeast, then keep in mind that sometimes they activate foam that goes beyond the pan. As a defoamer, use pre-crushed dry shop cookies or vegetable oil (10-20 ml). The quality of moonshine from these products will not suffer.

fermentation

During the fermentation process, raw alcohol is produced, but it is important to observe all the nuances, otherwise the product may turn out to be of poor quality. To do this, the containers filled with the base are transferred to a room where a constant temperature of 25 to 28 ° C is observed. If the temperature is lower, then the fermentation process may stop completely (the yeast will simply “fall asleep”). At temperatures above 40°C, fungi will begin to die. The fermentation procedure includes the following steps:

A water seal or glove must be installed on a container with mash (it is called a fermentation tank). It is desirable that the temperature in the room was about 23-30 degrees Celsius.
To maintain the temperature regime, you can cover the fermentation tank with various building materials or clothing. Some use aquarium heaters for thermoregulation.
The fermentation process lasts for a long time (4-12 days).
Approximately every 20 hours (some recommend every 12-16 hours) you will need to shake the mixture - do not remove the water seal or gloves. Thanks to this approach, you can remove excess carbon dioxide from the base for moonshine, otherwise it will interfere with the normal functioning of the yeast.

How to know when fermentation is over

There are several signs by which the readiness of the basis for homemade alcohol is determined. They should be used comprehensively, i.e. at least 2-3 signs must appear at the same time, otherwise you will make a mistake. For example, an excess of sugar leads to the following: the yeast begins to die before they have time to process everything. Signs of the end of the fermentation process include:

the presence of a bitter taste - this indicates that sugar is processed by yeast into alcohol;
cessation of hissing;
there was an alcohol smell;
carbon dioxide ceased to be emitted, i.e. the water seal does not gurgle;
a match brought to the wash mixture continues to burn;
sediment appeared at the bottom, and the upper layers clarified.

Clarification and degassing

To remove the sediment, you need to pour the workpiece into a clean container using a straw. Next, heat everything to + 50 ° C - this action will help deactivate the yeast remaining in the solution and remove excess gas. Rinse the bottle and refill the workpiece. To lighten products, follow these steps:

For 20 liters of blanks for sugar moonshine, take about 3 tablespoons of bentonite and dilute them in 250 ml of water at room temperature (it can be a little warmer). If the bentonite is not sufficiently powdery (i.e. fine), you will need to grind it with a coffee grinder or blender.
After diluting bentonite with water, wait about 15 minutes. After this time, the mixture will thicken and acquire the consistency of thick sour cream.
Pour the bentonite solution into the mash, mix thoroughly and close with a tight lid.
It is necessary to withstand the mixture for about a day, after which drain the clarified workpiece, and discard the sediment. Please note that the sediment fraction should not be drained into the toilet or sink, because. it can become cemented.

First distillation

This process is necessary in order to maximize the extraction of raw alcohol and separate it from other excess components. A liter of mash gives about 250 g of alcohol. The distillation cube must be filled no more than 75%, otherwise splashes and foam will fall into the cooler during boiling. The procedure is relatively simple: the device is filled with mash without sediment and put on fire. After heating, distillation is carried out over low heat using a moonshine still.

Schematic diagram of processing to remove impurities: during the heating of the mash, the alcohol begins to evaporate first, because. the boiling point of this product is lower than that of water. In the vapor state, it is sent through the tube to the coil, where it cools down and, like condensate, accumulates in the dishes. Next, the alcohol flows into the collection container. Please note that distillation is performed on low heat, and it is better to divide the product yield into fractions:

The first drops that come out of the moonshine still have a high concentration of harmful substances. This fraction is called the "head", and the first 50 ml per 1 kg of sugar will need to be collected in a separate container - it can be used exclusively for technical needs.
The second fraction called "body" is raw alcohol. The selection must be stopped when the strength of the distillate in the stream is below 40 degrees. The strength is determined with an alcohol meter at 20 ° C, but you can use folk methods: while the distillate is burning in a spoon, continue the selection.
The last fraction or "tail" differs in that it contains the largest amount of fusel oils. It is hazardous to health, so it is better to turn off the device after collecting the middle fraction.

Re-distillation after purification

During this procedure, diluted (for fire safety purposes) raw alcohol will need to be poured into a distillation cube, and then proceed to distillation at a minimum heat. As with the first distillation, you need to remove the "heads" - the first 50 ml per 1 kg of sugar. Immediately after the selection of the head fraction, replace the dry steamer, if this module is provided for by the design of the apparatus. Begin to select the main products when the fortress in the jet falls below the forty-degree mark. So distillation helps to filter the alcohol.

No matter how accurately the distillation is carried out, a certain number of “heads” and “tails” will remain in the middle fraction, i.e. in body". The optimal solution to the problem may be the use of a moonshine still, supplemented by a reflux condenser. This equipment will help to get better and deeper fractional division. If you decide to do a third distillation, then remember that it does not make much sense.

Infusion of the finished drink

At the last stage, dilution of homemade alcohol with water to the required strength (often 40-45%) will be required. To make the taste of the drink balanced and softer, bottle the finished product into bottles, close with corks and let it brew for 3-4 days in a dark, cool place. A few days is enough for the chemical reactions that occur when the liquids are mixed to be completed.

How to determine the strength of moonshine

It is difficult to determine the degree (i.e. the percentage of alcohol in the liquid) if you just taste the drink. Ennobled and purified moonshine often gives a feeling of softness even with a large fortress. Even a hydrometer can make a mistake with the result if the liquid is diluted with a variety of additives. Measurements are carried out at 20°C, because density depends on the temperature regime. The ratio of density and degrees (the so-called "turns"):

Alcohol (revs)	Density (percentage)	Alcohol (revs)	Density (percentage)

Moonshine recipes at home without yeast

For the preparation of alcoholic beverages at home, there are many proven methods. Fermentation can be carried out not only by yeast fungi, but also by bacteria, so you can get moonshine at home without yeast. This is how corn or wheat whiskey, alcohol based on barley, grapes, apricots, apples and other products are produced. You can also highlight the rye version, moonshine on herbs (wormwood, coriander, etc. are used), blueberry, raspberry, currant, strawberry jam.

In the home production of alcoholic beverages, additional components can be used in the form of lemon and orange zest, which give the product a citrus flavor and some bitterness, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, etc. Natural flavors can improve the taste of alcohol, but make it similar to brandy, cognac and liquor is difficult. Shavings will help mimic the taste of oak wood. The technology differs depending on the composition of the raw mix:

with starch. Before preparing yeast-free moonshine from corn, potatoes, grains, you will first need to simplify the breakdown of starch. For this purpose, the raw material is pre-boiled. Gelatinization (destruction of the native structure of starch grain, which is accompanied by swelling) for different cultures is carried out at different temperatures. After that, saccharification is performed.
without starch. It is easier and faster to process berries and fruits into the state of mash. sugar in them is already in a form suitable for decomposition by wild fungi and enzymes. For mash, it is recommended to use fruits with a high sugar content.

on wheat

Cooking time: 11-12 days.
Purpose: for the festive table, as the basis for tincture.
Type of cuisine: European.
Difficulty: medium.

This type of alcoholic drink is distinguished by the fact that only wheat groats, sugar and water are required for its manufacture. Compared to other options, you don't need cranberry, caramel paste for coloring, different flavors to get hints of "henesy", etc. Before cooking, the wheat must be thoroughly washed and transferred to a suitable container.

Ingredients:

sugar - 6.5 kg;
wheat groats - 5 kg;
water - to taste.

Cooking method:

Pour water into the container with wheat, covering the grain by 5-7 cm.
Add about 1.5 kg of sugar there, cover with a tight lid and set aside in a cool dark place. The foundation should stand for a week.
After 7 days, the wheat should sprout about 0.5 cm long. At this time, pour another 15 liters of water and add 5 kg of sugar.
The fermentation process in a warm place will take about 4 days. Keep track of the condition of future products: if you overexpose it, the drink will acquire a sweetish taste. Fermentation temperature should be 18-24 degrees.
After the end of fermentation, distill. If necessary, carry it out four times, but moonshine made from wheat, obtained in two or three distillations, is especially appreciated.

From corn

Preparation time: from 2 weeks.
Purpose: alcoholic beverage.
Type of cuisine: American.
Difficulty: medium.

Moonshine made on the basis of corn and without yeast will turn out to be natural, tastier. Making it at home is relatively easy, the main thing is to prepare suitable raw materials. Choose soft and sweet corn kernels. An alcoholic product from corn is being prepared longer than its yeast counterpart - it can be tasted no earlier than in 2 weeks.

Ingredients:

corn grains - 5 kg;
sugar - 6.5 kg;
water - 17 liters.

Cooking method:

Pour warm water over the corn kernels - a couple of liters is enough. Add about 8 cups of sugar, then mix the resulting mass thoroughly.
Let the corn kernels germinate well. As soon as sprouts appear, you can pour the remaining 15 liters of water to the grains and add sugar. Mix everything, then put under a water seal for 14 days.
After making sure that the mash has fermented, distill it with a moonshine still. Perform this procedure twice for better filtering. Then it remains to bottle the resulting homemade drink.

Apple

Cooking time: more than a month.
Difficulty: high.

To prepare such a drink, you need fresh apples. If yeast in the package is excluded from the recipe, then you will need to supplement the must with wild yeast - they can be found on the surface of unwashed fruits, for example, the same apples. Please note that mash on wild mushrooms wanders much longer than similar options. Decide in advance on the cleaning method to remove the maximum methanol and fusel oils. For example, this is the use of a filter of several layers of gauze, between which crushed coal (activated) is poured.

Ingredients:

fragrant apples - 5-6 kg;
sugar - 2-3 kg;
water - 10-15 liters of water.

Cooking method:

You do not need to wash apples for mash, just cut them into small pieces to turn them into puree.
Turn the apple slices into a homogeneous mass with a blender or mixer. Alternatively, you can grate the fruit on a fine grater.
Heat syrup water, add sugar and simmer, skimming off foam.
Cool the syrup, pour into apple pulp. Then everything should be thoroughly mixed until smooth.
Put a water seal on the container with the resulting base, put it in a warm, dark place. The duration of mash fermentation can be more than a month.
At the end, separate the mash from the sediment, pour into a distillation cube, perform a couple of distillations.

from rye

Preparation time: 3 weeks.
Purpose: for a festive table, feasts.
Type of cuisine: Eastern European.
Difficulty: medium.

Rye moonshine is sometimes called bread vodka. A century ago, he was extremely popular among the inhabitants of Russia and Ukraine, because. raw materials for it were available in every peasant house. There was a time when this homemade drink with a slight sourness was almost forgotten. Today, interest in bread vodka has begun to revive - the reason for this lies in the cheapness and availability of the components used, the high quality of taste properties.

Ingredients:

rye - 3 kg;
sugar - 3 g;
water - 15 l.

Cooking method:

Make a syrup from 600 g of sugar, which must be poured over 3 liters of water. Cool the resulting mixture to 20 degrees.
Place 3 kg of rye in a glass or enameled container, pour over with syrup. Leave the resulting sourdough in an open container in a warm room for several days (from 3 to 5).
Having noticed the first signs of active release of carbon dioxide, which is accompanied by a characteristic sour smell and the appearance of foam, move the wader to the fermentation container. Pour the composition with warm syrup of 2.4 kg of sugar and 12 liters of water.
Next, install a water seal on the fermentation tank, move it to a warm place.
The fermentation period will be at least 2 weeks (depending on the room temperature). A signal that the mash is ready for distillation is the settling of grains on the bottom of the fermentation container, the cessation of active gas formation. Brazhka made with wild yeast has a bitter taste.
Be sure to do a double run. The resulting homemade product will be soft, with a slightly sour smell.

on barley

Preparation time: 2-3 weeks.
Purpose: for a festive table.
Type of cuisine: European.
Difficulty: high.

Barley-based mash needs more time to prepare, especially when it comes to a recipe without yeast. Here it is important to carefully follow the phased actions so that the resulting mash does not have a sweet taste. Barley homemade alcohol is a strong drink. The process of preparing this type of moonshine is laborious.

Ingredients:

barley grains - 2.5 kg;
granulated sugar - 4 kg;
clean water - 24 liters.

Cooking process:

Rinse the barley grains well, add a little warm water, put them in a dark place.
Infuse the mixture until sprouts appear on the grains. Then drain the water and dry the barley grains in the oven. Thoroughly grind them with a coffee grinder or meat grinder to obtain malt.
Place the malt in a container for mash, fill with hot water, mix thoroughly until smooth. Heat contents over medium heat to 60-70°C. After settling and the appearance of a light liquid, the resulting wort should be cooled.
When the mixture reaches normal room temperature, sprinkle it with sugar and stir.
Next, make a water seal using a rubber glove or a special cover. Store the container with mash in a warm place with a temperature regime of 18 degrees. If the indicator is lower, then the fermentation rate will begin to decrease until it stops altogether. The best option is 24-28 ° C.
Braga will infuse for 6-8 days. Its taste should not be sweet - this is an indicator of readiness. After insisting, the barley drink must be filtered and prepared for further distillation.

From grapes

Preparation time: 2-3 months.
Purpose: for a festive table.
Type of cuisine: Georgian.
Difficulty: high.

Often, grape moonshine means a homemade Georgian drink called chacha. To make it, you will need grapes of any variety or waste left after squeezing the juice. Real chacha differs from ordinary grape moonshine in that it ferments on wild yeast, and not on bakery or alcohol, which improves the flavor.

Ingredients:

grape bunches or cake - 25 kg;
water - 50 l;
granulated sugar - 10 kg (optional).

Cooking method:

Place the crushed grapes, along with the juice, in a fermentation container. Add water, granulated sugar (optional), mix the mass with a wooden stick. At least 10% of the container must be empty - the voids during fermentation will be occupied by carbon dioxide.
Install water seals, put the container in a dark place with a temperature regime of 22 to 28 ° C. Natural mash will be ready only after 30-60 days (sometimes the process reaches 90 days). After the end of fermentation, start distillation.
Drain the spent mash from the sediment, otherwise the solid particles will burn during distillation. Although the bones, pulp and skin contain all those substances that distinguish chacha from other types of moonshine. You can filter the mash through several layers of gauze, fill the distillation cube with liquid, and hang the solid part at the top of the cube on the same gauze.
Perform the first distillation without fractionation. End the selection when the fortress drops below 30%. Then dilute the moonshine with water up to 20%.
Make a second distillation, removing the first 10% pure alcohol. It is necessary to select the “body” before the strength in the jet decreases below 45%. Dilute the finished chacha with water up to 40-60% and leave to stabilize the taste in a cool place for 2-3 days in a hermetically sealed container.

From tangerines

Preparation time: 1 month.
Purpose: for a festive table.
Type of cuisine: European.
Difficulty: high.

An interesting option for moonshine without the addition of yeast is a drink made from tangerines, which do not have to be fresh. You do not need to wash them so as not to remove wild yeast from the surface. All tangerines will need to be pre-peeled in order to make juice out of them. It is advisable to remove the pulp immediately, otherwise, after fermentation, the liquid will have to be filtered.

Ingredients:

tangerines - about 20 kg;
sugar - 5-6 kg;
water - 15 l.

Cooking method:

After preparing the juice and pouring it into containers (you get a lot of liquid), add about 15 liters of water, 5-6 kg of granulated sugar. After 7-8 days, the fermentation process should begin.
After 25-30 days, the process should come to an end. The resulting mash will turn out sour and tart, but very tasty, with a distinct smell of tangerines.
Make two runs.

from raisins

Preparation time: 1 month.
Purpose: for a festive table.
Type of cuisine: Jewish.
Difficulty: medium.

This alcoholic product is made according to ancient Jewish recipes. Jews adhere to a strict fast before Passover, which lasts 7 days. At this time, you can not drink ordinary grain-based vodka, eat bread. In order not to violate the established rules, a peisahovka was invented, which domestic distillers often call "raisin".

Ingredients:

raisins - 4 kg;
sugar - 200 g;
water - 20 l.

Cooking method:

Put 200 g of unwashed raisins in a liter jar, pour 0.5 liters of warm water, add all the granulated sugar. Stir until the last dissolves, then leave in a warm place for a couple of hours.
Using a colander, remove the raisins, pass through a meat grinder. Then put back into the must. Add a few large raisins (unwashed) for better fermentation. Cover the container with cling film, making a few holes.
Put the container in a warm place for a couple of days. As soon as you notice a clear seething in the jar, it means that the sourdough is ready.
Take the remaining raisins, fill with warm water, and then wait for the composition to swell. Then you need to grind the raisins and send them, along with all the ingredients and the sourdough, to the fermentation container. Close loosely with a lid, put in a dark place with a temperature of 25-27 ° C.
After 3-5 weeks, the fermentation procedure will come to an end. You just have to strain it and overtake it through the moonshine still 3 times. Moonshine will acquire a mild taste, pleasant aroma.

Video

The preparation of sugar moonshine can be called a classic of domestic moonshine. In terms of love and prevalence among Russians, this alcohol is the undisputed leader. There are many recipes for sugar mash and distillation methods, but not all methods give a good result. So that beginners do not waste precious raw materials for nothing, I will tell you how to brew moonshine at home. Subject to technology, the drink will turn out better than most store-bought vodkas. We will consider in detail all the nuances of the process.

First, I advise you to take care of the cleanliness of the containers used. Rinse the container with hot water and wipe dry with a clean cloth. The cleaner the bottles and pans, the higher the quality. Many novice moonshiners make the mistake of neglecting sterility, and then complain about a third-party smell or taste.

As an example, I will give the exact amount of ingredients that are needed to prepare a little more than 5 liters of forty-degree moonshine using classical technology:

sugar - 6 kg;
water - 24 liters;
dry yeast - 120 grams (or 600 grams pressed);
citric acid - 25 grams.

Sugar mash recipe

1. Calculation of proportions. First, let's determine the amount of moonshine that is needed at the exit. At home, from 1 kg of sugar, 1.1-1.2 liters of moonshine with a strength of 40 degrees is obtained. But when calculating, I advise you to increase the amount of ingredients by 10-15%, since for various reasons (temperature, quality of raw materials, improper distillation), the real yield is always less than the theoretical one by this value.

For 1 kg of sugar add: 4 liters of water (plus another 0.5 liters if inverted) and 100 grams of pressed yeast or 20 grams of dry.

2. Invert sugar. A very complicated name refers to the preparation of ordinary sugar syrup with citric acid. The fact is that during fermentation, yeast first breaks down sugar into simple monosaccharides - glucose with fructose, and only then processes these substances into alcohol. Heating also kills pathogens on the surface of the sugar, which are waiting for more favorable conditions (temperature and humidity) to thrive. Activation of harmful microbes in the wash is undesirable, as it can adversely affect the smell.

Moonshine made from inverted sugar ferments faster and tastes better. Although the invert step is considered optional, and most recipes only suggest dissolving the sugar in warm water, I still recommend boiling the syrup.

To invert sugar for mash, you need to do the following:

Heat 3 liters of water to 70-80°C in a large saucepan.
Pour sugar (6 kg) and mix slowly until a homogeneous mass is formed.
Bring the syrup to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, removing the foam from the surface.
So slow(a lot of foam will appear) pour in citric acid (25 grams), reduce the heat on the stove to a minimum.
Close the pan with a lid, boil for 60 minutes.

Ready syrup

3. Water preparation. A very important stage, during which the taste of the finished product is largely formed. Water for mash must comply with hygienic standards, have no color, no taste, no smell.

Attention! Moonshine water should not be boiled or distilled as this will deplete the oxygen the yeast needs to ferment.

4. Mixing ingredients. Pour the syrup prepared at the 2nd stage into a fermentation container, add cold water (24 liters). If non-inverted sugar is used, dissolve it in warm water, stirring vigorously. In both cases, the optimum temperature of the finished mixture is 27-30°C.

The container must not be filled more than ¾ of the volume, otherwise, during active foaming, the mash may overflow over the edges and it will be necessary to collect the product with a specific smell on the floor.

5. Introduction of yeast. Pressed yeast can be added directly to the container, after kneading with clean hands. But still, it is better to first dissolve the briquette in a small amount of cooked wort (water and sugar), cover with a lid and wait until foam appears. Usually it takes 5-10 minutes.

Before adding to the wort, dry yeast needs to be pre-activated. All you need to do is follow the instructions on the package. In most cases, boiled water is cooled to 32-36 ° C, the right amount of dry yeast is poured in, covered with a lid, and the container itself is wrapped in a dense cloth or placed in a warm place to maintain a stable temperature. After 20-40 minutes, a uniform foam cap will appear on the surface. This means that diluted dry yeast can be added to the wort.

When using baker's yeast, active foaming sometimes begins, which goes beyond the capacity. As a defoamer for mash, I recommend using a crumbled half of dry store-bought cookies or 10-20 ml of vegetable oil. The addition of these products will not affect the quality of moonshine in any way.

The video shows the method of setting the mash without inverting sugar with a 1: 4 water ratio.

6. Fermentation. Install a water seal on the bottle with mash and transfer to a room with a stable temperature of 26-31 ° C (very important for the normal development of yeast). Braga on inverted sugar has a pleasant caramel smell that does not spoil the air.

To maintain the temperature regime, cover the container with blankets or fur coats, insulate it with building thermal insulation materials, or install aquarium heaters with a thermoregulation system. Fermentation lasts from 3 to 10 days (usually 4-7). Every 12-16 hours I recommend shaking the mash for 45-60 seconds without removing the water seal. Shaking will remove excess carbon dioxide that interferes with the normal functioning of the yeast.

Signs of readiness of sugar mash for distillation:

bitter taste (all sugar is processed by yeast into alcohol);
the release of carbon dioxide has stopped (the water seal does not gurgle);
the upper layers of the mash became lighter, and a sediment appeared at the bottom;
the hissing stopped;
alcohol smell is felt;
a match brought to Braga continues to burn.

Use the signs in a complex way, you need at least 2-3 to appear at the same time, otherwise it is easy to make a mistake. For example, an excess of sugar leads to the fact that the yeast dies before they have time to process everything. Most yeast fungi "fall asleep" at an alcohol concentration above 12%, so even ready-made mash will remain sweet.

7. Degassing and clarification. Making the right moonshine is unthinkable without this stage. It's time to remove the sugar wash from the yeast sediment by pouring into a large saucepan through a straw, then heat to 50 ° C. The high temperature kills the yeast residue and promotes the release of carbon dioxide from the liquid.

Pour the degassed mash back into the bottle and clarify with bentonite (preferably) - natural white clay, which is sold in bags and as part of cat litter. Verified brands (at the time of publication): Pi-Pi-Bent, WC Closet Cat, Kotyara.

Bentonite

Attention! When choosing white clay, make sure that the composition does not contain aromatic additives that will irrevocably spoil homemade moonshine. Also, before clarification, fermentation must be completely over, otherwise the method will not work.

To clarify 20 liters of mash, you need to grind 2-3 tablespoons of bentonite in a coffee grinder and dissolve in 250 ml of warm water. Then mix and wait until the clay turns into a thick mass, reminiscent of fatty sour cream. This takes 10-15 minutes.

Add bentonite to the mash, close the container tightly and shake vigorously for several minutes. Next, leave the mash alone for 15-30 hours, after which you can start distillation.

The sediment cannot be poured into the sewer, cement plugs may appear there, which are then difficult to eliminate.

The use of bentonite removes third-party impurities that have not precipitated during fermentation. As a result, the unpleasant yeasty smell disappears from the mash, and the expelled moonshine is much easier to clean, since the clay removes most of the harmful substances.

Clarified Braga

How to drive moonshine

8. First distillation. Drain the mash clarified with bentonite from the sediment into a distillation cube. The purpose of the first distillation is to separate alcohol from other substances. Many novice and lazy moonshiners stop at this, never having tasted real homemade moonshine, made according to all the rules.

The distillation is done over low heat. I propose to immediately divide the output into fractions: "heads", "body" and "tails". Collect the first 50 ml per 1 kg of sugar in a separate container. According to our proportions, this is 300 ml of "pervak" - the head fraction, which can only be used for technical needs, because of harmful impurities, this distillate is hazardous to health.

Then select the "body" - a useful middle fraction, called raw alcohol. The selection should be stopped when the strength of the distillate (in the stream) falls below 40 degrees. It is better to determine the strength with an alcohol meter (necessarily at a temperature of 20 ° C), but you can also use the folk method - while the distillate is burning in a spoon, continue the selection.

The last to collect the “tails” in a separate container is the third fraction containing a lot of fusel oils. This distillate can be poured into the next mash (after removal from the sediment) to increase the strength or not collected at all by turning off the moonshine after collecting the “body”.

9. Cleaning. Before the second distillation, the middle fraction (raw alcohol) needs additional purification from harmful impurities. There is no single universally recognized method, you can use any.

Cleaning sugar moonshine with coal is considered natural and environmentally friendly, but with the right approach, for example, potassium permanganate with baking soda, they also give a good result. The main thing before cleaning is to dilute the distillate with water to 15-20 degrees so that the molecular bonds become weaker.

10. Second distillation. Pour diluted (required for fire safety purposes) raw alcohol into a distillation cube, start distillation at minimum heat. As for the first time, especially if you make moonshine for yourself, cut off the “heads” - the first 50 ml for each kilogram of added sugar.

Immediately after the selection of the first (head) fraction, it is advisable to replace the steamer, if the module is provided for by the design of the moonshine still. Further, until the fortress in the jet falls below 40 degrees, select the main product.

11. Dilution and settling. At the last stage, dilute home-brew with water to the desired strength (usually 40-45%). To make the taste of the drink softer and more balanced, pour the finished product into bottles, close with corks, let it brew for 3-4 days in a cool, dark place. This time is enough to complete the chemical reactions that occur when the liquids are mixed.

Stanislav shared the secrets of diluting alcohol with water especially for Alkofan.

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Everyone knows the nutritional value of pine nuts, cedar oil, as well as their benefits for human health. The shells of pine nuts are only slightly inferior in value to the kernels themselves. They are rich in tannins, which are good antiseptics. Therefore, instead of regretfully disposing of the “remnants of former luxury”, a good solution would be to insist moonshine on cedar shells. Pine nut shell […]

The healing properties of cranberries are known to all. This unique berry contains a lot of vitamins and beneficial acids, micro and macro elements (iron, magnesium, iodine and others). All the useful properties of cranberries are stored without loss in alcohol for a year. Moonshine on cranberries prevents the formation of vascular plaques, helps fight gum problems and thyroid diseases. Vitamin C found in cranberries […]

Everyone in the house will surely have several liters of jam. They didn’t cook it themselves, so generous relatives presented it. And almost everyone has these jars, they stand, they don’t want to eat, but it’s a pity to throw them away. Candied, fermented ... There is always a way out - to overtake! However, we will immediately make a reservation: if mold appears, there is only one place for such jam - to a landfill. Do not look that the mold is only on top, […]

Only since the invention of the still, the operation of which is explained in physics lessons, have people learned to distill wine into stronger spirits. The method of distilling liquids through a distillation cube is called distillation, and moonshine is obtained by distilling mash. There are a huge number of home brew recipes for moonshine, but a separate position is occupied by barley mash, because barley porridge is […]

Home brew recipes for moonshine can be implemented from almost anything that contains sugar or carbohydrates. Particularly pleasant drinks are obtained from berries and fruits, and citrus fruits are no exception. For example, orange and tangerine contain enough sugar to make mash, although, along with other citrus fruits (lemon, lime), they can also be used in recipes for homemade moonshine tinctures. At home […]

Wheat moonshine is a classic of spirits in many European countries. But if it was not possible to find high-quality grain for making moonshine from wheat, do not despair. It is enough just to follow the recipe for moonshine made from wheat flour at home - and you can treat yourself and your loved ones to a soft, slightly sweet drink. The recipe for moonshine made from wheat flour has […]

From cherry plum, jams and compotes are most often cooked, sometimes they are used in recipes for homemade tinctures on moonshine. In its composition, cherry plum contains many vitamins and organic acids, but there are quite a few sugars (fructose) in it - only about 4-5%. And since its fruits are quite sour, cherry plum is not so widely used in mash recipes for moonshine. […]

Raspberries are not a raw material popular for making brew recipes for moonshine. Most often, in the case of strong drinks, raspberries are used for cocktails and recipes for homemade moonshine tinctures. The thing is that although the berry seems sweet in taste, there are quite a few sugars in its composition. And since there are few sugars, the yield of alcohol from this […]

Moonshine is an alcoholic drink "from the people." It has many variations and experienced moonshiners know the intricacies of preparing a drink based on the available raw materials. The recipe for moonshine from berries also has its own cooking characteristics. The taste and smell of such moonshine depends on the berries themselves chosen for cooking. The process begins with their preparation: It is not recommended to wash the berries, since […]

Having decided to try out the recipe for moonshine from apples in practice, you need to know the principle of its production: yeast placed in apple juice absorbs sucrose, glucose and fructose (fruit sugar) contained in apples, releasing carbon dioxide and alcohol. The apple mash that you make and don't distill is called cider. Moonshine from apples, which will be obtained as a result of distillation […]

You can make wonderful moonshine from buckwheat (or buckwheat). At the same time, depending on the type of raw material chosen (green - unroasted or brown unroasted - fried), the flavor of the final drink will depend. If you use green buckwheat in the moonshine home brew recipe, then the drink will have light grassy and fruity notes, and if you use the core, then stiffness and […]

It's no secret that moonshine nutcracker is valued for its high content of vitamins and microelements. All this wealth passes into it when moonshine is insisted on pine nuts. Pine nuts are unique: they contain a number of vitamins and micro- and macroelements, amino acids and antioxidants. Despite all its beneficial properties, use moonshine […]

For those who are fond of the production of homemade alcohol, it is difficult to single out the best moonshine recipe - there are a lot of them. However, there are general patterns among them.

Let's take a look at what makes up the basis of homemade moonshine recipes.

First, ethyl alcohol. It is obtained by mixing yeast and sugar in water. Yeast absorbs sugar and releases ethyl alcohol. The resulting mixture is wort.
Secondly, the must is sent to infuse in a dark and warm place. In a sealed container, to exclude the ingress of oxygen, the fermentation process takes place there. It is important not to forget to release carbon dioxide from the tank.

The liquid obtained after the yeast has absorbed all the sugar is called mash. Braga recipes for moonshine are also diverse.

And the third: ethyl alcohol has been obtained, but it is still impossible to drink it, it is fraught with poisoning. Therefore, it must be purified by distillation. There are two ways here: distillation (splitting the liquid into components due to the difference in their boiling points) or rectification (several distillations one after another). The second method yields cleaner products.

The whole process takes place with the help of moonshine stills. They have one principle of action, although there are many varieties.

Even the simplest recipes for making moonshine at home are based on heating the mash and helping the alcohol begin to evaporate actively. Its vapors are discharged through a pipe cooled in one section, due to which the alcohol becomes liquid again.

Using homemade stills, you can often get weak, heavy-tasting, or bad-smelling moonshine. Solving this problem is simple - buy a moonshine still. The product obtained from them will delight with purity and pleasant taste, no worse than store-bought vodka. In addition, it is perfect for many recipes for homemade tinctures on moonshine.