Re-distillation of moonshine. How to dilute the second distillation of moonshine

Everything that we will tell below concerns exclusively the classic technique of distilling moonshine at home. And this applies not only to the first, but also to the second. As before, we continue to insist that the correct distillation is only double, as a result of which the product is pure, moderately aromatic. On this basis, excellent alcoholic drinks are obtained - whiskey, tequila, rum and even cognac.

What we have at the beginning of the journey - Braga. Most likely, it is on sugar, since at home many people prefer not to suffer with grain (braga gives off a very specific aroma) or cake (it often burns, which affects the taste). We lighten it, remove it from the sediment, pour it into a cube and assemble the entire unit. Our task is to get raw moonshine, clean it and get a quality product at the exit.

Boiling point - remember the theory

The principle of home brewing is based on heating the mash. Simply put, in the distillation cube, it is heated to a temperature at which it separates into fractions. This applies not only to alcohol, but also to water, and essential oils and methyl alcohol which, for obvious reasons, is a great evil for a person.

Considering that the boiling point of all fractions is different, and they do not evaporate at the same time, during the distillation it is necessary to carefully control it:

You should not immediately bring the heat to 100 ° - most of the harmful impurities will not go anywhere, but the water will quickly evaporate and the raw strength will drop sharply. The first haul implies a gradual increase to 98.5°C, and for the selection of heads, reduce to 78°C.

How to control it

We emphasize right away that this whole theory is necessary in order to squeeze the maximum amount of moonshine not only from the base, but also from the raw material, and clean it from the fuselage as efficiently as possible.

Heating and cooling always occurs gradually - a few degrees per minute

The first stage requires a quick heating of the cube, on average it takes about a quarter of an hour. But we also heat it at intervals - from the beginning to 70 ° we heat it so that on average it rises by 4-5 ° C per minute.
Then we reduce the fire exactly until the moment when the addition already starts at 1 degree per minute and bring it to 89 ° C.
Starting from 66 °, the first drops of fuselage will begin to appear - they can be felt by the sharp smell of acetone, these are heads and they are drained. For every kilogram of sugar in Braga, there are 50 ml of heads. When it rises to 90°, the body will go. Do not forget about the refrigerator - if moonshine with a temperature above 30 ° C is collected in the container, increase the circulation of water. More about cutting off heads and tails will be later in the article.
We constantly use a hydrometer - at the exit, the raw strength should be at least 50 °.

The hydrometer will show the real result only for the cooling raw material (less than 20 ° C). Anything that is hot will knock down the performance.

When the thermometer in the cube shows 98 °, the first stage can be completed.

First distillation

In order to understand whether the mash is ready for distillation or not, you need to use a hydrometer. A small amount of it is poured, filtered and the amount of sugar is checked. If the hydrometer shows below 1.002, you can start. If higher, add more yeast and leave to ferment further.

Experienced moonshiners determine readiness by appearance - foam ceases to form - and by taste - bitter without a sweet aftertaste. But to be sure, it is better to use a hydrometer.

When ready, the base is filtered and poured into an alembic. Since the pressure during cooking inside is colossal, it is not worth filling it to the brim. Ideally - 2/3 of the volume, but you can leave a quarter of the place, although this is risky - when boiling, the remnants will splash out and clog the tube.

The temperature is brought to 89°C, it is controlled by a built-in thermometer. At this stage, the first drops begin to appear. This is not raw yet, the heads go first (harmful impurities). Our advice is to take the heads already on the second distillation, but if you start taking them off already on the first, it will not be a big mistake. Selected based on each kilo of sugar, 30 ml of the head. That is, if you filled up 3 kg of sugar, then you should select 90 ml of heads.

For reference! During heating, the decomposition of proteins begins, which leads to the concentration fusel oils and isoamylol.

When the first fusel oil has been taken, we continue to heat the cube - at this time, the product itself is poured into the accumulator, it is often called the "body". The temperature is brought to 98°C. When we reached the mark of 96 °, we remove the drive and put another one - now “tails” are starting to go, also fuselage and also harmful.

In order to make it more convenient to understand the temperature regime, we refer to the table:

This is useful only for those who have a moonshine still equipped with a thermometer (there is a sensor on the still). If it is not there (homemade or simply not provided for by the design), then you can focus on the strength of the raw material - at the exit it should be at least 40 °. Exactly up to this time, the body is taken away. As soon as it went down, they immediately change the container and take away the tails.

Distillation of moonshine at home with the selection of heads and tails is only needed when working with sugar mash. If fruits, berries or grains were used as a must, the tails are not cut off during the first distillation - they have the very taste.

Separately, we note that if the heads are poured immediately, then the tails can be looped - added to the mash in the second distillation. They will increase the strength and improve the taste (again, if the mash is fruit or grain). But before the second distillation, the raw material is necessarily cleaned in order to have an acceptable quality and taste at the output.

VIDEO: Rules for working with sugar mash

Intermediate cleaning of raw material

It is also a rather controversial point, as some prefer to immediately proceed to a second act. In my experience, it is better to spend some time cleaning to improve the taste and aftertaste of the drink. For cleaning use traditional ways- coal, potassium permanganate or vegetable oil. We described all this in the article "".

It is easier and more efficient to do a comprehensive cleaning with oil, and then pass through a carbon filter:

We dilute the raw to 15 ° with water, then add refined vegetable oil at the rate of 20 ml for each liter of raw.
Close the container with a lid and shake vigorously for a minute, repeat after a couple of minutes and shake again after a couple of minutes for a minute, then leave for a day. If there is no time - at least 12 hours must be allowed to brew.
After this time, carefully remove the film from above - oil with impurities has collected here, and what remains is passed through several layers of gauze a couple of times and always through a carbon filter.

Proper distillation means obligatory intermediate treatment, but only for sugar and grain mash. Raw from fruit and berry mash should not be cleaned, the organoleptic changes too much. This is where fractional distillation comes into play.

VIDEO: Fractional distillation

Second distillation

Objectively, this stage is not much different from the first, with the exception of temperature regime. You also need to pay attention to whether you did the cleaning or not. If intermediate cleaning was carried out, merge raw material, tailings into the cube and start the process again. If cleaning was not done, you need to carry out a series of manipulations:

We dilute the raw material to 15 ° with water - this is necessary so that during distillation the distillate is more actively divided into fractions of alcohol, water and impurities.

For the convenience of separating the raw, you can use the "parrot". It makes it easier to control the fortress

We fill water solution raw into the distillation cube, heat up to 86 ° C and control the appearance of the first drops. In order to make it more convenient, we reduce the temperature to 68 ° and slowly begin to select the heads. In this case, there are already 50 ml per kilogram of sugar.

You can determine the duration of heads by smell - essential oils and methyl smell harsh and unpleasant. As soon as this aroma disappears (somewhat reminiscent of acetone), the body begins to go, it is already collected in a clean receiving container.

If there is a dry steamer in the design of the apparatus, at this stage it is desirable to clean it too - drain the fusel, rinse and return to its place.

When the heads were cut off, we again raise the temperature and begin to select the body. We select exactly until the fortress begins to fall below 55 °. Next comes the tails.

The strength of the body is measured after it has cooled to 20 °, if the hotter hydrometer will “lie”. And one more thing - do not use household alcohol meters, as a rule, in such situations they are useless. Best of all, the ASP-3 hydrometer copes with the determination of the fortress.

Tails can be ringed, as we wrote earlier - the quality of the final product will only improve from this, but dispose of the heads immediately.

As a result, we get the purest product, which in terms of transparency, aroma and concentration will not be inferior to the best drinks. On average, from each liter of mash, after double distillation, we get about 400 milliliters of 50-55 ° moonshine, which can then be further diluted with water to the desired condition.

What to do next?

So we come to the most interesting - the final stage of distillation of moonshine at home. To begin with, we dilute it with water - here everyone decides for himself, for someone 40 ° is too much, but for others 50 ° is just right. Then we insist for at least two days in an airtight container to improve the organoleptic. Be sure to clean.

Those who mainly work with grain or fruit must do not clean up, and in vain. They purify not only sugar distillate, but also all others.

For cleaning, you can use the most common carbon filter, and this is quite enough. Then you can use either pure product or prepare on its basis a variety of alcoholic drinks. The article "" has a lot of recipes with detailed description how and from what to cook. We’ll add from ourselves when moonshine becomes your second “I”, do not be greedy and buy a good oak barrel- the incredible taste and aroma of the same whiskey has not yet been canceled.

VIDEO: How heads and tails are cut off and high-quality distillate is made

Re-distillation of moonshine, subject to the correct methodology, removes third-party impurities, improving quality. The end product is commonly referred to as double moonshine". You will have to spend 2-3 hours more time, but in the end you will get a crystal clear, soft, odorless distillate.

Any moonshine, regardless of raw materials, lends itself to secondary distillation. The mash recipe and the chosen distillation technology (moonshine still) do not change. You can even refine a drink that was kicked out much earlier.

Technology for obtaining double moonshine

1. Dilution with water. Before double distillation, the strength is measured, the amount of pure alcohol is determined, for example, 1 liter of 40% contains 400 ml of pure alcohol (this is necessary for the selection of fractions in the third stage), then the moonshine is diluted with cool water to 20%. Distilling a stronger liquid is dangerous, as a high concentration of alcohol vapor can ignite the moonshine still. In addition, strong moonshine has a very strong molecular bond with fusel oils, as a result of which repeated distillation will not give the expected effect.

2. Cleaning. Sugar and cereal moonshine (in some cases) is additionally cleaned with coal, potassium permanganate or in another way. Fruit distillates are usually left unrefined to leave a slight flavor of the original raw material.

If potassium permanganate is selected, then on three-liter jar moonshine 40% dilute 3 grams of powder in 300 ml hot water, pour the resulting solution into moonshine, mix well and let it brew for 15-20 minutes. Then add a tablespoon of salt and baking soda. After 2 hours, strain the mixture through a cotton-gauze filter.

3. Distillation. It practically does not differ from the first distillation, but it is very important to divide the output into fractions: “heads”, “tails” and “body”. The first 8-12% of the yield from the amount of pure alcohol (determined at the first stage) cannot be drunk, this is a harmful fraction called "heads", it has bad smell.

The next 80% is double moonshine, which is what we need. It is collected until the fortress in the jet drops to 45-40%. The last faction - “tails”, can be used to increase the strength of the next mash, drive it to distillation column(will be pure alcohol) or just pour.

Fractions after distillation

After the second distillation, moonshine of 60-70% is obtained, which does not require additional purification. It remains only to dilute it to a fortress convenient for drinking (40-45%).

One of most effective ways to improve the quality and purity of the brewed moonshine is the second distillation through the moonshine still. This method allows you to significantly clean the drink from excess impurities and harmful particles, making it more palatable and higher in strength.

Experienced moonshiners often resort to re-distillation, because this is the only way to achieve really high quality, which you will not find in store products.

Braga, which was popular back in the days ancient Rus', contains a certain amount of fusel oils, acetone, aldehyde and other harmful substances that are dangerous to human health.

Braga contains many harmful substances, so it is necessary to do a second distillation.

Re-treatment of the mash is necessary for the most effective filtration, which allows you to rid the drink of unwanted odors, improve it appearance and soften the taste.

Eating unfiltered carefully mash is not only harmful, but also extremely dangerous. Therefore, additional cleaning should be carried out, which will take no more than 3-4 hours.

In the common people, moonshine is usually divided into three fractions:

Head - moonshine, formed at the initial stage of distillation. It contains about 60-70% ethanol and an increased amount of aldehydes, methanol and ethers, which pose a threat to human life and health.
The body is the main goal of the moonshiner, representing a drinking mixture mainly from ethyl alcohol(76 degrees) and water.
The tail is the third fraction, containing, in addition to alcohol, harmful fusel oils, which give an unpleasant odor, taste and cloudy color.

That is why a second or is necessary to cut off the unnecessary “head” and “tail” and leave a benign “body”.

Step-by-step technology for obtaining double moonshine

The second distillation includes several successive stages that must be strictly observed. Only a strict adherence to the structure will allow you to get a truly high-quality alcohol.

Re-distillation includes several stages.

Dilution

Regardless of the recipe for an alcoholic drink, the strength initial product should not be higher than 35-40%. Otherwise, there is a risk that during the second distillation, alcohol vapors will break the moonshine still. In addition, the heavy strength of alcohol contributes to a strong molecular bond of ethyl alcohol with harmful impurities and fusel oils.

To avoid such problems, the feedstock is diluted before being placed in the device. This is done with filtered water, always cool. For this purpose, the liquid is first placed in the refrigerator.

Attention. Water for the second distillation of moonshine should not be tap, distilled or boiled. The best option is a filtered well, melted or spring. In the very last resort you can use running water, settled for 2-3 days.

The procedure for diluting raw materials is carried out fractionally, i.e. water is added gradually. During the process, it is necessary to measure the strength of the moonshine every time, which the alcoholmeter can handle. And in order to know in what proportions moonshine is diluted with water, you need to refer to the Fertman table or an online calculator.

An alcoholometer will help measure the strength of moonshine.

Filtration

Fractional distillation necessarily implies a detailed purification of moonshine, carried out in a preparatory form.

Carefully filter the drink will help:

paper or filtered cardboard;
potassium permanganate;
charcoal;
Activated carbon;
baking soda.

The most painstaking method is considered to be purification with potassium permanganate.

This method requires a strict dosage of proportions and indispensable observance of the procedure:

preparing a solution of 50 ml boiled water and 2 g of potassium permanganate - this volume is enough for 1 liter of raw materials to be cleaned;
when the crystals of potassium permanganate are completely dissolved in the liquid, this mixture is lowered into the moonshine;
within 10 hours, the raw material settles, after which a precipitate forms at the bottom of the container;
The moonshine is filtered through a flannel or gauze dipped into the funnel area.

You can also filter with baking soda. To do this, 1 tablespoon of salt and baking soda is lowered into the drink and mixed. Two hours later, the liquid is purified using a conventional water filter or cotton-gauze composition.

Moonshine can be cleaned with ordinary baking soda.

Filtering the alcoholic liquid only makes sense between the first and second distillation. after the second distillation is not needed, because at home there are no magic tools that can purify the drink even better.

The final stage - the distillation itself

After the filtration, the direct process of secondary distillation of the alcoholic beverage begins. First, the moonshine still is prepared: it is thoroughly washed and carefully assembled.

Despite the fact that the feedstock is pre-cleaned, there will still be “heads” and “tails”. Therefore, it is important to carefully monitor the contents leaving the device.

The process of secondary distillation is carried out according to all the rules of home brewing, taking into account several stages of heating:

During the second distillation of moonshine, the cube quickly heats up to a temperature of +60 degrees, then the fire becomes weaker, and the cube is slowly brought to +83-85 degrees.
After that, the “head” fraction is merged, which accounts for about 5-10% of the total volume of diluted alcohol.
The heating of the cube increases to a temperature of + 96-97 degrees.
The "body" fraction is selected. Its output will end when moonshine with a strength of less than 40 degrees begins to flow into the container. In order to timely monitor the speed during distillation, you must use an alcohol meter.
The run ends at a temperature slightly less than +100 degrees. At this stage, tailings are obtained, which can later be used to increase the strength of new raw materials.

Secondary distillation of moonshine is carried out at a strictly defined temperature.

Important. The “head” fraction is very harmful, and it is absolutely impossible to drink it. It is permissible to use it for technical purposes, for example, for cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces.

Drinkable drink does not have a sharp and strongly pronounced odor. Often, the share of valuable moonshine reaches 80% of the total volume of raw materials, but with a high-quality and powerful unit, you can get up to 95% of the "body".

Additional processing of raw materials

Upon completion of double distillation, it is advisable to start work on improving the taste and aromatic qualities of the product. Today, the specialized market offers great amount suitable for addition to purified raw materials.

Herbal compositions will not only remove excessive bitterness and add pleasant taste, but also outwardly ennoble the appearance of a strong drink. Berries and aromatic herbs will be an indispensable addition for lovers of natural products.

The addition of milk to alcohol helps to soften the properties and neutralize excess strength. To do this, 0.5 l of moonshine is diluted with 300 ml of natural village milk, after which the drink is infused for 12 to 14 days.

What to do with the resulting distillate

From the finished moonshine you can make various tinctures, liqueurs and other drinks.

This question is of interest to many beginner moonshiners. The resulting double moonshine must be diluted to the desired strength, and before use in pure form let stand for at least two days.

In the case of fruit and grain distillates, additional purification is not necessary. Sugar alcohol can be purified with milk, and to obtain an analogue of vodka, pass the liquid through a carbon filter.

And, of course, on the basis of the resulting alcoholic product, an unprecedented number of tinctures, liqueurs, liqueurs, etc. can be made. Double-distilled moonshine makes an excellent imitation of cognac or whiskey - the main desire and scope for imagination.

Second distillation. Is it required or not? Many even experienced winemakers ask this difficult question. It seems that the process of making mash and its first distillation is all that is required to make high-quality alcohol and a second distillation is not needed. But, it's not. These processes are not enough to remove fusel oils and harmful impurities from the mash, to make it taste good. About what the second distillation of moonshine with a steamer is, why a double distillation is required and how to carry it out correctly - we will tell further.

The second stage of the mash is necessary. And why do we need a second distillation of moonshine? So the mash is better filtered, unpleasant odors will leave it, its taste will soften, and the color will become more pleasant and interesting. Usually a double haul lasts about 3 hours. The filtration process involves moonshine and a certain amount ready mash. Winemakers strongly discourage drinking unfiltered mash.

Conventionally, winemakers divide mash into 3 zones:

"head". Experienced moonshiners call such a mash "pervach". This is the liquid that first comes out of the moonshine during the distillation process. Drinking it is not recommended, as it contains a lot of harmful acetone.
"body". The most valuable is the "body". It contains 76% ethyl alcohol.
" tail". There are many fusel oils in the "tail".

Double distillation technology

Experienced winemakers call the second distillation of mash a structured process. In general, all moonshine is very difficult process. Double distillation and its technology includes three main stages. We will talk about them further.

How to overtake moonshine a second time

The second run consists of:

dilution of moonshine with water;
filtration;
second run.

Consider the stages of the second distillation of moonshine with a steamer in more detail.

Dilution

The second distillation of moonshine begins with the fact that you need to dilute the moonshine with water. We achieve a drink with a strength of at least 40 degrees. If his fortress is large, then the moonshine will deteriorate.

In addition, it is water that helps to better divide the mash into several categories.

You need to pour water into moonshine in small doses and constantly monitor the strength of the drink with an alcohol meter, so the ratio of water and alcohol can be different in each case.

A fortress of 35-37 degrees is considered optimal, so it is impossible to answer the question of what the proportion of water and moonshine should be.

Only filtered water chilled in the freezer is added to the mash.

Filtration

The secondary distillation of moonshine at this stage is to filter the drink. Purification of moonshine through several filters helps to remove all harmful impurities from it.

Used as a filter:

paper;
activated and charcoal;
potassium permanganate.

Also, the winemaker can purchase paper in a specialized store, created specifically for water purification for the re-distillation of moonshine. It is placed inside the funnel of the moonshine still, through which the mash is then passed. This cleaning process is repeated several times.

If a winemaker uses potassium permanganate for cleaning, then it must first be prepared. This is done as follows: take 50 ml of boiled water and add 2 grams of potassium permanganate to it. When the crystals are completely dissolved, the composition can be added to alcohol. But before that, moonshine is infused for 10-12 hours. Potassium permanganate will combine with heavy impurities and leave all unnecessary substances at the bottom of the container. After filtration, "extra" substances are removed from the liquid.

Most often, experienced winemakers use coal for cleaning. It can be purchased at a regular pharmacy, but it is best to use absorbents designed specifically for water purification. Coal can also be purchased at a specialized store for winemakers.

Using coal, moonshine is filtered in two ways:

mash is passed through a carbon filter;
coal is placed directly in a jar of alcohol.

How to filter through a charcoal filter?

take 1.5 liter bottle, cut off the bottom, make holes in the cork;
We close the neck of the bottle with a cotton pad and put coal on it.
it is advisable to change cotton wool with coal before new cleaning.

Some experienced winemakers use a regular kitchen filter to filter moonshine. This can also be done, but you will need to filter at least 5 times.

But how to put coal in a container with alcohol? It is done like this:

put coal in a jar in the ratio of 50 grams of material per 1 liter of moonshine;
the drink is filtered on its own for about 2 hours;
after 2 hours, replace the coal with a new piece;
repeat the procedure 2-3 times.

Purified in this way moonshine will do for making herbal alcohol tincture. For other drinks, such cleaning with charcoal is not used, since the absorbent well draws out all the useful and pleasant taste qualities from the drink.

Most often, winemakers use coal to separate the mash into “head” and “tail” parts.

And now let's focus our attention on the process of the second distillation of the drink in more detail.

How to make a second run

Initially, the winemaker needs to prepare a moonshine still. Be aware that due to several purification steps, the final amount of alcohol may be increased.

The second distillation of moonshine is faster than the first. Due to the fact that the drink is subjected to thorough filtration and several stages of purification, there are no fusel oils and other harmful impurities in the finished moonshine. They are selected by the winemaker during the distillation process and used at their own discretion. Usually such moonshine is used for technical purposes.

During the second distillation, it is imperative to control the strength of the drink with an alcohol meter. If it is below 42-45 degrees, then fusel oils will remain in alcohol.

Important: high-quality alcohol, subjected to double distillation, should not contain an unpleasant odor.

When distilling mash with a conventional apparatus, 80% alcohol is obtained, and if a modern moonshine is used, then up to 95% alcohol can be obtained.

Winemakers do not recommend pouring "tails" immediately after distillation. If you like strong mash, then during the subsequent distillation of moonshine, add a little “tails” to the composition. But after their addition, the mash is again distilled through the absorbent.

Various substances can be added to the resulting drink, which will improve its taste, color and give it a unique smell.

Additional processing of raw materials

In a specialized store, a winemaker can find any additives that can improve the taste and color of the finished mash. They are added directly to the filtered moonshine. Winemakers who love natural products add to mash fresh berries and aromatic herbs. They give the drink a beautiful color, make the taste of the drink more interesting and help to remove bitterness.

Experienced winemakers clean moonshine after the second distillation with milk. It helps to soften the drink and reduce its strength.

How to add milk to moonshine? Easy:

take 300 ml of natural village milk;
add 1.5 liters of mash to it;
the resulting composition insist 12-14 days.

Thus, if you want to get really high-quality and natural product with which you can please your loved ones, then better mash overtake a second time. So you get really delicious mash. In addition, this process will not take you much time.

Do I need to clean moonshine after the second distillation

Double distillation and cleaning needs to be done. This results in high quality and flavored drink. It is cleaned by insisting on spicy additives. Experienced winemakers know many recipes for such an infusion. Below are the most common ones:

For cooking you need to take:

1 liter of moonshine with a strength of 45%;
100 grams of sugar;
500 grams of blackcurrant berries.

Alcohol is prepared like this:

Rinse the berries under water and pour sugar into them.
Pour the composition with 1 liter of moonshine of double distillation.
Stir the mixture of berries with alcohol thoroughly until the sugar is completely dissolved.
We put the container with the composition in a dark corner of the apartment. It takes 2 weeks to insist.

Important: the longer the alcohol with berries stands, the more intense the taste it will acquire.

After 2 weeks, we get the composition, strain through a paper filter.

To summarize: the second time you need to distill the mash. This will help remove all unnecessary impurities and fusel oils from it. Also, distillation helps to improve the properties and quality ready drink. It is better to spend a little time on the second distillation than to suffer with a sore head later.

The moonshine obtained during the distillation still contains a whole mass of impurities and fusel oils hazardous to health. The higher the strength of the product obtained, the stronger the bond between impurities and fusel oils dissolved in it.

The second distillation of moonshine is necessary primarily to get rid of fusel oils. They are toxic and poisonous substances. When interacting with the skin in its pure form, they can leave a thermal burn, and the ingress of fusel oils into the human body through the respiratory system can cause severe coughing or suffocation. However, they are used for industrial purposes.

The most correct solution to this problem will be the second distillation of moonshine. What we get at the exit is called double-run moonshine, which in its taste is much superior to the original product. Therefore, having spent not so much money and time on these operations, we will get a really clean and high-quality product without third-party odors and impurities.

Preparation for distillation

The first thing to do is to dilute the moonshine for the second distillation. This must be done by pouring moonshine into chilled, and most importantly clean water, until the fortress is 35-40%.

Before re-distillation, moonshine should be cleaned with activated carbon, or any natural absorbent should be used. Activated charcoal should be used in the proportion of 50 g per 1 liter of water. Making a filter? cotton wool, a layer of gauze, coal, gauze and again coal. We filter through such a filter. You can also infuse with charcoal for a week. Then, stirring occasionally, strain through a cloth or gauze bandage.

Cleaning with a filter

Also, to clean moonshine from impurities, you can use a solution of potassium permanganate. We take 300 ml of hot water and dissolve 3 g of potassium permanganate there. We apply such calculations to 1 liter of moonshine. Mix it all up correct proportion and let it sit for an hour. After diluting a tablespoon of baking soda or table salt, mix thoroughly and leave for 2 hours. Once the moonshine is infused, it should be filtered through a gauze filter.

In addition, milk can be used to clean moonshine from fusel oils. The ratio of milk to moonshine is 1:5, 1 liter of drink should be diluted with 200 ml of milk. Then mix thoroughly and let it brew for 30 minutes. The product is ready, and you can safely overtake it.

After carrying out these operations, you can proceed directly to the second distillation.

The process of the second distillation of moonshine

Here the usual distillation process will take place, as well as with mash. How to overtake correctly? We use the same moonshine still, but washed, without mash residues, small pieces fruits or seeds. After all, the remnants of mash in the future can spoil the taste characteristics of the drink. Before starting the second distillation, you should pay attention to the fortress original product. It should be about 60-65%.

The process of the second distillation is not very different from the first. But at the exit from the refrigerator, we will get more drink, because the strength of the original wort is higher. You will spend less time.

During the second distillation, the resulting moonshine should be divided and distilled into fractions. Separation will take place on? tail? and the "head" as well as the most pleasant part of the drink? ?body?.

We take into account the following points:

Usually? head? is approximately 10-12% of the total volume. The resulting product is contraindicated for use, it is harmful to our body. Ideal for technical applications such as surface cleaning and household decontamination.
To determine the main part, as well as the moment when to collect it, use your sense of smell. After receiving 10%, the liquid should be smelled. If there is no pungent odor, then in the process? Is it going? main share. Fortress? body? may be about 84%. In some cases, a product with a strength of 96% is obtained.
When the fortress of the original product is about 45%, use the container to collect the "tail". To constantly monitor the strength of the drink, use a household alcohol meter. Then you will react in time and do not mix these small impurities with the main part. The share containing this part? 10%.

So, "head" leave for household needs. Where do we apply? tails?? It would be a mistake to get rid of them, they can be used to increase the strength of raw materials when added to mash.

The resulting 80% "body" after the second distillation of moonshine is no longer worth

subject to additional processing or filtration. Bred only to a suitable strength and the drink is ready to drink.

Moonshine after the second distillation will no longer contain harmful impurities or heavy metals and will become transparent.

In order not to spoil the whole result, pay attention to the following points. When a temperature of 65-68°C is reached, the release of light impurities begins.

The moonshine obtained in the temperature regime from 65 ° C to 80 ° C will be poisonous and unsuitable, it is during this period that the “head” is released. It is easy to identify it by a slight alcohol smell and condensation on the refrigerator.

The moment of transition to strong heating will be the most crucial. Since you will need a sharp decrease in the heating rate, otherwise the moonshine will simply burn out. Subsequently, the entire journey will be in vain.

We dilute the raw to 15 ° with water, then add refined vegetable oil at the rate of 20 ml per liter of raw.
Close the container with a lid and shake vigorously for a minute, repeat after a couple of minutes and shake again after a couple of minutes for a minute, then leave for a day. If there is no time - at least 12 hours must be allowed to brew.
After this time, carefully remove the film from above - oil with impurities has collected here, and what remains is passed through several layers of gauze a couple of times and always through a carbon filter.

Proper distillation means mandatory intermediate cleaning, but only for sugar and grain mash. Raw from fruit and berry mash should not be cleaned, the organoleptic changes too much. This is where fractional distillation comes into play.

VIDEO: Fractional distillation

Second distillation

Objectively, this stage is not much different from the first, with the exception of the temperature regime. You also need to pay attention to whether you did the cleaning or not. If intermediate cleaning was carried out, merge raw material, tailings into the cube and start the process again. If cleaning was not done, you need to carry out a series of manipulations:

We dilute the raw material to 15 ° with water - this is necessary so that during distillation the distillate is more actively divided into fractions of alcohol, water and impurities.

For the convenience of separating the raw, you can use the "parrot". It makes it easier to control the fortress

Pour the raw water solution into the distillation cube, heat up to 86 ° C and control the appearance of the first drops. In order to make it more convenient, we reduce the temperature to 68 ° and slowly begin to select the heads. In this case, there are already 50 ml per kilogram of sugar.

You can determine the duration of the heads by smell - essential oils and methyl smell sharp and unpleasant. As soon as this aroma disappears (somewhat reminiscent of acetone), the body begins to go, it is already collected in a clean receiving container.

If there is a dry steamer in the design of the apparatus, at this stage it is desirable to clean it too - drain the fusel, rinse and return to its place.

When the heads were cut off, we again raise the temperature and begin to select the body. We select exactly until the fortress begins to fall below 55 °. Next comes the tails.

The strength of the body is measured after it has cooled to 20 °, if the hotter hydrometer will “lie”. And one more thing - do not use household alcohol meters, as a rule, in such situations they are useless. Best of all, the ASP-3 hydrometer copes with the determination of the fortress.

Tails can be ringed, as we wrote earlier - the quality of the final product will only improve from this, but dispose of the heads immediately.

What to do next?

Those who mainly work with grain or fruit must do not clean up, and in vain. They purify not only sugar distillate, but also all others.

For cleaning, you can use the most common carbon filter, and this is quite enough. Then you can use either a pure product or prepare a wide variety of alcoholic drinks based on it. The article "" has a lot of recipes with a detailed description of how and what to cook from. Let’s add on our own, when moonshine becomes your second “I”, do not be greedy and buy a good oak barrel - the incredible taste and aroma of the same whiskey has not yet been canceled.

VIDEO: How heads and tails are cut off and high-quality distillate is made

Many home craftsmen who are engaged in the production of beverages often ask themselves the question: how to improve the quality of their products so that they both like to drink and festive table it was not shameful to put guests.

The best solution is to overtake moonshine again. The resulting product is much cleaner and stronger than the original, it is often called double moonshine. Of course, this will take a little more time, but the result is worth the effort - the drink will turn out to be of really good quality, without an unpleasant odor and impurities.

Double distillation is suitable for all types of moonshine, it does not matter either the method of preparing the mash or the raw materials used. You can overtake even moonshine made a long time ago.

There is nothing complicated in double distillation, the main thing is to observe the order of all stages.
Dilution is the first thing to be done before the second distillation. The logical action would be to pour water into the moonshine, but this can make it cloudy. Therefore, the opposite is done - moonshine is poured into the water. The strength of the drink should fall by 20-35%.

Why is it undesirable to drive without dilution? In strong moonshine, vapors contain a large number of alcohol, which can cause a fire and have to (we recommend choosing a device with a distillation column of the brand or with a dry steamer of the brand). Also, due to the high strength, it is more difficult to break the molecular bond of the drink with fusel oils, therefore, the distillation will be inefficient.

Although many moonshine makers do not add water before re-distilling the moonshine, they say that the unpleasant smell in the diluted drink still remains. This is quite reasonable, but when distilling such moonshine, make sure that there is no open fire nearby.

Cleansing. Before proceeding to the second stage, moonshine is cleaned in any way familiar to a person. Someone prefers potassium permanganate, someone prefers activated carbon. For example, for the first method, 3 g of potassium permanganate dissolved in 300 ml of hot water is taken per 1 liter of moonshine. The solution is mixed and infused for 30 minutes, then a tablespoon is added. rock salt and the same amount of baking soda.

After stirring again, it is infused for another 2 hours. The settled moonshine is passed through the filter. A household water filter is great, but if it is not at hand, you can make an elementary cotton-gauze one.

How to overtake moonshine a second time?

The final stage is no different from the first distillation from mash. The main thing to remember, as mentioned above, is that distilling a strong drink is more dangerous and less effective. Therefore, before starting the process, it will not be superfluous to check the degree of moonshine again.

If in the future moonshine will no longer be processed, at the output it is divided into fractions: head, body and tail.

The head is the first 10% of the resulting drink, it can only be used for technical needs, but not inside. This liquid has an unpleasant odor.

It is impossible to distill the heads of moonshine a second time.

Before you substitute the container for collecting the body of moonshine, you need to make sure that the unpleasant smell is gone, then you can continue collecting.

The tail is determined by the strength of moonshine: it drops to 40%. Most often, this liquid, to increase the strength, is added to the next mash or purified on a distillation column. It is practically useless to distill moonshine tailings; the quality will not get better from this process.

The main part, the body of double moonshine, does not require additional processing. If desired, it can be diluted to the desired strength and used in.

All professional moonshiners at some point are faced with the issue of improving the quality of a strong drink prepared by their own hands. Most popular recipe in this case- This is a secondary distillation of moonshine. Double rectification through a moonshine and a certain temperature during the procedure allows you to make a pure product that will be much stronger and cleaner than the original version. That is why it is recommended to devote more time to making moonshine at home and make the drink truly of high quality, without unnecessary odors and impurities. Among the people, the recipe for cooking using this technology gave the name to the drink "double moonshine".

Re-distillation of moonshine can be carried out with any type of mash, and neither the raw materials nor the recipe for making a strong drink affect the cleaning process. You can make a double distillation of moonshine with a drink that you have stored for a long period of time. Moreover, the distillate will become crystal clear and soft at the exit. However, the temperature during distillation must change in a strictly defined sequence. To receive quality drink at home, let's figure out in detail how to overtake moonshine a second time.

The technological process of obtaining double moonshine

Step one: Dilution with water

First you need to overtake the mash in the usual way, while the temperature of the liquid during this procedure should be equal to 100 ° C. In order to carry out the second distillation of moonshine, the drink must be diluted with clean spring water. Cold purified water should be poured into the alcoholic liquid until the strength of the mash reaches 20-30%. In order for the drink not to become cloudy, it is recommended to pour alcohol into water, and not vice versa. It is dangerous to carry out distillation with a higher concentration of alcohol vapors due to the fact that the moonshine may catch fire. In addition, more strong moonshine the molecular bond with fusel impurities and harmful substances is much stronger, in this case the recipe for the secondary distillation of moonshine will be less effective and will not bring the proper result.

Stage Two: Cleaning

Before the beginning redistillation grain or sugar moonshine at home in without fail needs to be cleaned up. The procedure is performed using potassium permanganate, baking soda, milk, activated carbon and any other adsorbent that is convenient for you.

The most common and classic recipe for this is to make. We will need manganese powder in the amount of 3 grams per 300 ml of water, the temperature of which is more than 40 ° C. The diluted solution is added in proportion to 1 liter of moonshine. The resulting mixture should be mixed well and insisted for 30 minutes. Further, the recipe provides for the addition of 1 tablespoon of baking soda and table salt. Then the contents are mixed again and allowed to stand for two hours. After rectification, the liquid is separated using a water filter or a cotton-gauze funnel.

Step Three: Fractional Distillation

The first thing to do before the final stage is to double-check the strength of the drink. So that the high temperature that occurs during distillation does not cause a fire, the fortress must be equal to 20 degrees. Fractional distillation is carried out by a dry steamer, and the liquid output must be divided into fractions: “head”, “body” and “tail”. The exit temperature of the first 8-10% of the mash is 75 ° C, and this harmful fraction is prohibited for use, since it consists of fusel oils and other low-quality impurities. To obtain the second fraction, the temperature of the mash rises to 95 ° C, and the amount of the drink is 80% of the total liquid and is a double moonshine, that is, the drink that we wanted to get. This part must be collected until the fortress drops to 45%. The exit temperature of the third last fraction rises to 100 ° C, the liquid is recommended to increase the strength of the future moonshine, but you should not use it.

As a result, the second distillation at the outlet gives about 60-70% of a crystal clear drink without impurities and unpleasant odors. You just have to dilute it to a suitable strength and the drink is ready to drink.

Purification of moonshine by distillation is superior in efficiency to any other methods, as it allows you to get rid of the maximum amount of fusel oils. Double or even triple distillation allows you to get the purest product even without intermediate purification, but it will not be superfluous. In many ways, the quality of the final product will depend not only on the raw materials, the number of distillations, but also on their correctness, and the main thing here is the ability to select the necessary alcohol fractions. The problem is that in addition to ethyl alcohol, the mash contains a lot of other alcohols and acids, other unnecessary impurities, each of which boils at a certain temperature, and it is not so easy to track the temperature of the mash and evaporation during distillation.

With modern factory-made moonshine stills, the situation is simpler - they are often supplied complete with special thermometers built into distillation cubes. In other modifications, a niche for a thermometer is provided directly in the distillation column. But what about those who distill moonshine "blindly"? Personally, for example, I use an aluminum flask of 40 liters, a home-made steamer, for driving, copper coil and a non-flow type condensing tank. To help - an alcohol meter, which you can buy at almost every step, as well as the basics of chemistry and mathematics.

Purification of moonshine - the second distillation

So, for starters, a few numbers - I will give them in a table for easier perception, and below I will explain what's what.

	First run	Second stage	Third stage
Light fraction - "pervak", "heads"	2% of the volume of mash	5% of the output of moonshine	2% of moonshine output
Ethyl alcohol - "body"	15% of the volume of mash Gathered to a fortress of 45 degrees	From +76 C o to +84 C o for mash (vapors) or up to 45 degrees of strength of the drink	From +76 C o to +80 C o for mash (vapors) or up to 45 degrees of strength of the drink
Heavy fraction - "tails"	The whole rest is from 45 to 25 degrees	From +84 C o to +95 C o for mash (vapours) or up to 35-40 degrees of strength of the drink	From +80 C o to +95 C o for mash (vapours) or up to 35-40 degrees of strength of the drink

And now in Russian:

Light fraction or "pervak", "heads"- acetone impurities, which are strictly forbidden to use. They drain down the drain without regrets or are used in the garage as a solvent.
Ethyl alcohol or "body"- the product we need, which is suitable for consumption
Heavy fraction "tails"- moonshine with high content fusel oils. Collected separately only at the final stage. That is, if you distill twice, then you separate the tails only on the second stage. And at the first time you expel it into the total mass - into the “body”. If you distill three times, then you separate the tails only on the third stage, and the first two times you drive them straight into the body

The table shows the numbers that you can focus on when distilling using a thermometer to measure the temperature of the mash, as well as the strength of the drink for those who, like me, use only an alcohol meter. The most difficult thing is to guess the total yield of moonshine on the second and third stages in order to clearly separate the “heads” (pervak). But there is no need to guess - we take the exit of the first stage and focus on it, to be sure.

Example! I have 20 liters of mash, which I want to overtake three times. Accordingly, on the first stage, I drain 400 milliliters of pervak, drain the steamer, and collect the entire remainder together with the tails in one container - I get about 3 liters of raw moonshine. It must be diluted with water to a strength of 20-30 degrees to facilitate separation into fractions during subsequent distillation and eliminate the possibility of ignition of alcohol vapor. I get about 4-4.5 liters of workpiece. I distill for the second time, draining about 150 milligrams of “heads”, draining the steamer, and collecting the rest to a condensate strength of about 30 degrees. It should come out no more than 3 liters, but according to the mind - a little less. I dilute the resulting alcohol with water to a strength of 20-30 degrees and distill it for the third time, separating only 50-60 milligrams of “heads”, draining the steamer, and then, collecting the body to a condensate strength of 45 degrees according to an alcohol meter, I collect the remaining tails up to 35 degrees separately and use it on the first run of the next mash. I dilute the product obtained as a result of a triple distillation with clean water to a strength of 40-45 degrees. About 2.5-3 liters of pure vodka should come out, depending on the quality of the mash.

After the selection of "heads", it is necessary to drain the sukhoparnik, since part of the light fractions remains in it, and then it is transferred to the "body".

Intermediate purification of moonshine after the second distillation

Between hauls, intermediate cleaning can be carried out, although this is not necessary. To do this, add ordinary vegetable oil to the billet already diluted with water to a strength of 20 degrees at the rate of about 20 milligrams of oil per 1 liter of the billet. Shake well, leave for a day, drain through a silicone tube.

Of course, doing everything that is described above is quite troublesome, but the quality of the product really improves noticeably. I recommend to lay in a dry steamer before the final haul (after the selection of heads) lemon peel, fragrant fruits and spices - they give the drink a light pleasant aroma.