Ostap Bender, the notorious son of a Turkish citizen, offered foreigners 200 recipes for making moonshine from whatever their heart desires (from a stool, for example). But to make this strong alcoholic drink, you need mash, from which, in fact, it is distilled. How to make mash for moonshine correctly, what ingredients it should consist of, what is the sequence of preparation steps - these questions arise first of all for beginner moonshiners. Let's try to answer some of them in this article.
A little historical background
Of course, the knowledge of how to make mash (including for moonshine) was possessed in antiquity. The fermentation process - one of the most common in nature - formed the basis of the name of this product. The whole history of alcoholic beverages began with mash or home beer. Brewing is as old as the world. It existed even among the ancient Egyptians. And braga is homemade beer, which has long been valued as tasty and useful product. Mesopotamia, Babylon and Ancient Greece often used this drink to enter a state of special trance, cultivated at the festivities. Dionysius is a prime example of history. In general, it is rare for a folk holiday to do without the use of (in the beginning - cult) mash or beer. The ancient peoples seemed to compete with each other in the ways of making mash and drinks from it. Everything went into business: cereals, bread, berries, fruits, flowers, honey.
The Japanese, for example, prepared the traditional sake, vodka made from rice, developed in the east many thousands of years ago (and this type of strong drink, which is consumed hot, remains the most popular in this region to this day). In Scotland and Ireland, barley, wheat, and rye were used to make a strong alcoholic drink called whiskey. AT Ancient Rus' an alternative was mead making, which was known as early as the twelfth century. A variety of spices were added to mead to improve the taste, which contributed to the development of trade with the East. In general, from what and how to make mash for moonshine (and these strong alcohol in essence they are), people in various countries have known for a long time.
Where is the alcohol from?
Beginners in moonshine brewing often have various questions. For example, where does the ethyl alcohol in Braga come from? The fact is that live yeast feeds on sugar and releases alcohol as a product of its vital activity. But as soon as the ethanol content exceeds twelve percent, the yeast dies because it cannot survive at such a high concentration of alcohol. Accordingly, the fermentation process is completed. Note that alcohol can only be obtained from a variety of sugars - nothing else! And according to palatability mash made from fruits and berries will be much better than just made from sugar and yeast.
How much yeast to put?
It is known that the best mash will be obtained with this ratio: one kilogram of sugar, 100 grams of live yeast or 25 grams of dry, three to four liters of water (according to various sources). Some craftsmen add the so-called top dressing - minerals containing nitrogen and fluorine. This is done to speed up the fermentation process of the wort. When using fruits and berries, top dressing is not needed.
Capacity
The volume of fermentation dishes depends entirely on your needs. But in any case, the liquid should not occupy more than three-quarters of the container. Now available for sale plastic barrels for food products various sizes and configurations. So choose the one that suits you best. For example, in a container of 80 liters, you can cook up to 60 liters of mash. The use of large glassware is also legal, but is associated with increased risk its use (may crack, break when rearranged from place to place). Although some claim that right mash for moonshine it turns out only in glass. Believe me, it's not. Just a tradition. Yes, it would be best to put your container on a sturdy stool up to 50 centimeters high or on a small table. So it will be more convenient to express the resulting mash with a rubber hose.
How much moonshine is obtained from mash?
According to the experimental data of amateur moonshiners, from ten liters of raw material for distillation, about three liters of moonshine should be obtained. But it all depends on original product for the wort, the usefulness of the fermentation process, the distillation method (if you have a bowl with cold water and a saucepan, then the losses will be significant).
Another important point is the cutting off of "heads" and "tails" (as the first and last 100 grams of moonshine are called). The "heads" contain volatile essential oils, which are extremely harmful. In the "tails" the degree drops, and it's time to stop distillation. So ideally - another minus 200-300 grams to get a better product. It has also been experimentally proven that most of the moonshine will come out of the wort using sugar, starch, and cereals. Least of all - from fruits, berries, grapes.
Making mash for moonshine
For example, we need to produce 60 liters of raw materials. This brew for moonshine is made from granulated sugar, yeast and water. Pour into the prepared container 40 liters of pure spring or well water, heated to 30 degrees. You can take water from the tap, but in this case it must be allowed to settle. Do not boil! In this process, it loses some of the oxygen, which is so necessary for the life of the yeast. How to make brew for moonshine? Pour 16 kilograms of granulated sugar into a container and stir well until it is completely dissolved. The volume of the solution will increase and the temperature will decrease. We take one kilogram raw yeast and fall asleep in a barrel. The water temperature should be 20-25 degrees. Mix completely. You can also add five raw grated potatoes to the wort (but in last resort(may be without potatoes). Mix the contents again. Loosely put on the lid. We wait.
After about half an hour, the yeast begins its vital activity. Fermentation occurs, the temperature gradually rises. This process can be quite turbulent. It lasts about a day. Sometimes foam comes out. Do not try to bring down the foam by stirring the mash. It can only hurt. It is better to add a glass to the container fresh milk. Can splash a little sunflower oil. You can throw a piece of cookie. These methods knock down the foam. They do not affect the result of fermentation in any way. Also, you can not tightly close the lid on the barrel, otherwise the carbon dioxide released during the process can simply rip it off.
After three to four days, the mash calms down, the foam stops forming, and gas emission stops. At this stage, you can add water to the barrel, bringing the volume of liquid to 60 liters. Close the lid and put the barrel in a warm place. To better keep warm, wrap the container with a blanket. The optimum process temperature is up to 30 degrees (so the yeast is most active). Remember also that it is dangerous to overheat the mash, because the yeast dies at temperatures above 35. It is better to allow the temperature to drop to 22-25 degrees than to increase. At the same time, the maturation period of the mash will only slightly increase.
without oxygen
During this period, it is recommended to stop the access of oxygen to the barrel, so as not to interfere with the fermentation process. We close the lid hermetically, and remove carbon dioxide through a tube into a jar of water (we make a water seal). After seven to eight days, our mash begins to brighten and becomes not sweet, but bitter (if you feel sweet, stir the contents and let stand for a couple more days). After that, the mash is ready for further distillation. This is just one of the recipes for how to put mash on moonshine, but it is undoubtedly the simplest and most popular among the people, since it does not involve any additional ingredients except water, sugar and yeast.
From jam, marmalade, jam
Braga from jam for moonshine is usually prepared in cases where the year before last year’s jam “was lying around” in your pantry. You shouldn't throw it away. You can try to make a good, high-quality mash. In jam, as a rule, there is already a lot of sugar, so we take fifteen liters of water three-liter jar jam, add one and a half kilograms of granulated sugar, yeast. This is a very simple recipe that does not require large investments. Such mash can be drunk like young wine, or it can be distilled, getting good moonshine.
Apple
Braga from apples for moonshine is also always a popular raw material. The thing is that for people who have their own garden, this is one of the most affordable ways to recycle fallen fruit. Don't waste good! Apples produce not only an excellent moonshine with a special taste, but also a pleasant light drinking mash, a kind of cider. How is apple brew prepared for moonshine? Need to take 30 kilos ripe apples, 20 liters of pure spring water, five kilograms of sugar, 100 grams of dry yeast. Wash the collected apples, clean them from rot, seeds, core, cut into small slices.
It is better to take apples of sweet varieties. We grind the raw materials until a homogeneous mass is formed (using a meat grinder, crusher or drill with a special nozzle). We place the mass in a barrel and fill it with prepared water. We make syrup from sugar and also pour it into a container. Yeast (100 grams dry) dissolved in warm water, add to the main wort, mix. Loosely close the barrel and set to ferment in a warm place for 10 days. Over time, a “cap” of pulp should form on the surface of the mash, which can prevent fermentation. The layer must be stirred, destroyed, so that a foam forms and a pleasant apple aroma appears. After about 10 days, the drink will clear up, stop bubbling, and the pulp will fall to the bottom. This is another way to put mash on moonshine.
Yeast free
You can also make apple mash without sugar and yeast, using only very sweet varieties of apples. Let's do an initial test. Grind one kilogram of unwashed apples and wait for the start of the fermentation process (usually one or two days). If everything is in order, then we do everything according to the above recipe, but do not put sugar. And we replace the yeast with raisins (150 grams) or sprouted wheat (100 grams). However, remember that this version of the mash gives much less moonshine at the exit.
From cereals
And to find out how mash is prepared for moonshine from wheat, it is enough to study the following recipe (calculation for a 19-liter bottle). You need to take wheat suitable for germination (it is easy to buy on the market) - one kilogram.
Fill the grain with water so that it only covers it, put it in a warm place. In a day, the wheat will germinate. Add 600 grams of granulated sugar, mix, pour in a little water - you get a sourdough. She wanders up to 10 days. Pour the prepared sourdough into a bottle, add another three kilograms of wheat and three kilograms of sugar, pour warm water. The total volume of the wort is two-thirds of the bottle. We put on the neck rubber glove, we wait about a week, after which the brew for moonshine from wheat is ready. From one serving of wheat in this way, you can cook two or three servings of mash, draining the finished one and adding sugar. It turns out an excellent raw material for the distillation of grain moonshine.
Braga is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages, which appeared long before vodka and moonshine. Even before our era, a person noticed that from any sweet juice left in a vessel for a long time, it turns cloudy, foamy drink containing alcohol. Mash recipe for the preparation of moonshine appeared by chance, but thanks to the experiments, as well as work to improve the taste and quality of the drink, it has survived to our times, having gained immense popularity among the peoples of the world, especially the Slavs.
Moonshine is a high-strength intoxicating drink, which is the result of the distillation of mash (alcohol-containing raw materials). We will talk about how to properly drive moonshine at home in this article.
One of the main components of the mash is sugar, the quality of which depends final result alcoholic products.
Using bad sugar you are guaranteed bad smell and the taste of mash. However, on the other hand, different sugar allows you to experiment with the taste of the resulting moonshine.
Water is also important, which must be drinkable and absolutely clean. In no case should the liquid be boiled - the water must contain oxygen.
At the next stage, we choose yeast, because without this product you will not get a high-quality drink. There are the following types of yeast, each of which has its own characteristics:
In addition to yeast must, other minerals can be used, such as dried black bread or well-boiled grain. To prepare 10 liters of mash, use 1 kg. other elements.
And the last rule is to block the output of carbon dioxide.
How to make mash at home?
The brewing process includes the following steps:
Choosing raw materials
As mentioned earlier, sugar is needed to produce the wort. You can just take granulated sugar or use products that contain sugar. It can be various fruits, berries, sugar beets, etc. Also used as a raw material starchy ingredients (rice, corn, rye, wheat). Starch itself does not have fermentation properties, however, under the influence of enzymes contained in malt, it easily turns into sugar. Remember that the quality of moonshine, first of all, is determined by the quality of raw materials.
Fermentation
After the wort preparation stage is completed, it undergoes fermentation, as a result of which sugar is processed into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The quantity and quality of the final product directly depends on the correctness of the fermentation process. At all stages of home brewing, including this, it is very important to follow the technology.
In the room where the fermentation tank is located a certain temperature must be maintained, while its drops should be avoided. In addition, it is necessary to monitor the temperature of the mash, as it heats up during the fermentation process. The optimum room temperature is considered to be 25-28 degrees. If the temperature is lower, fermentation will slow down, or even stop altogether (below 20 degrees). The mash itself should not be heated above 40 degrees, otherwise the yeast will begin to die. The duration of the fermentation process is determined by the selected yeast, raw materials, as well as temperature and is 1-14 days or more.
To prepare mash at home, granulated sugar is most often used, so the most popular recipe is classic.
How to cook sugar mash?
This method is considered the most simple and affordable, and on its basis you can prepare a drink in various variations. To prepare the mash, you will need the following ingredients:
Water - 5 l;
sugar - 1 kg;
pressed yeast - 100 gr. (or 18 gr., Saf-moment).
First, sugar is dissolved in warm water, after which yeast is added. If they are pressed, they are pre-bred in a small amount sugar solution wait for activation (3-5 minutes), dry - just scatter on the surface of the syrup. The container is closed with a water seal and left for 7 days for fermentation. After this period, the liquid (without yeast sediment) is drained and distilled through a moonshine still.
For the purpose of beautifying classic moonshine any berries, fruits, such as blackthorn, plums, grapes, etc., can be added to the mash, which not only improve the taste of the drink and give it delicate fragrance, they also actively contribute to the fermentation process due to wild yeast present on their surface.
How to put mash on moonshine from starch raw materials: recipe
Moonshine from grain has original taste
and flavor, so it is among the most noble drinks. The process of its preparation is a bit more complicated than the classic one, however, the end result will please you very much. As raw materials, you can use flour, grain or cereals. The grain contains a large number of starch containing sugar molecules. They are the main component necessary for fermentation.
The conversion of starch into sugar occurs under the influence of enzymes present in malt - germinated grain. First you need to germinate the grain (1 kg), grind it and mix it with crushed (not germinated) grain, flour or cereals. Since the starch in these components is locked inside the cells, the groats (flour, drablenka) must first be boiled, which contributes to the destruction of the shell to facilitate the release of starch to the outside. This solution is the wort.
The main difficulty in the preparation of starch moonshine lies in the density of the fermented wort, due to which classical distillation through the apparatus is impossible: the product will surely burn to the walls of the device and the moonshine will be spoiled.
It is necessary to distill grain wort using steam or using a water or any other bath (for example, glycerin).
How to make mash for moonshine: alternative ways
For the preparation of high quality fragrant drink you can use other ingredients besides sugar and starch.
How to make mash for moonshine from jam: recipe
We will need the following components:
- Warm water - 30 l;
- fermented jam - 6 l;
- pressed yeast - 200 gr;
- sugar - 3 kg.
Stir the jam with water, add yeast, then sugar. Insist 5 days. The result is 6 liters of delicious and quality mash suitable for the distillation of moonshine.
How to put mash on apples?
For the recipe we need:
- Warm water - 20 l;
- dry yeast - 100 gr;
- whole apples - 30 kg or chopped - 10 kg;
- sugar - 4 kg.
Cut well-washed and peeled apples into small pieces, removing rotten parts. The fruits are then crushed, but not to a puree state. To do this, you can use a grater, crusher or blender. The result should be 10 liters of apple mixture.
The ratio of water and sugar is required should be 5:1, regardless of the number of ingredients taken.
For cooking apple mash it is better to take dry yeast - this will help to avoid souring. But if their specific smell annoys you, you can use wine.
Getting ready first sugar syrup, into which apple must is then added, everything is thoroughly mixed. Before adding yeast, they must be prepared - diluted in a small amount of water (only warm) and left for 20 minutes. After this time, all components are connected.
When using baker's yeast, such a mash is prepared for 10 days, with dry yeast - up to 21 days.
The process of distilling mash quite simple and is as follows:
To receive good moonshine important role plays not only the quality of the ingredients taken, but also the cleanliness of the dishes. Of course, special sterilization is not required, just rinse the containers with boiling water and wipe thoroughly.
Neglect of this rule can lead to distillation of smelly moonshine. Therefore, before starting the process be sure to soak hoses, pots and other necessary utensils to completely remove even small particles.
How to drive moonshine correctly at home?
After carrying out all the preparatory activities, we proceed to the main stage of making moonshine. This truly Slavic drink is prepared in stages:
Drink, manufactured according to technology will undoubtedly please you with its taste and purity. When using it, you will always experience joy, and in the morning you will not feel any headache.
Attention, only TODAY!
Stronger than which is only ristretto, obtained in coffee machines, you will need:
- small ()
- clean, filtered water
- a stove or a special apparatus for heating sand
- finely ground coffee.
If you are hypertensive, give up coffee. It can cause you to have a hypertensive crisis.
coffee recipe
Take two small spoons with a slide for every hundred grams of water, place coffee in a cezve. Heat the bottom over a stove or a tray of sand to bring out the aroma of the coffee more.Pour water into the Turk to the narrowest point, the water should be cold and clean. You can add sugar to taste.
Put the Turk on the stove or in very hot sand, cook on the quietest fire, because the longer it cooks, the more interesting and brighter its aroma.
During heating, coffee particles with ascending streams of hot water tend to rise to the top, forming a dense crust. When the water is close to boiling, small air bubbles at the edges break through the crust, forming a tender coffee foam. In order not to spoil the taste of the drink, do not let it escape.
When foam forms around the edges of the coffee peel, remove the cezve from the stove or remove it from the sand. Boiling water promotes decomposition essential oils, the destruction of the crust and kills the taste of the drink, adding an unpleasant sourness.
After you have removed the Turk from the stove, add spices to the drink to taste. It can be cinnamon, vanilla, pepper, nutmeg or ginger.
Put the coffee back on the fire for a short while until the foam rises to the surface again.
After that, the coffee is ready. If you want to get a very strong and bitter coffee, brew it again, but do not bring it to a boil. If desired, the drink can be supplemented, or sweet. Take out the coffee cup, warm it up a little, pour it from the cezve into a cup of coffee so that the foam is on the surface of the drink in the cup.
Turkish coffee is served with a glass of pure water.
Coffee must be poured into a warm cup, a cold one can simply spoil the whole taste.
If you are not sure about the quality of the water, use boiled water. Cooking this delicious coffee needs inspiration, don't try it fast. Instead of sugar at the brewing stage, you can add honey or chocolate, of course, it will be non-traditional Turkish coffee, but this variation will not affect coffee, and the taste may seem interesting to you.
SUGAR (C 6 H 12 O 6) + YEAST + WATER (H 2 O) → ETHYL ALCOHOL (2C 2 H 5 OH) + WATER (H 2 O) + CARBON DIOXIDE (2CO 2)
Alcohol is a by-product of life yeast, i.e. they eat sugar, in the aquatic environment (minerals) while releasing alcohol and carbon dioxide. Therefore, for quick receipt high-quality mash, it is necessary to monitor the condition (well-being) of the yeast. Optimum mash temperature 24°-40°. With a decrease in the lower temperature threshold, yeast (bread) fall asleep, and with an increase in the upper perish. When falling asleep the latter, the solution can be heated (put in a warm place), and if 40 ° is exceeded, yeast can be added to a cooler place. fermentation process(yeast propagation) can be accelerated by periodically stirring the mash, as is done in the production of beer. I haven’t tried it myself, but they say that you can cook in an old-style washing machine mash for moonshine in a few hours. You can also speed up the fermentation process by adding catalysts: potatoes, peas, tomato paste, decoction of hops.
Fermentation rate depends on the concentration of sugar in the solution, the more it is, the better, but when the strength of the mash is reached, the higher 15°, yeast begins to die from alcohol and the fermentation process slows down. Therefore, the excessive sugar content in mash (if we use it later for distillation) leads to its loss and an increase in the cost of the final product. After finishing fermentation just try mash, it should be bitter and without a sweet taste.
If we do not distill the mash in the future, but drink it like mead, then I would advise using less yeast so that there is no yeasty taste, and more sugar, anyway, above 15 ° mead will not work.
How to make brew for moonshine right.
17. from beets
recipe 1 8 kg of sugar beets, 5-6 kg of sugar, 10 liters of water, 500 g of yeast. Peel the beets, grate and boil (or bake in the oven). Add 10 liters of water and yeast diluted in a small amount of water to the still warm beets. Insist in a warm place for 3-4 days. When the beet mass sinks to the bottom and becomes covered with a crust, mix everything and overtake 2 times.
recipe 2 2 kg beets, 50 g yeast, 4 liters of water. Grate beets on coarse grater, then pour water and boil for 1-1.5 hours. Pour the broth into a vessel, and again pour beets with water and boil for 1-1.5 hours, then drain. Do this a third time as well. Mix all three broths, add yeast and leave for 10-15 days. Overtake.
18. from syrup 6 l syrup, 200 g yeast, 30 l water. Dilute any syrup in warm water, add yeast. Wanders week. Then overtake. The output is approximately 7 liters.
19. from plums 12 kg of plums, 1-1.5 kg of sugar. Peel and chop plums, add sugar. It ferments for 2 weeks. We distill 2 times.
20. from dried fruits 2 kg of dried fruits, 10 l of water, 3 kg of sugar, 300 g of yeast. Boil dried fruits hot water, add the rest of the ingredients. Roam for a week. Then we distill. The output is approximately 3.5 liters. Before distillation, you can add - for flavor and tinting - a bunch of dried thyme.
21. pumpkin 2 parts pumpkin, 1 part water, malt (100 g per 10 liters of pumpkin raw materials). We clean the pumpkin by cutting into small pieces. Boil and mash in homogeneous mass. Mix pumpkin mass with crushed malt, add yeast and put on fermentation. Overtake as soon as ferment.
22. Braga from apples 15 kg apples, 1 kg Sahara, 65 g yeast. Infuse for 7 days, distill 2 times. Yield 1 l.
| Type of raw material | Moonshine output, ml | Alcohol yield, ml |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1100 | 510 |
| 1520 | 720 | |
| Rice | 1250 | 590 |
| Buckwheat | 1000 | 470 |
| Wheat | 920 | 430 |
| oats | 900 | 360 |
| Rye | 880 | 410 |
| Millet | 880 | 410 |
| Peas | 860 | 400 |
| Barley | 720 | 340 |
| Potato | 350 | 140 |
| 250 | 110 | |
| Beet sugar. | 210 | 100 |
| Pears | 165 | 70 |
| Apples | 140 | 60 |
| Cherry | 121 | 50 |
Word " Braga" has a single root with the word "roam", which illustrates the technology of its preparation. In finished form, it is a low-alcohol, pleasantly refreshing drink with a strength of no more than 9 degrees. Braga at home, the recipes of which you will find in this section, differs in the composition of the fermentation mixture and does not require special knowledge or equipment.
Braga is a mixture of sugar-containing foods that have undergone a fermentation fermentation process. Prepare it as for distillation and moonshine distillation and for use on its own.
How to make mash
The basic technology of preparation is quite simple: the sugar-containing mixture is fermented at room temperature. The mixture can be water with sugar, jam, syrup and other sweet foods. As you can see, the drink is very easy to make. All you need is water and food high content sugar or fructose.
Homemade mash recipes are simple, in the simplest of them it is enough to take only water, sugar, add yeast to the mixture, and keep the mixture for several days in a warm place until cooked. The cooking time of the mash varies depending on the raw materials used for the manufacture, and can vary from 6-8 hours to several weeks.
The benefits of mash
Ready mash has many useful properties. It perfectly quenches thirst in the heat, is able to relax and soothe a tired person. And due to the fact that in the process of preparation the fermentation of raw materials occurs, it also contains fermentation products that are useful for the body. Here you will learn how to make mash yourself, various recipes its preparation, Interesting Facts and information about this simple, tasty and healthy drink.
After checking the cellar, there may be a couple of jars of old compote that need to be recycled before a fresh batch arrives. There is the most common and fairly simple way - the preparation of moonshine. Below are the correct...
