Making moonshine from malt is somewhat more difficult than sugar, but the result is worth the effort. Depending on the selected grain (barley, oats, rye or wheat), the finished distillate will have unique flavor notes and a unique smell. Masters call it the “soul” of the drink. Next, we will consider the nuances of the technology for making malt mash and the correct distillation.
Ingredients:
- malt (any) – 6 kg;
- water – 25 liters;
- dry yeast – 50 grams (or 300 grams pressed).
Suitable for both shop (beer) and home-made malt. In the second case, you can not dry the sprouted grain, but immediately make mash from green malt. Good results are obtained by mixing different types of malt. For example, 50% barley, 25% wheat and 25% rye. Or 50% wheat, 40% barley and 10% oats.
The proportions may be different, experienced moonshiners select the proportions at their discretion, guided by taste. For beginners, I advise you to first work with one species and only after several successful distillations take on mixing. From wheat and green malt, soft moonshine with a slight sweet aftertaste is obtained, rye and oats bring notes of hardness, barley – beer tones and aroma of whiskey.
It is desirable to make real malt moonshine without sugar. But if there is a desire to increase the yield, sugar can be added at the 5th stage of preparation, and for each kilogram added, an additional 4 liters of water should be added, without this the mash will not ferment at all or the fermentation will be very weak. The theoretically possible yield of distillate from malt and other starchy raw materials is shown in the table. In practice, losses are usually 10-15%.
| Raw materials | Alcohol, ml/kg |
|---|---|
| Wheat | 430 |
| Barley | 350 |
| Rye | 360 |
| Corn | 450 |
| Oat | 280 |
| Peas | 240 |
| Millet | 380 |
| rice | 530 |
| beans | 390 |
| Potatoes | 140 |
| Starch | 710 |
| Sugar | 640 |
It is very important to adhere to the temperature ranges indicated in the recipe, otherwise the yield of moonshine will be extremely low, since the starch in the malt will not be saccharified.
Malt mash recipe
1. Grind white (dried) malt to coarse flour. This can be done with a grain crusher or a roller mill. Often store-bought malt is sold ground, which saves a lot of time. Grind green malt with a meat grinder, blender or grinder with a special nozzle.
2. Pour crushed malt into a large saucepan, pour hot water (50-55°C). In the process of adding water, stir the wort with a wooden spatula so that the flour does not clump and stick to the bottom of the container. Stir until the mass becomes homogeneous.
3. Heat the wort to 63°C, mix well again, close the container with a lid. Maintain the temperature at 60-80°C for 55-62 minutes, stirring the contents of the pan every 15 minutes. When the top of the wort clears and the porridge settles to the bottom, move on to the next step.
4. As soon as possible (especially if green malt was used) cool the wort to 24-27°C so that it does not sour. There are 30-40 minutes available. You can not wait until the temperature drops by itself, artificial cooling is required. For example, lower the container into a bath of cold water.
5. Pour the chilled wort into a fermentation tank, add the yeast diluted according to the instructions, mix well.
6. Move the container with mash to a dark place with a temperature of 18-25 ° C, install a water seal on the neck.
7. Depending on the sugar content of the malt, temperature and yeast activity, fermentation lasts 3-7 days. Once a day, remove the water seal and mix the mash with your hand or a wooden stick. Braga is considered ready when it has become light, has a bitter-sour taste without sweetness, and gas has not been released from the tube for 12-16 hours.
Obtaining malt moonshine
8. If not a steam generator is used for distillation, but an ordinary moonshine still, first the mash must be filtered by pouring it into a distillation cube through a colander and a strainer so that small particles of grain do not burn with strong heat.
9. Distill the malt brew for the first time. Select distillate before the drop of the fortress in the jet below 30%. Moonshine may turn cloudy, this is normal.
10. Measure the total strength. Determine the amount of absolute alcohol (multiply the volume by the percentage of the fortress and divide by 100).
11. Dilute the distillate with water up to 20%, can be cleaned with charcoal and distilled again. Collect the first 12-15% of the yield from the amount of pure alcohol in a separate container. This harmful fraction is called “head”, contains dangerous substances, therefore it is used only for technical purposes.
12. Collect the main product (“body”) until the strength in the jet drops below 45%. After that, finish the distillation or select the “tail” in a separate container.
13. Dilute the obtained moonshine from malt (“body”) with water up to 40-45%, pour into a glass container and close tightly.
14. Leave for at least 3-4 days to stabilize the taste.
