An option for disposing of substandard, but ripened fruits or expired tomato paste. Due to the low content of natural sugars in tomatoes, it cannot be said that pure moonshine from tomatoes will turn out; rather, it is a successful flavoring of sugar distillate. But the organoleptic properties of the drink will change for the better beyond recognition.
For the preparation of mash, tomatoes of any variety are suitable: green, yellow or red. If only the fruits were ripe (you can use overripe ones).
Ingredients:
- tomatoes – 10 kg (or 2 kg of tomato paste);
- sugar – 2 kg;
- water – 6 liters for tomatoes or 12 liters for pasta;
- yeast – 200 grams pressed or 50 grams dry.
Due to the low initial sweetness of tomatoes, sugar must be added to the mash, otherwise the yield will be scanty, and fermentation will be very weak. The average sugar content of tomatoes is 4%, which means that to obtain 1 liter of pure tomato moonshine (without sugar) with a strength of 40 degrees, approximately 25 kg of raw materials are required. According to the proportions in the recipe, you can expect 2,5-3 liters of 40% distillate.
Braga from tomato (paste) on dry, pressed or alcoholic yeast ferments very quickly – 2-4 days (regular sugar – 5-10 days). To improve the aroma of moonshine, you can use wine yeast instead of the usual ones, but the fermentation period will increase by 2-3 times.
Recipe for tomato mash
1. Wash the tomatoes well. Remove the stalks, spoiled and rotten parts. Cut the fruits into pieces, pass through a meat grinder. Pour 4 liters of boiling water (approximately 70% of the required amount of water, if the proportions differ from those indicated in the recipe), cover, leave for 30 minutes.
Dilute tomato paste in 6 liters of boiling water (50% water), cover, leave for 20-25 minutes.
2. Pour the wort into a fermentation tank. Dissolve sugar in the remaining water (2 liters for tomatoes and 6 liters for pasta). Add the resulting syrup to the wort. It is advisable not to fill the container more than 75% of the volume so that there is room for foam.
3. Add the yeast diluted according to the instructions on the package. At this point, the temperature in the fermentation tank must not exceed 30°C, otherwise the yeast will die. You can lower the temperature with cold water.
4. Install a water seal (medical glove with a hole in the finger). Transfer the tomato or tomato mash to a dark room (can be covered) with a stable temperature of 18-28 ° C and leave until the end of fermentation.
The mash that has won back is bitter in taste without sweetness, lighter than initially, a layer of sediment is observed at the bottom, and the water seal does not emit gas (the glove is blown off).
5. Drain the finished mash from the sediment and filter through cheesecloth so that solid residues do not burn during distillation.
Getting tomato moonshine
6. Distill the mash for the first time, finish the selection of the main product when the strength in the stream drops below 15-20% (immediately, as soon as an unpleasant smell appears).
7. Measure the strength of the distillate, determine the amount of pure alcohol (multiply the percentage of strength by the volume in liters and divide by 100).
8. Dilute moonshine with water up to 20% and overtake again. Collect the first 8-12% of the yield of pure alcohol separately. This part is called the “head” and can only be used for technical needs, it is dangerous to drink it.
9. Finish collecting moonshine when the strength in the jet drops below 45%.
10. Dilute the resulting drink with water up to 40-45% and keep for 2-3 days in a dark, cool place before drinking to stabilize the taste. Store in glass, hermetically sealed containers.
