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In the variety of alcoholic beverages, moonshine is located somewhat apart. And the point is not only that it is possible to cook it yourself at home. There are many controversial opinions about how good this drink is.
And it happens that this word refers to factory-made products, but of low quality. In response to this, I will simply tell you what moonshine is and how it is brewed.
What is moonshine
Moonshine has long been called a home-made drink, which was obtained from an alcohol-containing liquid – mash. It was prepared from sugar, potatoes, starch, beets, and from any organic product that contains a lot of carbohydrates. Now the principle of making moonshine has not changed much.
During fermentation, sugar decomposes into alcohols and carbon dioxide. Sometimes, to start the process, baker’s or wine yeast can be added to the mash. Gas is not used in moonshine brewing, but alcohol is extracted from mash and used to make drinks.
That is, moonshine is called a drink containing ethyl alcohol, obtained by distillation or distillation from pre-prepared wort. Its fortress can be from 40% vol. (or, more commonly, degrees) up to 85-90% vol. At the same time, you should not confuse it with vodka, which is prepared from the highest purity alcohol without any impurities.
I often heard the opinion that moonshine is some kind of surrogate, that is, an inferior product that is impossible to drink. Frankly, I myself thought so, because I happened to try this drink several times. The disgusting smell, incomprehensible cloying was not perceived by me at all until … I myself decided to try to expel something.
The same village moonshine, “sung” in cinema and literature – cloudy, poured into large bottles, has nothing to do with a quality drink that you can make at home. It used to turn out this way because in the conditions of a peasant economy it was difficult to provide normal conditions for distillation.
They were driven on the stove or on the fire. Very fast. So it turned out moonshine with particles of mash, often even unfermented. Real moonshine is clean and transparent, and if it is made from sugar-yeast mash, it has practically no foreign smells and tastes.
The decision came to me when it was simply a pity to throw away the remains of berries and fruits that had fermented into wine. After all, they still have a lot of sugar and all sorts of tasty and aromatic substances. Then I bought a simple distiller – an alembic and a cooler. Frankly, the first experience of distilling ordinary sugar mash was unsuccessful. The resulting moonshine was quite strong, but tasteless.
Later, remembering chemistry, I quickly pulled myself up in theory and practice, and now my friends even ask me to treat them to my own drinks. It turns out that if you take your time, follow the cooking technology, you can create really interesting things even at home. Moonshine turns out to be of high quality, and drinks based on it turn out to be tasty, fragrant.
What equipment is needed for moonshine
How to get alcohol from mash? It turns out it’s simple. The fact is that alcohols evaporate at a lower temperature than water. If the necessary conditions are provided, the alcohol will begin to evaporate, and the water will not even boil yet. This is what special equipment is needed for.
The minimum set for distillation of distillate consists of a distillation vessel (it is sometimes called a still) and a cooler in which alcohol vapor condenses and turns into a liquid. But to get a better quality drink, you need to include several more devices in the circuit.
One of these is a dryer. It is installed between the cube and the cooler and captures water particles that may still be in alcohol, as well as heavy fusel oils. In the “advanced” version, there may be several dry steamers.
It is difficult to do without high-quality alcohol meters. If you navigate in the old fashioned way – “burns, does not burn”, you are unlikely to get good moonshine.
In addition, I also use a device to control the fortress (popularly – “parrot”). It is a high capacity of approximately 250 milliliters with two nozzles. “Parrot” is connected to the cooler with a hose.
Moonshine first fills its volume, and only then it is poured into a receiving container – a jar or pan. You can immerse the alcohol meter in the moonshine located in the device and visually control the fortress right during distillation.
With the help of a special column for additional purification or flavoring, you can give moonshine certain properties. I sometimes include a column in the process between the “parrot” and the receiving tank. Inside, depending on what I want to get at the exit, I fall asleep or activated charcoal, or flavoring herbs. Coal – for cleaning, aromatic additives – to improve organoleptic properties.
How moonshine is brewed
To start the distillation, you need to properly prepare the wort. It is this common name in home brewing that alcohol-containing liquids intended for distillation have. I will tell you how to prepare the wort using the example of a regular sugar-yeast mash.
Cooking Wort
Any large glass container that can be hermetically sealed will do. I use a 22 liter bottle. I pour warm (no more than 30 ° C) sugar syrup, prepared in a proportion of 2 kg of sugar per 10 liters of water.
Water must be non-chlorinated and not boiled. The ideal option is from a well, rich in oxygen dissolved in it. Then I pour dissolved dry baker’s yeast into the bottle at the rate of 40 grams of dry yeast per 10 liters of syrup.
You need to activate the yeast in a small amount of slightly sweetened warm water. The container should not be filled “to the throat”, as a lot of foam is formed at the beginning of fermentation. It is advisable to fill two-thirds of the volume.
After all the components are placed in the fermentation tank, it must be closed, leaving a small hole for the release of carbon dioxide. To do this, you can use a water seal, but I get by with a simple medical glove, tightly stretched over the neck and pierced with an ordinary sewing needle.
It is necessary to constantly monitor the temperature of the mash, which itself can heat up a little during the process. At temperatures below 20°C, fermentation slows down and may stop, and at temperatures above 30-32°C, the yeast dies.
Moonshine is distilled when the mash is completely fermented. Visually, this can be determined by the absence of carbon dioxide released. At the same time, the glove completely deflates and falls off.
Braga must be clarified before distillation, that is, drained from the sediment. It should be almost transparent, without suspension. To do this, you need to place it in a cool place for a day and wait until all the particles settle to the bottom of the bottle. Then, using a hose, carefully drain, starting from the top layer. It is very difficult to squeeze or filter the mash, as the yeast particles are very small.
It is impossible to distill the mash in the same container in which fermentation took place without filtering it, otherwise the product will be completely spoiled. Often this is exactly what they do to simplify the process, because it’s faster, and it’s easier to attach a water lock to the distillation cube, and then just replace it with a hose that goes to the cooler or dryer. As a result, a sugary aftertaste appears in the moonshine. And particles can stick to the bottom of the container and this also does not add to the quality of the drink.
Distillation
Braga must be poured into a distillation cube, leaving a little room for expansion when heated. I cook everything on a gas stove. This makes it easier to regulate the temperature. I use tap water as the “coolant” in the cooler. The trickle is very small – the consumption is small.
After the first drops of moonshine began to flow from the cooler, I reduce the flame of the burner so that the alcohol from the mash has already evaporated, but the water has not yet. It is about 78-80°C. I have a thermometer built into the tank for monitoring.
The first fraction is the strongest 85-88% by volume, I never use it for drinks. Approximately 10% of the expected yield of the product is simply poured into a separate container. Later it can be used, for example, to kindle the stove, coals in the grill.
It is very dangerous to use the initial fraction of the product obtained by distillation, which was previously called “pervach”. It contains methanol, which is very dangerous for the body.
During distillation, the alcohol content in the distillate gradually decreases. The distillation continues until the fortress becomes equal to 40% vol. After that, moonshine will be of poor quality.
With 10-11 liters of well-fermented mash (my device will interfere so much), I get about 0,8 liters of product with a strength of 70-75% vol. This is about 1,5 liters of a 40% ABV drink after I dilute it with water.
How to dilute
To get a drink of the desired strength from distillate, I use a simple mathematical formula, which is based on the usual proportion:
- Vwater uXNUMXd Vdistillate x Krdistillate / Drink – Vdistillate, where
- Vwater – the required amount of water for dilution,
- Vdistillate is the amount of distillate,
- Krdistilyata – the strength of the resulting distillate,
- Krnapitka – the required strength of the drink.
Example: to obtain a drink 40% vol. from 0,8 liters of distillate with a strength of 75% vol. need to
0,8 x (75/40) – 0,8 = 0,7 liters of water.
By mixing this amount with distillate, I get exactly those same 1,5 liters of excellent moonshine with a strength of 40% vol. Dilution water must be clean.
After mixing, it is better not to drink the drink immediately, as the taste will be unpleasant. The distillate diluted with water should stand for almost a day, then it will become a really high-quality drink. I don’t know why this is happening, but it is. Trust my experience.
What kind of fortress does moonshine have
With the right equipment, you can make moonshine as strong as you like. Of course, within reason. The fact is that even rectified alcohol, that is, absolutely pure alcohol, contains many volatile particles and in air its strength does not exceed 96% vol. For me, when using two dry steamers, the maximum value was 88% vol.
And here the question arises: is such a fortress always needed? I try to drive out the strongest moonshine only when I brew it from sugar-yeast mash, and I rarely do this. In sugar mash, apart from alcohol, there is nothing to “catch”.
But if the mash is cooked on fruits or berries without yeast, then it is better not to try to make a rectified, that is, to completely purify the alcohol. After all, the most interesting thing about distillate drinks is the aroma and taste that remain in moonshine.
And here a small amount of fusel oils is only welcome. These impurities make the taste and smell pleasant and recognizable.
And also, my friends and I love distillates obtained from dry fruit and berry wines of our own preparation. I try to get them out as quickly as possible. I like the delicate aroma of berries, apples, pears, especially when the drink itself is colorless and transparent, like a tear.
This is the only way to make tasty and fragrant high-quality moonshine, and the strength of the distillate here is not the main criterion. But, this is my personal opinion … What do you think?