Have you ever drunk real Georgian chacha? A couple of years ago I happened to try this type of alcohol, and it sunk into my soul. Although I’m not an expert at getting drunk. Usually I have a couple of drinks in the evening on holidays with guests.
For several years now, I have been engaged in moonshine brewing. I have long wanted to, since my wife and I prefer to eat and drink as much as possible natural or cooked with our own hands. In addition, high-quality chacha in stores is not cheap … In general, it’s time to try to kick her out.
Story from blog subscriber Sergo.
Why chacha
Who does not know, then chacha is a Georgian national alcoholic drink with a strength of about 60˚, the raw material for which is the pomace of grapes left after making wine.
Wasteless production, so to speak. And what was my surprise when some time ago I bought a moonshine and in the attached booklet there was a recipe for this drink. Naturally, I got the idea to cook it myself.
Just at the mother-in-law’s dacha, grapes ripened, and she was not eager to mess with him. I gladly took the whole harvest for myself and immediately put the wine.
Yes, the process of making chacha turned out to be quite slow, because it was necessary to wait for the wine to win back. It was only later that I found out from the Internet that it was possible to first squeeze all the juice from the grapes and use only it for homemade wine.
And from the cake, I could immediately put the mash. Here I am stupid. Wasted a whole month and a half.
What will be required
There are many recipes, but I will tell you my own. I can safely recommend it, because my chacha was a success – indistinguishable from Georgian.
So, we need:
- Grape pomace – 5 liters.
- Sugar – 3 kg.
- Dry yeast – 60 gr.
- Water – 16 l.
Odor trap
Well, the moonshine itself. Unfortunately, there is no way to do without it.
Those whose hands grow from the right place can make it themselves. Someone, perhaps somewhere in the garage or on the balcony, still had an old one lying around, because before moonshine was very common. Now it is back in fashion and all the bells and whistles can be bought in a specialized store.
That’s exactly what I did. I just didn’t want to revive my father-in-law’s old apparatus. And modern ones are still much easier to use. But it’s everyone’s choice.
How to cook
The process of preparing mash is simple to disgrace – mix all the ingredients in a large container with a capacity of at least 20 liters. I used a large food grade plastic bucket. I poured everything into settled water (about 30˚С), mixed it and closed it tightly.
I made a water seal: I drilled a small hole in the lid to insert a tube, connected a flexible hose to it and lowered its other end into a jar of water.
This is necessary so that carbon dioxide leaves the tank, and air cannot get inside. He covered the bucket with a blanket and put it in the pantry. I checked it periodically. Fermentation took 10 days.
Distillation
The process of distilling chacha is no different from moonshine. I poured the mash into the device. I have it at 20 liters. Connected all the hoses and set to gas. It began to drip when the container heated up to 68°C. A pleasant grape aroma spread throughout the kitchen.
I poured out the first 200 ml – this is the “head”, which should not be consumed, since it contains the most harmful substances. Then he put a jar where the “body” flowed down at 85-90˚С.
Distillation
From time to time he would substitute a glass to find out the exact degree. When the strength of the distilled drink reached 38˚, I changed the large jar with the “body” to a small one so that the remnants flowed there – these are “tails”, turning off the gas.
As the apparatus cooled down, they dripped less and less. When it cooled down, the remaining liquid was poured into the toilet and washed. Approximately 2,5 liters of chacha came out. But there was still a second run.
Second distillation
With her, I decided not to delay and took up the next day. It is no different from the first, only instead of the mash, he poured settled water and mixed it with chacha and “tails”. It also turned out about 15-16 liters of liquid with an alcohol content of 14˚. Then everything was done in the same way as on the previous day.
cleaning
After the second distillation, it had to be cleaned of fusel oils and impurities. I did it with ordinary activated charcoal: I poured 30 crushed tablets into it, shaking the jar of alcohol well.
He poured coal and shook it.
After 2 days.
After a couple of days, I filtered it through cotton pads: I plugged the hole of the funnel with one disk, and put the second one on top. Periodically changed them, as they collect all the coal for themselves. For reliability, I repeated this procedure 2 times.
Filtration.
True, about 200 ml was “lost”, since I did not filter the precipitate, ruthlessly pouring it out. The result was 2,3 liters with a strength of 58˚.
Fortress 58˚.
Chacha is ready to use
Well, I finally got around to trying it. Needless to say, chacha came out excellent? I spent 2 weeks on making it, not counting a month and a half of waiting until the wine won back. But the result exceeded all my expectations. The next morning there is no hangover, no fumes.
According to this recipe, I made not only the classic grape chacha, but also apple, pear and plum. This year, the mother-in-law had a good harvest at the dacha, and she gladly shared it. First, as usual, I put the wine, and then I used the cake for the mash and distilled it. Experimented, in general.
I believe that a home-made product, in which you put your soul and so much effort, is a million times better than any other mass-produced product. What do you think? Or do you prefer not to bother, but to buy alcohol in a store?
*Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health!