I cook moonshine with potatoes and tomato paste with dough: I regret that I didn’t try to make it before

Last year, my wife and I, as usual, went to the village to help her parents harvest potatoes. The harvest was rich. I jokingly teased my father-in-law that I would probably have to throw out half the potatoes. “Why?” he was surprised. “You and I would rather make moonshine out of it.”

The story was sent by blog subscriber Svyatoslav.

Necessary ingredients

The offer interested me. My father-in-law was a moonshiner known throughout the district, who periodically surprised people with new recipes. I never missed a chance to learn something original from him.

True, I have already heard about potato moonshine, but it turned out that this time it will not be simple, but with tomato paste. In general, on the first ride we went to the city for the necessary products:

1. Potatoes, 15 kg. We had a lot of this stuff, but for the sake of interest, I paid attention to how much it costs in the store. It turned out that the price per kilogram was 16 rubles.
2. Malt, 1 kg – 150 rubles.
3. Water, 30 l.
4. Yeast, 100 gr. – 55 rubles.
5. Sugar, 1 kg – 45 rubles.
6. Tomato paste, 1 kg – 230 rubles.

Sugar, by the way, as the father-in-law said, is not necessary to take. You can do without it, however, it somewhat improves the taste of moonshine.

Note! Potatoes can be used both fresh and slightly frozen.

Mash preparation

So, the products are purchased. We decided not to put off the start of work on the back burner, especially since my vacation was not so big. As a result, we started preparing moonshine, or rather, first mash, we started the next day after the harvest was harvested.

1. First, we washed the tubers and ground them on a grater to a puree state.
2. We heated 20 liters of water in a tank to a temperature of 70 ° C and added potatoes.
3. Mixed until smooth.
4. Malt was added and mixed again.
5. The tank was closed with a lid and the temperature of the wort was maintained at 65°C for an hour.
6. After this time, the potato porridge was cooled to 30°C.
7. The liquid was poured into a fermentation tank, sugar, tomato paste and water were added there in a ratio of 1:4.
8. Added diluted yeast.
9. In the remaining mixture of potatoes and malt, 10 liters of water heated to 50 ° C were poured. Mixed. They let it brew for 20 minutes and poured it into a fermentation tank, as an addition to the previous one.
10. They closed the container with a water seal and put it in a cabinet for 10 days.

We cook.

Note! You can determine the readiness of the mash by a water seal. As soon as it deflates, you can be sure that the mash is ready.

In general, we had no problems with the braga. It was cooked in 3 hours with smoke breaks.

Braga in the process of cooking.

moonshine

Having waited for the mash to be ready, we proceeded to the next stage – the distillation of moonshine. To do this, we, of course, needed a moonshine still, fortunately, it stood in the father-in-law’s house in almost the most honorable place.

1. Braga was filtered through gauze and poured into a distillation cube.
2. We made the first distillation, selecting the distillate until the strength in the stream fell below 30%.
3. The distillate was diluted to 20% and re-distilled.
4. The first 15% of the output was poured out – after all, they are dangerous to health.
5. The main product was selected before the strength in the stream fell below 45% and the distillation was completed.
6. Dilute moonshine with water up to 40%.

Note! After distillation, it is better to let moonshine settle for 2-3 days in a dark, cool room. This will improve its taste.

OK it’s all over Now. Two weeks of work and excellent moonshine was ready. We arrived just in time for the end of my vacation. So we can say that in the evening we washed our departure.

Result

We sat down at the table when it was already dark. Mother-in-law prepared a rich supper. Everything is as it should be – snacks, drinks and all that stuff.

Father-in-law took out bottles and poured moonshine into glasses. I looked with interest at the liquid in my hands. There was almost no smell. The moonshine itself was slightly cloudy. They made the first toast and drank. The alcohol tasted sweet. Sugar and tomatoes interrupted the alcohol notes.

Well, now you can try.

In general, moonshine on potatoes and tomato paste impressed me. Yes, my father-in-law knows how to surprise. I’m afraid to imagine what he will cook the next time we come. What is the most unusual alcoholic drink you have tried?

*Alcohol abuse and smoking is dangerous for your health!