Contents
And again, something went wrong with me … This time the moonshine turned out to be cloudy, although this had never happened before. Of course, judging by the films, home-made moonshine should have a haze. But we are adults and do not believe it!
I know for sure (because I myself am engaged in moonshining and am familiar with the technology “from the inside”) that a quality product is always transparent, and a cloudy one indicates that mistakes were made in the production process.
Why moonshine becomes cloudy and is it dangerous
In general, when I noticed that the moonshine turned out to be cloudy, I began to look for reasons. There are quite a few of them:
If the moonshine is cloudy, it means that serious mistakes were made. It shouldn’t be like this!
- Splatter. If the mash boils strongly, then a foam is formed, which enters the coil through the tube, mixing with the vapors.
- Oils – fusel and essential. This reason is not only common, but also very dangerous. These substances are toxic, but when crushed into fractions, almost all of them are removed. If this does not happen, turbidity appears in the product.
- Poor quality device. For example, a cloudy product may be the result of oxidative processes inside the apparatus design. In this case, turbidity will not necessarily be noticeable immediately – it may take several days. Therefore, when buying a device, you should not save money, it is better to immediately take the one that is of better quality.
- Hard water. Turbidity appears literally within a few hours. I know what I’m saying, because it was for this reason that my mash became cloudy. This happened due to impurities in the water that reacted.
- Poorly washed container. Before pouring a drink, make sure the bottles are well washed a hundred times! And one more thing – give up plastic (I never use it, otherwise turbidity cannot be avoided).
I, as an experienced person, can give effective, in my opinion, advice. Remember: use only purified water! It contains a minimum amount of impurities and salts. In my case, it was the water taken from the tap that caused the turbidity.
Use only purified water that does not contain salts and impurities.
Whatever the reasons, my main goal was to get rid of the turbidity and return the moonshine to a “proper” look. So I started looking for ways to do it.
There are three simple, but very effective ways that will help you quickly and efficiently lighten cloudy moonshine. They are budget-friendly and won’t require much effort from you. I used each of these methods once, dividing the cloudy liquid into three equal parts. And they all gave excellent results. Which is better to use – decide for yourself.
Method 1 – Redistillation
The most effective option is to re-distill the moonshine. In general, without thinking twice, he began the process. Of course, it took a lot of time – two whole weeks. But, believe me, the result exceeded expectations.
I first diluted the cloudy distillate to 30% with water and re-distilled. After that, he sent for a couple of weeks to a dark, cool place – to settle. And he began to wait.
Re-distillation will restore clarity.
Two weeks later, with trepidation in his soul, he took out a jar and began to examine it. And, lo and behold, the moonshine was transparent, as it should be initially. The conclusion is obvious: this method really works. But the most important thing is that it is completely free, although the amount of product at the output, of course, is decreasing. A sort of “lost opportunity”…
Method 2 – charcoal cleaning
Here, frankly speaking, I had to “get confused” and spend a little. I bought BAU-A brand coal and a coal column. Although it was possible to build a column on my own, I decided to do everything according to the rules. Then I simply passed the liquid through the filter and, voila, the moonshine became transparent, like a tear.
Just pass the moonshine through a homemade charcoal filter several times.
By the way, if there is a Barrier-type filter at home, you can also apply it – it’s even easier. But I don’t have that. Well, the method actually worked.
As for the cost of the method, it is quite acceptable. 500 g of coal of this brand costs about 200 rubles. Coal column – from 1500 rubles. But once again I focus on the fact that a cleaning device can be quite easily built on your own from improvised means.
Method 3 – shock freezing
Of all the presented methods, this one is the most unreliable, because it does not always work. How effective it will be depends on the cause of the cloudiness as well as the presence of impurities. It helped me, because the reason lay in poor-quality water.
So, in order to lighten the moonshine, I heated it to 70 degrees, after which I cooled it sharply. How? I bottled it and sent it to a container with ice – such a shock therapy. Literally after a couple of hours, a precipitate appeared, which I safely got rid of by filtration.
This is what the precipitate looks like after heating and cooling cloudy moonshine.
For the money, as you know, I did not spend anything. Therefore, this method is profitable and does not require financial costs. The loss of moonshine is also insignificant.
What do you think about this? Maybe you have your own secrets on how to lighten moonshine? Share them, I will be very happy.
*Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health!