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Owners of expired beer often think about how to use the drink for good. One of the right options is to make beer moonshine. It cannot be said that you will get exquisite alcohol, but for the sake of interest, I advise you to try it. Even among experienced moonshiners, few can boast of such a distillate.
The authors of some recipes suggest making beer mash by adding sugar and yeast. But the expediency of these methods is very doubtful, because due to preservatives and pasteurization, not every beer will ferment normally, many varieties will turn sour. In addition, after fermentation, it will no longer be a real beer moonshine, but a banal mixture of sugar and barley alcohols with a hint of hops. Therefore, we will simply distill the beer, adhering to a certain technology.
Ingredients:
- beer (4,5-5 degrees) – 5 liters;
- water – 0,5 liters.
To get moonshine, I recommend taking expired beer of any kind and strength. Of course, live beer is preferable, but alcohol can be obtained from a canned or bottled drink. Regardless of the raw materials, the taste of the finished moonshine will be about the same.
Preparation of beer moonshine
1. Degassing
Even expired beer is rich in carbon dioxide, which must be eliminated. If this is not done, then during the distillation process, the foam may get into the moonshine, which will ruin the taste.
First, you should pour the beer into the still (fill no more than 1/3 of the volume of the container) and mix with a spoon until there is almost no foam left on the surface. Then stand for 45-60 minutes in a cube without a top cover.
2. First distillation
During this stage, we will get a distillate with which we will work further. During the first distillation, moonshine can not be divided into fractions: “heads”, “body” and “tails”, since it is quite difficult to do this due to the specificity of the raw materials.
Connect the distillation cube to the moonshine and heat over low heat. The main thing is not to rush so that the beer mash does not begin to foam under the influence of high temperature. After the appearance of the first drops of distillate, a strong smell of hops will be felt.
From 5 liters of beer after the first distillation, 550-600 ml of distillate with a strength of 33-38 degrees is obtained. Collect output until the fortress in the jet falls below 30 degrees. Measure the strength of the resulting drink and determine the amount of pure alcohol in it.
3. Redistillation
Improves the taste of beer moonshine, here we will divide the entire yield into fractions.
The distillate obtained at the previous stage should be diluted with water up to 20%, then poured into a clean distillation cube. During distillation, pour the first 8-12% of the amount of pure alcohol into a separate container, these are “heads” – a harmful fraction, you can’t drink it. Next, select the “body” – the middle fraction, for which the distillation is carried out.
Finish the selection of the “body” when the strength of the distillate in the stream drops below 40 degrees. Usually it turns out 400-450 ml of moonshine 48-50 degrees. Depending on the initial alcohol content of the beer, the yield may vary.
4. Filtration and settling
To improve the quality, beer moonshine can be filtered through a charcoal filter or in any other way, but this still does not remove the sharp intoxicating smell. Drink for an amateur, but many people like it. The taste is specific, it is difficult to compare it with other types of moonshine. Before use, I recommend keeping the product for 2-3 days.
