On a business trip, there was nowhere to put pearl barley, we decided to make moonshine out of it: I share what came out of this venture

That year, my colleagues and I were sent on a business trip. We worked on geological surveys. This time we were brought to the seashore, however, unfortunately, not Black, but Bering.

The camp was set up near the operating lighthouse. Since the work took place far from settlements, the authorities provided us with provisions for many weeks in advance.

In terms of calories, our leaders, apparently, pinned special hopes on barley. There was so much of it that we simply did not know where to put it.

This story was sent by our subscriber Alexander.

What ingredients and equipment will be needed

We understood that during the expedition we could not eat all the barley. Seagulls and other local birds in a week were so full of this grits that they refused to fly close to us.

The exit came from an unexpected direction. A few weeks later, we somehow accidentally met the keeper, located not far from our camp, a lighthouse.

He, having learned about our problem, suggested an interesting solution – to cook moonshine from pearl barley. Moreover, in his household there was an old but reliable apparatus. We had all the ingredients in stock:

1. Barley, 5 kg. We had much more of this goodness than we needed.
2. Sugar, 1 kg.
3. Water, 30 l. And with this we are lucky. Not far from the camp there was a spring with clean and tasty water.
4. Malt, 1 kg.
5. Dry yeast, 20 gr.

Note! We prepared moonshine several hundred kilometers from settlements. In the city, this would turn out to be one of the cheapest types of home-made alcohol, the cost of which is about 500 rubles per liter.

The cooking process

We used the preparation of moonshine as a rest, after a hard day’s work. And the lighthouse keeper obviously missed people and willingly shared with us the secrets of this simple craft.

The main difficulties at first arose with barley, which, before it became the basis for alcohol, had to be carefully prepared:

• First, we thoroughly washed the grits, trying to remove all debris.
• Then barley was poured with clean water and left for a day in the warmest room of the lighthouse. While we climbed along the coast in the afternoon in search of geological samples, the keeper stirred them and periodically changed the water.
• After a day, we drained the water, and the grains themselves were laid out on a baking sheet with a layer of about 10 cm.
• The groats were again left in the warm room of the lighthouse. This time for a week. And again the keeper stirred it so that mold would not inadvertently appear.
• Then barley was placed in the oven, where it was about an hour. In urban conditions, stoves can now be found infrequently, so I think you can use an oven at home.

  Barley, so boring to us at first

Important! The door of the oven or oven should be slightly ajar so that excess moisture can completely evaporate from the grains.

• After preparing the barley, the preparation of the mash began. To begin with, it was necessary to heat 20 liters of water to a temperature of 50°C.
• Barley was poured into it and the temperature of the liquid was raised to 60°C.
• By simple manipulations with firewood, this temperature was maintained for 15 minutes.
• Perhaps the lighthouse keeper decided to play a trick on us, or maybe not, but then he said to increase the temperature of the water to 65 ° C and boil the mixture for another 15 minutes.
• Next, the gruel was brought to a boil and left in this state for an hour and a half.
• After that, we cooled the liquid to 65 ° C (oh, our new friend liked 60-degree temperatures, and for some time the thermometer for liquids came in handy not only for work).
• Separately, 3 liters of water were heated and malt passed through a meat grinder was added to it.
• The mixture was stirred until a homogeneous mass was obtained and added to the chilled barley gruel.

Note! In the process of cooking, malt and barley must be constantly stirred. If this is not done, the grains may burn, which will worsen the taste of moonshine.

• The container was covered with a lid, heated to 60°C and left for 2 hours.

  Oh those constant measurements

• Next, we slightly raised the temperature, added sugar and 7 liters of water.
• The liquid was cooled and poured into a container for fermentation.
• Yeast was added and the container was closed with a rubber glove.
• Braga was infused in a dark room for 12 days.
• After this time, we passed the mash through a gauze filter and poured it into a moonshine still.
• When the fortress in the jet dropped to 25 vol. product selection has been completed.
• The alcohol was slightly diluted and the secondary distillation began. The first 10% of moonshine was thrown away as usual.

Upon completion of all manipulations, the alcohol was bottled and put away in a cool room for 3 days. According to the keeper, this is done to improve the taste.

Note! It is better to store moonshine in a glass or wooden container.

What will be the result

After 3 days, we decided to arrange a tasting. It was conceived for the evening, but those who managed to return from the reconnaissance earlier than the others managed to taste glasses in the afternoon. I was among the lucky ones.

And I must say it was not in vain that we spent so much time and effort on cooking. Moonshine turned out to be transparent, although slightly cloudy, almost odorless. Grain notes were clearly felt in the taste.

Light bitterness did not spoil the overall impression. Moreover, moonshine did not smell typical of alcohol, which made it easier to drink. In general – thanks to the lighthouse keeper for his advice.

How to serve and what to use

In the evening, when the rest of the geologists returned to the camp, we had a small feast. The keeper served moonshine chilled in the sea on the table.

As an appetizer, there was everything that the local nature can give: berries, mushrooms, fish. We sat and talked and drank for a long time.

Hard workers appreciated moonshine for pearl barley. In the future, we went on many more expeditions with this train, but sitting somewhere in the taiga with foresters or rangers, we invariably commemorated the lighthouse keeper and the coast of the Bering Sea with a kind word.

Have you ever tried moonshine from grain crops? If yes, which ones?