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For most of our contemporaries, the word “polugar” does not mean anything, although 150 years ago all the inhabitants of the Russian Empire understood its meaning. The tsarist, and then the Soviet vodka monopoly, this drink prevented from receiving excess profits. Unwanted alcohol was artificially removed from the market, prohibiting production. In the past few years, interest in bread wine (the second name for polugar) has revived. Not all ancient recipes have been lost; modern production technology has been developed on their basis.
Polugar (bread wine) is a double-distilled distillate made from barley, rye or wheat malt with an ABV of 38,5%. Unlike cognac or whiskey, which are aged for several years in oak barrels, the quality of polugar is improved by natural purification methods: charcoal, bread, milk, etc. The drink is ready to drink 3-5 days after preparation.
From the 1517th to the 1895th century, bread wine was the national Russian alcoholic drink. The first written mention dates back to XNUMX. Polugars were mainly produced by rich landowners for their own needs according to recipes that were passed down from generation to generation. In XNUMX, by order of the Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire, S. Yu. Witte, bread wine was banned, replacing it with a mixture of rectified ethyl alcohol with water – ordinary vodka, the production of which was established by the tsarist monopoly.
The word “polugar” appeared thanks to the original method of quality control, which was officially introduced by Nicholas I in 1842. Bread wine was poured into a special ladle (pictured) and set on fire. After burnout, the volume of the remaining liquid was measured, if it was half the original (half burnt out), then the drink successfully passed the test.
Calling Polugar vodka is wrong, because the cooking technology is closer to moonshine, whiskey and cognac. The difference is shown in the table.
| hallmark | Polugar | Vodka |
|---|---|---|
| Raw | Grains: barley, wheat, rye (most common) | Any food starch-containing raw materials: grain, potatoes, sugar beets, peas, etc. |
| Technology | Distillation – still distillation | Rectification is an industrial method for obtaining alcohol. |
| The organoleptic properties | Raw materials influence the taste and aroma | Softened taste of alcohol or no taste at all |
| Impurities | Standard set of fusel oils for cognac and whiskey | Almost free of foreign impurities |
Polugar was drunk from special faceted glasses (lafitnikov) with a volume of 50-150 ml. The optimum serving (serving) temperature is 8-10°C. Not necessarily a glass was knocked over in one gulp, often the taste of bread wine was simply enjoyed, sipping in small sips to catch a pleasant aftertaste. The drink goes well with traditional Russian meat, salty, sour, garlic and pepper dishes.
Recipe for bread wine (polugara)
The proposed cooking method was created on the basis of old recipes described in pre-revolutionary books, and adapted to the equipment of a standard kitchen so that anyone can reproduce all the steps at home.
Ingredients:
- malt (barley, rye or wheat) – 5 kg;
- water – 20 liters;
- dry yeast – 50 grams (or 300 grams pressed).
The choice of malt is not of fundamental importance. But in most old Russian recipes, rye is used; it is this cereal that can be considered a classic raw material for bread wine. Spring or well water is ideal. It is better to first defend ordinary tap water for a day, then pass it through a purification filter without reverse osmosis. You will also need a thermometer to measure the temperature of the wort!
1. Malt preparation
Polugar is made from well-dried store-bought or homemade malt.
First, the grains need to be ground to coarse grains, but it should not be flour, otherwise problems will arise in the next step. Many shops sell ready-made ground malt, this is the best option for beginners who are just learning the basics of distilling.
2. Mashing
Mashing is the process by which the starch in malt is broken down into sugar by the action of water and heat.
It is very important to adhere to the recommended temperature regimes, otherwise the starch will be poorly processed into sugar, as a result of which the yield of bread wine will be low or fermentation will not begin at all.
Pour water into a saucepan, put on the stove, bring to a boil. Then cool to 55°C, add malt and mix until the mass is homogeneous. The main thing is to prevent the formation of lumps at the bottom of the container. Heat the wort to 61-64°C, mix well again.
Then tightly close the container with a lid and maintain a stable temperature of 60-65 ° C for 90 minutes. The easiest way to do this is by periodically heating the wort over low heat on the stove.
3. Fermentation
Yeast converts sugar into alcohol.
Cool the wort to 28°C, then pour into a fermentation tank. Add the yeast diluted according to the instructions on the sachet, mix, install a water seal and transfer the container to a dark place with a temperature of 18-27°C.
Depending on the sugar content of the malt, the quality of the yeast and the temperature in the room, fermentation lasts from 4 to 16 days. Once a day, you need to remove the water lock, stir the wort with a clean hand or a wooden stick, then install the lock back.
Bread mash ready for distillation is bitter in taste without sweetness, it becomes lighter and the water seal does not gurgle for 1-2 days. When these signs appear, you can proceed to the next step.
4. First distillation
It is done in order to get a maximum of raw alcohol from the mash.
Pour the mash into the distillation cube of the moonshine through a colander with a fine strainer to remove all undissolved particles of malt (grain), which can burn during the distillation process. Filtered pellets can be fed to livestock.
Overtake the mash over low heat without separation into fractions. To complete the selection of distillate when the strength of the output in the jet falls below 25 degrees. You will get a cloudy liquid with a pungent odor, this is normal. We will deal with the refinement in the next step. Measure the strength of moonshine, determine the amount of pure alcohol. For example, 2 liters of 55% contains 1,1 liters of pure alcohol.
5. Second distillation
Cleans the product from harmful impurities.
The resulting distillate is diluted with water up to 20% and distilled again, dividing the yield into fractions: “heads”, “body”, “tails”. Collect the first 12-15% of the yield from the amount of pure alcohol (“heads” or “pervach”) in a separate container. This is a harmful fraction containing acetone and other hazardous substances, it is dangerous to drink it, but it can be used for technical needs.
Then select the main product (“body”) until the fortress in the jet drops below 40 degrees. This distillate is the ultimate goal. Weaker output (“tails”) can be collected separately, using new portions of mash, but it is not suitable for making polugar.
6. Cleaning
Eliminates the remnants of harmful impurities, while leaving a characteristic aroma and mild taste.
Four cleaning methods are considered traditional for bread wine: charcoal, bread, milk and egg white. Methods can be combined or use only one. A description of each of these techniques can be found through a search on the site. Before cleaning, polugars should be diluted with water up to 45-50 degrees, so that absorbent substances better absorb harmful impurities.
7. Finishing
Bring the strength of refined bread wine to the standard – 38,5%. After that, pour the drink into bottles for storage, close tightly with corks and keep for 2-3 days in a dark, cool place before drinking to stabilize the taste. Depending on the starch content in the malt, the success of the grouting and the technology of distillation according to the proportions in the recipe, 3,5 liters of home-made half-gard are obtained with a slight smell of raw materials and a pleasant mild taste.
Another technology for making polugar is shown in the video.
