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Even in the case of proper home brew and fractional distillation, the taste of moonshine can remain tough – slightly burning the throat and drying the tip of the tongue. Often, owners of distillation and beer columns face this problem. To make moonshine soft, you need to choose the right ingredients and calculate the proportions.
Remember that softening the taste does not replace cleaning and does not improve the quality of moonshine, but can only mask the shortcomings of a bad distillate in some cases. Therefore, I recommend adding the substances listed below to a double, fractional distillation drink.
How to soften moonshine
Attention! The following is the average amount of ingredients that you can focus on, but determine the exact proportions to taste.
There are two groups of substances: sweeteners and acidifiers. The first group includes:
1. Sugar
A simple, affordable option. The disadvantage is that depending on the quality, it can give the drink a slight turbidity and an unpleasant odor. To avoid side effects, it is advisable to use refined sugar, and before adding, crush the pieces into sand or grind them into powder with a coffee grinder (the best option) and smell them. The average amount is 1 tablespoon of sugar per 1 liter of moonshine with a strength of 40%.
2. Glucose (dextrose)
The very best solution. Sold in pharmacies and specialized stores. Any form of release is suitable: in powder (it is this type that is called dextrose), tablets or an aqueous solution (in ampoules). To soften moonshine with glucose, 5-25 ml of a 20-40% aqueous solution or 1-5 grams of dry matter per 1 liter of forty percent distillate is required. Before adding the tablet must be crushed to a powder. The taste of expensive store-bought vodkas is softened with dextrose.
3. Fructose
Sweeter than sugar by 1,8 times. Release form – powder. It has proven itself well for fruit distillates: from apples, grapes, cherries, peaches, etc., but it is also suitable for drinks from other raw materials. Proportion – 0,3-0,5 tablespoon per 1 liter of moonshine (40 degrees).
4. Copper
You need a fresh liquid or in the form of a syrup (mix with water in equal parts, bring to a boil, boil for 2-3 minutes, removing the foam, then cool to room temperature). The disadvantage is that it can give a precipitate, affect the color, aroma and add characteristic honey tones to the distillate, which is not always appropriate. Usually they add no more than 0,5 tablespoon of honey per 1 liter of moonshine, the main thing is to dissolve it well.
5. Food grade glycerin
Viscous, clear, syrupy liquid. Registered as food additive E422. The main problem is that glycerin gives excessive sweetness, it is difficult to correctly calculate the concentration in small volumes, and cloying taste appears. To soften moonshine, 1-5 ml of glycerin per 1 liter with a strength of 40% is required.
Acidifiers include (added separately or together with sweeteners):
1. Ascorbic acid
White crystalline powder with a sour taste, which dissolves well in water and alcohol. In a pharmacy it can be sold in the form of a dragee. Used to soften any kind of distillate, prevents oxidative processes. To soften moonshine, you need 3-5 grams of ascorbic acid per 1 liter.
2. Citric acid
A more affordable home remedy that performs its functions no worse than “ascorbic”. You can use both pure citric acid – 2-6 grams / liter, or replace it with lemon juice – squeeze 1 medium lemon per 1 liter of moonshine. Lack of lemon juice – can give sediment and turbidity.
Moonshine flavor softening technology
1. Dilute the distillate with water. Make a fortress 1-2% higher than you need to get in the end.
2. If moonshine is made from sugar or grain raw materials, it is desirable to carry out carbonization – filtration of the drink through birch or coconut activated carbon (brands BAU-A, KAU-A, BAU-LB). There is no fundamental difference between the two methods of carbonization (infusion of moonshine on coal and passing through a column or other filter).
Coal will remove the largest molecules of harmful impurities (slightly improve the quality) and partially oxidize the aldehydes contained in ethyl alcohol to acids under the influence of air in the pores of the coal. As a result, esters will appear, which in themselves soften the taste of moonshine.
Do not clean berry and fruit distillates, otherwise the aroma of raw materials may disappear.
3. Pour 100-150 ml of moonshine into a separate container. In 2-4 passes, add the selected sweetener and (or) acidifier, starting with the minimum dosage. After each addition, stir the distillate until the substance is completely dissolved and record the amount of ingredients, then evaluate the taste after 4-5 minutes.
4. After the softness of the moonshine is satisfactory, proportionally recalculate the amount of substances for the entire required volume, add to the distillate and mix.
Preliminary calculation – fractional addition of softener to a limited amount of drink minimizes the risk of spoiling the entire batch. I advise you to perform this procedure every time, even if the optimal proportions are already known, since the quality of sugar, glucose, honey and other substances changes.
If too much emollient is added, you can try to lower the concentration and stabilize the taste with another batch of moonshine or pure alcohol with water. Another option is re-distillation.
5. Close the container hermetically. Transfer to a dark room with a temperature as close to zero as possible, the recommended temperature is 2-4°C. Leave for 3-4 days to complete chemical reactions and stabilize the taste.
Cloudiness (milky color) may occur depending on the quality of the water and other ingredients. If, when kept in the cold, the cloudiness did not disappear after 5 days after mixing or a precipitate formed (it happens when lemon juice and honey are added), filter the moonshine through cotton wool.