Strawberry moonshine is remembered for its softness and berry aroma. But there are two nuances in cooking, without understanding which you can spoil valuable raw materials. We will consider the correct mash recipe with a good yield and high quality.
1 kg of strawberries contains 35-45 grams of fructose. This means that without adding sugar from 5 kg of berries, you can get up to 250 ml of moonshine with a strength of 40 degrees. I recommend adding sugar by raising the output to 3.3-3.5 liters (40%). At the same time, a bright pleasant aroma will remain. A further increase in the proportion of sugar (more than 3 kg) significantly weakens the fruity aroma.
Without yeast (only for wild ones), strawberry mash ferments for 25-40 days, with artificial yeast – 5-12 days, but part of the aroma is lost. If there is nowhere to hurry, it is better to put the brew on wild yeast living on the surface of the fruit.
Ingredients:
- strawberries – 5 kg;
- sugar – 1-3 kg (optional);
- water – 3 liters and another 4 liters for each kilogram of sugar;
- yeast – 15 grams dry or 75 grams pressed (optional).
strawberry mash recipe
1. Unwashed berries (very important in case of cooking without yeast) knead until smooth.
2. Pour the resulting slurry into a fermentation tank. Add water, sugar, yeast, then mix well and install a water seal or a rubber medical glove with a hole in the finger on the neck. It is advisable to leave free 20-25% of the volume for foam.
3. Move the container to a dark room with a temperature of 18-28°C. For the first 3-4 days, once a day, remove the shutter and mix the mash with a clean hand (short-term access of air will not hurt). Depending on the choice of yeast (factory or wild), fermentation lasts 5-40 days. When the mash brightens, becomes bitter in taste without sweetness, and a layer of sediment appears at the bottom, you can proceed to the next step.
Getting strawberry moonshine
4. Filter the Braga through 2-3 layers of gauze and pour into the distillation cube of the moonshine still. Squeeze out the gauze content well, pour the liquid part into a cube, dry pomace is no longer needed.
5. Distill the strawberry mash. Finish distillate extraction when the output strength (in the jet) falls below 30 degrees. Measure the total strength. Determine the amount of pure alcohol (multiply the total volume by the percentage of the fortress and divide by 100).
6. Dilute the resulting moonshine with water to 18-20%, and then make a second distillation.
7. Collect the first 12-15% of the yield from the amount of pure alcohol in a separate container. This harmful fraction, called “heads”, contains methanol and other harmful impurities, you can not drink.
8. Finish the distillation when the yield strength (in the jet) is below 45%. This is the main fraction (called the “body”), for which the whole process is started.
9. Dilute ready-made strawberry moonshine with water to 40-45 degrees and stand for 2-3 days before tasting in a dark, cool place in glass, hermetically sealed containers.
