Strawberries, of course, are not the best raw materials for making moonshine. No, just the distillate from it turns out to be quite good, but here are the costs … On the other hand, not all of us live in megacities where they ask for strawberries in the markets as much as they asked for an ounce of gold several decades ago.
A good gardener knows how to handle strawberries. A good summer resident sometimes has so much of this berry that there is nowhere to put it. And now, when it is already possible to feed a large community with jam, all strawberry liqueurs, liqueurs and even wine have been redone, we can advise a good summer resident to make real moonshine from strawberries, aka strawberry brandy. The resulting drink can outperform many homemade distillates.
Strawberry mash for moonshine
- 9 kg fresh strawberries
- 650-700 g raisins
- 0,5-1,5 kg sugar
- 2 pack. dry baker’s yeast
What happens:
- volume of must: 19 l
- volume before distillation: 17 l
- product yield: 3,7 l 40%
How to cook:
1. Rinse the strawberries thoroughly under running water to remove as much wild yeast and earth as possible, which can greatly impair the taste of the distillate. Remove any stalks of berries that can give bitterness. Carefully sort through the strawberries and get rid of spoiled fruits.
2. Prepared berries need to be crushed. A blender is ideal for these purposes. It is not worth chopping strawberries for a long time, because later it will be difficult to separate the pulp. There, in the blender, add 650-700 g of good raisins – it is needed to improve the taste and normal fermentation of the wort. As a result, you should get about 9,5 liters of strawberry puree. It must be transferred to a large stainless steel (or enameled) pan. Add enough water to end up with about 20 liters of wort.
3. It’s time to decide on the amount of sugar that needs to be added for a greater yield of the product. The task is at least: to get strawberry mash with a strength of at least 7-8%, but not more – excessive alcohol content of the mash before distillation leads to a deterioration in taste (yeast shows through too much). The average sugar content of strawberries is approximately 7%, that is, 1 liter of strawberry puree contains about 70 g of sugar. Ideally, 1 g of sugar processed by yeast will yield 0,6 ml of AS. Therefore, with 1 kg of strawberries, we will get only 42 ml of AS. It won’t be enough. Yes, and alcohol will not last.
It will be problematic to measure the density of the wort with a conventional hydrometer, the wort is very thick and dense. Only a refractometer will save, but not every winemaker has this stray, and even more so not every good summer resident. Therefore, add sugar at your discretion, in the range of 0,5-1,5 kg of sugar (if the strawberries are not at all sweet, then up to 2 kg is possible, but keep in mind that the more sugar, the more sugar distillate will appear) . If you have a refractometer at hand, then an indicator of 15 brix, which corresponds to 1,055 SG, will be enough. This indicator should be strived for by gradually adding sugar.
4. The wort brought to the desired sweetness must be heated over low heat to 70оC. This will kill all bacteria and minimize the risk of must contamination. Then it works according to the technology of making home-made beer – we quickly cool the wort to 21-22оC to minimize the risk of infection. This can be done with a chiller, cold water/ice bath, or any other method.
5. While the wort is chilling, prepare 2 standard packets of Saf Levure Dry Baker’s Yeast. They can be fermented in a small amount of cooled wort or in sweetened water at a temperature of 26-28оC. Brewer’s yeast is also suitable, ideally for ale. Wine, champagne and alcohol yeast are not suitable – they strongly “steal” the aroma of strawberry must.
6. When the wort cools down to 21-22оC, transfer it to a fermentation tank and add the yeast. Install a water seal and place the container for fermentation in a dark, warm place (about 21-22оWITH). Wander will be about 7 days. Drain the fermented wort from the sediment. You should get about 17 liters. Strawberry mash for moonshine is ready.
Distillation of strawberry brew
1. Pour the resulting strawberry mash into a distillation cube, filling it no more than 2/3. Do the first shoulder strap on medium-high heat, without dividing the distillate into fractions. The first run should be as fast as possible.
All the subtleties of fractional distillation are described in this article. Read it carefully if you are new to this business.
2. Dilute the resulting raw alcohol to 20-30% and pour it into the distillation cube again. By the way, the best result is obtained on a completely copper moonshine still. We do the second distillation fractionally, with cutting off the “heads” and “tails”. If you use the proportions from this recipe, feel free to select 200 ml of “heads”. Finish selecting the “body” when the strength of the distillate drops to 45-50%. Save the tail fractions and use them at the next distillation.
3. Dilute the distillate to the desired strength and let it rest for at least 3-4 days. Strawberry moonshine can be immediately poured into a jar filled with chopped fresh berries to get a very tasty and original drink.
4. Call your friends for a tasting!