The most common cause of cloudy moonshine and panic among novice distillers, when suddenly the moonshine begins to “sneeze and spit”, then instead of the expected clear distillate, a cloudy or even yellow liquid begins to flow. All these are signs of splashing, which is also called “the punishment of impatient moonshiners.”
Bryzgounos (in moonshining) – the ingress of foam, and sometimes boiling mash, into the refrigerator of the moonshine still (coil), followed by mixing these unwanted substances with alcohol vapor. From a practical point of view, the spray makes the moonshine cloudy and smelly, and with a very strong spray, the distillate is actually diluted with boiling mash.
The only reason for splashing is too much heating of the mash during distillation. More than others, grain (malt) mashes are subject to this phenomenon, as they contain a high concentration of proteins. When the liquid boils, the proteins form a lot of foam on the surface, which breaks out of the cube and enters the cooler through the tubes, at the same time “pulling” the uncleaned mash along with it. No design of a moonshine still can completely eliminate splashing, but there are methods to reduce the likelihood of its occurrence to a minimum.
Attention! It is impossible to leave a working device unattended, if the heating is not turned off in time during the spray, the hot wash from the cube will fill the receiving container and end up on the floor.
Spray prevention
1. Fill the distillation cube with mash to a maximum of 70% of the volume so that there is enough space for the foam in height, and it “did not reach” the steam outlet pipes to the cooler.
2. Distill the most clarified and degassed mash, reducing foaming.
3. Monitor the intensity of heating of the mash using thermometers in the cube and (or) cooler. The correct distillation temperature depends on the design of the moonshine still, there are no universal values, so the optimal temperature is selected experimentally.
4. Install a dry steamer as a foam barrier in front of the coil (one is enough, two and more will not have an effect).
5. Monitor the condition of the moonshine, regularly clean the distillation cube, connecting pipes and cooler.
6. Advanced moonshiners use a dephlegmator to combat splashing on the mash columns. As a result, phlegm (steam condensed in the reflux condenser) flows back into the cube, “nailing” foam on its way, which tries to rise to the refrigerator of the apparatus.
What to do with splash
1. Reduce the heating intensity to a minimum. Wait until the foam disappears, then gradually, by several degrees, raise the temperature until the first drops appear, and then a thin stream. When the distillate becomes more or less transparent, change the receiving container to a clean one.
2. Continue distilling the mash as planned, eg run to below 40% abv in stream or dry.
3. It is desirable to clean the resulting moonshine with charcoal (if not fruit). Disassemble and wash the device.
4. Make a second fractional distillation (with cutting off “heads” and “tails”).
5. Add the liquid formed as a result of the spray to a new portion of the mash or, if there is a lot of it, overtake separately.
Provided that this instruction is followed, the spray blower will not affect the quality of the moonshine.
The information partner of the material is the online store of goods for moonshine “Smakuy”.