The basics of proper home brewing. How to make moonshine

As a result of the distillation of raw materials that contain alcohol (mash), an alcoholic drink is obtained, known as moonshine. In the preparation of mash, the raw material can be sugar, or sugar-containing berries and fruits in their pure form. Also, starch-containing products are used as raw materials - wheat, corn, rye, barley, etc. Such raw materials are processed into sugar thanks to malt enzymes or malt.

Let's consider the most common and traditional method of making moonshine, where the base is sugar.

A simple moonshine recipe will require the following ingredients:

4 kilograms of sugar;
150 grams of yeast;
17.5 liters of water.

Moonshine brewing technology

The water temperature must be brought to 25-30 degrees by heating it. Then pour in the sugar, and then the crushed yeast. Mix everything and leave in a warm place for seven days, you can mistake a couple of days back or forward;
the resulting mash must be distilled using a special apparatus. You can use a homemade device - a large pan for the mash, a bowl where the alcohol will be collected, a stand for this bowl and a basin that will sit tightly on top of the pan.

Important points T s

The basin that stands on the pan must be constantly filled with cold water. The water should never be warm, so it is constantly changed.

Moonshine cleaning

In order to rid the drink of the “first” and “residue”, as well as fusel oils, it is better to perform double distillation. To determine them, moonshine must be divided into five parts, which we leave aside from the first and last.
Pre-cleaning the mash using potassium permanganate will be a good cleaning method. Take 2 grams of potassium permanganate per liter of mash, before diluting it in water using a filter cloth.

Result: This yields about four liters of good moonshine, which you can already try.

Having learned the basics of preparing the main type of moonshine, you should learn other ways to prepare it.

Moonshine recipes at home

Moonshine recipe in a couple of hours

You will need:

30 liters of water;
10 kilograms of sugar (sand);
3 liters of milk;
100 grams of yeast.

An unusable washing machine (not an automatic machine) will serve as equipment.

Preparation: The ingredients are placed in an activator type machine and non-stop operation is activated for 2 hours. The mash is defended from the machine, and then the moonshine is distilled.

Moonshine recipe per day

Ingredients:

15 liters of water, warm, but not higher than 30 degrees;
500 grams yeast;
5 kilograms of sugar (sand);
1 kilogram of peas;
1 liter of milk.

Preparation:

Mix the ingredients and leave for a day. Then, clean, distill and that’s it - you can try the moonshine.

Recipe for moonshine from berries or fruits

Ingredients:

water;
sugar;
fruits or berries.

Preparation:

It is necessary to carefully consider the ratio, where sugar is 25%. Fruit and berry mass – 75%.
For this recipe, the raw materials can be any berries and fruits.
There are some features here: fruits and berries do not need to be washed before chopping them.
The berry and fruit mass is placed in a suitable vessel and left for fermentation for a couple of days.
You can add sugar and, if required, water. Then, following the usual technique, we soak the mash and distill the moonshine.

Every Russian person knows what moonshine is. This is an alcoholic product obtained from almost any available raw material by distillation. Home brewing for beginning alcohol producers is one of the first stages in learning this culture. The process of distillation using a machine seems complicated and mysterious at first. But as soon as you start to learn everything about moonshine, each time the production process becomes more and more simple and understandable.

The moonshine recipe has become popular and widespread due to its ease of production, low cost and availability of raw materials. The finished product is one hundred percent natural, unlike many store-bought ones, and can be made from berries, jam, sweets, compote, and vegetables.

Moonshining at home does not take much time and requires only preliminary study of technology and equipment. This requires: raw materials, fermentation containers and the apparatus itself. The production of moonshine is divided into several stages:

Selection of raw materials.
Making mash.
Obtaining distillate.
Moonshine purification.

Each stage has its own nuances and features, which are extremely important to observe in order to obtain a quality product. To make this drink, you must strictly adhere to the recipe and perform all the required stages of distillation and purification. Knowing how to make moonshine at home, you can save a lot on alcohol and produce other types based on it. The resulting product produces cognac, whiskey and various tinctures of berries and herbs.

Sugar mash

Homemade moonshine is made from sugar. Its production is the first stage of production. It includes:

Yeast.
Sugar.
Water.

Sugar and yeast are diluted in a small amount of water and infused for an hour. After this, heat the rest of the water, but do not cook it, add the prepared mixture and mix. All the liquid is poured into prepared jars, and gloves with punctures are put on the necks. Using this design, carbon dioxide formed during the fermentation process is removed. The mixture is infused for about a week at room temperature.

Selection of raw materials

Moonshine brewing technology provides a wide selection of raw materials. This is what the wort is made from for subsequent fermentation. The ingredients for moonshine can be very different, the main thing is that they contain sugar or starch. These include:

Berries and jams made from them.
Fruits.
Sweet vegetables.
Potato.
Corn.

The higher quality the source material, the better the finished product will be. The most affordable is still regular granulated sugar. Other products either contain it or it is released during the processing of raw materials. The best moonshine is made from fruit or grain.

Calculation of proportions

It is impossible to make moonshine with your own hands without calculating the proportions. Each raw material produces a different volume of product. The best moonshine is made from cereals. From 1 kilogram of one type of grain, approximately 0.3 - 0.4 liters of pure alcohol is obtained. The largest volume is provided by starch, rice and sugar - from 0.5 to 0.7 liters. The rest of the raw materials have a low yield of moonshine. Fruits and sugar beets - from 0.7 to 0.26 liters, potatoes give about 0.18 liters per kilogram.

When choosing raw materials, you need to pay attention to the desired result. If you need pure moonshine, then it can be prepared from any available products. For cognac or whiskey you need cereals, for chacha you need grape mash, and for Calvados you need apple mash.

Water for moonshine

The moonshine brewing process is not complete without water. It is one of the main ingredients and occupies most of the total volume. Therefore, the quality of water significantly affects the taste parameters of the product. The best option is to use purchased purified water. It will not be very hard and will not have foreign odors or impurities. If you take water from the tap, then you need to let it sit for a couple of days in a prepared clean container. However, you should not use distilled water or boil it before cooking.

Inverting sugar

The technology for making moonshine is very diverse and contains many different methods. One of them is inverting sugar. It is used to improve the taste parameters of the product, speed up the fermentation process and obtain a larger volume of moonshine.

Inverted sugar syrup for mash is prepared from sugar water and citric acid. Add sugar to boiling water and stir until smooth. The resulting syrup is cooked over low heat for about 10 minutes. After this, citric acid is added very carefully. The entire mixture is brought to readiness under the lid within an hour. The heat needs to be increased, but so that the liquid does not boil, but simply cooks.

Fermentation

You need to know how to brew moonshine according to all the rules at each stage in order to get a tasty and high-quality product. Fermentation requires a lot of attention and important criteria.

The first is the storage location and temperature. The room should be dark, do not allow direct sunlight to hit the container with mash. The temperature is up to 27 degrees, without sudden changes. If the room is colder than 20 degrees, the fermentation process will not start and infusion will not produce results.

The water seal during fermentation is also of great importance. Most often it is replaced with a medical glove with holes made. This design is needed to remove gas and indicate the completion of the process.

Mixing ingredients

All recipes for making moonshine are similar in one step - mixing the ingredients. To prepare mash, the finished sugar syrup is placed in a prepared container. After this, it is filled with clean water. The volume of liquid in the jar should not exceed 3/4 of the total volume. This place is set aside for the foam formed during the fermentation process.

Pitching Yeast

Before adding, pressed yeast is kneaded by hand to activate it. Dry crumbly ones are filled with water and kept for about an hour. The appearance of foam indicates that the fermentation process has started. If it becomes too much, you can add a piece of cookies. This additive will make the process more moderate, and you will get no less high-quality moonshine.

Fermentation process

When preparing homemade moonshine, you need to adhere to time limits. The mash prepared from the wort is aged for about a month. The minimum period is at least a couple of weeks. In less time, the fermentation process will not be completed and a sufficient amount of alcohol will not be released. Longer exposure will give a better final product.

How to determine when fermentation is over

The completion of the process is determined by several criteria:

Stopping the release of carbon dioxide. Determined by the fall of the glove.
Formation of foam on the surface of the mash.
Pronounced alcohol smell.
Bitterness in taste.

The manifestation of several signs at the same time indicates that the process of alcohol formation is complete, and you can move on to the next production stage.

Degassing and clarification of mash

The production of moonshine includes the stage of removing excess gas from the mash and clarifying it. It is the last one before the distillation begins. White clay is used for it. Sometimes it is replaced with bentonite.

The clarifier is mixed with water to a uniform thick consistency. The mash, removed from the sediment, is heated to high temperature for cleaning to kill the remaining yeast and is poured back into the container. Concrete is mixed with liquid and infused for 30 hours. The purified product is removed from the resulting sediment, which is disposed of as solid waste, since it tends to harden.

Distillation

Moonshine at home cannot be made without distillation. This is the process of isolating pure alcohol from prepared mash. There are several ways to make good moonshine. In this case, different numbers of distillations are used, and different methods are used. But there are certain recommendations on how to properly brew moonshine at home. Their implementation ensures high-quality results.

First distillation

At this stage, the maximum amount of alcohol is released. The mash is poured into the distillation cube and put on fire. In this process, 3 fractions are formed.

The first is approximately 40 milliliters and is the most harmful. The second is the main faction. It will undergo further distillation. Proper moonshine should not be below 40 degrees. As soon as the percentage of alcohol drops, the release of the base is completed. The distillation residues will contain fusel oils that are harmful to health. Therefore, they are not used further.

Second distillation

During the second distillation, the first fraction is selected from the resulting base. It is released as long as the alcohol content is maintained at 40 degrees. As soon as this indicator begins to fall, the distillation is completed.

Is there any point in a third distillation?

The third distillation is carried out only if the moonshine still contains a large amount of harmful impurities. This happens extremely rarely. In other cases, this step does not make sense, since it is impossible to obtain pure alcohol by distillation.

Distillation without a moonshine still

Without a distillation apparatus it is impossible to obtain high quality moonshine. But in the absence of a device, it can be replaced with a homemade design.

To do this, pour the mash into a large saucepan. A small metal container is placed in it so that the liquid does not pour into it over the edge. The large saucepan is covered with a frying pan so that it fits as tightly as possible. You can additionally lay wet thick fabric for better sealing. Water is poured into the pan to cool the structure during the process.

Cold water needs to be replaced when heated. After the process is completed, the finished moonshine is poured from a smaller container into a storage container.

Cleaning the finished moonshine

Purification of the finished product is used to finally get rid of harmful components. The main secrets of moonshine brewing are choosing a suitable filter. Can be used:

Milk. It is added to moonshine and left to settle until flakes appear. After this, they are filtered from the drink.
Carbon filtration. The method of settling and direct filtration is used. In the second method, cotton wool and coal are placed in a funnel, then the layer of cotton wool is repeated again. The finished moonshine is filtered through this structure.
Potassium permanganate. It is added to moonshine and left for a couple of days. After this, the liquid is removed from the sediment and re-distilled.

Dilution and settling

Moonshine is diluted with water and settled to obtain a more pronounced, bright taste. You need to keep the drink in a small, tightly closed container for about 5 days. The room should be dark and cool, no more than 20 degrees.

Natural additives for moonshine

Additives help once again clean and soften the taste of the finished moonshine. Citrus fruits, nuts and sugar are used as flavor enhancers. Both the lemon itself and its juice or zest can be used. The nuts most often chosen are pine or walnuts. They have the most pronounced taste. Only burnt sugar is added. It has a light caramel flavor and transfers it to the drink.

Moonshine recipes

Any moonshine recipe includes 2 main preparation steps. The first is the fermentation of raw materials, the next one is the distillation of the resulting mash. There are many different options depending on the ingredients and additional techniques. The best moonshine recipes are carefully preserved and passed down through generations.

Recipe for making moonshine without yeast

Moonshine, recipes for which do not include the use of yeast, is very popular. To prepare it you will need:

Tomato paste – 1 liter.
Beer – 0.25 liters.
Water - 15 liters.
Sugar – 5 kilograms.

Braga is made from a mixture of tomato paste, sugar and beer. It is infused for a month and then distilled twice.

Grape moonshine

Recipes for delicious moonshine often include fruits and berries. For the grape drink you will need:

Grapes – 10 kilograms.
Water – 15 liters.
Sugar – 2.5 kilograms.
Yeast – 100 grams.

Juices are prepared from the berries, filled with water and left to infuse for a couple of hours. After this, the remaining ingredients are added. The finished mixture is infused for about a week and filtered before the next stage. Distillation must be double, followed by filtration.

Rice moonshine

To try how to make moonshine at home from rice, you can use the simplest recipe. For it you need:

Rice – 3 kilograms.
Water – 8 liters.
Sprouted malt – 1 cup.
Yeast 250 grams.

The finished rice, without draining the broth, is mixed with cold water and malt and aged for about 12 hours. After this, yeast is added and stirred. This mixture is infused for a week. The finished mash is filtered and distilled in a cube.

Recipe for making moonshine from jam

To prepare moonshine from jam you need:

Jam – 2 liters.
Sugar – 1 kilogram.
Water – 10 liters.
Yeast – 100 grams.

Braga is infused from a mixture of jam, warm water, sugar and yeast. Preparation time – one week. After this, the mixture is filtered and distilled.

Moonshine from potatoes

Potato moonshine is one of the most labor-intensive recipes, but it is not of high quality. Main ingredients:

Potatoes – 5 kilograms.
Water – 20 liters.
Oats – 2 kilograms.
Yeast – 300 grams.

Ground oats are poured with a small amount of boiling water. Grated potatoes are added to it. The mixture is stirred and infused for 2-3 hours. Then water and yeast are added. The mixture is closed and sent to a dark place. You need to start distillation as soon as sediment and bubbles form.

Moonshine from honey

This moonshine has the sweetest composition. To prepare you need:

Honey – 3 kilograms.
Sugar – 3 kilograms.
Yeast – 300 grams.
Water – 20 liters.

All ingredients are mixed in a container and infused for one week. The finished mash is distilled twice.

Moonshine from corn

To prepare moonshine from corn grains you will need:

Corn – 4 kilograms.
Flour – 0.5 kilograms.
Water – 20 liters.
Malt – 0.5 kilograms.
Yeast – 50 grams.

Flour is mixed with crushed corn, poured with boiling water and cooked in a large container for 4 - 5 hours. The finished mass is cooled, mixed with barley malt and cooled. After this, you need to infuse the product in a container wrapped in a blanket for a couple of hours and cool to 20 degrees. After this, yeast is added and the mixture ferments for another week. Before distillation, filtration of the mash is required.

Bread moonshine

This recipe includes not only bread, but also potatoes and grains in the following quantities:

Potatoes – 5 kilograms.
Bread – 4 loaves.
Sprouted oats – 3 kilograms.
Water – 5 liters.
Yeast – 0.5 kilograms.

Grated potatoes, ground oats, soaked and ground bread and yeast are mixed in one container. The mixture is kneaded to a homogeneous porridge and kept for a week. After this, double distillation is performed to obtain the finished product.

Recipe for making moonshine from grain

This recipe is very complex and requires strict implementation. But unlike bread moonshine, this moonshine turns out to be of very high quality. Ingredients:

Grain – 5 kilograms.
Water – 10 liters.
Yeast 250 grams.

The grain is soaked in a small amount of water for a couple of days. After which it is filled with 5 liters of hot water and infused for another couple of hours. Then the rest of the water is poured in, mixed and infused for another couple of hours. Only after this is yeast added, and the mixture is aged for 3 - 4 days. The finished mash is filtered and distilled twice.

Wheat moonshine

Wheat moonshine is considered classic. It is very easy to prepare and does not require complex ingredients. To prepare you need:

Wheat – 4 kilograms.
Sugar – 5 kilograms.
Water – 20 liters.

The grain is ground and mixed with four kilograms of sugar and three liters of water. The mixture is infused in a warm place for a week, after which the remaining sugar is poured in and all the water is poured in. The resulting mixture is infused for another week and then distilled twice. Ready moonshine must be filtered before use for better results.

Rye moonshine

To prepare this moonshine, sprouted rye is used - 2 kilograms. Other ingredients:

Water – 6 liters.
Yeast – 100 grams.

The grain is ground, mixed with water and brought to a thick state. The finished mixture is infused for about 12 hours and cooled to just below 20 degrees. Yeast is added to the mixture, after which it ferments for another week. The resulting mash is filtered and distilled. One time is enough for this recipe.

Moonshine from birch sap

In this recipe, birch sap acts as water. To prepare you need:

Juice – 10 liters.
Sugar – 2 kilograms.
Yeast – 50 grams.

To prepare mash, birch sap is heated and only then mixed with sugar and yeast. The mixture is infused in a dark room at room temperature for one week. The finished mash is filtered and distilled. During one stage of distillation, it is necessary to additionally filter the resulting moonshine.

Herbal moonshine

Herbal moonshine has a spicy, tart taste and aroma. This makes it very easy to drink and is obtained by infusing a ready-made pure product. To prepare you need:

Wormwood – 10 grams.
Mint – 100 grams.
Rosemary – 7 grams.
Cloves – 5 grams.
Moonshine - 6 liters.

All ingredients are mixed in one container and infused for a couple of days. After this, the drink is further distilled.

Moonshine is a very ancient drink that is prepared everywhere. It is so popular because it can be prepared from almost any food raw material. There will always be a lot of variety among the recipes, so everyone can constantly experiment and get new options.

How to brew moonshine at home and what is needed for this? Any self-respecting moonshiner can answer this question. You need to learn how to properly prepare mash, then, and then clean it using various methods.

It seems that making moonshine at home is not so difficult. In fact, this process is full of nuances, tricks and secrets. The theory, of course, will tell you how to make moonshine, but basic knowledge will come only after practical training.

Moonshine brewing begins with making mash. It needs to be done correctly, and the first thing to start with is to thoroughly rinse the container in which the mash will be located. Many fans of making distillate at home neglect this rule. But in reality, such an attitude towards containers leads to the fact that alcohol develops an off-flavor and the basic taste changes.

Moonshine still in action

When the container is ready, you can start making mash. The classic recipe includes only 3 ingredients:

Water.
Sugar.
Yeast.

The water should be clean and free of foreign odors and tastes, but you should not use distilled water.

Sugar can be used in its original form or mixed with citric acid to make a syrup. Inverted sugar helps to cook more, which will have good characteristics.

Yeast can be used in any form; briquette and instant yeast are suitable. Some distillers use alcohol-resistant yeast - they help increase the strength of the mash, and, accordingly, the strength of the subsequent distillate.

You can prepare mash from dense wort: berries, fruits and other components, but in this case you should make sure that during the distillation process it does not burn to the walls of the distillation cube.

Making alcohol at home requires attention, perseverance and the desire to follow all the rules.

After everything is ready, you need to move on to calculating the components, so as not to miscalculate, you should immediately decide on the volume. The more mash, the more moonshine will be made, which is quite logical, but you will also need to spend a lot of time on distillation.

Component ratio:

6 kg of sugar will require 24 liters of water;
120 grams of dry yeast or 600 pressed;
and 25 grams of citric acid.

Making moonshine begins with calculating the amount of ingredients. For example, acid is needed only if you plan to make syrup from sugar. If you don’t want to invert the sugar, then you should pour it into it, fill it with water and move everything carefully. You will have to stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

The water should be at room temperature. When the sugar dissolves, yeast is added to the mixture. If we are talking about pressed yeast, then they should be crushed by hand and pre-prepared for immersion in mash. This rule also applies to dry yeast.

You can crumble the briquette with your hands, but it is better to soak it in water. Dry yeast is poured with water and placed in a warm place. When the foaming process begins, the fungi are “launched” in the mash.

The mash should ferment in a warm and dark place. The temperature regime must be observed; for this reason, mash containers are often equipped with thermometers.

The mash will ferment for at least 4–7 days. The following signs will help determine that it is ready for distillation:

The bitter taste of the liquid, which indicates that all the sugar has been converted by yeast into alcohol, hence the bitterness.
The hissing has stopped - this is a sign that carbon dioxide has stopped being released, which means that fermentation has stopped.
For moonshine brewing, it is important that the mash reaches readiness; for this reason, it is often checked with a match. If the fire does not go out near the mash, this means that it is ready for processing.

It is advisable to evaluate the readiness of the wort for distillation using several criteria. An integrated approach will help determine whether it is worth starting the moonshine process or whether you need to wait a little longer.

After letting the mash ferment, you should insulate the container, put a cover on it, or simply lean it against the stove or radiator. This will help the yeast develop normally, because if the temperature is not maintained, the yeast may go into hibernation or die without completely processing the sugar.

Clarifying mash

After the mash is ready for processing, it must be clarified. This procedure is carried out using white clay. Those who know everything about moonshine know that they also use cat litter - it is ground into flour and used for the following purposes:

Cleaning will help remove the unpleasant odor.
Remove bitter taste or unpleasant aftertaste.
It will remove harmful impurities from alcohol.

Just 2-3 tablespoons of crushed cat litter are diluted in a glass of warm water. This amount will be enough to clean 24–25 liters of mash.

The secrets of moonshine brewing are so diverse that they allow the use of various components in this matter. Cleaning the mash and clarifying it using white clay or other means is not a mandatory procedure, but if it is not done, the quality of the finished product will be significantly worse.

Distillation begins after the mash has gone through clarification; this will take at least 15–20 hours. For the first 60 minutes, the container with the liquid is shaken vigorously to activate the white clay.

When the clarification is completed, the sediment will have to be drained. It is not recommended to pour clay down the drain - this can lead to the formation of cement plugs.

When preparing moonshine that has been clarified with clay, it is worth considering that the distillation process will take much less time and the unpleasant odor will go away. But proper lighting is not everything.

We brew moonshine correctly

Moonshine technology is as old as the world. Over the years of civilization, it has not changed significantly, but it has acquired several nuances that have significantly improved the quality of alcohol, making it soft and tasty.

You should start by dividing the moonshine into fractions - this will help rid the drink of fusel. It is necessary to remove the “heads” and cut off the “tails”. “Heads” is the so-called pervach or pervak, it is not recommended to drink it. The fact is that pervak is rich in fusel. Despite the fact that this is the strongest moonshine, it is used only for technical purposes. But the “tails”, or “distillate”, can be poured into the mash - this will help increase the strength of the drink during distillation. The “heads” of the total volume of the mash make up about 8–10%, and the “tails” begin to be taken away after the alcohol strength drops below 40 degrees.
The basics of moonshine brewing include cleaning. It is carried out after the moonshine has gone through the distillation procedure. Cleaning is carried out using coal, potassium permanganate crystals, or using a filter jug that has a replaceable cartridge. Purification helps prepare the alcohol for re-distillation; you can filter the drink using bread crumb or milk. There is not much difference in this, the main thing is that the alcohol gets rid of harmful impurities and becomes cleaner.
Repeated distillation is the most effective way to rid the distillate of an unpleasant odor and change its taste. Recycling follows the same scheme as the first. During the distillation process, it will be necessary to again divide the moonshine into fractions, that is, select the “heads” and “cut off” the tails. This will reduce the total volume of distillate, but will help increase its strength to 60–70 degrees.

By spending only 2-3 hours processing moonshine, you can get a drink of good quality that can compete with vodka or other alcoholic products sold in stores at very high prices.

How to properly brew moonshine and rules for re-distillation:

It is worth diluting the drink before processing, since too strong moonshine is explosive. During the expulsion process, it can provoke an explosion of the device and cause not only property damage, but also a fire.
Moonshine is diluted to a strength of 20 degrees by adding water to alcohol, and not vice versa. It is advisable to use clean water, but not water that has been boiled or distilled.

If everything is done correctly, the resulting product will be of high strength and good quality. However, here everything depends not only on the actions of the moonshiner, but also on the design of the apparatus.

Distiller requirements

Manufacturing a quality product is impossible without the appropriate equipment. When purchasing a device in a store, you should pay attention to its design.

What should be in a moonshine still and what additional modules are needed:

A dry steamer is a device in which fusel oils accumulate. If the unit is equipped with 2 steam chambers, then one of them is used as storage for flavors. Simply put, herbs, spices, etc. are placed in a container, which improves the taste of alcohol and gives it a unique aroma.
Bubbler - helps protect the finished product from drops of mash getting into it. The mash is rich in fusel and can spoil the quality of moonshine. If the boiling in the distillation cube is very intense, then a bubbler is necessary.
The cooling system is the so-called refrigerator. The system helps convert alcohol vapor into ready-made moonshine.

Product performance depends on many factors. good quality is not so easy, but this task can hardly be called difficult.

We have heard so much about Russian moonshine; in some way it is even a symbol of our people, like the bear and the balalaika. By the way, this drink was popular not only in Rus', in Ukraine it was called Gorilka, in the USA it was called Moonshine, in Hungary - Polinka. But of course, we prefer the word Moonshine, which evokes something native, homemade, from the village, poured into a glass and eaten with salted lard and pickled cucumbers, mmm. In the south of Russia it is called Chacha, although initially it was, specifically, grape moonshine, today, this name is used to call any home-made fiery drink, so every amateur should be able to prepare moonshine at home!

Many people today cook it at home, because it is interesting, useful, and simply entertaining. The feeling of having stood the mash for so long, and now the “moment of truth” will come, a miracle will be born from a hastily assembled still, is indescribable. And how nice it is to please your friends with homemade fire water, mixing it with various bases and turning it into tinctures, liqueurs and other joys from homemade alcohol.

Beginners may find this activity quite difficult, but we hasten to reassure you - anyone can do it, the main thing is desire!

Typically, it takes a month, a couple of kilograms of sugar, water and patience to make one liter of 50% homemade Sam. It may not work out the first time, but in the future you will gain the necessary experience and be able to make gorgeous works of alcoholic art in your kitchen, and we will help you with this; our website contains the best recipes and tips for you.

How to properly prepare moonshine at home

So let's get started at the very beginning, I advise you to take care of the cleanliness of the pots, fermentation tank, bottles for bottling in the future and, most importantly, the moonshine still must be clean to produce a truly high-quality product.

Many beginners in this matter do not pay enough attention to cleanliness and therefore subsequently complain about the foreign smell and taste of their product.
Yes, it is indeed possible that if the container is unclean, foreign bacteria can get into the product and cause side effects.
Braga is a very active substance, when foreign bacteria enter it, substances that should not be produced are produced, which is why a foreign smell and taste arises, do not repeat these mistakes and you will get a truly high-quality product.

The calculation of the main ingredients for production is approximately as follows:

6 kg granulated sugar;
18 liters of water;
600 g yeast (120 g dry yeast is also allowed);
25 g citric acid.

From this calculation, you can make any volume of mash; the amount of water can be slightly increased for better fermentation of sugar.

Sugar mash recipe

First, let's try to decide on the amount of moonshine we need at the output; for beginners, when producing moonshine at home, as a rule, the output from one kilogram of sugar is 1 maximum 1.2 moonshine with a strength of 40 degrees. In order to really get the desired result, I advise you to increase the amount of ingredients by about 10%, because for beginners, due to various reasons, such as distillation temperature, insufficient quality raw materials, the actual yield may differ from the desired one.

Let’s dwell a little on the issue of inverting sugar, don’t be so scared of this abstruse name, this name means the usual process of preparing sugar syrup, it’s just that in order to prepare alcohol, yeast must first break down our beet or cane sugar into more simple and natural sugars, so to speak These are Glucose and Fructose.

By the way, the heating process will kill all unnecessary microorganisms that may get on the sugar during the transportation of the packaging and so on.

Moonshine made from such sugar ferments faster; there are fewer side microorganisms in it that can negatively affect the quality of the mash. With the same approach with inverting sugar, moonshine will have a better taste than its regular counterpart. Although this process is not considered to be found in most cases it is omitted, it is recommended to simply dissolve the sugar in warm water.

Water for moonshine

It is better to leave tap water for 1-2 days so that all undesirable elements such as chlorine or other substances that are used to disinfect water at water pumping stations are removed from it.

But you shouldn’t get too carried away with the process of water purification; under no circumstances should such water be boiled or distilled because it requires oxygen, which friends will need for the fermentation process.

Preparing water for moonshine This is a very important and responsible stage, it is recommended to take good quality water, but you can then drink this moonshine.

When we have prepared the water, we need to pour it into the fermentation tank, add sugar syrup or just sugar and mix, the container must be filled to no more than 3-quarters of the volume, otherwise during the active fermentation process the foam may fly over the edges of the container and you will have to wash the floor.
It is necessary to pour a small amount of wort from the fermentation tank and then add yeast to it; if it is ordinary pressed yeast, then simply dilute it in this wort and pour back into the fermentation tank.

For mash we take 15 liters of juice, three kilograms of sugar, yeast (100 g). Lightly heat the birch sap, then add sugar, stir, and then add yeast.

Let the mixture sit for a week, then filter and distill the liquid.

To improve the taste, before putting the resulting mass to ferment in a warm place, you can add garden currants.

Rowan moonshine recipe

We sort through ripe rowan berries and remove bad or damaged berries. Add sugar and water. Mix everything, add the yeast, stir the mass thoroughly again and only then let it ferment. Fermentation time is approximately two weeks. Next comes distillation. Product consumption: rowan - three kilograms, water - five liters, yeast - 100 g.
In this recipe you will need to take berries, bread kvass instead of water, and yeast. Thoroughly crush the rowan, add yeast and kvass, mix. Then we put the mixture to ferment (about 6 days). We distill once, add moonshine (6 liters) and distill again.

Amount of products: kvass - five liters, berries - three kilograms, yeast - 50 g.

Apricot moonshine

From apricots, if all stages of the technological process are followed correctly, you can get a magnificent aromatic alcoholic drink.

Remove the pits from the apricots, grind them in a blender or meat grinder, add yeast, a little sugar syrup and let them ferment. After two to three weeks, filter the finished mash and put it on distillation. The best option is to distill two or three times.

Amount of products: apricots - 10 kg, sugar - 10 kg, water - three liters, yeast - 100 g.

Herbal moonshine

Many people like to make moonshine using various herbs. This drink has a pleasant aroma, rich taste, and therefore is easy to drink.

For six liters of moonshine we take dill (10 g), sage (100 g), coriander (30 g), rose hips (30 g). Fill the ingredients with moonshine and leave for about five days. After standing, we distill the mass. After distillation, add sugar syrup (a glass) to the finished product.
Take wormwood (20 g), mint (200 g), rosemary (15 g), cloves (10 g), fill everything with moonshine (12 liters), close tightly. We remove the container and leave for three days. After this, we filter the tincture and distill it once.

Grape moonshine

So, you will need:

10 liters of grape pomace;
five kilos of sugar;
yeast (100 g);
30 liters of water.

Gently pour the grape marc with water, let it sit, and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir the mixture constantly during cooking, then put it in a warm place. Exposure period is a week.

After this, we filter the mash and only then distill it. It is advisable to do the distillation twice, in this case you will get clear, tasty moonshine.

According to reference books, moonshine is a strong alcoholic drink produced, so to speak, “in the kitchen,” handicraft (hence the name - self-distillation). How to brew moonshine at home? Distillation of the alcohol-containing mass is carried out through factory or home-made devices. The mash itself is obtained from the fermentation of yeast, and the base is made from sugar syrup and grains, beets, fruits, potatoes and other products that contain sugars and starches (as is known, Ostap Bender could name more than two hundred ways of preparing it, including from stool).

Ode to moonshine!

But behind such dry formulations lies the true face: this strong drink in its various variations is the most beloved and most important in almost the entire post-Soviet space! He played and continues to play, to be honest, not the least role in the “mental” development of the average male person. And more than one voluminous treatise has been written on the topic “How to brew moonshine at home.” And yet, and yet... Many of the men had to try “homemade” at least once. But why in one case is he - wow, what a disgusting thing, and in the other - completely okay? And what nuances in production might this depend on? We will try to answer all these questions in this article.

Devices

How to make moonshine with your own hands, so to speak, in the kitchen? Today, a large number of devices are used to force it out - both home-made and factory-made. And folk craftsmen immediately build a device from all sorts of improvised means. In villages, for example, they use bulky, stationary units that are installed in the forest, in a swamp and used for their intended purpose. In small apartments, “cast iron” stoves are in use. Ultra-compact moonshine stills have also appeared, operating on electricity, hermetically sealed and waste-free. But whatever the chosen device, ultimately the entire structure consists of 3 main parts:

Containers for fermentation.
Tubular coil.
Cooling vessel.

The process itself

No, of course, today multiple improvements and know-how are used. But the process of distilling moonshine remains unchanged:

The container with the mash is heated (over a fire, kerogas, using gas or an electric stove, a heat-electric heater - underline what is necessary).
Steam containing alcohols flows through the tube, condensing upon contact with cold water in the cooler, and then turns into a liquid state, flowing into a substitute container. All this is usually called the word “distillation”.

How to make moonshine yourself? Here are some recommendations on the technology of the process itself from “avid moonshiners.” We hope they will be useful to those new to the business.

To determine whether the mash is ready, light a match near the container with the starter. If the fire goes out, then it’s not ready yet, it’s burning bright enough - you can start.
There is another method. You need to taste the leaven on your tongue, and if it tastes sweet, then let it still stand, and if it tastes bitter, then it’s ready.
Sometimes during production, sourdough runs into the container with moonshine. To prevent this from happening, you need to add a glass or two of fresh milk or a couple of spoons of butter to the mash.
For an excellent final result, it would be good to add galangal root or ginger to the mash, but not in too much quantity. The color of the drink will become slightly brownish, and it will taste very pleasant. You can also add hot pepper and a dry sprig of mint.
The degree of any moonshine directly depends on the quality of the yeast used and on the thermal regime of sourdough production.
The waste should not be poured out: it is better to add the necessary components to the leftovers for the new project. The quality of such moonshine is always higher.
It is better to produce the starter in containers made of wood or glass.
How to brew moonshine at home? When sublimating, the starter should not be overheated, as the container may explode, or the mash will be expelled from the tube into the moonshine.
Let's remember physics: the stronger the cooling, the better the condensation. Running water should be used whenever possible.

Drive from what?

What and how to brew moonshine at home? It has already been said above: they don’t make them out of anything! Bread is considered the highest quality. Previously, he was very popular in the Union. Or - grain, strong, soft, with a slight aftertaste and hangover. There is also moonshine made from sugar and yeast; this is the simplest option. Let's look at the most popular recipes.

Cereal

We germinate rye or wheat (you can also take barley or millet, corn or peas). To do this, the grains must be soaked in cold water, spread on gauze in a thin, up to 2 cm, layer. We also make sure that the grain does not sour during this time. Dry the sprouts and grind them into flour. Add this flour little by little to the boiling water, stirring constantly. Stir until the consistency of liquid jelly. Cover and let sit for 12 hours (you can leave it overnight). Cool and add yeast (for moonshine, you can use either regular bakery dry or pressed yeast): about half a kilo for 10 buckets of mass. The mash ferments for a little less than a week. Among the many types of moonshine, the best natural product comes out of grain!

With potatoes

We make malt according to the previous recipe (that is, we germinate the grain, dry the sprouts, and grind them into flour). We cook potatoes. Crush it with the water that wasn't thrown away. Place in a bowl. Sprinkle malt on top. Pound again until smooth (thickness is like jelly). The entire mass should remain hot. Sprinkle the rest of the flour on top again and leave overnight. In the morning (after about twelve hours), stir, pour into a barrel, add yeast (half a kilo will be enough for moonshine). Let it ferment for five days - a maximum of a week. Yes, the ratio of the main ingredients is one to two, that is, for example, for 2 buckets of malt flour - 4 buckets of potatoes (we choose, of course, not rotten, not broken, completely ripe - not green).

With hops

We germinate wheat (or rye), for example, in a wooden trough. Boil the potatoes and mash them. Steam the hop cones. Then we’ll prepare “mashed” - add a hop decoction (3 liters) to the remains of the mash from the last portion (2 liters). Mix all the above components: sprouted wheat (rye), potatoes, mashed potatoes. Before this, we grind the grain with a meat grinder. We put it in a warm place. Let him stand and stop “making noise”, that is, wandering around. As for the proportion of components, everything is the same as in the previous recipe: for a bucket of sprouted grain, 2 buckets of boiled potatoes.

Moonshine made from sugar and yeast

This is the simplest recipe. We dilute six kilograms of granulated sugar in 30 liters of warm, pre-purified water. Add 200 grams of yeast. We put it in a warm place. For flavor, add currant sprigs or dry dill. After a week, the starter is ready - you can start it.

Note

For some reason, there is a widespread opinion among people: one kilogram of sugar will yield a liter of samograi. But when using a conventional steam unit, 10 liters of an excellent product can be obtained from 7 kilograms of sugar. Therefore, there is no need to make the starter too sweet. After all, excess sugar “burns out” and goes to waste - we don’t need extra spending, right?

From beets

Grate the beets, boil them in the oven, and squeeze out the juices. For thirty liters of beet juice - 200 grams of yeast. Place the starter in a warm place. In a maximum of a week it will be ready. And you don’t need to add sugar at all - beets are already very sweet.

From jam

Moonshine from jam is easy to make. We take 6 liters of any slightly fermented jam, dilute it with 30 liters of water at a moderate temperature, at which microorganisms will carry out active fermentation. Then add 200 grams of yeast. To get a greater yield of the final product, you need to add three kilograms of sugar. Place the starter in a warm place for 5 days. Periodically check the fermentation process by carefully stirring the mass. The mash is ready - you can distill the moonshine. From jam with added sugar it turns out very tasty. At least that's what experienced moonshiners say.

Moonshine at home: a simple recipe - “daily”

For one kilo of peas we take five kilos of sugar, half a kilo of yeast, a liter of fresh milk, and up to 15 liters of warm water. Keep warm for 24 hours. Then we distill. Yield: five liters. Implementing such a simple moonshine recipe at home is not a problem, although this is, of course, an emergency option. But you can do it even faster - see the next recipe!

In two hours

We take 10 kilos of sugar, a packet of yeast, 3 liters of milk, 4 buckets of water and, mixing thoroughly, pour it all into... the washing machine. We “wash” for two hours. Drain and let stand. Now the mash can be distilled.

Apple

Grind the apples, squeeze out the juice (or take ready-made, natural, in jars). For 30 liters of apple juice, add three kilos of sugar and 200 grams of yeast. Mix thoroughly. We put the mash in a container in a warm place, and it is ready in a week - you can distill the luxurious apple moonshine.

From pears, plums, game

This option is suitable when there is a lot of “unreceived” fruit available. For example, pour plums into a large container up to half its volume, knead and add sugar (but you don’t have to add it if the fruit is very sweet). A little yeast - and leave it to ferment in a warm place. You need to stir periodically, removing the characteristic “cap”, then the fermentation process goes faster. In a week or so, the mash is ready!

You can, of course, drive from anything. Also popular are recipes for mash made from candies, starch, halva, molasses, and other ingredients containing large amounts of sugar. But in order for the final product to be pleasant to the taste and not harmful to the body, you still need to be able to clean it properly. Let's talk about this too.

Some cleaning methods

So, how to clean moonshine at home? There are many methods that have been proven over the years. And here are some of them. Everyone knows that fusel oils in moonshine are the worst thing. Every novice “user” can verify that they exist independently, so to speak, from personal experience: just set fire to the freshly expelled product in a spoon. After combustion of the substance, an oily mass will remain at the bottom. These are fusel oils that are harmful to our body. Moreover, they are the ones who give this “amber” - you can’t confuse it with anything else! How to remove odorless moonshine? The first rule: follow the distillation technology, do not exceed the temperature range, constantly changing the coolant.

The smell and taste of moonshine is removed using potassium permanganate. For a 3-liter container with distilled moonshine, take a few grams of powder. We are waiting for the sediment to fall. And carefully drain the product itself.
For filtration we use household water filters. You can also strain the moonshine through charcoal.
The addition of milk provides excellent cleaning in the kitchen. It should be noted that this method must be used at the end of distillation: no matter how you filter the solution, tiny protein particles remain in it, and when heated they can give off unpleasant odors and tastes. For 20 liters of moonshine with a strength of 50 degrees, take a glass of milk. It is pasteurized and has low fat content (1.5%). Pour milk into the product, shake thoroughly, close the lid so that the degree does not escape, put it in a dark place for a week (room temperature +20 degrees), constantly shake the mixture for five days, and let the suspension settle for the final two days. Filtering.
An analogue of the milk cleaning method is using egg white. For a liter of drink with a strength of 50 degrees - one egg white. Whisk it in a glass of water and pour it into the moonshine. Next, we use the same technology as for milk cleansing.
Another old way to purify moonshine, which will allow you to get pure moonshine even from the poorest quality, is freezing. Cover the container with the drink and put it in the freezer for 12 hours (more is possible). In this case, water and harmful fractions freeze to the walls of the container, and pure alcohol, which tends to freeze at colder temperatures, remains in a liquid state. We drain it through the filter. But you should remember that by freezing moonshine in the kitchen in the freezer, you increase its strength: it will become higher than before the procedures.
Soda cleaning. It is good for its accessibility - after all, such a substance is available in every kitchen, without exception. Let us remind you that such cleaning is carried out before the second distillation. You will need about ten grams of soda per liter of moonshine. And the time should be infused for at least twelve hours (it’s most convenient to leave it overnight and continue in the morning). To remove sediment, take a thin filter (cotton wool with gauze or ordinary cotton pads for cosmetics).
Another original method is cleaning with vegetable oil. The whole point is that water and alcohol do not combine with it, but fusel oils with drops of oil tend to stick together. So, we take 20 grams of oil per 1 liter of product (the oil is as purified and refined as possible). Shake the vessel and repeat the procedure several times. Leave it to settle overnight. Carefully pour the moonshine through a tube lowered to the bottom of the container. Pass through a cotton filter.