How many degrees to drive raw alcohol. Secrets of experienced moonshiners: at what temperature to drive moonshine

Raw alcohol is a full-fledged moonshine obtained after the first distillation of mash without separating the “head”, “body” and “tails” fractions. Many people call it unrefined, as it contains a large amount of "fusel oil" and other harmful impurities. We do not recommend drinking it immediately after distillation, but it is important to know the technology of its preparation, since it is on its basis that our final product will be made, which we will put on the table.

We will analyze step-by-step instructions for distilling mash into raw alcohol, and also consider several options for what we can do with it next to get a quality product. There are only two alternatives: to carry out a second fractional distillation with fractions or to purify raw alcohol from harmful impurities.

An interesting fact: the yield of raw alcohol per 1 kg of sugar is no more than 1.1 liters

Recipe and proportions

We use classic sugar mash with a hydromodule of 1 to 4. For 20 liters of wort, we take the following proportions:

The taste of the final product is highly dependent on the quality of water, so take spring or purchased water.

Sugar - 5 kg.
Water - 20 liters.
Dry alcohol yeast - 100 grams.

The maturation period of the mash is from 5 to 10 days in a dark place at a temperature of 20–30 degrees. It is very important to maintain the correct temperature regime and not to expose the wort to the sunny color once again, otherwise you can disrupt the chemical process in the mash.

Sometimes there is a situation in which fermentation does not go. And the causes and solutions to this problem are described in the publication -.

Checking readiness

It is convenient to use a special plastic barrel with a water seal as a fermentation tank.

If the seething in the mash has stopped, a precipitate has fallen out and it has become bitter to the taste, then you can proceed to the next step.

If for some reason it remains sweet or begins to sour, then try to revive it by adding new yeast and water.

If at all everything looks very bad, then overtake at least what is.

Brightening up the wash with filtering

To avoid yeast getting into the distillation cube (they burn to the walls), it is recommended to clarify the mash. This is done in most cases with the help of bentonite, but we recommend using conventional filtration through cotton wool or gauze.

This is quite enough for a good purification of our wort.

Turbid mixture becomes clear after filtration

Step-by-step technology for distilling mash into raw alcohol

In the instructions, I will indicate the temperature regimes at which certain chemical reactions occur. If you have an ordinary "grandfather" moonshine still without a thermometer, then focus on jet speed(it shouldn't pour too fast) and alcohol strength(below 30 degrees it is highly not recommended to collect).

Use a probe thermometer to measure temperature

We begin to heat up the mash quite intensively.
When the temperature reaches 63 degrees, the fire must be slightly reduced.
Starting from 73 degrees, distillate will begin to drip. At first, it will be very strong, as the temperature rises, its fortress will fall.
We need to collect all the alcohol until the moment when the fortress in the stream drops to a fortress of 30 degrees. To do this, it will be convenient to use a narrow high flask and an alcoholometer.
When the fortress falls below 30 degrees, it will be necessary to stop distillation and sum up intermediate results for the time being.

All the moonshine that we get and will be called raw alcohol - the product of the first distillation of mash. It contains a lot of harmful impurities, so we recommend that you do not stop at this result, but continue to improve the quality of your product.

Options for using raw alcohol (re-distill, refine or drink)

In general, there are three options, one of which we strongly do not recommend you do.

Raw alcohol and ready-to-drink moonshine

Drink up. A terrible decision, which is chosen by a large number of moonshiners, knowing or not knowing about the high harmfulness of raw alcohol.
Clear. You can use one of the options for purifying alcohol, which will greatly remove most of the harmful substances from the liquid. Such alcohol can be drunk, although it is still not ideal.
Distill again with the allocation of fractions. This option is the best, although the most expensive (in terms of time and effort). We definitely insist that you choose it, because with it you will get the best moonshine from the options presented.

Re-distillation with separation of fractions

The best way to bring raw alcohol to perfect readiness. By dividing into fractions “head”, “body” and “tails”, we will clean the moonshine as much as possible from harmful impurities and the very “fuel oil”, which has an unpleasant taste and smell.

moonshine fractions

We dilute raw alcohol with clean water to a strength of 20 degrees.
Pour the liquid into the distillation cube and start heating.
We collect the first 50 ml of moonshine for each kg of sugar (according to our recipe, 250 ml is obtained) in a separate container and do not use it for drinking. This is the harmful “head” fraction, which has the highest concentration of harmful substances. This alcohol can be used for technical purposes.
We collect the rest of the distillate until the strength in the stream drops to 40 degrees. This fraction is called "body", which has the best indicators of purity and quality.
Anything that will drip below 40 degrees is called "tails". They can be harvested to be added to raw alcohol for re-distillation, but this is not recommended by many. This is due to the unpleasant odor and the saturation of harmful impurities. Collect "tails" or not - you decide. We recommend that you do not.

The resulting distillate has a neutral taste and excellent quality. It is almost impossible to make moonshine better than using double distillation.

Purification of raw alcohol

An easier option is to remove harmful substances from moonshine. It is not as efficient as fractional distillation, but still practiced by many.

Before cleaning, you need to decide which method is best to use? In we have collected complete information about which methods work and which do not. From best to worst, this ranking is as follows:

What is the best cleaner to choose?

Activated carbon BAU and KAU.
Egg white.
Sunflower, refined, deodorized oil.
Milk.
Black rye bread.
Soda, salt.
Freezing cold.
Potassium permanganate (the method does not work absolutely).

At the link above you will receive instructions for cleaning each of the presented methods. If you decide to use this method to prepare moonshine for the table, then be sure to study the rating presented to you, since this information is very interesting even for self-development.

Hello everybody. Every novice moonshiner asks himself and not only himself the question - How to properly drive moonshine? So that the quality is at its best, so that there is no unpleasant taste and smell, so that anyone who once tasted your moonshine praises you with pleasure, thereby giving you moral pleasure, and you feel a sense of pride in the result of your work.

So let's start with mash. I will not tell you how I make grain mash on barley or wheat. I will tell you about yeast mash. We put an ordinary aluminum flask of 38 liters, having previously poured 8 kilograms of sugar into it, under the tap and pour water into it at a temperature of 30-35 degrees to the level of the so-called flask skirt. Mix well so that all the sugar dissolves. After that, we take 800 grams and, finely chopped, pour them into a flask. We can use any other yeast. Again, mix our mash thoroughly so that all the yeast is completely dissolved. After that, we must put a flask with mash in a warm place of 30-35 degrees. I personally solve this issue by immersing an aquarium heater in a flask, pre-setting it to heat up to 30 degrees. the higher the temperature, the faster the cooking process of the mash. The main thing is not to overheat it above 35 degrees, otherwise the yeast will simply die. Braga walks with me for about a week, gradually becoming bitter. When the process ends, ideally the sugar level should be zero. You can check it with . Now you need to let the mash rest and stand for a couple of days. Preferably in a cool place. So the yeast will settle faster than in heat.

So our mash is ready and settled. Let's start chasing it. We take the distillation cube and carefully, without shaking the mash and without raising the sediment, pour the mash into the distillation cube of your moonshine still. I do it with a hose. I put the flask above the cube and just pump out the mash with a hose (like gasoline from a tank). After that, we begin to heat the mash at the maximum temperature until moonshine flows. Personally, I use the device by installing it on, inserting an electric heater into it and installing it between them, believing that the quality will be even higher this way :). Our water is open. We have moonshine. I do not take the heads off during the first distillation. I take moonshine to a strength at the exit (not in a can!) 30 degrees. I control the process using the usual household and a small cone. After the process of the first distillation is over, I wash the still, pour the resulting raw alcohol into it, dilute it with water in a ratio of 2: 1 and start heating again. During the second distillation, mistakes cannot be made, the process must be constantly monitored. The temperature must be controlled with . When heated to about 75 degrees, I lower the temperature so that the heating goes more slowly. I set the heating power to such a level that the moonshine drips at a speed of about a drop per second, and does not flow in a jet. Approximately 5% of the amount of alcohol should drip, in my case it is about 250 ml. You can also control the process of selecting heads by smell. Heads smell like sweetness, acetone, but not like alcohol! Drip into your palm, rub and bring your palms in your nose. As soon as the smell of alcohol appeared, then everything is in order. After the head selection process is over, I add heating to 1.5 kW and start the selection of moonshine with a jet at a speed of about 2-3 liters per hour. I select moonshine to about a temperature of 94 degrees on the machine. I check the degree with an alcohol meter and a flask. The degree of alcohol should be no more than 40! Then the tails will go, the so-called "Vanyushka". They contain fusel oils. If we selected the heads and tails correctly, the moonshine should turn out clean and not smelly!

The resulting moonshine with a strength of 70-80 degrees must be diluted and cleaned. I dilute moonshine to 45-50 degrees with boiled water, or filtered water. After that, I clean the moonshine, passing through the same one 3 times (according to the old Russian tradition). After that, I dilute the resulting pure moonshine to 40-42 degrees with water. Someone loves strong moonshine 50-60 degrees. But I prefer not to fall after three glasses, but to sit at the table for a long time and enjoy chatting with friends! After we have cleaned and diluted the moonshine, let it rest for a couple of days.

Moonshine is odorless, soft, pleasant! Further, whoever likes it, insist or drink white! I personally found my favorite range of drinks for myself: 1. White. 2. Tincture on berries (cherry, currant, mountain ash). 3. Tincture on and prunes. 4.Whiskey received in !

P.S. I want to clarify! I am not saying that moonshine should be driven exactly like me and nothing else! I share my experience. I will be glad if it helps someone.

For everyone who is interested in the topic of moonshine, in the first place the question arises of how to prepare a quality drink. You need to know exactly how many degrees to drive moonshine and how to determine its strength. Using the best home brewing machine does not guarantee a strong and high-quality product.

Making moonshine - where to start?

Home brew

Braga for moonshine

The process itself begins with the preparation of mash. It usually consists of pure drinking water, sugar and compressed nutritional yeast. A mixture of these ingredients is placed in a closed enameled or glass dish, thoroughly stirred and left in a warm place to enhance the fermentation effect. The temperature of the mash must be monitored - it should not be lower than 18 degrees and not higher than 30 degrees, since if these conditions are not met, either fermentation may not start at all, or its effect will significantly decrease. It is also necessary to protect the mixture from air access with a punctured household rubber glove or water seal.

After a week, the mash is left alone in a cool place for two days, then carefully poured into a distillation cube. To do this, you can use a tube or a thin hose. A container with mash is placed above the level of the cube and the liquid is poured in the same way that gasoline is usually drained from a gas tank.

Braga is distilled into moonshine using a moonshine still. It can be either homemade or purchased ready-made. He must have a cooling coil, a distillation cube and a container for receiving liquid. You will also need to purchase a thermometer to measure the temperature of the mash and an alcoholometer to determine the strength of the finished alcoholic beverage.

Before distillation, the mash must be filtered in order to avoid clouding of the liquid and contamination of some parts and openings of the apparatus.

Braga is placed directly into the distillation cube, in which it is heated to about 70 degrees, and after all the liquid with a pungent smell of acetone, popularly called "pervak", is released, the temperature is gradually raised to 85-95 0 C. "Pervak", as usually poured or used for technical purposes.

Then they start distilling the “head” - the main part of the moonshine. This is approximately 70-80% of the total planned volume of distillate. Ethanol gradually evaporates, while water and fusel oils remain. The main part of the moonshine will be drawn into the receiver until the current strength of the liquid drops to the 400th level. Now the "tail" will start to stand out. It can be used to dilute the resulting alcoholic drink to the usual 40-45 0.

Fortress can be determined by the following methods

using an alcohol meter;
determination of temperature in a cube;
visually;
by weighing;
taste

You can determine the strength of moonshine using an alcohol meter

Moonshine how many degrees turned out can be determined using an alcoholometer.

You can make it yourself. For this you need to take

two transparent tubes or laboratory flasks;
proven vodka with a strength of exactly 40 0;
medical alcohol with a strength of 97 0;
scotch;
marker;
a metal bearing ball or any other small piece of metal that could be used as a weight;
small seals.

Tubes are connected with adhesive tape, their bottoms are closed with corks. A weight is placed in one of the flasks and the scale is calculated. First, the manufactured device is placed in vodka. Where the tubes stop when descending, they mark with a marker - this is the classic 40 degrees. Then the same manipulation is carried out in a container with medical alcohol and the next mark is set - 97 degrees. Mathematically calculate the remaining divisions on this scale.

Of course, the device obtained in this way cannot be considered a standard, since it can allow significant deviations from the actual values.

We determine the fortress depending on the temperature in the cube

The temperature of the mash in the cube of industrial production is controlled by a thermometer. At 85-90 degrees, "pervak" will begin to stand out. Having selected about 10% of the predicted volume of the final product, they begin to collect the "head". When the thermometer shows 95 degrees, this means that the strength of the moonshine is about 40 degrees. Then the "tails" will go.

Visual method for determining the fortress

Visual determination of the strength of moonshine

You can visually determine the strength of moonshine by evaluating the purity and transparency of the liquid. But this method is not considered particularly reliable, since water has the same performance.

The method of determining the strength by combustion has also proven itself well. If alcohol is stronger than 20 0, then it burns. Set fire to 10 drops of alcohol in a separate container and, after burning, count the number of drops in the remainder. If five drops remain, then the fortress is approximately 50 0.

If the liquid burns out almost completely, and the color of the flame is blue, then the fortress will be about 80 0. But if there are red reflections in the flame, then it will be 60-70 0 .

If the flame is not maintained for long when the fire is kept under the container, then the fortress is about 30 degrees, and if it flares up and goes out, then no more than 20 0.

You can also determine the taste to what degree to drive. The process of home brewing should always be accompanied by a tasting. If the liquid pleasantly warms the larynx, then the moonshine is strong.

Measurement by weighing

When using the determination of strength by weighing, the use of electronic scales is a prerequisite. Having previously weighed the container separately, it is necessary to pour one liter of moonshine into it and install it on the scales. It should be noted that a reference liter of vodka with a strength of 40 degrees weighs exactly 953 grams. Based on this, you can calculate how many degrees of strength in a particular product.

Before measuring how many degrees of strength the moonshine product has reached, the liquid should be poured into an elongated container or into a jar, carefully lower the alcoholometer into it and notice at what division of its scale the moonshine will stop. Be sure to cool the resulting substance to 20 0 C to clarify the readings of the alcoholometer. Moonshine with a strength of 45 - 55 0 is considered good.

Fractional distillation method

Fractional distillation products

In the manufacture of home brew using fruits or cereals, and the subsequent exposure of the distillate is planned, then fractional distillation is used.

Its essence lies in the fact that in the process of distillation, “heads” and “tails” are not cut off, moonshine is collected in a container starting from the very first drops and until the degree of fortress decreases to 30 0. And then it's redone:

5% of the "head" is cut off;
Get the first "head", it is approximately 10%;
Get 20% of the second "head"
When the fortress reaches 60 degrees, a fragrant “head” is obtained in the amount of about 5% of the planned volume of the resulting product;
Cut off the heavy "head" and "tails".

Since the degree of strength in moonshine obtained by this method varies from 43 to 80%, the manufacturer regulates the final strength of the drink himself.

Re-distillation of mash

To improve the quality, enhance the transparency of the increase in the degree of the resulting alcohol, the method of re-distillation is used. It will also significantly improve the taste of the product.

Dilution of raw materials

First of all, the previously obtained raw alcohol is diluted with a "tail" and clean (pre-filtered) water to a strength of 19-25 0. Tap water can also be used, but it must first be defended for 2-3 days.

Filtration

The resulting solution can be filtered. Manganese, paper, milk, activated or charcoal, egg protein are used as absorbent.

If the mash was made with the addition of fruits, citrus zest or walnut membranes, then moonshine is not additionally filtered so as not to lose its aroma and fruity flavor.

Distillation

The prepared solution is again placed in a distillation cube and by distillation a stronger 60-70 0 and better drink is obtained. Moreover, the “tails” begin to be cut off at a fortress of 30 0.

If moonshine is allowed to stand for 3-5 days, then its quality will increase. Now you can check how many degrees the fortress of moonshine has reached.

To obtain a product of high strength, a distillation column is also used.

As practice shows, additional (third, fourth, etc.) distillation does not make sense, since it will not improve the quality and raise the degree of strength of the resulting moonshine.

To how many degrees to bring the strength of the resulting product, everyone decides for himself.

It is necessary to distill twice - this question is asked by many moonshiners, both beginners and with experience. After all, moonshine was driven earlier at a time, and it even turned out to be quite good.

So why do you need to get raw alcohol first, and then bring it to the desired condition by the second stage? Let's try to answer these questions step by step, based on both science and practical experiments.

This is a distillate obtained by the first distillation (more often without separation into fractions), which is further amenable to and.

Why do you need to distill raw alcohol again?

The moonshine obtained during the first distillation is extremely rich in other impurities, which not only spoil the taste and aroma, but also cause irreparable damage to health. Of course, occasionally drinking such a liquid, you may not even go on a drip. Unless you know what a hangover is.

Reference. It is the acetaldehyde contained in the crude moonshine, along with other "free applications" in the form of acetone, furfural, and other substances called fusel oils, that causes poisoning of the body.

He is accompanied by severe headaches, nausea, sometimes vomiting and terrible weakness throughout the body. This is what they call a hangover. Therefore, it is necessary to distill raw alcohol again in order to rid it of harmful fuselage.

How to carry out fractional distillation?

In many recipes there is an indication - the first time to overtake, without dividing moonshine into fractions until the strength in the jet falls below 30°. How correct is this? Actually, this method is justified only by the desire to get more strong distillate as a result of two stages.

If you are primarily interested moonshine quality, and not its quantity (and the losses are not so significant as to grieve about them), then make the first distillation fractional. Moreover, during the first distillation, it is more important to cut off the heads, since they contain a huge amount of the most harmful substances that occur in the mash due to the vital activity of yeast.

It is life-threatening, furfural, acetone, aldehydes. Especially a lot of these substances in the "heads" of grain and fruit mash. Yes, you will be able to determine their presence. Allow the first drops to fall on your hand, then rub them into your skin. Smell. That's another impression! It is important to separate the heads from the body of the distillate and simply pour them down the drain or use them for technical purposes.

But this is the strength of methyl and other alcohols, which are strictly forbidden to use! How and to use for infusing ingredients for rubbing. Through the skin, poisons perfectly enter the body!

Therefore, get rid of impurities already in the first distillate. It is recommended to separate 50% of the heads during the first distillation and the same amount during the second.

In practice, it looks like this:

Determine the expected number of heads. You can do this in several ways:

according to the sugar added to the mash, which is easy to determine on sugar mash. From each kilogram of sugar added, you need to take 60-100 ml of the first drops of moonshine and dispose of it;
according to the sugar content of the wort, when it comes to fruit, grain and other mashes, where sugar content cannot be determined without a device. Sugar content can be measured using a saccharometer-hydrometer or vinometer. This must be done before adding yeast to the wort. Suppose the device showed a sugar content (density) of 20%. It is easy to calculate the amount of sugar from it. In 5 liters of mash, hypothetically - 1 kg. Calculate according to the formula: liters (5) multiplied by sugar content (0.2), get the amount of sugar per liter. In our case, 1 kg. Thus, if you have 20 liters of mash with a primary density of 20%, then - 4 kg of sugar. You need to select 240 - 400 ml heads. For two times - this is twice 120-200 ml;
if it was not possible to initially determine the sugar content, then you need either select “by eye”, or do the first distillation without separation into fractions, and then calculate the amount of absolute alcohol, and select the heads from this figure. It's easy to calculate. Measure the amount of raw alcohol and its total strength. Suppose: 2 liters and 40°. Multiply the amount in ml by the strength and divide by 100. 2000x40:100 = 800. That is, you have 800 ml of absolute alcohol, and the heads must be selected during the secondary distillation of 80 ml.

Put the device on fire and monitor the temperature. When reaching 63-67°C, sharply reduce the heat and wait for the first drops of distillate to appear. Those heads are the most harmful faction in moonshine. They are only taken drip. At the first stage - half of the calculated amount that you have already determined for your mash.
Next, add fire, let the moonshine go in a thin stream. Drive until the fortress in the jet reaches 35 °. This happens on different devices at a temperature of 90-92°C. Everything that follows, do not take into the "body", since these are tails containing a large amount of fusel. If you wish, drive them into a separate bowl until the fortress drops below 30 °. Going further is a waste of time and resources.

Note. Tails are not as useless as heads.

If you add them to the first run of the next wash, it will increase the body yield.

The output of the amount of raw alcohol from the mash

For sugar mash, the reference is the yield 1.2 liters of raw alcohol from 1 kg of sugar. In practice, it rarely happens more than 1 liter. Suppose you had 10 liters of mash, in which 2 kg of sugar. You received 2.3 liters of 40% raw alcohol.

Calculating according to the above formula, we get 920 ml of 100% alcohol. Divide by 2 (kilogram). It is obtained from 1 kg - 460 ml of absolute alcohol.

But keep in mind that during the second distillation, 45 ml will go to your heads and about 8-10 ml will remain in the tail fractions. As a result, you will get the final product after the second stage - 405 AC or 810 ml of 50-degree moonshine.

What moonshine to use?

Even at the first stage it is better to use dryer apparatus. Moreover, after the selection of heads, it should be rid of the assembled stinking bard.

If you have a stainless steel steamer, unscrew the faucet below and remove the liquid that has collected there. If “canned”, then unscrew the can and immediately replace it with a new one.

Suitable and straight-through apparatus. But using it, be sure to separate the distillate into fractions during the first distillation.

Is your device equipped with a strengthening column? Wonderful. The first stage will already be largely freed from fuselage.

There is no need for a second distillation on the distillation column. But if you are making fruit or grain moonshine, it is important to preserve its organoleptic properties. Therefore, turn off the column and carry out the distillation, as in a ramjet.

How to clean before the second distillation?

Before the second distillation, clean the raw alcohol from fusel oils. This will qualitatively affect the second stage, after which you will get clean and drinkable moonshine with a minimum content of fusel oils. Here are some proven folk methods:

Charcoal or coconut charcoal. It is better to use a special one designed for cleaning alcohol-containing liquids. It is made from birch or coconut shells. Before use, grind it and pour it into raw alcohol at the rate of: 1 full spoon per three-liter jar. Shake, leave to settle for 2-3 hours, then filter.
Charcoal household water cartridge. Raw alcohol is passed through a filter jug. The alcohol purification cartridge must be separate. Store it in the refrigerator.
pasteurized milk low fat. Perfectly precipitates fusel oils. True, filtering is quite difficult.
soda and salt is also a good way. You need a spoonful of both for a three-liter jar. Filter thoroughly after cleaning.

How to properly dilute raw alcohol before secondary distillation?

It is not recommended to distill raw alcohol a second time in the form in which it was obtained (total strength 50-60 °).

First, for reasons of fire safety. Such a high-grade liquid is highly flammable. Secondly, it is impossible to overtake “clean”, as a result, you will significantly lose moonshine. Thirdly, it is much more difficult to select impurities and fusel oils from a high-grade product, since the bonds at the molecular level are stronger.

Therefore, before distilling raw alcohol for the second time, it must be diluted to 30, or even 20 °.

Important. When breeding, pour moonshine into water, and not vice versa. If you just add water, the liquid will become cloudy. And this turbidity can be preserved in the finished product.

For the correct proportions, use the moonshiner's calculator.

Is a third run necessary?

In principle, with high-quality mash and proper distillation, two hauls are enough to get moonshine with good organoleptics. But there are cases when an unpleasant odor and taste remains in the distillate even after that. In this case, you need to do a third distillation.

Moonshine is worth doing if you approach it scrupulously. By following the rules at all stages, from setting the mash to double distillation, you will definitely become a master and create high-quality and tasty moonshine.

Do you think double distillation is necessary and do you do it? Share in the comments and rate the article.

The process of making moonshine at home is, if I may say so, creativity. Even if you have the best apparatus with devices to make the quality of moonshine high, there is no guarantee that it will be so without the skills and knowledge of how to distill mash. To find out, it is necessary, first of all, to figure out how many degrees to drive moonshine.

The process of home brewing begins with the fact that a special liquid called home brew is put into fermentation. It is prepared from sugar or sugar, starch-containing products. The simplest mash recipe is to dilute one kg of sugar and 100 grams of pressed yeast in five liters of water. All this is mixed and placed in a glass container in a warm place so that the sugar ferments and alcohol is obtained.

Measurement of the degree of moonshine with an alcoholometer

It is worth noting that at temperatures below 18 degrees, the fermentation process may not start. The optimum temperature is from 28 to 30, it is best to control it, because during the fermentation process the temperature rises, and at more than 30 degrees the efficiency of the process drops significantly. It is also very important that the mash does not interact with air. To prevent this from happening, either a special water seal or an ordinary rubber glove with pierced fingers is used.

Sugar mash turns out to be quite tough, but in this case it is very difficult to spoil the product. For lovers of homemade fruit alcohol, you can find many recipes on the Internet on how to cook it properly. But no matter how hard you try, it will take some time and experience to get a really high-quality product.

After we have determined that the mash is ready, you can begin the distillation process itself using a moonshine still. Of course, for this purpose you will need a device with at least a minimum set of functions. It must be equipped with a distillation cube, a refrigerator with a coil and a receiving container.

To talk about any specific parameters, it is very desirable to have such additional devices as an alcoholometer or a hydrometer and a thermometer. With a thermometer, everything is clear, it is designed to measure the temperature of the mash. The thermometer is installed in the upper part of the distillation cube. It is most often made from some kind of heat-resistant housing and the sensor itself.

The sensor is preferably a bimetal or a resistance sensor. Sometimes, if there is no need to obtain high measurement accuracy and there is no possibility of direct contact with the liquid, an infrared thermometer can be used. And also liquid is allowed, subject to safety precautions.

Purchased moonshine stills from the inexpensive segment are very often equipped with a low-quality alcohol meter. You may have to buy a hydrometer yourself. It is a special device for measuring the strength of alcohol.

Among novice moonshiners, such an important question very often sounds, is it worth filtering or defending the mash? So, it's definitely worth it. Firstly, this will make the final product lighter, and secondly, you will avoid the fact that the mash particles will clog the hole in the moonshine and cause it to break. You can clean the mash by filtering or through a nylon tube according to the principle of communicating vessels.

After the mash is placed in the distillation cube, it is heated to a temperature of 65-70 degrees and wait until approximately 5% of the calculated amount of moonshine comes out or until the liquid at the outlet loses the smell of acetone. The resulting liquid is called “pervak”, or “heads”, and does not participate in the further production of moonshine, but it is quite acceptable to use it for technical purposes.

After you have finished cutting off the "heads", you can gradually raise the temperature. If in doubt about when to stop separating the "heads", then during the first distillation, this is done at an average of 60 ml per kilogram of sugar, provided that it is the basis of the mash. Gradually, the temperature rises to 85 degrees, this is the temperature at which the greatest evaporation of ethanol occurs. At the same time, most of the light fractions also boil away, while the heavy ones, in particular, water and fusel oils, still practically do not evaporate.

If the moonshine is equipped with a dry steamer or the distillation will be repeated, the temperature can be immediately raised to 92 degrees in order to make the process faster. Further, the selection of the main part is carried out, among moonshiners there are also such terms as “body”, or “heart” of moonshine. Selection is made until the strength of the product drops to 40 degrees. In this case, we mean the current strength, and not the entire drink. Therefore, as the temperature begins to approach 95 degrees, we leave the main container for moonshine and collect it in a small one for control.

This method of determining the moment of cutting off the "heads" is the most accurate. The only thing worth considering is this moment: for the most accurate operation of the alcoholmeter, it is necessary that the temperature of the liquid being measured be about 20 degrees. And this means that the efficiency of the refrigerator must be sufficient to ensure that the output has moonshine at room temperature.

When re-distilling the resulting product, you can begin to cut off the "heads" at 30 degrees. If it so happened that there is no way to check the strength with an alcohol meter, then they check it with a household method. The fact is that alcohol with a strength that exceeds 40 degrees burns with a blue flame. At a lower concentration, the liquid does not ignite, but simply flashes slightly. Thus, on average, subject to all technologies, the strength of moonshine is approximately 55.

Some use "tails" to re-distill the mash. This option is possible, but it is undesirable to do this, after all, their main component is fusel oils, which are very harmful to the body.

Re-distillation of moonshine is used to ensure that the output product is as clean as possible, tasty and does not have an unpleasant odor. With the second distillation, the sequence of actions is the same as with the first. In addition, most often, before distillation, additional cleaning is carried out with the help of chemicals. Before the second distillation, moonshine is diluted to a product strength of 20–25 degrees.

The strength of the drink after repeated distillation can reach 65-70 degrees. The expediency of carrying out the process is discussed more than twice by many moonshiners on the forums. Some believe that the more times the drink is run through the moonshine still, the better. Others are more skeptical, believing that distillation more than two times will not give a significant difference.

In any case, in order to obtain a higher-quality high-strength product, it is necessary to use a distillation column. Not so long ago, this equipment was not widely available to anyone, now there is an opportunity to purchase a moonshine still with a distillation column in a store and it’s not even too difficult to make it yourself. Thus, everyone chooses for himself what exactly he needs.

Additional equipment and distillation technologies

There are many accessories for the moonshine still to improve the quality of the product with less time spent. For example, such a thing as a steamer, which is a vessel where moonshine condenses. After that, under the influence of other vapors, it boils again, but more gently, so parts of the fusel oils remain in the steamer.

Interestingly, you can make such a steamer quite simply using just a jar. The size of the selected container should not exceed 10% of the volume of the distillation cube. The sukhoparnik also includes two tubes: inlet and outlet. It is better that the device is collapsible and ideally has drain fittings. The inlet tube is located below the outlet in the dryer housing.

The entire device is installed between the distillation cube and the coil. In some cases, more than one dry steamer is installed. It is considered the optimal number of sequential installation of three such devices in a cascade. This design allows you to get a high-quality product after the first distillation, provided that the "tails" and "heads" are cut off correctly.

Vacuum distillation is a special technology that allows you to drive alcohol from mash using lower temperatures. The boiling point of alcohol is raised by lowering the pressure. The output product is of better quality, with a lower content of fusel oils. This happens due to the use of a special pump that creates a vacuum in the distillation cube. You can cut off the body of moonshine at a temperature of 60 degrees. Such an installation can be either purchased ready-made, or you can try to make it yourself.

Fractional distillation

Partial gradation into “heads and tails” by temperature or percentage is used for the distillation of ordinary mash. If the distillate is made grain or fruit, and then it is planned to ennoble it with aging, fractional distillation is used. To begin with, raw alcohol is obtained without cutting off the “heads” and “tails”. Chases from the first drops to a fortress of 30 degrees. Re-distillation is done as follows, oriented in volumes from the original composition:

5% are “heads”, of course they are cut off.
Further, 10% is the first "body".
20% - the second "body".
5% percent - fragrant "body". As a reference point for the beginning of the fragrant "body", you can use an alcohol meter, which should show 60 degrees of alcohol strength.
Another 2.5% is a heavy "body".
The rest is tails.

For example, from 10 liters of 30% raw alcohol, 500 ml of heads are obtained, one liter of the first "body", two liters of the second "body", 500 ml of fragrant, and 250 ml of heavy. If all proportions were observed correctly and the strength of the original product is 30 degrees, the fractions by strength are distributed as follows:

the first has 78.5 percent alcohol content;
the second - 71.5%;
fragrant "body" - 53.5%;
heavy "body" - 43%.

Then you can do different things depending on what you are going to get at the output. If you plan to use after settling, refining with oak chips or aging in a barrel for less than six months, then mix in the following proportions: three parts of the first "body", six - of the second, three - fragrant and one - heavy. If you plan to get a noble drink, the aging of which will be more than two years, then the following proportions are taken: 0.8 / 0.5 / 0.7 / 1. As mentioned, such fractional distillation makes sense only if, as the main raw material used was grain or fruit mash.

If moonshine becomes cloudy

The reasons that moonshine becomes cloudy can be very different. The most common is spray. This happens when, when heated too quickly, the boiling mash foams and the hot foam enters the coil and is there along with the distillate, after which it mixes and condenses. Turbidity appears immediately. If the alembic is closed and opaque, as in most cases, it is impossible to determine the right moment. Therefore, if muddy moonshine suddenly went, you urgently need to reduce the heat, stop distillation and clean the structure.

To prevent this from happening, you need to:

fill the club with a maximum of 2/3 of the volume;
regulate the intensity of heating;
install a dryer;
clean the apparatus after each distillation.

Another reason is the presence of fusel oils. Everything is clear here, the main thing is to correctly cut off fractions during distillation. Another reason could be that the machine is made of poor material, which happens if the material reacts with alcohol and oxidizes. Most often appears immediately or after some time.

If moonshine becomes cloudy immediately after dilution with water or after a few hours after that, hard water is the cause. Such water contains a large amount of impurities, in particular, salts, so it is recommended to use purified water with a minimum content of them. In addition, liquids are best mixed at a temperature of about 7-10 degrees.

And the last, most common reason is the wrong storage container or poorly washed one. The drink may become cloudy if toxic substances are released when interacting with the dishes. This usually happens if the alcohol is in a plastic bottle. In a glass bottle, moonshine changes color if it was previously poorly washed.

The distillation of mash is one of the most difficult stages in the preparation of homemade alcoholic beverages. If done incorrectly, not only will the product be harmful, but the process itself may end in an accident. Therefore, this must be done slowly, in compliance with all temperature conditions and the obligatory cutting off of heads and tails, as well as checking the apparatus for operability before starting distillation.