How to understand that the mash is ready for haul? We study the composition of heads, tails, fusel oils and their effect on the taste of moonshine.

Cleaning moonshine from fusel oils is an important task that everyone who is engaged in distilling this strong drink at home is trying to solve.

The specific smell and taste of the final product will be present in any case, no matter what recipe you use in its manufacture. Therefore, craftsmen have come up with many effective ways to clean moonshine from various harmful impurities and give it a pleasant aroma.

In this article, we will look at the most effective of these methods, thanks to which you can quickly clean and refine this strong drink.

The sharp and unpleasant smell of moonshine is caused by the following main reasons:

• Poorly washed moonshine still.
• Poor cleaning of mash and moonshine.
• Distillation temperature too high.

Any of these reasons will ultimately affect the quality of the final product, which can turn from a noble drink into the notorious "sivukha". And to prevent this from happening, the drink during the preparation process must be subjected to repeated cleaning in various ways.

Pretreatment Methods

The future strong drink goes through the first stage of purification from fusel oils and harmful impurities even before distillation. The most popular mash clarification methods are the following cleanings:

• Milk.
• food gelatin.
• White clay (bentonite).
• A decoction of Sudanese rose petals.
• Freeze.
• Filtration through a press filter.

Charcoal cleaning is considered one of the best ways. Charcoal is well suited for this procedure, although activated charcoal can also be used. Usually two methods of such cleaning are used:

Potassium permanganate cleaning

• In moonshine, diluted with water to 40 degrees, baking soda is added and stirred (3 g of soda per 1 liter of alcohol).
• Then potassium permanganate is used (1 g of manganese per 1 liter of moonshine).
• The jar is tightly closed and infused for 12 hours in a dark room.
• After precipitation, filtration is carried out through cotton wool and any water filter at the end.

Cleaning with rye bread

• Remove the crusts from the bread, cut it into pieces and crumble the crumb finely.
• Pour the resulting crumbs into moonshine, seal hermetically with a lid and insist for several days in the pantry.
• Then filter through cotton wool with gauze.

Milk cleaning

To do this, you need skim milk and moonshine with a strength of 45-50 degrees. For 5 liters of alcohol you need 50-70 g of milk.

After adding the required amount of a dairy product to an alcoholic drink, you need to thoroughly stir the contents of the container, close the lid tightly and leave for a week in a dark place, shaking the liquid daily.

After the above period, drain the alcohol from the sediment and strain through a cotton filter

Cleansing with egg white

One protein can clean 0.5 liters of moonshine.

Freeze

The advantage of this method is its availability and extreme simplicity. Moonshine is poured into an aluminum pan, covered with a lid and placed in the freezer for 13-15 hours.

During the freezing process, fusel oils and other harmful impurities will remain on the walls of the pan, freezing to them. And ethyl alcohol will remain liquid, as it freezes at a lower temperature.

After freezing, the volume of the product will decrease, which will entail an increase in its strength.

Oil cleansing

For this method, you need to use refined, odorless, well-purified oil, otherwise it will be transferred to moonshine.

Add refined vegetable oil to a container with alcohol (for 1 liter of moonshine - 20 ml of oil).

Then the container is closed with a lid and actively shaken for several minutes. This procedure (shaking) must be repeated several times, after which the moonshine should be left to settle for 12 hours.

Pour the purified alcohol with a tube into a clean jar.

Cleansing with soda

It doesn’t matter what recipe you made moonshine, thanks to this method it is easy to clean it (1 g of soda per 100 ml of strong drink).

• Pre-dilute alcohol to 40 degrees.
• Dilute baking soda in water (100 g of soda per 100 ml of water) if you want to clean 10 liters of moonshine.
• Pour the prepared soda solution into moonshine, close tightly, shake well and leave for an hour.
• Then shake again and leave the container in a dark room for 12 hours.
• After the above time has elapsed, the moonshine is drained and filtered through cotton pads.

Cleaning with kefir

Add a glass of fat-free kefir to 2.5 liters of strong drink, mix well and let it brew for several weeks, during which the moonshine will be completely cleared of fusel oils and harmful impurities.

After precipitation, carefully drain the clean moonshine with a hose.

During this procedure, you will lose from 300 to 350 g of moonshine, which will go away along with the sediment, but from the received pure drink, morning headaches will no longer be terrible for you.

Violet Root Cleansing

To clean the drink from "fussy" for 1 liter of alcohol, 35 g of orris root is needed.

• The dried or raw root is crushed with a grater or knife, poured into a drink and placed for 2 weeks in a dark place.
• After that, the moonshine must be drained and filtered with cotton wool and gauze.
• To improve the taste, raisins are added to moonshine (for 1 liter of drink - 45 g of dried grapes).

Cleaning with pine nuts

Unshelled nuts work well for cleaning (1 handful of nuts per 1 liter of a 50-degree drink). Their peel will give the moonshine a cognac color.

Chopped nuts are poured into the moonshine, the container is tightly closed and infused for several months in a dark, warm place. The tincture needs to be shaken periodically.

If desired, dried apricots or raisins can be added to the drink along with nuts to add aroma and sweetness to the tincture.

As a result, you will get a purified product with a very pleasant taste.

Purification before redistillation

To improve the quality of the drink, you can use plain paper or special cardboard, which act as a filter. Filtering is done as follows:

• Paper or cardboard is placed in the funnel.
• The diluted finished product is poured into the prepared container through a funnel.
• The liquid must be drained in small portions and gradually so that the maximum amount of harmful substances remains on the filter.

Redistillation

Re-distillation improves the quality of alcohol and helps to get rid of harmful impurities.

Before a strong drink is diluted with water by 10-25%, bringing it to 30-35 degrees. The lower the strength of the moonshine, the easier the impurities are separated. Water should be added in small portions and gradually.

How to properly dilute moonshine:

• Measure the strength of the product after each infusion of water.
• In no case should you add warm water, preferably slightly chilled.
• The recommended strength of the drink before the secondary distillation is 30-35%.

By combining the above methods of cleaning, you can achieve the best result. Experiment and try different options, inspired by your own ideas and endeavors, but remember that it is strongly not recommended to produce alcoholic beverages at home without certain knowledge and skills. The distilleries have everything you need: measuring instruments, equipment and, of course, qualified specialists who control the process and release a high-quality product.

Attention, only TODAY!

The moonshine or alcohol produced by you is examined in transmitted scattered light and its transparency, color, shade and the presence of mechanical impurities are determined. The presence of turbidity, any shades or mechanical impurities indicates that such a product is subject to further processing.

Smell and taste
Pour our product into a tightly closed vessel, dilute from 2.5 to 3.0 volumes of cold drinking water, seal the vessel hermetically, mix thoroughly by shaking and immediately after that taste and smell.

Fortress
For a more accurate measurement of the concentration of alcohol in the product, it is necessary to achieve its temperature of 20 ° C. The fortress is determined by the density of the product with an alcoholometer. It should be borne in mind that if you try to measure the strength, for example, of deadly acetone, it will turn out that it has a very high strength. That is, it is categorically impossible to base your conclusions about the concentration of alcohol (strength) only on this density parameter!

Purity
10 ml. Pour the product into a narrow-necked flask with a capacity of 70 ml. and quickly (but very carefully) add 10 ml in 3-4 doses with constant shaking. concentrated sulfuric acid (density 1.835 - a terribly dangerous substance!). The resulting mixture is immediately heated on an alcohol stove, with a flame 4–5 cm high and about 1 cm in diameter at the bottom. The heating time is approximately 30–40 seconds. During heating, the liquid in the flask is constantly rotated so that the fire does not touch the flask above the boundary of the heated liquid. When the bubbles begin to rise to the surface of the liquid, forming foam, we stop heating. Then the mixture is allowed to cool. The cooled liquid should be completely colorless. Next, we compare our mixture in color with the original moonshine (alcohol) and acid (industrial concentrated acid often has a yellowish color). If our mixture is not more colored than the original liquids, then our moonshine (alcohol) can be considered of high quality in terms of the "purity" parameter.

Oxidation test.
Pour 50 ml into the cylinder. of our product and immerse for 10 minutes in water at a temperature of 15 ° C, poured into a bath above the level of alcohol in the cylinder. Then add 1 ml to the cylinder. a solution of potassium permanganate (a solution of 0.2 g per 1 liter of water), close the cylinder with a stopper and, after mixing the liquid, again lower it into a bath of water. With a red-violet color, the mixture gradually changes and reaches the color of a special standard solution, with the appearance of which the test is completed. To observe the change in color of the test mixture, a sheet of white paper is placed under the cylinder. The test result is considered positive if the color persists for 20 minutes.

Determination of furfural content.
Carefully add 10 drops of pure aniline, 3 drops of hydrochloric acid (density 1.1885 kg / l - DANGEROUS substance!) To a cylinder with a ground stopper with a capacity of 10 ml with a pipette, and bring the volume to the mark with our product. If the solution remains colorless within 10 minutes, this means that our product has successfully passed the test. If a red color appears, this will mean that the product contains furfural! Such a product can be used exclusively for technical purposes, for example, for refueling solar gas.

Reference: Furfural is a poison for the nervous system, causes convulsions and paralysis; ten-minute inhalation (conc. 0.5 mg/l) causes irritation of the nasal mucosa, salivation, nausea; in case of poisoning (conc. 0.007-0.053 mg / l, duration of action up to three months), conjunctivitis, lacrimation, irritation of the mucous membranes, headache occur.

To get a decent product after the painstaking creation of an alcoholic drink, one must not neglect to check its quality. There are a number of factors that can negatively affect the taste, smell, color of the product. It will be useful to be able to distinguish good moonshine from bad moonshine both for the distiller who prepares it and for the consumer, because the manufacturer does not always drink his creation himself. The benefits of this skill are not limited to homemade strong drinks. There is a race in the alcohol market, which is badly reflected in the product offered. Moonshine made at home from natural products has more rights to be called good alcohol than factory surrogates.

If the consumer knows how to check the quality of moonshine at home, this will save his money and health. The main danger posed by moonshine is the impurities of fusel oils and chemical compounds formed as a result of fermentation and distillation of mash. Inattention to the initial stage of preparation can lead to sad consequences for health.

It is important to be able to distill the mash correctly. It is not enough just to load it into the alembic and squeeze out the maximum. Separation into fractions, separation of the so-called heads and tails, compliance with the temperature regime - these are the skills of a real distiller. Following the technology, it turns out to remove the lion's share of harmful impurities from alcohol.

Expert opinion

Levandovsky Dmitry

moonshine expert

How not to be deceived by self-serving producers of low-quality alcohol or self-taught people who decide to treat their neighbors without fully mastering the technique of home brewing? It is enough to know the basics and trust the senses.

Signs of a bad alcoholic drink are as follows:

1. An affordable way to check if a drink has been diluted with water is to shake the bottle and see. If the water content of the product is excessively high, large air bubbles will begin to form. Good alcohol is characterized by the appearance of a thin thread of very small bubbles.
2. Color, smell, taste. These are three criteria that can say a lot about the quality of moonshine. The color immediately catches the eye. A cloudy liquid indicates poor purification, improper distillation. The smell should not be sharp, sour, reminiscent of acetone. It is necessary for the taste that the intoxicant does not taste bitter, does not have a sour taste, softness should be felt when swallowing. For a sample, 10 grams is enough, you should not get carried away and take risks once again, the consequence will be serious intoxication.
3. Wise fire. Moonshine itself is a very strong drink. It has an indicator of 40 degrees and above. As you know, such drinks burn. When setting fire to strong alcohol, you need to make sure that the flame burns evenly, does not puff, does not go out. If the flame is agitated, then the drink obviously contains a lot of impurities, oils. When the alcohol burns out, nothing should remain at the bottom. Braga is tested by fire at the fermentation stage. Bringing a match to the container, it will become clear whether carbon dioxide continues to be released.
4. Alcohol freezes at low temperatures - more than minus 25 °. Moonshine is put in the freezer and wait for several hours. A clean, non-iced liquid indicates the purity of the drink from impurities. The diluted product will simply freeze.
5. Having experience in handling homemade alcohol, distillers know that one liter of distillate should weigh 953 grams (up to two grams). But for such a check, you need to have an accurate kitchen scale at hand.

It is best to determine the quality of moonshine using several indicators at once. So it will be possible to learn more about the product provided, to draw a conclusion.

Causes of moonshine contamination

There are factors that affect the presentability of the produced alcohol.

1. In the distillery business, it is important to monitor the equipment. Keeping the moonshine still clean, checking the components is equally important. A dirty appliance will spoil the taste and smell of alcohol.
2. Cleaning the mash is as important as it is. There are many ways to purify liquid: carbon filter, freezing, milk, soda, manganese, gelatin, etc.
3. The high temperature and long boiling of the mash will negatively affect the taste of the distillate. It can corny burn, giving a burnt aftertaste. Excess fusel oils will evaporate. The softness is gone.

Choosing the best ingredients is a good recipe for moonshine success. But non-observance of the simplest rules will bring all the work to naught.

moonshine disguise

It happens that everything is done correctly, but there is no desired effect. And some are satisfied with the resulting product, but want to improve the smell or taste. Then it’s better to “conjure” a little over the liquid, resort to tricks.

1. Moonshine will add sweetness, softness to ordinary honey, sugar. Mix them in a bowl and you're done.
2. Pleasant flavor notes are easily achieved by adding cloves, oak bark or chips, vanilla, cinnamon, coffee and other additional ingredients.
3. The addition of the pulp of rye bread, rice, buckwheat will positively affect the smell.
4. Boiling caramel and then mixing it with moonshine is a great way to get a cognac analogue with a mild caramel flavor.

Thus, it is possible to check the quality of moonshine without the use of laboratory equipment at home. There are some simple tips to help you do this.

Anyone who thinks that the production of strong alcoholic beverages at home, which we call moonshine, is a unique Russian phenomenon, is deeply mistaken. Their own moonshine is brewed from the most unexpected products in the Balkans (rakia, plum brandy), Hungary (palinka), Indonesia and Malaysia (strong tuak), Central Asian countries (arak), Ukraine, Moldova and the Caucasus (mulberry, chacha) in Brazil (cachaca, tequila), Mexico (agurdiente), Tanzania (gongo), India (feni, toddy), Japan (sake) and many other places on the globe. Moreover, all industrially produced distillates were at one time home-made alcoholic beverages.

Historical background of moonshine in Russia

Not only in underdeveloped countries, but also in prosperous, low-drinking countries of Western Europe. The author of these lines had a chance to visit Sweden, where our parliamentary delegation went to gain anti-alcohol experience. Swedish officials at first flatly refused to talk about moonshine, but then admitted that, according to their estimates, up to 10% of the consumption of strong alcohol falls on apple moonshine, which is brewed mainly in the south of the country.

The main reason for this phenomenon is the poverty of the population, which cannot afford the luxury of drinking industrially produced alcohol. There is another reason, which is based on the curiosity and taste preferences of quite respectable inhabitants. Thanks to the Internet, moonshine gourmets from all over the world unite into virtual communities of admirers of this potion, sharing recipes for fermentation and distillation, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of certain yeast cultures, as well as the flavor and aroma advantages of their products. Such gourmets are everywhere - in the USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, European countries, the Philippines and even Mongolia. In the Russian Federation in the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s, there was another motive for moonshine brewing - the fear of poisoning with burned vodka.

Let's leave alone foreign moonshine and plunge into the domestic alcohol history. We know about home distilling mainly from state decrees that forbade or regulated this kind of folk amateur performance. The latter is not surprising, since self-smoking alcohol has always been a competitor to state-owned, which significantly limited the filling of the budget. Apparently, the first who seriously took care of this circumstance was Peter I. During the years of his reign, he repeatedly banned "house" distillation. However, life has made its own amendments, since the ruling elite and the lower nobility in every possible way opposed the highest commands. As a result, a compromise was found - in 1716, the freedom of distillation was proclaimed, and distillers began to be taxed. In addition, the right to smoke wine was given to "both higher and lower all sorts of people in private and in a row freely."

This indulgence led to a sharp increase in noble and merchant distilleries, which began to sell alcohol bypassing state-owned taverns. Therefore, new restrictions followed, which strictly prescribed who and how much wine could be made for home use. Only those who lived in rural areas were allowed to engage in this business, and it was forbidden to transport alcohol from the village to city houses. For example, in the middle of the XVIII century it was allowed to smoke wine from 30 to 1000 buckets per year, depending on the class to which the person belonged. In less than 15 years, a total ban on the transportation of grain wine from country estates to the city was replaced by strict regulations. Noble distilleries during this period turned into a kind of laboratory, where they used the most sophisticated methods of cleaning and infusing bread wine, and drinks turned into an object of boasting, pride and prestige. There is practically no information about distillation in peasant farms.

The main intoxicating drink of the peasants at that time was beer, which was brewed in huge quantities at the beginning of winter. The first well-known splash of moonshine among the common people happened in 1914 after the announcement of military mobilization. The beginning of the First World War was marked by a complete ban on the sale of alcohol, vodka and vodka products. Soon the city people switched to cologne, denatured alcohol and polish, and the rural people began to drive moonshine. Prohibition lasted until the October Revolution of 1917.

After a period of revolutionary unrest and civil war, the new authorities, with revolutionary enthusiasm, declared sobriety one of their main social priorities, banning the production and sale of alcoholic beverages with a strength of over 14 degrees, and later - over 20 degrees. Moonshiners were ranked among the enemies of the working people, and a punishment was imposed for moonshining, which provided for imprisonment for a period of at least 5 years with confiscation of not only moonshine production tools, but also all property. The logic of the authorities was clear: grain should go to bread, which was exported and was the main item of replenishment of the budget. Nevertheless, in 1926, the first Soviet "semi-dry" law ordered a long life: additional funds were required for the development of the industry of the workers' and peasants' state, which was rapidly gaining strength. It was also assumed that the free sale of vodka would make moonshine production unprofitable.

These hopes were not destined to come true, since with the appearance of monopoly vodka on the shelves of stores, moonshine flourished. It could not be otherwise, since the state simultaneously allowed the brewing of moonshine for personal needs without any restrictions. Home-made booze was cheaper than the monopoly one, and therefore they began to seethe all over the country. As a result, in 1927, only 1.8 liters of monopoly vodka per capita were sold, which, in terms of pure alcohol, was a very meager value - 0.7 liters. But moonshine according to the calculated data in the same year was drunk at least three liters per capita in terms of pure alcohol.

Thus, moonshiners began to confidently compete with the state. Tolerate this disgrace, it, of course, could not. Already at the end of 1927, another strict law was adopted to combat moonshine. And two years later, the government additionally issues a special anti-alcohol decree, according to which party and Komsomol cells are charged with the duty to widely develop a social movement for sobriety and against moonshiners. This, apparently, was not enough. In 1932, a new law was issued, which raised moonshine to the rank of a serious state crime. This time, the anti-moonshine initiative of the authorities was crowned with success: moonshine production was almost completely eradicated, and the consumption of vodka sold in stores increased. The sale of alcohol in 1940 was 2.3 liters per capita. It also had an effect that the country lived in a regime of almost military obedience, and any violation of industrial or domestic discipline was mercilessly punished.

During the Great Patriotic War, there was no time for moonshine. But after its completion, namely in 1948, the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On criminal liability for the manufacture and sale of moonshine” thundered, according to which moonshiners were punished by imprisonment for at least 6 years with confiscation of property. From that moment until the mid-1950s, moonshiners went into deep underground.

Soon the period of the Soviet renaissance began. Many old-timers remember the beginning of the 1960s with warmth and gratitude. The fear of a sudden night ringing at the door is a thing of the past, “enemies of the people” and criminals have returned from places of detention, poets, artists and composers have perked up. Scientists who immediately began to build synchrophasotrons, accelerators, hydrogen bombs and spaceships turned out to be highly respected. Moonshiners have also risen. This was told by declassified materials of state statistics already at the present time. It turns out that employees of the USSR State Statistics Committee were quietly calculating the volumes of moonshine brewing based on the sales of sugar, which was bought up by the population in huge quantities. Statisticians rightly assessed the suddenly awakened love of compatriots for sweets. Calculations showed that in 1981, about 8 liters of "sugar" moonshine were produced and drunk in the RSFSR per capita, or 3.1 liters in terms of pure alcohol. The volume of per capita consumption of monopolistically produced alcohol was about 10 liters of pure alcohol. If we add moonshine made from beets, apples and other gifts of nature, then the moonshine river was even wider.

The current situation certainly worried the country's leadership, but they did not dare to go for another destruction of moonshiners either during the "thaw" or later. Party leaders went the other way. In 1958, 1972 and 1974, resolutions and decrees were adopted to combat drunkenness and home-brewing, which mainly involve measures of an administrative, cultural, educational and medical nature. However, they could no longer influence either home brewing or the general alcohol situation in the country.

The last hit on moonshiners in the history of our country occurred at the suggestion of the last General Secretary of the CPSU, MS Gorbachev, during the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985-1987. Demonstrative trials of moonshiners swept across the country. On TV screens, at least once a week, one had to see mountains of moonshine stills of the most bizarre shapes and designs seized from the population. The number of moonshine devices confiscated in some villages almost equaled the number of houses. The heads of the district police departments, having abandoned other things, scribbled victorious reports about successes in the field of the war against moonshine. The townspeople, including the scientific and creative intelligentsia, did not stand aside either. Many began to combine evening kitchen gatherings with contemplation of the mysterious process of formation and condensation of alcohol vapors. Some stopped using baths for their intended purpose, turning them into fermentation tanks. Craftsmen working at defense enterprises vied with each other to offer miracles of moonshine equipment made of stainless steel, titanium and heat-resistant glass.

The results of the anti-alcohol campaign affected very quickly. Consumption of pure alcohol in the form of government-sold beverages fell from 10.5 liters per capita in 1984 to 3.9 liters in 1987. At the same time, the moonshine river almost doubled, which resulted in 7.1 liters of pure alcohol per soul! Thus, this time the state outright lost the war with moonshiners.

moonshine research

The history of the Russian state can be represented as a long series of episodes of the struggle between the authorities and the people for alcohol money. In this struggle, not only economic, police and propaganda measures were involved, but also more sophisticated ideological levers. These levers include books, journal articles, and pamphlets written by professionals, including doctors. In them, in an accessible, and sometimes professional language, it was told and proved what a devastating effect moonshine has on the body. As an example of the "scientific" substantiation of measures taken against moonshiners during the last anti-alcohol campaign, one can cite the book by A.T. Filatov (Alcoholism caused by the use of moonshine. - Kyiv, 1986). In particular, it states the following. “Receiving even a small amount of moonshine causes gross changes in the psyche. Some have pronounced motor excitation with aggressive actions, viciously irritable mood; in others, clouding of consciousness quickly sets in, which turns into a heavy sleep with a severe headache after waking up ... "or" Soon after taking moonshine, there is a burning sensation in the stomach, headache, nausea, vomiting, increased blood pressure, impaired kidney activity, in blood, protein, cylinders are detected in the urine, the excretion of urine stops. A more horrific picture is hard to imagine.

Meanwhile, no thorough, and even more so systematic studies of the toxic properties of moonshine have not been carried out until recently. Only a few clinical observations have been published. In particular, five cases of psychiatric disorders have been reported in araki users. Other authors, who summarized the results of many years of observation of a large number of alcoholics who used moonshine, failed to find any specific features of the clinical picture of intoxication and withdrawal. Finally, assuming that moonshine is the drink responsible for sudden alcohol deaths, one would expect that the number of deaths from alcohol poisoning during the last anti-alcohol campaign, which was accompanied by a sharp increase in moonshine consumption, reaches an extremely high level. However, the level of fatal poisoning in these years was the lowest in the entire history of the last period (20 years) of the existence of the USSR and post-Soviet Russia.

Only in the late 1990s, for the first time in our country, an experimental study of the toxic effect of moonshine from sugar and honey was carried out. Samples of moonshine were made in compliance with the basic techniques used by the population. Vodka was used as a reference for comparison. There were no differences in the severity and duration of alcohol intoxication in animals exposed to these fluids. The mortality of animals after the introduction of a large dose of moonshine and vodka was also the same. And finally, the severity of ethanol withdrawal syndrome (an experimental analogue of alcohol withdrawal syndrome in humans) was also the same. A study of the working capacity of the heart and a microscopic study of various organs and tissues of rats after a long experimental binge revealed pathological changes of the same severity in all experimental animals. The conclusion stated that in terms of acute and subacute toxicity, the studied samples of moonshine practically do not differ from vodka.

At the same time, the question of the chemical composition of sugar moonshine, which the Russians loved so much, remained open. The International Center for Alcohol Policy in Washington, D.C., helped carry out this study by initiating an international study in 2001 entitled "Studying Noncommercial Drinking Patterns: A Comparative Study of Cultural Traditions." Four countries, Tanzania, Mexico, India and the Russian Federation, are among the underdeveloped or developing countries where the level of consumption of home-made alcoholic beverages is particularly high. The research program included the landing of scientific landings in three different regions of each of these countries, a household sociological survey of producers and consumers of illegal alcohol, and the collection of samples of moonshine.

Let's leave aside the underdeveloped and focus on Russia. The object of the study was 75 rural families living in the Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh and Omsk regions (25 families from each region, a total of 210 people). At fixed intervals (the last four days of the second and fourth weeks of the month) for four months, the frequency and stereotype of alcohol consumption, as well as the amount and type of alcoholic beverages consumed by the respondents, were recorded. Moonshine was found to be the main alcoholic beverage consumed. The ratio of consumed moonshine and vodka is 4.8:1. Half of the survey participants use moonshine 4 times a week or more. Moonshine consumption was typical for all age groups. The highest consumption of moonshine was registered in the age groups of 30-49 years and 50 years and older. The amount of moonshine drunk per month on average for each participant in the study was 1363 ml (men - 2225 ml, women - 752 ml). Such a biased attitude towards moonshine is determined mainly by its economic availability (the cost price is almost 5 times lower) and the belief in the higher quality and safety of home-made alcoholic beverages.

81 samples of the moonshine collected by the researchers were delivered to Moscow, where they were subjected to a detailed chemical analysis. For comparison, the chemical composition of samples of industrial alcoholic beverages made by distillation was analyzed. Almost all of the samples were made from sugar (only a few from molasses) using a single distillation. Some drinks, their authors insisted on oak bark, lemon, propolis, pine nuts, tea leaves and other plants.

The ethanol content in them ranged from 24-62% and averaged 41.5%. In terms of chemical composition, moonshine samples were generally very similar to industrial distillates. True, there was one pronounced difference - all the studied samples contained little methanol, the level of which fluctuated within 0.48-28.6 mg/l. For comparison, in vodka, the level of methyl alcohol rarely drops below 100 mg / l, in whiskey it is 60-150 mg / l, in cognacs 150-250 mg / l, and in grappa 1000-2000 mg / l. In moonshine, a significant amount of some organic acids and other non-toxic compounds was determined, which is not typical for industrially produced distillates. According to the results obtained, the most toxic compound in all moonshine, as in all alcoholic beverages, was ethyl alcohol. All other compounds and impurities found in them are not able to cause any harm to health. Moreover, Russian moonshine compares favorably in the content of the most toxic substance - methyl alcohol.

The researchers went further and decided to use scientific methods to evaluate the quality of moonshine. To do this, all samples were divided into three groups, depending on the content of various impurities in them that could affect the taste and aroma of drinks. About half of the samples were characterized as alcoholic beverages of sufficiently high quality, which practically did not differ from industrially produced ones. 30% were of worse quality and 17.5% were classified as low quality. After that, 10 samples of moonshine were selected, which differed significantly from each other in chemical composition. These samples, as well as two high-quality alcoholic beverages of industrial production (and whiskey) were presented for tasting at the Central Tasting Commission of the Alcohol and Distillery Industry under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. All presented samples were depersonalized and numbered randomly. The results stunned everyone. Cognac received the highest score (8.37 points). Next was one of the samples of moonshine (7.87 points), in third place was whiskey (7.53 points). Four samples of moonshine did not differ much from it (7.32-7.49 points), and four samples turned out to be outsiders (6.43-6.76 points). Hearing this, the learned people who heard about this study for a long time begged for at least a sip of folk alcohol for tasting.

A little later, a similar, but smaller-scale study was conducted in Izhevsk, where it was also found that, in terms of the content of ethyl alcohol and higher alcohols, local moonshine hardly differs from industrially produced distillates.

It would seem that there were grounds for the rehabilitation of moonshine and an appeal to everyone to switch to this drink, but it was not there. Firstly, the low level of methanol is a feature of only "sugar" moonshine. All others, including those from Tanzania, Mexico and India, contain an extremely high amount of methyl alcohol. A lot of this muck and Russian homemade distillates made from apples, pears, plums, mulberries, apricots and other fruits containing a large amount of pectin. In such drinks, as a rule, there is a lot of acetaldehyde, which causes cancer of the esophagus and stomach in lovers of this potion. For this reason, some foreign researchers call on the governments of those countries where home brewing is developed to teach the population how to properly distill, which involves discarding the head fraction of the shoulder strap (3-5% of the total liquid product).

In this regard, it should be noted that among our people the opinion has long been rooted that the best moonshine is pervach - a liquid containing 60-65% ethanol. It is this idea that is an indirect cause of the development of severe, sometimes fatal poisoning with moonshine. The fact is that pervach is usually drunk in the same generally accepted doses as vodka, later being surprised that after the first glass they find themselves under the table. In fact, the alcohol load on the body, created by pervach, is one and a half times higher than that which occurs after taking an equivalent amount of vodka in terms of volume. And, finally, strong alcohol lingers for a long time in the stomach, where the rate of oxidation and absorption into the blood is relatively low, creating the appearance of alcoholic well-being. With rare but powerful emissions of gastric contents into the intestines, a catastrophe develops - the level of ethanol in the blood instantly and sharply increases, causing lightning-fast intoxication. Lightning intoxication is dangerous not only because in this state a person can die by freezing, getting burns from a battery that is nearby, choking in a puddle or the contents of his own stomach, but because in this situation acetaldehyde flows through the body like a river, which destroys and cripples everything the most valuable inside (heart, liver, blood vessels, brain). Therefore, admirers of moonshine should dilute their drink with water at least to the canonized 40%.

If there are no big complaints about the quality of most homemade drinks driven out by the population for themselves, then moonshine driven out for sale can bring many unpleasant surprises. Greedy or miserable moonshiners squeeze the maximum out of moonshine, compensating for the low content of ethyl alcohol with various kinds of stupefying additives. To do this, the product is insisted on hop cones, chicken manure, slate, or, without hesitation, diphenhydramine or even more dangerous medicinal compounds are poured into it.

In recent years, the situation with moonshine, according to the opinion of leading experts on the alcohol market, is as follows: in the segment of illegal alcohol, moonshine accounts for about 25%. The relatively low level of home brewing today is due to the presence in the illegal circulation of a large amount of illegally produced alcohol, vodka and alcoholic surrogates of a fairly high quality. Making moonshine requires certain financial costs (the cost of sugar and yeast), physical effort and free time. In all these parameters, moonshine is a poor competitor to other potions of the shadow alcohol sector. However, as prices for vodka rise, moonshine production is expected to increase, which will seriously impede the collection of the alcohol component of the country's budget. Therefore, it is quite likely that legislative measures will be introduced to once again suppress moonshine.

Now distillation of moonshine for own needs in the Russian Federation is allowed. And its sale to the side will be subject to administrative punishment, as an illegal business activity. By the way, life is more difficult for Ukrainian moonshiners. For this case, they are entitled to a fine from 3 to 10 minimum incomes of citizens. Fines for moonshining annually bring the Ukrainian treasury 1-2 million US dollars, which suits the authorities quite well.

Experienced moonshiners agree that the most effective and fastest purification of moonshine from fusel oils is the method using activated or charcoal. This is not surprising, because coal particles have large pores that are able to absorb not only small elements of impurities, but also large ones.

So, how to clean moonshine at home so that the filtration takes place with maximum effect. Consider 2 effective ways:

1. Express method. During distillation, a funnel is placed in the container into which the distillate will be collected. One layer of cotton wool is placed in it, small fractions of coal are poured on top, then larger ones and at the end they are covered with 2 cotton pads. Everything needs to be pressed tight. As a result, it will not be necessary to spend additional time on cleaning moonshine from fuselage, since the product is filtered right at the outlet of the moonshine still.
2. Infusion. After distillation, alcohol is poured into a glass jar, crushed coal is also placed there. Everything is thoroughly mixed and left in a cool place for 5-14 days. At the end of exposure, the consistency must be filtered through a multilayer gauze.

This is one of the best options on how to quickly clean moonshine before the second distillation. It is preferable to use coal from birch. No less effective will be the component from the water filter. Silver is often present in its composition, which will only improve the quality of filtration.

Use coal in the following proportions: 50 gr. for every liter of alcohol. This calculation is suitable for both the first and second cleaning methods. Therefore, when filtering moonshine through a funnel, cotton wool with filler will periodically need to be changed to a new one.

Vegetable oil

Not all moonshiners know that fusel impurities and other harmful components are perfectly neutralized in vegetable oils. Therefore, moonshine can be cleaned with olive or sunflower oil. The main thing here is to use an odorless product, that is, refined, otherwise the concentrated flavor will be transferred to the drink.

With this method of cleaning moonshine at home, part of the vegetable oil remains in alcohol even with high-quality filtration. Therefore, the second distillation in this case is a mandatory step.

How to clean moonshine after the first distillation with vegetable oil:

1. Dilute the moonshine with water to a fortress of 20o. For every liter of alcohol, 20 ml of oil will be required. For example, in 5 liters you need to mix 100 ml of cleaner.
2. Stir the ingredients for 1-2 minutes, then leave for 5 minutes, and shake everything thoroughly again.
3. Put the jar in a dark place with a constant temperature of 6-15 ° C, the lower the indicator, the better.
4. After the infusion is completed, the liquid will become slightly cloudy, and an oily film will form on its surface. It is necessary to drain pure alcohol through a tube. Try to do it in such a way as not to hurt the film.

Milk

Filtration of moonshine with milk is very popular among experienced craftsmen - this is how the “soul” of the drink is preserved and its taste softens. The principle is based on the binding of harmful impurities by the molecules of casein and albumin, which are part of the milk protein. As a result, a flaky sediment appears, due to gravity falling to the bottom. It takes about a week to filter, after which the distillate is removed from the sediment and run again. After cleaning, the moonshine acquires a clean structure, and also becomes soft in taste.

Milk is a simple, effective and completely safe way to make high-quality alcohol.

It should be borne in mind that milk contains fats, they make the drink cloudy. Therefore, in moonshine there are 2 cleaning recipes. In the first one, skim milk is used, and re-distillation is not provided, in the second - the percentage of fat content of the product is not important, since secondary distillation will help to clean the structure.

Method for cleaning moonshine with milk without distillation

The advantages of this filtration of moonshine are obvious, the method is absolutely safe, does not need secondary distillation and makes it possible to combine alcohol purification with other methods. But it also has disadvantages, in rare cases, the structure of the liquid may become cloudy.

Cleaning steps:

• prepare a skimmed pasteurized dairy product with the calculation of 150 ml per 10 liters of fortified drink with a strength of 50%;

Instead of pasteurized milk, in this case it is allowed to use dry milk. But first, 3 hours before cleaning the moonshine from fusel oils, it will need to be diluted in warm water.

• mix the dairy product with a fortified drink, tightly close the jar and leave for 5-6 days in a dark place with a temperature regime of 20-25 ° C;
• every day during infusion, the container must be shaken well;

From the very first minutes, a precipitate will begin to form in the liquid in the form of large white flakes. This milk protein enters into a chemical reaction and precipitates harmful impurities.

• at the end of exposure, alcohol is drained from the sediment and filtered several times through a multilayer gauze with a cotton pad.

If, after cleaning at home, moonshine has acquired a cloudy structure, it should be filtered through a charcoal filter.

VIDEO: What is the best way to clean distillate - coal, butter or milk?

How to properly clean the moonshine with subsequent distillation

In this case, the fat content of the dairy product does not matter, the main thing is that the milk is fresh. The process of removing harmful impurities is as follows:

• 100 ml of a homemade dairy product is mixed into 1 liter of alcohol, but the alcohol is first diluted to obtain a strength of 45-55 °;
• all components are well mixed, tightly closed with a lid;
• the container is placed for 4-6 days in a dark place, while the first 3 days the contents must be shaken for better cleaning;
• Moonshine is drained from the sediment and diluted with water by 20%, after which it is sent for secondary distillation with separation into fractions - heads, body, tails.

These methods can be used to check the quality of store-bought vodka. Sometimes the result is shocking by the amount of sediment.

Egg protein

Purification of moonshine at home using protein from chicken eggs allows you to eliminate not only harmful components in the drink, but also an unpleasant odor. This method works best when filtering a distillate prepared with wheat or sugar mash. But if alcohol was prepared on berries or fruits, it is not recommended to use egg white for cleaning.

The composition of the cleaning product includes casein and albumin, in fact, due to which all impurities are deposited on the bottom. In terms of absorption, this method of cleaning moonshine at home is not inferior to coal. In addition, it should be noted the minimum loss of distillate - only up to 5%.

Consider the steps on how to clean and filter moonshine from fusel oils and unpleasant odors using egg white:

• dilute the distillate to a strength of 45-55 °, but at the same time leave 20% free space in the container;
• separate the protein from the yolk, add water to it in a volume of 10% of the amount of alcohol and beat with a mixer until a homogeneous mass is obtained, but until foam forms;
• mix the protein solution with moonshine, cover the container and leave to infuse for 1 week;
• shake the mixture every day, but do not perform these manipulations 1 day before removal from the sediment.

At the end of the exposure time, strain the liquid without sediment through a cotton-gauze stopper in a funnel. Change the filter and do the same with the sediment. Dilute pure alcohol with drinking water to obtain a strength of 18-20 ° and distill it a second time.

frostbite

This is the easiest way to filter moonshine at home. When the temperature drops below 0 °, fusel oils and other impurities begin to freeze, while the freezing point of pure ethyl alcohol is -114 ° C. The method takes a lot of time compared to other cleaning options, but high quality in this case is guaranteed.

You need to put the jar in the freezer or outside if the weather conditions meet the requirements of freezing. When ice forms in an alcoholic drink, and these are fusel oils, the remaining liquid must be drained, the rest must be disposed of.

In the north, the “on scrap” method is practiced, although it is more convenient to use a metal corner. It is left for some time on the street so that the metal freezes well, put it in a bowl and slowly drain the distillate over it. When moving, the fuselage freezes, and the raw flows down. The result is fast and efficient.

In order to eliminate extraneous aromas from moonshine as much as possible, it is recommended to add 30 gr. to 1 liter of the drink. raisins and chopped violet root 5 pcs. The consistency should be infused for at least 10 days, after which it will be completely usable.

Rye bread

In ancient times, few people were interested in the better to clean moonshine from harmful impurities, since they used a bread cleaning recipe that has been proven for centuries. This method has not lost popularity in our time.

You need to use only fresh bakery products made from rye flour without various impurities. Homemade rye bread is ideal.

There are many yeasts and gluten in this product, which contribute to the retention of fusel oils. As a result of such cleaning, even the most low-quality alcohol will acquire a pleasant aroma and brighten.

The process will require 100 gr. bread pulp per 1 liter of moonshine. Prior to purification, the alcoholic beverage should be filtered using one of the previous methods. After that, the bread is cut into slices, they are cleaned of the crust and crumble into small particles.

The crumbs are poured into a container, mixed with distillate, closed with a lid and left for 3 days in a dark place. After completion of the infusion, the consistency will acquire a yellow color, which is eliminated by subsequent filtration.

Place a funnel with a stopper made of cotton pads into a clean jar and strain the alcoholic drink through it. The remaining pulp is disposed of without pressing. Next, the moonshine must be diluted with water and put on distillation with the separation of fractions.

Gluing

Bonding of fusel oils and other impurities is carried out using Karluk glue. Before use, the component is diluted in water until a jelly-like consistency is obtained, after which it is mixed into the moonshine. Adhesive elements bind undesirable components of the drink and are deposited on the bottom of the container.

This method is the most qualitative, it cleans the distillate as much as possible. Its disadvantage is only inaccessibility. The fact is that glue was used, as a rule, in large-scale production activities. Also, the deficit is affected by a sharp decrease in the number of sturgeons, from the swim bladders of which the component is produced.

Salt and soda

A quick cleansing of the drink from toxins and fusel oils is carried out through the use of baking soda with salt. The advantages of the technology are short-term, the process requires no more than 1 day. Minus - inefficiency. The fact is that soda is not able to precipitate all harmful components, therefore, it requires a second distillation.

Cleaning steps:

• dilute the moonshine to get a fortress of 40-50 °;
• Separately dilute 10 gr. drinking soda in 100 ml of pure water;
• mix the ingredients with 1 liter of alcoholic drink, close the lid;
• shake well and leave for half an hour, then stir again;
• put in a dark cool place for 15 hours.

After the formation of a precipitate, the clean liquid is carefully drained and filtered. A cotton pad is placed in the funnel, granules of crushed charcoal are poured on top, after which everything is covered with one cotton layer. Through such a "sandwich" a fortified drink is passed into a container.

With the help of salt and soda, you can partially cleanse the product of harmful impurities, the smell and taste remain unchanged.

Potassium permanganate with soda

There is also the usual way to clean moonshine with potassium permanganate, but it is less effective than the combined one, so consider the second option. Baking soda helps to neutralize acetic acid, while potassium permanganate partially eliminates fusel oils.

The main advantage of such cleaning is the minimum time spent. Minus - the likelihood of a residue of manganese crystals, which adversely affects human health. To eliminate this factor, it is necessary to overtake the composition a second time.

Prepare the components based on the following proportions - for 1 liter of alcohol you need 1.5 g. manganese and 10 gr. baking soda. Pre-mix potassium permanganate with water in a volume of 200 ml, pour the alkaline solution into the moonshine and shake thoroughly. Add manganese, cover the jar with a lid and mix well.

Place the container in a dark, cold place for 14 hours. During this time, a thick precipitate forms at the bottom of the jar, a clean liquid is drained from it and placed for re-distillation.

Fruits

A less effective cleaning method that partially removes harmful components from an alcoholic beverage, but at the same time gives it a pleasant aroma and aftertaste. This is where a secondary forcing is required.

For 3 liters of an alcoholic product with a concentration of 20o, you need to prepare 1 carrot and 1 apple. The fruits are peeled, coarsely chopped and added to a container with moonshine. After this, the jar is left to infuse for 2-3 days until the fibers begin to separate from the carrot and apple.

Making alcohol cloudy

Some tasters like moonshine of a cloudy milky color, as they are made in real Russian settlements. To achieve this effect, you can use several recipes that give the product the desired shade, while not worsening its taste and aromatic qualities.

Some people like the authentic color of moonshine - it can be made cloudy on purpose

1. Whey from milk. For 1 liter of moonshine, from 10 to 25 ml of serum will be required, depending on the required color saturation.
2. Powdered milk. Use the ingredient in proportions of 5-15 gr. for every liter of fortified drink.
3. Vegetable oil. To obtain a white consistency, 3-5 drops of refined sunflower or olive oil are enough. After adding the component, the liquid must be thoroughly mixed.

VIDEO: Moonshiner's little tricks