How to make a good brew for moonshine. How to cook mash from sugar and yeast

Any production of alcohol, both in the factory and at home, consists of several stages. Moonshine includes making mash. This step is the first and one of the most important in the whole process. What is moonshine brew? This is a drink containing a small amount of alcohol, obtained in the process of infusion of pre-prepared wort under the action of yeast. To obtain a high-quality initial product, it is important from what and how to properly put the mash for moonshine. The fermentation process must be carried out in compliance with all the rules and conditions.

Making mash for moonshine is a combination of selected raw materials with a product that starts the fermentation process. Sometimes it occurs naturally if the peel of fruits or berries contains natural yeast. In another case, sugar or specially purchased nutritional yeast becomes the activator.

How to make mash

Braga for moonshine is prepared in several stages:

• The choice of raw materials.
• Container preparation.
• Mixing ingredients.
• Infusion.
• Definition of readiness.
• Filtration.
• Lightening.

In order to know how to prepare mash for moonshine, you need to familiarize yourself with each stage separately. At the first stage, the selection of products takes place, on which the characteristics of the preparation and taste of the future drink depend. Brazhka at home, from which good moonshine is made, can be prepared from:

• Jam.
• Vegetables or fruits.
• grains or honey.

When using additional ingredients, filtration is required. Thus, the stones, peel, husk or cake obtained during the preparation of the wort are separated. In addition to them, water, sugar and yeast will be used. To make brew for moonshine, you need to mix all the ingredients in the correct order and place in a prepared clean container. After that, the mixture is infused in a warm room. Braga at home has to insist from two weeks to several months. All this time, you need to observe the mixture, sometimes mix it and, with active foaming, remove the top layer that has appeared. Only by knowing how to properly make mash and observing all the requirements, you can get good moonshine.

Ingredients

The main thing that mash is made of is:

• Water.
• Sugar.
• Yeast.

The selected water must be clean, free of impurities and foreign odors. The best option is purchased bottled liquid. In the absence of such, tap water is used. You can't boil it. To cleanse, you need to withstand the water for a couple of days before the formation of sediment. After that, the water is carefully removed. You can also apply a filtering system. The best mash is obtained on artesian natural water.

Sugar, like water, must be pure. Old, stale sand can have an unpleasant odor. This will negatively affect the future product. Braga can be bitter, have an unpleasant odor or taste. Therefore, fresh and clean granulated sugar is selected, which does not have signs of even a slight spoilage.

The choice of yeast requires a particularly careful approach. They are the catalyst for the fermentation process and are of particular importance. For the preparation of moonshine mash, you can use whiskey yeast, wine, alcohol, baker's yeast. The latter are used in the classic recipe, without the addition of other ingredients. At the same time, the alcohol content in the finished mash will not exceed 10%. Alcoholic yeast will increase the degree to 18%, but will create additional harmful impurities. Wine are used when used as a basis for fruits or berries. Whiskey yeast is used to make grain mash. Therefore, this ingredient is selected depending on the technology and the overall composition.

Proportions

In order to prepare a container of suitable volume and get the right mash, you need to know the proportions of cooking. They reflect how much pure forty-degree moonshine will be obtained from a certain amount and ratio of ingredients. In theory, for every kilogram of sugar used to make mash, the output will be a little more than 1 liter of moonshine. But most often in practice, this ratio is not confirmed and the volume is less by 10%.

For 1 kilogram of sugar, you need 10 times less simple yeast and 50 times less dry yeast. About 5 liters of water are required, but for each individual recipe this amount is calculated individually. The fermentation tank is not completely filled, but about ¾. The remaining space is saved for foaming and expansion of the liquid in volume.

Capacity selection

The container is selected according to the volume required for mixing all the ingredients. Special barrels are best suited for this. Since many do not have the required inventory, and its purchase is too expensive, one has to use available improvised containers. Large enamel pots, plastic barrels, twenty-liter water bottles are used.

Any container and equipment before cooking sterilized. Clean dishes are the key to a quality drink. A poorly processed container can cause damage to raw materials, an unpleasant odor or foreign taste.

Water seal

This device is needed for mash in the process of keeping it. It removes carbon dioxide formed during fermentation. The finished fixture is purchased at the store and put on the filled container. The discharge tube is lowered into the glass for convenience, since a small amount of condensate can escape through it.

The most common and effective replacement for a professional water seal is medical glove. She is put on the neck of the container. A small hole is made in one of the fingers with a needle to remove gas. During the fermentation process, the glove will be inflated, gradually losing its volume by the time the liquid is ready.

In the first days of fermentation, foam may actively form. This process must be carefully observed and, if necessary, removed. If this is not done, then the water seal may become clogged with foam, and the glove may fall off the container.

How to put the braga correctly

Knowing how to properly put the brew for moonshine, there will be no difficulties with its preparation. The drink will turn out the first time without much effort and difficulty even for beginners. To put the mash on moonshine, you need to follow the technology and proportions.

First of all, the ingredients are selected for the mash. When using fruits or vegetables, the fruits are cleaned with a dry cloth and checked for spoilage. Rotten or darkened are selected and not used.

After that, mix the raw materials with water and sugar and put on a slow fire. The mixture is boiled until syrupy and then cooled. At the same time, you need to make sure that the sugar does not burn and does not caramelize too much. The consistency should remain liquid.

How to put mash for moonshine using yeast will be prompted by the instructions on their packaging. The dry mix is ​​pre-prepared before being added to the wort. Dry yeast is simply poured out, pressed is finely broken and activated by mixing with sugar. After that, they are poured with a small amount of warm water and infused for about half an hour.

Many people know how to put the mash correctly, but at the same time they make mistakes in the waiting process. The fermentation process requires attention. The container is placed in a dark room. Ultraviolet rays adversely affect the fermentation process and lead to spoilage of the mixture. The ambient temperature should be 22 - 25 degrees. An increase will cause the yeast to die, a decrease will cause it to "fall asleep" and not work. After 3 - 4 days of observation and removal of the foam, the mash is left alone until fully cooked. Now you need to periodically monitor so as not to miss the completion of the process. The end is determined by several external signs.

How to understand that the mash is ready?

Indicators of the completion of the fermentation process are:

• Stopping the release of carbon dioxide from the water seal.
• Falling off of a glove worn on the neck of a container.
• Lack of sweetness in taste.
• Absence of gurgling.
• No foaming or characteristic hiss.
• The appearance of a distinct smell of alcohol.
• A match that continues burning above the surface of the mash.

If, when preparing mash for moonshine, sweetness in taste was preserved, then a mistake was made in the technology. The rate of sugar per serving of yeast may be exceeded. Because of this, so much alcohol was formed that the action of the yeast stopped, and all the sugar was not processed. To get out of the situation, you need to add water to the mash and still stand it.

Another mistake is violation of temperature conditions. When the temperature is set below 20 degrees, the yeast stops working and the sugar does not break down. In this case, the container with the mixture is transferred to a warmer place.

After eliminating the errors, you need to wait for the reappearance of signs of completion of fermentation and only then consider the drink ready for the next stage.

Lightening

This stage is the final one and separates the preparation of the mash and the process of distillation in a cube. Clarification is performed to cleanse the mash from harmful impurities. If this is not done, then during the distillation process they will burn in the cube and give the moonshine a sharp unpleasant odor.

Before clarification, the mash is removed from the sediment or simply filtered through a sieve or colander. After that, we do a few things:

1. We cool the container with mash to 5 degrees.
2. Pour the betonite solution into the container.
3. We insist one day.
4. Pour in the soaked gelatin and keep for a couple more days.
5. We remove the exfoliated clean mash so as not to touch the sediment and not to stir up the liquid with it.

Concrete is soaked with warm water in a small amount, gelatin - in cold water and aged until swelling. After completing all the points, the mash is ready for further distillation.

Recipes

Braga and its recipes differ depending on the initial ingredients. The simplest home brew recipe for moonshine is one that does not use additional raw materials. For its preparation you need:

• Sugar - 1 kilogram.
• Yeast - 20 grams.
• Water - 5 liters.

The water is heated and granulated sugar is poured into it. The liquid is thoroughly mixed. At this time, the yeast is diluted in a small amount of warm water and added to the syrup.

The finished wort is poured into a container for fermentation, a lock is put on and the mixture is aged until ready. To speed up the process by reducing the cooking time of the mash to 2 - 3 days, a heater for aquariums is placed in the container. It must constantly maintain a temperature of 24 - 25 degrees. In the absence of such a device, the container is wrapped in several layers of fabric and placed near the battery or any other household heater. With this approach, fermentation will take up to one week and requires constant temperature control. It should not exceed 28 degrees.

Recipe mash from jam contains 2.5 kilograms of a sweet product. Moreover, due to the new ingredient, sugar is excluded from the composition, and the amount of yeast is reduced to 2-3 grams. Jam is mixed with water and heated to 50 degrees. The prepared mixture is cooled to room temperature and mixed with yeast. The mixture is infused in a dark place for a couple of weeks until signs of completion of fermentation appear. The recipe for home brew for moonshine is one of the most popular, as many often make preparations for the winter, some of which remain unclaimed and are looking for applications.

Ways to prepare mash for moonshine may not contain yeast at all. In such recipes, as the main raw material, corn. For cooking, it is pre-sprouted. For the recipe you need:

• Wheat - 5 kilograms.
• Water - 15 liters.
• Sugar - 6.5 kilograms.

Wheat should be carefully sifted, poured into a container and poured with warm water so that its level is 1 - 2 centimeters above the grains. To them you need to add 1.5 kilograms of sugar and cover with a lid. After the appearance of sprouts, wheat is poured with 15 liters of water and covered with the rest of the sugar. The mixture is infused for a week and a half in a warm place under a water seal.

Cherry Braga Made with just 1 ingredient. The berries are separated from the seeds, kneaded and poured with a small amount of water. Such mash is infused, like grape mash, in a warm place until signs of readiness appear.

The best brew recipes for moonshine are very simple, do not require much time to prepare for fermentation, and consist of a small amount of ingredients. You can make moonshine even on peas. For this you need:

• Water - 15 liters.
• Sugar - 5 kilograms.
• Yeast - 60 grams.
• Peas - 2 kilograms.
• Sour cream - 200 grams.

Water, yeast and peas are mixed in a container. The mixture is infused for an hour. After that, sugar and sour cream are added to it. All ingredients are mixed and fermented for 3-4 days.

In fact, mash for further distillation can be prepared from almost any improvised product. It can be apples, watermelon, jam, potatoes, bread, grains. The main thing is to observe all the nuances for preparing the wort and starting the fermentation process and correctly determine the moment of its readiness.

The product, which is obtained by fermenting yeast in water with sugar, is called mash. Stronger alcohol lovers send this "elixir" to make moonshine. But if you cook it, for example, from apples, then the output is a wonderful alcoholic drink, comparable in strength to natural wine.

There are several secrets to the production of mash at home, which we will tell you about in this article.

Basic ingredients for cooking

We list the main components, the correct choice of which will depend on the manufacturing process and the quality of the mash.

Yeast

They are the main component in the preparation of mash. Under the influence of enzymes, they are able to process sugars into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. The choice of yeast should be treated as responsibly as possible. Keep in mind that each of them has its own characteristics:

• bakery

The output is approximately 10% ethyl alcohol and a lot of by-products. They are more often used for making classic mash with added sugar at home.

• Alcoholic

Their use gives approximately 18% alcohol and also many impurities.

• Yeast "Whiskey"

Used to make beverages from grain products

• Wine

Used to make fruit juice. The output is a product containing a good% alcohol and a small amount of impurities.

An important ingredient is sugar

We know that alcohol is produced as a result of the activity of alcohol yeast, which absorbs sugar and produces alcohol and by-products - foreign substances. But sugar is not the only way to achieve a good result.

This drink is prepared from any products that contain fructose or starch.
For example, fruits, potatoes, berries, cereals are suitable.

The third component is water

This is a very significant component for the production of mash. The taste of the future fermentation product depends on its quality. It must be tasteless and odorless, transparent, without foreign impurities, meeting the hygienic requirements related to drinking water.

If you use tap water, then filter it or set it to settle for a while.

Important! To put a brew for moonshine, water should not be boiled! Because after heat treatment, dissolved air is lost, which is necessary for yeast.

What is the best container to cook in?

They make mash in aluminum, glass, stainless and enameled dishes. It is allowed to use plastic containers intended for food products. The fermentation tank must be hermetically sealed and have a water seal that will release carbon dioxide and block oxygen.

Alternatively, you can use a folk remedy and put a rubber medical glove with small holes on the container to release carbon dioxide. Make a puncture with a regular needle 3-4 times. With a glove it is convenient to control fermentation, if it is swollen - the process is underway, blown away - the drink is ready for the production of moonshine.

How to make braga?

Many recipes describe how this drink is prepared, but we will focus on the classic recipe.

What do you need?

We will need:

• 1 kg sugar
• warm water 5 liters
• pressed yeast 100 g, if you take dry yeast, you need 5 times less, namely 20 g

Cooking process:

1. First you need to dissolve sugar in water, because if it settles to the bottom and does not dissolve, it will not participate in the fermentation process.
2. Then, dissolve the yeast in water, the required water temperature is 25-30 ° C, you need to add a couple of tablespoons of sugar there. Place in heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally
3. When the mixture comes to life, you should mix all the ingredients in a container in which the entire fermentation process will take place.

Important! Do not fill the wort to the very top of the container, otherwise all the foam will flow out. Leave approximately 25% to the brim.

What to do next?

Choose a warm place without drafts. The air temperature in the room must be maintained constant - not lower than 20 °C, but not exceeding the scale of 35 °C. It is important to understand that during the fermentation period, heat is released, so keep a regular check on the drink, if overheated, there is a possibility of the death of useful substances.

Important! If the mash foams intensely, then to extinguish it, throw crushed cookies or dry Saf-Moment into it, 1 sachet will be enough.

After about 3-10 days, the mash will be ready for its further distillation into the moonshine fraction. By external signs, its readiness to determine is very simple: if carbon dioxide ceases to be released on the surface, the mash is ready. The taste of the drink should be sour with a bitter aftertaste, without a taste of sweetness.

As a result of fermentation, the mash becomes cloudy, and if it is used to distill moonshine, then it will have a strong characteristic smell. Therefore, it must be filtered. Use gauze, waste will remain on it: drain the mash into another container, and discard the sediment. Let her stand a little and lighten up.

Cooking apple mash

There are two options for making a drink from apples, in the first case - from juice, in the second - from finely chopped apples.

Apple mash from juice

• Apples 15 kg
• Sugar 1 kg
• Pressed yeast 65 g, if using dry, then - 10 g

Cooking:

1. Rinse the apples, remove the core and seeds. Squeeze out the juice. The output should be 5 liters of juice
2. Sugar with yeast should be added to the juice
3. Then place the wort in a container in which the apple mash will be prepared. It would be nice to take a bottle, and put on a medical rubber glove with holes made on top. Alternatively, you can put a water seal
4. Store in a warm, dark place to ferment for one month.
5. When the glove deflates, drain the liquid from the sediment and strain through cheesecloth
6. Next, the mixture of apples is ready for distillation into moonshine.

Second option: apple mash

• Apples - 30 kg
• Water - 20 liters
• Sugar - 4 kg
• Dry yeast - 100 g

Cooking:

1. Rinse apples, clean from rot and remove cores. Cut into quarters
2. The next step is chopping apples, you can grate, chop with a blender
3. Place applesauce together with the resulting juice in a container and pour 18 liters of water
4. Dilute sugar in the remaining two liters of water until completely dissolved and pour into apple puree
5. Dilute the yeast in warm water and add to the fermentation container, mix the contents thoroughly
6. Close the container and put it in heat for 10 days. After 24 hours, a pulp plug should form on the surface, which prevents fermentation. Destroy it, stirring until foam appears and a pleasant apple aroma appears.

After about 10 days, the apple mash will be ready, the pulp will settle, and fermentation will stop. It's time to treat yourself to a wonderful low-alcohol drink or start distilling moonshine.

Interesting! If the apples are very sweet varieties, then you can use the recipe, without adding yeast and sugar.

If you decide to make a mash from apples alone, then first do a small test: take 1 kg of unwashed fruits, chop them and leave them to ferment in a warm, dark place for several days, waiting for fermentation to begin. The test will save you 30 kilograms of apples if you fail. Please note that the fruits must be exactly unwashed, because yeast bacteria are present on their surface.

Braga is the oldest of all known Slavic intoxicating drinks. It was put on fermentation even before the advent of moonshine and vodka. And if on the territory of the southern regions, where grapes, sweet varieties of fruits and various berries were grown everywhere, winemaking flourished, then only mash remained for the Slavs from the east.

Even in the Stone Age, our ancestors noticed that if you leave any sweet juice in a vessel for a long time, it will ferment and turn into a foamy, cloudy, and most importantly, a low-alcohol drink.

The recipe for brew for moonshine (like many recipes that have received worldwide fame) was obtained by accident, but through various experiments and many transformations and improvements, it has come down to our time and has become quite popular.

The main condition for the fermentation process is the complete absence of oxygen. Only then the sugar molecules break down into two components - carbon dioxide and, which is actually the end result, alcohol.

Antoine Lavoisier, a French chemist, became interested in the first such process. Later, when studying yeast, it was proved that fermentation is nothing but the result of the vital activity of living yeast cells.

Preparatory process

One of the main constituent elements of mash for moonshine is sugar. The final result of the drink directly depends on its quality.

If the sugar is bad, the unpleasant taste and smell of mash is guaranteed. On the other hand, it is with him that you can experiment: different sugar gives a different taste to the final drink - moonshine.

Water is no less important. It must be clean, drinkable, in no case should it be boiled - oxygen must be present in the water.

The next step is the choice of yeast, without which high-quality mash will not work. There are several options for this product, the main thing to remember is that each of them has its own characteristics:

• Bakery. Well suited for classic sugar mash, but the output will be no more than 10% alcohol;
• Alcoholic. The percentage of alcohol is 18, but a large amount of impurities occurs;
• For whiskey. They prepare a wort from grain;
• Wine. They make fruit must. The result is a sufficiently large yield of alcohol and a minimum amount of impurities.

In addition to yeast, it is possible to use other minerals, such as grains, previously well-boiled or black (dried) bread. Important: for 10 liters of mash, 1 kg of other components are added.

Another point of preliminary preparation will be the choice of a suitable container. There are three basic rules: the container must be deep, clean and hermetically sealed.

The last rule is basic - carbon dioxide should not go out under any circumstances.

Classic step by step recipe

There is a basic classic recipe for making mash for moonshine from sugar. It is on this basis that various options are possible.

Cooking:

1. Yeast is prepared. Add sugar (100 grams) to warm water (0.5 l), make sure that it dissolves. Next, yeast is reported. The composition is taken to a warm place, stirring occasionally, for only a couple of hours. As soon as active foam formation begins, the mixture is added to the wort;
2. Preparation of the wort: diligently dissolve the sugar with water at room temperature. If the composition by volume is taken less, the mash will not “ripen”;
3. After checking the readiness of the yeast, combine them with the wort. Then leave everything for fermentation at a temperature of 20 to 35 degrees. It is important to remember that with active fermentation, heat begins to be released, and with strong heating, all the necessary substances will die, so the process must be controlled;
4. Some types of yeast produce a very strong foam, so you can not fill the existing container to the end, you need to leave space for fermentation. But if this happened, you can extinguish the foam with dry bread or crushed cookies. The whole process takes 3-14 days. But long-standing mash receives a large amount of impurities. Optimal terms of readiness - 7 days;
5. In the final determination of the readiness of the mash, they are guided by the absence of carbon dioxide gas, clarification of the liquid and the formation of yeast sediment;
6. The question - to drain or not to drain the sediment before distilling moonshine - is solved quite simply: the sediment contains a fair amount of alcohol, and when it is removed, the yield of alcohol in the final drink will be much less.

Possible non-compliance with technology leads to certain difficulties. For example:

1. Very long fermentation time. This happens when the required temperature regime is not observed, when low-quality ingredients are used or their quantity is insufficient;
2. After the end of the fermentation period, the drink still retains sweetness. This is the result of non-compliance with proportions, in which case it is necessary to add yeast;
3. If, after the end of the fermentation process, it is not possible to immediately overtake it into moonshine, it is possible to set it aside for storage in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks in an airtight container. But in fact, this is undesirable - there is a high probability that the mash will turn sour.

A positive result is considered if 1 - 1.2 liters of mash is obtained from 1 kg of sugar, while its strength should be 50%.

Braga with alcohol yeast

The recipe for a good brew for moonshine with alcohol yeast includes the following ingredients:

• Sugar - 6 kg;
• Water - 23 l;
• Spirit yeast - 100 g dry or 500 g pressed.

Cooking:

1. Water is heated up to 30 degrees;
2. Mix sugar and water, and in that order. Sugar should be all dissolved;
3. In a small amount of syrup (about 1 liter), dilute the yeast. Soak for an hour in a darkened room until foam appears;
4. Introduce yeast with syrup into the main container. Install a water seal;
5. Place the container with the mash in a darkened warm room. There should be no temperature fluctuations.

The process will take about 10 days. Then remove from the sediment, clarify, overtake. The whole process of preparing such a drink can be seen in the video plot:

Additional mash recipes for moonshine

From wheat

There are a very large number of ways to make mash for moonshine from sugar, recipes for every taste and financial possibilities.

One of these recipes is wheat mash, the final drink is tender, light with a good taste.

A distinctive feature of the drink made from wheat is the absence of yeast in the recipe, they are replaced by wheat malt. The key to success will be the good quality of the main ingredient - wheat grains (they must be dry, intact, with a shelf life of less than a year).

Ingredients:

• Sugar - 4 kg;
• Grain wheat - 4 kg;
• Clean drinking water - depends on the capacity of the dishes (recommended amount - 30 liters).

Cooking:

1. The fourth part of wheat (1 kg) is poured into the selected container, leveled, covered with water 6 cm above the grain level. Cover with a lid, set aside for two days for germination in a not very warm place;
2. When small sprouts appear, 0.5 kg of sugar is poured. Mix thoroughly with your hands, if the mass is very thick, you can add water, but a little. Then the neck of the container is wrapped with gauze and set aside for 10 days, but already in a warm place;
3. The leaven obtained by the previous method is poured into a glass container and the remaining wheat is added - 3 kg, sugar - 3.5 kg, everything is poured with water (it should be slightly higher than the temperature in the room);
4. A medical rubber glove with a small puncture is put on the neck or a water seal is installed. The temperature regime is from 18 to 24 degrees, the fermentation time is 10 days;
5. After the required period, the glove should deflate and now the mash needs to be distilled. The wheat remaining in the sediment is suitable for use three more times.

We offer to cook refreshing kvass with your own hands. Forget thirst!

To learn how to make apple cider, read Fragrant wine will come in handy for the holidays!

Recipes for making honey from dandelions are described. At the end of April, they will begin to bloom actively. Don't miss the moment!

On starch

Many are looking for ways to speed up fermentation. And there are such ways - to add enzymes or specialized activators to speed up. But lovers of naturalness offer to speed up the process with the help of starch, the aging period is halved.

Ingredients:

• Potato starch - 10 kg;
• Clean drinking water - 20 l;
• Sugar - 1 kg;
• Pressed yeast - 500 g

Pour starch with the thinnest stream, like on jelly, with water. The temperature of the mixture should be no more than 22 degrees.

Gradually introduce sugar, followed by yeast. Fermentation time - 5 days, minimum 3.

Then you can overtake. The total mass of the drink is 11 liters.

On peas

Ingredients:

• Sour cream - 200 g;
• Pressed yeast - 300 g;
• Shelled peas - 2 kg;
• Good sugar - 7 kg.

A large can with a tight lid up to the shoulders (leaving room for fermentation) is poured with water just above the temperature in the room. Then you need to add peas, followed by yeast, and, after about an hour, sugar.

Alternative Cooking Options

Consider home brew recipes for moonshine of more traditional preparation from typical and not quite components.

From jam

Ingredients:

• Jam (necessarily fermented) - 6 l;
• Warm water - 30 l;
• Pressed yeast - 200 g;
• Sugar - 3 kg.

Preparation: jam is well diluted with water. Yeast is added first, then sugar.

Set aside for 5 days. The total mass of the jam drink is 6 liters.

on apples

Ingredients:

• If the apples are whole - 30 kg, if already crushed - 10 kg;
• Warm water - 20 l;
• Dry yeast - 100 g;
• Sugar - 4 kg.

Preparation of mash from apples for moonshine: cut the washed and peeled apples into small pieces, be sure to cut off the rotten parts.

A crusher, a grater, a blender are suitable as a tool. As a result, 10 liters of apple composition should come out.

The ratio of sugar / water should initially be 1:5, no matter how many ingredients are taken.

It is better to take dry yeast to avoid souring. But if you do not like the specific smell, you can take wine yeast.

Boil syrup from sugar and water, cool and add to apple must, mix.

Before adding yeast to the mixture, it must be poured into a small amount of warm water and set aside in a warm place for 20 minutes.

We offer you to study in detail the video on the preparation of mash from apples for moonshine:

on grapes

Ingredients:

• Grape pomace - about a 10-liter bucket;
• Sugar - 5 kg;
• Pressed yeast - 100 g;
• Warm drinking water - 30 l.

Preparation: pour the pomace of grapes with water, add the remaining ingredients, mix well. Set aside for 7 days. The total mass of the drink is 7 liters.

From beets

Ingredients:

Preparation: Peeled beets are rubbed with a grater and boiled. While the beets are hot, water is added, the temperature should be 25 degrees as a result.

Yeast dissolved in warm water is added to the beets, sugar is added. Set aside for 4 days.

The beet sediment should sink completely to the bottom. Distilled twice, before this stir the mash.

Problems that arise

There are situations when beginners are faced with the fact that the mash does not want to roam in any way, or this process is too weak. There may be several reasons:

• The fermentation process is already over. You need to check the timing;
• Braga on starch will ferment poorly due to a lack of sugar. It is necessary to grind and add malt;
• Insufficiently high or too high temperature of the place where the mash ripens;
• Not enough yeast. Dilute dry yeast in water and add to the mash.

Sometimes the mash to be distilled is clarified so that the sedimentary particles do not burn. There are several ways to remove the mash from the sediment and stabilize it.

In the old days, this was done by light freezing and mechanical removal of the sediment. For this, gelatin, strong tea leaves, and lime were used. Current moonshine makers are turning to more modern methods:

• With the use of bentonite - clay absorbent. It is diluted in proportion with water 1:5, set aside for swelling for 4 hours. Next, you need to drain the water, dilute with a small amount of drink, then pour it into all the mash. After cleaning, drain the drink, remove the sediment. It is important to remember that the sediment is not drained into the sewer, betonite tends to cement and form plugs;
• Using a filter press. This apparatus works under pressure and uses cardboard as a filter.

One of the most common questions is how long does the mash last after fermentation? At room, normal temperature, the safety of the mash is up to 3 days.

If you put it in a cold cellar or just a refrigerator, the period increases to several weeks. If these deadlines are not observed, the mash will simply turn sour.

Finally, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with another video recipe for moonshine home brew. This time it will be from a mix of fruits and berries with invert syrup:

Nothing affects the taste of moonshine like a properly delivered mash. If you work hard on this blank, the taste of the final product will be in no way inferior to store-bought vodka. But only professionals who know the chemical significance of such a phenomenon as fermentation can prepare the ideal mash. Fermentation is the process by which sugar is converted into alcohol. The more sugar in the wort, the stronger the moonshine will turn out, so it is often advised to use candied jam, overripe berries or fruits to make home brew.

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The best yeast for mash

One of the most important components of a good mash is the right yeast. Studies have shown that alcohol, baker's or wild yeast is best for home brewing. It is they who are able to give moonshine a truly deep rich taste and provide it with the necessary fortress.

Wine and beer yeast are often found in stores and are much cheaper, but it is not recommended to purchase them, as they have significant drawbacks. Already from their names it is clear that these yeasts are much more suitable for making other drinks. If you try to use wine yeast for moonshine, then you will not succeed without special equipment. You will eventually get moonshine from brewer's yeast, but it will have too much foam and will not be strong enough.

Is water important for mash?

Water is the second most important product for mash after yeast. Many beginners often use boiled water from their kettle for home brewing. It is by no means recommended to do this. Well or spring water is much better for moonshine brewing, because only it will not affect the taste of moonshine in any way. If you don’t have such water at home, and you don’t want to take the trouble to purchase it, you can use tap water, but in no case boil it.

Boiling is not the only forbidden process. It is still impossible to distill water, because this will kill the oxygen in it and significantly increase the duration of the fermentation process.

Melt water is not bad for mash. Freeze the liquid in advance before starting work on moonshine and get the most mash from such water.

How to properly feed yeast?

Very often, beginners are faced with the following problem: the fermentation process is very slow or does not start at all. This can be easily seen by the fact that the mash remains cold, and gas bubbles do not form from the liquid at all. There is nothing wrong with this. It is enough just to feed the yeast, and the process will speed up significantly.

There are many ways to feed yeast.

• The main one is chemical. It is required to add superphosphate, nitrophos, ammonia and, do not be surprised, chicken droppings to the mash. All this is added in approximately equal proportions and thoroughly mixed. Such “chemical” moonshine will not bring any harm to the health of the consumer, but it will have a rather specific taste.
• Another method is called "yeast-turbo". Many yeast producers offer their customers special fermentation accelerators. These additives are completely harmless. In fact, these are ordinary nutrients saturated with the necessary microelements. This method also has its drawback - such additives are very expensive, and it will be quite difficult to find them.
• The most popular way to speed up fermentation is malt. Already with his search in the store should not have any problems. In addition, malt has a very positive effect on the taste of moonshine. Alcohol, in the work on which it is used, gets a very pleasant aroma of freshly baked bread.

A less common, but no less effective way to speed up fermentation is to add vitamin B1 to the mash. It's easy to get it. All you need to do is mix a few drops of olive oil with two milligrams of thiamine, and you have the required vitamin in your hands.

In what capacity to put the mash?

Many brewers do not suspect that the material of the container you have chosen for the fermentation process is also of great importance in the manufacture of moonshine. Many materials react chemically with liquid. Under no circumstances should this be allowed. Wooden containers or containers made of galvanized metal are by no means suitable for making moonshine. They will make it unusable.

Containers made of glass, porcelain, stainless steel or aluminum are best suited. From a chemical point of view, they are absolutely inert and therefore will not be able to enter into any reaction with Braga.

It is also important to remember that the container you choose must be completely clean and dry. Rinse it before fermentation and dry it on the balcony for greater reliability.

The volume of the container does not matter and depends only on how much moonshine you want to produce. The only thing is that professionals do not advise using containers larger than 50 liters. Keeping track of the fermentation of a liquid in such a large amount will be quite difficult, especially for novice moonshine producers.

Classic mash recipe

In order to prepare mash, you will need 10 tiers of water, 2 kilograms of sugar and about 200 grams of yeast. Sugar dissolves in heated water, giving you a kind of sugar syrup. When it cools down to 30 degrees, you can add yeast to the wort. The appearance of foam will give you a signal: it's time to mix the workpiece and put it on fermentation.

In some cases, too much foam may form in the mash, especially if not alcohol, but brewer's yeast was used for its manufacture. Adding a few drops of vegetable oil to the mash can help to somehow cope with the foam. Entering into a chemical reaction with mash, it is able to neutralize almost all foamy secretions.

Water seal

Professionals call a water seal a special plug that prevents bacteria from the air from penetrating into the wash. Most often, such a plug looks very simple and is a medical glove stretched over a container with braga. If you really will be using a glove as a water seal, do not forget to pierce it with a needle. This will ensure that the carbon dioxide can escape and avoid an explosion that will destroy all the fruits of your work.

The water seal plays another important role - it shows when the fermentation process is coming to an end. As soon as the glove is no longer elastic and falls off, you can be sure that your moonshine is ready.

Is it possible to speed up fermentation?

Fermentation is a process, the speed of which, of course, can and should be influenced by improvised means. And feeding the yeast described above is by no means the only way to get moonshine faster. For example, adding unwashed raisins to the wash can also have a positive effect on the speed of the process. At the same time, you don’t need to add a lot of raisins - just one handful is enough.

Stir the mash regularly - this will also slightly increase the rate of fermentation by eliminating excess carbon dioxide.

Keep track of temperature conditions. If there is no 27 degrees in the place where you left the mash to infuse, the process will be delayed. Ideal conditions for fermentation is the temperature range from 27 to 35 degrees.

Signs of readiness for distillation

There are several signs that let the manufacturer know that the mash is finally ready and you can proceed to decanting moonshine. The easiest way to determine this is by taste - the resulting mixture should be bitter and leave a tart aftertaste.

If for some reason you are not eager to taste mash or cannot decide on your taste sensations, trust your sense of smell. The smell should lose all previous shades, retaining only a well-distinguishable smell of ethyl alcohol.

Visually, the drink should brighten and be almost transparent. A golden precipitate should form at its bottom.

Sludge disposal

The sediment that forms at the bottom of the mash is not suitable for consumption. It is very important to get rid of it properly. Experienced moonshiners recommend filtering the mash with white clay. This will not only remove sediment, but also reduce the amount of alcohol produced. But the strength of your drink will increase significantly, and the sediment that spoils its taste will be completely eliminated.

Quick Braga Recipes

Very often, the producer does not have time to wait until the full fermentation process is carried out. Especially for such cases, professionals have developed several urgent recipes.

The most popular of these involves the use of 6 kilograms of sugar, 30 liters of water and about half a kilogram of yeast. The mixture must be placed in a dark room with a temperature of 35 degrees, and the mash will be completely ready in just 3 days.

The basis of other urgent recipes is also an increase in temperature. Hot conditions somewhat affect the taste of moonshine, but they increase the fermentation rate reliably. True, experts still do not recommend chasing urgency. It is better to wait a little longer, but eventually get the perfect alcohol.

SUGAR (C 6 H 12 O 6) + YEAST + WATER (H 2 O) → ETHYL ALCOHOL (2C 2 H 5 OH) + WATER (H 2 O) + CARBON DIOXIDE (2CO 2)

Alcohol is a by-product of life yeast, i.e. they eat sugar, in the aquatic environment (minerals) while releasing alcohol and carbon dioxide. Therefore, in order to quickly obtain high-quality mash, it is necessary to monitor the condition (well-being) of the yeast. Optimum mash temperature 24°-40°. With a decrease in the lower temperature threshold, yeast (bread) fall asleep, and with an increase in the upper perish. When falling asleep the latter, the solution can be heated (put in a warm place), and if 40 ° is exceeded, yeast can be added to a cooler place. fermentation process(yeast propagation) can be accelerated by periodically stirring the mash, as is done in the production of beer. I haven’t tried it myself, but they say that you can cook in an old-style washing machine mash for moonshine in a few hours. You can also speed up the fermentation process by adding catalysts: potatoes, peas, tomato paste, hop decoction.

Fermentation rate depends on the concentration of sugar in the solution, the more it is, the better, but when the strength of the mash is reached, the higher 15°, yeast begins to die from alcohol and the fermentation process slows down. Therefore, the excessive sugar content in mash (if we use it later for distillation) leads to its loss and an increase in the cost of the final product. After finishing fermentation just try mash, it should be bitter and without a sweet taste.

If we do not distill the mash in the future, but drink it like mead, then I would advise using less yeast so that there is no yeasty taste, and more sugar, anyway, above 15 ° mead will not work.

How to make brew for moonshine Right.

17. from beets

recipe 1 8 kg of sugar beets, 5-6 kg of sugar, 10 liters of water, 500 g of yeast. Peel the beets, grate and boil (or bake in the oven). Add 10 liters of water and yeast diluted in a small amount of water to the still warm beets. Insist in a warm place for 3-4 days. When the beet mass sinks to the bottom and becomes covered with a crust, mix everything and overtake 2 times.

recipe 2 2 kg beets, 50 g yeast, 4 liters of water. Grate beets on a coarse grater, then pour water and boil for 1-1.5 hours. Pour the broth into a vessel, and again pour beets with water and boil for 1-1.5 hours, then drain. Do this a third time as well. Mix all three broths, add yeast and leave for 10-15 days. Overtake.

18. from syrup 6 l syrup, 200 g yeast, 30 l water. Dilute any syrup in warm water, add yeast. Wanders week. Then overtake. The output is approximately 7 liters.

19. from plums 12 kg of plums, 1-1.5 kg of sugar. Peel and chop plums, add sugar. It ferments for 2 weeks. We distill 2 times.

20. from dried fruits 2 kg of dried fruits, 10 l of water, 3 kg of sugar, 300 g of yeast. Boil dried fruits in hot water, add the rest of the ingredients. Roam for a week. Then we distill. The output is approximately 3.5 liters. Before distillation, you can add - for flavor and tinting - a bunch of dried thyme.

21. pumpkin 2 parts pumpkin, 1 part water, malt (100 g per 10 liters of pumpkin raw materials). We clean the pumpkin by cutting into small pieces. Boil and crush into a homogeneous mass. Mix pumpkin mass with crushed malt, add yeast and put on fermentation. Overtake as soon as ferment.

22. Braga from apples 15 kg apples, 1 kg Sahara, 65 g yeast. Infuse for 7 days, distill 2 times. Yield 1 l.

Exit moonshine And alcohol per 1 kg of raw materials Starch Grape

Type of raw material	Moonshine output, ml	Alcohol yield, ml
Sugar	1100	510
1520	720
Rice	1250	590
Buckwheat	1000	470
Wheat	920	430
oats	900	360
Rye	880	410
Millet	880	410
Peas	860	400
Barley	720	340
Potato	350	140
250	110
Beet sugar.	210	100
Pears	165	70
Apples	140	60
Cherry	121	50