Reasons for cloudiness of moonshine when diluted with water. I diluted the moonshine with water and it turned cloudy.

The appearance of turbidity in moonshine can occur in three situations: when diluted with water, distilled and cooled. In all cases, this indicates a violation of the moonshine preparation technology, so to solve the problem described above, you must immediately do everything correctly. We will look at the main causes of cloudiness and options for solving them, and also show how to make a crystal clear distillate from cloudy moonshine.

Initially, cloudy moonshine was made in the villages. The reason was the low level of technology development, which is why the drink was oversaturated with fusel oils and other impurities. At noble distilleries the standard was considered a transparent distillate, odorless and tasteless. It was this drink that was rated in the “highest circles” and was the best. The opinion that this drink should be cloudy is nothing more than a stereotype that needs to be destroyed.

A cloudy product is a consequence of poor distillation or poor raw materials. A high-quality distillate should be transparent.

Violation of mash distillation technology

This is a complex problem that needs to be considered from different angles. Turbidity can appear due to a number of reasons:

A moonshine still with a steam chamber and a reflux condenser significantly reduces the content of harmful substances in moonshine.

1. Heating the mash too quickly. If the liquid in the distillation cube boils very quickly and strongly, it will begin to splash and release a lot of foam. Because of this, the distillate will instantly become cloudy. Solution: do not rush when accelerating the distillation, filter and clarify the mash and do not pour more than 70% of the liquid into the cube.
2. High concentration of fusel. If you do not separate the moonshine into fractions, the liquid will be saturated with harmful essential oils, which give the drink such a cloudy color. Solution: do fractional distillation and purify the moonshine after distillation.
3. Poor quality moonshine still. In old devices, the distillate reacts with surfaces, as a result of which the drink is saturated with harmful substances. The cloudy sediment is a result of oxidation inside the distiller. Solution: keep up with the times and use modern equipment.
4. Using hard and salty water. For moonshine, you must use clean and fresh water that does not contain unnecessary impurities. Solution: choose.
5. Poor hygiene. Remains of previous mash or spoiled wort will in most cases lead to a deterioration in the quality of the product, and in some cases, to clouding. Solution: constant cleaning and disinfection of all components of the moonshine still and the tools used.

Cloudiness of moonshine when diluted with water

There is such a term in industrial distillery production - opalescence of liquid. This is an indicator of the transparency of the drink in the light. The presence of impurities, sediment and “flakes” reduces this indicator.

In the case of diluting moonshine with water, decrease in its strength, precipitation of essential oils, salts and other impurities into a cloudy sediment. That is, in strong alcohol the opalescence can be high, the drink will be transparent like a tear, but when the degree decreases, all this turbidity comes out.

You can avoid this in the following way: divide the distillate into fractions and use high-quality water without impurities. By high-quality we mean artesian or bottled water with a minimum content of calcium, magnesium and a number of other microelements.

Ideally, good water should be used both for mash and for diluting the finished distillation product. In this case, no cloudy sediment will form.

Why does moonshine become cloudy when cooled (in the cold or in the refrigerator)

I don’t know what this process is called from a physical point of view, but the analogy is similar to dilution with water. When the temperature of the liquid decreases essential oils and impurities begin to appear and the liquid becomes cloudy.

Therefore, again, it is important to divide the moonshine into in order to maximally clean the distillate from harmful substances.

Don't be greedy and take away all the harmful fractions of your product. The loss of the drink is justified for the sake of quality.

How to make cloudy moonshine transparent

Cloudy moonshine can be made clear and tasty. Even a distillate of really poor quality can be turned into a decent drink that you won’t be ashamed to put on the table. The options are as follows:

Appearance of BAU and KAU (sold in specialized stores).

1. Re-distillation. Even if you have already distilled moonshine several times, it still makes sense to do it again. Do not spare the “heads” and “tails”; separate them as much as possible, and leave less of the main product. In any case, a little is better than nothing.
2. Filtration through BAU (KAU) carbon or water filter. These two methods are the most effective for purifying moonshine from harmful impurities. There are detailed instructions, following which you can get rid of cloudiness in your drink.
3. Increasing distillate strength. If dilution with water increases the turbidity of the drink, then the reverse procedure will hide it. It is important to understand that you will not increase the quality of alcohol, but will only hide its deficiency.

It is always better to purify and get high-quality alcohol, and not just hide its flaws.

How to make moonshine cloudy (like in the villages)

If your drink always turns out clear and tasty, but for a change you wanted rural muddy moonshine, then this can be implemented in the following ways:

Remember that the clearer the drink, the better the hangover in the morning (all other things being equal).

1. Don't separate the tails. “Nedogon” contains a lot of fusel, which, when diluted with water, will precipitate in the form of turbidity. This will be the classic drink that people in villages have been drinking for hundreds of years. The quality of the product is very low, so we strongly advise you not to do this.
2. Powdered milk. By pouring a little mixture into the product, you can adjust its transparency and achieve the result you want. Powdered milk has virtually no effect on the taste.
3. Distill the mash quickly and intensively. By violating the technology, you will achieve cloudiness in the drink. The quality will also suffer, so consume such a product with caution.

If you don’t like the result, then use distillation or filtration to return the distillate to its original crystal transparency.

In our society, there are many stereotypes regarding home-made moonshine that have nothing to do with real life. Moreover, often the origins of this phenomenon can be found even in culture and art. A striking example is cloudy moonshine with a milky whitish hue. Until now, many people believe that real homemade moonshine should look like this.

Remember, high-quality moonshine, made according to all the rules of distillation, is always transparent. Even slight turbidity indicates a violation of the correct distillation technology.

Causes of cloudiness

There are several factors that can make moonshine cloudy. Each specific case is individual. Cloudiness of the distillate can be caused by one or a combination of the following reasons:

• splash drift;
• the presence of essential and fusel oils;
• low-quality moonshine still;
• untreated hard water;
• insufficient cleanliness of used containers.

Let's look at each of these factors in more detail.

Sprinkler

This term describes the situation with excessive heating of the mash. The fact is that the boiling point of ethyl alcohol is 78.39 degrees Celsius. Based on this, in the process of distilling mash into moonshine, we need to adhere to the correct heating temperature of 79-84 degrees Celsius.

However, when this rule is violated, the mash boils. At this moment it foams and enters the refrigerator, where it instantly condenses. The result of this process is the appearance of turbidity.

The situation is complicated by the closed design of distillation cubes (moonshine stills), which does not allow us to visually control the distillation process. As a result, we can only react to the fact that cloudy moonshine appears. In such a situation, we first need to lower the temperature, complete distillation, disassemble and thoroughly clean the moonshine still.

In addition, there are several tricks that help prevent splashing.

1. When preparing for distillation, you should not completely fill the cube with mash. It is necessary to leave some free space in case such foam forms. I recommend filling 70-75% of the moonshine still with mash.

If the moonshine becomes cloudy before diluting with water, the reasons for the reaction may be as follows:

• the product contains a high content of fusel oils - toxic substances formed during the fermentation process;
• the moonshine still is made from low-quality materials, resulting in oxidation that affects the color of the product;
• The containers of the moonshine still or the containers containing the moonshine were poorly washed.

There is another most common cause of cloudiness - splashing.

If overheating and blocking of the mash occurs, the resulting foam enters the refrigerator (coil). A cloudy tint appears immediately upon release of the finished product.

If this happens, then you need to stop the entire process, clean the entire structure and reduce the heating in the future. The whitened alcohol can be poured into a common container and distilled again.

Cleaning methods

If, when diluting moonshine with water, the drink becomes cloudy, you should not be upset. You can use it in this form. But if you want to make the moonshine transparent, it can be cleaned in several ways.

The most effective of them is re-distillation. It is only necessary to find out the reason why the sediment formed, so as not to repeat the mistake again. Cloudy moonshine must be diluted with water to 20° and distilled (dilution is necessary to reduce the strength).

Add water to the cloudy moonshine and run it again

You can rid your drink of unpleasant sediment using charcoal cleaning. After the procedure, the drink must be filtered. Cleaning can be done using a modern Barrier filter. For better purification, it is recommended to pass the drink through the filter 2 - 3 times. There is another method for ridding moonshine of an unpleasant color.

A cloudy drink can be heated to 70 °C and then cooled sharply. This method is ineffective and is used only as a last resort.

The drink can be cleaned from fusel oils and other harmful impurities using regular soda. For 1 liter of liquid you need to take 15 g of baking soda and several crystals of potassium permanganate. All this needs to be added to the moonshine, mixed and left for 30 minutes. After cleaning, the drink must be filtered. If all proportions are observed, then this cleaning method is absolutely harmless to human health. For more information about the second distillation, see this video:

Cleansing can also be done with organic glue called Karluk. This substance must be diluted in ordinary water and brought to field consistency. Then add the mixture to the container with the drink and leave for 30 - 40 minutes.

This method is rarely used due to the fact that the cost of such glue is quite high.

However, the so-called gluing is one of the most reliable ways to get rid of fusel oils.

Creating a cloudy shade

In most cases, winemakers are aiming for unpleasant color and cloudy sediment. But it also happens that a transparent drink needs to be tinted milky.

Whey and milk powder will help create a milky shade of moonshine.

You can do this in several ways:

• use of whey 25 ml per 1 liter of moonshine;
• add milk powder to the moonshine - 15 g per 1 liter of drink (additional filtration will be required after coloring);
• stir 5 - 6 drops of sunflower oil into 1 liter of drink and mix well.

If the first method is chosen for coloring, then it is necessary to add whey to the moonshine, and not ordinary milk, which in combination with an alcoholic drink will curdle. It is better to color a few hours before intended use.

If you give the drink a milky tint and put it in storage, then after a while delamination will occur - the top will be clean, and an unpleasant sediment will appear at the bottom of the container.

Coffee can also add a pleasant flavor to your drink.

In order to give homemade moonshine a pleasant color, you can tint it with regular black or green tea, add a small amount of burnt sugar, or infuse the drink with pine nut shells. However, the milky color is also popular and does not always indicate the poor quality of the alcoholic drink.

A truly Russian drink - moonshine - in addition to the highest degree of strength among all other alcoholic drinks, has a rich history. This is not only one of the first alcoholic drinks, it is also a fairly popular drink that is made in various ways at home.

Despite the seemingly simplicity of the ingredients, preparing a truly high-quality product with your own hands is not easy. The most important thing in the moonshine preparation stage is careful adherence to the preparation technology, correct dosage and component composition.

Making moonshine is a technological process in which the drink goes through several stages of preparation, including:

• Arrangement of ingredients;
• Recipe mixing;
• Fermentation process;
• Distillation on a moonshine still;
• Cleansing;
• Adding aromatic, color and flavor ingredients.

All this should not happen hastily, but should be done carefully and carefully. Only in this case is a quality drink guaranteed. Otherwise, the raw material will not only have an unpleasant aroma, but also a bad taste and a cloudy color. It is precisely because of a careless attitude to the recipe and recommendations for making the drink, accelerating the fermentation time and subject to the exclusion of one of the preparation stages that a poor-quality result is obtained, which is why the moonshine is cloudy. So, for example, an unpleasant heavy odor is formed as a result of the use of overstayed mash, and cloudy drops at the outlet are observed as a result of boiling of the mash during distillation.

It is possible to obtain moonshine with a pleasant taste and color if you follow the recommendations for the preparation process. In addition, double distillation of the drink will make it possible not only to improve the taste, but also to transform the cloudy color.

Many beginners, resorting to making moonshine at home, receive a finished drink of a cloudy white color, which they are incredibly happy about, because this is exactly how this drink appears in their minds, films and other sources. In fact, this is not what you should strive for. Even those who are just embarking on the path of moonshine brewing can get a drink that is pure in color and pleasant in taste, using one of the methods for additional purification of moonshine.

Cleaning

In order to improve the color of moonshine, which will put an end to the stereotype that the drink is only cloudy and nothing else, potassium permanganate is added to the liquid. It is important not to overdo it with the amount of substance - a few grains on the tip of a knife are enough. In addition, moonshine should be diluted with water - about 100 ml - this is added to the previously prepared raw materials, which have a cloudy tint.

This dilution produces a slightly pinkish color. The drink takes approximately 2-3 days to brew. At this stage of cleaning, black flakes settle to the bottom. When they appear, it is important not to shake the container with raw materials when pouring, so that they do not fall into another container. The purified drink must be strained through a double layer of gauze at least twice.

Another cleaning method is to use activated carbon. It is optimal to clean the moonshine still before distillation begins, but it can also be carried out during the process itself. Activated carbon is a popular medicine that can be purchased at any pharmacy chain and even at a pet store, since it is also intended not only for restoring the digestive system, but also for cleaning aquariums and filters for them. This is not only an effective and popular drug, but also very affordable.

The cleaning process looks like this:

1. You need to put cotton wool in the funnel and cover it with a bandage or gauze.
2. Crush the coal and place it on the surface of the gauze.
3. Place a funnel under the dripping moonshine.

You can also clean raw materials in containers. It is necessary to crumble the coal in a proportion of 50 grams per 1 liter of moonshine and pour it into the container where the drink is located. Infuse the contents for two weeks. The mixture must be stirred periodically and, at the final stage, filtered through cotton wool or gauze.

Another alternative method is cleansing with pine nuts. This method is more financially expensive than the previous method, but it guarantees a high-quality result. In addition, effective cleaning from harmful impurities will improve and soften the taste. As for the amount of cleaning materials, a small handful of nuts is needed per liter of moonshine diluted with water. The shelled nuts are placed in the finished drink and infused for two weeks. The final stage is filtering the drink through cheesecloth. Nuts that have absorbed harmful substances, unpleasant odors and cloudy sediment from moonshine should be thrown away.

In addition to carbon and manganese purification, there is also a method using whole milk. This method allows you to not only improve the taste, but also the oils. Milk is added at the rate of 200 ml per 1 liter of moonshine. It is not surprising that, being a white drink, milk will immediately give a white, cloudy color when diluted. It would seem that what you want to rid the drink of, that’s what happens. But it is worth noting that within a few days the mixture will settle, white lumps of milk will settle to the bottom and the liquid will become transparent. In order not to capture unnecessary sediment, you need to carefully and slowly pour the settled moonshine into another container, and then strain.

As mentioned above, moonshine is not a drink that anyone in the village can make. Of course, this is the case, but still, if a person requires high-quality raw materials, then it is necessary to follow the instructions for preparing the drink, and also listen to the recommendations of home brewing professionals who are convinced that the turbidity of the drink is a poor quality raw material.

1. When distilling moonshine, it is important to maintain temperature conditions. The drink is poured into a container and gradually heated. Ethyl alcohol evaporates at a temperature of 80 degrees, with a maximum deviation of +/- 2 degrees. When it reaches 85 degrees, very harmful substances begin to evaporate - fusel oils, which not only affect the quality and taste, but also make the drink cloudy white. Actually, this is the mistake of many winemakers who achieve such a result. If you want the moonshine to be transparent, there is no need to rush to raise the temperature, you need to heat it slowly and stop the process of selecting drinking moonshine as soon as the temperature exceeds 80 degrees.
2. The result of a cloudy color can be the presence of a large amount of mash in the moonshine still. During the process of boiling and heating, the mash flows through hoses and tubes directly into a container intended for the final raw material - pure moonshine, while bypassing intermediate stages, and therefore the color may be cloudy.
3. Another option why moonshine becomes cloudy is through use. The problem of cloudy sediment can be eliminated by using professional equipment.
4. When diluted with water, especially when its amount exceeds the permissible limit specified in the recipe, moonshine may also become cloudy. It is important to add the amount recommended by the instructions, otherwise overdoing it with water may result in the fermentation of the drink producing cloudy bubbles on the surface at first. In addition, cloudiness of moonshine occurs when alcohol is diluted with boiled water. It is important to carry out the purification process using carbon or manganese filtration. In addition, moonshine diluted with water can be infused on birch bars, which will perfectly absorb fusel oils, neutralize the cloudy tint and give the drink a golden color.
5. Despite the fact that water is the source of the cloudy hue, it is water that is used to dilute moonshine, which has an unpleasant odor and color. The salt content in untreated water gives the drink turbidity, in turn, diluting the finished raw material to eliminate the unpleasant color with distilled or low-mineralized water will help solve this problem. True, in the case of distilled water, the taste may suffer, which winemakers call “empty.”
6. Cloudiness of the drink can be avoided during the preparation process, and not after it. So, for example, some moonshine experts recommend adding not water to alcohol, but alcohol to water. Those who have resorted to this method report the absence of a cloudy tint or the presence of a white but rich color of moonshine. In addition, this option also affects the strength; moonshine is obtained with a strength of at least 40 degrees.

By the way, the cloudy color of a drink does not always indicate low quality of the product or neglect of manufacturing technology. Many lovers of moonshine brew pure, transparent moonshine by adding birch sap, eggs or milk to it, bringing it to a special cloudy shade.

17 comments

Why does moonshine become cloudy? Main causes and methods of dealing with them

Hi all!

Today I received a letter from a reader with a question: “why is moonshine cloudy after diluting with water?” And similar questions arise very often. I decided to write a separate post on this topic, so as not to explain the same thing over and over again in correspondence, but simply provide a link.

And so, today’s article is devoted to the main reasons for the cloudiness of moonshine and methods of combating them.

Why does moonshine become cloudy during distillation?

It often happens that a clear distillate comes first, and then suddenly white moonshine begins to flow. The reason for this is splashing. This is when the mash begins to foam and its splashes fall into the refrigerator, and then into the receiving container.

Causes and methods of eliminating them

1. The distillation cube is filled to the top. The container must be filled to no more than ¾ of its volume.
2. The heating temperature is too high. The mash boils and splashes out. At the first sign of splashing, it is necessary to reduce the heat supply. It is also necessary to ensure that there are no narrowings or kinks in the steam line.
3. The mash foams a lot. Perhaps it is not fermented or there is a lot of carbon dioxide in it. To avoid this, it is necessary to degas the mash, clarify it and drain it from the sediment. To degas, the mash must be thoroughly mixed, or better yet, heated to 50 degrees. You can lighten it with.

Good protection against splashing water is the installation

Why does moonshine become cloudy when diluted with water?

It often happens that when moonshine is diluted with water, it becomes cloudy and even a sediment appears. There are two reasons:

Why is moonshine cloudy in movies?

Moonshine is a folk drink. And before, ordinary people knew nothing about “heads” and “tails”, about fusel oils and fractional distillation. And the equipment was primitive. So they drove everything from start to finish, without any divisions.

Consequently, the final product contained a lot of rubbish, which made it cloudy and smelling terrible. This is the drink that was shown in the movies, but in modern films they simply support the existing stereotype.

How to clean cloudy moonshine

The surest way is to distill it again. With cutting off heads and tails, if this was not done during the previous distillation. You can also pass it through a carbon filter, sometimes this helps.

Well, to prevent this from happening again, follow the recommendations from this article. I also advise you to study the “Theory and Practice” section of my blog. You'll probably find something useful for yourself.

I wish you success in our hobby. Don't forget to share them in the comments and subscribe to updates.

Bye everyone, Pavel Dorofeev.

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Why is moonshine cloudy?

• Moonshine is cloudy from fusel oils. The cloudier the moonshine, the more of them there are. Moonshine can also be cloudy due to the incorrect process of distilling this flammable alcoholic liquid. If the mash flows into the pipes of the cooling device during evaporation, the moonshine will not be transparent, but cloudy. The slower the moonshine drips, the colder the water in the cooling device, the more transparent it will be. If you also use a sump, you will end up with a tear.
• Moonshine is not produced on a conveyor belt in factories where technologists monitor quality and the alcohol is purified. Moonshine is made by ordinary people - Aunt Dusya, Uncle Misha, who are not trained in the intricacies of science, do not know the technology, but they get the result, albeit cloudy from fusel oils.
• It's all about the equipment for the production of moonshine, as well as compliance with production technology. For example, my moonshine always turned out quite clean. Only when I poured too much into the still, so the moonshine still choked. And if you don’t allow it to choke, the moonshine will be as clear as a tear.
• The cloudiness of moonshine is formed due to imperfections in the design of the moonshine still. If the tube leading to the cooler is of sufficient height, fusel oils cannot enter the main product. If the technology is still broken and transparency is insufficient, a small amount of potassium permanganate should be added to the finished product. Let it sit for several days until sediment forms and filter thoroughly.
• Sometimes this happens if the mash boils too hot. As soon as the process of distillation itself begins, that is, when the first drops of pervach begin to drip, you need to turn the gas burner halfway. And make sure that the mash in the distillation apparatus does not boil too much. If , the cloudy moonshine has already been collected, you need to get it to the end and distill it a second time. There will be significantly less of it, but it will be as clear as a tear and very strong. It can be diluted with boiled water to the desired strength. For these purposes (measuring the strength) , it’s better to have a household alcohol meter. And in general, you can put it in a jar where the moonshine is dripping, and make sure that the strength of the moonshine at the end of the process is not less than 45 degrees. Then it’s better to put it in a separate container, and at the next batch of mash These additions can be poured there. This speeds up the ripening process of the mash.
• Cloudy moonshine, maybe when, during the distillation of raw materials, there is too much bubbling in the tank, because of this, along with the condensate, which ideally should be over seventy degrees and crystal clear, solid parts of, so to speak, boiling mash get in - here you have turbidity and low alcohol content, such moonshine is distilled again!
• It is rather not white, but rather cloudy. Fusel oils give it a similar color.
• Moonshine can become cloudy if a person is distilling it for the first time and does not fully know the technology. If you do not maintain the required temperature and exceed it, then the fusel oils will begin to evaporate and there will be no transparent color, and if the mash gets into the moonshine container itself when heated, then there will also be turbidity.
• Moonshine itself is transparent, because it is essentially condensed alcohol vapor. The most accessible means of purifying moonshine in the village was milk, which is a natural absorbent. When it was added to moonshine, all the trash settled to the bottom. The cleaned swill was poured into another container. Therefore, normal country moonshine is somewhat unclear.
• I have never drank white moonshine) In general, the purity of moonshine depends on compliance with the technology during distillation. The mash is poured into a container and begins to be heated. Ethyl alcohol evaporates at 80C (plus or minus 2). Starting from 85, fusel oils begin to evaporate, which whiten the product. Accordingly, if you want to get moonshine as pure as a tear, there is no need to rush, heat it slowly, stop the process when the brew heats up more than 85 degrees.
• Fusel oils do not impart turbidity. This is if the mash boils, then it ends up in the final product. In general, the mash should be quickly heated to 60C and then heated carefully and quietly. And the resulting product is diluted with water 2 to 1 and distilled a second time. In this case, remove the initial liquid to 65C (this is a solvent) and select pure alcohol up to 93 degrees of alcohol. When it starts to get dirty, remove it.

Source: http://info-4all.ru/drugoe/pochemu-samogon-mutnij/

What to do if you feel cloudy

As a rule, after splash removal, the best way to clean up turbidity is to re-distill. Water is added to the moonshine in such a way as to obtain a strength of 20° and it is distilled again. Division into factions is necessary.

If it is impossible to distill, then you will have to resort to one of the following cleaning methods:

1. The use of potassium permanganate gives excellent results. Moonshine after settling and filtration becomes crystal clear. But, according to chemists, when removing fusel oils, manganese forms other toxic compounds. So the method is not ideal, and sometimes even unsafe for health.
2. Charcoal cleaning is safe and effective. It is better to use birch or coconut charcoal. Activated gives excessive bitterness to alcohol.
3. The milk “collects” the fusel into flakes; all that remains is to wait for the sediment, drain and filter.
4. Heating is a simple method. Unfortunately, the effect is not always achieved. Homemade alcohol with turbidity is poured into a pan and, without covering it, heated to 70°C. At this temperature the alcohol will not evaporate. Then the moonshine cools, and sediment forms at the bottom. All that remains is to filter, let it rest in glass for a couple of days, and put it in the refrigerator.

Peculiarities. The easiest way to make a filter is from a 1.5 - 2 liter plastic bottle (preferably with a long neck). Cut off the bottom and discard the cork. Twist cotton pads into a tube (the number depends on the thickness, usually 5-6) and insert it slightly tightly, but without fanaticism, into the neck.

The filter is ready. If there is too much turbidity and the filter stops working, pour the remainder back into the jar, throw away the discs, rinse the “watering can” and replace the discs with fresh ones.

He stood there and became confused

While making moonshine, you gradually understand the intricacies of this process, but still, from time to time there are “notches”. Here's how to understand why moonshine becomes cloudy after standing for a while, if it drips completely transparent? But there is always an explanation, you just need to know what went wrong. The most obvious explanations:

• low-quality materials from which the device is made;
• the dishes in which the distillation took place (the apparatus and its parts) were not washed as they should be after the last distillation. Barda, who remained, provoked a clouding.
• the jar into which the distillate dripped was not thoroughly washed;
• the presence of a large amount of fusel oils. There may be two reasons for this: the heads were not selected, and the tails were not cut off (read:).

Helpful advice. Always use a thermometer to know the temperature of the liquid being distilled.

If you stop sampling the body when the thermometer reads 92°C, the moonshine will be of high quality. And what comes out after 95°C is tailings with a huge amount of toxic substances. Never allow them to get into the product you will drink.

Why did the moonshine become cloudy?

There may be several reasons for this. At its core, turbidity is particles of impurities that change the color of the drink.

There are several reasons why alcohol becomes cloudy:

1. Cloudiness may occur due to dilution of alcohol with hard water.
2. Poor quality equipment may affect the color of the product.
3. The presence of harmful impurities and toxins in alcohol is the main reason for discoloration.

If alcohol becomes cloudy after diluting with water, then the cause of this phenomenon may be the water. The liquid that is used in the process of making mash or the distillate directly affects the characteristics of the product. For this reason, it is best to dilute moonshine with bottled water; you can also use filtered water or still mineral water.

If the moonshine becomes cloudy even before dilution, i.e. immediately after receipt, then the reason for this may be poor-quality equipment. This includes the lack of a steam chamber, a poor cooling system, as well as the material from which the distillation cube is made.

If metal ions or other foreign elements enter the drink during the production process, its color may change. Such transformations will affect not only the quality of the distillate, but will also hopelessly ruin its taste and smell.

The main reason why alcohol changes its color is due to impurities. Fusel oils, of which there are about forty varieties, can cause significant harm to the drink. If the mash has not been sufficiently purified, then the final product will contain harmful impurities - they are the ones that affect the transparency of the moonshine.

In addition, during the boiling process, mash particles can get into the finished distillate. Intense boiling causes the mash to begin to bubble. It is difficult to control the boiling process because the distillation cube is closed. So it turns out that after distillation, the distiller receives cloudy moonshine. In this case, not only the color of the drink suffers, but also its quality.

When moonshine becomes cloudy when diluted, this may be temporary. Experts advise diluting the distillate according to the following scheme: pour moonshine into water, and not vice versa. This will help keep the product clear and avoid cloudiness.

Why does cloudiness occur?

Before you take specific steps, you need to understand why moonshine is cloudy. Most often, the reason for this is suspension - very small particles, which, due to their insignificant mass, settle extremely slowly. Such alcohol can be clarified by simple settling, but how long this will take - a couple of days or several weeks is unknown.

The situation is worse if some extended or reversible chemical or biochemical reaction is constantly taking place in the finished moonshine. Then it is useless to simply defend the product - it will remain opaque for a very long time. Most often, this result is obtained if the fermentation was not only yeast, but also fermented milk. You can get rid of turbidity by chemical purification, filtration and subsequent distillation.

We check compliance with technologies

The surest way to make homemade alcohol cloudy is to use dirty dishes for fermentation. In this case, the most unexpected biochemical processes will take place in the wort, and the output may be extremely difficult to purify by both filtration and settling.

If, during the rectification process, moonshine is distilled too quickly and at a high temperature, too many harmful impurities will get into even the central fraction - the “body”. They will almost 100% give a cloudy tint, and in some cases - a visible suspension. The same effect - cloudiness of moonshine - can be expected if the “heads” or “tails” are not cut off or cut off too weakly.

Ideal moonshine has no color, and the turbidity that appears in the output (opalescence) indicates a violation of the preparation technology. To understand why moonshine is cloudy, you need to familiarize yourself with the possible causes of this deficiency.

Causes of cloudiness

In the process of preparing moonshine, there are several points, the violation of which can result in an opaque final product. Turbidity in moonshine appears for several reasons:

1. Sprinkler
2. Presence of fusel oils
3. Hard water
4. Using the wrong containers
5. Imperfections in the designs and materials of a moonshine still

Let's take a closer look at why moonshine becomes cloudy.

Sprinkler

It happens when you poured too much mash or the mash foams a lot, such as grain mash. This also happens when the heat is too high when the mash boils, foams and enters the cooler (refrigerator or coil), where it condenses. As a result, turbidity appears. In case of splashing, it is recommended to complete distillation, disassemble and clean the moonshine still. The cloudy distillate must be distilled again.

How to prevent it?

To prevent splashing, you need to follow several rules:

1. Fill the moonshine still with mash not completely, but 70-75%.
2. Control the temperature. For these purposes, a thermometer must be built into the design of the moonshine still; it is installed in the distillation cube.
3. Wash the moonshine still thoroughly after distillation is complete.
4. Before the first distillation, clean the mash with bentonite

Cleansing with bentonite

Clarification of the mash with bentonite (natural white clay) should be carried out after fermentation is complete.

1. Grind bentonite with a coffee grinder or blender
2. Prepare the required amount of ingredients (1 tablespoon of white clay and 0.5 liters of water per 10 liters of mash)
3. Combine hot water with bentonite, then mix with a mixer or spoon until smooth.
4. Pour the resulting solution into the mash in a thin stream, mix and close.
5. After 24 hours, separate the mash from the sediment containing bentonite.
6. distill Braga

Important! It is forbidden to flush bentonite sediment down the toilet, as cement plugs may form in the sewer pipes.

Presence of fusel oils

Fusel oils are toxic substances and impurities formed during the fermentation process.

How to prevent it?

Proper double distillation with separation into fractions reduces the appearance of turbidity to a minimum. It is necessary to cut off in time the head fraction (the first 10–12% of absolute alcohol) and the tail fraction, which contains fusel oils. When the temperature in the cube reaches 95°C tail fractions begin to flow, stop sampling.

Hard water

If the moonshine becomes cloudy when diluted with water, then the problem is its poor quality. Water can contain a huge amount of salts and impurities, which precipitate after dilution.

How to prevent it?

Moonshine at home should be prepared exclusively with high quality water. This rule must be observed both during dilution and at the stage of setting the mash. The salt content should be minimal and not exceed 1 mEq/l. Diluting moonshine with tap and distilled water is prohibited. Highly hard water should be allowed to stand for 1–2 days.
If moonshine becomes cloudy when diluted, the problem may also be that this procedure was carried out incorrectly. Several conditions must be met:

• It is necessary to pour the distillate into water, and not vice versa
• When diluting moonshine, the temperature of both liquids should be the same and be in the range of 10–20°C.

Incorrect containers

We are talking about all containers used during the preparation and storage process. This includes a fermentation container, the moonshine still itself, and containers for collecting the alcoholic beverage and storing it.

How to prevent it?

Thoroughly clean containers at each stage of moonshine preparation. You should only store alcoholic beverages in glass jars or bottles. When interacting with alcohol, plastic containers can release toxic substances, and the moonshine will be unsuitable for drinking.

Imperfections of a moonshine still

We are talking about both shortcomings in the design and in the materials from which it is made. Poor quality materials from which the device is made may undergo an oxidation reaction. It occurs especially violently at high acidity of the mash. The moonshine still must be made of food grade stainless steel.

After oxidation of the copper parts of the apparatus, the distillate turns out not only cloudy, but also yellow; copper parts must be cleaned with citric acid before distillation. With such violations, opalescence of moonshine may not occur immediately, but only after several days.

How to prevent it?

There is only one piece of advice - you need to choose a high-quality moonshine still, having carefully studied all the details of its design.

Moonshine purification

To understand how to clean cloudy moonshine, you need to determine the cause of opalescence and eliminate its occurrence in the future. There is no need to pour out the cloudy distillate; it can be easily cleared of turbidity. Let's look in detail at how to make moonshine transparent and how to lighten it at home correctly, without spoiling the taste.

Cleaning methods:

• Re-distillation
• Heating
• Cooling
• Charcoal cleansing

Let's take a closer look at how to clean moonshine.

Re-distillation

Purifying moonshine using this method is very simple; distill cloudy moonshine again, dividing it into fractions, after diluting it with water to 20–30%

Heating

This is one of the simplest methods, which does not always give the desired transparency. It involves heating the distillate to 70°C and then rapidly cooling it. The precipitate that forms is easily filtered out.

Important! Heated moonshine is highly flammable.

Cooling

An aluminum pan with cloudy moonshine should be covered with a lid and placed in the freezer for 12–15 hours. During this period, fusel oils will freeze to the surface of the pan, and the alcohol will remain liquid, since it has a lower freezing point.

Charcoal cleansing

Let's figure out how to clean moonshine using coal. For these purposes, it is advisable to use BAU-A or BAU-K charcoal.
Cleaning technology:

1. Pour the coal into a clean container
2. Dilute the cloudy distillate with water to 40 degrees and pour it into a bowl with coal, observing the proportions - 25 grams of coal per 0.5 liter of moonshine
3. Seal the container hermetically and place it in a dark and cool place for 6 hours.
4. Drain the purified moonshine from the sediment by filtering it through cotton wool.

Making cloudy moonshine

To understand how to make cloudy moonshine, you don’t need to be an expert. There are several simple ways to opalescent an alcoholic drink, which can be done at home:

• Adding whey in a ratio of 5–15 ml per 500 ml of moonshine
• Adding milk powder in a ratio of 2–7 grams per 0.5 liter
• Adding a few drops of vegetable oil to 1 liter of alcohol.

The quality of the alcoholic beverage will not change when performing these methods.

Cloudy moonshine is not only a colorful product, it is also a low quality alcoholic drink. To figure out how to clear turbidity from moonshine, you must first understand the cause of opalescence and take measures to eliminate it.

People involved in home winemaking are often interested in the question of why moonshine becomes cloudy when diluted with water. Thanks to Soviet-era films, society has developed a stereotype that high-quality homemade moonshine should be a dull white shade. The Ukrainian vodka was presented in the same way.

In fact, a cloudy sediment formed in moonshine distilled on old equipment in artisanal conditions.

However, in Rus', nobles always sought to improve this popular drink, ridding it of unpleasant odor and sediment.

But Soviet filmmakers decided to show moonshine exactly as it was imagined by the peasant-working class. This is where the confusion started. High-quality moonshine should be transparent.

Causes of cloudiness

There may be several reasons why moonshine becomes cloudy.

Most often, moonshine becomes cloudy after diluting with water. The drink turns cloudy white immediately after adding water or after a few hours.

This reaction is explained by the fact that hard water contains various types of impurities, such as salts. Beginners in moonshine very often encounter this problem with ordinary tap water.

Cloudiness of moonshine when adding water means that the drink contains fusel oils

If the moonshine becomes cloudy before diluting with water, the reasons for the reaction may be as follows:

• the product contains a high content of fusel oils - toxic substances formed during the fermentation process;
• the moonshine still is made from low-quality materials, resulting in oxidation that affects the color of the product;
• The containers of the moonshine still or the containers containing the moonshine were poorly washed.

There is another most common cause of cloudiness - splashing.

If overheating and blocking of the mash occurs, the resulting foam enters the refrigerator (coil). A cloudy tint appears immediately upon release of the finished product.

If this happens, then you need to stop the entire process, clean the entire structure and reduce the heating in the future. The whitened alcohol can be poured into a common container and distilled again.

Cleaning methods

If, when diluting moonshine with water, the drink becomes cloudy, you should not be upset. You can use it in this form. But if you want to make the moonshine transparent, it can be cleaned in several ways.

The most effective of them is re-distillation. It is only necessary to find out the reason why the sediment formed, so as not to repeat the mistake again. Cloudy moonshine must be diluted with water to 20° and distilled (dilution is necessary to reduce the strength).

Add water to the cloudy moonshine and run it again

You can rid your drink of unpleasant sediment using charcoal cleaning. After the procedure, the drink must be filtered. Cleaning can be done using a modern Barrier filter. For better purification, it is recommended to pass the drink through the filter 2 - 3 times. There is another method for ridding moonshine of an unpleasant color.

A cloudy drink can be heated to 70 °C and then cooled sharply. This method is ineffective and is used only as a last resort.

The drink can be cleaned from fusel oils and other harmful impurities using regular soda. For 1 liter of liquid you need to take 15 g of baking soda and several crystals of potassium permanganate. All this needs to be added to the moonshine, mixed and left for 30 minutes. After cleaning, the drink must be filtered. If all proportions are observed, then this cleaning method is absolutely harmless to human health. For more information about the second distillation, see this video:

Cleansing can also be done with organic glue called Karluk. This substance must be diluted in ordinary water and brought to field consistency. Then add the mixture to the container with the drink and leave for 30 - 40 minutes.

This method is rarely used due to the fact that the cost of such glue is quite high.

However, the so-called gluing is one of the most reliable ways to get rid of fusel oils.

Creating a cloudy shade

In most cases, winemakers are aiming for unpleasant color and cloudy sediment. But it also happens that a transparent drink needs to be tinted milky.

Whey and milk powder will help create a milky shade of moonshine.

You can do this in several ways:

• use of whey 25 ml per 1 liter of moonshine;
• add milk powder to the moonshine - 15 g per 1 liter of drink (additional filtration will be required after coloring);
• stir 5 - 6 drops of sunflower oil into 1 liter of drink and mix well.

If the first method is chosen for coloring, then it is necessary to add whey to the moonshine, and not ordinary milk, which in combination with an alcoholic drink will curdle. It is better to color a few hours before intended use.

If you give the drink a milky tint and put it in storage, then after a while delamination will occur - the top will be clean, and an unpleasant sediment will appear at the bottom of the container.

Coffee can also add a pleasant flavor to your drink.

In order to give homemade moonshine a pleasant color, you can tint it with regular black or green tea, add a small amount of burnt sugar, or infuse the drink with pine nut shells. However, the milky color is also popular and does not always indicate the poor quality of the alcoholic drink.

A truly Russian drink - moonshine - in addition to the highest degree of strength among all other alcoholic drinks, has a rich history. This is not only one of the first alcoholic drinks, it is also a fairly popular drink that is made in various ways at home.

Despite the seemingly simplicity of the ingredients, preparing a truly high-quality product with your own hands is not easy. The most important thing in the moonshine preparation stage is careful adherence to the preparation technology, correct dosage and component composition.

Making moonshine is a technological process in which the drink goes through several stages of preparation, including:

• Arrangement of ingredients;
• Recipe mixing;
• Fermentation process;
• Distillation on a moonshine still;
• Cleansing;
• Adding aromatic, color and flavor ingredients.

All this should not happen hastily, but should be done carefully and carefully. Only in this case is a quality drink guaranteed. Otherwise, the raw material will not only have an unpleasant aroma, but also a bad taste and a cloudy color. It is precisely because of a careless attitude to the recipe and recommendations for making the drink, accelerating the fermentation time and subject to the exclusion of one of the preparation stages that a poor-quality result is obtained, which is why the moonshine is cloudy. So, for example, an unpleasant heavy odor is formed as a result of the use of overstayed mash, and cloudy drops at the outlet are observed as a result of boiling of the mash during distillation.

It is possible to obtain moonshine with a pleasant taste and color if you follow the recommendations for the preparation process. In addition, double distillation of the drink will make it possible not only to improve the taste, but also to transform the cloudy color.

Many beginners, resorting to making moonshine at home, receive a finished drink of a cloudy white color, which they are incredibly happy about, because this is exactly how this drink appears in their minds, films and other sources. In fact, this is not what you should strive for. Even those who are just embarking on the path of moonshine brewing can get a drink that is pure in color and pleasant in taste, using one of the methods for additional purification of moonshine.

Cleaning

In order to improve the color of moonshine, which will put an end to the stereotype that the drink is only cloudy and nothing else, potassium permanganate is added to the liquid. It is important not to overdo it with the amount of substance - a few grains on the tip of a knife are enough. In addition, moonshine should be diluted with water - about 100 ml - this is added to the previously prepared raw materials, which have a cloudy tint.

This dilution produces a slightly pinkish color. The drink takes approximately 2-3 days to brew. At this stage of cleaning, black flakes settle to the bottom. When they appear, it is important not to shake the container with raw materials when pouring, so that they do not fall into another container. The purified drink must be strained through a double layer of gauze at least twice.

Another cleaning method is to use activated carbon. It is optimal to clean the moonshine still before distillation begins, but it can also be carried out during the process itself. Activated carbon is a popular medicine that can be purchased at any pharmacy chain and even at a pet store, since it is also intended not only for restoring the digestive system, but also for cleaning aquariums and filters for them. This is not only an effective and popular drug, but also very affordable.

The cleaning process looks like this:

1. You need to put cotton wool in the funnel and cover it with a bandage or gauze.
2. Crush the coal and place it on the surface of the gauze.
3. Place a funnel under the dripping moonshine.

You can also clean raw materials in containers. It is necessary to crumble the coal in a proportion of 50 grams per 1 liter of moonshine and pour it into the container where the drink is located. Infuse the contents for two weeks. The mixture must be stirred periodically and, at the final stage, filtered through cotton wool or gauze.

Another alternative method is cleansing with pine nuts. This method is more financially expensive than the previous method, but it guarantees a high-quality result. In addition, effective cleaning from harmful impurities will improve and soften the taste. As for the amount of cleaning materials, a small handful of nuts is needed per liter of moonshine diluted with water. The shelled nuts are placed in the finished drink and infused for two weeks. The final stage is filtering the drink through cheesecloth. Nuts that have absorbed harmful substances, unpleasant odors and cloudy sediment from moonshine should be thrown away.

In addition to carbon and manganese purification, there is also a method using whole milk. This method allows you to not only improve the taste, but also the oils. Milk is added at the rate of 200 ml per 1 liter of moonshine. It is not surprising that, being a white drink, milk will immediately give a white, cloudy color when diluted. It would seem that what you want to rid the drink of, that’s what happens. But it is worth noting that within a few days the mixture will settle, white lumps of milk will settle to the bottom and the liquid will become transparent. In order not to capture unnecessary sediment, you need to carefully and slowly pour the settled moonshine into another container, and then strain.

As mentioned above, moonshine is not a drink that anyone in the village can make. Of course, this is the case, but still, if a person requires high-quality raw materials, then it is necessary to follow the instructions for preparing the drink, and also listen to the recommendations of home brewing professionals who are convinced that the turbidity of the drink is a poor quality raw material.

1. When distilling moonshine, it is important to maintain temperature conditions. The drink is poured into a container and gradually heated. Ethyl alcohol evaporates at a temperature of 80 degrees, with a maximum deviation of +/- 2 degrees. When it reaches 85 degrees, very harmful substances begin to evaporate - fusel oils, which not only affect the quality and taste, but also make the drink cloudy white. Actually, this is the mistake of many winemakers who achieve such a result. If you want the moonshine to be transparent, there is no need to rush to raise the temperature, you need to heat it slowly and stop the process of selecting drinking moonshine as soon as the temperature exceeds 80 degrees.
2. The result of a cloudy color can be the presence of a large amount of mash in the moonshine still. During the process of boiling and heating, the mash flows through hoses and tubes directly into a container intended for the final raw material - pure moonshine, while bypassing intermediate stages, and therefore the color may be cloudy.
3. Another option why moonshine becomes cloudy is through use. The problem of cloudy sediment can be eliminated by using professional equipment.
4. When diluted with water, especially when its amount exceeds the permissible limit specified in the recipe, moonshine may also become cloudy. It is important to add the amount recommended by the instructions, otherwise overdoing it with water may result in the fermentation of the drink producing cloudy bubbles on the surface at first. In addition, cloudiness of moonshine occurs when alcohol is diluted with boiled water. It is important to carry out the purification process using carbon or manganese filtration. In addition, moonshine diluted with water can be infused on birch bars, which will perfectly absorb fusel oils, neutralize the cloudy tint and give the drink a golden color.
5. Despite the fact that water is the source of the cloudy hue, it is water that is used to dilute moonshine, which has an unpleasant odor and color. The salt content in untreated water gives the drink turbidity, in turn, diluting the finished raw material to eliminate the unpleasant color with distilled or low-mineralized water will help solve this problem. True, in the case of distilled water, the taste may suffer, which winemakers call “empty.”
6. Cloudiness of the drink can be avoided during the preparation process, and not after it. So, for example, some moonshine experts recommend adding not water to alcohol, but alcohol to water. Those who have resorted to this method report the absence of a cloudy tint or the presence of a white but rich color of moonshine. In addition, this option also affects the strength; moonshine is obtained with a strength of at least 40 degrees.

By the way, the cloudy color of a drink does not always indicate low quality of the product or neglect of manufacturing technology. Many lovers of moonshine brew pure, transparent moonshine by adding birch sap, eggs or milk to it, bringing it to a special cloudy shade.

Today I would like to touch on a very discussed topic among distillers, namely, the reasons for the cloudiness of moonshine during distillation, dilution with water and storage. Thanks to domestic films, a stereotype has developed that real moonshine must be cloudy, or even better, milky white. This is what rural vodka was like two hundred years ago. Despite its attractive appearance, it was a terrible swill with a nasty smell. The peasants did not have normal apparatus; they distilled moonshine using primitive handicraft devices, taking the maximum product from the mash, hence the low quality. The nobles, on the contrary, constantly improved the technology and equipment of their distilleries, trying to obtain a crystal clear distillate of the highest possible strength. There were even competitions between estates and master distillers. After the revolution, the directors of Soviet films considered it right to show on the screen workers’ and peasants’ white moonshine of proletarian origin, and not the crystal clear “bourgeois” distillate. This tradition has been preserved by Russian filmmakers. Perhaps the reason is that cloudy moonshine looks more impressive, and the viewer is immediately clear what is in the bottle on the table. In any case, it's time to break this stereotype. In fact, good moonshine should be transparent. The appearance of turbidity indicates incorrect distillation technology or other problems. Why moonshine becomes cloudy: 1. Splash. The most common reason. When the heat is too high, the boiling mash foams almost like milk. The hot foam passes through the tube into the refrigerator (coil) and condenses along with the distillate. The dregs appear immediately. The distillation cube is closed and opaque, so it is impossible to know whether the mash is foaming at a particular point in time. If cloudy moonshine comes out of the still, you need to reduce the heat, finish the distillation (the distillate is cleaned later), disassemble and clean the entire structure. Preventive measures: fill the cube with mash to a maximum of 70% of the volume, leaving room for foam (required); monitor the heating intensity (depending on the apparatus), the correct temperature regime is determined experimentally after several distillations; install a steam trap (when foaming, splashes will fall into the jar and not into the coil); after each distillation, thoroughly wash the entire apparatus; Before distillation, drain the mash from the sediment and clean it, for example, with bentonite, so that fewer impurities remain that can cause foam. 2. The presence of fusel (essential) oils. Fusel and essential oils are toxic substances (more than 40 types) that are a by-product of fermentation. These substances have a higher or lower boiling point than ethyl alcohol, so most (but not all) can be removed from the distillate by fractional distillation (fractionation). Prevention: to prevent the moonshine from becoming cloudy, you need to cut off the top upper fraction and finish the distillation on time. Cleaning between distillations, such as with charcoal, also reduces the risk of haze. Usually, cloudiness begins after the strength in the stream drops below 40 degrees. 3. Poor materials in the moonshine still. Sometimes the cloudiness of moonshine is caused by oxidation of the material from which the apparatus body, coil, connecting tubes or other structural elements are made. It has been noticed that many problems arise due to low-quality silicone. Cloudiness may appear immediately or after some time. Prevention: make (buy) devices only from high-quality materials. Periodically check elements for oxidation and other defects. 4. Hard water. In this case, the moonshine becomes cloudy immediately or a couple of hours after diluting with water. The white color appears due to salts and other impurities contained in the water. The influence of water on the quality of moonshine is very significant and is often underestimated by beginners. Also, do not discount the high concentration of fusel and essential oils in poorly tasting moonshine (second point). Prevention: to dilute moonshine without clouding, you need to use only well-purified or bottled water with a minimum salt content. In this case, it is advisable to pour the distillate into water, and not vice versa. The recommended temperature of both liquids before mixing is 7-10°C. 5. Unsuitable or poorly washed containers. If you store strong alcohol in plastic bottles, after some time the alcohol will react with the plastic, then the drink will become cloudy. This will release other toxic substances. There is special plastic for alcohol, but it is rarely found at home. If moonshine becomes cloudy when stored in glass containers, they may have been poorly washed. Prevention: store moonshine only in glass containers that are well washed and wiped dry.

Who hasn’t seen in old movies the main attribute of a village holiday - a huge, ten-liter bottle, in which whitish, cloudy moonshine, as if stained with milk, splashes appetizingly. In the unanimous opinion of Soviet directors, “vodka from the farm” should look exactly like this. Although in reality, if the technologies of fermentation, distillation and purification are followed, the resulting alcohol is clear, like a tear. If for some reason you do not get pure moonshine, you can successfully fight this.

Why does cloudiness occur?

Before you take specific steps, you need to understand why moonshine is cloudy. Most often, the reason for this is suspension - very small particles, which, due to their insignificant mass, settle extremely slowly. Such alcohol can be clarified by simple settling, but how long this will take - a couple of days or several weeks - is unknown.

The situation is worse if some extended or reversible chemical or biochemical reaction is constantly taking place in the finished moonshine. Then it is useless to simply defend the product - it will remain opaque for a very long time. Most often, this result is obtained if the fermentation was not only yeast, but also fermented milk. You can get rid of turbidity by chemical purification, filtration and subsequent distillation.

We check compliance with technologies

The surest way to make homemade alcohol cloudy is to use dirty dishes for fermentation. In this case, the most unexpected biochemical processes will take place in the wort, and the output may be extremely difficult to purify by both filtration and settling.

If, during the rectification process, moonshine is distilled too quickly and at a high temperature, too many harmful impurities will get into even the central fraction - the “body”. They will almost 100% give a cloudy tint, and in some cases - a visible suspension. The same effect - cloudiness of moonshine - can be expected if the “heads” or “tails” are not cut off or cut off too weakly.

Both mash and moonshine can become cloudy if you dilute them with unsettled water. It may contain non-metallic salts, which will give a whitish tint. By the way, if you dilute ready-made and completely pure moonshine with mineral water, you can also get the same result.

Cleaning alcohol from turbidity

If after the first distillation, despite full compliance with the preparation technology, you end up with cloudy moonshine, then it’s not a problem. It can be cleaned with one or more. And after the second stage of distillation and one or two more stages of purification, you will receive the necessary purity from impurities and clarity of alcohol. We offer the following methods:

1. Activated or simple birch. An excellent way to filter moonshine from chemical impurities and suspended particles.
2. Vegetable oils. You need to add a small amount - no more than 20 grams per liter, stir well, let it sit for a day. The film will rise up, after which the purified alcohol can be drained from the bottom through a straw.
3. considered a classic. True, the process of coagulation of casein - milk protein - will take quite a long time. It will take some more time, perhaps two days, to settle. After this, the flakes still need to be removed and filtered through a fine filter.
4. Just 10 grams of soda for every liter of moonshine with a strength of 40° will help clean it of turbidity and harmful impurities. The settling will take 12 hours, after which it is necessary to thoroughly filter the drink and re-distill it.

Let's stir up colorful moonshine

The goal of any home distiller is to obtain not only a high-quality, but also a visually beautiful product. It is optimal for the moonshine to be transparent, but there are lovers of rustic flavor who want to serve “natural vodka” of a milky white color. How to ensure that homemade alcohol meets these requirements and does not contain harmful impurities? There are several ways.

1. Add whey to the moonshine. Unlike milk, which curdles and binds harmful impurities into protein compounds, whey practically does not react with alcohol. It does not settle and gives the drink that very picture milky haze.

2. Make a weak solution or simply pour dry milk into the finished purified product. This additive does not curdle, and the alcohol instantly becomes cloudy. True, such moonshine will settle over time, but this will not happen very soon.

3. A few drops of oil per liter of alcohol will also add color to our drink. You need to shake it well, then you will get whitish moonshine that will not settle for a long time.

4. You can add clarified grain mash, including rice, to the moonshine. The final drink will sit for a very long time; in some cases, the dregs will not settle for several months.

Moonshine color games

Both lovers of authentic cloudy moonshine and connoisseurs of crystal clear homemade alcohol will be able to experiment to their heart's content. After all, color and purity depend on adherence to technology, the raw materials used, the number of distillation stages, the type of distillation apparatus, the cleanliness of the dishes and many other factors. Perhaps you can make a beautiful milk drink or get all the flavors of Curacao at home. Create unique recipes and be sure to share your experience.