Recipe for yeast-free moonshine. Wheat mash recipe for moonshine without yeast

Braga from wheat without yeast for moonshine is not without reason popular as the basis for the preparation of alcoholic beverages, because without artificial activation of the fermentation of the wort at the exit, brewers get a natural and high-quality product. The distillate from wheat raw materials is pure, which means that alcohol will not contain harmful substances, but it will have excellent taste, an elusive smell of bread and a mild taste - this is confirmed by centuries of practice.

The only downside to this brewing option is that it takes more time and effort, whereas by simply adding sugar and yeast to the wort, you will get a strong drink faster and easier. But it will be of lower quality, with a sharp unpleasant smell of yeast, not grain. The essence of yeast-free preparation is that ingredients are added to the wort, which themselves secrete fermentation products.

Braga on wheat without yeast can be delivered in many ways. Consider what ingredients for moonshine you may need.

The first step is choosing the right raw material. Wheat should be of the highest quality for threshing and fodder, and better for food purposes. Care must be taken to ensure that the grain has not been treated with any chemicals, such as pesticides. One way to verify the presence of chemicals yourself is to soak a handful of grain in hot water and sniff it: if you smell a characteristic unpleasant smell from wheat, then it will not be suitable as a raw material for moonshine.

To prepare mash, wheat will need to be germinated, and this also imposes some restrictions: it must be clean and dried, harvested no more than a year and no less than 2 months ago. If you still take wheat from a freshly harvested crop, it can be prepared by drying in the sun, a radiator or in an oven. The temperature in this case should not exceed +30 ... +40 ° С and be constant.

When choosing between spring and winter wheat, give preference to spring wheat - winter wheat will germinate longer.

Sift the wheat first: remove defective (rotten or moldy) grains, clean the husks and debris - all this will give a bad taste to alcohol at the end. There is no need to wash the wheat: there are “wild yeasts” on its surface, which will replace the usual dry ones and ensure fermentation.

Soak

Then the wheat must be divided into two parts, observing the proportions 1:4. A smaller part will go to the production of sourdough. Soaked and germinated wheat has substances that can break down starch into its constituent parts - glucose and maltose (malt sugar). It is these substances that yeast cultures process to isolate alcohol.

Therefore, most of the wheat will be required at the stage of preparing the mash to provide starch. It will just need to be placed in a fermentation container.

1. The part selected for sourdough must first be soaked.
2. To do this, it is covered with a thin even layer (2 cm) in a wide container with low walls - metal, glass or plastic.
3. Then pour warm water in large quantities - 3-5 cm above the grain level.
4. Use soft water - minerals and salts adversely affect the activity of enzymes.
5. If you use tap water, stand it for more than a day, then drain without sediment into another bowl.

But in no case do not boil - this way you will lose the oxygen necessary for the fermentation of alcohol. Also, chlorinated water is not suitable due to the presence of impurities.

After that, the container is left warm for no more than a day, depending on the volume. The grain needs to be ted from time to time, and in the summer it is also necessary to change the water 2 times a day. After time, the grains will swell, become soft, they can be easily pierced. If such a grain is broken, then the juice on the break will be transparent - this is an indicator that you did everything right. If it is white, you have overexposed the grain.

Germination

Drain the water completely. To do this, they usually use another similar pallet or basin with small holes in the bottom so that the water leaves better. After that, let the wheat "breathe" - leave for 6-8 hours in a pan without water. Every 2 hours, stir the grain with your hands - this is necessary to saturate it with oxygen.

1. After that, the wheat is covered with wet gauze or transparent glass.
2. Raw materials for sourdough must be turned over and stirred several times a day to get rid of the released carbon dioxide, otherwise it will “sour” due to the “sweating” of the grain - an increase in temperature.
3. If you use boxes with a mesh bottom, then you can “toss and turn” less often. Wheat and gauze should be sprinkled with water several times a day, but make sure that moisture does not accumulate at the bottom.

Although the germination process itself is simple, wheat can often behave quite unpredictably - this depends both on its quality and on the temperature and humidity of the air.

On average, germination can take from 5 to 10 days.. As a result, roots 1-2 cm long and thin white sprouts 7-8 mm long will appear from the grains, which will intertwine with each other - do not unwind them, remove the wheat as is.

The grains themselves should be crunchy and have a powdery taste when biting. There will be a pleasant smell. If this did not happen, the wheat rotted. If you did everything right, you will get green malt. It remains viable for 3 days, so it can be dried for further use.

dry malt

To get dry malt, after germination, you need to send the grain to dry. Before that, you can soak it for half an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection. Don't worry about the taste though.

The malt is dried at a constant temperature of +40 °C. Ideally, this should be done in a ventilated area and with heat guns, but at home, you can use a battery, open oven and microwave, or just leave it in the sun.

Zabrod cooking

There is also such a method as using zabrod for sourdough: sugar is added here not during the direct preparation of the mash, but immediately into the germinated wheat.

1. Soak the wheat, and germinate it in more water so that its surface is 1-2 cm from the level of the grain.
2. A day after they laid it out in a pallet and covered it with gauze, sprinkle a layer of sugar on top to activate the wild yeast.
3. This usually requires 0.5 kg, and keep in mind that in this case, the amount of sugar, like water, will need to be subtracted from the amount of ingredients that are needed directly during the preparation of the mash.

You will receive the finished sourdough in 7 days or even earlier.

Wheat mash with sugar

Let's move on to cooking mash in the simplest way - with the addition of sugar. The usual proportion of ingredients for the preparation of mash: approximately 1 kg of sugar per 1 kg of wheat, 3.5 liters of water per 1 kg of sugar.

Fast way

There is an easier and faster method that will take no more than 4 days.

1. Take dry malt and grind into flour.
2. Grind wheat into flour.
3. Mix flour with sugar.
4. Fill with water, follow the same proportions as in the recipe above.
5. Stir so that there are no lumps left. They should already be less due to the fact that you add water after sugar.
6. After 4 days, the mash can be sent to moonshine.

Sugarless

You can put the mash not only without yeast, but also without sugar. Sugar is food for microorganisms that release ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide (which is why active fermentation produces such a large amount of bubbling foam). Since malt sugar is found in the wheat starch itself, fermentation can be carried out without sugar at all, although this will reduce the amount of product released and worsen the taste.

The grain used in this recipe should not be processed. There are cases when wheat of the highest grade turned sour (due to the fact that the grain, apparently, was processed with something), and fodder wheat fermented perfectly. It is possible to wash the grain, but without chemicals such as potassium permanganate, etc.

Fermentation of wild yeast.

For a container of 25 liters, for confusion, you need to take 5 kg of grain, 1 kg of sugar or glucose, ~ 5 liters of water. The amount of water may vary depending on the container, the main thing is that it covers the wheat by 1-2 cm.
If you didn’t calculate, after a day the wheat swelled and absorbed all the water - add water in such a way that it again covers the grain by 1-2 cm.
The confusion stands without a water seal, with air access, at room temperature (22 ... 26 ° C) for 3-5 days.
Some put it with a water seal, and still get fermentation, but this option is more risky.

In addition to wheat, you can also use rye and barley, as a single-grain bill, and in various proportions.
There are no usage data for other cereals.

Main fermentation.

On the 3rd-5th day, when there are clear signs of fermentation (carbon dioxide release), the main syrup is poured ~ 14 liters of water and 4 kg of sugar or glucose (at the rate of 3.5-5 liters of water per 1 kg of sugar or 1.1 kg of glucose).
You can boil the syrup and cool to room temperature, you can not cook, but it is necessary to cool or warm to room temperature.
A water seal is highly recommended.
Stirring - 1-2 times a day (optional).
Fermentation lasts from 5 days to a month, for everyone in different ways, and depends on the quality of grain, water, air temperature and the political situation in Nicaragua. At the end of fermentation, the wheat should settle.
After 1-2 weeks, when the wheat (with the main fermentation rising to the top) settles down (not all, but most of it), you can drive.

Organoleptic test: the taste changes gradually from sweet to sweet and sour, then to bitter.
When sugar ceases to be felt at all, it means that there is nothing more to wander.

Drain of mash.

It is necessary to drain into the mash tank only mash, without wheat. The easiest way to do this is with a hose.
Put a metal washcloth or mesh on one end of the hose, in the form of a filter, so that the grain does not pass. Lower this end into the mash, take the other end of the hose, sorry, into your mouth, conduct a final organoleptic test and, under the influence of simple laws of hydrodynamics, drain the mash into a cube.
Fill the cube no higher than three quarters!
You can also drain by tilting the barrel and substituting a colander, then throw the grain back from it.
But the drain is not dry, the cloudy yeast sediment should remain, it will still come in handy.
On the grain remaining after draining the mash, you can put the mash up to 3 more times, and usually 2 and 3 times are displayed faster.
Water and sugar - as in proportion to the first syrup. Fermentation times may vary.

Braga distillation.

Distillation is normal, or fractional. More about fractional distillation:
We bring to a boil and select at full speed without being distracted by heads and tails, until the jet weakens, and the output strength is very low (as greed allows), it is possible even to the water.
The result of the first distillation is diluted to 20%
We select on a low fire heads- 50 ml for each kg of sugar.
Add fire and take away body up to 40% in the jet (check by ignition, or scent),
We change the receiving container more often, and as soon as we don’t like the smell or start to ignite with difficulty, we take it to the side, this tails all that after 40% or after 96 ° C of the outgoing steam or by the smell of fusel
The strength of moonshine can be determined by soaking a piece of paper with a trickle from the apparatus and set on fire. As soon as it ceased to light up, it means that the fortress fell below 40% and what flows from the apparatus is already a tail.
It is best to periodically taste the product for taste / smell and when it starts to stink of fuselage, it means the tail has gone.
We set the tails aside until the next distillation of the mash, it will be possible to add to the cube before distillation.

I see no point in rectifying, because the end product is notable for some grainy softness and pleasant organoleptics, besides, the yield is usually somewhat less than with cultural alcohol yeast.

Attention: this is NOT grain moonshine, since grain carbohydrates are not fermented, but remain in the grain in the form of non-fermentable starch. This is ordinary moonshine made from sugar (or glucose), fermented with wild yeast.

Finally.

Improved organoleptics are explained by milder wild yeast (compared to alcohol or bakery yeast usually used on sugar mashes), participation in the process of aromatic in-in grains, and a certain amount of lactic acid fermentation, which goes in parallel with alcohol (due to which, in fact, the yield can be somewhat smaller).

Let's face it: using wild yeast is somewhat akin to an uncontrolled nuclear reaction. Those. there is a risk of souring. But all grain brews have this risk, even when using cultural yeasts. Fruit and berry, by the way, also suffer from this, otherwise we would never know what vinegar is. In general, with souring the same way as with a computer. If a person says that his computer has never failed, then either he does not have a computer, or he just bought it, and everything is still ahead. It’s the same with souring - if a moonshiner has never turned sour, it’s only from lack of experience.
To minimize the risk of souring, it is recommended to use a water seal during fermentation and keep the temperature comfortable for the yeast at 22-26°C.

Everyone who has tried this recipe notes an improved organoleptic quality compared to sugar mash with baker's yeast. There were even cases of drinking mash even BEFORE the transfer.
All criticism of this recipe came, as a rule, from people who have not tried this recipe themselves. Moreover, there were no meaningful remarks, and the discussion was reduced to srach and replicas like "the fool himself."

In the development of the topic, an invaluable contribution was made by: BIGADADDY, Pharmacist, Gornyak, Mikhail B., garlic and others.

Braga from wheat without yeast for moonshine is not without reason popular as the basis for the preparation of alcoholic beverages, because without artificial activation of the fermentation of the wort at the exit, brewers get a natural and high-quality product. The distillate from wheat raw materials is pure, which means that alcohol will not contain harmful substances, but it will have excellent taste, an elusive smell of bread and a mild taste - this is confirmed by centuries of practice.

The only downside to this brewing option is that it takes more time and effort, whereas by simply adding sugar and yeast to the wort, you will get a strong drink faster and easier. But it will be of lower quality, with a sharp unpleasant smell of yeast, not grain. The essence of yeast-free preparation is that ingredients are added to the wort, which themselves secrete fermentation products.

Braga on wheat without yeast can be delivered in many ways. Consider what ingredients for moonshine you may need.

The first step is choosing the right raw material. Wheat should be of the highest quality for threshing and fodder, and better for food purposes. Care must be taken to ensure that the grain has not been treated with any chemicals, such as pesticides. One way to verify the presence of chemicals yourself is to soak a handful of grain in hot water and sniff it: if you smell a characteristic unpleasant smell from wheat, then it will not be suitable as a raw material for moonshine.

To prepare mash, wheat will need to be germinated, and this also imposes some restrictions: it must be clean and dried, harvested no more than a year and no less than 2 months ago. If you still take wheat from a freshly harvested crop, it can be prepared by drying in the sun, a radiator or in an oven. The temperature in this case should not exceed +30 ... +40 ° С and be constant.

When choosing between spring and winter wheat, give preference to spring wheat - winter wheat will germinate longer.

Sift the wheat first: remove defective (rotten or moldy) grains, clean the husks and debris - all this will give a bad taste to alcohol at the end. There is no need to wash the wheat: there are “wild yeasts” on its surface, which will replace the usual dry ones and ensure fermentation.

Soak

Then the wheat must be divided into two parts, observing the proportions 1:4. A smaller part will go to the production of sourdough. Soaked and germinated wheat has substances that can break down starch into its constituent parts - glucose and maltose (malt sugar). It is these substances that yeast cultures process to isolate alcohol.

Therefore, most of the wheat will be required at the stage of preparing the mash to provide starch. It will just need to be placed in a fermentation container.

1. The part selected for sourdough must first be soaked.
2. To do this, it is covered with a thin even layer (2 cm) in a wide container with low walls - metal, glass or plastic.
3. Then pour warm water in large quantities - 3-5 cm above the grain level.
4. Use soft water - minerals and salts adversely affect the activity of enzymes.
5. If you use tap water, stand it for more than a day, then drain without sediment into another bowl.

But in no case do not boil - this way you will lose the oxygen necessary for the fermentation of alcohol. Also, chlorinated water is not suitable due to the presence of impurities.

After that, the container is left warm for no more than a day, depending on the volume. The grain needs to be ted from time to time, and in the summer it is also necessary to change the water 2 times a day. After time, the grains will swell, become soft, they can be easily pierced. If such a grain is broken, then the juice on the break will be transparent - this is an indicator that you did everything right. If it is white, you have overexposed the grain.

Germination

Drain the water completely. To do this, they usually use another similar pallet or basin with small holes in the bottom so that the water leaves better. After that, let the wheat "breathe" - leave for 6-8 hours in a pan without water. Every 2 hours, stir the grain with your hands - this is necessary to saturate it with oxygen.

1. After that, the wheat is covered with wet gauze or transparent glass.
2. Raw materials for sourdough must be turned over and stirred several times a day to get rid of the released carbon dioxide, otherwise it will “sour” due to the “sweating” of the grain - an increase in temperature.
3. If you use boxes with a mesh bottom, then you can “toss and turn” less often. Wheat and gauze should be sprinkled with water several times a day, but make sure that moisture does not accumulate at the bottom.

Although the germination process itself is simple, wheat can often behave quite unpredictably - this depends both on its quality and on the temperature and humidity of the air.

On average, germination can take from 5 to 10 days.. As a result, roots 1-2 cm long and thin white sprouts 7-8 mm long will appear from the grains, which will intertwine with each other - do not unwind them, remove the wheat as is.

The grains themselves should be crunchy and have a powdery taste when biting. There will be a pleasant smell. If this did not happen, the wheat rotted. If you did everything right, you will get green malt. It remains viable for 3 days, so it can be dried for further use.

dry malt

To get dry malt, after germination, you need to send the grain to dry. Before that, you can soak it for half an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection. Don't worry about the taste though.

The malt is dried at a constant temperature of +40 °C. Ideally, this should be done in a ventilated area and with heat guns, but at home, you can use a battery, open oven and microwave, or just leave it in the sun.

Zabrod cooking

There is also such a method as using zabrod for sourdough: sugar is added here not during the direct preparation of the mash, but immediately into the germinated wheat.

1. Soak the wheat, and germinate it in more water so that its surface is 1-2 cm from the level of the grain.
2. A day after they laid it out in a pallet and covered it with gauze, sprinkle a layer of sugar on top to activate the wild yeast.
3. This usually requires 0.5 kg, and keep in mind that in this case, the amount of sugar, like water, will need to be subtracted from the amount of ingredients that are needed directly during the preparation of the mash.

You will receive the finished sourdough in 7 days or even earlier.

Wheat mash with sugar

Let's move on to cooking mash in the simplest way - with the addition of sugar. The usual proportion of ingredients for the preparation of mash: approximately 1 kg of sugar per 1 kg of wheat, 3.5 liters of water per 1 kg of sugar.

Fast way

There is an easier and faster method that will take no more than 4 days.

1. Take dry malt and grind into flour.
2. Grind wheat into flour.
3. Mix flour with sugar.
4. Fill with water, follow the same proportions as in the recipe above.
5. Stir so that there are no lumps left. They should already be less due to the fact that you add water after sugar.
6. After 4 days, the mash can be sent to moonshine.

Sugarless

You can put the mash not only without yeast, but also without sugar. Sugar is food for microorganisms that release ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide (which is why active fermentation produces such a large amount of bubbling foam). Since malt sugar is found in the wheat starch itself, fermentation can be carried out without sugar at all, although this will reduce the amount of product released and worsen the taste.

Universal preparation of mash includes a mixture of sugar, yeast and water. If the sugar in the mash can be replaced with any products containing it, such as berries, honey, stale bread, then it is very problematic to replace the yeast. But in the yard of the 21st century and people have learned how to make this drink without adding yeast. And what ingredients can replace this integral component, you will find out by reading this article to the end.

Navigation

What can replace yeast in Braga?

All recipes that do not contain such a component as yeast involve replacing them with other products. Such products include spoiled fruits or berries, old millet, candied honey. These products contain peculiar mushrooms, which, in a favorable environment for them, give the effect of fermentation. Thus, the addition of yeast is not necessary to prepare the mash.

Many mash lovers claim that wort made by replacing natural yeast has a lot of advantages. It has a more pleasant taste, is easier to drink and does not have a peculiar unpleasant odor.

For the manufacture of mash, the following components are used: wheat, berries and fruits, rice, jam, vegetables, sweets. You can also use legumes.

If you use wheat for mash, then it should be perfectly clean, without debris. And another very important fact is that more than two months have passed since the wheat was threshed. Fresh wheat is very difficult to ferment.

If fruits or berries are used to prepare the wort for mash, then it is very important to put them into the business unwashed. This will improve the fermentation process. And one more very important fact, if you use honey or jam to prepare the wort, then they must be heavily candied.

According to tradition, Jews always use raisin mash on the Easter holiday. For this drink, raisins are harvested on their own. Purchased raisins will not work. This drink requires homemade large grapes. The grapes are dried naturally.

• 2 kilograms of raisins, it needs to be washed;
• water 10 liters;
• one hundred grams of sugar.

Cooking process:

1. First you need to start the fermentation effect. To do this, pour two hundred grams of raisins into a three-liter jar, half a liter of warm water for about forty degrees and one hundred grams of sugar. Shake the contents of the jar well and leave in a warm place for three hours.
2. Next, you need to get the swollen berries out of the jar and grind them in a blender or scroll through a meat grinder. Then put the resulting mixture back into the jar. Then you need to close the jar and put in a warm place for three days. If foam appears in the jar, then we have successfully launched the fermentation effect.
3. Pour the remaining mass of whole berries with water for three hours until completely swollen. Then chop them and put them in a container for mash. Then we transfer our fermented wort to this container and add water. We put on a rubber glove on the neck of the container and pierce a finger on it. Then the container must be placed in a warm place at a temperature of 27 degrees.
4. It is necessary to insist the mash for at least three weeks. The brew is considered ready when the glove falls and the drink becomes light. Sediment should remain at the bottom. This brew tastes like wine.

The recipe for this mash is very simple, even a beginner can handle it. This is an economy class variant of mash. Braga according to this recipe is prepared very quickly. In just three days, you will receive an excellent brew.

To prepare the mash you will need:

• one and a half kilograms of peeled peas;
• two kilograms of sugar;
• eighteen liters of water.

Cooking process:

1. It is necessary to pour half a kilogram of peas into a large saucepan and pour two liters of hot water into it. Then we leave the peas in a warm place for twelve hours, until it swells completely.
2. Take a clean saucepan, pour four liters of water into it and add all the sugar. Prepare syrup over low heat.
3. Pour the syrup into the container for the mash and add the swollen and the rest of the peas. Then you need to pour in the remaining water and put on a rubber glove on the neck. Make a hole in the finger of the glove. Shake the container well.
4. As the glove falls, then the mash is ready. With this recipe, this usually happens after three days.

To make a mash according to this recipe, you can take any mountain ash. According to this recipe, a deliciously delicious mash is obtained. In order to avoid the addition of yeast, it is recommended to supplement with two hundred grams of unwashed raisins or grapes.

To prepare the mash you will need:

• five kilograms of mountain ash;
• five kilograms of sugar for red rowan;
• three kilograms for chokeberry;
• ten liters of water;
• two hundred grams of fresh unwashed grapes or raisins;

Cooking process:

1. First you need to thoroughly mash the mountain ash so that it starts up the juice.
2. Then we shift the resulting slurry into a container for fermentation and add a handful of grapes or raisins. We fall asleep sugar and add water. We clean the jar in a warm place for three days.
3. Then we put a rubber glove on the container, first we pierce a finger on it. Shake the container well and put it in a warm place for three weeks.

Recipe for making watermelon mash

Watermelon is ideal for making mash. For this recipe, it is necessary to prepare a fermentation activator from grapes or raisins in advance, since watermelon pulp does not have fungi. You already know the recipe for making a fermentation activator. When the fermentation activator is ready, you can start preparing watermelon mash.

To prepare the mash you will need:

• thirty kilograms of watermelon pulp;
• three kilograms of sugar;
• ready-made fermentation activator from grapes or raisins.

Cooking process:

1. We select ripe pulp from the watermelon, mix it with a mixer.
2. It is necessary to grind the resulting mass through a sieve to remove the bones.
3. Then add the grated pulp to the container for the mash, fill it with water and add the fermentation activator. We put a rubber glove on the neck of the container and pierce a finger in it. We clean in a warm place for about two weeks. Braga is considered ready at the moment when the glove falls.

Apples are very often used to make mash. This is a very economical component. And the mash from them turns out very tasty.

To prepare the mash you will need:

• one and a half kilograms of sugar;
• ten kilograms of apples;
• 7 liters of water;
• a handful of raisins.

Cooking process:

1. First, you need to remove the core from the apples, and then cut into small slices. These slices must be crushed in a blender.
2. Prepare a container for fermentation and add the resulting mixture to it. Next, you need to pour water into the tour and add sugar. Still need to add raisins. Close the container with a lid and shake well. Put the container in a warm place.
3. It is necessary to shake the container well again in a day. We put on a rubber glove on the neck of the container, in which we pierce the finger in advance. Then we put the container in a warm place. The mash is considered ready when the glove falls.

Since ancient times, wheat mash without yeast has been known: for moonshine, it is considered the best, traditional raw material. It was far from always possible to buy a briquette of cultivated fungi. Even the dough of the hostess was made on sourdough from rye flour, and to prepare a large amount of intoxicating drink, it was necessary to find other sources of fermentation.

Why does grain mash ferment without yeast?

In fact, there is yeast in this mash. Winemakers do not bring them in on purpose, like pressed or dried mushrooms. Wild forms of yeast, like many microorganisms, are literally everywhere. There are especially a lot of them on the skin of sweet fruits and berries: everyone knows how easily the fruit pulp begins to ferment. The peculiarity of wild yeast was used by our ancestors in all processes associated with fermentation.

But the amount of yeast on dry grain is so negligible that it would not be enough to start the fermentation process. But winemakers know that it “comes to life” literally a day after it has been placed. The point is the preparation of raw materials, that is, wheat grains. In the process of germinating them in a humid environment and in warmth, the fungi living on the surface of the grain begin to actively multiply and grow. The process is facilitated by the saccharification of starch in the germinating grain. By the time the malt is ready (after 2-4 days), it already contains a significant amount of real yeast.

To enhance the fermentation abilities of malt in the old days, they made sourdough from sprouted grain and sugar. With a large amount of nutrient, the growth of yeast fungi increased, and they multiplied very quickly. For 7-10 days, during which the starter was prepared, their number became sufficient to cause rapid fermentation and rapid maturation of tens of liters of must.

How to make grain mash without yeast?

Before making mash from wheat, you need to prepare the malt base. It is made from germinated grain. When choosing raw materials, first of all, you need to pay attention to the quality of wheat: it must be free of mold and foreign smell. It is advisable to take not fodder grain, in which the percentage of small, dry and unsuitable for germination seeds is very high, but pure, selected wheat for food purposes.
It is distinguished by large, round grains of light brown color, practically does not have foreign inclusions, crushed seeds and litter (Fig. 1). If in doubt about the quality of the purchased grain, you can take a small amount of it and try to germinate it by wetting it with water. Good wheat hatches in 2-3 days, unsuitable for the same period will be covered with fluffy mold or acquire an unpleasant sour smell without forming sprouts.

Starter preparation

According to the traditional recipe for wheat mash without yeast, a malt base or sourdough is needed, which will start the process of turning sugar into alcohol. Having chosen the right grain, you can start the process of making malt:

1. Place 1 kg of wheat in a saucepan or other container of sufficient volume. Pour the grain with water so that the specks float to the surface. Drain liquid along with debris. Rinse the grain several times until the water runs clear. Pour the last portion, not trying to remove the moisture completely.
2. Pour the grain with the remaining liquid into a wide shallow container (tray, box, frying pan). Cover the dish with a damp cloth and place in a warm place with a temperature not exceeding +30 °C.
3. After 10-12 hours, lightly stir the wheat, mixing the top and bottom layers. If necessary, sprinkle the grain with warm water and moisten the cloth. Repeat mixing every 10-12 hours.
4. After 1 day, thin roots will appear on the grains. From this point on, it is better not to mix the grain, but periodically moisten the top layer. On days 2-3, the roots will intertwine, forming a fairly strong “mat”, and thick white sprouts 1-2 mm long will be visible on the grains (Fig. 2).
5. Add 0.5 kg of granulated sugar to the container, scattering it over the surface, pour in a little warm boiled water so that it barely covers the grains. Can be mixed to break up lumps. Close the container with clean gauze, put it back in heat for 7-10 days. The mixture will ferment slowly, take on a characteristic odor, and will foam slightly. This leaven is already ready for further use.

It is not recommended to overexpose the wheat germ malt base, as the sugar content in the mixture drops very quickly with the rapid growth of yeast. Left without food, the colony of fungi will reduce activity. The preparation of the mash should begin when the malt mixture begins to show signs of active fermentation: foam, release gas bubbles when stirred.

We put the brew on sourdough

The amount of sourdough obtained from 1 kg of wheat will require 30 liters of water. It must first be boiled and cooled to a temperature of + 25 ... + 30 ° C. Pick up the bottle in such a way that there is room for the foam to rise during fermentation. Place the finished sourdough in this container, pour all the water and add:

1. dry wheat, good quality - 3 kg;
2. granulated sugar - 3.5 kg.

Close the neck of the bottle with a stopper with a water seal or make a stopper from a glove. To do this, put a medical rubber glove on the bottle, tie it tightly around the neck and pierce a hole in one of the fingers with a needle.

Move the bottle to a warm (+ 20 ... + 25 ° C) room and leave it alone for 10-20 days. Fermentation activity will depend on many factors, it may decrease with decreasing temperature, so you need to determine the readiness of the mash by the following signs:

• gas bubbles cease to be released from the water seal;
• if a cork from a glove is put on, then the rubber “hand” that has stood upright all the time is blown away and hangs;
• in a transparent bottle, it can be seen that the liquid becomes more transparent from a cloudy one, and individual grains do not float up.

If the mash on wheat without yeast is in an aluminum flask, where there is neither a glove nor a water seal, the liquid inside is not visible, then you can determine readiness by ear by putting your ear to the flask: ringing crackles are heard during fermentation. In the finished mash, the ringing stops, because the bubbles no longer stand out. Its taste changes: the sweetish liquid becomes tart, acquires a noticeable bitterness and is slightly intoxicating.

At this time, the mash can already be distilled. Using a thin hose, it must be drained from the sediment so that the grains are not captured by the liquid flow. Pass the raw material through a gauze filter and distill in the usual way.

The wheat and sediment remaining in the container should not be poured out: by pouring 4 kg of sugar into the bottle and adding 30 liters of water, you can get a new good quality mash, and then repeat the process again. After the third infusion, the sediment can already be thrown away. From 1 kg of malt sourdough, you can get up to 90 liters of raw materials for moonshine.

Quick ways to cook mash

If there is no time to wait a long time for the sourdough to ripen and the mash to insist on it, then you can use another recipe. The speed of preparation is due to a large number of germinated seeds and a higher sugar content in the wort. This allows you to get the source material for distillation within about 1 week.

For such a mash you will need:

1. 5-6 kg of dry, high-quality wheat for sprouting;
2. 6.5–7 kg of sugar;
3. 30 liters of water.

Rinse the wheat and spread all of its quantity at once into sprouting containers. Carry out the care of the material as indicated in the previous recipe: mix, monitor the moisture content of the grain for 2–3 days. Pour the finished malt into a bottle or flask, pour all the sugar there and pour boiled warm water.

In a warm place with a temperature of about +25 ° C, such a brew will ferment for 3-5 days. The signs of its readiness are the same as those of traditional Russian grain mash. The sediment can be used 1 more time, but the fermentation time will increase to 7-10 days, and the quality will be slightly lower. The distillation of raw materials is carried out according to the classical scheme on any apparatus.

Braga on dry malt

In order not to waste time on germinating the grain every time, you can prepare dry malt and use it if necessary, quickly put the mash and drive out the homemade alcoholic drink. To make quality malt, you need to choose good food wheat. Germination occurs according to the general rules described above.

You should not overexpose the sprouted grain too much: the content of enzymes and yeast is highest at the moment when the sprouts have not yet begun to turn green. Their length usually reaches 1-3 mm. Sprouted grain should be dried in a warm oven, in a dryer at a temperature of about +50 ° C or in the summer in the sun. The malt must be completely dry to the touch, otherwise it can become moldy and go bad. Grind the dried sprouted grain in a coffee grinder or in another accessible way. It is best to store it in a linen bag, in a dry and cool place.

For the manufacture of mash for every 10 liters of water, 1.5–2 kg of sugar and 1–1.2 kg of finished malt will be required. Before putting the mash, dry ingredients must be mixed with each other, poured into a bottle and only then pour warm boiled water, constantly stirring the talker. Make a water seal or put on a glove on the neck and leave to ferment in a warm place. Wheat mash without yeast can be ready in 3-4 days. Carry out the distillation in the usual way.

Wheat moonshine is highly valued among winemakers. It has a pleasant smell, sweetish mild taste and is easy to drink. If you perform a double distillation with separation of the head and tail fractions, additionally purify the liquid with a carbon filter, you can get a wonderful drink, on the basis of which you can create any exquisite liquors and liqueurs.