Recipes for fruit mash from fresh raw materials and dried fruits. Braga recipes

Fruits and berries are a traditional component of mash. When using such raw materials, you can create fruit moonshine according to your own recipes. A properly prepared alcoholic drink will have a pronounced fruity aroma. The process of preparing fruit mash is not easy, but this business is worth your efforts - the soft, fruity distillate obtained as a result is much healthier and tastier than its sugar analogue.

Fruit mash has its own characteristics. After choosing raw materials, find out how much sugar is contained in fruits, for this, use a special table. Usually, grapes, apples, plums, pears, cherries, raspberries and other fruits are taken for fruit and berry mash, the main thing is that they are sweet. The sweeter the fruits, the tastier the mash and the yield of the finished product will turn out.

Ingredients and tools for mash

• fruits or berries
• sugar as desired
• wine or fruit yeast
• meat grinder, press, juicer or blender for grinding or squeezing juice
• large spoon for stirring the wort
• fermentation container of the right size

Algorithm for making fruit mash

1. Wash the fruits under running water if they are very dirty.
2. From fruits with large pits, remove them
3. Grind fruit with a meat grinder, blender, or in any other way available to resemble mashed potatoes. Or you can squeeze pure juice with a juicer or press
   

   The red fermentation scheme is when the mash is put together with fruit cake. The white fermentation scheme is when only pure juice is fermented without cake.

4. Put the mass in a fermentation tank, if the wort is too thick, add a little water, but the total volume should not fill three quarters of the tank
   

   To increase the yield or if the fruit contains little sugar, say less than 7%, the addition of sugar is allowed. But keep in mind the more sugar you add, the less flavor and aroma will remain from the initial raw materials in the final product.

5. Calculate the amount of yeast needed for the resulting wort
6. Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of warm water, add to the wort and mix thoroughly. Yeast for fruit brews should be wine or specialized fruit yeast to ensure maximum fermentation and prevent off-flavours.
7. In order to prevent air from entering the fermentation tank, seal tightly and install a water seal. When exposed to air, oxidation occurs, which will ultimately affect the quality of the product.
8. Put in a dark room with a temperature of 18-25 degrees
9. If you ferment according to the red scheme (with cake), mix the mash for the first 3-4 days, a cap will rise that must be upset and prevent sourness
10. If everything is done correctly, then after 7-14 days of fermentation, the mash will be ready for distillation. Fermentation time will depend on many factors, the amount of sugar, the yeast chosen, and the ambient temperature.
11. Before distillation, the mash must be filtered through several layers of gauze (if it was fermented with cake) in order to get rid of impurities that can burn and give bitterness during distillation.
12. If you used a white scheme, you only need to remove it from the sediment and this will be enough, but you can also lighten the mash in addition. Our opinion is that additional clarification for fruit brews is not necessary.
    

    Gentle clarification is carried out using hibiscus tea, gelatin or natural white clay. Under their influence, the yeast precipitates, and the mash becomes light. Clarification with bentonite (white clay) cleans impurities well and saves time.

Moonshine from berries and fruits is a drink that requires a creative approach. You can focus on the main recipe, but at the same time improvise a little, making fruit mash for future moonshine.

1. Removing the seeds takes a long time, but the fruit drink will not be bitter in the end.
2. We do not recommend washing fruits that are not very dirty, there are wild yeasts on the surface of any fruits and they are washed off when washed. Brazhka from some fruits and berries can be put without yeast, such as grapes.
3. Use a press or juicer and ferment pure juice. According to the white scheme without cake, the highest quality product is obtained.
4. For berry or fruit mash, use only wine or fruit yeast
5. If you still decide to use sugar, then it is better to replace it with glucose, fructose or dextrose.
6. Do not allow temperature fluctuations - this will negatively affect the fermentation process
7. Clarification of mash improves the quality of moonshine
8. During fermentation, fruit mash will smell specific. Therefore, it is better to put it in a separate room.

Fruit moonshine has the taste and aroma of fruits or berries from which mash was made: tart and fragrant moonshine is obtained on the basis of cherries. From plums, an alcoholic drink is obtained not too sweet with a pleasant plum smell. Moonshine from pears is very fragrant and tasty. In addition to fresh berries and fruits, you can use juice, jam, dried fruits and even aromatic herbs. Fruit distillates made from raisins, dates, dried apricots have an unusual taste.

The secret of the popularity of moonshine in many respects lies in the fact that it can be made from a variety of raw materials. And depending on the source products - sugar or starch - the recipes and the final taste of homemade alcohol will be different. Distillers often make, for example, fruit moonshine, because the source material is always at hand - in the nearest garden, vegetable garden or forest. Reach out your hand, pick up fallen apples, throw in some yeast, and now, for cider or moonshine, it is waiting for the moment of distillation.

A few secrets

Recipes

apple moonshine

In general, in moonshine, including fruit:

• the sugar content should be 10-15% by weight;
• water and fruit mass - 85–90%;
• for 1 kg of sugar you need 100 g of pressed yeast.

That is, if you have 10 kg of apples with a sugar content of 10%, it would be nice to add another kilogram and a half of granulated sugar to increase the yield of the product. The taste of the drink will not be affected. However, there are tough opponents of adding sugar to fruit moonshine: sucrose, in their opinion, spoils homemade alcohol and slows down the fermentation process.

Tip: if you are making moonshine from such capricious products as, for example, pears, from which it is impossible to get juice (puree comes out), add more water. And when distilling, put the cube in a water bath, and not on an open fire.

Raspberry moonshine.

Moonshine on raspberries

There are plenty of recipes for apple and plum moonshine. In addition, this is such a raw material with which it is not a pity to experiment - it is always in abundance. But making raspberry moonshine at home (not tincture!) Is an interesting thing. Required:

• raspberries - 10 kg of peeled berries;
• prepared water - 12 liters;
• sugar - 3 kg (if the variety is sour, then 4 kg is possible, then we add 4 liters of water);
• yeast - 200 gr. pressed.

It is strongly not recommended to wash the berries - for the first couple of days, mashed raspberries will ferment perfectly on "wild" yeast. Then add the rest of the ingredients (water, sugar, yeast) to the wort. Approximately in 5-10 days the mash will be ready. It must be drained and can be distilled by distillation with the usual cut-off of "heads" and "tails". Such fruit moonshine should still be passed through a charcoal filter, let stand for 2 weeks, and you can pamper yourself and your guests.

Mandarin.

There are several ways to make this drink from practically free post-New Year
. The easiest way is to make it from juice mixed with water - there will be a normal yield and a quite perceptible aftertaste of tangerines. Required:

• tangerines - 5 kg;
• sugar - 2 kg;
• pressed yeast - 200 gr.;
• prepared water - 5 liters.

We clean the fruits and make about 3.5 liters of juice from them. We warm it up (3 minutes to + 80 ° C) to reduce the antiseptic properties of the tangerine drink. Cool, put sugar mash with juice from the available ingredients. After 10-14 days, the tangerine mash will be ready for distillation.

Vishnevka.

cherry moonshine

This fruit moonshine is also very popular with those who own their own garden - from time to time nature pleases with a very plentiful harvest of cherries and sweet cherries. You can make a sweet infusion or liquor out of it, or you can directly put the mash. We will need:

• - 25 kg;
• prepared water - 30 liters;
• sugar - 6 kg;
• sugar syrup (1 sugar: 5 water) - 2 liters;
• dry active yeast - a tablespoon.

This wort will ferment for approximately 10 days. The output will be high-quality alcohol with a pronounced fruity smell.

Is it helpful?

Many home distillers argue over the purity and healthiness of homemade fruit distillates. But if you do not abuse moonshine, then in small doses you can treat yourself to a drink that does not quite comply with GOSTs for drinking alcohol. In the end, the best wines, cognacs and whiskeys do not exactly correspond to them, but they captivate us with their magical aromas and taste.

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

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

Basic ingredients for cooking

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

Yeast

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

• bakery

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

• Alcoholic

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

• Yeast "Whiskey"

Used to make beverages from grain products

• Wine

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

An important ingredient is sugar

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

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

The third component is water

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

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

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

What is the best container to cook in?

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

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

How to make braga?

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

What do you need?

We will need:

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

Cooking process:

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

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

What to do next?

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

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

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

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

Cooking apple mash

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

Apple mash from juice

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

Cooking:

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

Second option: apple mash

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

Cooking:

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

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

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

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

The natural process of mash fermentation is approximately 10 days. If you maintain the optimal temperature of the drink, the time will be significantly reduced. Usually bread yeast is used in recipes for homemade moonshine. But alcohol-resistant yeast Turbo is far superior in its properties. The recipe for Turbo yeast mash improves the quality of fermentation due to its resistance to alcohol. Therefore, at the output, a stronger moonshine is obtained, […]

Cereals (be it wheat, corn, pearl barley or any other) are starchy raw materials. And saccharified starch-containing raw materials, as you know, are perfect for making soft moonshine, of better quality than sugar. In this article, we’ll talk about how to make cereal mash at home, the recipes of which even a beginner can do. Leaders in frequency of use in recipes […]

For homemade moonshine recipes, in most cases, yeast is used. Some choose the most common yeast, which is also intended for baking. True professionals understand that the end result largely depends on the correct choice of this product. By itself, Pakmaya yeast is designed for baking. The Pakmaya Cristal professional series is a special yeast for the preparation of alcoholic […]

To prepare mash for the purpose of subsequent distillation and obtaining alcohol, at least three components are needed: water, yeast and sugar. Perhaps, without exception, all berries contain sugar in a greater or lesser percentage. Therefore, any berries are suitable for obtaining a strong drink, depending on the taste and olfactory preferences of the distiller. Even from a watermelon (albeit a very large one, […]

Among the recipes for homemade moonshine, the oldest grain moonshine has always occupied a place of honor. Making mash from malt is not the easiest process. The recipe for malt mash requires certain skills, manipulation and patience. However, if you are planning to experience the taste of homemade whiskey, bourbon, or simply grain moonshine known for its softness (not to be confused with modern vodka, whether […]

Fruit moonshine has always been famous for its worthy quality and unsurpassed aroma. And since ancient times, grapes have been considered the most fertile raw material for its production for mash. In the Caucasus, the homeland of connoisseurs of grape drinks, grape moonshine is called chacha. Chacha rightfully occupies a separate place among the recipes for homemade moonshine. About how to properly put the mash for chacha, and will be discussed. At first […]

Winter in our country is rich in cheap citrus fruits. Because where they ripen, at this time it is just summer. Tables during the New Year holidays are bursting with tangerines and oranges. And if you don’t have time to eat them, then a great option would be to prepare a recipe for orange mash at home! Braga is then distilled into a delicious and flavorful […]

Surely you have come across the mysterious word “koji” with an oriental tinge in pronunciation more than once when mentioning strong alcoholic beverages. And distillers with experience will gladly share their experience and tell you how to master the koji mash recipe at home. The thing is, koji is essentially a mold, Aspergillus oryzae, which is […]

Dry alcohol yeast produced in Belarus was created specifically for sugar mash. They are unique in that they do not die with an increase in the concentration of ethyl alcohol in the wash, but on the contrary, they feel great and work at full strength. To prepare almost all recipes for homemade moonshine, you will first need to prepare the mash. Of course, the mash will then need to be overtaken. You can also do this on […]

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Good recipes for homemade moonshine are the property of every moonshiner. This strong alcoholic drink has long been valued by our ancestors. The recipe for moonshine mash was once obtained experimentally and over time has received many variations depending on the raw materials used. However, the basic conditions for making good mash remained unchanged - the complete absence of air, sugar and high-quality yeast. By absorbing sugar, yeast releases ethyl […]

Calculate the amount of yeast needed for the recipe for making mash from sugar and yeast, based not on the volume of the mash, but on the basis of the amount of sugar. Such a calculation will be correct, since yeast lives in water, and alcohol is obtained from granulated sugar. To prepare mash for 1 kg of sugar, take 100 g of pressed yeast or 20 g of dry. Choosing […]

Those involved in the production of home-made alcohol are well aware that mash can be obtained from almost any raw material. One of the interesting recipes for homemade moonshine is a compote drink. The special charm of the compote mash recipe is the content of sugar necessary for fermentation and fragrant berries and fruits, which will play the role of flavors. It is thanks to this that moonshine from compote […]

Everyone knows that mash is needed to make moonshine. Braga, in turn, is obtained as a result of the vital activity of microscopic fungi - yeast. In the process of fermentation (life activity of yeast), yeast absorb sugar and release the ethanol we are looking for, carbon dioxide and some other by-products. Ready mash is subject to distillation in a moonshine still. And the quality of the resulting […]

A successful and fairly simple mash recipe for odorless moonshine. Braga obtained from sugar will be much cleaner than when using apple, plum or other "natural" raw materials. However, when using yeast to make mash, in addition to the alcohol itself, we inevitably get a number of other waste products of these hardworking microorganisms. And extra impurities are an unpleasant odor and […]

The fact that tomato paste can become the basis of home brew for moonshine is news to many. It is generally accepted that it is widely used in cooking and for sauces and hot dishes. In fact, excellent mash is also obtained from tomato paste, from which good-quality moonshine is obtained. The distillate obtained after distillation of tomato mash can be used in […]

Recipes for homemade pear moonshine are always a success due to the wonderful aroma and softness of the drink. The aroma of cultivars is more pronounced than that of the “wild”, however, fruits of any variety or even a mixture of them are suitable for a pear mash recipe at home. The main thing is that during the preparation of raw materials all rotten areas should be removed. Pears for mash are better […]

Dried grapes or raisins have a delicate sweet taste and aroma. The use of raisins in mash recipes will make the finished moonshine soft and allow you to drink the drink in its pure form. There is no need to add yeast or other ingredients, which greatly simplifies the cooking process. By the way, the finished moonshine, prepared according to the raisin mash recipe, has several names. In our […]

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In one of our articles, we described in detail how to put grape pomace mash for making chacha. Grape pomace has long become a favorite raw material for mash, since grapes grow almost everywhere nowadays, and any, even sour, varieties are suitable for making moonshine. Therefore, grapes often appear in recipes for homemade moonshine. In this article, we will talk about […]

Without wheat, it is difficult to imagine today's food industry. For many centuries, wheat has been feeding the population of our vast Motherland. And not only feeds: long before the appearance of isolated yeast cultures, home brew recipes for moonshine dispensed with yeast. The recipe for grain mash on wheat has been passed down from generation to generation and is still quite popular today: moonshine turns out to be soft, “light”, […]

Persimmon is a southern fruit, and quite exotic for middle and northern latitudes. The season of relatively low prices for persimmon falls on the winter months. But since persimmon contains a fairly large amount of sugars, it is perfect for homemade moonshine recipes. Moreover, this fruit is quite tender and perishable, therefore, in order to quickly process a large amount of product and […]

“Cherry plum” - cherry plum - fruits for home-brew recipes are not very popular. Since cherry plum contains less than 5% sugars in its composition, in order to get at least a decent yield of moonshine, you will need to add granulated sugar to the cherry plum mash recipe. But thanks to its persistent pleasant aroma, “cherry plum” is able to give the drink bright fruity notes. Cherry plum also […]

Starch is a complete sugar substitute when properly processed. The starch mash recipe is somewhat different from similar ones that use other raw materials. After all, this product by itself will never ferment, it must be affected with the help of malt. It is possible to do this through the addition of enzymes, however, most experienced moonshiners opt for […]

Of the many recipes for homemade moonshine, everyone has probably heard about grape moonshine. In Georgia they call it chacha, and in Italy - grappa. Most often, for the preparation of grape mash for moonshine, pulp or cake is used - what is left of the berries after the production of wine or juice. However, if you fundamentally do not want to make wine, or just a year […]

It is best to take drinking water: well or artesian. In tap water, yeast can ferment poorly or even die, because it contains a lot of salts and chlorine. Boiled water has little oxygen for yeast, while distilled water has no nutrients. Spirit yeast is best suited for mash, but you can also take baker's yeast.

You can put the mash in any food container. Particular attention should be paid to plastic utensils: they are safe only if they are made of high-quality material. It is better not to use food plastic from China to infuse mash, no one knows what is included in its composition. One of the signs of poor container quality is a pronounced odor. It can be transferred to the mash, which will make it impossible to use it in recipes for homemade moonshine tinctures.

To control the fermentation process, you will need a water seal that releases carbon dioxide without letting in oxygen. It is necessary because there can be bacteria in the air that can spoil the mash. Also, when exposed to air, yeast will break down alcohol into water and carbon dioxide. If it is not possible to buy a water seal, a proven folk method will come to the rescue - put a rubber glove pierced on your finger on a container with mash. In the process of fermentation, it inflates, as soon as it falls off - the mash is ready.

The ideal temperature for fermentation is 20-30°C. If the temperature is lower - the process may not start, higher - the yeast may die.

Braga preparation time is 3-14 days, depending on the selected raw materials, yeast and room temperature.
The readiness of the product according to the home brew recipe for moonshine is determined by the water seal (the hissing stops) or by the glove (deflated).

A precipitate forms in the finished mash, approximately 5% of the total volume. These are the residual waste products of bacteria, they have almost no effect on the quality of moonshine, so removing or not removing the mash from the sediment is everyone's personal preference. But this is not a mandatory procedure.

Before distillation, the mash can be stored for about a week, in the cold and without removing the water seal. The best mash recipe is the simplest: you need 7 kg of granulated sugar, 24 liters of water and 1 kg of yeast. First, activate the yeast: add 100 g of sugar and a little water to it. After mixing, leave warm for 60 minutes.

In the fermentation tank, sugar is mixed with water, active yeast is added, and a water seal is installed. While the mash is infused, there is time to buy a moonshine still and start trying recipes for homemade moonshine.

Dried fruit moonshine can be used with unnecessary or substandard raw materials that have expired. Even slightly moldy fruits will do (boiling will destroy the mold), but the rotten parts must be cut out to avoid bitterness. If the technology is followed, an aromatic distillate with light fruity notes is obtained.

Theory. Any dried fruits are suitable for making moonshine: prunes, figs, dried apricots, dates, raisins, apples, pears, cherries, etc. In one mash, you can mix different types, getting an original aroma and flavors. The only thing is that prunes give bright smoked notes that stand out strongly in combination with apples and pears.

During the drying process, water evaporates from the pulp, but fructose and dry substances responsible for the taste and aroma of the drink remain. To start fermentation, it is enough to dissolve fructose in water - cook compote, then add baker's or wine yeast (you can make sourdough). In this case, the total sugar content of the wort should not exceed 20%.

The yield of moonshine from dried fruits depends on the sugar content of the raw material, so it is difficult to predict the values ​​in advance. The sweeter the pulp, the more drink you get in the end. To increase the yield, you can add beet sugar - 1 kg will additionally give 1.1-1.2 liters of moonshine (40%). However, sugar somewhat spoils the fruity flavor, so you have to find a compromise between quantity and quality.

On alcohol, dry or pressed baker's yeast, dried fruit mash ferments for 4-10 days, but such yeast worsens the aroma. For fruit mash, it is advisable to use store-bought or wild (from the surface of raisins or berries) wine yeast, on which the mash plays longer (25-60 days), but the organoleptic properties of the drink are preserved.

Ingredients:

• dried fruits - 3 kg;
• water - 18 liters and another 4 liters for each kilogram of sugar;
• sugar - 1-3 kg (optional);
• yeast - 100 grams of pressed (20 grams of dry) bakery or wine according to the instructions for the volume of must, or sourdough (3% of the volume);
• citric acid - 10 grams.

Citric acid is needed to stabilize the acidity of the must, which contributes to fermentation, I recommend adding if you add more than 1 kg of sugar.

If necessary, prepare 3-5 days before working with raw materials.

Dried fruit mash recipe

1. Grind dried fruits with a blender or in any other way. The smaller the pieces, the better the sugars are released, which increases the yield of moonshine.

Attention! It is advisable to first remove the bones. If this is not possible, it is better not to pass the raw materials through a blender, but to leave them as they are, so that the bones remain intact and do not give bitterness.

2. Place dried fruits in a saucepan, add sugar (optional), pour water in a ratio of 1:4 - for 1 kg of raw materials (together with sugar) 4 liters of water. Mix.

3. Bring the mixture to a boil, cook over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the dried fruits do not stick to the bottom and do not burn.

4. Remove the pan from the heat, add the remaining water and citric acid. Mix.

5. When the wort has cooled down to 28-29°C, add the starter or pre-diluted yeast according to the instructions on the package.

6. Pour the mash into a fermentation tank, leaving at least 25% free space for foam and carbon dioxide. Install a water seal of any design on the neck, you can use a medical glove with a hole in your finger.

7. Put dried fruit mash in a dark place with a temperature of 18-28°C. Depending on the yeast used, after 4-60 days, the water seal will stop releasing gas (the glove will deflate), the mash will no longer taste sweet and will start to taste slightly bitter, and a layer of sediment will appear at the bottom. These signs indicate that fermentation has ended.

Obtaining moonshine from dried fruits

8. Strain the mash that has won back through gauze, squeeze the cake to dryness. If you do not filter, the remaining pulp will burn, ruining the taste of the drink.

9. Overtake the mash for the first time at maximum speed without separation into fractions. Stop collecting the product when the strength in the stream falls below 30%.

10. Measure the strength of the resulting distillate. Calculate the amount of pure alcohol - multiply the volume in liters by the strength in percent and divide by 100.

11. Dilute the drink with water to 18-20 degrees, then make a second distillation. Collect the first 12-15% of the yield from the amount of pure alcohol in a separate container. This harmful, bad-smelling fraction is called "heads" and can only be used for technical purposes.

12. Select the main product (“body”) until the strength in the jet falls below 45%, then finish the distillation or collect the “tail” separately.

13. Dilute the resulting dried fruit moonshine with water to the desired strength (usually 40-45%), pour into glass storage containers.

14. Close hermetically, before tasting, leave for 2-3 days in a dark, cool place to stabilize the taste.