Practical distillation. How much mash to pour into a distillation cube Standards for home brewing

All distillers, without exception, are always interested in the issue of the release of moonshine from mash. If you know this value in advance, you can understand whether the skin is “worth the price”: how much distillate can be obtained from a specific raw material with the effort expended. The final amount of alcohol produced depends on several parameters at once, so calculating the yield of moonshine from the mash is not easy in itself.

In all reference materials, moonshine is considered a distillate with a strength of 40 degrees, so all product yield volumes are usually given for this indicator. The yield of moonshine from mash directly depends on:

• type of raw materials used;
• the type of yeast used to prepare the wort - affects the strength of the mash;
• correctly selected hydraulic module (ratio
• sugar-water); compliance with the technology of distilling mash into moonshine;
• the health of the distiller.

By the way, not only the yield of moonshine, but also its quality and food safety depends on the last point - the serviceability of the distiller. to be sure of its reliability and not get into a “marriage”? It is best to do this from official manufacturers of household distillers.

The key point regarding the yield of moonshine is the raw materials: cereals, fruits and berries, vegetables contain different amounts of sugars in different types. For example, if starch-containing raw materials are used (grain, rice, potatoes), the alcohol yield will additionally depend on the completeness of starch saccharification. The more that remains unsplit into simple sugars starch molecules, the lower the yield of moonshine will be. Fruits and berries contain simple sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose), so it’s easier to calculate the amount of the final drink. But it can vary from time to time.

We present to you a table of the yield of moonshine from mash depending on the raw materials used. However, you need to understand that it gives values ​​close to the maximum obtained in industry. In practice, at home, the yield of moonshine is 10-15% lower.

Table of moonshine yield from mash depending on the raw materials used

As you can see from the table, the maximum product yield is obtained from starch and granulated sugar. The yield of the final product will depend on the type of household distiller. Modern distillation columns make it possible to obtain almost pure alcohol, and accordingly, its yield will be significant. Therefore, it is important to know with decent performance and efficiency. Of course, it is possible, but in this case many nuances must be observed so that it allows you to obtain fully high-quality moonshine.

The yield of alcohol is also largely influenced by the yeast used. The fact is that different types of yeast are “comfortable” with different alcohol contents in the mash. When the concentration of ethyl alcohol in the solution (mash) exceeds a certain value, yeast fungi stop processing sugar. The limit for baker's yeast is 12-14% of the alcohol content in the mash, and for alcoholic yeast it is already 18%. Accordingly, alcohol yeast is able to produce more alcohol. That’s why the hydromodulus—the ratio of water and sugar—is so important. If there is not enough water, the alcohol concentration will become uncomfortable for the yeast before it eats all the sugar. An incorrect hydraulic module is one of the reasons.

The optimal hydromodule for sugar mash is 4-5 liters of water per 1 kg of sugar. If we assume that the hydraulic module is used as 1:5, then we can create a convenient table for calculating the displacement.

Table for calculating the yield of moonshine from sugar mash by volume.

To determine the amount of pure alcohol (in ml) contained in a forty-degree distillate, you need to divide the volume of the latter by 2.1. Similarly, you can calculate volume and , knowing the approximate yield per kilogram of raw materials and the ratio for the hydraulic module.

To get the maximum yield of moonshine, it is important (we recommend choosing a device with a distillation column of the brand) that will work properly, as well as follow the distillation technology. Loss of alcohol during distillation occurs in any case, and you need to remember this. During fractional distillation, you should not “squeeze out” the alcohol as much as possible when selecting the “body”; stop at the residual strength values ​​of 50-45 degrees in the stream. Yes, in this case there is still a fair amount of alcohol left in the “tails”, but it is already difficult to separate it - heavier alcohols, called fusel oils, begin to mix in. There are several ways to increase the volume of the final product. For example, if the raw materials used are grain or fruit and berry? This is not difficult to do; just add a small amount of sugar (100-500 grams per kilogram of raw materials) when preparing it.

Do you want to know how to distill mash correctly, without losses, with excellent taste, in a word, optimally?

A few simple rules, which may not be found in the instructions for moonshine stills, will help a beginner save his nerves and get an excellent result. And an experienced moonshiner-practitioner can make an important discovery for himself by reading our tips on optimizing the process of properly obtaining moonshine.

So, let's say you have a flask with 30 liters of mash and a distillation cube of 17 liters. Question one: how much mash to pour into a cube? It seems that two distillations can be completed, because it’s tempting to divide the capacity of the flask in half and pour 15 liters into a cube, fortunately the volume allows. Let's do so. What will we get? Most likely, we will end up with a reflux condenser clogged with foam and will spend additional time cleaning it. A moonshine still with steam chambers, especially with two steam chambers, will help deal with the foam, but if distillation is incorrect, no device will save you from smearing the heads all over the selection body. If you put it straight into the refrigerator, you will get extremely dirty moonshine. Even if at first it seems transparent to you, then later you will definitely find cloudiness, or a cloudy dirty layer or a “lump” of fusel alcohols and oils. Even a copper moonshine machine won’t help here. This is the result of splash entrainment due to the “compaction” of the cube. Never fill the mash cube with more than three quarters of its height! In your case, it was better to divide 30 liters into three equal parts of 10 liters each, rather than into two. Believe me, quality and safety are more important than speed.

Question two: how to set heating power? And immediately, a derivative question from it: at what speed to distill? If you are familiar with the kitchen and are familiar with burners, then, of course, you understand: nothing can be cooked at maximum gas. Otherwise, it will burn, boil over, run away... However, the peculiarity of moonshine brewing, unlike any other “brew,” is that we do not prepare the mash as a product on the stove, but extract from it the “spirit” or “spirit” we need. Therefore, the power cannot be set linearly and just wait for the alcohol to flow. Theoretically, you can turn on maximum heat and raise the temperature of the steam until the ethyl alcohol fractions begin to evaporate, and then slowly evaporate the alcohol. But in reality, everything may turn out to be completely the opposite.

Firstly, if you have grain mash, then the malt sediments can quickly burn when in contact with the bottom of the cube (if the heating is external) or with the heating element.

Non-malt washes should not burn, but when distilling them, you should also not heat them quickly until the ethyl evaporates: experienced moonshiners believe that the head fractions come out better and do not “smear” at low speed. But when the heads are cut off, it all depends on the distiller’s ability to utilize energy, in Russian, on how quickly the refrigerator of the device is able to condense alcohol vapor into alcohol.

However, that's not all! After the body “goes”, that is, ethyl alcohol begins to be selected and you collect it in a relatively large amount, you will notice that the selection rate has dropped and you will have to increase the heating temperature. Why? You, of course, guessed that the amount of alcohol in the distillation cube has decreased significantly, but the amount of water there has not decreased at all; on the contrary, it has increased as a percentage of alcohol. To evaporate water, more heat is needed, so the speed drops, more heat is required, and the alcohol yield decreases.

If for experienced women it is “size” that matters, then for any qualified moonshiner only volume is important. Therefore, when planning to purchase a moonshine still, you should first of all think about what volume you should choose for it, because this is very important.

As is known, the volume moonshine still It is customary to measure the volume of its distillation cube, that is, the capacity of the lower container into which mash or raw alcohol is poured before distillation (if we are talking about the second distillation of the product). Choosing a moonshine still by volume is a topic that deserves separate consideration. Considering that many analogies can be drawn between domestic moonshine brewing and the production of alcoholic beverages on an industrial scale, the optimal volume of a moonshine still can be selected based on the parameters of industrial installations.

So, the volume of industrial distillation tanks is determined based on the dependence of the output volume of the finished product on the volume of the feedstock. In order to accurately determine which distillation cube will suit your needs, you can use a simple mathematical formula derived taking into account industry standards and regulations. The formula that our I am happy to share it with my readers.

Simply put, the only correct guideline for a person planning to seriously engage in home brewing is the approximate volume of alcohol that the operator wants to obtain from the feedstock during the distillation of one portion of mash. The mathematical formula will look like this:

Valcohol = ((Vcube – 25%) – 80%) – 20%

We present to your attention a dependence that allows you to determine, already in theory, what volume of cube to choose for a moonshine still, based on your own needs. Let's look at the formula in detail:

• 25% volume is a value characterizing the amount of free space required to optimize the processes of heating, expansion and boiling of the mash. If, for example, the distillation tank is filled to capacity with the starting raw materials, when heated, the mash will fall into the steam pipes of the moonshine still, clogging it and thereby making the process of high-quality distillation impossible.

• 80% volume - a percentage characterizing the volume of actual waste unsuitable for subsequent use (stillage that will remain at the bottom of the distillation tank after distillation).

• 20% volume is a value characterizing the amount of carcinogenic impurities that will be separated from the composition of the final product by cutting off the head and tail fractions.

So: (30l – 7.5l) – 80%) – 20% = (22.5 – 18) – 20% = 4.5 – 0.9 = 3.6 liters of pure alcohol contained in the volume of mash that can be filled distillation cube with a capacity of 30 liters.

If we approach the choice of volume more practically, and not theoretically, then the capacity of the distillation cube should be large enough so that the entire volume of the available mash can be converted into raw alcohol at one time. For example, when thinking about what volume of moonshine still is best for a 35-liter fermentation tank, focus on the volume of the distillation cube - at least 20 liters. This is advice taken from the pages of the forum, which one experienced distiller shared with his colleagues.

If you are going to use the lower part of the moonshine still both as a fermentation tank and as a distillation cube at the same time, then it is better to initially purchase a container of maximum volume.

In the process of preparing moonshine, all stages are important. If you are reading this article, it means that you already have mash ready - the basis for your future creation of a moonshine drink. The next stage lies ahead - distillation, the task of which is to obtain from the desired product prepared by you the raw material that is closest to the final goal of the entire moonshine brewing process. It's called raw alcohol.

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Each mash, depending on the composition of the main ingredients, has its own preparation time. Sugar is suitable in 5-14 days, fruit with natural yeast - 20-60, grain - 3-7 days. The use of alcoholic yeast can speed up the ripening of mash.

Alcoholic yeast will allow you to cook, subject to temperature conditions. sugar mash after 3-4 days, grain after a day or two. It may take 7-10 days for fruit and berry production.

It is important to correctly and timely establish the readiness of the mash for the further process of moonshine. A number of points indicate that the mash is ripe and ready for distillation:

• cessation of gas release through the water seal or falling of the glove;
• the complete absence of a sweet taste of the liquid, it acquires a bitterish-sour taste. This is the surest sign of the readiness and proper quality of the mash;
• stopping the formation of foam and the release of carbon dioxide bubbles from the bottom of the container;
• no hissing;
• the appearance of an alcohol smell near the neck of the fermentation bottle;
• clarification of the surface layer of the mash, the appearance of sediment at the bottom.
• The end of fermentation is also checked with a lit match. If it continues to burn near the surface of the solution, this will mean that carbon dioxide, which suppresses combustion, has stopped releasing and fermentation has ended.

The readiness of the mash for distillation should be judged when at least two or three signs appear simultaneously.

Before distillation, the mash goes through the following stages of preparation for distillation:

• removal from sediment;
• degassing of mash, i.e. removing residual yeast and carbon dioxide by heating the mash in a metal container to 50C;
• Clarification of mash with bentonite.

First distillation process

Distillation is carried out by gradual evaporation of the alcohol-containing liquid located in the distillation vessel. The resulting vapors are removed and condensed. They come from the cube through a steam trap (if there is one in the apparatus) into the refrigerator, turn into condensate and drop by drop into the receiving vessel. It is known that ethyl alcohol boils at 78.3C, water - 100C. The distillation technology is based on this temperature difference.

The task of the 1st distillation is to isolate alcohol from the mash and obtain raw alcohol.

The first distillation is usually carried out at maximum power. This is due to the fact that The longer the mash is boiled, the more fusel smell and taste it acquires. When the outlet temperature reaches 65C, the lightest alcohol vapors appear. They represent harmful elements: methanol, ethers and aldehydes, which boil at a lower temperature than ethyl alcohol - the final product of our distillation.

These head fractions are called “heads” in moonshiners’ slang, which should not be consumed due to their high toxicity. They are collected in a separate container and either poured out or used for technical purposes.

This part can be selected during the first distillation without reducing the heating temperature. The selection is made at the rate of 30 ml for every 1 kg of sugar. In practice, in traditional devices, t for the selection of the “body” - the useful part of the raw material - is 78-83C. When the temperature reaches 83, you need to stop selecting the main part.

The distillation vessel plays an important role in the distillation process. It is in it that the alcohol-containing liquid is heated and evaporated. The quality, volume, tightness and proper operation of the cube directly determine the quantitative and taste parameters of the resulting final product.

The best materials for the production of such tanks are copper and stainless steel. Many moonshiners use aluminum cans. However, there is an opinion that this material is capable of releasing harmful substances.

Among moonshine lovers, stainless steel containers are most in demand. They are cheaper than copper analogs and can withstand long terms operation, convenient to use. It is only important that the stainless steel meets the requirements of GOST as a food material, which must be confirmed by the seller with documents. The thickness of the tank walls must be at least 2 mm, which ensures a longer service life of the unit and better performance characteristics.

The advantage of copper cubes is the high thermal conductivity of the material, which reduces the time required for distillation. They cost much more and are traditionally used for preparing aromatic alcoholic drinks.

The main thing in the design of a distillation cube is its tightness. When heated, high pressure is created in the container, therefore, if gaps appear in the connections, steam leaks and pressure decreases. This affects the performance of the device and the quality of the manufactured product. Therefore, the lid of the tank must fit tightly to the container, which is ensured either by mechanical devices, for example, quick-release clamp connections, or by silicone gaskets.

At the same time, the size of the neck of the cube should allow you to stick your hand inside the container, which is necessary when cleaning the dishes from residues of stillage. From this point of view, cubes with a narrow neck are very impractical.

The presence of drain valves on the cube and on the steam tank also simplifies maintenance.

A thermometer is built into the lid of the distillation cube, with the help of which the temperature of the mash in the cube is monitored and the process of selecting fractions is regulated.

How much mash to pour into the distillation cube

It is necessary to fill the tank with mash no more than 75%. A full cube should not be filled under any circumstances. When heated, the volume of the mash increases. Excessive filling of the reservoir will lead to liquid splashing out into the tube, which could result in the mash getting into the distillate and slow down the natural release of vapor. Brags based on grain or fruit components produce a large amount of foam during distillation. In such cases, it is better to fill the container to 50-70% of the volume.

For example, if you have a cube with a capacity of 20 liters, then fill in no more than 15 liters of mash. Carrying out two small-volume distillations will be more profitable than purchasing one large apparatus, especially if you do the distillation no more than 1-2 times a week.

For moonshine brewing, containers with a volume of 10 to 50 liters are used. The choice is based on how much alcohol is planned to be produced for each distillation.

A special formula is used to determine the approximate volume of alcohol based on the capacity of the cube. In this case, the values ​​that have developed in practice are taken into account:

• 25% of the capacity should remain, as we noted above, empty;
• 80% of the mash after distillation will be residues from distillation, in the form of waste, the so-called stillage;
• 20% of the released alcohol will come from the heads and tails.

To calculate the amount of alcohol obtained at the output, 25% is subtracted from the volume of the distillation cube (the free space into which the container is not filled), 80% is subtracted from the resulting value (stillage), and 20% is subtracted from the remaining number (harmful fractions).

You can use a simplified version of the calculation: start from the fact that the finished product is 1/6 of the mash, and the distillation tank is filled to 3⁄4.

It is also important to consider the dimensions of the container. It must be taken into account that not all electric stoves can withstand the weight of heavy containers. If you are not going to distill large volumes or the dimensions of your apartment do not allow the use of a volumetric cube, then you can carry out distillation of a small volume, using, for example, a cube with a volume of 12 liters. The majority of moonshiners distill for themselves in small containers.