Braga from sugar and yeast: recipes and proportions. How to make homemade moonshine from sugar and yeast

Moonshine in a flask - a way to distill mash at home. In this capacity, a flask from milk with a shutter is most often used to release carbon dioxide. Any mash is prepared in such a container, including a drink made from sugar, jam, fruits, cereals, vegetables. Properly prepared, it has a pleasant color, taste and smell, it is safe for health, suitable for making moonshine.

The basics of making mash for moonshine

High-quality mash is made from good raw materials. It is not advisable to use rotten and moldy fruits and vegetables, this will spoil the taste and smell of the drink, and will lead to the need for repeated cleaning. Elements for cooking are taken in a certain proportion. The intensity of fermentation processes depends on the amount of sugar and yeast placed in the drink. Sugar increases the amount of alcohol, which causes the death of yeast, prevents the mash from fermenting on time.

Moonshine from a flask

Particular attention in the process of preparing moonshine from mash is paid to the number of its distillations and subsequent cleaning. To obtain good moonshine, they distill at least 2-3 times, separating the heads and tails.

Not knowing how to put the mash on moonshine so that it not only ferments, but is also suitable for drinking and distillation, you must adhere to the following rules:

1. The most suitable utensils for cooking mash are stainless steel and food aluminum containers. Plastic utensils intended for food purposes can also be used. If you plan not only to cook, but also distill in this container, then it is better to opt for an aluminum flask. Braga is poured into a flask, a water seal is installed on top or a medical glove with a slit in one of the fingers. These devices are designed to remove the gases resulting from fermentation, as well as to signal that the fermentation processes are completed.
2. Water for mash is pre-cleaned. The liquid must not contain chlorine, salts and impurities. Before filling the mash and preparing it in an aluminum flask, the water is settled for 2-3 days, filtered. All water is settled, regardless of its origin. So, water from a spring or well contains mechanical impurities that are harmful to health. It is impossible to boil and distill water, it is deprived of oxygen and therefore useless for the fermentation process.
3. The presence of accurate scales in the preparation of moonshine and home brew is a must. Risking the quality of the drink, based on the information contained on the packaging of sugar or yeast, is not worth it.
4. Braga is prepared using granulated sugar.
5. Yeast is selected in accordance with the products included in the drink. If the preparation is made from fresh apples, pears, plums and other fruits, wine or wild yeast is used, which does not detract from the aroma of the final product. Sugar-based mash is prepared using baker's yeast, which can be either regular or dry.

If there is such an opportunity, then the same mash can be seasoned with different yeast, spilling into separate flasks. The proportions mentioned above are easy to observe, knowing that to obtain 3 liters of mash, you need 1 kilogram of sugar, yeast in the amount of 100 and 20 grams, respectively, if we are talking about their usual and dry counterparts. The amount of yeast depends on how complex the mash recipe is.

The flask must not be filled more than 3/4 of its capacity. Otherwise, the gases remaining in the brew may accumulate on the surface of the drink and lead to an explosion.

Homemade moonshine still

The container for the mash is sterilized before filling it. To do this, the flask is doused with boiling water. Sterilization is necessary to prevent harmful impurities from entering the drink from an uncleaned surface. After sterilization is completed, the flask is filled with mash and set aside for 20-45 days for fermentation. Instead of a lid, use a water seal or a medical glove.

After the mash ferments, it is poured into a moonshine still. The absence of this can be compensated for by using a metal flask and a heating device - an electric, gas stove. The required power of the electric stove is 600 watts. The tile is installed on a flat surface, table, chair, on the floor, after which it is covered with a metal shield. A flask with fermented mash is installed directly on the shield.

Before using the flask as a home-made moonshine still, an open gas fitting is mounted in its upper part, connected by a hose to a 3-4 liter can. The size of the jar depends on the amount of mash placed in the distillation flask.

Braga is distilled at temperatures above 75 degrees, therefore, when buying an electric stove, they pay attention, first of all, to the power value already mentioned above. Attention is paid to the issue of safety of the manufactured device, the absence of wire cracks and socket defects. Before distilling the mash, the flask and electric stove are checked, and then the process of processing the drink is carried out as usual.

Moonshine cleaning

Using a flask allows you to overtake the drink, but it is not capable of cleaning its home-made moonshine. High-quality cleaning of mash from fusel oils and other impurities is carried out using a solution of potassium permanganate before the second or third distillation.

The mentioned solution (purchased at a pharmacy or made independently) in the amount of 2.5 liters is poured into a three-liter jar with a gas tube placed in it, attached to a flask. On the thermostat of the electric stove, the temperature is set to 33.5 degrees Celsius. Cleaning is accompanied by the seething of the manganese solution, the result of which is the oxidation of the existing fusel oils.

Potassium permanganate will save mash and moonshine from the pungent smell characteristic of home-made drinks. Cleaning time 12-36 hours. The completion of the fermentation and purification process will be indicated by the absence of bubbles coming out of the hose. The purified liquid has a pleasant taste and aroma.

The tails that came out during the distillation smell unpleasant, have a whitish tint. Drinking them as a drink is dangerous to health. Pouring a solution of potassium permanganate directly into the flask is prohibited. This will not bring the expected result, will lead to spoilage of the drink.

Apply potassium permanganate with extreme caution. Without the experience of such purification, you can get not a high-quality wort, but acetic acid. This effect is obtained when the temperature is set incorrectly. In general, preparing mash in a flask is as simple as in a conventional moonshine purchased at a store, the main thing is to remember how to properly prepare the container and the drink itself for distillation.

Will the mash be good enough, and the moonshine clean and tasty? This largely depends on the capacity for fermentation, moonshine still. Dishes must meet certain criteria, be technologically predisposed to work with food, and not enter into chemical reactions. Many distillers use aluminum and plastic flasks at the stage of preparing the mash. also well suited as a distillation tank of a moonshine still. It turns out that the flask is a universal dish for moonshine.

1. Availability. Aluminum, ceramic, plastic flasks are easy to find in any hardware or hardware store. It often happens that the necessary utensils were purchased in advance to store other products, such as juices, milk, water.
2. Volume. The range is wide, the volume should be chosen depending on the expected scale of production. Artificial yeast produces a lot of foam during fermentation, 1/3 of the container has to be left free. Natural wine yeast does not give such an effect, the flask is used as useful as possible.
3. Mobility. The form can be chosen convenient for storage and movement, tilting. Big volume means big weight. Handles on the sides of the lid will help out here.
4. Ease of maintenance. The walls of such a container are easy to wash inside and out. The material is smooth and works well. The wide mouth makes it easy to get to the bottom.
5. Safety. The flask was invented and created specifically for storing food liquids. It is sealed, does not transmit light, excludes the possibility of any extraneous chemical reactions.

Moonshine in a flask

The process of home brewing is a painstaking work consisting of many stages. Constantly puzzling over the questions of where to transfer, how to transfer, what to store in, how much to do and others is simply impractical. It is better to spend money once, having bought a good container, and not to fill your head with trifles in the future. To make their work as easy as possible, distillers buy containers already equipped with a water seal and a thermostat. With such equipment, it will be possible to solve all problems at once.

Basics of making mash

The ingredients of the mash can be fruits, berries, vegetables, cereals, herbs. The simplest, standard recipe involves the use of three elements: water, yeast, sugar. The main thing is to correctly observe the proportions, weigh everything yourself, not trusting the inscriptions on the packaging.

The proportions are as follows:

• water - four liters;
• sugar - one kg;
• yeast - 100 pressed, 20 grams of dry or 200 grams of wine.

The ingredients should be of the best quality, you don’t want to ruin the whole thing because of water with impurities or expired yeast. The same applies to fruits and other ingredients that can be used. They should not be spoiled, they cannot be washed, treated with additional means. Failure to comply with the proportions will lead to the death of the yeast, the fermentation process will be interrupted under the influence of alcohol. Poor quality ingredients will cause bad taste, smell, appearance of moonshine.

Consider a step-by-step recipe for making mash based on a 40-liter flask. You need to know that sugar, taking up space in a container, displaces water: one kg is 0.6 liters. Based on standard proportions, we need 10 kg of granulated sugar, 30 liters of pure water, yeast at the rate of: pressed - one kg, dry - 200 g, wine - two liters. Water is placed together with sugar in a flask, mixed well. Having selected two or three liters of liquid, add yeast to it, mix until smooth, pour back into the flask. The result is a blank with a volume of 37 liters.

The rest of the space is left empty, this place is needed for foaming during the fermentation process. If it is too active, crumble the cookies by sprinkling them on the surface of the mash. A little sunflower oil will also work. Now it's time for conservation. Close the lid, install a water seal on it. Stretched cling film with holes is also suitable. Store the mash at room temperature or slightly below temperature, in a dark place. The optimal fermentation period is up to a week. Readiness can be checked in several ways:

1. To taste. Braga should not be sour, sweet.
2. Bring a match. If the fire does not flicker, this means that carbon dioxide is no longer emitted.
3. No bubbles in the water seal.

Ready mash should be filtered from sediment through three or four layers of gauze, poured into glassware, left to wait for distillation.

The yeast in this recipe is unnatural, their mineral composition is minimal. It will be better to feed them naturally. A handful of crushed berries, black bread, tomato paste, natural juice will do.

It is important to choose the right container for fermentation. It can be glass, food grade plastic. If distillation will be carried out in the same container, take stainless steel or aluminum.

Do not trust the purity of water taken from the water supply, reservoirs, springs, wells. It is better to let it stand for two or three days, then filter it through gauze, a carbon filter. You can not boil water, this will remove all the oxygen necessary for fermentation from it.

Get high-quality, clean moonshine will come out if you overtake the mash two or three times. This will save moonshine from all impurities, acids, oils. It will give the spirit crystal clearness and mild taste.

Moonshine cleaning

The flask is good for fermentation, distillation, but a transparent container will help clean the moonshine, which will allow you to monitor the process. To clean moonshine use the following methods:

Cleaning with potassium permanganate. This is done before the second distillation. In the bottle you need to put a few grains of potassium permanganate, mix. The liquid will turn pink. Leave to stand for three days. There will be a dark sediment in the form of flakes at the bottom. These are the harmful elements. You can separate the moonshine by pouring it with a tube or straining it through dense cotton wool.

Milk cleaning. Such cleaning means that milk must be added to moonshine and distilled like this: one liter of milk per five liters of drink. And you can also add 150 grams of milk to three liters of moonshine, wait until it curdles, absorbing harmful impurities, and filter.

Charcoal cleaning. After the first distillation, crushed activated carbon is poured into moonshine: 50 grams per liter. Thus, moonshine costs a week, then it is filtered through a cotton-gauze filter.

Homemade moonshine still

Ready mash needs to be distilled in a moonshine still. But it happens that a specialized device is not available. Then distillers resort to improvised means. How to make a homemade apparatus in a flask? As a capacity of the distillation tank, an aluminum flask is perfect. Before pouring the mash into the distillation cube, it is processed and disinfected. But you need to remove the rubber gasket under the lid: alcohol absorbs the chemicals from the rubber. Replace with silicone.

Having finished sealing, you should drill a hole for connection with a coil or dry steamer, with a more complex design - with a refrigerator. For the selection of fractions, a simple three-liter bottle is suitable. Such a flask should be installed on a heating element. Let it be a 600 watt electric stove. An aluminum apparatus is installed on its surface. It is worth paying attention to safety, before distillation, you can check the serviceability and load of the plate, the integrity of the moonshine still.

An even simpler way to get moonshine is to use the "grandmother's" method, based on the condensation of alcohol vapor with cold water.

Thus, it is quite possible to make moonshine in a flask. This container can replace the corresponding apparatus for distilling mash into homemade liquor.

The preparation of sugar moonshine can be called a classic of domestic moonshine. In terms of love and prevalence among Russians, this alcohol is the undisputed leader. There are many recipes for sugar mash and distillation methods, but not all methods give a good result. So that beginners do not waste precious raw materials for nothing, I will tell you how to brew moonshine at home. Subject to technology, the drink will turn out better than most store-bought vodkas. We will consider in detail all the nuances of the process.

First, I advise you to take care of the cleanliness of the containers used. Rinse the container with hot water and wipe dry with a clean cloth. The cleaner the bottles and pans, the higher the quality. Many novice moonshiners make the mistake of neglecting sterility, and then complain about a third-party smell or taste.

As an example, I will give the exact amount of ingredients that are needed to prepare a little more than 5 liters of forty-degree moonshine using classical technology:

• sugar - 6 kg;
• water - 24 liters;
• dry yeast - 120 grams (or 600 grams pressed);
• citric acid - 25 grams.

Sugar mash recipe

1. Calculation of proportions. First, let's determine the amount of moonshine that is needed at the exit. At home, from 1 kg of sugar, 1.1-1.2 liters of moonshine with a strength of 40 degrees is obtained. But when calculating, I advise you to increase the amount of ingredients by 10-15%, since for various reasons (temperature, quality of raw materials, improper distillation), the real yield is always less than the theoretical one by this value.

For 1 kg of sugar add: 4 liters of water (plus another 0.5 liters if inverted) and 100 grams of pressed yeast or 20 grams of dry.

2. Invert sugar. A very complicated name refers to the preparation of ordinary sugar syrup with citric acid. The fact is that during fermentation, yeast first breaks down sugar into simple monosaccharides - glucose with fructose, and only then processes these substances into alcohol. Heating also kills pathogens on the surface of the sugar, which are waiting for more favorable conditions (temperature and humidity) to thrive. Activation of harmful microbes in the wash is undesirable, as it can adversely affect the smell.

Moonshine made from inverted sugar ferments faster and tastes better. Although the invert step is considered optional, and most recipes only suggest dissolving the sugar in warm water, I still recommend boiling the syrup.

To invert sugar for mash, you need to do the following:

1. Heat 3 liters of water to 70-80°C in a large saucepan.
2. Pour sugar (6 kg) and mix slowly until a homogeneous mass is formed.
3. Bring the syrup to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, removing the foam from the surface.
4. So slow(a lot of foam will appear) pour in citric acid (25 grams), reduce the heat on the stove to a minimum.
5. Close the pan with a lid, boil for 60 minutes.

3. Water preparation. A very important stage, during which the taste of the finished product is largely formed. Water for mash must comply with hygienic standards, have no color, no taste, no smell.

Attention! Moonshine water should not be boiled or distilled as this will deplete the oxygen the yeast needs to ferment.

4. Mixing ingredients. Pour the syrup prepared at the 2nd stage into a fermentation container, add cold water (24 liters). If non-inverted sugar is used, dissolve it in warm water, stirring vigorously. In both cases, the optimum temperature of the finished mixture is 27-30°C.

The container must not be filled more than ¾ of the volume, otherwise, during active foaming, the mash may overflow over the edges and it will be necessary to collect the product with a specific smell along the floor.

5. Introduction of yeast. Pressed yeast can be added directly to the container, after kneading with clean hands. But still, it is better to first dissolve the briquette in a small amount of cooked wort (water and sugar), cover with a lid and wait until foam appears. Usually it takes 5-10 minutes.

Before adding to the wort, dry yeast needs to be pre-activated. All you need to do is follow the instructions on the package. In most cases, boiled water is cooled to 32-36 ° C, the right amount of dry yeast is poured in, covered with a lid, and the container itself is wrapped in a dense cloth or placed in a warm place to maintain a stable temperature. After 20-40 minutes, a uniform foam cap will appear on the surface. This means that diluted dry yeast can be added to the wort.

When using baker's yeast, active foaming sometimes begins, which goes beyond the capacity. As a defoamer for mash, I recommend using a crumbled half of dry store-bought cookies or 10-20 ml of vegetable oil. The addition of these products will not affect the quality of moonshine in any way.

The video shows the method of setting the mash without inverting sugar with a 1: 4 water ratio.

6. Fermentation. Install a water seal on the bottle with mash and transfer to a room with a stable temperature of 26-31 ° C (very important for the normal development of yeast). Braga on inverted sugar has a pleasant caramel smell that does not spoil the air.

To maintain the temperature regime, cover the container with blankets or fur coats, insulate it with building thermal insulation materials, or install aquarium heaters with a thermoregulation system. Fermentation lasts from 3 to 10 days (usually 4-7). Every 12-16 hours I recommend shaking the mash for 45-60 seconds without removing the water seal. Shaking will remove excess carbon dioxide that interferes with the normal functioning of the yeast.

Signs of readiness of sugar mash for distillation:

• bitter taste (all sugar is processed by yeast into alcohol);
• the release of carbon dioxide has stopped (the water seal does not gurgle);
• the upper layers of the mash became lighter, and a sediment appeared at the bottom;
• the hissing stopped;
• alcohol smell is felt;
• a match brought to Braga continues to burn.

Use the signs in a complex way, you need at least 2-3 to appear at the same time, otherwise it is easy to make a mistake. For example, an excess of sugar leads to the fact that the yeast dies before they have time to process everything. Most yeast fungi "fall asleep" at an alcohol concentration above 12%, so even ready-made mash will remain sweet.

7. Degassing and clarification. Making the right moonshine is unthinkable without this stage. It's time to remove the sugar wash from the yeast sediment by pouring into a large saucepan through a straw, then heat to 50 ° C. The high temperature kills the yeast residue and promotes the release of carbon dioxide from the liquid.

Pour the degassed mash back into the bottle and clarify with bentonite (preferably) - natural white clay, which is sold in bags and as part of cat litter. Verified brands (at the time of publication): Pi-Pi-Bent, WC Closet Cat, Kotyara.

Attention! When choosing white clay, make sure that the composition does not contain aromatic additives that will irrevocably spoil homemade moonshine. Also, before clarification, fermentation must be completely over, otherwise the method will not work.

To clarify 20 liters of mash, you need to grind 2-3 tablespoons of bentonite in a coffee grinder and dissolve in 250 ml of warm water. Then mix and wait until the clay turns into a thick mass, reminiscent of fatty sour cream. This takes 10-15 minutes.

Add bentonite to the mash, close the container tightly and shake vigorously for several minutes. Next, leave the mash alone for 15-30 hours, after which you can start distillation.

The sediment cannot be poured into the sewer, cement plugs may appear there, which are then difficult to eliminate.

The use of bentonite removes third-party impurities that have not precipitated during fermentation. As a result, the unpleasant yeasty smell disappears from the mash, and the expelled moonshine is much easier to clean, since the clay removes most of the harmful substances.

How to drive moonshine

8. First distillation. Drain the mash clarified with bentonite from the sediment into a distillation cube. The purpose of the first distillation is to separate alcohol from other substances. Many beginners and lazy moonshiners stop at this, never having tasted real homemade moonshine, made according to all the rules.

The distillation is done over low heat. I propose to immediately divide the output into fractions: "heads", "body" and "tails". Collect the first 50 ml per 1 kg of sugar in a separate container. According to our proportions, this is 300 ml of "pervak" - the head fraction, which can only be used for technical needs, because of harmful impurities, this distillate is dangerous to health.

Then select the "body" - a useful middle fraction, called raw alcohol. The selection should be stopped when the strength of the distillate (in the stream) falls below 40 degrees. It is better to determine the strength with an alcohol meter (necessarily at a temperature of 20 ° C), but you can also use the folk method - while the distillate is burning in a spoon, continue the selection.

The last to collect the “tails” in a separate container is the third fraction containing a lot of fusel oils. This distillate can be poured into the next mash (after removal from the sediment) to increase the strength or not collected at all by turning off the moonshine after collecting the “body”.

9. Cleaning. Before the second distillation, the middle fraction (raw alcohol) needs additional purification from harmful impurities. There is no single universally recognized method, you can use any.

Cleaning sugar moonshine with coal is considered natural and environmentally friendly, but with the right approach, for example, potassium permanganate with baking soda, they also give a good result. The main thing before cleaning is to dilute the distillate with water to 15-20 degrees so that the molecular bonds become weaker.

10. Second distillation. Pour diluted (required for fire safety purposes) raw alcohol into a distillation cube, start distillation at minimum heat. As for the first time, especially if you make moonshine for yourself, cut off the “heads” - the first 50 ml for each kilogram of added sugar.

Immediately after the selection of the first (head) fraction, it is advisable to replace the steamer, if the module is provided for by the design of the moonshine still. Further, until the fortress in the jet falls below 40 degrees, select the main product.

11. Dilution and settling. At the last stage, dilute home-brew with water to the desired strength (usually 40-45%). To make the taste of the drink softer and more balanced, pour the finished product into bottles, close with corks, let it brew for 3-4 days in a cool, dark place. This time is enough to complete the chemical reactions that occur when liquids are mixed.

Stanislav shared the secrets of diluting alcohol with water especially for Alkofan.

In the technology of home brewing and the production of other strong alcohol, all the nuances are important. That is why the preparation of whiskey, bourbon, grappa, chacha and moonshine used to be an important family affair, the subtleties of which were passed on from older generations to the younger ones. The taste and quality of the wort is highly dependent on what kind of utensils are chosen for fermentation. In order for the mash to be obtained and give an excellent product after distillation, the fermentation tank must be of the right volume and from a suitable material. No less important is the tightness and the material from which the lid and water seal are made.

The material from which the container for mash should be made

Various vessels made of glass, food-grade plastic and stainless steel are commonly used. But as an exception, there are also containers for mash made of wood - barrels. A traditional, very “significant” vessel for making mash is a large milk can. What are the pros and cons of these materials?

Plastic

Polyethylene containers for fermenting mash from under water and other food products are cheap, and therefore are used very widely. Craftsmen easily equip plastic buckets and other containers for mash with heaters, agitator pumps, home-made water seals and other devices. But, despite the availability and ease of use, it is not recommended to cook mash in plastic containers. After all, the environment in Braga most of the time is not neutral, as in water, but acidic. During long fermentation, many harmful compounds can pass into the wort. It is not known whether they will harm health, but the taste and smell of the product can spoil.

Aluminum

Very often aluminum cans and flasks are used to make mash, this is not recommended, and the reason is almost the same as in the case of plastic. Food aluminum itself is harmless, but the aggressive acidic environment created in the wort oxidizes the substances from the alloy. As a result, the oxidation products are in solution.

Glass

Glass containers are the ideal fermentation container choice for many. It is absolutely chemically neutral, available. The glass vessel for mash is transparent, which allows you to better control the processes occurring in it. But glass also has significant disadvantages:

• The main disadvantage is fragility, it can break from uneven heating, from mechanical or internal pressure.

The 20 and 10 liter wide-mouth bottles used to be a real treasure in the home, when glass containers were more difficult to obtain.

• The contents of glass bottles quickly cool down, so they need to be additionally insulated (wrapped).
• Light that freely enters through the glass can degrade the quality of the mash. Therefore, you need to store the mash in a dark place, wrap it up or just use dark glass bottles for mash.

A glass container is a good choice for home winemakers who are used to dealing with this material, but we will not recommend using it for mash because it is not entirely practical and traumatic, it is better to use such containers for the finished product.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel is the best choice for a fermentation tank. It is resistant to alcohol and acid and cannot be broken or broken. Stainless steel to some extent inhibits the development of harmful microflora that can spoil the mash. Its only drawback is the high cost. But, if you put the wort for distillation all the time and if you care about quality, then you should purchase a stainless steel container. It will be a justified and reasonable investment. If you own a welding machine, you can make a stainless steel container for mash with your own hands.

Tree

For fermentation, you can use an oak barrel. The tree will enrich the mash with new aromas and tastes. It will protect from sunlight and temperature changes. Wood would be the ideal material, but barrels are expensive and useless for fermentation. Use barrels for their intended purpose, for storing and aging ready-made drinks.

Volume and other characteristics

It is well known that the container for the mash should be one third larger in volume than the liquid poured into it. Beginners usually use plastic or glass containers from 10 to 30 liters. Smaller containers (3 l, 5 l) can be taken for drinking mash and other homemade alcohol. These volumes are not enough for distillation and preparation of strong homemade alcohol. It is convenient to use fermenters of large volume and with a wide mouth it is convenient to fill in, drain and wash containers.

Experienced distillers have at their disposal large stainless steel tanks for mash or CCT (cylindrical-conical tank), their volume can be from 30 to 500 liters. It is impossible to transfer them, and therefore such containers are equipped with everything necessary: ​​a crane, a water seal, a heating and mixing system.

Another important characteristic of containers is tightness. Wort fermentation is an anaerobic process, that is, it does not require the presence of oxygen. But the development of harmful microflora in the must occurs if there is air in the container. To suppress unnecessary bacteria, it is important to limit the access of air from outside. The lid should be perfectly lapped, there should be no chips on the glass or cracks on the plastic. When purchasing a stainless steel container, check the tightness of the seams.

Purchase a container for mash, based on your needs and capabilities. If you are an experienced moonshiner and confident in the quality of your product, stainless steel is the best choice for you. If you are a beginner or do occasional distilling, then use glass bottles.

Sugar moonshine is a classic Russian distillery. She has won love among many lovers of homemade alcohol. There are a huge number of recipes for making sugar mash at home, in which the proportions sometimes differ, but the moonshine yield is always almost the same. Making homemade alcohol is justified for several reasons. The first is the environmental friendliness of raw materials, sugar is a pure product and properly prepared moonshine does not cause poisoning and a strong hangover. The second is the cost of the product, making moonshine at home is much cheaper than buying store-bought alcohol. Approximately 1.1 liters come out of 1 kg of granulated sugar. ready drink with a strength of 40 degrees.

As a result, you will get decent alcohol, and if it is refined by various methods, then it will not be inferior to expensive elite drinks. The easiest way for a beginner is to “ferment” to make mash from sugar, and then get a distillate. How to prepare intoxicating drinks correctly, what proportions to use, what dishes and how many ingredients to take, the entire cycle of obtaining moonshine is described in detail in this article.

To make a mash you will need: fermentation dishes, water, sugar, yeast, water seal, sugar meter, aquarium heater. The last three devices are optional, it is quite possible to do without them.

Container for mash. The main indicators when choosing dishes for fermentation are: volume, material of manufacture, tightness. For some types of mash, a water seal is also needed, which performs two functions: it ensures the release of carbon dioxide and prevents oxygen from entering the mash.

Tank volume for fermentation depends entirely on your needs. Be sure to take into account that the mash should fill no more than ¾ of the volume of the fermentation tank. Otherwise, there is a risk of foam being thrown out during fermentation.

Material. The most preferred material for fermentation is glass. Various bottles, glass jars. You can also use food grade stainless steel. Currently, plastic containers of various sizes are sold, the main thing is to make sure that it is suitable for food products. Often at home, aluminum dishes, milk flasks, and pots are used. It is very convenient if the container has a drain valve, which will greatly facilitate the work.

Attention!

1. Be sure to thoroughly rinse all dishes with hot water and detergent before use, and then dry well with a clean towel. The cleaner the dishes, the less the risk of souring the mash, which can lead to an unpleasant taste of moonshine.

2. Before pouring water, place the fermentation tank on a stand 0.5 meters high. Firstly, this will improve heat exchange, and secondly, it will be easier to drain the fermented mash in the future.

Which yeast to choose. For the preparation of moonshine, it is advisable to take special alcohol yeast. The use of alcohol yeast gives a higher yield of alcohol during fermentation, better organoleptic. The instructions always say how much sugar a pack is designed for. The only disadvantage of alcoholic yeast is that it is difficult to find them and the price is quite high. But instead of alcohol, affordable dry or pressed, Belarusian ones are suitable. Dry yeast is taken from the calculation 20 grams per kilogram of sugar. Proportions for pressed: 100 grams per 1 kg of sugar.

The addition of dry yeast makes the mash in quality no worse, and sometimes even better. Raw pressed ones give the drink too fusel flavor, and the use of dry ones gives rapid fermentation and abundant foaming. Another plus of dry and alcoholic yeast is a long shelf life.

What kind of water to use. Good proper water is the basis of the taste of the final product. For the preparation of sugar mash, well-purified water, odorless, tasteless and without additives, should be used. The most suitable water is spring or bottled. If tap water is used, it is recommended to stand for 1-2 days before use, and then carefully drain it with a hose. Hydromodule: per 1 kg. sugar - 4 liters of water.

Classic sugar moonshine recipe

According to this recipe, mash is prepared from sugar and yeast. The yield of purified moonshine is approximately 5.5 liters after the second fractional distillation, the alcohol content of the drink is 45 percent.

Ingredients:

• Sugar - 5 kg;
• Dry yeast - 100 gr;
• Spring water - 20 liters.

Wort preparation:

1. Pour warm water at 25-30 ° into the container where fermentation will take place, add sugar. Stir the mixture thoroughly until the sugar is completely dissolved. Recently, complaints about sugar have often been received - it does not ferment well, it is not sweet, etc. To avoid embarrassment, you can use the device - saccharometer. The saccharometer shows the density of sugar in the wort. For normal mash, the saccharometer should show a density of 18-22%.
2. In a separate bowl, dilute, ferment the yeast. Pour 300 ml of water at 28°C, add a tablespoon of sugar, stir, add dry yeast, dilute, after about 10-15 minutes, when the yeast rises, add it to the fermentation tank. To reduce foaming during fermentation, it is recommended to add Saf-moment yeast - 11 gr. If you use pressed yeast in the recipe, then you need to take them 500 gr.
3. For normal operation of yeast, in addition to sugar and water top dressing is required . This is not a mandatory moment, but it is desirable, it allows you to speed up the process. There are chemical special dressings with phosphorus and nitrogen, there are ordinary household ways to “cheer up” the mash. First of all, this is black bread, for 20 liters of mash, half a loaf will be enough. Also, as a top dressing, it is recommended to use grapes, raspberries, strawberries at the rate of 15-20 pieces per 20 liters.
4. It is not necessary to install a water seal for sugar mash, it is enough to loosely close the lid, and if the neck is small, then cover it with several layers of gauze.

Fermentation. In order for the wort to ferment well, it needs to provide a favorable temperature regime. The ideal temperature for fermentation is 28-31 °C. It can be slightly lower, but in no case higher than 35 °, at this temperature the yeast will die and the mash will not ferment.

A warm room or the use of an aquarium heater allows this mode to be provided. Heaters come in various capacities from 50 watts and more, which one to choose depends on the capacity of the container. For 40 liters of mash, 100 watts of power is enough, provided that it is indoors. The convenience of the heater is that it maintains a stable temperature with the built-in thermostat. Set on the regulator 28 ° and lower into the fermentation tank, connect to the power supply, the temperature will stand and be maintained automatically.

With proper temperature maintenance, the presence of top dressing, fermentation lasts 7-14 days. Once or twice a day, the sugar mash must be stirred well to remove carbon dioxide.

How to determine the readiness of the mash:

1. Carbon dioxide stopped emitting, the water seal calmed down, stopped gurgling. There are no rising bubbles on the surface. Light a match over the mash, if it burns, then no gas is released.
2. Stratification is present in the mash, the top layer has become light, the yeast has partially precipitated.
3. The taste of mash has become bitter, no sweetness is felt.
4. In the smell and taste of mash there is a clear aroma of alcohol.
5. The most accurate method is to use a sugar meter. If the wort has fermented, then the saccharometer will show “0”.

Clarification and cleaning of mash

Clarification and degassing should be done in order to improve the final taste of moonshine. Degassing is the process of removing residual carbon dioxide. To do this, the wort must be heated to 55 ° C, live yeast dies at this temperature. One of the easiest ways to lighten the mash with cold, if the temperature allows. Take Braga for a day or two in the cold -5 ° or + 5 ° and it will naturally lighten. The yeast will fall to the bottom, after which the mash must be decanted, that is, carefully drained from the sediment using a thin silicone or PVC hose.

You can also speed up the process and lighten the mash in other faster ways using bentonite, gelatin or protein. For sugar mash, it is most often preferred to use bentonite for clarification. Bentonite is a natural product, natural white clay. The Pi-Pi-Bent brand is suitable for cleaning, the main thing is that there are no flavors in it. For 20 liters of mash, 2-3 tablespoons of clay are enough. Before use, it must be dissolved in a glass of warm water and stirred thoroughly. Then pour the mixture into the mash and mix. After 12-24 hours, the mash becomes transparent, it remains only to drain it from the sediment.

Getting moonshine from mash

First race. Pour the clarified, purified mash into the cube of the moonshine still. And overtake at high power. Heads and tails do not need to be removed during the first distillation. The first time the raw material is taken almost to the water, so that there would be 5-7 degrees in the stream.

Intermediate cleaning. The resulting moonshine before the second fractional distillation must be cleaned of harmful impurities. There are many proven ways to do this. The most popular method among distillers is charcoal cleaning. There is a way to clean with oil and others.

1. Purification of moonshine with coal. You can clean the raw using a carbon filter or fill the coal with raw. For the first method, you need to make a filter from a plastic bottle. Cut off the bottom of the bottle a, drill a few holes in the cork. Put a layer of cotton wool tightly into the cork, screw it onto the bottle. Pour BAU or KAU coal at the rate of 10-12 grams of coal per 1 liter of moonshine. Pass moonshine through the filter. In the second method, pour coal directly into raw alcohol. Grind coal beforehand, add 50 g per liter. Stir thoroughly, insist overnight. Then filter the moonshine. Coal absorbs up to 80% of fusel oil and various esters.
2. Purification of moonshine with sunflower oil. For cleaning, you need to take refined sunflower oil. Dilute moonshine to 15-20 degrees of strength, add 20 grams of oil per liter of raw alcohol. Stir well three times at intervals of 1-3 minutes. Leave for a day to settle, drain with a tube without touching the upper oily layer. Strain through a cotton filter. For cleaning efficiency, these two methods can be combined. First oil, then charcoal.

Fractional distillation. Pour purified, diluted moonshine from sugar up to 20 degrees into the distillation cube of the moonshine still. Proceed to the stage with the selection of fractions. Select the head fraction at low power. The heads are taken drop by drop, the selection rate is 1-2 drops per second, such a slow intake of liquid allows you to qualitatively get rid of the poisonous first fractions. The number of heads is taken 50 ml from each kilogram of sugar.

Then change the receiving container and select the drinking fraction "body". The body is taken up to 45-50 degrees in the jet. Then the tails will go, it's up to you to select them or not. Usually, the tail fraction is added to the mash before distillation in order to increase the yield of moonshine.

Refinement and refinement of moonshine

As a result, you will get moonshine from sugar with a strength of about 65 degrees. For drinking, such a fortress is too high, so it must be diluted with clean bottled water to 40-45 degrees. A special calculator will help to do this correctly. To soften the taste, moonshine can be heated on the stove to 70 degrees, while unnecessary substances will evaporate from it. Pour the diluted distillate into bottles, let it “rest in the glass” for 2-3 days, or better, let it stand for a week and you can start tasting.

Sugar moonshine has a more neutral taste compared to grain and fruit distillates. Therefore, at home, it is more used for the preparation of various liqueurs to insist berries and fruits on it. Making other delicious homemade alcohol.