Making homemade moonshine. Fruit moonshine recipes

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Moonshine is the most “natural product” that is suitable not only for consumption in its original form, but also for preparing a wide variety of tinctures, including medicinal ones. To make them, various gifts of nature are used: dried fruits, spices, dry herbs, berries, etc. Please note that as a result of simple manipulations you can get a very decent, tasty and aromatic drink that can compete with its counterparts of “aristocratic” origin. In order to get such an impressive result, you need to use a carefully prepared “base”, that is, moonshine that has gone through a repeated purification process.

Refining moonshine is an activity bordering on haute cuisine. You can intelligently combine various ingredients to get individual bouquets. Russian moonshine liqueurs with bitter “warming” flavors are famous. All kinds of seasonings are the best way to enrich drinks with spicy and fiery tones. You can sweeten moonshine using syrups. The easiest way to prepare:

• Boil 1 kg of sugar in 1 liter of water. You definitely need to remove the foam.
• Then let the syrup brew for 2 weeks, because the composition may contain sediment, which during this period will concentrate at the bottom of the container and, naturally, must be removed. Honey is also used as a sweetener for moonshine.

When adding syrup or honey to a drink, the alcohol must be heated so that gases begin to be released. When gas separation ends, the drink can be considered ready for further action - filtration. It can be done using coal. Purified moonshine is bottled and infused for 3 days at a temperature of 3-4°C. A delicious sweet drink is ready!

Based on the type of effect, additives for moonshine can be divided into the following groups:

• taste;
• aromatic;
• chemicals for cleaning;
• natural adsorbents;
• dyes.

The division is somewhat arbitrary, since many plants and chemicals affect taste, color and smell simultaneously.

Flavoring and coloring substances are added in different ways:

• poured in dry form (chopped herbs, wood chips, ready-made additives in the form of powders);
• in the form of infusions or decoctions;
• in the form of essences and aromatic oils;
• during distillation (dry additives must be placed in a steamer, liquid additives can be poured into the mash).

Changing the color of moonshine with natural dyes

The appearance of a drink subjectively affects the perception of its taste. Psychologists have proven that with the right color scheme, alcohol can seem tastier than it actually is. Ladies are especially sensitive to the color of alcohol. The problem of transparent moonshine can be solved with natural dyes, the best recipes for which we will consider further.

Black tea

The simplest method, which has virtually no effect on the taste. For 3 liters of moonshine, just add 1 tablespoon of high-quality black tea (not from a bag), stir, tightly close the jar with a lid and leave for 3-5 days in a dark place.

Every day the shade will change, starting from cognac light brown and ending with a rich black color. Lovers of beautiful smells can infuse moonshine with dry tea with the aroma of barberry, bergamot, or add a clove bud along with the brew.

Orange (lemon) peels

The specific smell of poorly purified moonshine is removed, and a pleasant sourness appears in the taste. The addition of lemons makes the moonshine light green, and the addition of oranges makes it slightly yellow with a golden tint. Only pre-dried peels are suitable for refining, preferably without white pulp, which gives bitterness. Recipe: put the peel of one medium orange or two lemons on 3 liters of moonshine, leave for 10-14 days in a hermetically sealed jar at room temperature.

Prunes

A great way to flavor moonshine with cognac, adding interesting flavor notes to the drink that are found in Armenian cognacs. For a three-liter jar of moonshine you will need 100 grams of prunes; after 7-10 days of infusion, the moonshine will change color, a pleasant aroma will appear and the taste will soften. The exposure duration can be changed at your discretion.

Nuts and partitions

The simplest solution: add 15 walnuts to 1 liter of moonshine for 7 days, then strain through cheesecloth. The taste and color of the drink will change beyond recognition. The recipe for moonshine with pine nuts is somewhat more complicated; it requires preliminary evaporation of the nuts, removing excess resin, then aging for 30 days. But the result is worth it, if there is a sufficient amount of fruit (150 grams of nuts per liter of moonshine).

Caramel (burnt sugar)

A well-known method for making fake cognacs and whiskey. To paint moonshine a pleasant yellow color, you need to heat a tablespoon of sugar over the fire until brown, then add the finished caramel to 1 liter of moonshine and stir until completely dissolved.

Instant coffee

Quickly changes the color of moonshine and eliminates the unpleasant odor. New notes appear in the taste. It is enough to add half a teaspoon of coffee per liter of moonshine. After coffee, you can no longer dilute the drink with water, otherwise it will become cloudy, and filtration will not help, only distillation.

St. John's wort

Colors moonshine light brown. Tincture recipe: add 1 tablespoon of dried St. John's wort per 1 liter of moonshine, stir, close the jar tightly and place in a dark place for 7 days. Shake once a day, then strain through cheesecloth.

Remember that St. John's wort is a medicinal plant with a strong sedative (calming) effect. You should not drink more than 300 grams of this tincture at a time.

Food colorings

Not a bad option for those who urgently need to tint their moonshine. With the right dye, you can get any color without affecting the taste and smell. The main thing is to create a natural shade and follow the instructions on the label exactly. Not all food colorings are compatible with alcohol; you need to check with sellers before purchasing.

Delicious moonshine recipes

How to make good, tasty homemade moonshine at home? Here are some recipes to help you complete your collection.

Making moonshine “Green tea”

1. Pour two hundred grams of tea (green) with water. Tea, by the way, must be fresh and of the highest quality. This tea is needed to dilute seven and a half liters of moonshine (double).
2. Squeeze the tea leaves there (through the cloth) and let it sit for eight days. When these days fly by, add another hundred grams of the same tea and two and a half liters of water.
3. There are three steps left to do: distill, sweeten, filter.

Homemade moonshine “Clean Rice”

1. You need to take two hundred grams of rice (crushed), four hundred grams of raisins (large and boiled in water), one bottle of malaga and sugar syrup (as much as you want).
2. Add two hundred grams of brewer's yeast (white) and four hundred grams of water.
3. Leave this “mixture” to ferment for four days. After that, add six liters of spring water (soft) and twelve liters of double moonshine.
4. Distill so that you get only nine liters of moonshine.
5. Take another vessel (any), “throw” vanilla into it (four teaspoons) and a little seventy-degree moonshine (triple).
6. Leave for four days and filter. To the moonshine that you have already distilled, add vanilla tincture and a few drops of oil (rose).
7. Take oak bark (six hundred grams) and galangal root (five grams).
8. Put them (root and oak bark) in a bag (canvas). Place the bag in a container with moonshine and seal the container tightly.

Moonshine "Sage Fairy"

1. Just pour some ready-made moonshine over fresh apples. All apples must be thoroughly soaked in alcoholic liquid.
2. Afterwards, “subject” them to insistence for a period of six months. If you have the patience to wait for the result for a whole six months, you need, after exactly this period of time, strain the liquid, pouring it into a saucepan.
3. Add sugar to taste and place the pan with the liquid on the fire. Let it boil three times. Watch as carefully as possible to ensure that the moonshine does not suddenly decide to burst into flames.
4. Leave the liquid to infuse in some cool place.
5. It should be kept cool until all the grounds settle to the very bottom.
6. Then, strain what you get, adding water (calculation: two and a half liters of water per ten liters of moonshine).
7. After that comes distillation and filtration.

Making moonshine “Khlebushki”

1. Make a choice: millet, barley, corn, peas, rye or wheat.
2. Pour the selected “component” with warm water and let it germinate, making sure that the grain does not sour.
3. When the grain germinates, it needs to be dried and ground into flour, adding little by little to boiling water.
4. Don't forget to stir.
5. When the liquid is very reminiscent of jelly, cover it and let it brew for twelve hours.
6. After that, add one kilogram of peas (dry).
7. Leave to ferment for ten days.
8. Then distill it.

Homemade moonshine “Rozochka”

1. Take rose petals, mash them and put them in some container. Sprinkle them with salt.
2. Next, you need to spread the cloth (wet), cover it with a circle with pressure and leave for eight days in a cool place.
3. When the rose petals begin to rot, stop the infusion period.
4. Place everything into a cube and fill with water (1:1). Then stir and distill.
5. All that remains is to add a little sugar and filter.

Making homemade moonshine “Svekolochka”

1. Take beets. Rub it. Pour water over the beets and boil (several hours).
2. Then drain the liquid into a container. And again - fill the beets with water, boil for the same time and drain.
3. In general, this “stage” needs to be done three times.
4. Add yeast to the liquid (calculation: one hundred grams per ten liters).
5. Leave for fifteen days until foam forms.
6. The final “stage” is the distillation.

Moonshine "Lavender"

1. Take one hundred grams of lavender flowers. You will also need cinnamon (twenty-five grams) and cloves (twenty-five grams).
2. Chop cinnamon, lavender and cloves and mix.
3. Pour twelve liters of moonshine with this mixture and let it brew for a week.
4. Afterwards, put a slice of bread with honey “on the surface” into the tincture.
5. Perform the distillation over low heat.

Several delicious recipes for moonshine tinctures

It is worth mentioning that literally anything can be infused with moonshine. The only question is what you will get as a result of your experiment. It is likely that the result of the applied imagination and effort will be the appearance of a new exotic drink. Well, while you are looking for a suitable idea, try the following recipes for moonshine tinctures, a detailed description of which you will find below.

"Hrenovukha"

Horseradish is a seasoning that is usually consumed in the winter season, which is facilitated by its warming properties. Fans of homemade preparations know that this plant is suitable not only for food, but also for making horseradish - a potent alcoholic drink made from horseradish and moonshine. The main secret of making such a product is compliance with the proportions and infusion time. So, you need to mix 2 liters of fusel milk, 100 grams of coarsely chopped horseradish root, a little ginger, fresh lime and natural honey. Everything needs to be cut, since pureed ingredients make the drink cloudy and unassuming. Sometimes the recipe for horseradish tincture with diluted alcohol or moonshine is supplemented with currant or cherry leaves, red pepper and other additives. Infuse the mixture for at least five days. Remember, the longer the bottle sits, the stronger the crap becomes. You need to drink it after straining, diluting it with the juice of sauerkraut or fresh cranberries.

We insist on oak

Moonshine tincture made from dried oak bark has a pronounced cognac hue and a distinct spicy taste with woody notes. Let’s say more, this oak bark liqueur is in many ways superior to industrial cognac, it has such a refined and “expensive” taste. There are a lot of recipes for making this version of moonshine tincture, because each amateur adds those ingredients that are more to his taste and habits. We offer one of the most delicious and popular recipes, simple to execute.

So:

• In a 3-liter jar of moonshine you need to put 50 grams of oak chips, 15 grams each of honey, St. John's wort and oregano;
• We also put 20 allspice peas there, and add cloves, coriander and vanilla sticks at our discretion;
• The minimum period for infusing oak bark into moonshine is 3 days, but it is better if the mixture is left alone for several weeks.

Cranberry tincture with personally made moonshine attracts with its rich color and unique aroma of wild berries. This drink is equally liked by both women and men, which is facilitated by its lightness and unusual aftertaste. The most basic recipe for cranberry liqueur is as follows:

1. You need to mix 800 grams of granulated sugar and a similar amount of crushed cranberries, and this must be done thoroughly and until the sugar is completely dissolved.
2. The mass is filled with 1.5 liters of moonshine, with a strength of at least 40-50 rpm.
3. It is possible that you will want to reduce the sugar content in the drink or completely get rid of the sweetness.
4. It's okay, the tincture will not suffer from this. The cranberry liqueur is infused for at least 2-4 weeks, after which it is filtered through several layers of gauze. If you notice the formation of a cloudy sediment, there is no need to worry, it is of exclusively natural origin.

Rowan flavored drink

Rowan tincture with personally prepared moonshine is made using berries that have already survived good frosts. Before you start preparing the drink in an oak barrel, you should dry the rowan a little in the oven or stove. The moonshine used is regular sugar, plum, pear or apple, the main thing is that its strength is 70 revolutions. Experts in homemade tinctures recommend infusing rowan tincture for at least a year, but if you can wait a few years, then the rowan tincture will be worthy of participation in an exhibition of elite alcohol.

To do this, several prerequisites must be met:

• Add honey or sugar;
• cool the original mixture and leave it in a cool place for the first time;
• filter through dense matter;
• pour into an oak barrel and send to the cellar.

Using prunes

Prunes, which give the drink a mild taste and unusual color, will help you make an original, tasty and healthy drink from ordinary moonshine. Before you make a prune tincture from your own home-made moonshine, stock up on the fruits themselves, which can be purchased in a store or prepared on your own. If you have to buy a store-bought version, do not choose large and light brown fruits, which have already lost the lion's share of their taste and aroma.

So:

1. To begin, crush 1 piece of allspice and 1 clove with a rolling pin.
2. Pour the resulting powder into a half-liter jar of moonshine, add 4 pitted prunes, 3 black peppercorns and a couple of grams of vanillin.
3. Cover all this with a lid and shake well, then leave for 10 days in a cool and dry place.
4. As soon as the infusion period has expired, the drink will need to be strained and poured into beautiful containers that can be placed on the table. They can be stored in the refrigerator, but not longer than one year. The tincture goes well with cold cuts, savory dishes and different types of cheese.
   

Quick additives to moonshine

When deciding what to add to moonshine, you need to decide what it is for. If you want to mask an unpleasant odor, you can add dry or dried berries and fruits to alcohol. To obtain healing tinctures, you need to soak herbs, spices and herbs in alcohol for a long time. Liqueurs are sweet alcoholic drinks of medium strength, in which fruits and berries set the main tone. Choose and get down to business.

So, what can you add to moonshine, as they say, without worrying too much:

1. Honey or syrup. A great way to give moonshine a pleasant flavor. Sugar syrup is boiled in a 1:1 ratio of sugar and water. Add according to taste and mix thoroughly. If there is a need to further purify the drink, add 3-4 tablets of activated carbon into a three-liter jar. Settling takes 3–4 days; after straining, the alcohol is ready for consumption.
2. Tea or coffee. Dry tea leaves and instant coffee effectively interrupt the spirit of moonshine and give the drink a new color. You will need 1 heaped tablespoon of tea per three-liter jar, leave for at least 5 days. Coffee needs 1.5 teaspoons, alcohol will be ready immediately.
3. Black or chili pepper. A chili pepper can add some spice to the drink - you only need one per liter of moonshine. Be sure to remove the seeds from the pod so that you don’t have to pour out the too spicy infusion. Black pepper cleanses the drink well and makes it beneficial for the digestive system. Enough 10 peas for a half-liter bottle. Both peppers require a week of aging. The color of the moonshine will not change significantly.

In general, you can add almost any spice to pure strong alcohol: whole cinnamon, saffron, cumin, bay leaf, dried and fresh ginger, star anise, whole or ground nutmeg and others.

How to get rid of fusel oils?

The worst thing about moonshine is fusel oils. Everyone can see for themselves that they exist: just light the moonshine in a spoon (if it doesn’t burn, it’s a bad product). After the alcohol burns, an oily liquid remains at the bottom. These are harmful fusel oils. How to get rid of them?

1. First: adhere to the production technology, do not increase the temperature, constantly change the cooling water.
2. Clean the finished moonshine from fusel oil using potassium permanganate. Throw 2-3 g of potassium permanganate powder into a three-liter jar. Wait for the sediment to settle. Carefully drain the moonshine. For this purpose, household water filters of the “Springhead” type are used. If not, you can simply strain the moonshine through a vessel with charcoal. A good substitute can be obtained at home. Light a birch fire. When the firewood burns out, but the heat is still very strong, fill a clay pot with coal and blow off the ash. Close the pot tightly with a lid. Wait for the coals to go out. Remove them from the pot, cool, and grind (not very finely). Can be used as a filter. You can throw it (at the rate of 50 g per liter) into moonshine. Let it stand for three weeks. Shake the container every day.
3. Filter. Take the time to do this and make sure that the taste improves and the amount of impurities decreases.

So, you already have a manufactured, purified product. It is already ready to eat.

Homemade moonshine

If you don’t yet know how to make homemade tasty and high-quality moonshine, it’s time to master this process. Everything is simpler than it seems. It’s easy to understand why homemade moonshine and drinks based on it are so popular in our country and among our closest neighbors. Mixed here are the reluctance to pay five times more than alcohol actually costs, the low quality of store-bought products, the joy of making it yourself, and simply a spirit of contradiction. So, despite the growing store assortment and government quality control, there are more and more home distilleries.

Everything is simpler than it seems

To make moonshine in your kitchen or garage, you don’t need any special equipment or any skills or knowledge. You only need a little:

1. Utensils for preparing mash.
2. Factory or homemade moonshine still (at first you can get by with improvised means).
3. Knowledge of the recipe.
4. The simplest ingredients.
5. Compliance with technology.
6. Some free time.

If you have everything available and want to make moonshine at home, it’s time to start studying the theory.

Equipment and utensils for home distillery

To make homemade moonshine, first you will need a container for making mash. This can be a regular saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, but it is best to use a glass bottle. Through the glass you will be able to see how the fermentation is progressing, the clarity of the wort, and the precipitation of sediment. If you don't have one at home, you can easily order it. The optimal volume is 20–30 liters.

After the mash is ready, the most interesting part comes - making moonshine at home. This is done through distillation (rectification) in an apparatus, the simplest diagram of which you can see below.

Distillers who constantly distill moonshine at home and fight for quality acquire more complex equipment with a steamer, pressure and temperature meters. But at first, you can get by with this for cooking. Moreover: you can build a distillation installation from a saucepan and a basin (metal bowl), which you can find at home.

In addition to dishes and equipment, it is worth getting an alcohol meter: moonshine brewing at home involves removing fractions with a high content of harmful impurities. And here it will be difficult to do without a strength degree meter.

Preparing the brew

Before preparing moonshine, we need to obtain an alcohol-containing product - mash. There are dozens, or even hundreds of recipes online on how to make good mash from a variety of products, but the simplest one looks like this.

Required:

• sugar - 5 kg;
• water - 22 liters;
• pressed yeast - 200 g (or 70 g dry inactive).

If you don’t yet know how to make moonshine at home, rather than in a laboratory or factory, this the option will be the easiest for you. The output will be a good preparation to get strong homemade moonshine - from 4.5 to 6 liters with a strength of at least 45°. The technology is also not complicated:

• We dilute the sugar in 0.5 liters of warm (+25°–+30°C) water until completely dissolved, then crumble the yeast into it. Place in a warm (+30°C, but not higher!) place for approximately 30–60 minutes. During this time, active foaming should begin.
• We also heat the remaining water to +25°C and pour the yeast mixture into it. Mix everything well and leave at t +25°–+27°C. We put a rubber glove with several punctures on the neck of the bottle - carbon dioxide will be removed through them. It takes about a week to make mash from the wort.

The end of fermentation is determined as follows:

• foaming stopped;
• there is no separation of carbon dioxide - the glove has fallen off;
• You don't taste sugar, you taste alcohol.

the water should be settled, but not boiled or distilled, the wort in the bottle should occupy approximately 1/3, since the process involves active foaming.

Making a distillate

Now the most important phase has come - making moonshine at home. Pour the mash into the distillation cube and start heating. Since according to our recipe there will be no sediment (if there is, it needs to be filtered through cotton pads), the tank can be immediately heated strongly. The distillate output rate should be approximately 350–400 ml/hour.

For those who do not yet know how to make moonshine according to all the rules, it is necessary to explain that not everything will work. The expelled product is usually divided into three fractions:

1. The “head” is the product that is first obtained during distillation. It has a strength of 75° or more and contains a huge amount of fusel oils. It will be difficult to separate them, so we “cut off” this portion. It is 50 ml for every kilo of sugar that we threw into the mash. In our case - 250 ml.
2. "Body". When moonshine is distilled at home, it is this part that is taken for further processing (it can be consumed immediately). The minimum strength should be 40°. We check with an alcohol meter or see whether the expelled liquid burns or not (less than 40° it does not burn).
3. "Tail". This fraction also contains many harmful impurities. However, the “tails” can be used when preparing the next batch of mash.

Now that we have received a good product - the “body” fraction, we can bring it to mind.

Moonshine purification

Even with very high-quality equipment, during the initial distillation of the mash, completely get rid of components harmful to health will not be possible. So making moonshine at home requires mandatory purification of the resulting alcohol.

Here are the easiest ways to remove impurities:

1. Filtration through activated or regular carbon. You can throw it in a jar, let it react for 24 hours and strain it. You can install a funnel with a homemade (a layer of cotton wool, a layer of coal, another layer of cotton wool) or a purchased carbon filter at the outlet of the moonshine still.
2. Planting sediment using potassium permanganate. The maximum amount is 2 grams per 3 liters. After 2-3 days of settling, you need to filter the liquid, add baking soda, stand again and clean. Experts in the process recommend distilling the moonshine again after this.
3. Adding milk, settling and removing flakes through a filter.

This way you will get a fairly high-quality moonshine that will contain a small amount of harmful substances.

Softening the taste

If you decide to prepare moonshine at home in accordance with the best recipes, then

It is optimal to do secondary distillation and another stage of purification from harmful impurities. Your drink will be many times cleaner than what is offered in stores. However, even after this it may have a purely moonshine taste and excessive hardness.

To improve the characteristics of the drink, you can use various additives. There can be a lot of options here, but it’s best to add:

• lemon;
• citrus peels;
• unshelled pine nuts;
• walnut partitions;
• burnt sugar.

Before cleaning and softening the finished moonshine, it should be diluted to a strength of no more than 40°. At a higher degree, the removal of impurities is less effective.

There is no limit to perfection

Now making moonshine is no longer something unknown and incomprehensible to you. At first, you should hone your skills and ensure that the product turns out really tasty and free of impurities. Well, when things get going, you can try out new recipes and even come up with your own. Surely friends and acquaintances will repeatedly and gratefully remember your branded liqueurs, homemade cognac and Calvados.

Russian moonshine is more a symbol than a drink. In terms of popularity among Russians, it competes only with vodka, but quality and properly prepared vodka can surpass it in terms of taste. So how to brew moonshine at home, so that the bouquet of flavor is excellent and safety is maximum?

Raw materials

To infuse mash, products are used that can form ethyl alcohol under the influence of yeast. This can be traditional sugar, fruits, berries. Potatoes and grains containing starch: wheat, rye, rice. but they additionally need to be saccharified, since this alone is not enough for a full-fledged process.
Yeast is suitable for baking or dry, the ideal option is intended for the preparation of alcohol.

The main component is water, special attention is paid to it. It must be clean, potable, without sediment, and free of chlorine. If you use tap water rather than bottled water, it is better to let it stand for several days, then the unwanted elements will settle to the bottom.
The use of boiled and distilled water is not recommended, since the first lacks oxygen, and the second option does not contain the necessary elements, this will interfere with normal fermentation. This also applies to hard water.

To ensure that the end result does not disappoint at the very beginning, it is extremely undesirable to use spoiled products; saving in this matter is inappropriate.

The technology of moonshine brewing at home, a complex and responsible process, does not tolerate a superficial attitude, the main thing is to comply with all the requirements for temperature conditions and proportions exclusively at each stage of the preparatory work.

Preliminary preparation of raw materials;
making mash;
direct distillation;
cleaning

Making mash

There are many methods, but the most common one, which gives a successful result, is based on sweet syrup. Don’t expect any special flavor notes in this moonshine – it won’t turn out to be cognac. But it is easy to make and will work well as a substitute for vodka. How to brew moonshine from sugar so that it turns out to be of good quality and not inferior to store-bought drinks in terms of taste?

First of all, you need to choose dishes; any one that has nutritional characteristics and is suitable in size is applicable. It needs to be washed thoroughly and wiped dry. The characteristics of the original product directly depend on the cleanliness of the container where fermentation will take place; only then will no foreign odors appear in it, and pathogenic bacteria will not have a chance.

To get 5 liters of excellent moonshine, you need to prepare:

6 kg granulated sugar;
18 liters of water;
600 g yeast (120 g dry yeast is also allowed);
25 g citric acid.

When adding sugar, many simply stir it into the liquid; this is correct, but not always justified. To make moonshine with excellent taste, you need to prepare the right sugar syrup; this technique is also called inversion. During its production, pathogenic microorganisms are destroyed, and the composition ferments more intensively and ripens faster. These manipulations are not considered mandatory, but by using this technique, you can be convinced of its advantages.

How the inversion process occurs:

Heat 3 liters in a large saucepan. water up to 80 C°;
add and stir 6 kg of sugar;
bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes;
add citric acid and reduce gas;
The syrup will be ready in an hour, simmering over low heat.

The finished syrup is poured into a canister intended for fermentation, and water is added there. It is important not to fill the container completely; you need to leave room (1/4) for foaming.

It is preferable to dissolve pressed yeast in sweet wort and wait for the foam to form. Dry analogues are diluted according to the instructions on the package.
Baker's yeast begins to ferment strongly, so intense foaming can be quenched with crumbs of regular cookies or a spoonful of sunflower oil. This will not affect the quality, but the foam will not overflow over the edges.

But sugar alone is also not enough; the yeast must be additionally fed with nitrogen and phosphorus. For this, sometimes fruits or their juice, berries are used; in apartment conditions, crackers of black bread and boiled grain are better suited. But canned ingredients are not suitable; now they contain additives that can inhibit the development of yeast bacteria.

The container should be closed with a lid, but complete tightness is not needed here; the vapors formed during fermentation should find a way out. A water seal is used for this.

The optimal temperature for complete fermentation is from 20 to 30 degrees. If the indicators decrease, the activity of yeast enzymes will decrease. An increase above 40 threatens the death of bacteria. It is optimal when the regime is set at 25 on the first day, later it increases slightly. The contents of the can should be lightly shaken a couple of times a day.

How long the process will take depends on the starting components and the temperature in the room where they are located. Usually this is from 3 days to 14.

When the release of carbon dioxide stops and the composition loses its sweet taste, the mash is ready. If fermentation has stopped, but the sweet aftertaste remains, then the ingredients may have been calculated incorrectly, or the yeast may have been used incorrectly. In this case, you need to add more yeast and wait a little longer.

Distillation

Sugar-based moonshine has a high alcohol release.
The essence of the first distillation is to separate the alcohol from other unnecessary components. A liter of mash will yield a quarter of the original amount, 250 g. The distillation cube should not be completely filled, the permissible rate is 75%. Otherwise, splashes and foam will enter the cooler during boiling.

How to brew moonshine in a moonshine still?
The mash is poured into the apparatus without sediment and put on fire so that it heats to a boil; distillation is carried out over low heat.

The cooler contains cold water; it must be replenished regularly; its low temperature guarantees exceptional results. When the liquid heats up, steam begins to be released, it is directed through the tube to the coil, where it cools down and condensation accumulates in the dishes for the final result.
The amount of moonshine obtained for each kilogram of sand is 1 - 1.2 liters with a strength of 50% -40%.

"Tails" and "Heads"

It is very important to know how to brew moonshine correctly; not only the success of the enterprise, but also the health of its consumers will depend on this. In addition to ethyl alcohol, the liquid also contains its harmful methyl counterpart. Their boiling point is lower than that of water, so they turn to steam earlier. The first portions of condensate are called “pervach”; they are the strongest, but they also contain plenty of toxic components; their use is strictly contraindicated.

As a rule, for every kilogram of sugar there is 50 ml of “pervach”, therefore, according to the recipe, it will be at least 300 ml.

The main volatile fractions have evaporated, and ethyl alcohol vapor is now actively escaping. This is 70% of everything that comes out as raw alcohol.

When the bulk of the alcohol has boiled away and the saturation of the moonshine has dropped below 40 degrees and it stops burning, so-called tails are formed. This means that substances with a heavy molecular weight begin to evaporate; their boiling point, as opposed to water, is much higher.

We chop the tails of the moonshine from sugar and throw it away. The tails may contain aromatic substances, but in our case we won’t get any “henesy” notes from the sugar. Here the tails are fusel and there is a terrible stench.

Re-distillation

Typically, a second distillation is not often practiced, but in order to improve the quality of alcohol and reduce the concentration of odor and harmful oils, it is preferable to carry it out.

In this case, the resulting moonshine is diluted with water (2:1) and again distilled in compliance with the same rules: primary alcohol, raw alcohol, fusel part. It is possible to distill a third time, but this is not so common. It is traditionally believed that the race ends while the moonshine is burning, its temperature decreases, which means it’s time.

Determination of strength

It is very difficult to determine the percentage of alcohol in a liquid, that is, the degree of the drink, simply by tasting it. Purified and refined moonshine can give a feeling of softness even with its significant strength. And the hydrometer will not show it reliably, in the presence of various additives.

It is correct to carry out measurements at 20C°, since the density changes at different temperatures. If too precise indicators are not required, then this table will help determine the concentration more reliably:

concentration How to purify Is the drink ready, but you don’t want to drink it because of its cloudy color and unpleasant fusel smell? This is the smell of impurities formed during the preparation of mash. Therefore, it is important to know not only how to brew moonshine, but also how to clean it. In order for it to be of high quality and not smell like fusel oils, which are real nerve poisons, it needs careful cleaning, then it will be pleasant to drink and there will be much less harm There are many cleaning methods; activated carbon, soda, salt, and chemical elements are used. As an example, two effective methods are proposed that can purify the drink to an acceptable result. A teaspoon of potassium permanganate is added to a regular jar (3 liters) of ready-made alcohol. The container with a tightly closed lid must be shaken vigorously until a black precipitate appears. Then the container is placed in a dark place for 2 weeks. The ripened liquid with sediment is filtered by passing through a thick layer of gauze. Cow's milk copes well with methanol and fusel oils; its chemical composition, reacting with undesirable components, turns into a flaky sediment. A glass of milk is thoroughly mixed in three liters, placed in a closed place without access to light, filtered with gauze, as in the first case. The last stage is diluting the moonshine to the desired strength. But it is not recommended to drink it right away; let it brew for several days in a dark room and cool place. Then the shades of taste will sparkle with bright colors, and you can taste the fruits of your labor in warm company.

How to clean

The drink is ready, but you don’t want to drink it because of its cloudy color and unpleasant fusel smell? This is the smell of impurities formed during the preparation of mash. Therefore, it is important to know not only how to brew moonshine, but also how to clean it.

In order for it to be of high quality and not smell of fusel oils, which are real nerve poisons, it needs careful cleaning, then it will be pleasant to drink and there will be much less harm.

There are many cleaning methods; activated carbon, soda, salt, and chemical elements are used. As an example, we offer two effective methods that can purify the drink to an acceptable result.

A teaspoon of potassium permanganate is added to a regular jar (3 liters) of prepared alcohol. The container with a tightly closed lid must be shaken vigorously until a black precipitate appears. Then the container is placed in a dark place for 2 weeks. The ripened liquid with sediment is filtered by passing through a thick layer of gauze.

Cow's milk copes well with methanol and fusel oils; its chemical composition, reacting with undesirable components, turns into a flocculent sediment. A glass of milk is thoroughly mixed in three liters, placed in a closed place without access to light, filtered with gauze, as in the first case.

The last stage is diluting the moonshine to the desired strength. But it is not recommended to drink it right away; let it brew for several days in a dark room and cool place. Then the shades of taste will sparkle with bright colors, and you can taste the fruits of your labor in warm company.

Humanity has been brewing moonshine for a long time, but only recently, thanks to accumulated knowledge and the use of modern equipment, it is possible to obtain a drink of decent quality and taste. At the same time, despite the apparent simplicity of production, the production of high-quality moonshine will require a significant amount of time. Properly made moonshine can be used to make tinctures, liqueurs and homemade cognac.

How to make moonshine at home

To make moonshine at home, you will need simple equipment and a small amount of starting material. To prepare it you will need a warm room with a temperature of 18 to 24 O C, a fermentation container, water, yeast, sugar or sugar-containing products, a water seal, a distillation container and the time during which the yeast converts sugar into alcohol. The indicated temperature is optimal for the production of mash; minor fluctuations in one direction or another can affect the production time of the original product.

For the fermentation container, a glass bottle or milk can made of food-grade aluminum is usually used; these materials do not react during fermentation and are available for purchase. With minor modifications, the milk can can be used as a distillation cube. The moonshine production technology itself is quite simple: water is poured into the container, yeast and ingredients for fermentation are added. After 14-21 days, the resulting fermentation product (mash) is distilled and moonshine is obtained. Can the resulting product be consumed live or, after additional purification and processing, can we obtain high-quality alcohol-containing drinks? liqueurs and tinctures.

Classic ingredients for moonshine

The simplest (classic) way to produce moonshine with a minimum amount of ingredients is a composition consisting of 10 liters of water, 100 grams of yeast and 3 kg of sugar. All this is placed in a fermentation container and allowed to ferment for two weeks. After distillation
Such mash makes moonshine very hard, despite the cleaning methods used, and its taste is strongly reminiscent of yeast.

Another classic recipe for making moonshine is making mash from fermented wheat. To do this, 5 kg of grain is poured with water 5 cm above the level of the cereals. Next, add 1.5-2 kg of sugar and let it brew for 1 week. After this, 5 kg of sugar dissolved in 15 liters of water are added to the container and allowed to ferment for another week.

In the absence of grain, a composition of wheat or rye flour can be used. The method of making moonshine from flour is also quite simple. To do this, you will need a container of 25 liters of water. Thoroughly mix 4 kg of flour in 10 liters of warm water. Let the resulting wort sit for 1.5-2 hours. Add 5 liters of warm water and shake the wort thoroughly again. Then let the mixture sit again for 1 hour and add 5 kg of sugar and 100 grams of pressed yeast dissolved in 5 liters of water to the infused flour solution. Let him walk for 2 weeks. After this, the rye flour mash is distilled into strong moonshine and then into liqueurs or tinctures.

Sludge drainage and clarification

To make good moonshine, liqueurs and tinctures, the resulting mash should be carefully drained from the sediment and clarified. The need for lightening This applies primarily to mash made from rye or wheat flour; for this you can use bentonite (white clay). To prepare the brightening composition, white clay is diluted with water (or mash) to a liquid consistency. For 10 liters of flour mash you will need one tablespoon of bentonite.

Add the suspension to the mash, mix the mixture thoroughly and let it sit until the liquid clears. After a precipitate containing harmful substances has formed, pour the clean liquid into a distillation cube using a nylon tube.

There is a second way to lighten mash. To do this, the vessel with the liquid is taken to a cool room, the access of air to the wort is limited and left to settle for 1 week, after which the alcohol-containing liquid is carefully drained for distillation. Blocking the access of oxygen during fermentation and especially the clarification of the mash is a prerequisite for obtaining high-quality moonshine, from which liqueurs and tinctures are obtained. Otherwise, you can get moonshine with a high content of aldehydes.

Distillation

To obtain high-quality moonshine, the tails and heads should be removed from the moonshine during the distillation process. The resulting mash has a heterogeneous composition. In addition to ethyl alcohol, does it contain substances that have a boiling point similar to alcohol? ethers, aldehydes, methanol and fusel oils.

Fractional distillation involves separation into heads, bodies and tails. Heads are fractions with a low boiling point that should be destroyed or used for technical purposes. The body is the main product of mash processing. Tailings are high boiling point products containing small amounts of alcohol which can later be extracted by fractional distillation.

Modern distillations with steam chambers make it easy to separate the heads from moonshine. The tails begin to be cut off when the strength of the outgoing moonshine drops below 40 o C. In order to properly cut off the heads and separate the tails in the distillation tank, the composition is first heated to a temperature of 65-75 o C and 1% of the poured mash is cut off. Next, the container is heated to a temperature of 80-85 o C and the alcohol-containing body is removed. The selected tailings can be added to the next mash or, if there is a large amount of them, re-distilled.

Moonshine cleaning

There are two ways to purify moonshine: chemical and biological.

For the chemical cleaning method, potassium permanganate and activated carbon are used. To do this, dissolve 2 grams of manganese in a glass of water and pour it into a container with moonshine, stir and let it sit until a sediment forms at the bottom of the container and the drink becomes
transparent. Carefully pour the liquid or pump it out using a nylon tube. The next step is filtering. To do this, moonshine is passed through a paper filter filled with activated carbon.

During biological treatment, milk or kefir is poured into the alcohol solution, and egg white can also be added. Mix everything and wait until the coagulated sediment falls to the bottom. After which the solution is drained and filtered. In order to obtain good liqueurs and tinctures, biological treatment can be carried out after chemical treatment.

Homemade moonshine drinks

There are many ways to refine moonshine; the most common are tinctures and liqueurs. Moonshine-based products can be divided by type of ingredients. If fruits and or berries are used to add flavor, then such drinks are called liqueurs or liqueurs. Basically, these drinks are quite sweet, and their strength usually does not exceed 18? 25 o C. To obtain tinctures, dry materials are usually used: herbs, nuts, roots, dry berries. The strength of tinctures is usually 25? 55 o C.

Liqueurs

Making liqueurs at home is very simple. For this glass jar is filled with berries? or 2/3 and add moonshine with a strength of 50? 55 o C. Close the container with a lid and put it in a cool, dark place for 3-4 weeks. The resulting drink is filtered and sugar is added depending on the sweetness of the berries and taste preferences. Liqueurs are usually made from strawberries, cherries, plums, chokeberries or chokeberries.

Tinctures

Tinctures are made according to the same principle as liqueurs. Hot peppers, sage roots, blackcurrant buds and other materials can be used as ingredients. Sugar is not added to tinctures after filtration.

Noble drinks from moonshine

From well-refined moonshine you can prepare elite drinks? vaguely reminiscent of cognac and whiskey in taste.

To prepare homemade cognac, pour a handful of walnut partitions into a 3-liter jar, a tablespoon each of black tea, cumin and vanilla sugar. Add a few cloves, add citric acid on the tip of a knife and fill everything with moonshine. Cover with a lid and leave for a week in a cool place. After straining, you can enjoy your homemade cognac.

To prepare the simplest homemade whiskey, add three tablespoons of oak bark, 50 grams of charcoal, 5-7 prunes to a 3-liter jar and pour in 45°C moonshine. Infuse for two weeks, and after filtration the drink will resemble the taste of whiskey.

The rules are not at all complicated, you should pay attention to them before preparing moonshine.

Preparing the Components

It is necessary to take a responsible approach to the choice of water, since it is one of the main components. It is better to take purchased water, which has been thoroughly purified mechanically. Clean water is an additional plus in the absence of any unpleasant odors in moonshine.

As a last resort, you can take the amount of water required for the process from the water supply and let it sit for several days, then drain it, leaving sediment at the bottom.

In the classic preparation of the drink, the following components are used:

• sugar - 6 kg;
• citric acid - 25 grams;
• water - 18 l;
• 120 grams of dry yeast or 600 grams of compressed yeast.

From this amount of ingredients you can make approximately 5 liters of moonshine.

Another tip when calculating the ingredients - from 1 kg of sugar you get about 1.1 liters of a 40-degree drink, but many practitioners advise taking 10% more of all products, this is due to many factors - the quality of the raw materials, the temperature of the products, etc. All this can slightly reduce the amount of the final product. Much depends on how to prepare moonshine.

Inverting sugar

When preparing moonshine, this stage is one of the most important. The main thing is not to boil the sugar syrup to avoid the formation of furan aldehydes, namely hydroxymethylfurfural. This substance is poisonous - it promotes the development of cancerous tumors and depression of the central nervous system.

The essence of inversion is to break down sugar (sucrose) into simpler substances (fructose and glucose). Yeast is able to break down sugars on its own, but during its work it will release many toxic substances that will reduce the quality of the final product. Plus, the yeast will take a long time to process the sugar, so inverting the sugar speeds up the brewing process.

Some moonshine recipes instruct you to simply mix water and sugar in a fermentation container, but it is precisely the production of sugar syrup from these two components that will make the moonshine more pleasant to taste and smell.

During heating, microbes die, this helps the yeast do its job better and increases the organoleptic properties of moonshine.

Inverting sugar is carried out in several steps:

• heating water to 60-70 degrees;
• adding sugar - 2 kg of sugar per 1 liter of liquid;
• Constant stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved;
• slowly add 2 grams of citric acid per 1 kg of sugar used;
• heat the syrup to 80 degrees and hold the temperature for 1.5-2 hours;
• Remove the pan from the stove and wrap it in a blanket for 40 minutes.

Instructions for inverting sugar

Adding Yeast

The resulting syrup is poured into a container with water; the volume of the resulting mixture should not exceed 3/4 of the container intended for fermentation, since when yeast is added, a large amount of foam may form.

Before adding yeast, you should prepare it slightly. The pressed yeast is kneaded and mixed with warm water, then left for 10 minutes. If the yeast is dry, then it should be slowly poured into warm water, while stirring with a whisk to avoid the formation of lumps and left for a while, covered with a cloth.

Foam should appear on the surface, which indicates that the yeast has been activated. If too much foam forms, you can knock it down by sprinkling it with regular cookies; this will not spoil the taste of the moonshine.

Instructions for preparing yeast

Fermentation process

For dishes in which fermentation will take place, a water seal must be provided in advance. It is needed to protect the mash from unnecessary contact with oxygen, which can cause the product to sour. After adding all the ingredients, the container is placed in a warm place - a room with a constant temperature of about 25-30 degrees.

The process takes 10-12 days, but it can be accelerated by mixing the contents of the container every other day. You can determine that fermentation has completed successfully by the following signs:

• there is no movement of bubbles in the water seal;
• foam no longer appears on the surface;
• presence of alcohol odor;
• There is an alcoholic taste - bitter.
• the match does not go out when it is above the surface of the mash.

It is important that all signs must be present, not just a couple of them.

Checking the completion of fermentation

Moonshine clarification

Bentonite or natural white clay, mixed with warm water until creamy. This consistency is then poured into the fermented wort, which has been purified as much as possible by straining, settling and removing the sediment.

Having mixed the components well, the container is left to settle for 2-3 hours. Next, when the wort brightens and becomes transparent, it is carefully removed from the sediment by pouring it through a small silicone hose. The sediment obtained from the liquid should not be poured into the sewer, as it is clay, which can harden and create problems with the sewer. The mash is ready, now you just need to remove the moonshine from it.

About ways to lighten mash

Moonshine distillation

Distillation is performed in two stages - in principle, the same thing happens in both, but there are nuances. The purpose of the first distillation is to obtain the maximum amount of alcohol, which is usually called “raw”.

Alcohol “Raw” is an intermediate product between mash and moonshine; it cannot be consumed, as it contains quite a lot of harmful substances that are dangerous to the human body. This product can only be used for technical purposes.

The clarified mash is poured into the distillation cube, filling it 3/4 of the total volume. The process takes place over low heat while measuring the strength of the distillate.

For convenience and subsequent process analytics, you can keep records in a table indicating the start and end times of the distillation cycles, the volume of the product obtained and an indication of its strength.

The first distillation of the mash is carried out until the alcohol meter shows the alcohol content in the resulting liquid. It is not necessary to bring the indicators to zero; the distillation process can be stopped at 10-5 degrees of strength.

At this point, the distillation process is completed - the “raw” alcohol is obtained. Everything that remains in the distillation cube is disposed of, the container is thoroughly washed and prepared for the second distillation.

A clear example of the first distillation

Second distillation

The purpose of secondary distillation is to cut off the “heads” and “tails” that contain impurities harmful to health. Before the start of the second distillation, the raw alcohol is filtered through a coal column, thanks to the adsorbing properties of coal, it is possible to partially get rid of harmful impurities.

For clarity, below is a diagram of this simple device. The site has a detailed article about. If you are too lazy to assemble it yourself, you can always purchase it in a factory version.

Before filtering raw alcohol, it must be diluted with water so that its strength is approximately 20 degrees. At this concentration, filtration in the carbon column occurs better. The result of distilling the diluted “raw material” will also be of better quality, since in a diluted form it is easier to monitor the cutting off of heads and tails.

Diluting alcohol with water makes the distillation process safe! If you distill alcohol whose strength is high, there is also a high risk that the alcohol vapor will ignite or the distillation cube will explode.

The diluted and filtered alcohol is poured into a clean distillation cube and its heating begins until the first drops appear at the outlet of the moonshine still.

And now in more detail what “heads”, “body” and “tails” are.

“Head” is the product obtained at the initial stage of distillation. It has a sharp, unpleasant odor and is a real poison for the human body, as it contains harmful ether and aldehyde compounds. The “heads” can be used for technical purposes, so they can be collected in a separate container.

“Body” is a high-proof food distillate, consisting of ethyl alcohol, water and a small amount of harmful impurities.

“Tail” - the product obtained at the final stage of distillation, has a strength of less than 40 degrees. The composition is dominated by a large amount of fusel oils, which affects the unpleasant odor. Not suitable for consumption as alcohol, as there is a high risk of poisoning with serious consequences. The tailings can be processed by pouring them into a new mash, ready for the first distillation.

How to select heads?

The first drops of moonshine have arrived, we select the heating intensity of the cube so that the output is 2-3 drops per second - with this mode, the “heads” are selected more efficiently.

The volume of selected “heads” for sugar mash is approximately 50 ml per one kilogram of sugar used. This calculation has been tested by several generations of moonshiners, but you should always pay attention to the smell of moonshine.

“Heads” most often have the smell of acetone; if it is still present despite the fact that the heads should have already been selected based on the volume, then selection should be continued until the smell of acetone is no longer present.

Selection of the “body” of moonshine

The “body” needs to be sampled in portions of 200-300 ml to measure the alcohol content of the moonshine. The main task when distilling the “body” is not to miss the moment when the strength in the moonshine still drops below 40 degrees - at this moment the “tails” begin to flow. You also need to pay attention to the smell of the product; if it is not pleasant, it means the fusel has gone bad.

What to do with the “tails”?

The last fraction contains the most fusel oils, so it is excluded from the components of the finished moonshine. It is better to dispose of everything that remains in the distillation cube. You can, of course, completely expel the “tails” and add them to the new mash before distilling it. But as they say, there are no comrades according to taste, each moonshiner has his own attitude towards the final faction.

Moonshine in a couple of hours - is it possible?

Homemade moonshine recipes are varied. Some of them are not so proven, but less expensive and take less time. Can making moonshine take not 1.5-2 weeks, but a couple of days or even a couple of hours?

This is hard to believe; perhaps the moonshine is not of very good quality. You can’t do without a personal, practical test of this express method :) Below is an experimental video on the production of moonshine in a washing machine.

You need to take:

• water - 30 l;
• sugar - 10 kg;
• yeast - 100 g;
• milk - 3 l.

Everything is loaded into a non-automatic washing machine and rinsed for 2 hours. After this process, the product is subjected to double distillation.

Moonshine per day

This recipe, as the name suggests, takes a day, but is also relatively short compared to classic sugar mash.

• sugar - 5 kg;
• warm water (no more than 30 degrees) - 15 l;
• yeast - 500 grams;
• milk - 1 liter;
• peas - 1 kg.

Everything is mixed and infused for a day, after which the distillation process occurs.

There is another “daily” recipe.

• sugar - 5 kg;
• warm water (no more than 30 degrees) - 25 l;
• yeast - 500 gr;
• milk - 1 liter;
• bread - 4 loaves;
• grated potatoes - 25 pieces.

Again, all ingredients are mixed, infused for 24 hours, and the mixture is ready for distillation and further refinement.

Home brew recipes for moonshine

As an example, below are brief recipes for mash. Each recipe option is worthy of a separate article, with a detailed description of the production steps. The site has a small but detailed one for moonshine.

For jam

This recipe is not quick to prepare, but its taste should pleasantly surprise you.

• berry or fruit jam or syrup - 6 l;
• warm water (room temperature) - 30 l;
• yeast - 200 g;
• sugar - 2 kg.

The mixture of the presented products ferments for about 7 days in a warm place, and then is also distilled, and an alcoholic drink with a wonderful berry taste is obtained.

From grain

It’s not easy, but the resulting drink will have a rather mild taste and can become the basis for “noble” drinks - whiskey or cognac. Moonshine made from grain is the topic of a separate article, but for a rough understanding, let’s look at a brief recipe.

• You should start by making the wort. The raw materials are flour, cereal or grain mixture, they are boiled at 75 degrees. If whole grains are used, they must be sprouted to convert the starches into sugars.
• Saccharification can be carried out without germination; for this, “amylosubtilin” and “glucavamorin” are added to the wort; these are enzyme preparations to maintain the vital activity of bacteria.
• After this, the wort is sharply cooled, preventing the development of harmful microorganisms. And the most important thing is not to kill the yeast, since they are added at a temperature of 24-28 degrees.
• Alcohol yeast is added, and after fermentation is complete, the grain mash is ready.

It is an order of magnitude thicker than usual, so it is distilled a little differently - in a water bath.

From berries or fruits

The berry part will be 75%, the remaining 25% comes from sugar. It is important to maintain exactly these proportions, otherwise the process may not be successful. The crushed fruits are left for a couple of days, the mixture begins to ferment, after which sugar and water are added. The product is ready for distillation.

From caramel

It sounds quite attractive, but the taste is slightly unusual. 5 kg of caramel is dissolved in 2 liters of warm water. Alcohol yeast is added, the mixture is left to ferment for 5 days, then clarification and distillation.

From starch

• For 10 kg of starch, take 20 liters of water, everything is brewed as when making jelly;
• after everything is cooled to 30 degrees, 0.5 kg of yeast and 1 kg of sugar are added;
• fermentation about 5 days;
• distilled, and 11 liters of alcohol come out.

From tomato paste and beer

• 1 liter of tomato paste;
• 0.5 l of beer;
• 30 liters of warm water;
• 10 kg sugar;
• This makes 7.5 liters of alcohol.

From cherry

Finely chop unwashed, pitted cherries and keep in a warm place for 2 days. This is done to increase the amount of wild yeast. After this, add clean water and sugar - monitor the end of the fermentation process.

Grape

• 10 liters of mashed grapes;
• 5 kg sugar;
• 100 grams of yeast;
• 30 liters of water at 30 degrees temperature.

The mixture is infused for a week and goes through the distillation process twice. This drink can be an excellent base for cognac.

Pear

• 10 kg of pears;
• 400 g sugar;
• 50 grams of yeast;

Boil the pears, crumble the yeast, add 1-1.5 liters of water and leave for 7 days.

From potatoes

• 10 kg of potatoes;
• 6 kg of oat grains;
• 37 liters of water;
• 0.5-0.8 kg of yeast;

The potatoes are chopped on a grater, the oats are also finely ground, after which a little hot water is poured in. In the process of pouring oats, chopped potatoes are gradually added, everything is left to infuse for 3 hours.

After adding water and yeast, the container is tightly closed and left in a darkened room for 3-4 days. A sign that the mash is ready is the presence of sediment and the absence of bubbles in the water seal.

From rowan

Rowan berries are collected after the very first serious frosts; the berries acquire a sweet taste, since starch is converted into sugars with a sharp drop in temperature. They are kneaded to extract juice. Next, the juice ferments in a warm place and is distilled twice. The taste is soft and noble.

Flavoring and coloring

Ready-made moonshine is easy to improve. The drink can be especially tempting in taste and smell. With the help of herbs and berries, you can give moonshine a pleasant look and smell, which will only benefit it.

Spices and nuts

• 45 g cinnamon;
• 20 grams of nutmeg;
• 20 grams of crushed violet root;
• 50 g pistachios;
• 15 grams of cloves;
• 800 grams of chopped unwashed raisins;
• 12 liters of double distilled moonshine.

Everything is mixed and infused for 7 days, after which it is distilled over low heat.

Mint

The mint is poured with moonshine, and the mixture is infused for 3 days and distilled. The resulting moonshine is poured into black currant leaves, the alcohol is infused for some time until a greenish tint is detected. The drink is filtered; if necessary, you can sweeten it with syrup (take half a liter of water for 1.2 kg of sugar and boil the mixture).

Lemon peels

• 1.2 kg lemon peel;
• 20 grams of salt;
• 12 liters of moonshine.

The mixture is infused for 3 days and goes through distillation again. If desired, the drink can be sweetened with syrup.

Lavender

• 100 grams of lavender flowers;
• 25 grams of cloves;
• 25 g cinnamon;
• 12 liters of moonshine.

The dry mixture is poured with moonshine and kept for a whole week. A piece of black bread is carefully coated with honey, put into the drink and distilled over low heat.

As you can see, moonshine can be made from various ingredients, from almost all available products. Any adequate experiments will become a discovery in this area, and thus a new recipe for moonshine will appear.

It is important to remember that moonshine at home requires compliance with hygiene rules and the correct proportions, otherwise there is a risk of preparing a not-so-successful drink.