Making moonshine at home. Moonshine recipes

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In our country, the technology of moonshine brewing has been mastered by almost the entire working population. And it’s strange to blame the Soviet government for this, or rather M.S. Gorbachev personally, who came up with the “prohibition law”, since we cooked, cook and will cook it, no matter what. Of course, only a few abuse the drink; the rest prefer to enjoy the quality of real moonshine and elite drinks made from it.

Why are we talking about quality? Because for many, moonshine is associated with a cloudy, foul-smelling liquid that is dangerous even for external use. In fact, the process of moonshine brewing at home, following the technology, produces a crystal clear strong drink with a pronounced taste. In the article we will describe the basics of moonshine brewing and tell you what this process is all about.

Basic terms

Much of what will be listed below is known to most, but still, for accuracy and further understanding, you must first understand the terms.

Moonshine- a clear drink with a strength of 48-60°. Initially it has a neutral alcoholic taste; third-party aromas are added during the infusion process.
Moonshine- a technological process for producing an alcoholic drink, during which mash is brewed.
Braga- a sugar-containing wort that is made from processed yeast and a selected base product. The fermentation process produces ethyl alcohol, gas and by-products.
Alcohol mashine- a design for producing an alcohol-containing liquid by cooking mash, during which the composition is divided into fractions. It consists of a distillation cube, a cooling unit, a coil and a storage tank (collector).
Pervach- alcohol-containing liquid obtained during the first distillation of mash. Contains toxic impurities, is characterized by a cloudy color and a pungent odor.
"Heads"- the concentration of methanol and acetone, which boil at lower temperatures than ethanol. In the process of fractional distillation, they are cut off and their quantity is reduced to a minimum.
"Tails"- fusel oils separated at a higher temperature than is created in the distillation cube. They are also cut off during re-distillation and additionally settle in the steamer when leaving the refrigerator.

Separately, it should be noted that the quality of the drink directly depends on the amount of distillation. The saying “less is more” works 100% here.

The main stages of moonshine brewing

The rules of moonshine establish 4 main stages of preparing this wonderful drink:

Preparation of raw materials.
Fermentation.
Distillation of mash.
Purification of the resulting drink
Flavoring is an optional but recommended step to enhance the taste and give it a bright aroma.

For those who are just learning the basics of moonshine brewing, it is advisable to have a fully equipped apparatus, which includes:

hydrometer to determine the strength of the finished drink;
thermometer to control distillation temperature;
pressure gauge - a device for measuring pressure in a distillation cube.

Classic types of raw materials and methods of their processing

As it is written in the immortal novel “The Twelve Chairs,” moonshine can be made even from a stool, and it will be a stool. Modern production does not offer such extreme measures, and therefore the best products for obtaining good wort are starch and sugar-containing ingredients.

Depending on the time of year and financial condition, the following is used to prepare the wort:

corn;
potato;
sugar;
fruit and berry cake;
berries and fruits, etc.

Starchy foods

The highest quality grain is grain, in particular wheat, and it is not for nothing that wheat vodka has always been a priority. In second place are whole fruits and berries, from which soft drinks with a low alcohol content are made. Potatoes also give a mild taste, but not such a rich aroma. The most unpleasant would be moonshine made from sugar beets and cake, but such a drink is both prepared and consumed.

Concentration of starch and sugar in grains and roots:

All of these products contain high concentrations of starch. In order to convert starch into glucose, the gelatinization technique is used - first the product is generously moistened, then heated to remove the starch and transform it into a water-soluble state. Next, you need to saccharify the resulting paste, for which you use malt (the procedure itself is described below in the “Fermentation” section).

If you do not use malt or special enzymes, the wort will simply turn sour, and the drink itself will have a disgusting taste.

In order to prevent souring, do the following.

They soak the raw materials so that they could cook a thin porridge.
It is cooked until “al dente” - when the grains or root vegetables are not yet completely boiled.
Malt or enzyme preparations are added for saccharification.
Yeast is added and left for a certain time until the wort ferments.
They distill the mash and get moonshine.

VIDEO: How to make mash with wild wheat yeast

These are the ingredients for making wort with a high sugar content. They mainly use apples, grapes, raspberries, viburnum and other berries. The cake also contains a large amount of sugar, but it is not enough to obtain high-quality raw materials.

The concentration of acid inhibits the activity of acids, so sour berries and fruits are first boiled to neutralize the acid, and then baking soda is added at the rate of ≈20 g. per liter of wort.

In order to accurately understand which raw materials are best to work with, we present tabulated values for the yield of alcohol (96%) and vodka (40°) for individual products. The data was compiled by distiller Waldemar Strieter (Germany).

Fermentation stage

The longest stage preceding the actual distillation. During the fermentation process, ethyl alcohol, water and CO2 are formed, which are divided into fractions during distillation.

The fermentation time directly depends on the amount of sugar in the prepared wort, but there should not be too much of it - as soon as the ethyl concentration exceeds 10°, fermentation stops. And vice versa. If there is not enough sugar, ethyl is released extremely slowly and little, so the mixture can simply turn sour.

Saccharification procedure

If you work with starch-containing products (grain, potatoes or pure starch), it is necessary to carry out saccharification correctly and there are certain subtleties here.

Starch is diluted with water to a liquid state.
First boil water, into which water with starch is slowly poured in a thin stream, stirring constantly and preventing a paste from forming.
When all the starch has been poured in, turn off the stove and place the cup with the solution in cold water. It needs to be cooled to a temperature of 68-60°C. Next, malt, malted milk or finished enzyme products are added.

How to make malted milk

Grain (wheat, rye, barley) is pre-sprouted.
The sprouted grain is well dried and pounded until a paste is formed.
Dilute with water until creamy.

After the starch solution and malted milk are mixed, the bowl with the liquid is left for 3-3.5 hours in a warm place. It is advisable to use a battery or wrap it in a blanket - the temperature should remain at 60°C. That's it, this completes the process of starch saccharification.

Which yeast to choose

It is during the life of fungi that ethyl alcohol is released, so you need to:

Choose the right yeast
Use the desired concentration.

If there is a lot of yeast and a large amount of ethyl begins to be released (more than 13%), the remaining mushrooms will die and the fermentation stage will not reach a certain end.

To prepare high-quality mash, you need “live” yeast - pressed, fresh, moist with a characteristic aroma. The color is uniform, the edges are not dry. Dry yeast is of little use - although it is also a living unicellular organism, its concentration is not enough to obtain high-quality raw materials.

During the entire fermentation procedure, you need to maintain a certain temperature of 18-30°C. To do this, place the vat of mash in a warm place, but make sure not to exceed the 30° mark, otherwise the mushrooms will die. If suddenly this happens, carefully drain, collect the layer on top and add fresh yeast.

You can determine that the wort is ready for distillation by its appearance and smell:

the taste of the mash is bitter with a slight sour aftertaste;
there is no foam or air bubbles on the surface;
The smell is sweetish, but quite mild.

Distillation process

Moonshine brewing technology is not limited only to this stage, but this is precisely the mechanism for obtaining ethyl alcohol from fermented mash.

For this purpose, a moonshine still is used - it can be either homemade or factory-made.

The mash itself is poured into a sealed distillation cube, where it is heated to a certain temperature. The purity and content of the drink depends on how correctly the temperature is maintained at each stage.

The whole process can be divided into the following stages (distillation):

Intensive heating to a temperature of 66-68°C, when the first impurities begin to separate. Next, the temperature is gradually raised to 78°. It is important to do this slowly so that some of the mash does not splash out.

The drink obtained during the first distillation contains more than 50% of harmful impurities, including acetone and fusel oils. Its consumption is fraught with food poisoning and even death.

Maintaining the temperature at 78-82° is the longest stage during which the main part of the ethyl is released. After the second distillation, the product can already be consumed, but if not used, the concentration of fusel oils is still very high.

Periodically check the alcohol content in the collection with a hydrometer or the old-fashioned way - setting it on fire on a spoon. As soon as the liquid stops burning, turn off the heating.

In the third distillation millet, the temperature is increased to 87-90°C so that the separation of heavy fusel milk begins.

Throughout the entire moonshine brewing process, the temperature in the refrigerator (coil) is controlled - it should not rise above 30°C. This balance is ensured by constant circulation of cold water.

VIDEO: How to make high-quality moonshine

Finished Product Cleaning

Since we want to teach you how to cook a clean product, we need to learn how to clean it properly. After the second distillation, even if there is a dry steamer, it still contains some foreign substances that are harmful to health and taste. Experienced distillers do not recommend doing the third distillation, as it removes the very taste of moonshine.

Some organic compounds cannot be removed during the boiling process of mash - their boiling point is much higher (see table).

To get rid of the above organic compounds, several stages are practiced:

chemical in the first distillation;
fractional by repeated distillation;
chemical after the second distillation;
filtration.

At the first stage, a weak solution of potassium permanganate is used, for which they take 2 grams, dissolve in 50 ml of purified water and dilute to a liter with moonshine. Leave for about 10 minutes, then filter through cotton cloth.
Fractional distillation involves dividing the resulting drink into fractions again, but this does not guarantee total purification, since, for example, isomeric amyl alcohol with the highest boiling point will not be able to separate.

The concentration of heavy impurities can be reduced by diluting the drink to 45°.

At this stage, activated carbon or charcoal obtained from fruit logs is used. This is the highest quality method in which porous carbon absorbs up to 85% of impurities.

Pour moonshine into the container and add coal at the rate of 150-180 g. for every 3 liters. Infuse for 15-20 days, periodically shaking vigorously (at least 2 times a day). Strain through cotton cloth.

Mastering moonshine technology is actually not difficult. The main thing is to maintain order, maintain temperature and consistency at each stage. But the most important thing is to make high-quality wort and work with a working moonshine still.

VIDEO: How to make high-quality moonshine at minimal cost

Let's talk about moonshine. How to make it, how and from what to prepare mash for it.

Moonshine is a famous alcoholic drink prepared at home.

I want to clarify right away that this article is not a call for alcoholism, but quite the opposite - primarily for those who do not abuse alcohol and who want to always have high-quality and tasty alcoholic drinks in their home supplies.

Previously, it had never even occurred to me to start making moonshine, but I have a small garden in which apple trees, cherries, plums, several grape vines grow, and sometimes it’s simply not practical to make jam from the entire harvest; it just doesn’t make sense - we haven’t eaten last year’s yet.

I make homemade wines and so I decided to try making moonshine

I don’t like the name “moonshine”; I prefer to call it a strong homemade alcoholic drink. I associate the word “moonshine” with a cloudy liquid, with a specific smell and with Gaidai’s film “Moonshiners”

In this article I want to tell you how you can prepare wonderful, tasty and aromatic strong drinks at home, popularly referred to as “moonshine”

Law in Russia on moonshine (punishment for moonshine)

Today, if you make such drinks for personal use, you can safely do so.

No one will make any claims against you if you use it personally or decide to treat it to friends or acquaintances

But if you decide to make extra money on this, then many laws and regulations will immediately fall on your head - from illegal business activities to licensing the production of alcohol-containing liquids, which imply from administrative punishment (fines from 500 to 5000 rubles) to criminal ( from 300,000 rubles to the actual term of imprisonment).

So prepare any delicacies for yourself, and it’s better to forget about business.

I would like to give some advice for beginners in this field:

If you decide to get serious about this to get real, tasty drinks, don’t use homemade distillers.

If it is not possible to make a high-quality and correct distiller, it is better to purchase one ready-made.

When choosing, pay attention to what material it is made of, preferably food-grade stainless steel, but the steamer connecting the tubes and the coil in the refrigerator should ideally be copper.

Keep in mind when choosing the volume of the apparatus that during distillation you only need to fill it to 2/3 of the volume, that is, if the apparatus is 12 liters, you can distill no more than 8 liters of mash at a time.

Please note that the device must have a built-in thermometer, this will make the cooking process much easier for you.

To prepare mash, try to use juices of berries, fruits, jam - what gives the final product taste, believe me, water, sugar, yeast - this is not the best option for preparing a tasty drink

Do not use yeast for baking; as a last resort, use wine yeast.

Be sure to purchase a hydrometer to measure the density of your wine material and an alcoholometer to measure the strength of your finished product

To make mash, prepare a clean, food-safe container with a tight-fitting lid.

The volume of the container should be 1/3 greater than the volume of the material you prepared.

Prepare a water seal to remove carbon dioxide during the fermentation process, which can be purchased ready-made at the store and cut into the lid of the container, or use a hose and a jar of water for this.

Moonshine recipe with berries

Let's consider two options for preparing the material using the example of a well-known and popular grape and a rather controversial berry - lemongrass.

The grapes can be any kind - varietal, wine, wild.

It is advisable to collect it in dry weather, at least 3-4 days after rain, so that the resulting yeast bacteria on its surface are not washed off.

Look through all the bunches of berries, remove rotten and spoiled ones

Since home volumes are usually not large, it is better to use a small saucepan, in which, in small portions, crush the bunches of grapes with a masher and load them into the container.

After processing all the material, do not forget that there should be 1/3 of free space in the container, cover the container with a clean towel and leave at room temperature for 3 to 5 days.

Every day, do not forget to stir your mixture with a long wooden spoon, preferably 2-3 times.

As it settles, the released juice will be in the lower part of the container, and all the pulp will rise to the top in the form of a cap.

Using a colander and a layer of gauze, carefully pour the juice into the prepared glass bottle or fermentation container, squeeze the pulp through several layers of gauze and put it back into the empty container.

The resulting juice is first-pressed juice; it is best to make wine from it; if such a task is not necessary, then it will make excellent cognac.

Pour water into the container with the squeezed pulp, exactly the same volume as the juice drained

The whole procedure is repeated for 3 - 5 days, at the end you will receive second-press juice, from which you can also get wonderful, tasty wine or excellent whiskey

After the second extraction, we also fill the cake with water, equal in volume to the drained juice and prepare the material for chacha, the technology is similar.

And so your juice is ready. If you decide not to make wine, but to use all the material for distillation, then decide, based on the volume of juice obtained, what you want to get as a final result - just strong alcohol or cognac, whiskey, chacha.

You can ferment each press separately and then distill it separately, you can mix everything together and prepare the mash in one volume

Depending on the varieties of grapes and their sugar content, you need to add sugar, per 10 liters of juice 2 - 2.5 kg of sugar, but it is better to measure the density of the material with a hydrometer after the sugar has completely dissolved, and add sugar if the density is below 20 – 25 mg/cm3, the higher the density before fermentation, the better. Keep in mind that the yield of a strong drink will be approximately 1 liter from 1 kg of sugar or from 5 liters of mash.

Pour in wine yeast - you can purchase it in specialized stores that sell everything necessary for winemaking and moonshine brewing. There are now such stores in almost every city.

It is better to ferment in a warm place, but I do not recommend placing it close to heating radiators.

Your mash will brew for 7–10 days; you will see the end of fermentation by the absence of bubbles in your water seal.

The mash has fermented well if its density when ready is 3 – 5 mg/cm3.

From lemongrass, as well as from other soft berries (raspberries, strawberries, honeysuckle), juice is best obtained with sugar.

Be sure to sort through the berries and remove any rotten or spoiled ones.

The berry is poured into a large basin and it must be covered with sugar in a thick layer.

Cover with a towel and leave for 3 – 5 days.

Do not fill the container full; the released juice will lift the berries upward.

Carefully drain the juice from the container, and pour clean water into the berries remaining in the container, exactly as much as the juice was drained; the infusion procedure will also last up to 5 days.

After a similar third procedure, drain the juice through cheesecloth and squeeze out the berry pulp.

Keep in mind that a sour berry, such as lemongrass, will require more sugar, otherwise the fermentation will not be complete and long.

In the same way, you can separate the juice and currants, but it is better to mash them before adding sugar.

The berry juice mixed with sugar is poured into a fermentation container, wine yeast is added (how many grams and how many liters of juice is usually indicated on the bags of yeast).

The container is tightly closed, a water seal is installed and placed in a warm place for 7 - 10 days.

Homemade jam for moonshine

If you have leftover jam from last year that you no longer intend to use for tea, this is an excellent material for making tasty strong drinks.

From practice, I don’t separate the jam by grade, but pour everything available into one tank (don’t forget that you should only use containers suitable for food).

Fill with water - at the rate of 2 - 3 liters of water per 1 liter of jam and leave to infuse for 4 - 5 days, stirring the whole mass regularly.

Drain the resulting infusion through a colander, and the remaining berries from the jam can be poured again with water in the volume of half of the drained infusion, let stand for 4 - 5 days and the drained second infusion can be combined with the first.

Determine the density with a hydrometer and, if it is less than required, add sugar.

The rest of the fermentation process is described above.

How to make mash for moonshine from wheat without yeast at home

To prepare such mash per 1 kg of pure wheat, you will need 1.5 kg of sugar and 7 liters of water

Pour the wheat into the pan and fill it with a sugar solution based on 1 liter of water, 200 g of sugar, pour it so that the sugar solution covers the wheat by 2 - 3 cm.

Cover the pan and place in a warm place for 3 to 4 days.

During this time, the wheat will ferment and foam.

Pour into an airtight container, add sugar and remaining water, and install a water seal.

Stir the wheat occasionally.

After 10 days, the fermentation process will end, the mash is ready.

To get a high-quality product from such mash, you will most likely have to distill it 3–4 times.

Recipe for odorless moonshine made from sugar and yeast

I suggest you watch this video, which shows an experiment with different yeasts for making mash and the entire step-by-step process, I think you will choose the best option for yourself.

How to properly distill moonshine at home

So, your mash is ready, you need to carefully drain it, preferably through a soft, thin hose into another container, maybe in three-liter jars (this process is also called skimming) and let it sit for a few more days. Before distillation, remove the sediment again.

We prepare the distiller and wash it.
Fill the mash to 2/3 of the volume, tighten the lid tightly and connect the steamer, then the refrigerator, to which cold water is supplied and drained, it is better that it is running.
Place the device on the stove over high heat.
At temperatures around 50 degrees, run cold water through the refrigerator in a thin stream.
Place a clean jar near the product drain.
The first drops will appear, which by 60 - 70 degrees will turn into a thin stream.
The first 30 - 50 grams need to be drained, maybe a little more, these are the so-called “heads”.
Under no circumstances should you leave them; it is better to use them for technical needs.
People also call the heads “pervach”. Sometimes you can hear: “I’ve had enough first, great.”
The first thing cannot be class - it is pure acetone, smell the liquid of the first 50 grams, there is a strong smell of acetone.
With the heads separated, reduce the heat to low to stop the vigorous distillation process.
Maintaining the temperature between 65 and 85 degrees, adjust the heat so that the product comes out in slow drops.
The strength of the product can be checked by filling a spoon with a few drops, setting it on fire, the flame will be red-blue.
The output volume of a strong product will be approximately 1 liter out of 5 liters of poured material.
Once your drink stops burning when tested, the presence of alcohol can be determined by taste.
I’ll say right away that it is not recommended to take a sample during preparation, and you need to determine the presence of strength with a few drops on the tongue; you will feel the presence of alcohol by a slight burning sensation.
If before this you took a larger sample, then determining the presence of alcohol from a few drops will be very problematic.
You have determined that the presence of alcohol in the resulting product is minimal or completely absent.
Place new dishes under the exit and continue driving, then you will get the so-called “tails”.
You will need them in order to dilute the resulting product to the strength you need.
In this case, the temperature will gradually begin to rise to boiling.

Having collected a small amount of tailings (how many of them you need, determine by measuring the strength of the resulting main product with an alcohol meter), turn off the heat, finish this lesson, if you still have material for distillation, and you decide to continue the process further, you need to refill the distiller with a new portion of mash .

Be sure to wear thick gloves while doing this, so as not to get burned, be sure to disconnect and drain the liquid from the steamer, all fusel and essential oils remain in the steamer, rinse it.

The finished product must be diluted with tails to the required strength and left to cool.

For cognac, the strength is within 40 degrees, whiskey is a little more than 45 - 50 grams, if you plan to make tinctures, liqueurs, you can use a little less than 40 grams.

Even at this stage, a drink made from juices, jam, turns out to be tasty, aromatic and practically without the smell of fusel oils, which does not require re-distillation.

You can then pass it through a charcoal filter, add 2-3 teaspoons of oak chips or 3-4 prunes to a 3-liter jar and leave it in a dark place to infuse.

I assure you that everyone will really like these drinks, even those who don’t drink strong drinks.

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Homemade moonshine recipes are very diverse, because the peculiarity of the drink is that it can be prepared from a wide variety of raw materials. Grain, berries, fruits, vegetables, all kinds of jams, tomato paste, starch and even candies - all of the above is suitable for infusing mash and subsequent distillation, while each type of raw material makes it possible to prepare a certain type of moonshine. From grains you will get a strong and strong drink, from berry mash - a more aromatic one, the main thing is that the raw materials are of high quality. So, choose any of the methods we suggest and get started!

Moonshine from sugar

You will need 3 kilograms of sugar, 15 liters of water and yeast (100 g). Mix the ingredients and leave for a week. Next is distillation in the apparatus. To improve the taste and give a pleasant aroma, you can put a few currant leaves or a bunch of dry fragrant dill in the mash before infusion.

The given recipe for sugar moonshine is an example of how you can make a strong alcoholic drink yourself from a minimal set of products.

Recipe for making moonshine without yeast

1 option

In this case, the main component will be the well-known tomato paste. So, take a liter of paste, stir it with sugar, dilute the resulting slurry with water and add any beer there. Infuse the resulting mixture in a warm place until the mash ferments. And only then do we distill it.

You will need 5 kilograms of sugar, 15 liters of water, and 0.25 liters of beer.

Option 2

Grind candies (three kilograms) with any fruit filling, then transfer the entire mass into water, stir, and leave to ferment for about 5 days. Then we do the distillation. Water consumption - 20 liters.

Recipe for making moonshine from jam

You can use any jam (raspberries, currants, blueberries, strawberries), as long as it ferments. For 3 liters of jam we take 1.5 kilos of sugar, 15 liters of water (necessarily warm), 100 g of yeast. Mix and place in a warm place. After 5 days we distill.

Moonshine from potatoes

This recipe is labor-intensive, and it is very important to withstand the technological subtleties of the process.

Required:

10 kg of potatoes;
4 kg of oats;
yeast (approximately 600 g);
water (38-40 liters).

Grind the oats and pour boiling water over them. Grate the potatoes, then add them little by little to the oat mixture, stirring constantly. Leave for three hours, then gradually add water and yeast and stir. Close the tank tightly with a lid and place it away from light. As soon as sediment and bubbles appear in the container, it’s time to distill.

Moonshine from honey

The main component of honey mash is, of course, honey. You will need three kilograms of it. In addition, you will need the same amount of sugar, 300 g of yeast. Water is also used in this recipe; you will need twenty liters of it.

We mix the two main components - sugar and honey in water, then add yeast to the mixture, mix everything thoroughly and set it to ferment. After a week, the finished honey mash can be distilled into moonshine.

Moonshine from corn

To get high-quality moonshine from corn cobs, you must first prepare the mash. To do this, grind the corn (about 8 kg), add 1 kg of wheat flour, mix everything thoroughly. For kneading, it is best to use a large enamel tank. Then add boiling water (35-40 liters) to the mass, mix, put the tank on the stove and cook for about 4 hours.

Next, cool the mixture, add barley malt (1 kg), mix and leave for two hours, after wrapping the tank with a blanket. Then cool the resulting mixture a little (to about 20 degrees), add 100 g of yeast, and let everything ferment for seven to eight days. Let's distill. The malt used is sprouted barley grains.

Bread moonshine

This recipe calls for the use of both bread and grain. Required ingredients:

black bread (seven loaves);
ten kilograms of boiled potatoes;
sprouted grains of oats, barley or wheat (six kilograms);
1 kg of yeast.

Soak the bread in 10 liters of water, then grind the mass thoroughly. We also grind the grain and mash the potatoes until it reaches the consistency of porridge. Mix all the ground and mashed products together, add yeast and set aside the mixture to ferment. After 7-8 days, the mash can be distilled, and it is better to do this twice.

Recipe for making moonshine from grain

This recipe is also labor-intensive, but the resulting drink is strong and of high quality.

Take 10 kg of any grain, soak it in water for about two to three days, and then dry it until crisp. Pour the grain into a tank (preferably an enameled one), fill it with ten liters of hot water, stir everything well. After two hours, add another 10 liters of hot water and again leave the mixture for two hours. Then add cold water (2 liters), add yeast (500 g), and set it to ferment for three days. After fermentation is complete, the composition is distilled. To get better quality grain moonshine, you can distill it twice.

Wheat moonshine

This recipe uses regular wheat grain. The calculation is this: grind four kilograms of grain, add the same amount of sugar and water (three liters) and put it in a warm place. After five days, add another kilogram of sugar and warm water (18 liters), and leave everything for about seven days. The last stage is distillation (twice).

This recipe is often called classic, and it is the one that is most often used in practice.

Moonshine from sprouted wheat

The mash according to this recipe is infused with sprouted grains. It is convenient to germinate it on baking sheets - scatter the grain and fill it with warm water. During the germination process, we control the humidity, maintaining the ambient temperature no more than 17 degrees and turning the grain approximately every 6 hours. After about 8-10 days, the wheat grains usually germinate. Then we grind the grains, add yeast and water to the mass and leave until the contents ferment. The process will take about 6-7 days. We distill the product twice.

Product consumption:

two kilograms of grain;
water thirty liters;
half a kilo of yeast.

Rye moonshine

To make rye moonshine, we first germinate the rye grains, then grind them and then dilute them with water. Stirring constantly, heat the mixture a little and bring it to a jelly-like state.

Then put the tank or large pan in a warm place for about ten hours. Next, cool the mixture to a temperature of about 17 degrees, add the yeast and set it to ferment. We distill it once.

Water is taken based on the amount of grain 1:3, yeast - 50 g per 1 kg of grain.

Recipe for making moonshine with pine nuts

In this case, distillation of the mash is not required. Take 3 liters of high-quality vodka or good moonshine, add 200 g of raisins, 200 g of peeled pine nuts. If you like tart drinks, you can add one tablespoon of dry oak bark.

To obtain a mild taste, it is recommended to add about 100 g of honey. Mix all the ingredients, pour into a jar, roll up the lid and put in a cool place for 1.5-2 months. After standing, there is no need to distill the drink; simply filter it through a strainer or cheesecloth. Moonshine with pine nuts is ready!

Moonshine with prunes

To prepare such a fragrant moonshine tincture, you will need half a kilo of prunes. There is no need to remove the bones. We thoroughly wash the prunes, fill them with moonshine (6 liters), and let them sit for a month. Then filter the drink. Moonshine infused with prunes is ready for use.

Moonshine from millet

We take two three-liter jars of millet and cook it until the cereal is completely boiled. Cool the porridge a little, add two kilograms of flour and warm water to make a porridge-like mixture. Carefully dilute 200 grams of yeast in water, add it to the resulting porridge with millet, and mix.

We let the contents ferment. After five to seven days, we distill the finished mash, and it is better to do a double distillation.

Moonshine with cranberries

You cannot make moonshine directly from berries. But cranberry tincture with moonshine is very popular.

This will require 4 liters of strong, high-quality moonshine, two kilograms of cranberries, and a quarter kilogram of sugar. Add moonshine to the berries, add sugar, mix everything. To ferment, put the mash in a dark place and keep it there for three months. After the expiration date, the aromatic cranberry infusion can be consumed.

Rice moonshine

You will need three kilograms of rice (long, round - it doesn’t matter), three full glasses of any sprouted grain (malt), two hundred grams of yeast.

Add warm water (8 liters) to the boiled rice (do not drain), cool slightly, add ground sprouted grain. We leave the mixture for 10 hours, pour the already diluted yeast into it and let it ferment for a week.

After 6-7 days, carefully filter the mass, then distill it. From this amount of ingredients, approximately 3.5 liters of moonshine is obtained.

Apple moonshine

To prepare a strong alcoholic homemade drink, you can use apples of any variety.

Peel the fruits (10 kg), grind them, and place them in a container. Add sugar (calculation: 150 g per 1 kg of apple mass), leave to ferment for five days. Then we filter the mixture, add sugar (150 g per 1 liter) to the resulting liquid mass, and set it to ferment again, this time for two weeks.

We distill the resulting apple mash twice, after which excellent moonshine will be ready.

Moonshine from peas

First grind the peas into flour, then boil them. Cool the resulting mass, add malt (3-4 cups), mix and leave for 8 hours. Then add the yeast and let it ferment for a week. In some cases, fermentation can last up to 10 days.

After fermentation, we filter the mash and distill it once.

Consumption: peas - three kilograms, 200 g of yeast, sprouted grain (malt) - 3 glasses, 10 liters of water.

Moonshine from wine

The recipe for making wine moonshine is simple. We take 10 liters of any quality wine, pour yeast into it, cover the tank with gauze or tie it with a towel and put it in a warm place. After 6-7 days, the mash should be ready, and after that we will distill it into moonshine.

Moonshine from beer

Good moonshine can be made from unpasteurized, so-called “live” beer. To do this, pour beer (5 liters) into a container, mix thoroughly, allowing all gases to escape. As a result, there should be no foam at all. Next, we do the first distillation, add a little water (about half a liter) to the resulting distillate and distill again. After this, we leave the product for three days, and the moonshine is ready for use.

Recipe for making odorless moonshine

Moonshine has a peculiar pungent smell that not everyone likes. To remove the odor, the drink should be cleaned.

Here are the ways we offer you for this:

For three liters of finished moonshine, add 2 g of potassium permanganate. After some time, sediment will form in the drink. Carefully drain the moonshine, avoiding mixing the sediment into the purified liquid.
Pour fresh milk into the prepared moonshine and distill it. Consumption: for 6 liters of alcoholic drink, take one liter of milk.

Moonshine from birch sap

For mash we take 15 liters of juice, three kilograms of sugar, yeast (100 g). Lightly heat the birch sap, then add sugar, stir, and then add yeast.

Let the mixture sit for a week, then filter and distill the liquid.

To improve the taste, before putting the resulting mass to ferment in a warm place, you can add cherry or garden currant leaves.

Rowan moonshine recipe

We sort through ripe rowan berries and remove bad or damaged berries. Add sugar and water. Mix everything, add the yeast, stir the mass thoroughly again and only then let it ferment. Fermentation time is approximately two weeks. Next comes distillation. Product consumption: rowan - three kilograms, water - five liters, yeast - 100 g.
In this recipe you will need to take berries, bread kvass instead of water, and yeast. Thoroughly crush the rowan, add yeast and kvass, mix. Then we put the mixture to ferment (about 6 days). We distill once, add moonshine (6 liters) and distill again.

Amount of products: kvass - five liters, berries - three kilograms, yeast - 50 g.

Apricot moonshine

From apricots, if all stages of the technological process are followed correctly, you can get a magnificent aromatic alcoholic drink.

Remove the pits from the apricots, grind them in a blender or meat grinder, add yeast, a little sugar syrup and let them ferment. After two to three weeks, filter the finished mash and put it on distillation. The best option is to distill two or three times.

Amount of products: apricots - 10 kg, sugar - 10 kg, water - three liters, yeast - 100 g.

Moonshine from barley

In essence, this moonshine recipe is the preparation of homemade whiskey, where the main raw material is barley grain. First, we germinate the grain (this takes from three to six days), then dry it and grind it. Next, pour boiling water for 10 hours, then add more water (the calculation is as follows: take three liters of liquid per 1 kg of ground barley), add yeast.

We set everything to ferment for about a week. Then we distill the mash twice.

Moonshine with dry yeast

Typically, dry yeast is used in combination with sugar, which then produces a higher-quality drink. You will need a packet of factory-made dry yeast, five kilos of sugar and twenty liters of water.

Carefully dilute the yeast, mix it with pre-dissolved sugar and let the mixture brew for about ten days. Only after this do we distill the mash.

Malt moonshine recipe

Malt is obtained from sprouted grains of wheat, barley, and rye. In recipes with malt, you can avoid using yeast. Here's an interesting option:

we germinate barley grains, dry them, grind them;
prepare the brew: brew 200 g of fresh hop cones in hot water (2 liters), then strain the hop decoction, cool slightly, add three tablespoons of flour, stir, let stand for an hour;
We take half a bucket of apples, add malt, steaming, warm water (to get a semi-liquid mass), then we set it all to ferment for about a week. Then we distill.

Moonshine on oak bark

Moonshine infused with oak bark has a pleasant aroma and beautiful color.

To prepare the drink, add dry oak bark to the prepared moonshine (approximately 30-50 g of bark per 1 liter). We insist at a temperature of 17-18 degrees for about a week, then filter and pour into bottles.

Moonshine made from flour

We dilute rye flour with water, then add yeast for fermentation and place in a warm place. After a week, perhaps a little more, the resulting mash is filtered and distilled.

Calculation of ingredients:

100 g yeast;
For 1 kg of flour approximately 1 liter of water.

Banana moonshine

To prepare this exotic drink, take 1 kg of bananas, one pineapple, nutmeg (100-150 g), anise (120 g), sugar (100 g).

Peel the bananas and mash them into a puree with a fork. Peel the pineapple, cut the pulp into pieces, add sugar. Mix banana puree and pineapple pulp, add chopped nutmeg, and pour in moonshine (10 liters).

Leave for about 8 days, carefully filter. One distillation will be enough and your moonshine with a pleasant banana aroma is ready!

Mulberry moonshine

Good moonshine is obtained from mulberries (mulberries).

Mash 10 kg of berries, add sugar and yeast to the pulp. We put everything in a warm place, carefully monitor the fermentation process, stirring the mass during the first two days. Then we distill the mash.

You will need two kilos of sugar and one hundred grams of yeast.

Moonshine on rosehip

In this option, there is no need to distill the finished mash. Take five to six glasses of rose hips, add seven liters of water, mix the mixture.

Then add yeast (about 100 g) and sugar (4 kg). The fermentation period of the mass is about three months. After fermentation is complete, strain the liquid. Moonshine is ready to drink.

Persimmon moonshine

Grind the persimmons and squeeze out the juice. The next step is adding sugar and yeast. Calculation: for 10 liters of juice 1 kg of sugar and 50-80 g of yeast.

Let the mixture ferment in a warm container for about a week. We distill it in a still.

Herbal moonshine

Many people like to make moonshine using various herbs. This drink has a pleasant aroma, rich taste, and therefore is easy to drink.

For six liters of moonshine we take dill (10 g), sage (100 g), coriander (30 g), rose hips (30 g). Fill the components with moonshine and leave for about five days. After standing, we distill the mass. After distillation, add sugar syrup (a glass) to the finished product.
Take wormwood (20 g), mint (200 g), rosemary (15 g), cloves (10 g), fill everything with moonshine (12 liters), close tightly. We remove the container and leave for three days. After this, we filter the tincture and distill it once.

Grape moonshine

So, to make moonshine from grapes you will need:

10 liters of grape pomace;
five kilos of sugar;
yeast (100 g);
30 liters of water.

Gently pour the grape marc with water, let it sit, and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir the mixture constantly during cooking, then put it in a warm place. Exposure period is a week.

After this, we filter the mash and only then distill it. It is advisable to do the distillation twice, in this case you will get clear, tasty moonshine.

Moonshine recipe with pepper

It is impossible to obtain moonshine directly from pepper, but it is possible to impart certain qualities to the finished drink. This is especially important in cases where you want to get a drink with a beautiful color, without a specific moonshine smell, but with a pleasant aroma.

We take black peppercorns (at the rate of 15 g per liter), cloves (3 g per liter), ginger (10 g per liter). Add everything listed to the finished moonshine, let it sit for a week, and filter.

We have given only some recipes, but there are a lot of them. With a huge variety of options, everyone can find their own, most suitable, of the available products.

And having mastered the basics of moonshine brewing, you can experiment, coming up with new recipes for homemade moonshine. The most important thing is not to overdo it with drinking, remember that everything should be in moderation.

It seems like everyone knows about moonshine, a strong alcoholic drink. And many people mistakenly believe that moonshine “loses” in quality to more noble drinks. In fact, this is absolutely not true, because if everything is done correctly, following the technology of each stage without violations, you will get an ideal product - transparent, strong, and most importantly - your own!
Homemade moonshine recipes are very diverse, because the peculiarity of the drink is that it can be prepared from a wide variety of raw materials. Grain, berries, fruits, vegetables, all kinds of jams, tomato paste, starch and even candies - all of the above is suitable for infusing mash and subsequent distillation, while each type of raw material makes it possible to prepare a certain type of moonshine. From grains you will get a strong and strong drink, from berry mash - a more aromatic one, the main thing is that the raw materials are of high quality.

Sugar mash recipe.

1.Calculation of proportions. First, they determine the amount of moonshine that is needed at the exit. At home, 1 kg of sugar produces 1.1-1.2 liters of moonshine with a strength of 40 degrees. When making calculations, I advise you to increase the amount of ingredients by 10-15%, since for various reasons (temperature, quality of raw materials, improper distillation) the actual yield is less than the theoretical one.
For 1 kg of sugar add: 3 liters of water (plus 0.5 liters if inverting is done) and alcoholic Turbo yeast.
2. Inverting sugar. A very complex name refers to the preparation of ordinary sugar syrup. The fact is that during fermentation, yeast first breaks down sugar into simple monosaccharides - glucose and fructose, and only then processes these substances into the alcohol we need. Heating also kills pathogenic microorganisms on the surface of the sugar, which are waiting for more favorable conditions for reproduction (temperature, humidity, etc.). The activation of harmful microbes in the mash is extremely undesirable.
Inverted sugar moonshine ferments faster because we do some of the work with yeast instead, and tastes better than its regular counterpart. Although the inversion step is considered optional and most moonshine recipes only suggest dissolving 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 a temperature of 70-80°C in a large saucepan.
2. Add sugar (6 kg) and mix slowly until a homogeneous mass is formed.
3. Bring the syrup to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Gradually add citric acid (25 grams), reduce the heat on the stove to a minimum.
5. Close the pan with a lid and 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 meet all hygienic standards and have no color, taste, or smell.
Before preparing sugar moonshine, I recommend letting tap water sit for 1-2 days. Thanks to this, its hardness is reduced, and harmful impurities settle at the bottom. Then the water is drained from the sediment through a thin tube.
4. Mixing ingredients. The syrup prepared at the 2nd stage should be poured into a fermentation container, and cold water (18 liters) should be added there. If you have not inverted the sugar, then you need to dissolve it in warm water, stirring vigorously. In both cases, the optimal temperature of the finished mixture is 27-30°C.
The container cannot be filled to more than ¾ of the volume, otherwise during active foaming the mash may overflow over the edges and you will have to collect it all over the floor.
5. Adding yeast. To do this, just strictly follow the instructions on the bag. In most cases, boiled water is cooled to 32-36°C, the required amount of dry yeast is added, covered with a lid, and the container itself is wrapped in thick 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 extends beyond the container. As a defoamer for mash, I recommend using crumbled half of a dry store-bought cookie or 10-20 ml of vegetable oil. Adding these products will not affect the quality of moonshine in any way.
6. Fermentation. A water seal is installed on the bottle with mash and transferred to a room with a stable temperature of 26-31°C (very important for the normal development of yeast). Braga made with inverted sugar has a pleasant caramel smell that does not spoil the air.
To maintain the temperature regime, the container is covered with blankets or fur coats, insulated with building thermal insulation materials, or aquarium heaters with a thermoregulation system are installed. Fermentation lasts from 3 to 10 days (usually 4-5). Every 12-16 hours I recommend shaking the mash for 45-60 seconds without removing the water seal. Thanks to this, you will remove excess carbon dioxide that interferes with the normal functioning of the yeast.
Signs that sugar mash is ready for distillation:
bitter taste (all sugar has been converted into alcohol);
the release of carbon dioxide has stopped (the water seal does not gurgle);
the upper layers of the mash became lightened, and sediment appeared at the bottom;
the hissing stopped;
there is an alcohol smell;
a match brought to the mash continues to burn.
All these signs are used in combination; it is necessary that at least 2-3 of them appear simultaneously, otherwise it is easy to make a mistake. For example, an excess of sugar leads to the fact that the yeast dies before it has time to process everything. They cannot live at alcohol concentrations higher than 12%, so even ready-made mash will be sweet.
7. Degassing and clarification of mash. Making the right moonshine is unthinkable without this stage. First, the mash is removed from the yeast sediment by pouring it into a large saucepan through a straw. Next, the mash is heated to 50°C. High temperature kills the remaining yeast and promotes the release of carbon dioxide from the liquid, which we do not need at all.
The degassed mash is poured back into the bottle and clarified with bentonite, a natural white clay. It is sold in bags.
To clarify 20 liters of mash, 2-3 tablespoons of bentonite are ground in a coffee grinder and dissolved 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.
Bentonite is added to the mash, the container is tightly closed and shaken vigorously for several minutes. Next, the mash is left alone for 15-30 hours, after which it is ready for distillation. The sediment should not be poured into the sewer, where it can create cement plugs, which are then difficult to eliminate.
The use of bentonite removes foreign impurities that did not precipitate during fermentation. As a result, the unpleasant yeast smell disappears from the mash, and the distilled moonshine is much easier to clean, since most of the harmful substances will be removed by the clay and will not get into it.

How to distill moonshine.

8. First distillation. The mash clarified with bentonite is poured from the sediment into a distillation cube. The purpose of the first distillation is to separate the alcohol from other substances. Many novice and lazy moonshiners stop there, never having tasted the taste of real homemade moonshine made according to all the rules.
Distillation is performed over low heat. We will immediately divide the entire output into factions: “heads”, “body” and “tails”. The first 50 ml of yield per 1 kg of sugar is collected 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 (ignition for a fire, glass washer...). It is so harmful that drinking it is dangerous to your health.
After this, the “body” is selected - the useful middle fraction, called raw alcohol, for which we prepare moonshine from sugar. Selection is stopped when the distillate strength drops 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 traditional method - while the distillate is burning in a spoon, we continue sampling.
The last to be collected in a separate container are the “tails” - the third fraction containing a lot of fusel oils. This distillate can be poured into the next mash to make it stronger, or not collected at all.
9. Cleaning. Before the second distillation, the middle fraction (raw alcohol) needs additional purification from harmful impurities. There is no single and universally accepted method, so you can use any one you like.
Purifying sugar moonshine with charcoal is considered natural and environmentally friendly, but with the right approach, for example, potassium permanganate with baking soda also gives good results. The main thing is to dilute the distillate with water to 20-30 degrees before cleaning.
10. Second distillation. The diluted raw alcohol is poured into the distillation cube and the distiller is turned on at minimum heat. As in the first case, especially if you are brewing moonshine for yourself, I advise you to select the “heads” - the first 50 ml for each kilogram of added sugar.
Immediately after selecting the first (head) fraction, I advise you to replace the steam chamber, if it is provided for by the design of your moonshine still. Then, until the strength drops below 40 degrees, the main distillate is selected.
11. Dilution and settling. At the last stage, homemade moonshine is diluted with water to the desired strength. To make the taste of the drink softer and more balanced, I advise you to pour it into bottles, cap it, let it brew for 3-4 days in a cool, dark place, and only then start tasting it with relatives and friends.

Let's consider moonshine brewing as a creative process, an opportunity to make high-quality homemade alcohol. Let's now try to learn new moonshine and master them in practice.

Moreover, some people like high-potency tinctures, for example, St. John's wort or wormwood. Others prefer sweetened or even sweet alcohol, such as liqueur or cordial.

Let's talk about types of drinks that are familiar to some, and others will discover a new recipe that will later become their favorite. And there will be something to surprise guests.

Remember! The main rule: for preparing strong liqueurs, as well as low-degree drinks, use only purified moonshine. Preferably double distilled or obtained using. Otherwise, harmful impurities and flavors will interfere with the development of the bouquet of the finished product.

All alcoholic tinctures are conventionally divided into the following types:

Bitter. They are prepared with herbs, aromatic plants, spices: horseradish, tea, hibiscus and other ingredients. They are called bitter because no special sugar is added to them. Only a sweet note is possible due to the product used to make the tincture. There cannot be more than 2% sugar.
Semi-sweet. No sugar is added to them, although its content may be about 6%. We are talking about tinctures that use berries, or berries and herbs (seasonings). Sweetness depends on how much sugar is in the berries used.
Sweet. We are talking specifically about tinctures (liqueurs) to which sugar is added. Its level is about 20%.
Very sweet- liqueurs. They contain 30% sugar, or even more.

It should be remembered that you should not make drinks too sweet. And even if you like liqueurs, then do not forget: they are insidious, they can “knock you out of the saddle” more easily, and even harder after “too much”. Therefore, liqueurs are consumed in small doses or used for cocktails.

Plants better release beneficial properties and essential oils into alcohol, which has a strength of 45° or more. That's why it's better to make them with moonshine rather than with store-bought vodka.

How to make moonshine?

First of all, let's look at the recipe for moonshine prepared with alcohol yeast, since it is the base on which delicious alcohol is subsequently produced.

It is prepared with alcoholic yeast, since using bakery yeast will reduce the yield of the finished product.

Let's take the ingredients for the mash based on: for 10 liters of water – 2.5 kg of sugar, 100 g of yeast(alcohol). We don't add anything else. We dilute sugar in warm water, in a separate container - yeast with a pinch of sugar and see that it fits.

Add to the sugar solution and set for fermentation, making sure to cover the vessel with a lid, but not airtight. The mash is kept in a warm place until it overheats and becomes bitter in taste, without a sweet aftertaste. Typically, a brew made with alcoholic yeast becomes ready for distillation within a week, maximum 10 days.

Moonshine should not have a pronounced odor and, if possible, it should be freed from foreign impurities and taste. Therefore, double distillation with cutting off the “heads” and “tails” during the secondary process is necessary. Using the rectification method, you can get by with just one distillation.

Quick recipe

You can make moonshine in a day, for which you will need:

sugar - 5 kg;
pressed yeast - 500 g;
fresh milk – 1 l;
peas – 1 kg;
water – 15 l.

Mix sugar, yeast and water as in the previous recipe. Add milk and peas and leave in a warm place for a day. After which the moonshine is distilled from the milk.

Tomato

A liter of tomato paste is diluted in 30 liters of water, 10 kg of sugar is added, and 0.5 liters of beer are added. It is distilled when it has fermented.

Moonshine from tomato paste is of good quality, but its yield is 7–8 liters, which is not the best option when using 10 kg of sugar.

From glucose

To make moonshine with glucose, follow the same proportions as for sugar. You can use dry yeast, of which 50 g per 10 liters of water is enough.

Moonshine made from mash prepared with glucose is particularly soft when compared to sugar. It has fewer “heads” and “tails” and harmful impurities. Even a single distillation gives a fairly high-quality product.

"Gastric"

In order to make moonshine with mint, more than one recipe has been invented. We will consider the one that is popularly called “stomach”, since in reasonable doses it helps against ailments associated with the gastrointestinal tract: upset stool, flatulence, heaviness in the stomach, etc.

This is not just mint moonshine, but also containing other beneficial ingredients. Mix 400 g of herbs: mint, sage and anise, add 100 g of chopped ginger. Pour the mixture into 12 liters of first-distilled moonshine (without selected heads and tails). Leave in a dark and warm place for 21 days, shaking (stirring) daily. Then we carry out the second distillation.

Secondary distillation is carried out by distillation; a distillation column is not used for this, since it removes the final product not only from the smell and taste, but also from the beneficial healing substances contained in such moonshine.

Pearl barley Borodino tincture

It got its name because it smells like Borodino bread and even has its taste.

Make a tincture of pearl barley, adding cumin and coriander seeds. For 3 liters of moonshine 50° strength, take half a glass of pearl barley, pour it into a dry frying pan and fry.

When the color changes, half is poured out, and the rest is fried to a coffee tone. Coriander and cumin take 10 grams.

Grind the pearl barley and spices coarsely (in a coffee grinder) and fill the jar with moonshine. After a week of infusion, strain. If necessary and desired, tint with burnt sugar, dilute with distilled water to 40°.

Zubrowka

The famous tincture with the smell of herbs, as if you were in a meadow, under a stack of hay. It is better if the zubrovka is homemade, because in this case you know for sure that it is infused with the herb of the same name - zubrovka.

For a three-liter jar of moonshine you will need 3 – 6 blades of grass (depending on their size). The plant can be bought at markets, from herbalists, just make sure that it is green and smells pleasant of the meadow. Cut into pieces and place in a jar of alcohol for two weeks.

To make the taste softer, add sugar - up to 3 tsp. and juice of one lemon. Zubrovka is one of the best tinctures that recommended for use outdoors- for barbecue, fish soup, lard.

Elite grain drinks

Some moonshine recipes involve the use of grain and are considered elite. This is moonshine from oats, wheat, rye etc. We will look at how to make moonshine from buckwheat.

First, let's make porridge: take 1.5 kg of buckwheat, add water and heat it to a temperature of 60 - 65 ° C and simmer for about 1.5 hours. Then just bring it to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add 4 grams of enzymes A and D to the porridge that has cooled to 60 degrees, mix and let it brew for another hour and a half.

Then we make the wort from 16 liters of water, 4 kg of sugar and 500 g of pressed yeast. After fermentation, which lasts about 5 days (watch out!), we turn the strained mash into moonshine.

By the way! French buckwheat whiskey, produced in small batches, is prized among connoisseurs. You can make the drink at home. To do this, buckwheat moonshine (traditionally made from raw, not fried buckwheat) is aged for a couple of years in the basement in an oak barrel.

Pumpkin

To make pumpkin moonshine, peel the vegetable from skin and seeds, then either pass it raw through a juicer, or boil and mash. Add another 10 liters of water, 2 kg of sugar and 200 g of pressed (30 g of dry) yeast to 10 liters of the resulting puree (juice).

It is better for the mash to be in a glass bottle with a medical glove on it. At the end of fermentation it is distilled. In pumpkin moonshine, you can hear the slight smell of this vegetable, and in the aftertaste you can feel a hint of pumpkin seeds.

Juniper

To make moonshine with juniper, you need to stock up on berries. You can either buy them on the market or prepare them yourself if juniper grows somewhere nearby. One and a half kilograms of berries are poured with 8 liters of first distillation moonshine. They infuse for two weeks and distill until they get ¾ of the original volume - 6 liters.

By distilling moonshine with juniper berries infused in it again, you will get almost real moonshine, which is made in this way on an industrial scale.

Tinctures on berries and fruits

You can safely make tinctures with the berries you have. This way you will get healthy moonshine.

For example, a tincture of chokeberry or hawthorn reduces blood pressure, and a tincture of garlic, as well as grapefruit and lingonberry, helps the body fight viruses during periods of epidemics.

It works if you take tinctures in moderation.

And they are made like this: a handful or two of the raw materials we need (preferably crushed) are filled with moonshine and infused - from two weeks to several months, then strained and filtered.

In addition, you can make spring vitamin tinctures from dandelions or nettles. They are not only tasty, but also healthy.

Pomegranate

It is considered an assistant in strengthening blood vessels, normalizing blood pressure, improving blood counts, and treating inflammatory and cold diseases.

It is made either from juice (the grains are ground, for example, through a metal sieve), or from grains together with juice, or even together with the skin. In the latter case, astringency will be noticeably felt. Ratio: per liter of moonshine – 3-4 fruits. You need to insist for at least 3 weeks.

Barberry

The barberry tincture has a pronounced “candy” taste, slight sourness and a pleasant color, depending on the color of the berries: yellow, burgundy, bluish. For a liter of moonshine, take 3 tablespoons of berries and 1-3 tablespoons of honey, to taste. Sugar is not very suitable for this recipe.

Apricot with almonds

Apricot moonshine infused with almonds is very tasty. Moonshine is obtained in the usual way, like any fruit moonshine. Then, to 4 liters of product add crushed 200 g of almonds, 4 g of coriander and cinnamon, 100 g of apricot kernels and 600 - 800 g of sugar (to taste).

Leave it covered for a week, add half a liter of boiled water, filter, bottle and seal.

Pistachio

The drink, amazing in taste, aroma, and cognac color, is made from pistachio shells, which are pre-fried until dark. You should take shells from unsalted pistachios!

For a 3-liter jar of moonshine you need half a glass of fried shells. Leave for two weeks, strain, add sugar to taste, usually half a glass.

On kiwi

This drink can easily be confused with lemon liqueur (see: ), although it has its own taste. Kiwi liqueur will be yellowish, and its degree of sweetness will depend on how much sugar you add (per 0.5 liter - from 50 to 200 g).

For 0.5 liters of moonshine you will need 4 kiwis with skins, chopped in a blender, a little lemon, orange or grapefruit zest (the choice of citrus fruit will affect the taste). Mix everything and seal. Keep it warm and dark for a month.

Strain, squeeze, add sugar, or even better, sugar syrup. If it is too strong for you, add boiled chilled water.

Experiment, add your own ingredients, change the proportions. And, of course, share these recipes and your own experiences with friends on social networks or in the comments below!

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