During the Union, the state owned a monopoly on alcohol production. It struggled with moonshine legislation, created a negative image for moonshiners and moonshine. However, even the mighty state machine could not completely eradicate home distillery. Moonshine remained a welcome and affordable drink, served as a kind of "liquid currency" among the population.
Times have changed, laws have become softer. Today, home brewing from shameful and illegal activities is turning into a popular hobby. Instead of artisanal moonshine stills come devices thought out to the smallest detail, made of solid materials. Long-term trends begin to change. After all, at all times, moonshine was more popular in rural areas, where, according to some studies, even today there are four bottles of moonshine per bottle of vodka.
Today, the distillery townspeople compete among themselves in the manufacture of drinks that are not inferior in taste to good cognac or whiskey. People are attracted by the ability to control all stages of production. The benefits of distillation are not primarily economic, but moral and physical. Vinokur takes pride in creating original and high-quality drinks, which, when properly manufactured, are safer than store products.
However, the path to the ability to “drive” good moonshine, without impurities, is long and thorny. Often, beginners are negligent in thoroughly cleaning the moonshine without attaching special importance to it. This is a big mistake, sometimes even fatal. It happens from ignorance of what irreparable harm to the body can be caused by substances formed together with alcohol during distillation. Every beginner distillery must strictly follow the indisputable truth: good, clean moonshine can be made only by strictly observing all the technological stages of its production.
Technology
There is no trifle in moonshining, frivolity or a desire to get a bigger product causes a poor result and jeopardizes the health of the drinker. There are the following technological stages of the production of moonshine:
- Selection and preparation of raw materials for mash.
- Fermentation of mash.
- The first distillation.
- Cleaning moonshine.
- Subsequent distillation.
- Aromatization and infusion of the product.
Why are harmful substances formed?
Each of the stages plays a role in the taste and purity of the drink. However, distillation and purification are decisive for the quality of moonshine. During distillation under the influence of temperature, not only alcohol is evaporated from the mash, but also substances poisonous to humans, they are usually called the collective word "Sivuha".
The composition of the sivuha includes fusel oils, methyl, isopropyl, isoamyl alcohol, furfural, acetone and other compounds that affect the liver, organs of vision, the brain, disrupt the functioning of the heart and digestive system, can lead to chronic ailments and even lethal intoxication. After the first distillation, the product is almost half composed of these substances. Get rid of them in two ways.
The first is to cut off the initial and final fractions of the product in which the concentration of poison is highest. An experienced distillery cuts off the so-called “tails” and “heads” without regret, because he is aware of how harmful they are and how they affect the quality of the final drink. But a careless novice, wanting to get more product, can cut off too few harmful fractions. As a result, his moonshine will turn out not only with a bad smell and taste, but also simply dangerous to health.
The second way is the thorough cleaning of home- brew. This is a complex and in a sense creative process. In order to rid the drink of impurities as much as possible and prepare it for further distillation and aromatization, the distillery is likened to a practical chemist. He needs to choose the best method, and preferably a complex of methods, and then carefully and accurately perform the cleaning. Before it, moonshine must be diluted with water to 35-40 °, at this concentration of alcohol, harmful impurities are usually separated with maximum efficiency.
The main methods of cleaning moonshine at home
The main methods include:
- frostbite;
- oil;
- coal
- milk
- egg white;
- fruit
- soda;
- potassium permanganate;
Freezing
A simple, proven over the years, effective method based on the difference in freezing temperatures of impurities and alcohol. Moonshine in a metal container is placed in the cold or in the freezer. Harmful substances freeze with water along the walls, the purified product with a high alcohol content remains liquid.
Advantages: simplicity and efficiency.
Disadvantages: low temperatures are needed. Not everyone has a large cold store, and frosts become rare even in winter.
Oil: how to apply
Cleaning moonshine with oil is one of the most effective methods, based on the fact that harmful substances are easily mixed, stick together with oil, unlike alcohol and water. Olive or vegetable refined oil should be poured into moonshine at the rate of 20 milliliters per 1 liter of the product to be cleaned, shaken thoroughly several times, and then left the container alone for at least twelve hours, for longer.
An oil with a dissolved vortex rises to the surface, and the purified drink remains underneath. Correctly draining moonshine is the most crucial moment in this method. This is done using a tube or through a crane installed at the bottom of the tank. The main thing is not to catch oil with harmful compounds.
Advantages of cleaning moonshine with oil at home: an excellent result, after it the fuselier taste and smell, the absence of chemistry, the availability of oil, and the efficiency almost completely leave the drink.
Disadvantages: the loss of moonshine, the laborious process of draining.
Coal moonshine cleaning
Classics of the genre. A simple and effective method, based on the ability of coal to absorb harmful impurities. Coconut or charcoal is used. Cleaning moonshine with activated charcoal is not the best option, since chemist's charcoal absorbs sivuha too weakly.
The algorithm is simple: in a container with moonshine, you need to add coal at the rate of 10 grams of coconut or 50 grams of wood per 1 liter of product to be cleaned, shake well several times a day for two to three weeks, then let it settle for about a week so that the coal soaked in his lion sank to the bottom. All that remains is to filter the mixture to separate the purified product from coal.
There is an elegant variation of this method - the use of carbon filters for water. Like drinking water, moonshine is poured into a jug, passes through the filter, getting rid of part of the impurities. Of course, the efficiency of the filter is lower than that of charcoal, but the whole process takes much less time.
Advantages of cleaning moonshine with coal: high efficiency, moonshine does not smell like sivuha, natural coal, simplicity.
Disadvantages: the product appears vodka, a sharp taste.
Milk
In this case, getting rid of a sivuha occurs due to the coagulation of two proteins contained in milk (albumin and casein) during their interaction with molecules of harmful substances. If it is easier to put it, getting into moonshine, the milk coagulates and at the same time absorbs fusel oils. This method is well used for cleaning moonshine after the final distillation, because the particles of milk remaining in it decompose at high temperatures and endow the final product with an unpleasant taste and aroma.
Non-fat pasteurized milk is used: the higher the fat content, the more turbid the drink will be. In a container with the product to be cleaned, milk must be poured at the rate of 100 milliliters per 1 liter of moonshine with an alcohol concentration of at least 45%, with a lower strength of the drink, proteins will curl poorly. Mix the mixture thoroughly and leave it in a dark place for about a week, so that the coagulation reaction is completely completed, and then filtered.
Advantages: efficiency, simplicity, naturalness of products.
Disadvantages: a milky taste and turbidity appear, the degree of the drink decreases.
Egg white
The principle is the same as with milk. Protein coagulates, reacting with harmful oils. In moonshine with a strength of 45-50 °, you need to introduce protein whipped with a couple of tablespoons of water at the rate of 1 protein per one and a half liters of the product to be purified. The product immediately coagulates, turning into white flakes that completely settle in a few days. All this time the container should be in a dark place and at rest. After settling the flakes, the moonshine must be filtered.
Advantages: efficiency, simplicity, naturalness of products.
Disadvantages: there is an egg aftertaste and turbidity, the degree of the drink is reduced.
Fruit
An original way of cleaning moonshine, which at the same time enriches the drink with fruity notes of taste and smell. The method is equally good both after the first distillation and after the final one. For three liters of the product to be cleaned, take one large apple, cut into slices without cores, and one large carrot, peeled and cut into medium pieces. Defend moonshine in a dark place for about three days, until the fibers begin to leave the apples and carrots. Then remove the fruits, and carefully drink the drink.
Advantages: simplicity of the process, naturalness of products, simultaneous aromatization of the drink.
Disadvantages: low efficiency.
Potassium permanganate
Despite the low efficiency and dubious benefit of the chemical, the purification of moonshine with potassium permanganate remains very popular. For 1 liter of product to be cleaned, 1 gram of potassium permanganate is taken, diluted in 100 milliliters of water. The mixture settles for at least half a day and is filtered. It is difficult to explain the vitality of this method; most likely, it simply went into the category of enduring myths that wander from generation to generation and in which people prefer to believe contrary to facts.
But the facts are as follows: potassium permanganate, better known as potassium permanganate, reacts only with some impurities in moonshine, and with them it precipitates, the remaining harmful substances remain in the product. The distillery may have the false belief that the moonshine is purified, although in fact a deadly concentration of a substance that is neutral with potassium permanganate can remain in it. Therefore, potassium permanganate is best combined with other methods, for example, with coal cleaning.
Pluses: simplicity.
Disadvantages: low efficiency, the use of a chemical.
Soda
Cleaning moonshine from fusel oils with soda is a quick and affordable method. But it causes controversy among experienced distillers who doubt its ability to effectively rid the product of impurities. The method captivates with simplicity. In moonshine, you just need to add baking soda at the rate of 10 grams per 1 liter of the product being cleaned. Often, potassium permanganate is added with soda: 2 grams per 10 grams of soda. Then mix thoroughly so that the soda is completely dissolved, and left alone for 1-2 days, and then filtered.
Advantage: accessibility, cheapness, simplicity.
Disadvantages: low efficiency, the use of chemistry.