Back in the 18th century, Russia began to make moonshine from potatoes, which became a serious alternative to grain raw materials. Many craftsmen today get quite good alcohol at home from a small potato reserve. The quality of such a drink can be brought to a fairly high level.
Historical reference
There is reliable evidence that during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, strong drinks were widespread. In the then open first taverns, only wealthy people could drink alcohol. This right was enjoyed by the tsar's guardsmen, who were very proud of it.
If the royal servant was distinguished by something special, he became the owner of a special name bucket. The holder of such a reward was allowed to drink moonshine for free, scooping it with this bucket, but this could be done no more than once.
Gradually, home brewing became the inheritance of the boyar estate. Only from the 19th century were peasants allowed to make this alcohol-containing drink. From the mash, for the manufacture of which served rye malt, grain and yeast, managed to get moonshine, its purity and quality composition not inferior to the best varieties of famous French cognac.
To effectively remove fusel oils and other toxins from the resulting drink, manufacturers used milk and egg white. Together with the use of a large amount of grain, this significantly increased the cost of moonshine, so not everyone could afford to use it.
To reduce the cost of alcohol-containing product in the mid-19th century, they began to make moonshine from potatoes. Such raw materials significantly reduced the cost and simplified production process in comparison with grain material, which was especially valued with barley.
Home-made potato moonshine: recipe
Currently, every family uses potatoes for food. Many stock this product for the entire winter period. Almost all summer residents grow their own potatoes.
Given the general availability and cheapness of this "ground apple", as the tubers of this vegetable were called under Peter the Great, many people who produce alcohol at home have paid close attention to potatoes as the best type of raw material for home brewing.
Surely it is better to use the surplus stocks of this product for making homemade alcohol than to throw rotten potatoes in bags with the onset of spring.
There are several proven recipes that tell you how to make moonshine from potatoes. For example, 20 kilograms of potato, one kilogram of wheat flour and a pound of yeast are taken for 25 liters of water.
The potato is washed thoroughly, rubbed on a coarse grater and poured with fifteen liters of slightly warmed water. The resulting mixture must be mixed well and add flour there. After repeated mixing, let it settle to form a precipitate.
Then the liquid part is poured into another container. Up to ten liters of water are added to the precipitate formed. The previously drained liquid part is added and the yeast is poured there.
Obtained according to this recipe for potato mash for moonshine infused for about two weeks. After she fermented, she is distilled using a moonshine. This is followed by the mandatory step of cleaning the resulting alcohol-containing liquid from toxins and various impurities.
Cleaning methods
Moonshine from potatoes at home can be cleaned with potassium permanganate, activated charcoal or milk.
Potassium permanganate is simply poured into the liquid obtained after distillation, and immediately harmful substances precipitate.
Activated carbon powder is also poured into the liquid. Cleaning will turn out the better, the more coal will be used.
The adsorbent should stand in moonshine for a day, then the drink should be drained.
Milk, which requires one glass per ten-liter volume of moonshine, cleans well with an alcohol-containing liquid.
Other recipes for potato moonshine
High-quality moonshine from potatoes is obtained with the addition of oats. To do this, take the following ingredients: potatoes - 10 kg, oats - 6 kg, yeast - 1.5 kg, water - 35 liters.
The cooking method is as follows: ground grain is poured with five liters of boiling water, then potatoes are added there, which are pre-ground.
Infusion continues for three hours, then after cooling the mixture, yeast is added and the remaining water is poured. Braga is insisted for about five days, then it can be distilled.
Sprouted Grain Recipe
Some experts praise the moonshine of boiled potatoes and sprouted grains.
For this, any sprouted grain in the amount of 4 kg is taken. It is ground, then mixed with pre-boiled and grated potatoes, which is taken 8 kilograms. After 12 hours, pour the mixture with 25 liters of warm water and add 100 grams of yeast.
About one week is enough for fermentation of mash according to this recipe.
Frozen Potato Braga
For the preparation of mash, you can use frozen potatoes. Everyone knows that such a potato tastes sweet. This is perhaps the best application for a root crop damaged by frost.
The recipe for making mash is the same as with ordinary potatoes, and the cost of the drink will decrease. Of course, in this case, the taste of moonshine will change slightly, so everything should be tried. Some experts deliberately freeze potatoes in the freezer of the refrigerator before putting it to fermentation.
The following recipe for the production of moonshine from frozen potatoes is used: they take 20 kg of frozen potatoes, 25 liters of purified water, one kilogram of flour and a pound of yeast.
Well-washed potatoes are grated and poured with boiled water, cooled to 50 degrees Celsius. Then the flour is slowly introduced, while everything must be constantly mixed with a wooden spatula. The solution should stand for a while, then the liquid is drained from the precipitate and the remaining water is added to it.
When the mash is standing it needs to be filtered. Yeast is added to the resulting wort, after which the container should be placed in a warm dark place. The fermentation period is about two weeks.
Ways to Speed Up the Process
Some manufacturers of home potions are not satisfied with the long periods of fermentation of raw materials, so craftsmen are improving the recipe in this direction.
For example, the process is accelerated by adding sugar to the moonshine from potatoes.
There is the following recipe, which allows you to slightly reduce the time to bring the mash to readiness. For this, 4 kg of potatoes, 10 kilograms of sugar, 8 loaves of bread and 500 grams of yeast are taken for 25 liters of warm water.
Potatoes are pre-cooked and crushed with a wooden pestle. Next, sugar is added to the container. You can add a little milk, then yeast is introduced. All bread crumbles and is also added to the total mass. Then everything is poured with slightly cooled boiled water.
In a day, this mash can already be distilled. This method is used when the time for making moonshine is extremely limited, and there are a lot of raw materials.
Homeless brew recipe
Some Internet users share their own experience on how they make moonshine from potatoes without yeast.
It is known that the process of conversion of potato starch into monosugar actively occurs in acidic environments. This allows you to use sour apples, for example, to make mash.
After harvesting potatoes in the summer cottage there is always a lot of little things and chopped root crops, which does not make sense to put into storage.
This substandard potato needs to be washed and crushed or chopped, for example in a meat grinder.
It is also necessary to take, for example, cake from apples, which remains from squeezing the juice. Cake is desirable to have as much as mashed potatoes. Mix all this together and place in one or more containers. Do not put yeast.
Tanks should be filled no more than two-thirds, since after a couple of days the process of intensive fermentation will begin, and the volume of mashed potatoes will increase significantly.
All this will wander about three weeks. As soon as the wort settles sharply, this will serve as a signal that the fermentation process has ended. The liquid must be immediately drained from the precipitate so that it does not have time to peroxide.
It turns out a gray slurry, which is first better filtered, and then distilled through a moonshine still.
The resulting liquid must be cleaned with manganese, then use activated charcoal and milk. After this, the alcohol-containing product is distilled a second time and some flavoring agent (vanilla sugar, etc.) is added to it.
Potato moonshine reviews
Studying the reviews on potato moonshine available on Internet sites, the following conclusions can be drawn.
Undoubtedly, in addition to some positive aspects (accessibility, cheapness), potatoes, when used for making mash, have a number of significant drawbacks. Compared with the classical method of preparing homemade alcohol, moonshine made from potatoes gives a lower yield of the finished product. Hydrocyanic acid and fusel oils are often present in large quantities in it.
In its manufacture, it is necessary to carefully monitor that the "head" is necessarily separated from the "tail".
A lot of time should be devoted to purification at the stage when the first distillation has already been made and the second is planned. We have to make certain efforts to overcome the strong smell coming from the finished product.
Nevertheless, after some efforts are made, a fairly high-quality product can be obtained from this material.