Recently, factory-made moonshines have been scattering like hot cakes across the country. The reason for this is the heyday of the activity of producers of "singed" alcohol. The news about the people who suffered, and even died from him from different regions of the country, has become, unfortunately, already commonplace. Even the habit of buying expensive alcohol at retail outlets with well-known names does not save.
The article is intended for people who do not yet have practical experience, but are already thinking about having a small moonshine still at home for the production of their own drinks.
How moonshine is chased
The distillation process is exactly the same, be it miniature moonshines or giants with a tonne of vaporizers, made by craftsmen and hidden from the police in the depths of the Bryansk swamps.
Initially, microscopic laborers called yeast work. They eat sugar, but the waste of their life is alcohol. But the yeast is not able to produce vodka, the fact is that the alcohol produced by them is poison for themselves. And upon reaching a strength of 12%, most yeast cells die.
The degree after the end of the work of microorganisms is small. The moonshine still enriches the product. Its work is based on the separation of liquids according to the difference in temperature of their boiling (evaporation). Molecules of ethyl alcohol acquire sufficient mobility to become a gas at a temperature of about 78 ° C. And while the alcohol vapor leaves the tank, most of the water remains in place.
Necessary - unnecessary moonshine "gadgets"
In moonshining, as in any other business, it has its own characteristics. How to make a small moonshine for home or buy it ready so as not to overpay for unnecessary “options” and at the same time get a finished product of good quality?
The figure shows a schematic diagram of the production process for producing home-made strong alcohol. The process is simple. In the boghouse, under the influence of a heat source, the mash boils, the vapors, passing through the reflux condenser and the steam tank, enter the cooler, where they condense into a liquid. Let's consider some elements in more detail.
A reflux condenser is necessary so that the foam formed on the surface of the boiling mash does not get into the tubes and through them into the final product, significantly reducing its quality. If you buy or make yourself a small moonshine still for 5 liters or even less, you should not neglect the presence of a reflux condenser. But if the device is with a steam tank, you can do without a reflux condenser.
Sukhoparnik - part of the vapors are condensed in it, and water condenses to a greater extent, since it has a higher vaporization temperature than alcohol. The distillation from the sukhoparnik is not thrown out, but is poured into the next batch of mash before the next distillation. The presence of a sukhoparnik allows you to get stronger and purified drinks from fusel oils.
What does small mean?
The capacity of the moonshine still depends on the needs of the owner. It is not difficult to calculate: from 3-4 liters of mash, you can get one liter of quality moonshine with a strength of 40%. Thus, in order to get a three-liter can of moonshine in one cycle, you must have an apparatus in which you can pour 10-12 liters of mash.
The smallest moonshine that is on sale is unlikely to be less than 3-5 liters. Products of a smaller capacity are suitable only for the production of valerian for a cat. The most popular (popular) capacity of purchased devices is 10-20 liters.
And as with the classics
Using a small moonshine still, in principle, does not cause the owner any trouble when it comes to sugar moonshine. But any self-respecting moonshine lover sooner or later swings at the classics - bread moonshine. But its production has features. The fact is that simply putting an evaporator with cereal brew on a gas stove will not work - the plant residues lying at the bottom will burn, and the product will be spoiled.
How do manufacturers of large professional devices come out of the situation? Braga can be heated by a built-in electric heating element, the temperature of which does not exceed the carbonization temperature of organics, or by a heating element in water.
But there are some tricks to “teach” and a small moonshine still to produce a classic bread elixir. For example, proceed as shown in the figure by placing the device’s body in a larger tank so that the bottom of the device does not touch the bottom of the tank. Heat will be transferred to the apparatus through water, and the remaining grains will not burn. And you can just filter bread before the distillation process, as recommended in the reviews.
How to choose the material of the device
The material of the device greatly affects the taste of the future drink. How to choose a moonshine for a house in terms of material? The most common distillation material on the market is stainless steel, and there are also copper products. Homemade products are most often made of aluminum (a 14-liter capacity from the milking machine is a classic source material for these purposes).
Copper - a classic version of all distillers, which produce the most famous, and just running (folk) varieties of whiskey.
But running into good copper with us now is a big problem. In order to reduce the cost of electromechanical copper, a half table of Mendeleev is added. But they do not produce food copper in the Russian Federation, therefore, the best material for a small moonshine still, according to 90% of Russian amateur moonshiners, is still a "stainless steel". But even here it is advisable to ask the seller about the characteristics of the metal, ask for a certificate for it.
The option with an aluminum milking machine will be no worse. The fact is that such products are most often produced at serious enterprises where proper multi-stage quality control of the purchased material is established.
Do no harm
When making home-made moonshine, it is important to follow a few simple rules so that instead of a high-quality purified product, you will not get a foul smelling sivuha substitute.
According to reviews, in no case should you put a container for collecting moonshine under the first drops of a cooler (“head”). They carry micrograms (nonetheless sufficient to spoil the entire product) of methanol, which evaporates 12 degrees “earlier” than ethyl alcohol. In the case of a small moonshine still, it is enough to select and pour the first 30-50 grams of the product into the sewers.
You should not take moonshine flowing from the apparatus at the end of the process (“tails”). Distillation should be stopped when the evaporator temperature reaches 84-85 ° C.
Offer Overview
It is impossible to cover the entire assortment of factory-made moonshine still presented on the Russian market today, even if we consider only small-volume products. However, you should dwell on some of the models most commonly found in trade.
"Robin Economy 12" - a moonshine with an evaporator with a capacity of 12 liters. Such a volume will allow to distill no more than 10 liters of mash at a time (about 2.5 liters of a forty-degree drink). Made of food grade stainless steel, which guarantees a long service life.
The device was originally equipped with a thermometer and a water cooler, the design of the filler neck (screw plug) ensures tightness during the working process.
The disadvantages of the moonshine still include the lack of a steamer and the small diameter of the steam pipe. It is better to filter the mash before the distillation process so that the particles contained in it do not clog the tube. But the price is good - in the range from 4 to 4.6 thousand.
"Phoenix Dream 8". In this 8-liter small moonshine, it is better not to pour more than 6 liters of mash (less than 2 liters of 40-degree moonshine at a time). From the previous model favorably distinguishes the presence of a steam tank. The upper cover of a larger diameter is fastened with two screws located at the edges. The large diameter of the lid is used, as a rule, in devices for the production of moonshine by steam. A very worthy distiller worth his money (a little less than 6 thousand).
"Good Heat Triumph" is a wonderful 15-liter unit, equipped with all the necessary related accessories: a sucker, a large volume cooler, a huge cover with 6 screws, a thermometer. The device is suitable for the production of malt moonshine. But the product is worth more than 16 thousand.
And finally - "German". The device is made in Germany with the telling name "Bavaria". A fairly simple distiller with a steamer and cooler. The capacity of 12 l allows you to drive both sugar and bread "elixir" (bread mash will have to strain - a narrow filler neck on the thread). The price of about 30 thousand is due to the place of production and the manufacturer's chic warranty obligations - 12 years.