One of the main stages in the preparation of moonshine is its purification. Experienced distillers know many ways to cleanse this alcoholic drink. Among them, purification of moonshine with soda and salt is especially notable. This method is quite simple and has several advantages.
What is cleaning for?
It is an additional filtration designed to rid the drink of harmful impurities. In total, during the preparation of moonshine, it is twice subjected to purification. After the first treatment, the drink pretty well gets rid of fusel oils. Therefore, many lovers of moonshine prefer to use it in this form.
However, one should take into account the fact that a sufficiently large number of toxins nevertheless remain in the liquid and can be harmful to the body. Uncleaned moonshine threatens with a severe hangover, accompanied by body aches, nausea and vomiting. That is why experts highly recommend spending time and finishing the preparation of moonshine in accordance with all the rules.
Popular ways
There are many methods that make it possible to clean moonshine well. For example, milk cleaning has proven itself well. However, this method has a significant drawback: the drink remains quite cloudy with a specific odor of hydrogen sulfide. You can use a beaten egg, which coagulates with a liquid strength of 50%. Some moonshiners prefer to use refined sunflower oil. This method gives excellent results and relieves fusel oils rather well.
Perhaps the most popular way among the population is the use of activated carbon. This is a fairly inexpensive method, which also gives a good result. But the best practice is cleaning moonshine with soda and salt at home.
Use of soda
Sodium bicarbonate is also used to free domestic alcohol from harmful substances. During the procedure, by-products precipitate, which is subsequently removed.
The action usually takes place as follows:
- First, prepare the soda. The amount of powder is calculated based on the volume of moonshine. For ten liters you will need 100 grams of sodium bicarbonate (half a cup). The powder is previously dissolved in water. The ratio is one to one.
- Then the dissolved soda is gradually poured into the drink and mixed.
- After ten hours, the container with moonshine is removed and mixed again.
- An hour after the last stirring, it is filtered through double gauze with cotton wool.
- Then it is recommended to re-distill.
During the entire period of infusion, the container should be in a dark place, protected from direct sunlight and bright light. And also experts advise pre-dilute moonshine to a fortress of twenty or thirty degrees. Cleaning moonshine with soda and salt during the second distillation, as a rule, is not carried out.
Potassium permanganate soda
This is another fairly well-known method of purification of moonshine, which uses potassium permanganate and soda. One liter of liquid will require no more than two grams of baking soda and half a gram of manganese powder. First, sodium bicarbonate is added to the liquid, and only then potassium permanganate. After moonshine is infused for about twelve hours, it becomes perfectly clean. It contains no impurities, fusel oils, or methyl alcohol. Despite the fact that the addition of manganese causes a lot of controversy, this method gives an excellent result, therefore it is very often used by moonshiners.
Purification after the first distillation
As practice shows, soda does an excellent job with acetic and formic acid, neutralizing them and removing them from moonshine. Usually a sufficient amount of undesirable elements remains in the drink, which also needs to be disposed of. Many winemakers believe that soda does not clean moonshine well from fusel oils, and therefore use it only after the first distillation. Thus, the purification of moonshine with soda and salt before the second distillation has a certain meaning. Subsequently, other formulations are used instead of sodium bicarbonate.
Which soda is better
As experience shows, the best result is obtained after cleaning the alcoholic drink with caustic soda. This is a fairly powerful alkaline product that copes with impurities. If soda is used in the second and third distillation, then it will completely remove the aroma of moonshine. In addition, cleaning moonshine with soda and salt proved to be excellent at home. We will talk about this a bit later.
When carrying out high-quality cleaning, the proportions should be as follows: for ten liters of alcoholic beverage, 100 g of baking soda and 20 g of caustic are taken. Manganese powder will need fifteen grams. This composition allows you to most effectively clean the moonshine, but leaves a lot of questions about the safety of the resulting product.
Some experts offer the following algorithm of actions:
- All of the above components are mixed and dissolved in a small amount of pre-boiled water.
- Next, the mixture is poured into moonshine and left to infuse for fourteen days. It is recommended to periodically get out and shake it.
- At the end of this period, moonshine is filtered through a cotton-gauze swab and sent to the next distillation.
The best option is ordinary baking soda, sold in each store. It is highly recommended not to use a calcined product because of its aggressive effect on the internal organs of a person.
Soda with salt
Cleaning with these products is advisable if heavy tap water was used in the preparation of moonshine. Thanks to salt, you can significantly soften and improve the taste of moonshine. As a rule, when cleaning moonshine with soda and salt, proceed as follows:
- First, a solution is prepared from sodium bicarbonate and salt. It is calculated based on the volume of moonshine. So, for ten liters of liquid should take no more than ten teaspoons of soda and ten tablespoons of salt.
- The products are dissolved in boiled water and added to the drink.
- The capacity is left to infuse for twelve hours.
- After the set time, the drink is poured into another container, trying not to disturb the sediment that has fallen to the bottom.
After cleaning, the moonshine is sent again for revision. It is extremely important to overtake the drink one more time, since after soda it has a rather unpleasant aftertaste. In addition, the remains of this powder can damage the gastric mucosa and cause irreparable harm to human health.
The strength of the product should not exceed 30 degrees. It is also extremely important to maintain proportions that are quite simple to calculate when cleaning moonshine with soda and salt. Usually the same amount of soda and salt is used per liter of drink, which is one teaspoon. Experts advise using a wooden spoon both when stirring the drink and when adding ingredients. After it is infused, the moonshine must be sent for re-distillation and after bottling is bottled. Many winemakers prefer to add various components to the finished moonshine: orange or lemon zest, apples and even honey.
In short, cleaning moonshine with soda and salt is quite effective and has several advantages. This is a fairly inexpensive way, accessible to every moonshooter. Soda cleans well of acids and partly of fusel oils. After the second distillation, the drink, as a rule, is completely pure and transparent.