In most people, moonshine causes negative associations. Hearing this word, many imagine a muddy liquid that has an unpleasant taste and smell. This is all because not everyone knows how to ennoble moonshine. If you carry out a number of additional manipulations with it, you can get high-quality home-made alcohol.
The process of ennoblement of moonshine
The quality of homemade alcohol depends on many factors. If you know how to ennoble moonshine, it still does not guarantee you to get a drink that is suitable for consumption at the outlet. It is imperative that the original product is of the right quality. The distillate must be prepared from good mash using the appropriate moonshine. If these conditions are not met, then no methods will allow you to get a quality product.
If you are sure that you have prepared the right moonshine, then the next step should be ennoblement. This multi-step procedure can significantly improve the taste of alcohol. So, you can get at the exit not just moonshine, but cognac, vodka or even whiskey. How to ennoble moonshine? This procedure includes the following steps:
- First of all, the drink must go through a cleaning procedure to get rid of harmful impurities, cloudy color and sediment;
- at the second stage, it is necessary to add appropriate additives to the liquid, which help to give moonshine a pleasant aroma;
- Naturally, you need to let the drink brew.
Cleaning methods
If you do not know how to ennoble moonshine, then perhaps you should start by cleaning it. If you want to receive true pleasure from alcohol, then it must be rid of all harmful impurities. Because fusel oils in moonshine and other foreign substances create an unpleasant odor and taste. In order to get rid of your drink from them, you can use the following methods:
- Repeated distillation of moonshine is the most effective method of purification. For this you need a special device. At the exit you will get strong and clean raw materials, from which it is quite possible to prepare high-quality cognac.
- Filtration can be carried out using coal or any other substance that has absorbent properties. Their action should extend not only to suspended particles, but also to dissolved ones. Pass the fluid through the filter several times in a row.
- A common folk method of cleaning moonshine from impurities involves the use of egg white. It absorbs all excess substances, leaving the liquid crystal clear.
- The most effective and at the same time the longest method involves the use of a device such as a moonshine cleaning column. It is advisable to apply when the strength of the drink exceeds 50 degrees. After cleaning moonshine from foreign substances, it can be diluted with water.
Natural brandy additives
What to insist on moonshine to be tasty? You can go one of two ways - to use natural or artificial components. Many choose natural ones. It is important to understand that it will take a lot of time to prepare a drink, but the result is worth it. When adding natural ingredients to moonshine, special attention should be paid to their combination and proportions. Each product has specific properties that can change when mixed or placed in certain conditions.
Few people know that with the help of certain additives ordinary moonshine can be turned into real elite alcohol. Your guests will not be able to distinguish a homemade drink from an expensive store. So, you should pay special attention to the following best recipes for homemade cognac from moonshine:
- For a liter of peeled semi-finished product you need to take a small pinch of soda, a couple of peas of black pepper, a bag of vanillin and a teaspoon of black tea. Place the jar of liquid in a low heat and heat. The maximum temperature of moonshine should not exceed 70 degrees, otherwise the alcohol will evaporate. After you turn off the burner, cover the container with a lid and let it brew until it cools completely. Filter out future brandy and leave for a week in a dark place.
- A fairly common component of homemade cognac is walnut (a large handful). In this case, it is not the core or even the shell that is used, but the partitions that are inside it. You will also need a small amount of cloves, cumin and a couple of bags of vanilla sugar. Send all these ingredients in a three-liter bottle of moonshine and leave for 2 weeks. To give the drink a hint of freshness, you can experiment with lemon zest.
- Real cognac is made in a wooden barrel. But unfortunately, at home this is not always possible. To do this, you need oak bark, which is pre-steamed in boiling water. For every half liter of moonshine you need to take a tablespoon of infusion. To give the drink a spicy aroma, you can add a little cinnamon and a couple of peppercorns.
Ready Concentrates
If you are not confident in your knowledge about the use of natural ingredients, then it is perfectly acceptable to use ready-made flavoring additives for moonshine. Their main advantage is the balanced composition, thanks to which you can accurately repeat the aroma of real cognac or other elite drinks. In addition, cooking time is significantly reduced.
The packaging of the finished concentrate describes a clear sequence of steps for preparing a drink close to the original. You do not have to experiment with combinations of ingredients and standing time on your own, because following the instructions is enough. The main rule is that the strength of moonshine should not exceed 60 degrees, otherwise the taste may turn out to be distorted.
Serious attention should be paid to what to insist on moonshine. To be tasty, the concentrate must be of high quality. Do not save on this supplement, because if it turns out to be low-grade, then a feast can lead to serious health problems. It will be better if you buy concentrate where you can pre-taste the finished drink.
Home-made apricot moonshine
What could be better than fresh fruit? They can be eaten fresh, put in baked goods, make jam from them and so on. But you can also use them to make alcoholic beverages. So, apricot moonshine is quite popular . At home, the following recipe is often used:
- thoroughly wash 10 kilograms of fruit, peel and mince (or use a blender);
- add 5 kg of sugar to the resulting slurry and pour 15 liters of water;
- to speed up the fermentation process, add 100 grams of fresh yeast;
- within 7-10 days, the liquid should be infused in a warm place, in a hermetically sealed container (if you decide not to add yeast, the preparation of the drink is delayed for up to 45 days);
- the signal that the mash is ready is the formation of sediment at the bottom and the acquisition of a bitter taste in the liquid;
- First you need to filter future moonshine several times through several layers of gauze;
- using a special apparatus, distill until the drink reaches a strength of 45 degrees.
Such moonshine is very soft. Light apricot notes will make the drink special.
Sugar and Yeast Mash Recipe
The basis of moonshine is mash. Despite the fact that its composition is quite simple, the cooking process involves the fulfillment of certain conditions. The recipe for sugar and yeast mash requires the following proportions of ingredients:
- 3 liters of purified water;
- 1 kilogram of sugar;
- 150 grams of yeast (if you prefer to use dry raw materials, then it will need 50 grams, but in this case it will also require a little citric acid).
As for the technology for making mash, it starts with sugar syrup. To do this, heat sugar with a small amount of water until completely dissolved. The liquid should boil for about 10 minutes. Then you can add citric acid, after which the fire is reduced and the syrup is left to cook for another half an hour.
Water quality is of great importance for the preparation of delicious moonshine. To avoid the formation of sediment and an unpleasant aftertaste, it is worth using purified water. If you take liquid from a tap, then in no case do not boil it. Better let it brew for a couple of days. Water is mixed with pre-prepared syrup.
Sourdough is made from yeast. To do this, just fill them with water according to the instructions to activate this ingredient. To begin the fermentation process, add yeast to the container with pre-prepared components. They should stand in a warm place for 5 days. The end of the process will be the cessation of carbon dioxide emission.
To improve the taste of moonshine, the mash must go through a degassing procedure. To do this, it is necessary to warm it up, as a result of which the active release of excess carbon dioxide will begin. If after that you add a little white clay or gelatin, the mash will become much cleaner and brighter.
How to give moonshine color
If you are interested in the question of how to ennoble moonshine, then you should understand that it needs to be given not only a pleasant taste, but also a beautiful, rich color. To do this, it is not necessary to use synthetic dyes. The following natural ingredients can give a pleasant shade to your homemade alcohol:
- To give the drink a pleasant golden hue, use saffron. But since this spice is very expensive, it can be replaced with orange peels or walnut partitions.
- Moonshine will get a saturated red color if you add several dried blueberries to it.
- To make the drink turn sunny yellow, use peppermint or lemon balm. Parsley and celery also have a similar effect.
- If you add dried cornflower flowers to moonshine, they will color it in an exotic blue color.
- In order for moonshine to become emerald green, it is worth using blackcurrant leaves. They can be replaced with green onions. To get rid of unpleasant taste and smell, the juice squeezed from the feathers must be boiled over low heat until the volume is reduced by half.
- If you want the drink to have a brown cognac hue, add some burnt sugar to it. You can also use black tea, but it must certainly be of high quality.
- The easiest way to color the moonshine is to add a little jam to it. So you not only give the drink a bright shade, but also make it sweetish, with subtle fruity notes.
Flavourless moonshine
Quite often, moonshine has a very unpleasant odor. This is one of the main reasons why this drink has gained notoriety. How to drive odorless moonshine? The answer is simple: strictly adhere to the technology. It is important that the apparatus is kept clean and that water and other components are of appropriate quality. Also a common mistake is over temperature. If you could not avoid the unpleasant odor, then the finished product can be removed from it in the following ways:
- For three liters of moonshine, you need to take about 2 grams of manganese. Dissolve it in a liquid and wait for a precipitate to form. After that, the drink must be passed through the filter. The procedure can be repeated several times until the smell disappears.
- To remove fusel oils from moonshine, use baking soda. It must be added to the liquid at the rate of 10 grams per liter. After 12 hours, a precipitate forms at the bottom, and therefore moonshine must be carefully drained.
- If you do not want to add any foreign substances to your home alcohol, then the unpleasant odor can be removed using a method such as freezing. Simply place a glass or metal container of moonshine in the freezer. Water with impurities will freeze to the walls of the vessel, and the alcohol will remain in a liquid state. It remains only to pour into another container.
- An excellent absorbent is charcoal. It must be well crushed, and then wound in several layers of gauze. Through such an improvised filter you need to skip moonshine several times.
- Residents of rural areas, where access to various plants is almost unlimited, often use violet root to eliminate unpleasant odors. It just needs to be placed in moonshine for 2 weeks.
Popular recipes for a fragrant drink
To make the aroma and taste of moonshine pleasant and refined, use the following proven recipes:
- To make the drink have a pleasant sweet and sour taste, pour 2.5 kg of blackberry or raspberry and add a little vanilla. The longer the moonshine is infused, the more vibrant the berry aroma will be.
- You will get a fragrant and tart drink if you add mountain ash to the moonshine. The number of berries should be such that the liquid covers it by 2/3.
- The recipe for Moscow moonshine can be considered quite interesting. To prepare it, add 20 grams of ginger and 50 grams of mint to 3 liters of liquid in homemade alcohol. Such a drink should be infused for about a month.
- Real mead can be prepared by adding 4 tablespoons of sweet product per liter of moonshine. To make the drink even more rich and spicy, add a little coriander, lemon balm and oak bark.
- Autumn is the time for apples. Fill the glass bottle tightly with the fruits, then pour moonshine into it so that it fills all the free space. Put the container in the sun for 10 days. In this case, the fluid must be constantly shaken. After you strain the drink, add sugar to it at your discretion and let it brew for a couple of days.
conclusions
Unfortunately, such a drink as moonshine has gained notoriety in the eyes of most people. Nevertheless, the preparation of homemade alcohol can be compared with real art, because it is able to satisfy the needs of even the most picky gourmets. To do this, it is important to know how to ennoble moonshine. It is worth noting that no filtration and aromatization will help to make your drink elite if the production technology is not followed. If you are confident in your knowledge, then you can safely experiment with different flavoring and aromatic additives.