How to make mash for moonshine from sugar: the best recipes

Moonshine is a strong alcoholic drink that is obtained at home from mash. Making moonshine is not the prerogative of only Russian people. In fact, strong alcohol for their own consumption is produced in almost all countries. Not everywhere, this process is not against the law. But in our country it is allowed to produce alcohol in small quantities for personal use.

Good moonshine can only be obtained from high-quality mash. The simplest brew recipe for moonshine is from sugar and yeast. Although there are many other options.

What is the mash made of

The most popular mash is sugar and wheat (cereal). In such recipes, the availability of raw materials and a simple fermentation technology bribes. However, many people make more interesting raw materials for the production of moonshine, for example, from fresh fruits and berries, vegetables, candied jam, peas. Beekeepers actively use honey. A couple of decades ago, all distilleries were fond of distilling strong alcohol from raw materials obtained from inexpensive sweets - sugar “pillows” with jam.

Today, with the advent of fashion for craft brewing and the production of unusual alcohol at home, distillers are carried away by the manufacture of strong drinks with exotic additives - unusual fruits, spices and seasonings. However, for the most part, such components get into ready-made strong alcohol, where they give their taste and aroma to the drink by extraction. Moonshine itself is still prepared from traditional mash, most often using only two components - sugar and yeast. If you adhere to the classical recipe and do not violate the production technology, it is from such raw materials that you will get high-quality home-made alcohol - strong, transparent, with a minimum amount of fusel oils.

How to make brew for moonshine from sugar and yeast? There is one basic recipe and many of its variations. After all, any mash contains these two ingredients. They form the alcohol, which by distillation turns into a strong drink.

Proportions

Making mash is a simple process. There are only three basic components: sugar, yeast and water. But everyone cares about the right proportions. Mug for moonshine from sugar during fermentation should work out the whole resource. That is, the sugar should break down completely and under the influence of yeast turn into alcohol. If yeast is not enough, this will not happen. And it turns out that part of the sugar was wasted.

If you pour too much water, this increases the forcing time and the cost of electricity. The cost of alcohol is increasing.

All of these problems can be avoided by choosing good proportions of water, sugar and yeast. Braga for moonshine with the correct ratio of all components is light, with a hoppy aroma and a characteristic bitter taste. All sugary substances in it are processed into alcohol.

We bring to your attention a table of the ratio of the main ingredients.

According to the basic recipe, the correct proportions of the main components are 1: 4: 20. This means that for every kilogram of sugar (or equivalent raw materials) you need to take 4 liters of water and 20 g of live yeast. Depending on the amount of alcohol required and the capacity of the fermentation tank, the number of components can be increased or decreased, keeping to the same proportion.

Mug for moonshine from sugar and yeast after distillation turns into a strong distillate with a mild flavor. With the full production of sugary substances, every kilogram of sugar turns into one liter of alcohol with a strength of 40%.

Equipment for the production of moonshine

To make brew for moonshine from sugar and yeast, you need to get a minimal set of equipment for moonshine brewing. This is best done in advance, so that at the last moment you don’t run around shopping in search of the right things. To make strong alcohol you will need:

1. Fermentation tank (how it should be read below).
2. Water seal. This is a carbon dioxide exhaust device. It also prevents oxygen from entering the Braga and prevents it from souring. A water lock can be made independently - from a syringe, a rubber glove, cotton wool and other improvised means. You can buy ready. Its price is 200-300 rubles. There are also fermentation tanks, already equipped with a water lock.
3. Silicone hose - for the transfer of raw materials from one container to another.
4. Cotton wool, gauze, filters - to filter the liquid.
5. Alcohol mashine.
6. Alcoholometer With it, you can control the distillation process, as well as bring the resulting alcohol to a standard 40%.
7. Tanks for alcohol - bottles with a tight lid.

Fermentation containers

Those who want to start making brew for moonshine (from sugar and other raw materials) need to get a suitable fermentation tank. Most people use any suitable capacity. However, not all of them can be used to ferment products.

Usually, mash is placed in tanks made of the following materials:

1. Stainless steel. Strong, heavy and expensive capacity. The mash in it perfectly ripens, however, to rearrange the vat, you will have to first drain all the liquid. If finances allow, then it is on it that it is worth stopping your choice.
2. Food grade plastic. Very light, inexpensive tanks. On sale you can find containers of any configuration and volume. Almost all distilleries use plastic tanks. They have few shortcomings, and all of them are easily blocked by a low price.
3. Glass. Glass containers are a great option for producing good. The material is inert, easy to clean, it can be sterilized if necessary to prevent the entry of wild yeast strains. The only negative is fragility. In addition, it is rarely possible to meet glass containers of large volume.
4. Oak, wood. In oak barrels, it is pointless to ferment raw materials. After distillation, almost all substances extracted from wood will disappear. And the container itself is saturated with a characteristic yeast odor. In oak barrels, it is better to insist on ready-made strong alcohol, which at least somehow justifies the high cost of such a container.
5. Aluminum. Tanks made of this metal should not be used for fermentation. Aluminum easily reacts with foreign substances and forms harmful impurities.

Thus, the moonshiner has only two options: a stainless steel tank or a plastic container.

The volume of the fermentation tank should correspond to the volume of the distillation cube in the moonshine still, plus 15% for foam.

Sugar, yeast and water

How to cook the right brew for moonshine? Sugar, yeast and water make excellent raw materials. But for it to fully meet all the requirements, you need to take suitable products for its preparation.

Sugar can be used any. To reduce the cost it is worth taking the cheapest. Some people experiment with different types of brown cane sugar. This is pointless, as in most cases it is still the same regular sugar, just slightly tinted with dye.

The water for the mash is taken the cleanest of all possible options, for example, filtered, well or at least bottled. Tap can be used only in the most extreme case, when there are no other options, since it is very stiff and contains a lot of impurities.

To make the right brew for moonshine from sugar, you need good yeast. It is they who break down sugary substances and turn them into alcohol. Which yeast is best to use? There are several options that can be compared in terms of cost and quality, namely:

1. Alcohol They appeared on the Russian market not so long ago, but have already firmly occupied their niche. When using alcoholic yeast, the strength of the mash is increased to 14%, and the maturation process is faster. In addition, alcoholic yeast is not very sensitive to temperature and create less fusel oils. The consumption of alcoholic yeast is 100 g per 6 kg of sugar. Representatives - “Turbo 48”, “Alkotek”, spirit yeast produced in Belarus.
2. Wine. Quality and more expensive than alcohol. The difference in price can be from 100 to 1000%. However, wine yeast is considered a more professional product. They are used in home distilleries by real masters who know how to use this product. The disadvantages of wine yeast are its high cost and more sophisticated fermentation technology. Well-known representatives are BirVengem, Vinomax.
3. Bakery. In our country, baking live yeast was used for the production of mash for a long time. Unfortunately, in this list they take the last place. The strength of the mash when using baking yeast is reduced to 10-11%, the yield of pure alcohol is significantly less. In addition, baker's yeast forms a lot of fusel oils, the smell and taste of moonshine are significantly impaired. Many beginner distilleries are interested in how to make brew for moonshine from sugar and dried baker's yeast. Theoretically, such a product is intended for accelerated ripening. But in practice, it gives unstable foam and insufficient activity to process all sugary substances. So it’s best not to use dry yeast at all.

Invert

How to make a quick brew for moonshine? From sugar and yeast in the process of splitting, fructose and glucose are first formed. And only then does the second stage begin when sugar compounds turn into alcohol. To speed up the ripening process, the breakdown of sugar into simple compounds can be done in advance. Thus, the maturation of the mash is reduced, and the result is a better product. This can be done by pre-inverting sugar.

Some distilleries consider inverting a waste of time. But in practice, this process provides many advantages, namely:

• Acceleration of maturation of mash - by 4-5 days.
• Less fusel oils are formed in the feed.
• Sugar is processed thermally, because of which any harmful microflora perishes in it. Less risk of introducing wild strains of fungi into the tank.

However, there is a downside. When inverting the yield of pure distillate is reduced by 10-15%, in addition, this process will have to spend a couple of hours.

Inversion is performed as follows:

1. Heat water to 50 ° C.
2. Pour sugar in small portions and stir constantly so that the crystals dissolve. Otherwise, they may sink to the bottom and burn.
3. After the sugar has dissolved, the liquid must be heated to 72-75 ° C.
4. Fall asleep citric acid.
5. Heat the syrup to 80 ° C.
6. Cool.

For every kilogram of sugar you need to take one liter of pure water and 4 g of citric acid. Inverting is not a required process. In most cases, distillers put ordinary sugar or equivalent raw materials in the mash.

It must be remembered that when preparing an invert syrup, water must be taken from the total calculated volume for the preparation of mash. And with the final mixing of the ingredients, proportionally reduce its volume.

Cooking process

How to make mash for moonshine? Sugar, yeast and water taken in the right ratio will make a great distillation product.

Cooking:

1. Prepare a fermentation vat - wash well and rinse with boiling water.
2. Heat clean water to 28-30 ⁰.
3. Pour all the sugar (or invert syrup) into the vat. Move carefully until crystals are completely dissolved. When stirring, use only a clean tool, such as a ladle treated with boiling water.
4. Pour 500 ml of liquid from the fermentation tank. Dilute alcohol yeast following the instructions on the package. Usually they need to be left for a couple of hours in a warm and dark place so that they “play”. The fact that the fermentation process has begun can be recognized by the foam that has appeared.
5. Pour yeast into the fermentation tank. Install a water seal.
6. Put the vat with the braga in a dark place with a constant temperature: +20 ... + 30 ⁰.
7. Maturity will depend on many factors. Usually it is 7-12 days.
8. How to determine the readiness of mash for moonshine? Sugar and yeast should produce an alcohol-containing liquid. In the process of fermentation, it is cloudy, with foam, and bubbles of carbon dioxide constantly come out of it. When the mash is ready, the liquid clarifies, and sediment precipitates to the bottom. The foam disappears, but the mash will have a characteristic hoppy aroma and a bitter taste.
9. After the product has matured, it must be poured into another container with a hose so as not to affect the sediment.

Lightening

Is it necessary to clarify the mash for moonshine? From sugar and yeast during fermentation, many fusel oils are formed that spoil the taste and smell of moonshine. Lightening significantly improves the quality of the finished alcohol.

For every 10 liters of liquid you need to take 2 g of gelatin. Then pour the right amount of gelatin with clean cold water at the rate of 200 ml per 1 g of gelatin. The product should be left to swell for about a day, every 5-6 hours it needs to be stirred and the water changed to fresh. After the gelatin swells, it is poured again, but with warm water, and sent to a fermentation tank. The clarification process takes three days. After this, the liquid can be removed from the precipitate.

Ripening acceleration

How to cook a quick brew for moonshine? Braga from sugar and yeast matures in 7-12 days. Sometimes she needs a little more time. However, there are ways to reduce latency:

1. Using invert syrup (described above).
2. Adding crusts of brown bread to the mash. They reduce foaming and serve as an excellent top dressing for yeast.
3. Adding tomato paste at a rate of 50-100 g for every 10 liters. Accelerates ripening for several days.
4. Use soaked peas as a fermentation catalyst. On pea raw mash really comes faster. However, many distillers believe that the taste of the finished alcohol is noticeably reduced.
5. Stirring the mash with a clean tool at least once a day. It accelerates ripening by 15-20%.
6. Use more water. The proportions of sugar and yeast for brew for moonshine are designed for a certain amount of water. If you increase it, the fermentation process will go faster, as the liquid will become less concentrated. However, the strength will decrease and the yield of the finished product will decrease.
7. Using high-quality, freshest yeast. It depends on this component how quickly the digestion process will proceed.
8. Raisins soaked - 100 g per 20 liters.
9. Jam - 100 ml per 10 liters.
10. Crushed unwashed seasonal berries - one handful.
11. Ground malt - 250 g per 10 liters.

There are other ways to accelerate ripening. For example, some moonshiners add specially processed ... chicken droppings to the mash. Most people repel such dubious ingredients, so we will not describe this method.

Distillation of moonshine

Making mash for moonshine from sugar is only half the story. Next, you need to distill the raw materials to obtain high-quality alcohol.

The distillation process is carried out in two stages. First, you need to distill all the liquid until the fortress drops to 20⁰. Then, the alcohol-containing liquid must be cleaned by means of activated carbon, filters, soda, potassium permanganate, by freezing, or by any other suitable method.

After this, you can begin to secondary distillation. The first 40-50 ml per kilogram of sugar or equivalent raw materials is the “head”. Such alcohol is the most harmful, and it can only be used for technical purposes. The “body” is assembled as follows, until the moment when the fortress falls below the standard 40%. Then collect the "tails", which can be used in the secondary distillation of the next batch of alcohol. This allows you to slightly increase the yield of the finished product.

There are many recipes for making mash for moonshine: from sugar, jam, berries, grains, vegetables, honey and other foods high in carbohydrates. Below you can read several popular and repeatedly tested recipes.

Beginners are interested in how to put mash for moonshine from sugar and yeast. The proportions of products for the basic recipe, we have already given above. Other actions are also described. So to get good mash you just need to carefully follow the instructions.

Apple Mash Recipe

Each experienced distillery has his own recipe for the best brew for moonshine - from sugar, jam, honey or seasonal berries and fruits. One of the highest quality recognized mash based on apples.

Ingredients:

• Sweet or sweet and sour apples - 15 kg.
• Clean water - 10 l.
• Sugar - 2.5 kg (if the fruits are acidic and do not contain enough fructose and sucrose).

How to make brew for moonshine from sugar and apples? To do this, adhere to the following instructions:

1. Sort apples, remove bad patches and turn into fruit puree. Do not wash the fruits, so as not to remove the natural strains of the fungus.
2. Pour sugar and water into a fermentation tank. Install a water seal.
3. Put in a room with a temperature of 18-30 ⁰.
4. Apple wort roams for a long time - 30-50 days. When the gas ceases to stand out and the liquid brightens, it can be drained and proceed to the production of vigorous apple moonshine.

Wheat

The recipe for moonshine made from sugar and wheat also does not include the introduction of alcoholic yeast. The fermentation process will go through leaven. Experts note that wheat moonshine is softer, with a characteristic grain aroma.

Ingredients:

• Wheat - 2 kg.
• Sugar - 2 kg.
• Clean water - 15 l.

We prepare mash for moonshine from sugar and wheat as follows:

• Sort the wheat and rinse well to separate all foreign matter.
• Pour a third of the grain into a separate container and pour water. Wheat should be left under the lid for a couple of days until sprouts appear. This sprouted grain will serve as leaven for mash.
• Add 300 g of sugar to the sprouted wheat, mix and leave in a warm and dark place for 8-10 days.
• Combine water, sugar, grain and sourdough in a fermentation tank. Install a water seal. Braga will be ready in 7-10 days.

From candied jam

Old jam can be safely recycled. Any grade can be used. But distillers note that especially good moonshine is obtained from mash obtained on the basis of aromatic currant, bird cherry and cherry jam.

How to make mash for moonshine? From sugar and berries, jam is first obtained. It can be used both fresh and old and candied. Braga needs to be cooked using standard technology. For every 30 liters of water you will have to take 5-6 kg of jam and about 200 g of alcoholic yeast.

Candy

As a raw material for mash, various caramel, which for the most part consists of sugar, usually acts. Before cooking, all candies need to be well kneaded or crumbled. The proportions of the ingredients are as follows: for 20 liters of pure filtered water - 5 kg of caramel and 200 g of alcoholic yeast.

Cherry

Many beginner distilleries are interested in how to make mash for moonshine from sugar and berry juice. This is fairly simple, although processing the fruit takes some time.

To make mash, you need to sort out 20 kg of ripe cherries and squeeze the juice from the berries. Then you need to add 2 kg of sugar (or an equivalent amount of invert syrup) and 200 g of yeast diluted in warm water.

Honey

There are many recipes for making mead. But for distillation, you can use the simplest one, namely: mix 6 kg of honey, 50 liters of filtered water and 600 g of alcoholic yeast.

Mead is infused for about a week. It can be used as an independent low-alcohol drink or distilled into stronger alcohol with pleasant honey notes.

Beetroot

How to put mash for moonshine made of sugar and beets, every second villager knows. This recipe is more than a dozen years old, and it is still in demand.

Ingredients:

• Ground beets, boiled or baked - 16 kg.
• Alcohol yeast - 800 g.
• Filtered water - 20 l.
• Sugar - 10 kg.

All components are mixed and insisted for four days. Then mix well and leave until final ripening.

Watermelon

Great mash can be made from watermelon pulp. To do this, the pulp of watermelon (5 kg) is mixed with 0.5 kg of sugar and 300 g of yeast. Next, you need to add a little warm water - not more than one liter - and leave the mash alone for about 7 days.

Potato

There are several dozen recipes for making potato mash. Its popularity is explained by the availability of raw materials. Distillery noted that the taste of the original product will be quite acceptable.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 20 kg.
• Rye flour (can be replaced with wheat) - 1.5 kg.
• Clean water - 30 l.
• Alcohol yeast - 400 g.

Potatoes must be grated. Mix flour with hot water so that there are no lumps. Next, connect all the components and cook using standard technology. The fermentation process is long and will take at least 15-18 days.

Pea

Pea mash comes to readiness the fastest. It usually takes 3 to 5 days to mature.

Ingredients:

• Dry peas - 2 kg.
• Sugar - 3 kg.
• Water - 20 l.
• Yeast - 300 g.

Cooking:

• Pour dry peas with water. Use about half of the total.
• Boil the remaining water with sugar.
• When the peas get wet (after 6-12 hours), pour it, along with the remaining liquid, into the fermentation tank.
• Add the cooled sugar syrup (if desired, you can pre-invert it).
• Dissolve alcohol yeast according to the instructions, add to the mash.
• Put in a dark and warm place.

Pea mash ripens very quickly. But some distillers say that when this ingredient is added, the taste of moonshine is greatly affected.

Instead of a conclusion

Which recipe is better? This can be argued endlessly. Each distillery pursues its goals in the manufacture of raw materials. One needs the mash to come up very quickly, in a matter of days. And in this case, it is best to use pea raw materials. Others are aimed at low cost. It decreases if you use less purchased products, such as sugar and yeast, and rely more on products from your garden. Therefore, it is better to put apple or potato mash. Fans of classic recipes use only sugar and yeast for fermentation. And connoisseurs of strong homemade alcohol are experimenting with various fruit additives that improve the taste of the finished drink.