Moonshine is a home-made alcoholic drink that has a very rich history. Preparing it with high quality, in fact, is not so simple. Many newcomers in this business are starting to wonder why moonshine is muddy? Consider the causes of this problem, methods for its elimination and proven recipes of mash.
Moonshine as in the movies
Thanks to domestic cinema, there was a stereotype that moonshine must be cloudy and opaque, and even better - milky. This is what the rural gorilka looked like several centuries ago.
The peasants drove moonshine on primitive devices, getting the maximum product from the mash. The result was a low-quality drink. But the nobles constantly improved equipment and technology, trying to achieve a crystal clear distillate of high strength.
After the revolution, Soviet directors considered it right to show worker-peasant white alcohol on the screens. And there was a stereotype that there should be a muddy moonshine, as in a movie. It looks spectacular, and the audience immediately becomes clear what is in the bottle on the table. For example, he was shown in the movie "Moonshine Driver" and the television magazine "Pun."
Should moonshine be muddy?
In fact, high-quality moonshine should have a transparent color. As a rule, the appearance of turbidity indicates a violation of distillation technology and many other problems. Such alcohol can contain fusel oils and various harmful substances that are harmful to health. To the question whether it is possible to drink muddy moonshine, one can unequivocally answer - no. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare only crystal clear alcohol.
Consider several reasons for the appearance of turbidity and ways to solve problems.
Bryzgunos
Spatterbuckle is the most common cause. Boiling mash with very strong heating begins to bubble, almost like milk. As a result, foam forms, which enters the coil (refrigerator) through the tube and condenses with the distillate. Dregs immediately appear. The distillation cube is opaque and closed. Therefore, it is simply impossible to find out if the mash is foaming at some point in time. If a whitish drink comes out of the apparatus, it is necessary to reduce the heating, interrupt the distillation, disassemble and rinse the entire structure. You will also need to then clean the distillate.
If you understand why moonshine is muddy, due to splashing mud, you need to take preventive measures. These include the following:
- After each distillation, thoroughly rinse the entire apparatus.
- Install a steamer, it will help solve the problem. When foaming, the spray will not fall into the coil, but into the jar.
- Monitor the intensity of heating. A suitable temperature regime for each apparatus is selected experimentally after several distillations.
- Only a 70% of the volume of the cube should be filled with a braga. There must always be room for the resulting foam.
The appearance of oils
Essential and fusel oils, which are considered toxic substances, are also the reason why moonshine is cloudy. These are by-products of fermentation. They with ethanol vary greatly in boiling point. Therefore, most of these substances can be removed from the distillate by fractional distillation. Fractionation is used.
Typically, turbidity begins when the strength in the stream drops below forty degrees. As a prophylaxis, you need to remove the upper head fraction and finish the distillation on time. Also reduces the risk of a problem cleaning between the distillates. For this, many use coal.
Poor quality materials
Experienced distillers noticed that many problems bring poor-quality material from which the apparatus is made. Including, it becomes the reason why the distillation of mash goes muddy moonshine. This can occur immediately or only after some time. Turbidity causes oxidation of parts: the casing, the coil, connecting tubes and other structural elements.
To avoid such problems, devices need to be bought or made from quality materials. A timely check of elements for oxidation and defects will also help.
Hardness of water
In this case, domestic alcohol after dilution with water may become cloudy immediately or after a few hours. The whitish opaque color can be explained by the content of salts and other impurities that are in the liquid. Beginners often underestimate the effect of water on moonshine and its quality.
To dilute the moonshine without turbidity, use only bottled or well-purified water. It will have a minimum salt content. It is also important to pour distillate into the water, and not vice versa. For mixing, it is recommended to take liquids with a temperature of 7-10 degrees.
Unsuitable containers
Capacities also affect why moonshine becomes muddy. If it becomes whitish in glass vessels, then most likely they were poorly washed. When storing strong alcohol in plastic bottles, after some time, the alcohol reacts with the synthetic material. After that, the drink becomes cloudy. Moreover, toxic substances begin to be released.
The problem can be solved with bottles made of special plastic, but they are extremely rare on sale. It is best to store moonshine in glass and thoroughly washed jars that have been wiped dry.
Moonshine Cleansing Methods
If it so happened that in the manufacture of strong alcohol still turned white, you need to know how to clean the muddy moonshine. If the reason lies in storage in plastic containers or low-quality materials of the device, then such a drink cannot be filtered. It is dangerous to health, so it is better to pour it or use it for technical needs. If the distillation technology is violated or hard water was used, then there is still a chance to rectify the situation. Consider cleaning methods:
1. Re-distillation. It is the most effective method. Clouded moonshine should be diluted with good water for twenty percent. After that, it needs to be distilled again with the division into fractions. Then dilute the alcohol with water and hold for at least two days in a dark, cool place until the reaction is complete.
2. Coal cleaning. In most cases, it helps to solve the problem. Muddy moonshine is enough to pass through a column with special coal BAU-LV or BAU-A. You can also pass alcohol through a filter to purify water two to three times.
3. Heating. Efficiency depends on impurities, so the method does not always work. Moonshine needs to be heated to 70 degrees and cool sharply. This contributes to precipitation after a few hours. Be careful: heated alcohol flames quickly! Drain the “clean” drink and leave the sediment at the bottom. Strain if necessary.
How to make mash?
Equally important is good mash. Consider how to cook it.
Braga on wheat. Grind 4 kilograms of wheat, add 3 liters of water, a kilogram of sugar and mix. Keep in a dark place for about a week. Then add 18 liters of water and 5 kilograms of sugar. Insist on another seven days. Braga should become bitter. Strain it and distill twice. Add 8 liters of warm water and 5 kilograms of sugar to the waste. Soak for 8-10 days. Strain the resulting liquid and distill twice. In the first case, the output will be 20-25 liters of the drink, and in the second - no more than 10 liters.
Simplified mash on wheat. Sprout 10 kilograms of wheat and then grind. Add 30 liters of water and 500 grams of yeast to the grains. Infuse the mixture in a warm place until violent fermentation begins. After that, distill alcohol twice. The output will be approximately 25-30 liters of moonshine.
There are many recipes for mash. In principle, you can use any. Just do not break the cooking technology, so as not to spoil the alcohol.
Now you know what to do if moonshine is muddy, and what to do in a given situation. But do not forget that excessive drinking is harmful to your health!