Moonshine from store-bought grape juice. Home brew for moonshine from apple juice

04.04.2020

Lovers of homemade moonshine know many ways to get this drink from fruits and vegetables growing on their personal plot. The most popular in terms of speed and ease of preparation is moonshine from homemade juice. The best alcohol is obtained from the juice of apples, grapes, tomatoes, and even birch. A prerequisite is the naturalness of the juice. There are many recipes for its preparation, but the most popular among lovers of moonshine is the preparation of Calvados from apples at home.

Juice, yeast, sugar = moonshine

Making moonshine requires skill and knowledge. So, the best quality drink is obtained from apple juice. Naturally, moonshine can also be made from grape juice, but apple, as a rule, is the sweetest, which gives the drink its originality.

Braga from juice

To make moonshine from apple juice, you need:

five liters of juice (you can use a canned drink, as well as with the beginning of fermentation processes);
one kilogram of sugar (if the juice is made from sweet varieties of apples, do not add it);
40 grams of yeast (you can use raisins instead).

The sugar is dissolved in the heated juice, after which yeast and the rest of the juice are added to it. The resulting mixture is poured into cans, a medical glove is installed on top with a slot in one of the fingers.

As soon as the fermentation process begins in the jar, the glove will be filled with gases coming out of it. At this time, it is important to prevent oxygen from entering the brewing wash. It is for this purpose that the can is covered with a glove.

As a replacement, you can use clips purchased at the pharmacy, or a tube from a dropper. The opening of the can is clogged, one end of the tube is pressed into it, and the other is lowered into a glass of water (see the video for how to make a filter from a dropper).

Periodically, bubbles will appear in the glass, which are the liberated gas. As soon as gas formation stops, the home brew is ready for distillation.

The ingress of oxygen into the mash will turn this product into an acidic, unpleasant-smelling mixture, the use and distillation of which will be not only undesirable, but also hazardous to health. Making delicious mash is not as easy as it seems. Braga for moonshine should be, first of all, sweet.

Fragrant mash is obtained only from natural products, therefore, if there is such an opportunity, then the juice for subsequent distillation must be made independently. For this purpose, sweet varieties of apples are most suitable. Aromatic drink with an amazing color and taste, you can get it if you make a mash based on an apple platter. In this case, mixing juice from several varieties of apples is not only desirable, but necessary.

The amount of sugar does not affect the taste of mash and moonshine, this product only accelerates fermentation, so you can do without it altogether, but provided that the juice itself is sweet enough.

Usually mash is seasoned with dry yeast, which affects the smell of mash and moonshine. The yeast odor may obscure the apple aroma, which is undesirable. To prevent this, one or two months before the start of the fermentation process, buy ordinary raisins, wait for the appearance of white marks on it and add to the brew. In this case, the fermentation period can increase from five to seven to 40 or even 45 days, but the result will differ from the moonshine on grapes obtained with the addition of yeast to the mash.

Calvados in an oak barrel

Not only moonshine can be made from apple juice, but also calvados - a drink much more pleasant than moonshine, but not devoid of its strength. To prepare Calvados, they acquire an oak barrel of suitable size, distill the mash with the help of a moonshine still, pour it into a container, cork it and put it in a cellar or any other darkened place for a period of one year.

The lack of a barrel can be compensated for with oak bark. The bark is placed on the bottom of the moonshine container, poured with a ready-made drink and allowed to brew for six months. Prolonged contact of alcohol with oak bark will make the moonshine from the juice unique in taste, aromatic, almost indistinguishable from real Calvados.

How to distill mash from juice?

To get pure moonshine from apple and any other juice, you need:

leaping home;
alcohol mashine;
container for storing a drink.

To obtain moonshine from juice, at least two distillations are required. Before pouring it into the moonshine still, filter the mash through cheesecloth. Unstrained may contain small pieces of apples, which, having burnt during the distillation process, can cause the moonshine to acquire bitterness.

During the first distillation, the mash is selected until its strength falls below 30 degrees. In this case, the resulting drink may not have the transparency characteristic of store vodka. This is considered quite normal. The finished drink is allowed to settle, after which its total strength and the amount of pure alcohol are measured. So, in four liters of a drink with a strength equal to 60 degrees, the amount of pure alcohol does not exceed 2.5 liters.

The resulting moonshine from the first distillation is diluted with water, bringing the fortress to 20 degrees. You should not cleanse the drink, as this process negatively affects the apple aroma and taste.

Braga from the juice is poured into a moonshine still and distilled again, while approximately the first 10% of the distilled liquid is separated into a separate bowl. It is dangerous to drink it, as it contains impurities harmful to the body, tastes unpleasant, and does not smell characteristic of moonshine. The liquid is used exclusively for technical purposes, for treating scratches, disinfecting surfaces.

Distillation ends as soon as the strength of the moonshine falls below 40 degrees. The drink is diluted with water, bringing the strength to 40-45 degrees. To stabilize the taste and aroma, it is poured into glass containers, sealed tightly and left in a cool dark place for three to four days.

As soon as the time allotted for settling has expired, the moonshine made on the basis of the mash is ready for use.

Grape moonshine is known all over the world. And although the names of the distillation product are different - chacha, grappa, rakia or kizlyarka - the original product is the same: grapes. Grape moonshine is equally good both as an independent drink and as a base for a drink.

In terms of frequency of use in grape raw materials, it is confidently among the top three. Most often, the mash for grape moonshine is prepared from cake or pulp, but it is quite possible to put a mash from grape juice. The recipe in this case is even simpler than using grape pomace, but here we will definitely need to add yeast. As a rule, there is no wild yeast on the surface of berries and grape ridges in the juice, or their amount is negligible.

How to correctly put the mash from concentrated grape juice (see the recipe below)? It is convenient to use for her the juice of sour grape varieties, which are not very suitable for wine. Use a proven natural product, no preservatives or dyes. Home-made juice is ideal; juices in retail packaging are not suitable in this case.

Grape juice mash recipe

Ingredients:

grape juice - 3 liters
granulated sugar - 1 kg (for sweet varieties) or 1.5-2 kg (for sour varieties)
clean water - 6 liters
yeast - 90 grams (dry) or 300 grams (pressed)

Mash preparation:

Pour juice into a fermentation container, dilute with water heated to a temperature of 30-40 ° C.
Add sugar with constant stirring.
We activate yeast in a small amount warm water with the addition of 1-2 tablespoons of sugar. Put the starter culture in a warm place for 60 minutes
Then add the starter culture to the fermentation tank and mix well.
We close the lid, put a water seal (or a signal glove), put it in a warm, dark place.
Fermentation time is approximately 7-10 days.

Remove the prepared mash from the sediment and distill. To ensure the high quality of the final product, we recommend

Every more or less well-read person has heard of Calvados. Many of us have tasted this great apple distillate at least once.

But not everyone has the knowledge to make something like that in their native kitchen (be it not even the canonical Calvados, but an unassuming, but no less pleasant moonshine made from apples). In this regard, the paramount place is occupied by the question: how to make (or rather, how to cook or, if you like, put) apple mash for moonshine.

Believe me, the distillate made from the mash made according to this recipe has not disappointed anyone yet.

Ingredient List

Apples - 30 kg

Granulated sugar - 2-4 kg

Water - 10-20 l

Dry wine yeast- 100 g

Cooking method

Apple cake left over after receiving the juice, in our case, can also be used. At the same time, the output will be a kind of apple equivalent of the famous chacha.

Ingredient List

Apple cake - 10 kg

Granulated sugar - 5 kg

Water - 35 l

Yeast - 100 g dry or 500 g pressed

Cooking method

If you are a true foodie, this option should be your choice. Apple brandy, prepared on the basis of pure juice, is the most perfect in its taste and aroma.

Ingredient List

Apple juice - 15 l

Granulated sugar - 3 kg

Dry wine yeast - 200 g

Honey - to taste

Lemon zest to taste

Cooking method

The juice settled for several days, decant from the sediment, and then mix with sugar and yeast solution; add some honey and lemon peel if desired.

Keep the resulting substance in a dark, warm place for a month, stirring it periodically.

After the specified period, the finished brew can be used.

Braga from apples without yeast

All of the above options for mash can be prepared without yeast and, accordingly, without sugar.

The main thing is to leave the fruit unwashed so as not to destroy the wild yeast necessary for this type of fermentation.

The tangible advantages of this method will be the taste of the distillate that is not distorted by the sugar-yeast factor and the reduction in financial costs for its preparation.

The disadvantages of this method include a long fermentation period, sometimes reaching two and a half months, as well as a smaller amount of finished brandy obtained at the exit.

Drinking apple mash, in fact - cider, is a pleasant tasting self-sufficient refreshing low-alcohol drink.

Ingredient List

Sour apples - 5 kg

Sweet apples - 5 kg

Cooking method

Squeeze juice from soft, but not rotten fruits.

Separately, stand for juices from sour and sweet varieties of apples for 3 days.

Then, remove them from the sediment and mix to taste.

Bottle the resulting blank, throwing a few raisins into each of the bottles.

Cork the bottles very carefully and put them in the cellar or refrigerator.

In about a month, your drinking mash will be ready.

Of course, such a drink can also be prepared using the sugar-yeast method, but we would not recommend drinking it in its pure form.

Firstly: yeast will significantly worsen the organoleptic properties of the drink, and secondly: not distilled yeast mash contains a significant amount of toxic substances that can seriously damage your body.

Choose fresh fruit

When selecting fruits for mash, try not to use fallen apples with rot. If you still could not manage without apple padan, carefully cut out all rotten areas. Otherwise, the semi-finished product for moonshine will turn out to be too bitter.

Rule 10%

When placing the wort in the fermentation tank, make sure that there remains 10% of the free space in it, which is necessary for the accumulation of foam and carbon dioxide.

Baker's yeast is a taboo for quality alcohol

When making mash, you can use baker's yeast. In this case, the fermentation process can be completed in a week, but the product itself will have a characteristic unpleasant taste and smell.

Sugar mash with apples

You can try adding apple pieces to a regular sugar-yeast preparation for moonshine. In this case, at the end of the fermentation period, you will get a refined sugar mash with apples.

Experiment

Mixing apples with other fruit and berry ingredients is allowed. In this way, for example, you get apple and plum mash or apple and grape mash. The main thing in such cases is to make sure that the sugar content of the future wort does not exceed 20%. Otherwise, fermentation simply won't take place.

Braga from pears and apples

If you have prepared a distillate based on pear and apple mash, it should either be consumed within the next few months or kept in oak barrel about a year. According to experts, this drink, after a six-month storage, for some time partly loses the fullness of its flavor bouquet.

Error or something to add?

Details Folios Food

Home brewing is a widespread industry in which users and craftsmen have achieved amazing success and results. The number of ingredients from which the mash is prepared, which is subsequently distilled into a high-quality strong homemade moonshine, simply impresses with its variety. Sometimes the components and components from which the home brew is prepared are the most unexpected, but in most cases they are fully accessible to most users and have an acceptable cost.

Among the varieties of ingredients for making moonshine mash, some experienced moonshiners use different types of juices. Why are juices a quality ingredient for mash? What types of juices make the best mash? How to cook it correctly and effectively so that the moonshine is of high quality, strong and aromatic?

Braga from birch sap

Braga from birch sap is made by natural fermentation and breakdown of natural glucose contained in this drink. Although the process of making mash is quite laborious, the finished drink turns out to be very tasty and pleasant.

Birch sap contains from 0.5 to 2.3% sugar, therefore, to obtain 3 liters of moonshine, you will need about 30 liters of juice. The total amount of ingredients for making birch mash is as follows:

Birch sap - 30 l;
Milk or kefir - 1 tbsp. l.

Cooking method:

3 liters of birch sap is poured into separate container and pour the rest into a large saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat. After that, the juice is boiled over minimal heat until its total amount decreases to 10-11 liters. After that, the juice is cooled to a temperature of 20-25 degrees.
The boiled juice is mixed with 3 liters of the previously prepared one, after which the resulting mixture is poured into a fermentation vessel and milk or kefir is added there;
A water seal is installed on the container and placed in a dark, warm place;
After a period of 9 to 16 days, the fermentation process will end, the mash can be drained from the sediment and distilled.

Practice shows that with this approach, up to 3 liters of high-quality moonshine with a strength of 40 degrees is obtained. And for additional purification of the drink, users successfully use birch charcoal.

Apple juice braga

The use of apple juice is a guarantee of saturation of raw materials with a large amount of sugar, which will give the moonshine a more pleasant taste and aroma. Ingredients for making apple juice mash:

Apple juice - 5 l;
Granulated sugar - 1 kg;
Yeast or raisins - 40 g.

Cooking technology:

Granulated sugar is dissolved in heated apple juice, after which yeast is poured into it;
The resulting mixture is poured into glass containers, on which a water seal or a medical glove with a hole in one of the fingers is installed;
After the formation of bubbles stops, this indicates the end of the fermentation process;
In order for the finished taste and aroma of the mash to be pleasant and sweet, it is effective to mix several varieties of apple juice squeezed from different varieties;
Granulated sugar may not be used at all, but only if the apple juice is sweet enough;
Although dry yeast can be used to make mash, if you buy regular raisins and wait until a white bloom appears on it, indicating the appearance of wild yeast on the surface, you can significantly improve the quality of the drink, although the fermentation time will increase from 1 week to 1.5 months.

Braga from store juice

In order to make mash from store juices, most users and craftsmen use a variety of its types. Since store products are rarely of high quality, it is necessary to add sugar to the mash, at the rate of 3 kg per 10 liters of juice. An effective solution would also be to replace dry or baker's yeast for raisins.

The process of making mash from store juice includes the following steps:

The juice is mixed with granulated sugar and raisins are put in it;
For more efficient fermentation and minimal foam formation, you can add 1 tbsp to the mixture. l. kefir or milk;
The container is placed in a warm, dark place and a water seal or a medical glove is installed on it;
After 14 days, the mash will stop emitting carbon dioxide, which will be evidenced by the cessation of the formation of air bubbles;
After that, the mash is drained from the sediment and undergoes a distillation process.

As practice shows, making mash from home or store juice is an effective stage in the preparation of high-quality moonshine, which does not require a significant investment of time or money.

Created on 22 June 2018

Our people are used to driving alcohol from everything that is at hand, and first of all from berries and fruits: from pears, apples, but even from kiwi. Vegetables are also popular - potatoes have become a real classic. You will not surprise us with cereals: buckwheat, rice and even oats are perfect for wort.

What about ready-made drinks as raw materials? Today we will tell you how to make home brew and moonshine from concentrated juice, as well as from ordinary store juice. At the exit, you will get a pure product of the desired strength with a pleasant aftertaste.

We tried to find recipes as simple as possible - those with which you can even start your acquaintance with the world of home brewing. Well, people who are already experienced in this matter will make alcohol without any problems at all. By the way, the beauty of this option is that you can take almost any nectar that is sold in stores and supermarkets, be it peach or birch. There is the most convenient opportunity to prepare strong alcohol with the flavor that you have always liked.

First, a few words about what such an original wort base is. Concentrate is already squeezed and processed, but not yet reconstituted (diluted store-bought) nectar. It can be apple, grape, pear or other, but it is usually a thick and even viscous liquid (so much so that it is measured in kilograms, not liters). But alcohol prepared from such raw materials will have a pronounced organoleptic properties.

Ingredients for mash

From these ingredients, you can make about 25 liters of mash. To speed up the process of "playing", instead of wine yeast, you can take alcoholic yeast (they will need 100 g), but keep in mind that with them the aroma will no longer be so saturated.

Cooking mash on concentrated juice

Dissolve sugar (inverted syrup) in water, stirring gently.
Pour the concentrate and water into the fermentation tank.
You rehydrate the wine yeast to activate it. Leave them in a glass of water (200-250 ml) and 1 tsp. sugar - 15 minutes, until sizzle - and add to the wort.
Close the fermentation tank with a water seal and send it to a dark place (the temperature is 24-27 ° C) to infuse.
Withstand liquid for 7-10 days.
Filter through cheesecloth, removing the sediment.

Braga is ready, you can proceed to distillation, but keep in mind that the organoleptic properties of the final product will greatly depend on the type of nectar chosen. If, for example, apple was taken for the wort, then in the end you will get almost only with an even more pronounced taste and aroma. For many, this is even an advantage.

Braga from purchased juice

There is one key nuance here. The one fruit drink, which is sold in bags, is definitely an unnatural squeezed nectar: in fact, it is water in which a small part of the concentrate is diluted and where acidity regulators are added. But sugar in it is up to 15%, which means it will "play", albeit relatively slowly. So you can still make alcohol from it.

Just consider what such moonshine from juice will be: a store drink will only give light fruity note. To get a really powerful taste, you need to arm yourself with a press and start pressing and squeezing ... but more on that in the next recipe.

You will need such ingredients

To check the recipe, we prepared mash from Dobry juice, although any other purchased packaged or bottled one, for example J-7 or Rich, will do. Taste qualities will be well revealed not only by apple or pear, but also by orange or peach, as an original, but also appropriate option, you can take tomato.

Did you know? Instead of baking yeast, you can also take dry yeast, only you need to take them in an amount of not 200, but 50 g.

Step by step preparation of the base

Dissolve the sugar in the purchased nectar and pour the resulting liquid into the fermentation tank (the volume of which you choose so that it remains at least a third unfilled - this will facilitate foaming).
Pour yeast into the same place, put a water seal on the bottle (or other container) and send it to a warm place (you can go to the radiator or into the sun) to infuse.
Let the wort "play" for 2 weeks. During this time, the liquid will acquire bitterness and brighten.
Remove the sediment by draining the liquid through a gauze filter, and you can proceed to distillation.

About 3 liters of finished product with a strength of about 43 degrees will come out of 10 liters of such raw materials. We recommend taking pear juice: get great alcohol - without the sugary note that differs, but with a light aroma and Duchess flavor. But the tomato version is also gorgeous, at least for its originality.

Peach Juice Moonshine

A real life hack for those who have their own garden or the opportunity to profitably buy a large amount of these juicy fruits, as well as the desire to work as a press. We will tell you how to make moonshine from freshly squeezed peach juice, which is so thick that it is a wonderful natural concentrate in itself. Pay attention to an important feature of the recipe: no yeast is used.

Ingredients for Peach Alcohol

Making peach moonshine step by step

Pour all the nectar into an enamel container, add 1 kg of granulated sugar and 1.5 liters of water. Then cover with gauze and leave in a warm corner for 2 days (48 hours).
Pour the "sparkling" liquid into a glass fermentation bottle, add raisins and the remaining 2 kg of sugar, add 2.5 liters of water.
Install a water seal (glove) and send the container with the wort to the same warm corner for 7-10 days. During this time, the fermentation process should be completed (you can understand that it is over by the absence of gas bubbles).
Remove the sediment by filtering the wash through gauze rolled in several layers, pour it into a cube.
Carry out the first distillation, taking up until the moment when the jet pressure drops to 25 °.
Dilute the distillate with water so that its strength becomes 20 °.
Perform the second distillation, this time with the division into fractions. The first 200-250 ml of alcohol will be "heads", then the "body", which is suitable for consumption, will go, and when the pressure in the jet drops to 35 °, harmful "tails" will begin.
Taste the finished product - drink it in the same way as vodka, that is, in glasses and in one gulp (but do not be too zealous).

Here it is appropriate to consider the issue of diluting the moonshine with juice. It is diluted in the same way as with water, according to a very simple formula:

X = (A / B) * C - C, where

A and B - available and desired alcohol strength, respectively;
C is the volume of alcohol.

An example with specific numbers. Let's say you made 5 liters of alcohol with a strength of 45 ° and you want to dilute it with nectar to 30 °. Then X = (45/30) * 5 - 5 = 2.5 liters.

Moonshine from palm juice

So we got to the exotic. Can alcohol be driven out of wood? Yes, and the notorious stool of Ostap Bender has nothing to do with it. The same palm tree contains juice that ferments (after all, it contains sugar), which means it can also be wort. Moreover, the technology for preparing alcohol is the same as in the previous recipe, just the raw materials are different.

But where can we get as many as 10 liters of "palm tears", and even in our latitudes? This is problematic, but it's good that there is an alternative. We suggest insisting moonshine on coconut juice, which is quite concentrated and gives its own taste. And what, the nut is also part of the palm tree.

For coconut moonshine you need

Cooking procedure

Mix coconut milk with water, add cinnamon and sugar and bring to a boil over low heat.
Cool the resulting liquid (it will lighten) and pour alcohol into it.
Insist in a warm and dark corner for 3 days, then filter through cheesecloth and keep for another 1 day.
Drink in glasses, but without fanaticism, 50-100 ml each.

The final product will have a "liqueur" consistency. It will turn out to be thick, such as. Connoisseurs find a special charm in this, and in the tenderness of the coconut flavor too.

Video with recipes for moonshine on concentrated juice

Here's an apple classic. The finished drink can even be proudly considered homemade calvados.

And here original recipe almost chacha. Grape nectar, dextrose and yeast make a wonderful drink - try it.

And how many options for making alcohol are not yet covered! Braga from juice, store packaged, concentrated or freshly squeezed, can be made in dozens more different ways... Do you know some original recipe? Share it, we will be happy to read it and translate it into a drink.