Moonshine

What is Moonshine?

How to make Moonshine?

Moonshine was originally a slang term for high-proof distilled spirits usually produced illicitly, without government authorization. In recent years, however, moonshine has been legalized in various countries and has become a commercial product. Wikipedia

Producing distilled spirit is for personal consumption only and shall not be sold or freely distributed. 

High quality distilled alcohol is kind of easy to make as high as 55 to 95% proof and reduced to commercial alcohol grade at 40 % by adding distilled water. Then you can purchase additives to turn it into White and or Dark Rum, Vodka, Dry Gin, Kahlua, Irish Cream, Fire ball, name it, it can and will be done for as little as 4 dollars per 26 ounces (750 Mil) e.g. this little bottle  will give you the rank of Captain “your name” and it cost around $8.00 and makes 3×750 Mil bottles of dark rum and is available at any advertisers on this Website

Equipment needed (Minimum) to produce a “Wash”

Note; a “Wash” is the basic mixture of Sugar, water, nutrients and yeast ready for fermentation and not yet consumable.

A Wash is “deadly poisonnous until it is boiled out” and safe when properly boiled out to only extract safe alcohol amount.

At this point and time we strongly recommend that you visit this   YouTube Channel,   (No Charge) Subscribe and watch the few steps. Get occasional updates, always free!

Equipment, continued…

2 x 5 gallon pail (23 liter) ideally with an installed petcock valve at the lower end.

long spoon or wand (24 in-60cm)

water bottle 23 liters (in the brewing language it is called Carboy)

air lock ($1.50)

syphon hose 6 feet or longer

hydrometer and test tube

still (for boil out) pictureS below.

large tubing to insert food grade charcoal for filtration purpose

food grade clarifying charcoal

Ingredients…

8 Kg of white sugar ( buy a lot when on sale)

hot boiling water and cold water

brewers Turbo yeast with brewing nutrients

2 steps Turbo clear clarifiers

Method…

First you must clean and sanitise all equipment such as Pail, Utensils, etc. As per procedures,,,,,,,,,,,

Boil 4 Liters of water

1. In the clean and sanitized 5 gallon pail add 8 Kg of white sugar
2. Pour the boiling water over sugar and using long spoon mix until all sugar is perfectly disolved
3. Pour cold water to a maximum 21 to 23 litres mark alternating with hot water to achieve a temperature of 28 to max 30 celsius
4. Using long spoon stir well
5. Sprinkle Turbo yeast distributing over entire surface and do not stir at this point. Place loose lid on top or if using an air lock then secure the lid. Maintain room temperature between minimum 16 and maximum 24 for the rest of the fermentation period
6. skip 1 day and the following day and until fermentation is complete using long spoon gently stir for a maximum 30 seconds bringing bottom upward, do not over stir, repeat daily
7. “Wash” will be fully fermented after 7 days if room temperature was between 21 and 25 celsius. 12 to 15 days if room temperature was between 16 and 20 celsius, sometimes I’ve waited 30-45 days and it’s ok… Alcohol level preserves it.
8. before going to the next step do not stir for 24 to 48 hours to allow majority of sediments to fall to the bottom. When about half the top or near is clearing, it’s time to do the clearing step.

Clearing:

• Either using a syphon with a curved bottom or using a petcock valve, pour wash into a pail,
• Stir the wash vigorously to remove locked gas for 5 to 10 minutes
• and add step A, wait an hour or two and add step B, stir slowly and thoroughly then transfer to a Carboy (see through water bottle)
• This mixture being heavier than the wash will attach itself to all impurities and drag them to the bottom of the carboy.
• take notice that at this point that the cooler the room temperature the faster the wash will clear.

Within 2 days it should be as clear as water but is not safe to drink yet. It is recommended to wait 4 days or until fully clear to make sure all impurities have been dragged to the bottom.

Boil out:

since you do not want the bottom of the Carboy you should syphon the clear wash into a sufficient size clean container.

Most Home Brewers use a 4 liters Still (distiller) or a 25 liter to complete operation in 1 step or so. Here are 3 types of Stills.

The centre side unit in wich you transfer 4 liters of the wash and boil until you collect 750 mls of alcohol up to 1.2 liter wich will translate in an average A.B.V (Alcohol By Volume) at 48 to 80 percent. Read all instructions related to the Still in use. Remember to place a container to collect the precious liquid. You must throw out the first 10 ml and collect the rest.

With the 21 litres unit (on the Left side) using an induction stove top or the T500 (on the Right side) you do it all in 1 batch; you throw out the first 50 to 100 ml and collect the rest.

When the entire batch “Wash” has been boiled out, use a hydrometer  to confirm the % of alcohol which should be anywhere from 45 to 80% ABV

and you can reduce it to 40% by adding distilled water by small amount until it is at the desired level.

It is NOW SAFE to consume.

For a more pleasant taste and aroma it is highly recommended to filter the alcohol through a food grade carbon or charcoal filter to remove any yeast flavors and scent.