How can moonshine be softened?

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

All moonshine makers should know how to soften moonshine at home to give it a more delicate and mild taste. This simple process can improve the characteristics of the finished beverage. For this, a variety of products are used that can better affect the taste of the distillate. Glucose, sugar, nuts and spices are often preferred.

Cleaning moonshine

A quality drink is obtained only from quality products that have not expired. It is advisable to use spring or bottled water. If you use tap water, it is recommended to stand it for at least a day so that the chlorine and unpleasant smell disappear.

Before you soften moonshine, you need to clean it from fusel oils, impurities and acids. It is advisable to carry out this event even at the stage of distilling the drink from the mash, using a dephlegmator for this, and re-distilling the product. To do this, you need to pick up a modern moonshine still, equipped with all the required appliances.

The finished product also requires cleaning, while its strength should beat least fifty degrees. For cleaning, you can add thirty birch activated charcoal tablets ground to a powder state in a three-liter container, then leave to infuse for three days, then filter through a cotton pad.

To one liter of moonshine, you can also add the protein of a fresh chicken egg. This promotes the release of fusel oils, the droplets of which are absorbed by the surface of the protein flakes. It is necessary to carefully separate the proteins from the yolks and beat them with a mixer with the addition of a small amount of warm water. After a day, filter the drink in small portions to separate it from egg flakes.

One hundred ml of fresh milk can be added to one liter of moonshine and mixed well. Coagulated flakes and lumps will help clear the alcohol of fatty acids. When cleaning, the indicated proportions must be strictly observed so that the alcoholic drink does not lose its strength.

Mitigation techniques

To soften the moonshine and make it more palatable at no significant cost, you can:

• insist for a few weeks;
• use distillation column;
• keep in an oak barrel.

You can infuse moonshine for several weeks. This is a very good option that allows you to get a pleasant-tasting and high-quality drink with a bright and rich aroma. You can insist alcohol on various ingredients.

If the moonshine is equipped with a rectifier, then you can use a column for cleaning. It helps to get high-quality alcohola drink of high strength and without impurities.

You can keep moonshine in an oak barrel. Whiskey, cognac and other noble drinks are prepared in this way. An oak barrel gives a very pleasant aroma, changes the color and taste of alcohol.

Easing technology

Answering the question of how to soften moonshine at home, it must be said that this process can be divided into several stages. Much depends on your own preferences and desires, as well as on the availability of free time. However, there are many different recipes that can be used to correct the shortcomings of alcoholic drinks.

Initially, moonshine must undergo preliminary preparation, and then you can begin to change the quality and taste parameters. To do this, you can:

• distill alcohol twice;
• clean it up in any way possible;
• let the drink stand in a cool dark place.

If moonshine has a sharp, unpleasant odor, then it is cleaned by double distillation, before cleaning it with chicken protein or coal. Then pour into a glass container, put in a cool place for several days.

This improves the quality of the finished product, but more work needs to be done to get a drink with a pleasant taste.

As for the moonshine softening technology, its essence is quite simple. You just need to add additional components to the finished alcoholic drink. As a result, you can change the taste characteristics of moonshine.

How to soften moonshine?

Toto achieve the best taste and aroma of the finished product, you can use various ingredients. Many are interested in how to soften moonshine at home. To do this, you can:

• increase sweetness by adding glucose, sugar, fructose, caramel;
• change flavor with spices;
• you can remove the taste by adding birch or oak bark.

Nuts are very popular in home brewing. They are used in various recipes.

Using sugar

When carrying out the procedure, you must strictly adhere to the instructions. Few people know how to properly soften moonshine with sugar, but it is worth remembering that too much or not enough sweet worsens the taste of the drink.

Soften alcohol, following the proportion: 30 g of sugar per 1 liter of alcohol. This method is considered the most accessible, but has certain disadvantages. If you add a lot of sweetener, then moonshine will not change for the better. To achieve optimal proportions is quite simple if you taste alcohol in the process of adding sugar. If you need to soften the moonshine with sugar, you can choose the proportions yourself - the most important thing is that you end up with a pleasant taste.

You also need to consider the quality of the sweetener. The higher it is, the better for the drink. People who have been brewing moonshine for a long time prefer refined sugar. The cubes need to be crushed in a coffee grinder, dissolved in a glass of warm water, mixed well, wait until the sugar is completely dissolved, and add it toalcohol.

If you use poor quality sugar, then the finished drink will become cloudy, and even repeated distillation will not help get rid of this.

Burnt sugar or caramel will help soften moonshine. However, it is worth remembering that this method will not help remove fusel oils and many other harmful impurities. Burnt sugar will only mask their presence. In addition, you do not need to add too much caramel to alcohol. For one liter of drink, it is enough to add just one teaspoon of burnt sugar. One or two days are enough to insist.

How to soften moonshine with glucose? The proportions must be kept very strictly. You can buy a solution at a pharmacy. Preference is given to the solution, as it is highly purified, however, tablets can also be used by grinding them into powder.

What proportions are needed and how to soften moonshine with glucose, many people involved in moonshine are interested. For one liter of alcohol with a strength of forty degrees, twenty-five milliliters of the solution will be required. You also need to know how to soften moonshine with dextrose. This is the same glucose, only in powder form. In this case, five grams of glucose powder or crushed glucose tablets can be used to improve palatability.

You can also soften moonshine with fructose. It is sweet and is often used to change the taste of a distillate made with fruit mash. It can be purchased at a pharmacy or a specialized store. Fructose should be added to alcohol in the proportion of ½ tablespoon of dry powder pera liter of moonshine with a strength of forty degrees. It is advisable to pre-dissolve the powder in water, and then gradually pour the solution into the already prepared distillate, periodically tasting it.

Using honey

It is very important to know how to soften moonshine with honey to get a quality drink. To do this, you must follow certain rules. Adding honey to an alcoholic drink causes a violent reaction, as a result of which the drink changes its color, turns brown, and foam forms. To avoid this, it is recommended:

• pour some moonshine;
• pre-melt honey if it is viscous;
• mix all ingredients and stir;
• put the mixture into alcohol.

For one liter of moonshine you need to take half a tablespoon of honey. It is important to remember that bee products provoke allergies, so you need to use them very carefully, and it is better to test before using them.

Using baking soda

You can effectively soften moonshine with soda, as it helps get rid of fusel oils and acetic aldehyde. To do this, you need to use sodium bicarbonate in its pure form.

Soda can form by-products that precipitate. They are very harmful to he alth, which is why the alcoholic drink must be carefully filtered and re-distilled. For cleaning, you need to dilute soda with water in a ratio of 1: 1. Add it to moonshine in a proportion of ten grams per liter of drink. You need to pour the solutiongradually. Alcohol should not be more than forty degrees.

Mix everything thoroughly and put for ten to eleven hours in a dark place. Mix again after one hour from the start of settling. Filter the finished drink through cotton wool or activated carbon. Redistill.

Using additives

You can soften moonshine with the help of various components, which also give the finished alcohol a unique taste. Many distillers prefer to use oranges or lemons. Biologically active substances contained in citrus fruits make it possible to neutralize the remains of fusel oils that could not be removed from moonshine during purification and distillation.

There are no exact proportions in this case. However, it is advisable to adhere to the fact that for one and a half liters of alcohol you need to add half an orange or lemon. Initially, you need to wash the fruit with water and wipe it with a dry, clean cloth, then cut it into slices, put it in a container with moonshine, close it tightly and let it infuse for a week.

You can also use the zest of lime, lemon, tangerine, orange. It helps soften the taste of moonshine. Citrus fruits should be thoroughly washed and wiped dry, cut off the top of the zest. It is worth making sure that there is no white pulp, as it will add bitterness. To soften the moonshine, it is enough to add the zest of one lemon (orange) or two limes (tangerines) to one and a half liters of alcohol. Leave to brew for seven to fourteen days.

Muscatwalnut is widely used in cooking. When combined with moonshine, it will make alcohol much softer and help to give a characteristic pleasant aftertaste. However, you need to accurately calculate the proportions. For one liter of moonshine, it is enough to put one pinch of ground nutmeg. Leave to infuse for two to three weeks.

Pine nuts not only soften moonshine, but also endow it with useful properties. You can put peeled and unpeeled nuts in a container with a finished drink. The result will be achieved in any case, but the taste is somewhat different.

If unpeeled nuts are used, they must be washed in boiling water. Hot water will help wash off any unwanted resin from the shell. To clean moonshine, it is enough to take twenty-five grams of pine nuts.

Oak bark can be used to purify strong alcohol. To do this, add a tablespoon of bark to one and a half liters of distillate. It is worth remembering that the longer alcohol is infused, the softer its taste will be. Insist at least fourteen to fifteen days.

Using glycerin

Glycerin is a food additive that resembles syrup in its consistency. It must be used very carefully, as exceeding the dosage, as well as non-compliance with the proportion, can lead to a deterioration in the taste of the finished drink.

It is recommended to take no more than five milliliters of glycerin per liter of alcohol with a strength of forty-forty-five degrees. The substance is introduced gradually so as not to spoil the taste of the finished drink. If you add a lotglycerin, the moonshine will become cloying.

Other remedies

Not everyone knows how to soften moonshine and how to do it right. You can use a walnut for this: you need to take partitions that soften the taste of alcohol well. To obtain the desired result, it is necessary to strictly observe the proportions. To do this, take ten to twelve partitions for half a liter of moonshine and insist for a month.

Black peppercorns go well with alcohol and give it a mild, pleasant taste. For half a liter of moonshine, you need to add three to five peas. Infuse for two to four weeks.

For three liters of distillate, take three grams of potassium permanganate, previously diluted with warm water. Pour the solution into moonshine, and after fifteen minutes filter it through cheesecloth.

Coffee or tea will help to color an alcoholic drink in the color of cognac or whiskey, it all depends on the concentration of the drink. For three liters of moonshine, it is enough to take one and a half tablespoons of tea. Instant coffee will need two teaspoons.

When prunes are added, moonshine acquires a sweetish-smoked flavor, as well as the color of cognac. It is enough to add ten to fifteen prunes per liter of alcohol.

Tips & Tricks

With the advice of experienced distillers, softening should begin with a small amount of alcohol. You need to select the concentration of flavoring additives, focusing on your own tastes and preferences. In this way, you can create your own perfect alcoholic drink.

Before adding additives, it is necessary to dilute the moonshine to the desired strength, adding another two or three degrees. Then pour 200-250 ml of the drink into a separate container and gradually add the softener. After achieving the perfect taste, you need to calculate the required amount of additives and carry out the softening procedure.

Before connecting the components, some of the distillate must be left in stock. If during the softening process there was an excess of the amount of additives, then pure alcohol must be added. After adding softeners, close the container with moonshine tightly and place it in a darkened room with a temperature not exceeding five degrees. With the most unsuccessful attempts to improve the taste, repeated distillation can save alcohol.

Getting quality homemade alcohol is very simple, the most important thing is to strictly adhere to the recommendations.