It is almost impossible to obtain at home. The distillation product requires cleaning, regardless of the mash recipe. The unpleasant smell and taste of moonshine is given by chemical compounds formed during the ferrying process... The mechanism for softening and purifying moonshine is aimed at removing fusel oils and impurities.
The quality of the moonshine is primarily influenced by the recipe for making the mash and the seasoned technology of correct distillation. A moonshine still equipped with a dry steamer or a reflux condenser should also have good quality; copper is recognized as the most suitable material for it.
An important condition the observance of cleanliness is: the fermentation tank, moonshine still, dishes for collecting and storing the product must be clean throughout the entire process.
However, even if all the rules of home brewing are observed, the final product needs additional cleaning and softening. It will be necessary to get rid of the bitterness and unpleasant odor. There are many ways to enrich and enjoy moonshine. Since ancient times, herbs, roots, spices have been used for this. Nowadays, the list of cleaners and additives has grown significantly.
To soften moonshine, sweeteners, acidifiers, spices, spices, nuts, charcoal, bark, etc. are used. Starting to eliminate a specific smell, it is necessary to fulfill all the conditions and proportions of the recipe, starting with small volumes of moonshine.
Experienced homebrewers use the double distillation method - re-distillation allows for a cleaner product. Before the secondary distillation, the moonshine must be additionally cleaned to remove impurities harmful to the body.
To do this, prepare the product, diluting its strength to 30% - this concentration facilitates the separation of fusel oils. It is also recommended to let the moonshine stand for 2 days at room temperature before the cleaning procedure. Purification of an alcoholic beverage is carried out using:
reference... The ferrying process is conventionally divided into “head”, “body” and “tail”. Most of the harmful impurities are in the "head" - in the first 10% of moonshine. In the “tail”, the alcohol strength is reduced to 30-35º, the approximate amount is up to 10% of the total amount of the product. The "head" is poured out, and the "tails" are left for breeding the mash before forcing. The purest moonshine is distilled in the "body", it is most of all free from impurities and a specific smell.
Moonshine can be flavored during the distillation process if you put an ingredient used to improve the taste in it. For example, juniper berries, dry citrus zest, dry herb.
In this video, an experienced moonshiner will tell you how to give a more magical taste and improve the smell of moonshine:
The taste of the resulting purified moonshine can be improved by softening it with additional products. At home, infusion or flavoring with flavors is used for this. Tinctures for raw materials are made without chemical additives, therefore they are completely safe for health.
In cases where a lot of softener has been added, the concentration is reduced by diluting pure alcohol with water. The container must be tightly closed and kept at a temperature close to zero degrees.
Reference. The higher the degree of moonshine, the more difficult it is to soften the drink, optimally alcohol should not exceed 40º.
Flavoring additives allow you to give the drink a certain taste, to make it look like any kind of alcohol. They are made from natural ingredients and are easy to use. Currently on the market, flavoring additives are presented in a wide range. With the help of concentrated additives, moonshine can be given a cognac hue, a bitter taste or sweet liqueur.
Liquid food concentrate allows you to recreate all traditional alcoholic beverages: vodka, whiskey, wine, brandy, rum. Flavors can have coffee, chocolate, caramel and fruit aromas. Quality products have a persistent aroma and do not contain hazardous ingredients. Supplements come in the form of liquid essences and concentrates. It is better to buy them in specialized stores.
note: to play with the taste of the drink, it must be well cleaned and free of impurities.
Natural flavors can also improve the taste of homemade alcohol. For these purposes, herbs, spices, berries, dried fruits can be used. When using fragrant herbal supplements, it is important to maintain proportions. Spicy plants contain valuable biologically active substances distributed over leaves, flowers, roots, fruits.
Everyone who is engaged in home brewing tries to achieve ideal indicators in terms of taste and aroma of the drink.
In reality, even experienced distillers can produce moonshine with bitterness, which can negatively affect the overall taste of the tasting.
Let's try to understand the reasons for the appearance of bitter notes in the taste of moonshine and the main ways to eliminate them.
The list of the most common causes of bitterness in moonshine includes:
Burning drinkthat occurs when errors occur during distillation. The products formed as a result of combustion, together with the steam, penetrate into the drink, creating a bitter taste.
Failure to comply with the raw material manufacturing technology:
Poor yeast quality and wort contamination. Failure to comply with the fermentation conditions leads to the multiplication of foreign bacteria and fungi in the wort.
Malfunctions in the moonshine unit:
Prolonged contact with a wooden container. If you keep alcohol in a container made of wood of unsuitable species, then there is nothing surprising in the formation of bitterness. A large amount of tannins and resins, often negatively affects the taste of moonshine. It is necessary to carefully monitor the taste of the drink during aging, and taste it more often.
Attention! It is important to take into account that only a weak bitterness can be eliminated, and you can try to mask the medium and pronounced ones.
Watch a video that describes how to eliminate bitterness in moonshine after burning:
The bitterness that appears in moonshine after charcoal is associated with the presence of air during this process. Under such conditions, alcohol is oxidized and a bitter taste is formed, reminiscent of vodka.
This aftertaste can also appear during the distillation phase, when the discharged beverage is not sufficiently cooled. The still warm alcohol oxidizes on contact with air, resulting in bitterness.
You can use various methods to level it.
The main reason for the bitterness in the moonshine drink is considered to be its insufficient cleansing. You can solve this problem with charcoal activated carbonused for cleaning.
Step-by-step purification of moonshine with a charcoal filter:
There is one more cleaning method, but it is more laborious., for its implementation, you need to purchase special tools.
The bitterness from the moonshine can be removed and using egg white.
You will need 2 proteins per liter of moonshine. They are whipped until foamy and poured into a container with a drink. The mixture is well mixed and infused in a dark place for a week.
You can also try insist moonshine on chopped apples or carrots - fiber, which they contain "eats" bitterness, and makes the drink aromatic.
The question of the bitterness of the taste of moonshine is quite relevant. Try to taste and moonshine, this taste of this drink is very unpleasant. You definitely need to get rid of this if you want to surprise your guests with a drink of your own production. Even after a high-quality distillation of the drink, substances remain in it, residues of oils, which spoil both the taste and smell of the drink. Fusel oil residues negatively affect human health.
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1. Burning moonshine. Poor cleaning of the beverage can be the cause of the burn. When the sediment burns, the combustion products along with the steam get into the moonshine and the drink is obtained with a bitter taste.
2. Deviation from raw material preparation technologies. Use only fresh and high-quality purified raw materials for making moonshine. If you use fruits or berries, then make sure that they are not rotten, do not grind the seeds of fruits and berries, because due to the content of a large amount of tannins, they give the finished drink a bitter taste. The same goes for the skins of fruits and berries. Therefore, carefully check and do not allow substandard raw materials to enter the finished moonshine. Skim off the foam while making the moonshine.
3. Poor yeast and wort contamination. Sometimes the moonshine is bitter due to spoiled yeast. It is necessary to remember this if bitterness appeared with the use of new yeast and the old method of preparation. In the wort, bacteria and microorganisms can begin to multiply if the storage conditions are not followed. This can also cause the bitterness of the taste of the drink.
4. Malfunction of the moonshine still. The reason for the bitterness of moonshine can be a moonshine still. Usually bitterness appears when it is necessary to clean the moonshine still. Perhaps foam or wash has got into the coil due to overheating. It is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the equipment, and use only devices made of quality materials.
5. If you insist moonshine in wooden tubs, then due to prolonged contact with wood, moonshine can also acquire a bitter taste. It is necessary to carefully control the taste of moonshine during aging, more often taste the drink, and as soon as the taste becomes Normally, bottle the moonshine for storage.
6. Another reason for the bitterness of moonshine is the use of bitter raw materials. In this case, the bitterness can be masked by insisting on moonshine, for example, on horseradish.
7. Moonshine can taste bitter due to the lack of high-quality cleaning.
Note, that you can get rid of only a slight bitterness, and mask the middle one.
Moonshine is not at all an alcohol that has no taste. The taste of moonshine directly depends on the raw materials from which it is prepared. A very soft drink is obtained from fruits and berries; if moonshine is made from cereals, then it tastes like bread. Moonshine made from aspen sawdust can taste bitter.
Let's take a closer look at the most basic reason for the unpleasant bitterness of moonshine - poor cleaning of the drink.
Charcoal is the best purifier for moonshine. It is activated charcoal of wood origin that will perfectly cope with the residues of toxic oils. What is the need to clean moonshine with charcoal?
Using charcoal to clean the moonshine.
Charcoal is a good adsorbent due to its porous structure. There are several options for cleaning moonshine:
It is necessary to make a filter. Doing it yourself is not difficult. Take a plastic bottle and cut off the bottom of it, pierce several holes in the lid itself. The neck of our filter must be plugged with cotton wool. Cotton wool can be wrapped with a bandage.
On cotton you need put coal at the rate of fifty-five grams per liter of moonshine, and skip the drink through a homemade filter. You can do this operation more than once for better cleaning. For best results, we recommend changing the charcoal after each use. So that there is no dust, the coal must be washed before use, otherwise the moonshine will become cloudy from dust from coal and it will have to be cleaned by other, more complex methods
The second way to clean moonshine more complex and for its implementation will require the purchase of special devices. If you prefer to put coal straight into moonshine, then for this you need a special vessel. It is necessary to grind the coal thoroughly and place it in a vessel. We take the same calculation as in the first method: 55 grams of coal per liter of liquid.
This mixture must be allowed to stand for about two weeks, sometimes shaking. For another week after the procedure, moonshine cannot be consumed. Strain the moonshine through several layers of gauze. Do not throw away the charcoal, it can be reused. To do this, you need to treat it with hydrochloric acid, rinse thoroughly, dry it and then ignite it on fire.
Be sure to remember that the cleansing properties of coal last no more than two hours, then the pores open and everything that the adsorbent has absorbed comes out. Thus, it is better to repeat all actions after two hours.
The huge advantage of moonshine is that you can determine the taste and smell of this drink yourself. You can add any fruits and berries, herbs, spices to it. To get an amazing taste of moonshine, you need to infuse it for at least two weeks, adding flavors to your taste.
Pleasant bitter notes in the moonshine will add citrus zest. Anise, saffron and other aromatic herbs add a pleasant spicy taste to the moonshine. If you like a hot drink, then add a little hot pepper to get moonshine with rich bitterness, add bay leaf or vanillin, if you like a very spicy taste, then use ginger or black pepper.
If the moonshine is too hot, then you can soften its taste using nutmeg. In order to slightly change the taste of moonshine, just one ingredient is enough, if you want to completely change the taste of the drink, you can add a mixture of flavors.
Be sure to observe the dosage, otherwise the taste of the drink may change dramatically or even deteriorate. The dosage for each supplement is different, something needs to be put in more, something less. You can find recommendations on the type and dosage of supplements on the Internet.
Perhaps the strength of moonshine is the main criterion for the quality of the drink. The strength of moonshine is determined by the concentration of alcohol in it. It is impossible to determine the strength of a homemade drink just by trying it. You can find out the strength of moonshine using an alcohol meter or hydrometer. The most optimal strength indicator is 40 degrees. For a more reliable measurement result, follow a few simple rules, because it is impossible to determine the degree to taste.
First, the temperature of the moonshine when measuring the strength should be about 20 degrees Celsius. With other temperatures, you risk getting unreliable result, since the principle of measuring the strength of moonshine with an alcohol meter and hydrometer is to measure the density of the drink, and alcohol, as we know, has a higher density than water. Therefore, if the recommendations for the temperature of moonshine are not followed, the degree of the drink will be incorrect.
If you want to get the strongest moonshine, then during cooking, do not bring the temperature higher than 86-94 degrees Celsius, in order to avoid evaporation of water and oils. If these indicators are not met, the strength and quality of the drink will inevitably decrease.
If you follow all the recommendations for making moonshine, you will get an excellent drink with a strength of 55-65 degrees. It will be a perfectly clean and transparent drink without foreign odors. Try lighting the brewed drink. The flame should be completely colorless, and some plain water should remain on combustion.
If you did everything correctly, then you have an excellent homemade drink in your hands. When using it, keep in mind that it is very strong. For a more pleasant consumption of moonshine, it can be diluted with drinking water or herbal infusion.
Surely, lovers of moonshine faced a problem when moonshine tastes bitter. You can, of course, drink it, but it is the taste of bitterness that spoils the overall picture, and does not allow you to fully enjoy the drink. This can be a big problem. Especially in the case when moonshine was chased specifically for the festive table, for some reason. Guests cannot put such a drink on the table.
Faced with this problem, those who are engaged in home brewing begin to look for an answer to the question: how can you still remove the bitterness from moonshine. To answer, you must first understand why moonshine can taste bitter. Usually, the primary reason is the same.
The best distillation still does not remove various substances from the finished alcohol mixture. These include the remains of fusel oils. It is they who are the main cause of bitterness and third-party unpleasant odor. The first and easiest option to remove the booze from the moonshine is to use charcoal. So, the reasons why moonshine tastes bitter are established. Then it remains to clearly follow the instructions.
Activated carbon is an ideal absorbent due to its good porosity. The high specific surface area per unit mass also plays a role. If the decision is made to use charcoal, it is important to choose the right one, because the pores absorb molecules.
There are two ways to remove bitterness from moonshine:
Sour mash, this is a problem that newcomers to home brewing often face. Moonshine, which is expelled from it, also acquires a sour taste. If you notice it in time, you can try to save the product. The mash should have a slight sourness. There is nothing without this, because yeast in the process of its activity produces a certain amount of organic acids. But if the technology is violated, then vinegar sourness may occur. It is easy enough to identify and should not be allowed under any circumstances. Signs are cessation of fermentation, a pungent vinegar odor, and a scalding sour taste. The main reason is the access of air to the wash, which appears if the water seal is not installed or is installed incorrectly. In the presence of air access, acetic bacteria are activated and begin to process alcohol, releasing acid and water. During the active fermentation phase, carbon dioxide pushes oxygen out of the container. But when fermentation comes to an end, carbon dioxide becomes small and oxygen is calmly in contact with the mash. This explains the sourness of the mash, which occurs either at the end or after fermentation. It may take from several days to several weeks for complete souring, it all depends on the temperature and raw materials. Acetic bacteria are active in a temperature range of 6 ° C to 45 ° C. But even if less than a day has passed and the souring is slight, this may be enough for the distillate to have a sour taste.
Prevention of this problem is quite simple. After placing all the ingredients in the fermentation container, install a water seal on it.
Its design can be any, the main thing is that it prevents air from entering the fermentation tank. The second point is that the container is hermetically closed and the gas escapes only through the water seal. Thanks to the water seal, the mash will not turn sour even a few weeks after the end of fermentation.
There are two other reasons why moonshine tastes sour. They are rare enough, but I will still mention them. First, if the distillate is taken almost to water, then a lot of organic acids will get into it. As mentioned, they are secreted by yeast during fermentation and have a high boiling point. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to stop the distillation in time, do not be greedy, because the so-called "tails" are not suitable for use. Secondly, the material from which the moonshine still is made can come into contact with alcohol and release acids as a result of reactions. To avoid this, it is necessary to use devices made of materials inert to alcohol. These are copper, stainless steel, glass, etc.
If, nevertheless, the mash is sour, then the degree of sourness must be estimated. If the bacteria have already processed all the alcohol, then the mash must be poured out, because there is no point in distilling it. In this case, the smell will be pungent, the taste is scalding sour, and the strength will not be felt. If everything is not so bad, then we suggest the following sequence of actions. Carry out the first distillation. Select the product to a strength of 45%. Now you need to determine the amount of alcohol. To do this, we need the total strength of the resulting moonshine and its volume. For example, one liter of 60% moonshine contains 0.6 liters of alcohol. Next, we need baking soda in an amount of 25 grams per liter of pure alcohol. The distillate must be diluted to 20%, add soda to it, mix and seal it. The resulting mixture should stand for at least 4 hours. After that, it is necessary to re-distill using fractional distillation.
Novice moonshiners often face the problem of souring the mash. Among colleagues in the "shop" there are legends about how to prevent this and even how to "revive" the product. I would like to dispel myths and give some useful tips:
How to determine that the mash is sour?
1. Sour taste and smell. But you need to take into account the light sour taste there is always. Its severity depends on the raw materials used for the preparation of alcoholic beverages. There is usually more acid in corn mash. The sugar is less.
2. Stop fermentation. The main criterion is the absence of carbon dioxide emission.
Why is vinegar instead of alcohol?
1. Contact of raw materials with oxygen or the absence of a water seal. If, while stirring the mash, you suddenly forgot to put a water seal, then at best the fermentation will slow down, and most likely the mash will turn sour. As this, you can use a simple medical glove pierced with a needle. It is not recommended to seal the composition with a lid. Since building up pressure is fraught with a small explosion. Once, at the beginning of my practice, tightly closed, the eggplant from under the mineral water swelled up strongly due to the accumulation of carbon dioxide. When I tried to open the lid, I heard a loud pop of gas, felt a strong jolt (or rather even a blow) of the lid in my hand, and almost all the liquid under the pressure of a fountain poured out of the 5-liter container.
2. Infection with lactic acid bacteria. Possibly when using dirty water or insufficiently clean dishes.
3. It's cold indoors. At temperatures below 24 ° C, fermentation often stops, yeast dies, and sourness begins.
Is it possible to stop the "work" of vinegar bacteria and start fermentation again?
In my practice, I have come across "valuable" advice, supposedly allowing you to restart fermentation. I even tried some of them. I did not notice the benefits. And it couldn't be. For alcohol will not work from vinegar. In any case, modern science does not know such methods, just as there are no known ways to make a raw egg from a boiled egg.
To improve the quality of the final product, and free the mash from acidic impurities, and they are always available in small quantities, you can use tetracycline antibiotics, as well as penicillin and nisin. In industrial production, mash protection products are necessarily used. There is no need to fear the presence of antibiotics in the distillate. This is completely out of the question.
It is not necessary to pour sour wash into the toilet. Usually, acidic fermentation does not begin on day 1, but somewhat later, when the intensity of alcohol decreases. The carbon dioxide barrier that prevents the liquid from contacting oxygen almost disappears, and the acetic bacteria begin to do their dirty work. The output is vinegar or alcohol mixed with vinegar. In the latter case, distillation is possible, but the quality of the distillate will be low.
If, as a result of fermentation, pure vinegar is obtained, i.e. the strength is not felt at all, it should not be poured either. Such a composition can be used for its intended purpose, for example, for marinating meat.
It so happens that the moonshine becomes sour. This is a problem most often faced by newcomers to home brewing, who do not take timely measures to prevent oxygen from entering the wash. But, as it turns out, there are other reasons why it might be.
Can mash, in general, be sour? If you check the taste of the mash obtained from any grain under normal conditions, you will notice that there is a bitter taste with the aroma of the raw materials and never gives off sour. This means that the souring of the mash is still a phenomenon that should not be under normal conditions. What to do to prevent this from happening?
Why does the mash turn sour?
You should choose quality products as raw materials. In addition, observe their ratio and carry out the processes described in the recipe as accurately as possible.
In addition to the fermentation of alcohol, other processes and reactions take place in the mash, which may not be related to home brewing. Bacteria and microorganisms live in raw materials, dishes or air. All of them are involved in reactions under certain conditions. Such reactions can cause sourness, odor, and fermentation cessation.
The main reasons why the mash turns sour:
Separately, it must be said about the infection with bacteria and fungi. Often, wild yeast is used instead of conventional yeast, or it gets into the wort from natural raw materials. The waste products of such yeast are alcohol compounds. But not all types of microorganisms are suitable for this. In some cases, mash can be infected with other pathogenic fungi, and it will be impossible to get a quality product. The concentration of harmful impurities in the mash will be too high, so much so that it will not make sense to distill it into moonshine.
Dimethyl sulphide may form if some other bacteria get in. In this case, the smell of corn is a sign of infection. It also happens that the smell of rotten eggs comes from the mash. In this case, a lot of hydrogen sulfide was formed. At the same time, acidity, oddly enough, can be within acceptable limits. But it is also not recommended because moonshine will have the same flavor.
Thus, sour mash can be not only of poor quality and give a small output, but also dangerous. Therefore, you need to know the signs that the mash is sour. This is usually indicated by the following:
Prevention is the correct selection of ingredients, the installation of a water seal of any design, the tightness of the fermentation tank and its neutrality. In addition, you can protect the mash with some drugs, for example, antibiotics:
Antibiotics are most often used in combination, because bacteria have the ability to develop resistance to any particular species. Therefore, more often than not, several are required. They are introduced before adding yeast, and if acid appears, then the procedure is repeated after 3-5 days.
How to fix sour moonshine?
One way is to add baking soda and chalk. The effectiveness of this method depends on how much acetic acid appears in the wash. If it has only a pungent smell, while the taste of alcohol is not felt at all, then the easiest way is to simply pour out the mash, because the yield of moonshine will be low. If alcohol is still present in the wash, you can try to save it. The technology looks like this:
There is another way to save the sour wash. When fermentation stops, add sugar in the amount of 2 tablespoons per liter of substance. After 2-3 hours, signs of fermentation appear. Alternatively, you can add a sourdough from fruits, berries or grains. If fermentation has not started, you can pour the rice at the rate of 0.5 cups per 10 liters of wort. After two days, the taste becomes normal.
To begin with, when cooking, do not forget that the grain does not contain sugar. It contains starch, which is a polysaccharide, therefore, in order for sugar to ferment into alcohol, it must be prepared - split.
For this, enzymes or malt are used. Malt contains natural enzymes. For cooking, its grain is germinated. If you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better to use ready-made malt or artificial enzymes. Because if the cooking technology is violated, the product may be spoiled.
Wild yeast does not require preparation, but it may not be sufficient if the grain is improperly processed. Artificial yeast is recommended for beginners. But they need preparation. To do this, dissolve a little sugar in warm water, then add the right amount of yeast in the right proportion. The yeast solution is infused for about an hour and a half. After the appearance of abundant foam, they are transferred to the wash.
When installing the mash for fermentation, it is necessary to remember about complete tightness and compliance with the temperature regime. It is also very important not to stir the mash, especially in order to speed up the process, as this can lead to souring. Depending on the feedstock, fermentation takes up to 2 weeks, followed by distillation.
Sour mash is considered an abnormal situation. This is not the norm. When the mash turns sour, it is necessary to try to save it or simply pour it out, but drinking, as well as distilling it in this form, is not worth it, although the very presence of acetic acid is not harmful. If the wash is sour due to other bacteria, that is, an infection has occurred, it is not recommended to use it further. Even if the mash was saved, you shouldn't drink it anyway, just distill it.
Sour moonshine is a problem that novice distillers often face when they put the mash without a water seal. If you take action in time, you can try to save the drink using available means. Separately, we will consider the reasons and measures for the prevention of souring mash. During fermentation, yeast produces organic acids, so do not panic ahead of time - there should be a slight acidity in the mash (the intensity depends on the raw material). The main thing is not to allow vinegar souring, which is easy to recognize by the characteristic signs indicated below. In turn, ready-made moonshine should not be sour, this indicates a violation of technology. Signs of sour mash: - a water seal is missing or incorrectly installed; -sudden cessation of fermentation; -sharp, "hitting the nose", vinegar smell; -burning sour taste, sometimes even reduces cheekbones. Why does the mash turn sour. It's all about acetic bacteria, which, when air enters the wash and a temperature of 6-45 ° C, begin to process the formed alcohol into acid and water. At the beginning of fermentation, carbon dioxide pushes oxygen out of the container, preventing souring. But when the intensity of fermentation drops, carbon dioxide becomes insufficient, as a result, oxygen freely contacts the surface. That is why the mash without a water seal turns sour only at the end or after the end of fermentation. Depending on the raw material and temperature, it takes 3-4 days to several weeks for complete souring. When the strength falls below 0.2%, the vinegar bacteria fall into suspended animation. But even a slight souring (less than 24 hours) is enough for the distillate to have a sour taste, which will have to be eliminated, and not always successfully. Prevention of sour moonshine. After filling in the ingredients and yeast, it is enough to install a water seal on the fermentation tank. Then it is imperative to check the tightness - blow inward through the outlet pipe; if installed correctly, the gas should not leave the container. The water seal releases carbon dioxide, relieving excess pressure, but prevents oxygen from entering the tank. Thanks to this, the mash does not sour even a couple of weeks after the fermentation has completely stopped. In the first case, the moonshine contains many organic acids released during the fermentation process, which have a high boiling point (more typical for grain or fruit mash). In the second, the material is in contact with alcohol, as a result of these chemical reactions, various acids can appear. Prevention - do not be greedy, finishing the distillation on time, and choose moonshine stills (including containers and connecting tubes) from materials inert to alcohol: copper, stainless steel, glass, etc. How to fix sour moonshine. The effectiveness of the proposed method depends on the degree of souring of the mash. If there is too much acetic acid (a pungent smell, a burning taste and strength is not felt), it is easier to pour out the mash, since the yield of moonshine will be minimal - the bacteria processed almost all of the alcohol into acid and water. In other cases, you can try to improve the taste, but you will definitely need a second distillation. Acid quenching technology: 1. Distill the mash for the first time, finish sampling when the strength in the jet falls below 45%. Measure the total strength of the moonshine, determine the amount of pure alcohol. For example, 2 liters of 55% contains 1.1 liters of pure alcohol (2 * 0.55 \u003d 1.1). 2. Dilute the distillate with water to 20%. 3. Add baking soda or chalk to the moonshine at the rate of 25 grams of substance per 1 liter of pure alcohol. 3. Stir. Close hermetically. Leave on for at least 3-4 hours. 4. Re-overtake. During distillation, collect the first 15% of the yield from the amount of pure alcohol separately, pour out or use for technical needs. Finish the selection of the product when the yield falls below 45%. 5. Dilute the moonshine with water to the desired strength, seal it tightly and leave for 3 days to stabilize the taste.
