What is better moonshine or vodka? What is better and what is more harmful: vodka or moonshine

Imagine this situation: You come to visit. The hosts have a lot of treats on the table and, of course, alcohol. You prefer stronger alcohol. And then they ask you: “What are you going to drink? Maybe vodka? Or maybe try "homemade"? Which drink would you choose? And what arguments are you willing to justify this choice. Don't work hard. We will give you a whole arsenal in your hands, which will help you decide much faster.

Who is who

Moonshine. This strong alcoholic drink, which is obtained as a result of sublimation, or in other words - distillation. A pre-prepared mash is placed in the container. She's heating up. Alcohol, which evaporates from the semi-finished product faster than water, cools in a special coil and gradually collects in the form of condensate in a container. This is in short. The process of making good moonshine is troublesome. We'll talk about this in more detail below.

Vodka. In fact, it is a water-alcohol solution. Alcohol is obtained through the so-called rectification in distillation columns as a result of the separation of binary and multicomponent mixtures due to countercurrent mass and heat exchange between vapor and liquid. And there are many dangers here.

Debunking the Myths

Contrary to popular belief that moonshine is a real poison, that there is so much fuselage in it that there is not enough health, home-made alcohol is often much safer, and - no matter how strange it sounds - more useful than any, even the most expensive vodka. The main thing is to properly prepare and clean it. Ask the owner how many times he distilled the drink. Good moonshine is distilled at least twice. Don't let the smell fool you. It doesn't smell like "sivukha" at all. A pungent smell indicates that the owners did not add any flavors to the mash.

Now about vodka. Modern science makes it possible to obtain its main component, alcohol - for vodka not only from grain, but also from potatoes, sawdust and even oil and ... manure! Moreover, not a single chemical laboratory will subsequently establish what exactly it was made of. This is achieved through multi-stage purification from fusel oils. It comes to the fact that their number in vodka can tend to zero. Meanwhile, science has long proven that everything absolutely clean is extremely harmful for the human body. It's a paradox, but even 100% purified water can be a real poison. What to say about ethanol. For comparison: there are 500 times more fusel oils in whiskey than in vodka. Impurities inhibit the oxidation of alcohol in the body. Based on all of the above, scientists call vodka almost the most junk drink in a row of any other strong alcohol.

There is only one indisputable plus from the choice of vodka: it is easier to purchase. Moonshine has to be obtained “by acquaintance”. Although there is nothing difficult in making it yourself.

Universal Recipe

The notorious hero of the work of Ilf and Petrov, Ostap Bender, knew at least two hundred ways to make moonshine, caressing the ears of curious bootleggers with the word “pervach”, which is unusual for a foreigner. The great strategist even claimed to have the secret of making moonshine from a stool. However, you can do without frills.

To prepare 6 liters of moonshine, we need:

• 5 kg of sugar;
• 500 g of yeast;
• 25 liters of water (never boiled!)

Stage 1. We prepare the wort for the mash. We need a container: wooden or enameled. The most common is a forty-liter milk can. We fill it with raw water, pour sugar, add yeast, previously dissolved in a small amount of warm water. The wort should ferment at a temperature of 20–30°C. In the villages, the container was placed near the stove. A battery is also suitable in the apartment. The mash will be infused for 10 days. Readiness can be judged by taste. Braga must be bitter. If it is sweet, you need to leave more. You can also assess the degree of readiness of the semi-finished product with a match. Light a match and bring it to the container. If the fire goes out, the fermentation process with the release of carbon dioxide continues. If the match burns, the mash is ready.

Stage 2. Carefully, without shaking, pour the mash into the distillation apparatus. Its design with a diagram and description can be easily found on the Internet. Basic principle: mash should fill no more than 70% of the volume of the apparatus. During the distillation process, it is important to strictly observe the temperature regime. Do not overheat, otherwise foam and turbidity will get into the final product during the boiling process. The race itself should not be fast. Experts recommend taking no more than 3 liters of product per hour. Pervach - the first batch of condensed moonshine. It is much more harmful than the product that will turn out a little later. It is recommended to use it exclusively for technical purposes.

Stage 3. He's the final one. Purification and aromatization of moonshine. The most proven method of purification is repeated distillation. To do this, the resulting moonshine (6 liters) is diluted with the same amount of filtered water and re-distilled.

Total

The taste characteristics of vodka, as well as the degree of its effect on the body, have long been experienced by most citizens. Moonshine is the popular favorite "little white", at least, no more harmful. Not to mention that the use of moonshine is much more profitable for the wallet. The cost of a liter of "homemade" is about 50 rubles. While the cheapest vodka costs at least 350 rubles in the store for the same volume. These are the facts. Based on them, everyone has the right to determine for himself which of the above drinks is better to give preference. The discrepancies are obvious: both in price and in the degree of influence on the body. The choice is an individual matter.

You can buy a high-quality and not expensive moonshine still.

And finally

No matter how trite it may sound, it is better not to abuse either vodka or moonshine. AT large quantities any, even the most "useful" product is unlikely to benefit the body. Especially when it comes to alcohol. The standard dose recommended by the World Health Organization is 50 grams of hard alcohol per day for a healthy adult male. But if you still had a chance to "sort out", there are several simple but reliable ways to remove intoxication:

1. Drink with a hangover Activated carbon. It will help to quickly remove toxins.
2. Drink more water. Preferably with lemon juice. Citrus fruits help restore calcium and blood glucose levels.
3. Load up on salt. Pickle has always been a great hangover cure. Pickled sauerkraut brine is best suited for these purposes.

Doctors will say that both are harmful to health.

But, probably, preference should be given to high-quality vodka. Premium vodka. Naturally, without abuse ...

Self-made "hot drink" will never be free from harmful impurities.

★★★★★★★★★★

I will express my personal opinion on this issue.

If we talk about moderate consumption of strong alcohol, then I would prefer home-made moonshine double haul. I'll explain why. The quality of vodka or moonshine is not least determined by the amount of so-called fusel oils in it. The more of them, the more the head hurts in the morning and the more crushing the blow to the liver and other organs. With home-brewing, the first product obtained is distilled again. Its strength increases to 60-70 degrees, and the amount of fusel oils and other impurities is reduced. Ideally, if the brew for moonshine was prepared from spring or well water.

When buying vodka in a store, even a premium segment product, there is always a risk of buying “singed” vodka.

★★★★★★★★★★

What is more harmful to health, vodka or moonshine?

The question is difficult.
Theoretically, moonshine is useful ... No, not more useful, of course, but at least less harmful. However, it all depends on the manufacturer and technology.

The fact that the market is full of low-quality vodka (not even "singed", but simply made from not very good water and even less high-quality alcohol), probably everyone knows. But high-purity water and high-quality alcohol do not make vodka more useful. The fact is that the vast majority of alcohol used to make even the highest quality vodkas is synthetic origin, that is, pure chemistry, and this is not at all useful for the human body. Normal alcohols natural origin rarely used in vodka. In essence, modern vodka is a simple 40% aqueous solution of synthetic ethyl alcohol, which they began to call vodka relatively recently.

Moonshine, which was previously called smoke wine and which just gave rise to the glory of Russian vodka, unlike factory vodka, is made from natural products fermentation by distillation, and in it, at any degree of purification, remain natural substances, making the drink not only bitter and smelly, but also softer than vodka. It is not for nothing that most manufacturers of strong alcoholic beverages, such as whiskey, gin, cognac, and so on, try to use just such (on an industrial scale, of course) method of preparing alcohol for their intoxicants. Well, the taste ... You know ... True, and the price is appropriate ...

Well, and, of course, it is better not to use purchased moonshine at all - who knows what it was made of, what it was insisted on and how it was cleaned (and whether it was cleaned at all) from the inevitable fusel oils. You can get drunk easier than vodka ...

Vodka and moonshine are perhaps the most popular alcoholic drinks among the Slavic peoples. There is always a dispute between fans of intoxicants about what is more harmful: vodka or moonshine, what is actually better to use, which of these drinks is cleaner, safer, what are the pros and cons they hide in themselves? First you need to figure out what is the fundamental difference between the centuries created moonshine and produced industrial way vodka. The number of lovers and admirers of both one and the other strong drink is quite a lot.

Raw material

Vodka is made from rectified raw materials, carefully purified in an industrial environment. However, from what feedstock the rectified alcohol is made, remains the secret of the manufacturer. But most likely alcohol is obtained from the cheapest materials, otherwise the cost of producing vodka will be much higher than the income from its sale. Modern vodka is a product high technology. It is clear as a tear, does not freeze, and is easy to drink. However, it is not known from what it is made. In theory, it should be made from grain alcohol. But is it really so? Modern technologies make it possible to produce alcohol from refined products, sawdust, moss, and at the same time, what is most interesting, such alcohol cannot be distinguished by taste. Even standard laboratory studies do not reveal the difference between grain, hydrolytic (sawdust), synthetic vodka.

As for moonshine, everything is more clear here. It is produced from various environmentally friendly products: yeast, sugar, wheat, rye, corn and so on. If the product is produced for own consumption, then the moonshiner never saves on the quality of the initial products, observes all stages of the fermentation and distillation process, as well as the subsequent purification and infusion of moonshine on a wide variety of useful products, such as herbs, fruits, citrus fruits, oak chips. The result is first-class alcohol that cannot be compared with store-bought vodka. Of course, we are not talking about singed moonshine, which is prepared for sale by various unfortunate moonshiners. They seek to cash in on this business, so their source material, of course, is of the worst quality, and it is unlikely that they follow the entire technology of making a drink. Such a stick can be poisonous.

Are fusel oils so harmful?

A controversial issue is the presence of fusel oils in moonshine. Fusel oils are a mixture of higher alcohols (isoamyl, isopropyl). In appearance, fusel oils are an oily liquid that has a reddish or yellowish tint with an unpleasant odor. As part of such substances, amyl alcohols are dangerous, which can poison the body very seriously. In the manufacture of artisanal moonshine, a small percentage of this fusel still remains. However, if home-made moonshine is cleaned with a carbon filter, potassium permanganate, and other means, and separation into fractions is carried out during distillation, then as a result, only residual effects will remain from fusel oils. They will not be enough to harm health very seriously.

On the contrary, a small admixture of various fusel oils inhibits the oxidation of alcohol to acetaldehyde, so it does not affect the liver and other organs so much. This has been proven by a number of studies. It is acetaldehyde that has the most pernicious influence which causes poisoning. Sivukha slows down the oxidation process, and the harmful effects of alcohol appear more slowly. However, an excess of fusel oils is also harmful. With the constant use of moonshine, toxic substances hit all human organs. First of all, the heart, nervous system, kidneys, liver suffer.

As for vodka, here one should only rely on the conscientiousness of the manufacturer. Vodka is produced industrially, therefore, it should be purified more efficiently, that is, it should not contain any fusel oils and other harmful impurities at all. In industrial production, all fusel oils are completely removed from alcoholic beverages by means of rectification. But therein lies the trick. Vodka is a pure solution of ethanol with water, and it has a very sharp effect on the body, because of which it simply cannot resist such an attack, intoxication occurs faster.

Some historical information

Vodka in its distant past was also the most common moonshine, which was prepared from bread or grain mash, distilled through the very first primitive distillers. Vodka at that time was called a chemical substance, which was qualified as a poison that causes poisoning, leading to death. The transformation of vodka into national pride happened, as it usually does, because of money. Since most of the population began to use home-brewed moonshine, and the production product was not popular, a marketing ploy was made.

Information was published that homemade moonshine is very harmful, since it contains a lot of harmful impurities. But alcohol of industrial production does not contain even a hundredth of the toxic substances that are in the home product. However, it was not mentioned that the purer the vodka, the faster the poisoning by the decay products of alcohol will occur. Vodka breaks down to acetaldehyde, which is the culprit of poisoning. And the cleaner it is, the faster the decay process will occur, which means that the load on the body will be enormous and it simply cannot cope with so many toxic substances. Therefore, after vodka, a person is tormented by a hangover. A small admixture of fusel oils, which is present in moonshine, slows down oxidation and therefore the body does not experience a shock from poisoning.

Economic component

Comparing vodka and moonshine, one should mention such a thing as cost. Accepted to buy expensive vodka. It is believed that it is much better, cleaner, better quality. But all the same, all industrial vodka is made from rectified alcohol, which in itself is not very expensive. So, when buying expensive vodka, people simply overpay for the elegant design of the bottle, label, but not for the quality of the product itself. Moonshine is made independently, all products are natural and the technology of the process can be fully controlled, so you can be sure of the quality of the final product. If there is a distrust of distillation, then it is worth remembering that such elite drinks as cognac, brandy, whiskey, they are all produced by distillation. Therefore, what is better to drink, moonshine or vodka, each person decides for himself.

Although, when prices for vodka are constantly rising, people begin to think about creating their own house drink. Sometimes not only the economic situation affects the choice of alcohol. After all, if you catch up with a lot of moonshine, you can not only replace vodka with it, but also create yourself a whole bar of various alcoholic beverages, insisting moonshine on a wide variety of herbs, fruits, peppers, coffee and other components, so it makes no sense to buy various dubious tinctures in stores.

What is still better: moonshine or store-bought vodka?

Most people who drink vodka and moonshine most often lean in favor of the latter drink. With moderate use of homemade moonshine, there is no hangover in the morning. If vodka is consumed in the same amount, then you just want to lie down and fall asleep, and in the morning all the symptoms of a hangover can be observed: dry mouth, headache, general weakness of the body. Homemade moonshine is made from natural products, with various additives that give it unique taste. Naturally, if we are talking about moonshine, prepared just for yourself. Moonshine goes through several stages of preparation: preparation of fermentation wort, fermentation, distillation, purification, infusion of moonshine. All of these steps are required. Real moonshine is drunk softly, and vodka tastes like dead alcohol or even solvent. Moonshine is produced by distillation, and vodka is produced by diluting pre-purified alcohol.

Siberians say that good and high-quality moonshine hits the legs, and vodka hits the head. That is, if you use good moonshine, then your head remains light, even when your legs may no longer obey. Vodka, on the contrary, clouds the brain, while the legs remain in order. Well, with brain fog, more than one crime is committed. There is a difference in taste between vodka and moonshine. So even if you insist vodka on a variety of ingredients, it will still be quite difficult to get rid of the characteristic taste and smell of ethyl alcohol. Moonshine, on the other hand, can initially be prepared from high-quality raw materials, which will not give an unpleasant aftertaste. And if you also carry out a double distillation, then no extraneous aftertaste will be felt at all. Infusion on various components will turn homemade moonshine into a wonderful drink with a touch of exotic spices or cognac.

Thus, that it is better to drink moonshine or vodka, there is no consensus among drink lovers. Those who drink vodka will always find something to object to fans of homemade distillate called moonshine.

Without which not a single holiday, not a single feast can do in Russia? Naturally, without alcohol. And of all the variety of alcoholic beverages, vodka is the most “national” one. However, now almost everyone runs the risk of discovering an incomprehensible liquid dangerous to health in the coveted bottle. Is it possible to protect yourself from such troubles. Yes! And this is moonshine! Good moonshine is much better than the most expensive vodka sold in the store.

History of moonshine

The love for nature in a person is laid, as you know, from his very birth. Every day, learning more and more about the world around us, our ancestors strove to prolong their lives in it as long as possible and enjoy all the delights provided by this world.

Even in ancient times, people began to produce food preparations, including a variety of drinks that were made from the juices of fruits and berries.

Having a sufficiently large number of children in his house, the owner tried to prepare as many products as possible for the family. But over time, the drinks stored in a secluded place were fermented and destroyed in order to avoid possible poisoning.

Subsequently, a person learned to understand a lot about a product “spoiled” by time and make new drinks. But the wine of that time did not contain such an alcohol strength as today's, and was equated with drinks decorating the table for eminent guests or family holidays.

But in the world there is one, very fabulous and different from all other legends about the origin of the "foggy" drink, which often makes people smile when they learn about it for the first time.A long time ago, in a country unknown to anyone until now, a terrible heat came. Juicy soft grasses dried up before our eyes, and animals and birds, who had previously lived in peace and harmony, began to kill each other in order to quench their thirst with the blood of their “brother”. And because of this natural disaster, the quickly ripening fruits of trees and shrubs fell into pits and ravines formed on the once fertile land.Gradually rotting, they turned into a fetid mess and dried up. But one day the north wind drove black liquid clouds into this country, and torrential monsoon rains did not take long to wait. Pits and ravines instantly filled with water, and when the rains passed, the humus of fruits and berries began to enter into a natural chemical reaction with moisture sludge.The thirsty hunter, who had taken refuge in the cave for the entire time of the rains, finally decided to come out of his hiding place and enjoy the juice of the newly appeared fruits. But, passing by one of the puddles that had already fermented, he heard a pleasant smell of wine and, greedily pressing his lips to the settled clean drink, received great pleasure from its taste. Thus, they say, the era of the birth of a unique and eventually respected by all people began. a drink simply called "wine".

In Russia, wine has always been valued and, often consuming it in large quantities, many have tried to find all sorts of ways to strengthen it. Gradually, simple winemaking was replaced by technological production moonshine.
Distilling the low-alcohol-containing mash (compared to the resulting result), the distillers spared no time and production raw materials to achieve the only goal: to get a strong drink of the highest quality. That is why the “good potion” produced on Russian soil began to differ sharply from foreign drinks.

Great king of the Russian land Peter I at one time he even issued a decree in which a demand was put forward for the captains of Russian ships going on a long voyage, so that on the territories of foreign states sailors “were not allowed to consume overseas wines instead of bitter Russian, so as not to cloud their bright heads with a demonic drink, from which, apart from diseases and dope, nothing to expect ... "

And here is the prince Orlov, who once glorified himself as an "amorous adorer of the fair sex", often liked to repeat to his friends that "transparent and strong-smelling moonshine, like an angel of love affairs" always helped him in intimate relationships with women: "... I will overturn three stacks, and desires - on A whole quarter is out! Yes, and in my head the thoughts are all clear: I absolutely understand what my lady longs for ... even without words! .. "

But with the advent of Soviet power, the numerous methods of making moonshine that had existed since the 15th century gradually began to be eradicated: the ban on its production unleashed the hands of many false masters who did not understand anything about the real thing and at the same time undeservedly “appropriated” the good ancient Russian drink the nationwide glory of muddy and bad smelling tincture.

Recently, however, manufacturers of high-quality products have begun to appear in our country again, raising all Russian moonshining from the “basics”. With the help of their advice, many novice "distillers" will be able not only to avoid possible poisoning resulting from improper observance of the technological process of making a drink, but also to save a lot of raw materials necessary for the production.
To do this, you need to take a closer look at all the material contained in this book and, above all, try to remember one wise rule that our ancestors used in the old days: “Better, yes better!”

Ways to make moonshine

Many people sometimes do not even realize that a product of a cloudy color and a far from pleasant smell purchased from moonshine manufacturers is nothing more than the result of their irresponsible attitude to the strict technological process for the production of a high-quality and “true” drink.

Experienced distillers claim that moonshine can be made from almost everything, but the quality and quantity of the product obtained in the manufacturing process largely depends on the production raw materials used.
Usually, products that contain starch and sugar are used for this, and the “founder” of a strong drink is mash.

Consider the general principle of making moonshine, which includes the selection and preparation of a raw product, fermentation, distillation of “ripened” mash, purification of moonshine and methods for separating fusel oils, as well as giving the drink various taste, aroma and color qualities.

Starch-containing, mainly include: potatoes and grain (cereal) crops. Of the latter, subject to all technological requirements for the manufacture of moonshine, a product of the highest quality is obtained.

The manufacturing technology of industrial raw materials from starch containing a high alcohol-derivative value is very simple.
It must be separated from the cells of the main product by evaporation: when the temperature rises, the starch grains begin to absorb the water in the total mass in large quantities, then they gelatinize and, swelling, turn into a soluble substance. In this state, they are easy to saccharify for the further fermentation process.

talking plain language, an ordinary potato is taken and boiled in water, but before that it must be thoroughly washed and grated. After a 2-hour "bath", the resulting mass must be cooled to 60 degrees and saccharified. The starch mass extracted from the dough of cereals and cereals is subjected to the same process of saccharification.
Moonshine made and additionally peeled from potatoes has a pleasant taste, but if it is possible to use flour or grain for the production of a drink, then it is best to use these products.

The basic chemicals in flour and grains are generally identical. But in relation to grain, preference remains for flour, because its quantitative ratio of sugar and starch is somewhat higher.
Wheat flour, although it differs from rye flour in the absence of soluble nitrogen-nutrient proteins, is a benign raw material that ennobles the final product.
The gluten formed as a result of the swelling of insoluble wheat flour proteins contributes to the fact that the mash becomes too thick. To avoid this, it is necessary to wash the dough with water using a sieve, separating the gluten from the starch, which, in turn, will be washed with water into a substituted basin and will be ready for saccharification.

Starch saccharification is the formation of sugar, for the process of which it is necessary to carry out the following operations: dilute the resulting starch with water and stir until starch milk is formed; then gradually add this homogeneous mass to boiling water prepared in advance in a saucepan (or basin) on the stove and stir slowly, removing the gelatinous clots that form over time; after that, the pan with the contents of the solution is placed under the stream cold water or placed in an additional vessel (kitchen sink) with ice, cooling starched milk to 60 degrees. In this case, it must be taken into account that it is not the solution itself that is cooled, but the dishes in which it is contained.

The final operation of starch saccharification will be the addition of the necessary component - malt milk - to the starch solution. But before that, it must be “brought out” of the grain, which must necessarily be germinated under the following certain conditions.

First you need to sort the grain and soak it.
The grain is sorted by sifting it through a sieve, after which the grain is washed several times under hot water. Then warm water is poured into an enameled basin (or a wooden tub) by half the volume of the dishes, and grains are placed in small portions for soaking. After some time (6–8 hours), the “bad grain” will float along with the debris, and it must be removed and the dirty water replaced.
This operation is performed several times until the grain husk separates from the pulp, and the grain itself “hardens”. Only after that, the water is drained from the dishes and the washed grain is prepared for germination.

For each type of grain crops, there are certain and different periods of germination: for wheat and oats - at least a week, for rye and millet - at least 5 days, for barley - at least 10 days. The average storage temperature of grain during germination is plus 18 degrees.

The method of germinating grain crops is quite simple: an ordinary sheet moistened with water is taken and grain is scattered into it (on one half). The other half of the sheet is covered from above.
After some time (4-6 hours), the grain is carefully transferred to a clean baking sheet or board for temporary ventilation, and the sheet is moistened again and the above process is carried out until the length of the grain sprouts reaches 5 mm and the grains lose their floury flavor.
After that, the resulting malt must be dried after its short-term sludge (in a day) at a temperature not exceeding 40 degrees. The "readiness" of malt can be determined by rubbing it in your hands: grain roots are easily separated.
Then the malt is experimentally separated from the roots, sieved through a sieve and stored for about a week at home in a closed container. Then they make malt milk out of it.
In the process of making malted milk, experienced distillers use a mixture of several varieties of grain crops: rye, barley and millet (respectively proportional ratio to each other 1: 2: 1). Mixed malt is thoroughly mixed and poured with hot water, after which it is settled and after 10–15 minutes the water is drained.
The malt "porridge" is pounded in a mortar (or ground in an ordinary coffee grinder), and then to? volume of the resulting homogeneous mass, again add water with a temperature of at least 50 degrees and mix with a mixer until milk is formed.
After all the operations performed and as a result of the subsequent addition of malt milk to the starch solution, the resulting mass must be mixed and left for some time (2-3 hours), during which the starch will be completely saccharified and will be ready for use in the production of mash.

If the process of making mash from starch-containing raw materials seems laborious, then you can use more simple ways by using raw materials from other products.

Sugar-containing raw materials are mainly made from apples, grapes, various berries and other crops, the chemical composition of which includes a large amount of sugar. However, the acids that suppress the activity of yeast, contained in the juice of "sugar" fruits, must be neutralized by boiling and adding chalk or baking soda to them (30 g per 1 liter of juice).
Then the juice must be filtered, cooled and yeast added in accordance with the selected variety and type of culture used.

Before you put the mash - the basis of the future moonshine, you need to do one more, no less important work. All products collected for the production of an alcohol-containing drink must be carefully examined and the most “elite” ones selected, which subsequently will not spoil the taste, color and smell of moonshine.

So, the preparation and processing of raw materials - the first stage in the manufacture of moonshine, for example, has already been completed. The next thing to be done is the most important part of the technological process, which requires patience and special attention from the distiller: the production of mash.

Fermentation is a kind of process in which all the sugar contained in the original product is converted into a mixture of ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide and water with various acids and fusel oils formed over time in their composition.

In order for the raw material for the manufacture of moonshine to turn out to be “high-quality”, it is necessary to create certain conditions for this: to monitor its constituent mass in a timely manner, mix it depending on the accuracy and settling time, maintain a constant temperature and observe the ongoing chemical reaction.

All the components necessary for the manufacture of moonshine are a common association of chemical elements in proportional order: yeast, water and sugar (0.1: 3: 1).

The rate of fermentation of the raw product depends on the formation of alcohol concentrated in it at an average temperature of plus 20–25 degrees.

The necessary natural components added to the mash - yeast - at low or high temperatures lose the property of producing alcohol. Therefore, without wasting time, you need to either change the storage location of the mash by moving it to a warmer place, preheating the container in which it is contained to the specified temperature, or drain the upper part of the mash composition formed from the hot climate and add some fresh fungi (yeast ).

Instead of regular yeast you can use a simple tomato paste, the amount of which should be 3 times more than yeast.

In addition to ordinary yeast, which, in the process of fermentation of aggregate liquids, produce alcohol, there are some " wild yeast».
They are a certain component of some fruits and berries. It is very good to make a sourdough out of them - there are less costs for breeding yeast. And getting them is very easy.

Take ripe and pay special attention! unwashed berries are kneaded with a crush in a mortar and then determined in a glass bottle or a narrow jar, which must be tightly closed.
After a 3-hour settling, the contents of the glassware are “improved”: granulated sugar is placed in the berry porridge, and after mixing, water is poured into the resulting mass. The corresponding proportional relationship between these products will be: 4 cups of crushed berries, 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water.
Then the resulting mixture is stirred, poured back into the bottle and placed on sediment in a warm place at a temperature of plus 20–25 degrees for three days.
After the specified time, the mixture is intensively shaken and the contents of the berry juice are filtered using gauze or a narrow mesh, which will then be used as yeast additives in the manufacture of mash.

When using “wild” yeast, it is recommended to leave the sourdough for no more than one and a half weeks, at the rate of 150 g of juice per 5 liters of mash.

It should only be taken into account that the so-called "natural" or "wild" yeast contains a large amount of harmful impurities. Therefore, the resulting moonshine from starch-containing raw materials is very different in its high quality from another, made on the basis of fermentation of juices of berries and fruits.

The slow fermentation process directly depends on the insufficient presence of sugar in the prepared raw materials. But if the amount of sugar in it exceeds the permissible norm, then the loss of the product will increase due to the fact that only a certain part of it was involved in the reaction.

Therefore, it is necessary to constantly monitor with the help of a hydrometer and special tables (depending on the modification of the measuring device) the degree level of fermentation of raw materials - it should not exceed 13 degrees.

It is also necessary to pay special attention to the containers and containers where the mash will be stored. For wort fermentation, it is better not to use high glass vessels, and for all other types of mash - copper and iron containers. Usually they use wooden barrels (tubs) or enamelware. Clay pots work well for this.

For the production of a waste product, it is best to use drinking water that has settled for 3-5 days (not boiled), you can use well or spring water, but without impurities a large number salts of calcium and magnesium. It is recommended that after the water settles, it is additionally “driven” through filters made of activated carbon. This will significantly affect the quality of the manufactured product.

So, let's assume that we put potato mash: take 7 kg of potatoes, 10 liters of water, 200 g of malt mixture, 150 g of yeast and 350 g of sugar. After the operations above, the entire total mass of these components is placed in a barrel or flask, covered with gauze or clean cloth and infused for two weeks.
During settling, the mash must be mixed, shaken and the scale that appears on its surface in the form of bubbles is removed. When using a washing machine or a clean concrete mixer instead of a flask or barrel for a sludge storage of mash, the fermentation process is significantly reduced in time - such express methods are often used in practice.
In general, the whole fermentation process can be divided into several stages in order to better understand how it happens.
As already known, yeast is a microscopic organism, which is a kind of fungus, which, like any other organic substance, develops over time in the most favorable environment for it.
Subject to the temperature regime and certain conditions, mash is a special place for its life: in the initial stage of fermentation of raw materials prepared for the subsequent production of moonshine, yeast begins to multiply.
The carbon dioxide released by its smaller part on the surface of the common wash solution gradually begins to contribute to a slight increase in temperature in it, which leads to a significant increase in the yeast "army" by 5 times! This stage of fermentation, despite the fact that it lasts a little more than a day on average, is commonly called "light" or "initial".
Then there is a subsequent stage of "main" or "main" fermentation. The time of its duration is slightly shorter than the first one, but during this period the “main” events take place in the mash environment: the yeast that has launched its “violent activity” reduces the number of its reproduction and begins to intensively extract alcohol from the sugar contained in the mash.
As a result of their “work”, the temperature of the mash rises even higher, carbon dioxide begins to be released more intensively, reducing the amount of sugar, and a significant amount of bubble foam forms on the surface under the gauze.
If fermentation is very active, and due to the formation of a large amount of foam, its natural splash from the beer vessel occurs, then it is best to resort to the following method of “extinguishing activation”, which will slow down the wrong and accelerated process: a small amount (up to 50 g ) butter (can be vegetable) butter or milk, or they find a colder corner for the waste container and put it there for two days, then return it back.
After 14 hours, the decomposition of sugar in Braga is almost complete. Then it's time for the final stage of the whole fermentation process, which is called "fermentation". The time of its action sometimes reaches 4-5 days, depending on the product initially chosen for the mash.
After the foamy bubble discharges on the surface of the mash have stopped, we can assume that the mash is completely “ready” for the further process - distillation. The taste of the final fermented raw product is slightly bitter, and the smell is not as sharp as in the initial stage.

There is another, quite effective way to check the readiness of home brew for use in the production of moonshine: next to the container containing the raw product, light a match and carefully observe its flame. If the match burns intermittently and eventually goes out, then the mash has not yet “approached”, and a constant bright flame indicates that the product has “ripened” completely.
But this can also be determined empirically: about 200 ml of mash is taken into a measuring flask. After gauze (or the like) filtration, the brew composition is poured into a glass or small bottle and measured with a hydrometer. Its indicator should not exceed 1% of the residual concentration of sugar.

An incorrect definition of the "ripening" of the mash leads to the fact that the quality and quantity of moonshine is significantly reduced during its own distillation. Therefore, in the production process of the main raw material, you need to be especially careful.

I would like to warn fans of "hot" drinks that the use of a brew product in a "raw" form leads to serious consequences due to the harmful substances.
The fact is that during the reaction release of ethyl alcohol (at the time of fermentation of the main raw material), additional chemical elements are “born”: acetaldehyde, ethanol, methane and other substances, the use of which, together with the raw prepared product, can cause serious poisoning of the human body. body, often leading to death.
For this reason, novice distillers should be extremely careful when producing moonshine, if possible using cotton-gauze bandages or respirators as a means of protection, and you should not keep pets and birds near your “working” place.

The use of moonshine

Per festive table
Other times, other customs. This is what the ancients said, and this idea, passing from the historical heritage into our everyday life, has found a worthy confirmation here. Times are different, and not necessarily bad. An example of this is the attitude towards many forbidden, but at the same time successfully existing things, albeit in an ugly form.

This also applies to moonshining and moonshine consumption, a phenomenon widespread among the people. Indeed, quite recently it was - well, it’s impossible (although no one could really explain - why?), But now you can. Why it is possible is easy to explain. Just because you want to, and there is no harm from it. Well, fine.

There are no nuances here. They will say to us: “Excuse me, but what about the state monopoly on the sale of alcohol?” No, excuse yourself: we are talking about moonshine as a drink for our own use, and not for sale. This must be delimited.
Again a voice is heard: "They will prepare any potion, they themselves will be poisoned, and everyone who will be treated, too." Again, it is necessary to distinguish: a low-quality product is determined not by the personality of the manufacturer, but by the observance of this personality by the correct technology of home brewing. And for this, apart from knowledge and skill, nothing is needed. The knowledge we provide to you in this book. Skill will come with the precise use of this knowledge.

Our Slavic ancestors were preparing alcohol with might and main already in the Middle Ages, putting its production on the “stream”. Let us recall once again that already by the 11th century in the Kremlin there were: the Small Sovereign, the Small Boyarsky and the Small Camping Cellars, where craftsmen made a variety of mead, vodka, beer and kvass. And, what is important for us, this product, manufactured without using the knowledge that modern science provides, was of excellent quality.

Not without reason, the notorious Adam Olearius, who visited Muscovy, tried 22 drinks (this is only according to official data) and declared competently: "One is better than the other." And the nobles of the last century did consider it a duty of honor to have a “branded” moonshine on their estate, which they regaled their neighbors with. All kinds of tinctures were an indispensable attribute of dinner parties and dinners and were the pride of their owners.

A well-known picture for the reader of Russian literature: the master goes hunting with his neighbors - small estate nobles. They sat on their horses, blew their horns and rushed off: in front of a pack of greyhounds, behind their backs servants, wives and small children saw off, waving handkerchiefs. They torture the hare, trample the fields, drive the horses - and soaked through, tired, but satisfied - back to the estate, where the table is already ready.
They sat down, began to discuss hunting (what is right, what is wrong), and eat at the same time. At the same time, they will not forget about moonshine tincture. The owner is not overjoyed - the guests like his treat, but how could it be otherwise? He tried, he drove the peasants, he himself checked it repeatedly - he knows that he will not treat the guests with a gourd, but with a high-quality product, although the phrases are such “ high quality product does not know and cannot know.
On the contrary, information about moonshine poisoning is difficult to leak from historical sources, and this is no accident. Well, who, please tell me, will poison himself? Therefore, we say to the gentleman who is critical of home-brewed moonshine: there is no need to draw hasty conclusions. Themselves, I suppose, do not mind.
Before talking about the use of moonshine, it will not be superfluous to remember what it is.

What, real moonshine? This is a transparent, colorless, strong alcoholic drink obtained by distillation from a variety of raw materials, following the correct preparation technology, with a strength of 40% of the alcohol contained in it and above.

Moonshine is not real - a cloudy liquid that has a heavy, unpleasant (fusel) smell. Its use is harmful and dangerous to health, and, at a minimum, is associated with a state of severe hangover the next morning. This is at least. The maximum could be death.
We do not need such moonshine. Let's go back to the first one, the real one, and focus on it. Again a voice is heard, already tortured: “But why do you need it, this moonshine? Look, how much vodka is around, and very good one at that.” We believe you and completely agree. But let me say that good self-made moonshine is no worse than good vodka and does not cause doubts that arise in you at the moment when you buy wine and vodka products: what if there is water there? Or something else worse? No, high-quality home-made moonshine will not cause such doubts. Everything is natural here.

Now we will consider the topic the use of moonshine as an intoxicating drink for pleasure.

Any strong drink requires a certain attitude, mainly care when drinking. Moonshine is no exception, on the contrary, it is in first place in terms of its ability to bring the drinker into an abnormal state. An exception for the most sophisticated is medical alcohol, undiluted. However, you should be aware that this product It is not intended for internal use and can only be used for medicinal purposes. Those who do not recognize this fact expose themselves to serious danger.The medical staff of the lowest level of the hierarchy - orderlies, may not agree with us, but this is their business. In the end, if something happens - they work in the hospital, help is nearby. But we do not recommend them. At least dilute it.

So, drinking moonshine - when, where, with whom and how much.

We recommend that you drink strong drinks only in the evening, in the range from six to nine in the evening. Why is that? The fact is that our body completely "wakes up" at this particular time and acquires the ability to endure heavy loads. In this case, again, everything is individual. If you suffer from moonshine intolerance, then you can not drink it at any time of the day or night.

It must be said that for many people the use of strong and fortified alcoholic products is simply unacceptable, since the content of alcohol in the blood is dangerous for their cardiovascular or nervous systems, and other internal organs.

In addition, some people, among whom there are often non-drinkers and light drinkers, after drinking only one or two glasses, begin to behave inappropriately to the environment and become dangerous both for themselves and for those who are nearby. You should reckon with this factor in order to avoid serious and unnecessary trouble.
We assume that you belong to those for whom the use of strong alcohol is acceptable and not associated with a health hazard, and we continue to talk about: when? So, finding the energy that is optimal for ourselves in the evening, we can more easily endure the state that occurs when drinking alcohol. This state is pleasant and exotic, taking a lot of energy, while giving a significant neuro-physiological unloading and requiring a subsequent long rest, that is, sleep.

Let us remind you that the ancients considered it permissible to drink only three cups of wine, highly diluted with water and of the highest quality, on a festive bed. The third cup was drunk as setting for sleep and suggesting it in the near future. They, our ancestors, were much closer to nature than we are, and not only to the surrounding nature, but also to human nature itself. It would be unwise to neglect their experience. And yet, out of ignorance or neglect, this is often what happens.

You drink, say, moonshine in the afternoon, or even worse - in the morning, and the adventure begins. Ahead is a day full of big and small things and events, and you fell into a state of celebration of the soul, in which you can’t do something - it won’t work, or some kind of nastiness will come out. That's why drink moonshine only in the evening when everything is done and you can relax and unwind.

There is one more important point relating to the time of the use of moonshine. It is determined by the geographical, and more precisely, the climatic conditions of the home of consumers of moonshine. As you understand, we are talking about the seasons. For example, in areas where it is always warm, moonshine cannot express itself fully and from the best side. Drinking badly in hot weather.
Another thing is where it is winter. Drinking moonshine in cold weather is sometimes not only pleasant, but also necessary. On our land, where the cold lasts for six months, moonshine has found a worthy place for itself and more than once saved frozen bodies and souls from all sorts of diseases and troubles. The fact is that it is very difficult to warm up when entering the house from a thirty-degree frost, especially if you were lightly dressed, and there is neither honey nor raspberry jam at home. This is where moonshine comes to the rescue.

Where to drink moonshine? This is the second most important issue, but no less serious. First things first, drink it near your home or be sure that you can be safely escorted there if necessary. Moonshine itself does not take you home, it has a cunning ability to take you away from it, sometimes very far, to a completely unknown area. We would like to mentally see you on the threshold of your apartment at the beginning of the eleventh evening of this day, where you will be met by a kindly smiling wife.

Where to drink moonshine even more specifically? Of course, in a close company of friends, who gathered not just to sip too much, but in connection with a solemn and joyful event, in short, for a holiday. Let's specify even more - moonshine is not drunk on the balcony, in the corridor or even in the kitchen - no! It is drunk only in one place - at the festive table. You and the holiday table. This is serious. It's very instructive and enjoyable at the same time. But pleasantness is the product of a skillful relationship between you and the festive table with all the people around it.

Let's talk about it. If you have not been to the Caucasus, go there. They also have their own moonshine - chacha. And the way they drink alcohol there will clearly demonstrate to you how it should be done, so that you can drink well, and so that it does not become bad. the main and most a dangerous mistake is the frequency of drinking glasses. Some people drink so often that it's hard to know if a person is drinking the next glass or washing down the previous one. That's just terrible. You can not do it this way. Any good alcoholic drink requires respect, and moonshine even more so.

But let's start from the beginning. You sat down at the festive table in the place allotted for you. The table is surrounded by guests, the heroes of the occasion, the owners of the apartment. Everyone, just like you, wants the holiday to be fun and leave pleasant memories. So it will be if you manage to harmoniously and skillfully distribute your attention between everything that surrounds you. The main subject of your attention at the table is the one for whom it was set - the birthday man, for example, then other people. The table itself, with all its contents, is only a necessary addition to the present society. This should never be forgotten.
The one who does not take this fact into account risks getting a reputation as a person for whom the main thing is to drink, and the rest is for formality. This is elementary disrespect for others, and it gives rise to reciprocal feelings of the same nature. No, we do not seek moralizing. We just try to warn you against possible mistakes, using some experience we have of staying in a solemn, festive atmosphere.

Note that there is nothing superfluous on the table, the owners tried to provide for everything - from a napkin lying at your fingertips to a bottle of moonshine. Use the items and products on the table moderately and skillfully, this will bring satisfaction to both you and those around you.
There comes the moment of the first toast, from which your communication with moonshine begins. We emphasize - it is with him. For a long time, probably, you yourself know - do not mix alcoholic beverages. This should not be done under any circumstances, especially when using strong ones, which moonshine is.

If you are virgin in this matter, but have decided to lose this wonderful state, we advise you to remember how twice two - do not “ruff”, that is, mix moonshine with beer at the same time or in one order or another. Also, do not drink liquor or champagne before and after moonshine. In all these cases, you will be carried away, you will get drunk, even after drinking a little and you will not get any pleasure, but instead, only trouble, both in sensations and in memories.

In addition, at the first acquaintance with moonshine, one should not go too far, as with any first acquaintance. Drink one, at most two glasses. We assure you, this will be enough. Otherwise, your acquaintance in a good way will not take place or will stretch for many years, which will be simply painful to remember. They could have gained a positive experience of drinking moonshine, but slipped into the common statement that “moonshine is poison”, simply because they grunted it the first time.

Before you take a glass in your hand, look at its contents, remembering how real moonshine should look like. You will understand this by carefully examining the bottle, without bending over it and not taking it in your hands, so as not to offend the owner's pride.

Although we are not talking here about the quality of the product, implying that you drink only good-quality moonshine and no other, nevertheless, in extreme cases, you have to make a reservation. In particular, and about the fact that the moonshine poured into your glass needs to be sniffed for a long time in order to identify its quality. Good moonshine will not cause discomfort to your sense of smell; in addition to alcohol, it may also have the smell of a flavor. We have already talked about how bad moonshine smells.

Having established the quality of the product, as far as external inspection allows, proceed to the selection of the appropriate snack, which you will definitely need after the first glass of moonshine. The first appetizer, like the size of the glass, should not be large.. It will soften and accelerate the assimilation of the drunk and, being moderate in quantity, will not interfere with the assimilation itself.

The best snack for the first glass will be, to choose from: a piece of lard with brown bread, fatty herring or a couple of spoons of meat salad. The bottom line here is that a fatty snack prevents the strong effects of alcohol and minimizes the process of intoxication.
You will do even better if you eat some bacon before you drink the first glass of moonshine, say, twenty to thirty minutes before. You should not be embarrassed by a possible misunderstanding of others. The end justifies the means, especially when both the end and the means are worthy. There is no bacon at hand - ask the hostess for a piece of bread with a thick layer of butter and eat it before you sit down at the table.

After the first drink, the most important and decisive moment comes - which way you will go. Just like a good actor, you need to take a break to get on the right track. There is one subtlety here. Perhaps others do not want to pause, but use the common option: "there is a small break between the first and second."
In essence, this is correct. The trouble is that this break is sometimes reduced to microscopic dimensions, which is the beginning of the end. Soon there comes a loss of sense of time - you find yourself, as it were, outside of it. Then the only thing you can look at is a bottle of moonshine. Soon it becomes the only object that is hard for you to see. In conclusion, the object that is unbearable to the eye is yourself. Please remember this.

Moonshine requires endurance both in production and in use. That's why pause. If this arouses interest among others, it is best to tell them directly that you prefer to drink moonshine slowly. Thus, you will not only achieve what you want, but also intrigue others, arouse interest from the ladies present, at least often this is quite enough to leave you alone.

In other situations, use any suitable pretext to maintain a pause - drop a fork under the table and look for it there for a long time, in extreme cases, leave the table under any plausible pretext. After everyone has had a second drink, the worries about what you “missed” will subside.

A pause between the first and second glasses will not only bring you moral and physical satisfaction, but will also allow you to feel how good moonshine is, not only in appearance, but also in its composition. To make it clear to you - the interval between the first and second glass should be from ten minutes to half an hour– depending on how it “went”.

In order not to keep yourself in suspense, find a topic for an easy conversation - in a festive atmosphere, they arise by themselves. In any case, no matter how much you love moonshine, do not give yourself entirely to it, let it serve you, and not vice versa.
Having taken the necessary break, continue in the same spirit: drank, ate, break - about twenty minutes; drank, ate hot, again - get distracted, talk with friends. One more thing about the snack. Whatever they say, the best snack after moonshine, like any strong liquor, is lightly salted cucumber. Eat it as soon as you drink it, then eat what you like. It’s not bad to have a bite with a salted tomato, it’s better to have two, since one is not enough when using moonshine.

Excellent snacks immediately after eating: salted fish, pickled, spicy and hot dishes.
In general, starting from the second glass, pay attention to food no less than moonshine. And here moderation and slowness are also important - overeating along with drunk moonshine is just as bad as undereating.
Some people who are not accustomed to alcohol drink moonshine with water. If you are forced to drink moonshine - out of respect for the owners or because of a cold, then do so, but after that do not touch it. Drinking moonshine with water, you only remove the burning effect that occurs when you use it.

If your body, including the mucous membrane, is able to tolerate strong alcohol, then you should not use water for drinking, so as not to spoil the process of enjoying drinking, and we assume that you like this business. In addition, drinking moonshine with water, you run the risk of becoming very drunk, but I would like to see you completely in control of yourself when you finally leave the festive table.

Now let's move on to important issue about with who can you drink moonshine. Since we recommend that you drink moonshine only at the festive table, we will confine ourselves to such a society, having examined it in detail. Much depends on who you sit next to and who is located opposite you. Essentially, this is your micro-company within a large company.
First of all, if a pretty woman is sitting opposite, and you decide to start a conversation with her, in no case use moonshine as an auxiliary tool. This will only push her away, that's all. And if the opposite happens, then after sobering up it will be difficult for you to remember it, and this is just stupid. It is generally better not to drink moonshine with a woman, she does not tolerate it well. Make a compromise - drink in quantitative terms as much as she does: she is a glass of champagne - you are a glass of moonshine. This is called equal terms.

We also recommend that you drink moonshine with older people who are interested in this business. The experience they have will allow you to get optimal satisfaction. You won't overthink what's most important and you'll end up with a lot useful information on a variety of topics, including what moonshine is, how to prepare it, how it is useful and dangerous.

It is interesting to drink moonshine with a professional. Professionalism in such a case is a rare thing, but if you encounter it, firmly adhere to the status of an observer, occasionally supporting the process, and under no circumstances try to drink on an equal footing. You will be stunned. You will become very, very sick. You will hardly ever want to drink moonshine after that.
Next to you is a big drinker. Drink everything that is, and everything that is drunk. This is a difficult case, but from any situation you can find an acceptable way out. The main thing with this option is not to fall under the influence of your companion, observing the measure and trying to pay more attention to those of the feast neighbors who drink a little.
This is achieved thanks to the same pleasant and interesting conversation, which distracts from moonshine exactly as much as possible and necessary. Remember the already mentioned Caucasus. Its inhabitants drink much more than we can imagine, and at the same time do not lose dignity, not to mention the sense of time and space. Why? Because the main thing at the Caucasian table is not the presence of alcohol, in which there is no shortage. The main thing is in the culture of communication, including the culture of drinking.

What is this culture appears specifically? At least - in toast. We have already said that the main thing at the festive table is the invited people. The existence of toasts is the best confirmation of this fact. A toast is, firstly, a manifestation of respect for the one for whom it is pronounced. We are always pleased to hear good wishes addressed to us, especially when they are sincere.
Secondly, a toast is a great opportunity to speak on a wide variety of topics, showing your eloquence, intelligence and wisdom. If you have something to say, then use a toast for this. Speak at least half an hour, they will listen to you with pleasure. Just don't be boring, don't delve too far into the topic, show variety and tact in relation to the listeners. Remember that you are at a party, not at a party meeting.
Thirdly, thanks to the toast, you can take your mind off expensive moonshine and make a wonderful, interesting pause, which is so necessary when drinking. strong drinks which we have already mentioned. This pause will not be burdensome for anyone, moreover, no one will notice it, because it will be pleasant. The result of such toasts is the many times confirmed fact when people at the table remain in their sober mind, having drunk enough.
Unfortunately, it often happens that we gain the ability to communicate after drinking a couple of glasses. Get used to it. If only because, having become liberated not on your own, but with the help of alcohol, you can soon reach such a state that it will not matter who you are talking to - with the girl opposite or with the decanter between you. There is no doubt that a drunk person will make a toast with great pleasure. It's just better to listen to it, after plugging your ears with cotton wool.

Now let's move on to the question - how much can you drink. "How many will fit," someone's cheerful voice rang out. No no and one more time no! The maximum allowable dose of use such a drink as moonshine is from 120 to 200 g. In medium-sized glasses - from two to three, at most - five, but this is already the rarest exception. And besides, when the glass holds no more than 50 grams, and the drinker himself is far from a novice in this matter and knows when to stop.

Now we have to argue with an imaginary adversary who chuckles and starts talking about "baby" doses, giving devastating examples of his ability to drink bottles and not glasses and remain "normal".
All this is pure nonsense. No one has such an ability, and if outwardly they are present in someone, then this is only externally. Hidden behind this is a very well-restrained, immoderate passion for drinking, which has a detrimental effect on health and the personality itself as a whole. By the time the consequences reveal themselves, it becomes difficult for such a person to live, since it is much more difficult to wean from the constant use of moonshine than to get used to it.However, we went with you towards the narcological department. Let's get back to the festive table.

We have already thoroughly delved into the aspect of the topic related to how to drink moonshine. There is another nuance here. Of course, you should not drink it from a wine glass, glass or glass. Moonshine is drunk from a glass, moreover, a small one. Further. A common way to drink hard liquor is the so-called "popping".
"Slammed" a glass and went. Where he went, why - is unknown. And all because you need to drink moonshine slowly. You can “clap” with swill, and since it’s better not to drink swill, then you don’t need to “clap” anything either. High-quality moonshine is strong and burning, and indeed, there is a temptation to quickly swallow it.
But in this way you lose the opportunity to feel pleasant taste, which has moonshine, and interfere with its normal absorption by the body. In general, you speed up the process to the detriment of the result. It is impossible to enjoy a good food product just by swallowing it.
It is unlikely that moonshine needs savoring, it is still not a dry wine of many years of aging. But he just needs unhurried, continuous drinking. Thanks to this, you will achieve another important goal. Namely - put under control the possible process of intoxication and thereby avoid it. It's an incomparable pleasure.
Enough to get enough moonshine, drinking three or four glasses, raising your mood and not spoiling it for others, chatting with people and eating delicious food is just great. How, you ask, is it possible to control the process of intoxication? It is possible, and this happens due to the fact that moonshine reveals its properties not only when it enters our stomach, but also when it barely touches our lips. You come into contact with him already when you bring a glass to your mouth and inhale alcohol vapors.

Thus, the attention you show to a strong alcoholic drink from the first moment of contact with it makes it possible not to lose sight of its effect on you right up to drinking the last glass - every cell of your body responds to every moonshine drop, and you feel it. Without neglecting your feelings, you will drink moonshine exactly as much as your body is able to accept at the moment, and not more, as sometimes happens and leads to involuntary violence against yourself.
This is akin to when an athlete tries to take on a weight that is too heavy for himself. But if the athlete feels excessive weight within a few moments after he lifts him and does not try to fight him, then with moonshine the situation is different. He reveals himself gradually and unexpectedly. With excessive use of moonshine, as a result of neglecting your own feelings, you can find yourself in a position where there is no way to push the weight away from you, it falls on you, and you only suffer and cannot change anything.

Communicating with moonshine in the right way, you, in addition to personal pleasure, will win positive authority from friends and acquaintances, become a welcome guest for many, like your own wife in a new way, and if you are not married, then the same woman is opposite.

By the way, reader if you are a woman, then for you there are separate recommendations for the use of moonshine. All of the above suits you to the fullest, except for the amount of alcohol you drink. Let it not exceed the mark in 70 grams. There is one more subtlety: if you want to drink moonshine, the desire is completely legal and normal, then in no case do not drink other alcoholic products, either before or after moonshine - champagne, liquor or light wine, that is, traditionally "women's" drinks. You will feel bad, trust me. Have a drink or two and you'll be fine.

Another contraindication for the use of moonshine applies to smokers. If you do not want to deprive yourself of the pleasure you get when drinking good moonshine, do not smoke either in between shots or for the next couple of hours after you finish drinking. This will also allow you to avoid the headache that often occurs when smoking and drinking strong alcoholic products at the same time.

Aromatization and tinting of moonshine

This process is usually carried out after the "final" receipt of moonshine.

There is no dispute that the manufactured product is already ready for use, but if you carry out several additional operations to “improve” it, then, undoubtedly, it will be possible to add several distinctive features to your drink from other similar liquids.

It is worth knowing that some aromatic additives not only give the strong drink a peculiar color and smell, but can also positively affect a person’s health.

Usually these additional aromatic ingredients are extracted from various fruits, berries, roots and leaves. Their preparation is made long before there was a desire to produce the next batch of moonshine.

In dried form, they are ground in a mortar to a floury state and placed on the sludge in moonshine.

Moonshine alcohol and the water contained in it are solvents for vegetable raw materials, and with the help of their “influence” on the powder added to the liquid, over time, a peculiar aroma with a specific taste of the product itself begins to appear.

During sludge, moonshine filled with vegetable additives is recommended to be shaken so that harmless natural oils of flavoring components formed on its surface directly dissolve in the entire liquid volume, and constantly (once a week), filtering moonshine through gauze, add fresh raw materials to it.

Moonshine is infused on average for about a month, and then it undergoes a “final” filtration.

You can also do decoctions, which are then added to moonshine during its use and even manufacture.

To do this, dried flavors are placed in boiling water and boiled for 10 minutes in a saucepan closed with a lid. After that, the broth is settled and diluted with moonshine in an approximate ratio of 1: 3.

The main rule in the process of flavoring moonshine is the correct dosage of the necessary compositions - for 1 liter of moonshine can be used:

- 2 grams of vanillin, allspice, anise or cloves;

- no more than 0.5 g of saffron or rosemary;

- 5-15 g of ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, sage or nutmeg;

- 250 g lemon or orange peel(peel);

- no more than 45 g of orange peel.

In case of an overdose or, conversely, a shortage of added flavorings, moonshine can be spoiled. Therefore, information about plants unknown to you in the dosing process for moonshine is best taken from special reference books or from your friends distillers.

Additionally painted in different colors and having at the same time a pleasant taste and delicate smell of moonshine is of particular interest to people.

A multi-colored table “fairy tale” can tell a lot about its zealous owner, who was not too lazy to spend a lot of time and effort on making it. And “coloring” moonshine is quite easy and accessible to everyone.

Red color obtained by infusion of blueberries or by using a mixture of one glass of cream of tartar and six glasses of food carmine paint.

golden orange(orange) - moonshine is infused with the addition of orange or orange peel or blueberry juice (blueberries can be used). The use of saffron also gives moonshine "solar" color.

Blue- obtained with the help of infusion of cornflowers.

Yellow- when using infusion of lemon balm or mint. You can also use horseradish leaves, but parsley or celery are more suitable.

Violet- moonshine is infused with sunflower seeds or tinted with food carmine paint and driven (filtered) through yarrow flowers.

Brown- when adding granulated sugar melted in a pan to blackness in the moonshine.

Green the color is obtained by infusing moonshine with currant leaves or parsley juice. Mint also works.

From the resulting moonshine, you can make all kinds of drinks, add it to wine, use it as a disinfectant and remedy. But moonshine produced at home can also bring considerable income and joy from the labor spent on its manufacture.

The main thing is not to rush to “lose your head” because of the desire to purchase a “cool” moonshine still from an experienced neighbor-distiller - such a device made by yourself will last longer. This, believe me, is proven by practice!

Healing properties of moonshine

In addition to pleasure, moonshine is also used for purely medicinal purposes. This question, like many in Russia, requires clarification. The trouble is that starting to use moonshine for treatment, people often end the healing process with a prosaic binge. So, of course, there is no cure. You can only change one disease for another, or even acquire a second one, while retaining the first one.
Therefore, in the case of using moonshine as a medicine, it can and should be treated only as a medicine and not otherwise. It's hard, but if you're going to be your own doctor, follow the cardinal rule of medicine: "Do no harm."

Most of all, moonshine is applicable as a medicine for the onset of a cold. If a cold has been going on for a whole day, drinking moonshine is useless. Better treat yourself with honey raspberry jam, mustard plasters, mustard baths and other methods. But if a cold just makes itself felt: you sneezed for the first time, felt chills or slight weakness at the end of the working day, then it’s another matter. If alcohol is not contraindicated for you, (do not forget this!) Then moonshine is able to help.

Pour 50–70 g of the drink, preferably unflavoured, into a glass and pepper it a little with black pepper. Then exhale the air and drink quickly, if possible, without drinking or snacking. You can do the procedure in two steps, drinking 30 g of moonshine each time. If this does not kill the emerging cold, then at least it can blunt the process of its development. It is best to do this just before you lie down under the covers.
The next morning, if a cold still makes itself felt, you do not need to use moonshine. It is better to drink milk with honey and continue treatment without the help of moonshine, turning, depending on the circumstances, to a doctor or being at home, because after honey with milk you can’t go outside - sweating, you will catch a cold completely.

A case close to the previous one, in which it is possible to use moonshine as a medicine, is freezing. You haven't caught a cold yet, you've just been out in the cold for too long. Your hands and feet are cold and not getting warm even though you are already in a warm room. Drink moonshine in the same amount as in the first case. You can not add pepper, the main thing is to warm up.
You can use good moonshine as a medicine for peptic ulcer stomach. Drink one tablespoon of moonshine every morning on an empty stomach.

In certain situations, it is acceptable to use moonshine as a relaxing, sedative or, in scientific terms, a relaxing agent. It is known that in the Middle Ages, alcoholic beverages were used for physical or spiritual exhaustion, and this often happened in those days: wars, epidemics, the absence of any Vehicle except for horses.
Try to walk a road that is measured not in kilometers, but in hours - from dawn to dusk. After a long journey, fatigue is great. Here moonshine will come to the rescue - rub their legs, and this will remove the heaviness accumulated in them. But it is necessary to talk about stress relief with the help of moonshine, given the important features that cannot be neglected. It all depends on what kind of nervous state you are in.
Suppose you are experiencing stress associated with overwork at work, some production troubles that are not of a personal nature. That is, your displeasure is not caused by a negative attitude towards your own or someone else's act, behavior, you are not angry with anyone. Something just didn’t work out: the necessary device broke down, the scheduled meeting didn’t take place, you worked too hard today.
Again, if your health allows you (you should never forget this when dealing with moonshine), drink 30–40 g, no more, and you will feel better, the tension will subside. But in the event that your discontent is personified, you experience a state of aggression towards someone or close to it, then no!

Drinking hard liquor is simply unacceptable here.- you will only aggravate your arousal or “curl” it for the time being. And as soon as trouble reminds of itself, stress will only increase. Also, you should not use moonshine, trying to cope with fear, no matter what it concerns.

Another way of its medicinal use is associated with such an unpleasant and well-known phenomenon as toothache. This technique goes into such hoary antiquity that it is hard to imagine. As you know, the Sumerian city-states stood at the origins of human civilization. So, the Sumerian healers suggested using alcohol-containing food liquids as therapeutic baths for toothache.

But here, too, there are caveats and caveats. They relate to the fact that it is impossible to drink moonshine, trying to reduce toothache. This can have the opposite effect and aggravate it. And the temptation, meanwhile, arises. But you have to deal with it. Take a little moonshine into your mouth and keep a "bath" in the part of the mouth where the bad tooth is located. Spit out the liquid after one or two minutes.
No less effective and safer, in the sense of the temptation to drink, use moonshine, soaking sterile cotton wool in it and placing it on the aching tooth so that the cotton wool covers the gum.
The alcohol contained in the moonshine has an anesthetic, analgesic effect, which will help you relieve an unpleasant sensation for a while. Further treatment of a diseased tooth is not associated with moonshine, but with a visit to the dental office.

In general, many modern drugs are made on an alcohol basis, which is very significant. It is also not unknown that moonshine or alcohol was used as anesthesia during operations, at a time when modern anesthetics were either not yet invented or not available.

Moonshine is widely used to relieve hangovers. After drinking 50-60 grams in the morning, be sure to have a snack and don’t touch moonshine anymore, otherwise it will be like yesterday.

Let us now turn to the use of moonshine as an external remedy.Let's go back to the situation when you got cold on the street. In a wonderful way, moonshine will warm you even without internal use, saving you, moreover, from even slight intoxication, which is possibly undesirable for you. This will require the assistance of another person who has the right to access your body.However, the soles of the feet, just like the hands, you can grind yourself with moonshine yourself. Pour the liquid into a tightly clenched palm and rub the frozen areas well. If you need to rub your back and chest, use the services of loved ones and immediately after rubbing put on woolen socks, warm pajamas, lie down in bed and, covered with a blanket, fall asleep.Otherwise, if you decide, getting out of bed, wander around the apartment to do something - write wasted - there will be little sense from rubbing. Remember that in all these situations you are acting as your own doctor. So be yourself a good doctor.

With a severe cold, moonshine can be successfully used as a compress. The compress is best done on the chest, but it is better not to put it on the heart area. For a compress, you will need ordinary gauze, completely moistened with moonshine, which you will place on the inflamed area. Such a compress can also be put in case of a cold of the throat, just make it less wet so as not to burn the skin - moonshine can be much stronger than vodka.

A compress using moonshine can be used for tumors on the body, in particular, as a result of bruises. This helps to remove the tumor, eliminate the inflammatory process and reduce pain.

High-quality moonshine is, finally, an excellent disinfectant for cuts and shallow cuts on the skin. Dip cotton wool in moonshine, wipe the damaged area. In the same way, you can treat areas of the skin that have acne. Only in this case, it is not necessary to wet the cotton wool much.

For acne treatment we suggest you prepare a moonshine-based lotion. Grate a fresh cucumber and, having collected the grated mass in a clean gauze, squeeze it into a bowl. In the resulting cucumber juice, add moonshine and boiled water. Mix everything thoroughly. The lotion is ready to use.
To prepare it you will need:
cucumber juice - 100 g,
moonshine - 100 g,
boiled water - 100 g.
Such a lotion compares favorably with cologne in that it does not leave a smell after use.

With the help of moonshine you can cook a wonderful garlic tincture- a kind of elixir of youth. It has the ability to cleanse the body, activating metabolic processes. To prepare it, you need to take the garlic, peel it and chop it well. After placing the garlic in a clean bowl, pour it with moonshine and put the tincture for 3-4 days in a warm, dry and dark place. After that, squeeze out the tincture and strain.
Take the medicine before meals as follows: on the first day, before breakfast, drink 1 drop, before lunch, 2 drops, before dinner, 3 drops. On the second day, respectively, 4, 5 and 6 drops; on the third - 7, 8 and 9 drops; on the fourth - 10, 11 and 12; on the fifth - 13, 14 and 15. You have reached the equator. From the sixth day, the dose of the medication taken gradually decreases: the sixth day: again, before breakfast, lunch and dinner, respectively - 15, 14 and 13 drops; on the seventh day - 12, 11 and 10; on the eighth - 9, 8 and 7; on the ninth - 6, 5 and 4 drops; on the tenth day - the final stage of the main cycle - 3 drops before breakfast, 2 before lunch and 1 before dinner.On the eleventh day, the dose is increased to 25 drops three times a day before each meal. Subsequently, apply the tincture according to the eleventh day recipe with 50 grams of cold milk until the tincture runs out.
To prepare garlic tincture, you will need:
garlic - 300 g,
Moonshine of high quality, good cleaning - 250 g.

There was a need to make an injection? In this case, well-cleaned moonshine is also an excellent disinfectant before and after an injection. An injection, of course, is best done professionally - invite a nurse. But if you yourself have sufficient experience, you will not need to invite anyone. In addition, it also happens that a nurse (not at all through her fault) may not have medical alcohol with her. Offer her to use your moonshine. It is unlikely that she will refuse.

Moonshine on the farm

And indeed, moonshine can provide you with indispensable services in everyday life. Here you bought good leather shoes. A pleasant purchase, but suddenly it turns out that they are too tight for you. Pour moonshine into them, put them on your feet and walk around. If moonshine is not enough, it is more economical to wet their socks, put them on, then shoes and, again, walk around. Then take off your shoes, stuff them with paper and leave for a while. Repeat the procedure several times and your shoes will increase to the desired size.

In the absence of pure alcohol or acetone, you may well use strong (above 40%) moonshine for degreasing surface treatment, which is used in household repairs. Suppose your slippers or the sole of your boot have peeled off. Before gluing, wipe the surface on which you will apply the glue with a cotton swab dipped in moonshine. Let it dry - and quickly glue.

You need to solder something. Again, pre-treat the desired surface with moonshine and do what you need.

Your felt-tip pen has run out - it writes so that it is barely visible. Take a medical pipette and draw a few drops of moonshine into it. After removing the safety plug, drip the moonshine into the barrel of the felt-tip pen in the amount of 2-3 drops and return the plug to its place.

If your ink used to make posters has dried up, moonshine will help here too: pour a little moonshine into a jar of ink (depending on the amount of ink), wait a bit and mix the mass well using an unnecessary pencil or something similar. After that, tightly close the jar of mascara and shake until it turns into a homogeneous liquid. The ink will be usable again.

Do you remember Gaidai's famous film "Moonshiners"? Still would. In one of the episodes, the heroes test the strength of their moonshine by setting it on fire. We remembered this in connection with the fact that the ability of strong moonshine to ignite can be not only dangerous, but also useful. A specific example, again on a medical topic.
Someone from the family fell ill, it’s too late to go to the pharmacy, and at home you don’t have honey, no jam, no medicines, no mustard plasters, well, nothing suitable for treatment. Already dusty glass medical jars are lying in the nightstand, and the moonshine is in the refrigerator. That's good. Almost nothing more is needed.
Sterilize the jars, take a metal rod and wrap it tightly with cotton wool. Then dip in moonshine, being careful, light your small torch and, putting it in a medical jar, quickly put it on the bare back of a cold, etc. Having put the required number of jars, cover the patient.

Moonshine, as a flammable liquid, will do you good service when canning vegetables. First, rinse the vegetables thoroughly with boiled water and put them in a sterilized dish. Then pour a little moonshine into the jar - just enough so that all the vegetables can be moistened with it while the jar is evenly flopping.
After this procedure, bring a lit splinter or match to the opening of the can and stick it into the neck. The process of sterilizing vegetables occurs instantly. Now carefully twist the jar without wasting a minute. Your vegetables will be kept fresh without the aid of brine.

Moonshine can use in cooking in a variety of options.
For example, soaking cake layers with flavored or simple high-quality moonshine will give the product a piquant taste. This is done in the following way. Baked cake, after it has cooled down a bit, evenly sprinkle moonshine, using it in the amount of one tablespoon per cake.
After the liquid is absorbed, apply cream to the cake. Do the same with the rest of the cakes, up to the top. Thanks to moonshine impregnation, the cakes will become looser and softer, which will most positively affect the quality of the taste of your cake.

In any culinary product, the recipe of which requires the use of cognac and vodka products, moonshine can be included as a full-fledged substitute for cognac or vodka, for example, vodka is used to make dough for homemade "trash"- an excellent delicacy.
Only one essential detail needs to be taken into account: the amount of moonshine used as one of the components of the dish should be about half as much as the rate required in the recipe for vodka or cognac. The reason is simple and we have already mentioned it: moonshine is much stronger than vodka, and you run the risk of suddenly getting drunk by eating a piece of birthday cake.

And now you will learn a wonderful recipe for cooking strawberry cake using cherry moonshine.
Cooking a biscuit, separate 3 eggs into yolks and whites. Now mix: cooked yolks, 1 egg, zest of one orange, 20 g chopped candied oranges and 50 g sugar.
Then beat the proteins in a dense foam and add 50 g of sugar to it. Protein mass add to the yolk cream along with 100 grams of flour with baking powder. Mix everything very carefully. Fill a greased 26 cm springform pan with the biscuit mass and bake for 30 minutes in a preheated oven. Cool the cake after baking.
For filling wash 750 g of strawberries, peel them and select the 15 most beautiful berries for decoration. Now cut the cooled biscuit into 2 thin cakes. Taking half a glass of cream and 50 g of sugar, mix and beat well. Pour 4 liters of orange juice into an enamel bowl and, mixing with cream, beat.
The turn of cherry moonshine has come. We do not get tired of repeating to you: moonshine should be only of high quality and no more! So, you flavor whipped cream with 20 grams of moonshine made from cherries. This will enhance the flavor of your strawberry cake in a wonderful way. Enclose the lower cake with the side of the mold, put the strawberries on the cake and brush with cream, cover with the second cake on top.
Now it's time to apply marzipan mass. To do this, you should pour 100 g of almonds with boiling water on the eve of cooking, dry them and pass through a meat grinder; then knead thoroughly, adding 80 g of powdered sugar, half egg white and half a teaspoon of the same cherry (you can have another, but definitely fruit) moonshine and put it in a cold place for 24 hours.
Knead the marzipan mass again with 100 g of sifted powdered sugar and, if desired, use green food coloring. Roll out the marzipan mass in polyethylene (according to the size of the cake). Now remove the edge from detachable form, put the marzipan cake on the cake and sprinkle with a little powdered sugar.

Final chords: Whip the cream with the remaining powdered sugar and grease the edges of the cake with mass, decorate the edges of the cake with berries cut into circles, and its top with halves of berries and, if you want, mint leaves.

You received gorgeous cake, using the very moonshine that most of us evokes associations that are very far from such heights of culinary art. And yet, it is so. Yes, to prepare such a cake you will need a lot of effort, time and products. But the result is quite justified. Enjoy your meal!

Types of moonshine stills

Throughout the existence of moonshine, man, thanks to his wild imagination, has invented countless different devices for distilling it. For the manufacture of moonshine, literally everything that was at hand was used: cans, bottles, pipes, samovars, vacuum cleaners, empty gas cylinders and much, much more.

But the very principle of the general concept of a moonshine remains the same: to separate alcohol-containing vapors from the common mash mixture by heating it and condense them, cooling them in a special refrigerator sector, and then clean the resulting product and collect it in a separate container.

His scheme, in general, consists of the following necessary devices: a vessel with a starter, a hollow tube-serpentine and a vessel with a cooling liquid.

Tube-coil - directly connects both vessels, but its coil itself (the end of the tube curved in a spiral) must be in the vessel for cooling.

Both vessels must be hermetically sealed, and the "cooler" vessel, from which the manufactured product is ultimately "extracted", must be securely sealed in connection with the serpentine tube emerging from its lower part.

But there is an apparatus that is simpler to manufacture, which does not include a coil tube.

Let's call it "pyramid". A sieve or a metal sheet with through holes is placed on a high pan, half filled with sourdough. On top of it, a saucepan diametrically equal to the first one without a bottom is installed, where cups for collecting moonshine are placed on a partition-sieve. Then - the final stage of the "construction" - a large metal plate or basin with cold water.

The principle of operation of this device is approximately the same as that of the previous one: when a pot with sourdough is heated on fire or a thermal electric heater soldered from the bottom of the “pyramid”, the alcohol-containing vapor rises. Passing through the holes of the septum, it condenses on the bottom of the basin with water and drips into cups placed on the septum.

But there is another option for making a moonshine still. The same saucepan half-filled with leaven is taken (it is advisable to use transparent heat-resistant dishes), in which a plate is placed upside down directly on the surface of the raw material to collect the finished product, and then a basin with cold water is placed on top of the saucepan, which serves as a kind of lid for it. The product is collected in the same way as in the previous description of the operation of the apparatus.

Due to the fact that when using the simplest moonshine stills, fusel oils are formed in the resulting product and the complexity of monitoring the boiling point of the mash increases, experienced distillers resort to using more complex designs equipped with various filters and measuring instruments.

A more advanced apparatus includes the following components: a tank filled with a little less than half of the homebrew, a funnel, connecting plates, a cone cooler, a tube, a heat-resistant hose and a collection of moonshine.

In the tank, about a little above half of it, a hole is made into which a tube is inserted and reinforced with a cut heat-resistant hose. One end of the tube is led to the moonshine collector (the neck of a bottle or can), and the other end, where a steel funnel is inserted, is inserted into the tank at an angle of 25–45 degrees relative to its base.

A cone refrigerator, which is a cone-shaped stainless steel container and having two short tubular outlets at its base, is soldered to a funnel using connecting plates, filled with cold water and placed on the tank instead of a lid. Then the assembled apparatus is installed on the burner.

The heated alcohol-containing liquid gradually begins to evaporate, condense on the cone refrigerator and then flow down it into the funnel, from where it eventually enters the collection. Both outlets on the “refrigerator” are designed to move running water inside it in order to increase the efficiency of this unit.

Another distillation device is somewhat different from other complex designs of moonshine stills.

Two glass jars of different volumes (3 and 10 liters) are placed at a short distance from each other. A large jar half-filled with mash is placed on supports in a basin of water and closed with a sealed rubber stopper, a thermometer is first inserted into one hole of which, and a connecting tube is inserted into the other.

A small jar is also closed with a cork with two holes, but the second end of the connecting tube is inserted into one of them almost to the very bottom of the jar, and an independent tube is taken from the other into a separate vessel (basin) filled with water, with the help of which the internal pressure in the "refrigerator" will align.

A small jar is turned over and placed in the sink under the cold water tap. A basin with a large jar is put on fire.

All evaporating alcohol-containing elements enter a small refrigerator jar through a connecting tube and, condensing on the walls of the vessel, flow down to the cork. Vapors that do not have time to condense will be captured by water in the basin and dissolved in it.

This is done so that the liquid accumulated in the additional vessel can be added to the mash for the next distillation, which will significantly improve the quality of the product being extracted.

The device with an additional capacity provides high-quality purification of the product from impurities and increases the concentration of the resulting alcohol up to 75%.

An additional container with water heated to 80 degrees is installed between the tank with mash and a refrigerator with a coil on the burner. Connecting tubes hermetically fixed at the outlet are led to them from it. But in addition, this container, as well as the tank, is recommended to be equipped with a thermometer before installation.

The "refrigerator" is made of stainless steel in the form of a cube with two nozzles of the same material taken away from it from one side. A coil is placed in it, for the exit of the tubes of which additional holes are made on different sides of the cube.

Running water is constantly driven through the refrigerator, which increases the efficiency of the apparatus, and the coil is connected on both sides by sleeves made of heat-resistant rubber (hose) with an additional capacity tube and with a branch leading to the collection of the finished product.

As a result of passing mixed vapors through a heated aqueous medium, it is possible to separate alcohol vapors, which then pass through cooling and condensation in the refrigerator and flow into the collector, from water vapors, which, after condensing, remain in an additional container. This remaining liquid after distillation should be drained into a tank and distilled a second time.

A more complex design of the apparatus, which requires a lot of expenses for its manufacture, can significantly improve the quality of the resulting moonshine.

A sealed milk flask is divided into two parts with the help of a boiled ceiling: in the lower half there is a firebox, where firewood is periodically placed, and in the upper half there is a water container through which the chimney goes out.

Two branch pipes depart from the upper tank (for constant circulation of running water) and a serpentine outlet connected to the hawk moth. Its free tubular end sinks almost to the very bottom of a wooden barrel filled with leaven, and he (during the operation of the apparatus) is subjected to additional heating by a gas burner, gradually reheating the steam.

The second outlet from the hermetically sealed hawk lid is connected to the steamer. A partial process of condensation of the alcohol-containing vapor takes place in it and fusel oils are separated from it, which are then drained through a special hole temporarily closed with a hermetic stopper.

The hawk moth is connected by a secondary tube to a filter located above it. Two copper plates soldered together “help” the moonshine to be cleaned again, and all the fusel oils that have settled on their inner sides roll down through the connecting tube to the bottom of the steamer.

After passing through the filter, the alcohol-containing vapor enters the serpentine tube leaving it, placed in a vessel with cold water (refrigerator), and, condensing, flows out into the collector as a ready-made product.

An additional device necessary for separating water droplets from alcohol-containing vapors during the production of moonshine is called a drop catcher.

The scheme of its inclusion in the distillation device is quite simple: a small flask in the form of a ball is inserted into the tank, almost half filled with mash, from which glass tubes extend from different sides, and hermetically fixed in connection with the tank lid using heat-resistant rubber (a piece of hose) or test.

The second outlet of the flask, which is designed to “return” back to the tank the drops of water that have settled on its walls during evaporation, is connected to the one filled with water and hermetically sealed rubber stopper liter jar. From the jar, which serves as a collector of water drops in its container, a tube leaves, connecting to a refrigerator (cube with cold water), directly from which the condensed alcohol-containing vapors enter the collection of the finished product through the drain pipe.

Such an addition to the scheme of one of the above types of moonshine stills will help increase the efficiency of the device itself and achieve the most High Quality obtained during the production of moonshine.

The water collected in the drop catcher can be used as distilled water - it does not contain alcohol.

A device with a rectification chamber is the most effective device that allows you to increase the concentration of alcohol in moonshine to 95 degrees. True, this process takes quite a long time - about 11 hours.

This device consists of a hermetically sealed tank, which is is filled with mash, a distillation chamber, a refrigerator-distiller, the necessary connecting pipes and measuring instruments, a tap and a final collection of the finished product.

In one side of the tank - approximately, slightly below half its height - a hole is drilled, where an outlet pipeline with a tap is inserted and hermetically fixed, under the tail of which a collection of moonshine is substituted. A refractive chamber is put on the free end of this pipeline (inside the tank), which is a kind of saucepan-funnel with holes drilled on the sides.

Above the chamber - in the tank lid - a refrigerator-distiller is hermetically installed in a through hole, which serves to cool and condense alcohol-containing vapors, and next to it is a thermometer that performs temperature control inside the tank.

Then the tank is set on fire. Due to the heating of the vessel, the steam rises up and enters the refrigerator. Condensing with cold air, it turns into a liquid and flows into the chamber.

When the amount of liquid becomes more than a certain level, it drains back into the tank through holes previously made in the chamber.

Thus, the alcohol-containing product is distilled many times, so the alcohol concentration in it increases significantly. BUT finished product removed from the chamber by opening the tap and pouring it into the collection.

All the above exemplary types of moonshine stills are not the limit for their improvement. Who knows, maybe it is you who will be able to invent a more complex (or, conversely, simpler) design over time, which will not only be safe to use in practice, but will also be able to significantly increase the performance of the product, while reducing the huge amount of costs for its manufacturing.

We do not recommend trying to invent a moonshine super-machine and generally use already famous species devices for those people who are prone to excessive alcohol consumption - there is a possibility of damage to expensive and at the same time dear to the heart equipment, as well as the product obtained as a result of so much work, but, unfortunately, not used for future use!

Drinks based on moonshine

Here we are with jokes and jokes and approached the cherished topic - the manufacture of drinks based on moonshine at home. Old Man Makhno drank this drink, and others also drank it. It's time to treat you with recipes. So, get ready, we are already "pouring".

Moonshine is loved in Russia like nowhere else. Remember that joke about Chapaev? “Well, Vasil Ivanovich, did you like school? - No, Petka. The teacher asked how much would be 0.5 plus 0.5. I immediately felt it in my gut - a liter, but I couldn’t say it out loud. ” Indeed, it may seem that only drinking is on our minds. Probably, that is why there are no number of recipes for making drinks based on moonshine.

The taste of drinks can be very different. Experienced tasters say that the taste of wine depends on the shape of the vessel into which the wine is poured. Moonshine, of course, is not wine. However, as we wrote above, he also needs special glasses. Under different tastes moonshine, glasses of the same type are selected, but the snacks are different.

But it is important to add now that tastes, and hence varieties of moonshine, should be present at various celebrations. strong moonshine must attend the funeral. Tart moonshine suitable for a wedding to match the wish "Bitter!" Soft moonshine they drink at the baby’s birthday party so that there would be less grief in the life of a new little man. intoxicated moonshine attends a feast on any other occasion.

It is important to consider the taste of moonshine, which go to the tincture. Herbal tincture is bitter, so soft “non-alcoholic” moonshine is not suitable for it. Astringent moonshine is also not suitable, since two tastes, mixed, will give sheer muck. It is best to use strong moonshine for tincture. Such a tincture is properly aged and acquires a natural taste.

Miracles in a sieve: not wine, not liquor, but how skittish moonshine is! It also seems to have a taste. And it can not always be easily applied at the request of the manufacturer. Moonshine, like everything created with love by man, resembles a living being. Treat it like a swill, and the moonshine will turn into a fierce beast, from which you will not wait for mercy. Treat him like a friend, share your joy or your grief with him, and he will understand, take part, which you cannot always get from people.

However, from people, more precisely, from friends, you can get support and understanding if you treat them to the fruits of your moonshine labor. They will be very pleased with what you have done for them, and your relationship will become warmer. And you don’t need to drink with them for brotherhood. Moonshine, therefore, is a real magical drink, since it replaces alcohol, vodka, brotherhood, and much more. And replaces very successfully. Maybe that's why our great-grandfathers continued to drive him despite the emergence of the alcohol industry. Purchased drinks of humanity are not enough. They will not be able to keep the "thirsty" company. You think, it happened, you think, but you decide that it would be better to buy sodas instead.

Of course, it will not work to catch up with all this diversity on bread. "Man does not live by bread alone," says folk wisdom. What is true is true: moonshine is made not only from bread, as you will see for yourself by reading this, the last chapter in our book. This chapter is intended both for those who want to become "experienced" moonshiners, and for those who just like to experiment. To help you and me, there is another folk wisdom that moonshine can be made from everything that comes to hand. In the "Twelve Chairs" it is written that moonshine can be made even from a stool. Of course, we will not break furniture into a “stool”.
And we won’t because we can “catch up” with a lot of other yummy. Some of the recipes below are old. Something, but they used to know how to cook a worthwhile drink in Russia, as we have already told you about. And it was not a shame to eat home-made black caviar. And the conversation at the table was sedate and serious. If you want to return the former solemnity to the Russian feast, go ahead, experiment. And without black caviar it will be delicious, we promise!

For your convenience, we publish each individual recipe under some name. The names are taken randomly. This is how the listed drinks are usually called. Usually! But there are other names for them, all over Russia drinking these names oh how many. Therefore, do not be surprised if you meet an old acquaintance under a new name. Even the old woman mead has different names around the country: in some places only one variety of mead was called mead, and the rest - in some other way, like it's not mead at all. I must tell you (if you are a beginner moonshiner), manufacturers of homemade drinks are capricious, skittish people. That is why there are simply no clear names for their creations.

double moonshine

Take any moonshine and distill it again.

Simple moonshine

Take 1 kg of sugar, fill it with 5 liters of water, add 40 g of yeast. Insist 7 days. Then it should be overtaken.

Moonshine "Gifts of the Forest"

Take 300 g of pine cones, 400 g of blackcurrant leaves, 350 g of mint, 250 g of fresh wormwood tops, 300 g of rosemary, 260 g of raspberry root. Pour all this to the top with double moonshine. Insist 3 days, then overtake. Add sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Morning"

Take 50 g of cinnamon, 25 g of nutmeg, crushed peanuts, galangal, frankincense, violet root, 50 g of pistachios, 20 g of clove petals. Pour 15 liters of double moonshine and close tightly. Insist in a warm place for 4 days, then overtake.

Moonshine "Russian Expanse"

Overripe quince crush or rub on a grater. Cut a bunch of rye straw very finely. Squeeze juice from this mixture. For eight glasses of this juice, you need the same amount of vodka. Add ordinary sugar and 50 g vanilla sugar. Pour into a bottle and stand for 1 week. Then filter.

Moonshine "Emerald"

1 liter of vodka and 1 liter boiled water pour into gooseberry bottles. Keep, stirring, in the sun for 2 weeks until the gooseberries pop up. Strain, add sugar to taste. Put it back in the sun for a day. Next, put everything in the refrigerator for 10 days. Strain again, pour into thick-walled bottles, let it crust. Keep cold. After 3 weeks, the drink will be ready to drink.

Tincture "On the hills of Manchuria"

Take 4 ml alcohol tincture root of Aralia Manchurian, lemongrass and 60 g bee honey. Pour all 1 liter of double moonshine. Filter.

Moonshine "Lady"

Take 100 g of intestines and ginger, 50 g of cloves, 25 g of nutmeg, finely pound everything. Pour 5 liters of double moonshine and add 5 g of saffron. Insist 7 days, then sweeten.

Moonshine "Lavender wreath"

Take 100 g of lavender, 25 g of anise, 25 g of cinnamon, chop and mix. Pour 12 liters of double moonshine and leave for 7 days. Then put a slice of bread smeared with honey into the infusion and distill over low heat.

Moonshine "Inok"

Take 50 g each of lemon peel, grapefruit peel, styrax, cloves and anise. Pour 10 liters of double moonshine, cork. Infuse for 5 days in a warm place, then overtake.

Moonshine "Monastyrsky"

Take 50 g of lemon, grapefruit and tangerine zest, 20 g of crushed apricot kernels, thorn plums, cherries. Pour 7 liters of double moonshine. Insist 8 days, then overtake.

Moonshine "Breath of Spring"

Take 50 g of lime blossom, 25 g of oregano, 15 g of calamus, 20 g of lemon peel, 50 g of dry raspberries. Pour 1 liter of double moonshine and leave for a week. Then strain, add 5 ml of alcohol tincture of radiola (5 ml) and 0.4 l of water. Insist 6 days, then filter.

Moonshine "Violent"

Take 20 g of black pepper, 10 g of red pepper, 5 g of allspice, 4 drops of cardamom oil. Pour 1-2 liters of double moonshine. Insist 15 days. After that it should be filtered.

Gin "Captain's"

Take 50 g of juniper berries, horseradish, cloves, black ground pepper on the tip of a knife, a pinch of salt, Pour 1 liter of double moonshine and leave for 15 days in a dark place, shaking the bottle regularly. After that, the drink should be filtered.

Moonshine "Grandfather"

Take 50 g of galangal root, 20 g of dill seeds and cloves, 5 g of ginger. Pour 1.5 liters of double moonshine and leave for 20 days in a warm place. After that, the drink should be filtered.

Moonshine "Home Doctor"

Take 50 g of St. John's wort and sweet clover, 20 g of oregano, 40 g of dried juniper berries, dried raspberries and dried apples. Add 3 g of vanilla. Stir, pour 1.5 liters of double moonshine. Insist 15 days in a warm place. After that filter.

Moonshine "Shepherd"

Take half a kilo of sage, 50 g of anise, 50 g of cloves, pour 30 liters of double moonshine and distill over low heat. Then sweeten with sugar syrup to your liking and filter.

Moonshine "Babiy"

Take 3 liters of jam, 100 g of yeast and 1.5 kg of sugar. Pour 15 liters of warm water. Infuse for 1 week, after which it should be overtaken.

Cocktail "Rustic idyll"

Take 2 liters apple juice, strawberry juice and blackcurrant juice. Add 100 g mint. Pour 6 liters of double moonshine. Add 50 g of yeast and infuse for 2.5 weeks. After that, pour in 6 liters of soft spring water and 10 liters of double moonshine. Filter the drink and distill twice.

Moonshine "Mephistopheles"

Take 100 g of sage, nutmeg, nutmeg, color, raisins, cardamom. Break it all down, grind it down. Then pour 6 liters of double moonshine. Keep on low heat for 30 minutes. Filter and distill. Sweeten with sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Garden Head"

Take 200 g of pear juice, 50 g of cloves, 20 g of mint. Pour 3 liters of double moonshine, boil and distill. Sweeten with sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Lunch"

Take 5 kg of strawberries, mash. Pour in double moonshine so that you get a "porridge". Add 50 g of yeast there and set to ferment. Infuse this mixture for 2 weeks, then add 14 liters of double moonshine and distill. Sweeten to taste with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Gornyachka"

Take 20 g of thyme, 25 g of marjoram, 40 g of anise, 15 g of oak bark, 10 g of coriander seed. Grind everything, pour 1 liter of double moonshine. Insist 10 days. Separately, prepare an infusion of blackcurrant leaves and double moonshine. Mix it with herbs.

Moonshine "Birch"

Take 250 g of St. John's wort, 150 g of sage, 200 g of birch sap. Grind everything, pour 7 liters of double moonshine and leave for 10 days. Then it should be distilled and filtered. Sweeten to taste.

Moonshine "Ivanych"

Take 500 g of St. John's wort, 200 g of juniper berries, 300 g of cinnamon, 50 g of nutmeg, 50 g of nutmeg. Pour 10 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 8 days, then distill and filter. Sweeten to taste with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Triumph"

Finely crush 1 kg of bay leaves, pour 14 liters of double moonshine, leave for 3 days, then overtake.

Moonshine "Tropical Paradise"

Take 1 kg of crushed banana, pour 10 liters of double moonshine. Add 100 g each of anise, nutmeg and nutmeg. Insist 8 days, then overtake. Sweeten to taste.

Moonshine "Bogdanka"

Take 500 g of dry raspberries, 350 g of mint, 300 g of sugar, pour all 12 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 6 days, then filter and distill.

Moonshine "Nepogodushka"

Take 100 g of apricot kernels, 100 g of almond kernels, 80 g of pure turpentine. All interpret and pour 7 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 1 week, then filter and distill. Sweeten with sugar syrup to your liking.

Moonshine "Borodach"

Take 1 kg of mandarin peels, 150 g of mastic, rosemary, sage and nutmeg each. Pour 7 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 4 days, then filter and distill. Sweeten to taste.

Moonshine "Wild West"

Take 1 liter of tomato paste, 10 g of hot pepper, 500 g of boiled potatoes, 1 loaf of steamed rye bread. Pour 15 liters of double moonshine. Stir, insist 14 days. After that, you should overtake.

Moonshine "Stormyaga"

Take a handful of rosemary, a handful of grapefruit peels, 50 g of oregano, 30 g of sage. Pour 4 liters of double moonshine. Insist 4-5 days, then overtake. Sweeten with syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Zapravsky"

Take 10 g of galangal, 10 g of star anise, 10 g of anise, 10 g of mint, pour 1 liter of double moonshine and leave for 3 weeks. Then add 1.5 liters of water and distill, getting the original volume.

Moonshine "Eremeich"

Fill up the bottle pitted cherries, fill with double moonshine. Insist in a dark place for 2 months, strain. Bottle. You can drink in a year.

Moonshine "Clumsy"

Dial young pine cones, fill with double moonshine. Infuse for 4 days, then distill and sweeten with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Kolotun"

Take 4 handfuls of dry mint, fill it with 3 liters of double moonshine, leave for 3 days, then distill. Steep again until you get a green color in a handful. fresh leaves black and red currant. Sweeten with a syrup of 1 kg of sugar diluted in 0.5 liters of water and filter.

Moonshine "Raspberry Ring"

Take 200 g of mint, 25 g of wormwood, 15 g of rosemary, 25 g of sage, 15 g of cinnamon, 10 g of cloves, pour 12 liters of moonshine, cork tightly and insist in the sun or in a warm place for 3-4 days. Then distill and add syrup to taste.

Pouring "Berry Miracle"

Fill the container 1/2 with berries, from which the liqueur will be made, fill with moonshine and distill. Dilute the resulting moonshine by 1/1 with boiled water and mix thoroughly. Such moonshine will acquire the taste of berries, and the liqueur will turn out with a natural smell and a pure taste.

Moonshine "Under the heels"

Take 4 kg of boiled potatoes, 4 loaves of steamed bread. All finely interpret. Then pour 2 liters of water, 20 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 10 days, then overtake.

Moonshine "Gymnasium"

Take 1 kg caramel candies, pour 5 liters of water, add 40 g of yeast and 200 g of lemon peels. Seven days insist, then overtake.

Moonshine "Winter sleep"

Take 5 liters of raspberry juice, pour 10 liters of double moonshine, mix, then distill.

Moonshine "Look to America"

Take 10 kg of mountain ash, squeeze the juice out of them, mix with 12 liters of double moonshine, add lemon peels (about 500 g). Infuse for 7 days, then filter and distill. Sweeten to your liking.

Moonshine "Red"

Take 1 liter of tomato paste, add 50 g of cloves, 3 grated garlic cloves, 75 g of cardamom. Pour 12 liters of double moonshine. Insist 8 days, then overtake.

grapefruit moonshine

Grapefruit can be replaced with green oranges, but they will need twice as much.

1. Moonshine "Problem"
Take 12 liters of moonshine, dilute it with 6 liters of water and distill over low heat until you get 3 liters of double moonshine, add 200 g of finely chopped grapefruit zest there, cork and insist in a dark place for 7 days. Distill and sweeten with syrup.

2. Moonshine "Grenade"
Take 800 g of grapefruit peel without pulp, pour 12 liters of double moonshine. Insist 3 days, and then overtake. Sweeten up.

3. Moonshine "Viscous"
Take 400 g of grapefruit peel, 200 g of star anise, 45 g of cardamom, 45 g of cinnamon, 45 g of fennel, 35 g of cloves and pour 12 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 7 days, distill, sweeten and filter.

4. Moonshine "Count's estate"
Take 1.5 kg of grapefruit peel, pour 6 liters of double moonshine and leave for 3 days. Then add 8.5 liters of double moonshine and distill until you get 8.5 liters of vodka. Sweeten with syrup to taste.

5. Moonshine "Spark"
Take 400 g of grapefruit peel, 200 g of star anise, 180 g of nutmeg, 85 g of cardamom, 85 g of cinnamon, 200 g of pistachios, 70 g of cloves, pour 11 liters of double moonshine. Insist 7 days, then overtake. Add syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Sotnik"

Take 100 g of nutmeg, nutmeg, cinnamon, galangal, cardamom, cloves, intestines, sage, tops of wormwood, star anise. Interpret everything, mix it up. Add 150 g of honey. Pour 12 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 8 days, then filter and distill.

Moonshine "Bolshak"

Take 200 g of styrax, 150 g of mastic, 100 g of anise, black currant leaves, angelica and bee honey. Pour 13 liters of double moonshine. Insist 8 days. After that, it should be filtered and distilled.

Moonshine "Peasant"

Take 100 g of basil, 100 g of saffron, 70 g of star anise, 120 g of cardamom, 100 g of lemon peel. Interpret everything, pour 10 liters of double moonshine. Insist 7 days, then overtake.

Moonshine "Pastoral"

Take 150 g of tangerine peels, 120 g of nutmeg, 20 g of cornflower petals, 50 g of mastic and 3 violet roots. Grind everything, pour 10 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 5 days, then filter and distill. Sweeten to your liking.

Moonshine "Citron"

Take peels from 5 medium tangerines, 10 g of cinnamon, pour 3 liters of double moonshine. Bring to a boil over low heat. Insist 3 weeks. Filter. Add sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Khokhlyatsky"

Take 1 kg of coarsely crushed lemon peel, 50 g of salt, pour 10 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 3 days, then distill and sweeten with 1 liter of sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Sun"

Infuse 3 weeks of double moonshine on lemon zest (take 5 parts of moonshine and 1 part of zest). Then dilute with 2.5 parts of water and distill. The volume of distilled vodka should be equal to the original volume of moonshine. Cut off the thin top layer of zest from three small lemons, put in a bottle and fill with distilled moonshine. Infuse in a warm place for 5-8 days, then filter. You can sweeten it a little (200 g of sugar per 1 liter).

Moonshine "Molodetsky"

Take 500 g of lemon peel, 500 g of violet and pour 14 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 6 days, and then distill over low heat until 6.5 liters of moonshine comes out.

Moonshine "Soldier"

Take 25 g of marjoram, sage, cinnamon, cloves, rose petals, 1.5 kg of sugar. Pour 7 liters of double moonshine. Insist 3 days, then overtake.

French vodka "Waterloo"

Pour rotten fruits and berries with water so that it slightly covers them. Add to 14 liters of the resulting mixture 0.75 liters of wine and 50 g of yeast. When the mixture turns sour, distill 3 times.

Moonshine "Church special"

Take 40 liters of moonshine, 7 liters of milk and distill until you get 20 liters of moonshine. Add 3.5 liters of milk, 3 loaves of rye bread, 6 liters of cherry wine, 2 kg of raisins, 1 kg of sugar. Distill until you get 10 liters of moonshine.

Moonshine "Gimlet"

Take 5 cloves of garlic, ground red pepper on the tip of a knife, 2 medium bay leaves, crushed, a pinch of salt. Pour 1 liter of double moonshine and leave for 5 days, shaking regularly. After that filter. Sweeten to taste with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Siberian"

Take 1 kg of raisins, pour 14 liters of double moonshine. Drive everything.

Moonshine "Siberian special"

Take 14 liters of raspberry wine, add 650 g of yeast and distill 2 times.

Moonshine "Golden Field"

Take 5 kg of crushed wheat, 1 kg of sugar, pour 3.5 liters of water and leave for 5 days. Then add 6 kg of sugar and 20 liters of water and leave for another week. Then strain and distill 2 times.

Moonshine "Grain"

Take 6 kg of ground barley. Add 10 loaves of bread soaked in water, 10 kg of boiled potatoes. All this knead, mix. Add 1 kg of yeast. Insist 1 week. After that, distill 2 times.

Moonshine "Strada"

Take 150 g of frankincense, saffron and rose petals, 100 g of cinnamon and rosemary. Interpret everything, pour 13 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 6 days, then filter and distill. Sweeten to taste with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Gavrilych"

Take a handful of fresh cherry leaves, put them in 4 liters of moonshine and leave for a week in a warm place. Then strain, distill and sweeten.

Moonshine "Polar"

Take apples, fill them with double moonshine so that the liquid covers the fruit completely. Insist 6 months. After that, strain, drain into a container. Boil twice, sweeten to taste. Cool, strain, add water at the rate of 1 liter per 4 liters of moonshine. Distill and filter.

Moonshine "Adam"

Take 10 liters of apple juice, add 1 kg of sugar and 50 g of yeast. Insist 1 week. Then overtake 2 times.

Moonshine "Merchant"

Take 200 g of tea, pour 1 liter of boiling water, brew, let cool and strain. Mix tea with 7 liters of double moonshine. Close tightly, leave for 1 week. Add another 100 g of tea, boil. Distill to obtain 3.5 liters of moonshine, filter and sweeten to taste.

Moonshine "Angry"

Take 150 g of sage, 50 g of cinnamon, 25 g of dill, 50 g of wild rose, pour 10 liters of double moonshine, close tightly and leave for 3 days. After that, distill, sweeten with sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Mexico City"

Take 10 ears of corn. Beans crush, add a little salt, pour 5 liters of moonshine. Insist 7 days, then overtake. Sweeten with sugar syrup to your liking.

Moonshine "Friendly"

Take 400 g of corn, add 50 g of anise, 40 g of cinnamon, 40 g of star anise, 25 g of oregano. Pour 3 liters of double moonshine there and leave for 9 days, distill. Then add 8 liters of double moonshine, distill and filter. Sweeten with sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Corn special"

Take 5 unripe ears of corn, finely chop and pour 10 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 7 days, after which it should be distilled, filtered and then sweetened with syrup.

Moonshine "Stanichny"

Take a pound of grated cabbage stalk, 25 g of anise, 25 g of cinnamon, 30 g of cloves and pour 10 liters of double moonshine. Insist 7-8 days, then overtake. Filter and sweeten.

Moonshine "Royal"

Take a handful of juniper berries, add 1 liter of moonshine and leave for 2 weeks. Add the zest of 2 lemons and leave for another 5 days. Mix with sugar 1 tbsp. l ginger and dilute in moonshine. Insist on the sun for 2 weeks. Strain, bottle. Store in the cold for six months.

Moonshine "Zaboristy"

Take a handful of clove petals, 50 g of star anise, 50 g of cinnamon, 50 g of galangal, 25 g of nettle and pour 10 liters of double moonshine. Distill. Boil. Insist on the sun for 17 days. Filter. Sweeten with syrup to taste.

Moonshine "The Joker"

Take 400 g of nettle, 200 g of nutmeg and pour 11 liters of moonshine. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, for half an hour. Let cool. Add 40 g of any berry (of your choice), distill. Infuse for 15 days, then filter. Distill again and sweeten with syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Girl's Tears"

Take 5 kg of germinated milled wheat, add 300 g of yeast and pour 17 liters of water. Insist in a warm place for 2 weeks, then distill 2 times.

Moonshine "Asket"

Take 2 kg of dryers, interpret. Add 60 g of anise, 150 g of cloves, pour 15 liters of moonshine. Insist 5 days. Then add 7 liters of water and distill until you get 15 liters of moonshine.

Moonshine "Long"

Take 3 handfuls of marjoram, sage, hyssop, oregano, anise, basil, cypress chips, juniper berries, mint, rosemary, clove petals, blackcurrant leaves, zest of 4 oranges. Pour all this into 15 liters of double moonshine. Insist 8 days, then overtake.

Moonshine "Cossack"

Take 100 g of tangerine zest, 100 g of lemon balm, 50 g of black cumin, 50 g of mint, 50 g of thyme, 50 g bay leaf, 50 g of black currant leaves. Pour 12 liters of double moonshine, leave for 3-4 days, then distill.

Moonshine "Makarych"

Take 50 g each of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, galangal, calamus, rhubarb, licorice, star anise, rosemary, sage, lemon peel, nutmeg, angelica, cumin, parsley, rose petals. Pour 14 liters of double moonshine. Insist for 6 days, then distill over low heat. Sweeten to taste with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Easter"

Take 50 g of cinnamon, nutmeg, nutmeg, pistachios, cardamom, cloves, sage. Interpret all this, mix, pour 17 liters of double moonshine. Insist 6 days. Then distill over low heat. Add syrup to taste.

Prussian vodka "Karlmarksstadt"

Take 50 g of cinnamon, grapefruit peel, frankincense, nutmeg, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, nettle, 200 g of pistachios. All interpret, mix, pour 17 liters of double moonshine. Insist 6 days. Then distill over low heat.

Moonshine "Keykeeper"

Take 100 g of ginger, 70 g of anise, 60 g of dill, 50 g of wormwood, 50 g of almond kernels, 40 g of cloves. Grind everything, pour 4 liters of double moonshine, insist for 7 days. Then filter and distill. Sweeten to your liking with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Mikhailovsky"

Take 200 g of saffron, 150 g of angelica, 130 g of cloves, 100 g of styrax. Grind everything, pour 14 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 6 days, then filter and distill. You can sweeten to taste.

Moonshine "Good morning"

Take 100 g of lime blossom, 70 g of oregano, 50 g of cloves, 50 g of anise. Pour 5 liters of double moonshine, insist for 5 days, then filter and distill.

Moonshine "Bogatyrsky"

Take 600 g of cumin, 80 g of anise and orange peels, and 100 g of orris root. Grind, mix, pour 4.5 liters of double moonshine. Insist 2 days. Then add 3-3.5 liters of water and distill 2 times. Sweeten with sugar syrup to taste and filter.

Moonshine "Festive"

Take 200 g of cumin, 100 g of nettle, 50 g of grapefruit zest. Pour 15 liters of moonshine and distill. Then filter.

Moonshine "Rumyanenky"

Boil the grated beets three times. Pour the liquid after each boil into a container. The total volume of liquid should be 8 liters. Add 4 kg of cereal and infuse for 5 days at a temperature of 20 degrees. Then add 15 liters of beet liquid, leave for 15 days, then distill.

Hungarian moonshine "Slavic"

Mash 10 kg of plums, add 1 kg of sugar. Infuse for 15 days, then distill 2 times.

Moonshine "Mother"

Mix the mashed plum with water so that you get a "porridge". Put the "porridge" to ferment. When she stops wandering - distill 2 times.

Moonshine "Caraway Special"

Pour 1 kg of crushed cumin into 5 liters of moonshine and add 50 g of clove petals. Insist 3 days. Then add the same amount of moonshine and distill. Sweeten with syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Belorusochka"

Take 2.5 kg of crushed cumin, pour 15 liters of moonshine. Distill and sweeten to taste.

Moonshine "Potapych"

Take 900 g of fresh raspberries, 50 g of finely chopped nutmeg, pour 14 liters of double moonshine, leave for 6 days, then distill.

Moonshine "Prickly"

Take 500 g of fresh raspberries, pour 14 liters of moonshine and leave for 2 days, then distill.

Moonshine "Hussar"

Take 200 g of millet grains, add 150 g of grated potatoes. Pour 6 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 5 days, then filter and distill. Sweeten with syrup.

Moonshine "Bee"

Take 100 g of bee honey, 80 g of lemon peels. Pour 2 liters of double moonshine, leave for 4 days. Filter and distill.

Moonshine "Kosa"

Take 200 g of almond kernels, 150 g of cinnamon, 130 g of star anise. Pour 4.5 liters of double moonshine and leave for 5 days. Filter and distill. Then sweeten to taste with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Seryoga"

Take 150 g of orange peels, 100 g of anise, 80 g of galangal, 70 g of oregano. Interpret everything, pour 5 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 7 days, then filter and distill. Sweeten with sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Chauffeur"

Take 300 g of ginger, 200 g of intestines, 150 g of mastic, 70 g of nutmeg. Grind everything, pour 10 liters of double moonshine and leave this mixture for a week. Filter and distill. Sweeten to taste with syrup.

Moonshine "Zorka"

Mash the rose petals in a mortar, sprinkle with a layer of salt on top. The thickness of the layer should be about 1 cm. Then pour 2 liters of double moonshine, add 200 g of star anise, 100 g of sage and insist in a cool place for 6-8 weeks until the petals begin to rot. Put everything in a cube, fill with water at the rate of 1: 1, mix and distill. Pervach will contain alcohol from roses and therefore have a strong smell. Subsequently, moonshine will go almost odorless. It should not be used. Distill the first moonshine again, sweeten and filter.

Gin "Visit"

Take 1.5 kg of juniper berries, crush them and pour 8 liters of double moonshine. Insist 12 days, then distill until? initial volume. Sweeten with sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Friendly"

1 liter of vodka insist 2 weeks in a dark place, adding 2 orange peels and a few carnations. Add a glass of cherry juice, filter. Store in sealed bottles for six months.

Moonshine "Oprichnik"

Fill the pot with berries, fill with vodka. Tie with thick paper, pierce it in 3 places, cover the edges with dough. 2 days put in a cooling oven. Drain and strain. Add sugar and boil

Moonshine "Dudych"

Take a handful of black currant leaves, 100 g of mastic, 80 g of styrax, 90 g of cinnamon and 75 g of sage. Pour 5 liters of double moonshine. Insist 5 days. Then filter and distill.

Moonshine "For the winter"

Take 150 g of nutmeg, 120 g of star anise, 90 g of anise; pour 5 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 6 days, filter and distill. Sweeten up.

Moonshine "Field"

Take 800 g of anise, 200 g of wormwood, pour 12 liters of moonshine, leave for 14 days, then distill. Sweeten with sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "The Shrew"

Take 300 g of the tops of young wormwood, 60 g of salt, pour 12 liters of double moonshine, leave for 7 days. Then add 1.2 liters of sugar syrup and distill.

Moonshine "Mill"

Dial 1.5 kg of the tops of young shoots of wormwood, 100 g of angelica root, 100 g of violet root, 100 g of oregano leaves, 50 g of anise and 50 g of star anise, pour 12 liters of double moonshine and leave for 4 weeks. Then distill to obtain 8 liters of moonshine, in which add 1.2 kg of sugar dissolved in 0.6 liters of water. Such moonshine is tinted green, insisting on blackcurrant or lovage leaves.

Moonshine "Rasp"

Take 2 kg of wormwood tops, 300 g of angelica, pour 6 liters of moonshine and leave for 2 weeks. Then add 3 liters of water and distill to obtain 6 liters of moonshine. This moonshine can also be made green by steeping for 2-3 days on blackcurrant or lovage leaves. Then filter.

Moonshine "Your boyfriend"

Take 400 g of anise, 200 g of finely chopped wormwood, pour 12 liters of moonshine and distill. Sweeten with sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Uncle"

Take 20 g of crushed cloves and insist? l moonshine 3 days. Then take 400 g of grapefruit peel, pour 12 liters of moonshine and also leave for 4 days. Add cloves there, mix and distill.

Moonshine "Spikelet"

Boil 3 kg of millet, dilute warm water, add 100 g of yeast, 1.2 kg of sourdough dough and set to ferment. When sour and ferment, distill 2 times.

Moonshine "Vinaigret"

Fill a large container halfway with moonshine and fill it with any berries and fruits, everything should ferment with fresh and rotten carrion. After that, drain and distill the moonshine, and add new moonshine to the remaining fruits and let it ferment, and then drain and distill it.

Moonshine "Huanhe"

Take a bottle of malaga, 400 g of crushed rice, 800 g of large raisins boiled in water and sugar syrup to taste. Add 800 g of water and 400 g of white brewer's yeast there, leave to ferment in a bowl for 4 days. Then add 24 liters of double moonshine, 12 liters of soft water and distill so that 18 liters of moonshine come out. In a separate bowl, pour 0.4 liters of 65-degree alcohol or triple moonshine and pour in 8 tsp. vanilla. Insist 3-4 days, then filter. Add vanilla tincture and 3 drops of rose oil to already distilled moonshine. Put 1 kg of fresh oak bark in a bag. Place this bag in a container with moonshine.

Moonshine "Chinese Wall"

Take 2.5 kg of crushed overcooked rice, 25 g of saffron, pour 60 liters of purified moonshine and distill until you get 43 liters of vodka.

Moonshine "Bodry"

Take 700 g of mint, 1 kg of honey, 50 g of salt, pour 12 liters of double moonshine, leave for 3 days, then distill and filter. Add syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Vostochny"

Take 900 g of peach kernels, finely crush, dilute with water to a state of jelly, fill a thick-walled bottle, cork tightly, coat with dough and put in a cooling oven 9-10 times for 2 days. Then filter, add 100 g of anise, pour 7 liters of double moonshine and distill. Sweeten with syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Ararat"

Grind 500 g of peach kernels, dilute 7 liters of moonshine, pour into a thick-walled bottle, cork tightly, coat with dough and place in a cooling oven. Repeat the operation 15 times. Then filter and distill. The resulting drink can be sweetened with sugar syrup to taste.

Moonshine "Darling"

Take 400 g of rosemary, 60 g of salt, 50 g of orris root, 10 liters of double moonshine and insist 3 for. Distill and sweeten 1.2 kg of syrup.

Moonshine "Pink Thorn"

Take 1 kg of fresh rose flowers, pour 4 liters of purified moonshine. Infuse for 1 month, then distill until you get 2.5 liters of moonshine. Take 400 g of fresh rose flowers, dilute 1.6 liters of soft water and distill over low heat so that 0.4 liters come out rose water, add 400 g of new fresh rose flowers, 1.2 liters of soft water and distill over low heat until you get 0.4 liters of double rose water. Dissolve 800 g of sugar in the resulting water. Sweeten moonshine with sugar syrup and filter.

Moonshine "Romance"

Take 11 liters of apple juice, add 1 kg of sugar, 60 g of yeast. Insist 8 days in a dark place. Then overtake.

Moonshine "City"

Add yeast to 10 liters of grape wine. Insist in a container covered with gauze. Distill after 8 days.

Moonshine "Hunter"

Take a pound dried champignons, 2 handfuls of dill seeds. Pour 15 liters of double moonshine. Insist 12-16 days. Then add 5 liters of water and distill.

Moonshine "Chertyaka"

Take 70 g of marjoram, 60 g of cardamom, 100 g of nutmeg and nutmeg each, 50 g of lemon zest. Pour 4 liters of double moonshine. Infuse for 5 days, after which it should be filtered and distilled. Sweeten the drink to your taste with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Zaikych"

Take 1 kg of orange peel, 100 g of styrax, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom. Pour 7 liters of double moonshine. Insist 6 days. After that, it should be filtered and distilled.

Moonshine "Skulovorot"

Take the zest of 30 lemons, pour 5 liters of double moonshine and 3.5 liters of water, add the zest of 4 grapefruits or 5 green oranges, a handful of crushed coriander and 4 cloves. Insist in the sun or in a warm place for 30 days. Then distill until you get 2.5 liters of moonshine. Sweeten with syrup and filter.

Moonshine "Senoval"

Take 2 kg of strawberries, mash, pour 7 liters of double moonshine and put on medium heat. Stir occasionally. Bring to a boil, remove. Insist in a dark place for 9-10 days. Strain, filter and sweeten to taste with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Walking"

Take 4 g of cynomon, cloves, saffron, 8 g of nutmeg, 16 g of vanilla, insist, shaking, 2 weeks per 1 liter of vodka. Strain, boil with 200 g of sugar. Kiss again.

Moonshine "Nectar"

Collect 3 kg of ripe mountain ash before frost, mash, add 100 g of yeast, pour 12 l bread kvass and insist at a temperature of 15-16 degrees. When active gassing stops, stir and distill. Then add 6 liters of moonshine and distill again.

Moonshine "Batrachy"

Gather rowan berries, mash and squeeze out the juice from them, which is put on fermentation in a warm place. When fermentation is over, distill 2 times. You will get moonshine without fusel oils.

Moonshine "Guided"

Mash the mountain ash, pour it with moonshine so that the berries are barely covered, and the container is half full, add yeast at the rate of 15–20 g per 1 liter, close tightly and leave for 14 days, then distill 2 times.

Moonshine "Date"

Grate and boil 4 kg of sugar beets. Add 3 kg of sugar to still warm beets, pour 5 liters of water at a temperature of 25 degrees. Add 500 g of yeast diluted in a little water. Insist in a warm place for 4 days. When the beets sink to the bottom and a crust forms on top, mix everything and distill 2 times.

Moonshine "For three"

Grate the beets, cover with water, and boil for 1 hour. Drain the resulting liquid into a container, and fill the beets with water. Boil again for an hour, then drain again. Then do the same operation again. Drain the liquid into one container. Add yeast at the rate of 10 g per 1 liter and infuse for 12-13 days. Distill after fermentation is complete. Sweeten to taste with sugar syrup.

Moonshine "Sleepy"

Take 150 g of cumin, 150 g of sage, 150 g of hyssop, 150 g of anise, 100 g of grapefruit peel, 100 g of pistachios, 100 g of rosemary, 20 g of cinnamon, frankincense, cardamom, nutmeg, nutmeg, cloves. Pour 18 liters of double moonshine. Insist 6 days. Then distill over low heat.

Moonshine "Priest's daughter"

Take 40 liters of double moonshine, 7 liters of milk and distill. Add 3.5 liters of water, 3.5 liters of milk and 7 loaves of rye bread. Drive again. Add 3.5 liters of raspberry wine, 1 kg of raisins, a pound of sugar. Close tightly and store in a cool place.

Moonshine "Krutovert"

Take 1.5 kg of peas crushed to flour. Pour flour into boiling water and cook until a thick homogeneous mass is obtained. Cool, add 1.5 cups of malt, stir and let stand. Then pour into a vat, add 100 g of yeast and leave in a warm place. Insist 5 days, then overtake.
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As you can see, there are no limits to a person's imagination when it comes to such a delicate and delicate matter as the manufacture of strong drinks.

We must warn you: fatigue, immoderate addiction to drinking does not relieve. You should drink in such a way that you become more cheerful. Eat freely, drink in moderation! Our ancestors knew a sense of proportion, and therefore, having drained a glass of wine (which no one can handle today), they did not get drunk, but only got stronger in health and could “wave” after the same size a glass of beer. Heroes were transferred to Mother Russia, but craftsmen - moonshiners, did not disappear, and that's good.Drunkenness is evil, ancient craftsmanship is a matter of pride. Cook to taste from what we have advised, help yourself, treat your friends, and we will be proud of you with your friends. However, you will be proud of yourself!

It remains only to wish that you, following our recipes, do everything right. And let your moonshine turn out to be clean, like water, and strong, like real medical alcohol. So that during the feast your drink would knock out a tear from your eyes, or maybe give birth to a long and sad song in your soul, so familiar to Russian parties. And the drinking song will evoke both laughter and tears at once.

What's a party without fun drinks?! But even worse, if the drink fails, it will break a good toast. Let your moonshine not spoil what you threw into it according to our recipes. Whatever you put under there hot hand, let the homemade drink also make the heart hot later. Meanwhile, your skillful hands are tearing the strings of the guitar - your good and reliable friend, a big party lover.

Imagine this situation: You come to visit. The hosts have a lot of treats on the table and, of course, alcohol. You prefer stronger alcohol. And then they ask you: “What are you going to drink? Maybe vodka? Or maybe try "homemade"? Which drink would you choose? And what arguments are you willing to justify this choice. Don't work hard. We will give you a whole arsenal in your hands, which will help you decide much faster.

Who is who

Moonshine. This is a strong alcoholic drink, which is obtained as a result of sublimation, or in other words - distillation. A pre-prepared mash is placed in the container. She's heating up. Alcohol, which evaporates from the semi-finished product faster than water, cools in a special coil and gradually collects in the form of condensate in a container. This is in short. The process of making good moonshine is troublesome. We'll talk about this in more detail below.

Vodka. In fact, it is a water-alcohol solution. Alcohol is obtained through the so-called rectification in distillation columns as a result of the separation of binary and multicomponent mixtures due to countercurrent mass and heat exchange between vapor and liquid. And there are many dangers here.

Debunking the Myths

Contrary to popular belief that moonshine is a real poison, that there is so much fuselage in it that there is not enough health, home-made alcohol is often much safer, and - no matter how strange it sounds - more useful than any, even the most expensive vodka. The main thing is to properly prepare and clean it. Ask the owner how many times he distilled the drink. Good moonshine is distilled at least twice. Don't let the smell fool you. It doesn't smell like "sivukha" at all. A pungent smell indicates that the owners did not add any flavors to the mash.

Now about vodka. Modern science makes it possible to obtain its main component, alcohol - for vodka not only from grain, but also from potatoes, sawdust and even oil and ... manure! Moreover, not a single chemical laboratory will subsequently establish what exactly it was made of. This is achieved through multi-stage purification from fusel oils. It comes to the fact that their number in vodka can tend to zero. Meanwhile, science has long proven that everything absolutely clean is extremely harmful for the human body. It's a paradox, but even 100% purified water can be a real poison. What can we say about ethyl alcohol. For comparison: there are 500 times more fusel oils in whiskey than in vodka. Impurities inhibit the oxidation of alcohol in the body. Based on all of the above, scientists call vodka almost the most harmful drink among any other strong alcohol.

There is only one indisputable plus from the choice of vodka: it is easier to purchase. Moonshine has to be obtained “by acquaintance”. Although there is nothing difficult in making it yourself.

Universal Recipe

The notorious hero of the work of Ilf and Petrov, Ostap Bender, knew at least two hundred ways to make moonshine, caressing the ears of curious bootleggers with the word “pervach”, which is unusual for a foreigner. The great strategist even claimed to have the secret of making moonshine from a stool. However, you can do without frills.

To prepare 6 liters of moonshine, we need:

• 5 kg of sugar;
• 500 g of yeast;
• 25 liters of water (never boiled!)

Stage 1. We prepare the wort for the mash. We need a container: wooden or enameled. The most common is a forty-liter milk can. We fill it with raw water, pour sugar, add yeast, previously dissolved in a small amount of warm water. The wort should ferment at a temperature of 20–30°C. In the villages, the container was placed near the stove. A battery is also suitable in the apartment. The mash will be infused for 10 days. Readiness can be judged by taste. Braga must be bitter. If it is sweet, you need to leave more. You can also assess the degree of readiness of the semi-finished product with a match. Light a match and bring it to the container. If the fire goes out, the fermentation process with the release of carbon dioxide continues. If the match burns, the mash is ready.

Stage 2. Carefully, without shaking, pour the mash into the distillation apparatus. Its design with a diagram and description can be easily found on the Internet. Basic principle: mash should fill no more than 70% of the volume of the apparatus. During the distillation process, it is important to strictly observe the temperature regime. Do not overheat, otherwise foam and turbidity will get into the final product during the boiling process. The race itself should not be fast. Experts recommend taking no more than 3 liters of product per hour. Pervach - the first batch of condensed moonshine. It is much more harmful than the product that will turn out a little later. It is recommended to use it exclusively for technical purposes.

Stage 3. He's the final one. Purification and aromatization of moonshine. The most proven method of purification is repeated distillation. To do this, the resulting moonshine (6 liters) is diluted with the same amount of filtered water and re-distilled.

Total

The taste characteristics of vodka, as well as the degree of its effect on the body, have long been experienced by most citizens. Moonshine is the popular favorite "little white", at least, no more harmful. Not to mention that the use of moonshine is much more profitable for the wallet. The cost of a liter of "homemade" is about 50 rubles. While the cheapest vodka costs at least 350 rubles in the store for the same volume. These are the facts. Based on them, everyone has the right to determine for himself which of the above drinks is better to give preference. The discrepancies are obvious: both in price and in the degree of influence on the body. The choice is an individual matter.

And finally

No matter how trite it may sound, it is better not to abuse either vodka or moonshine. In large quantities, any, even the most "useful" product is unlikely to benefit the body. Especially when it comes to alcohol. The standard dose recommended by the World Health Organization is 50 grams of hard alcohol per day for a healthy adult male. But if you still had a chance to "sort out", there are several simple but reliable ways to remove intoxication:

1. After a hangover, drink activated charcoal. It will help to quickly remove toxins.
2. Drink more water. Preferably with lemon juice. Citrus fruits help restore calcium and blood glucose levels.
3. Load up on salt. Pickle has always been a great hangover cure. Pickled sauerkraut brine is best suited for these purposes.

We hope our advice was helpful to you. Drink in moderation and be healthy.