Varieties and rules for making moonshine from wheat. Wheat vodka Grain alcohol

Homemade alcohol can be used to prepare strong noble drinks, medicinal tinctures and fruit and berry sweet liqueurs. The technology for making alcohol from cereals includes the preparation of malt and malted milk, the processing of raw materials containing starch, the preparation of yeast mash and its mashing, the distillation of mash and the rectification of the finished drink.

Malt is needed to make alcohol out of wheat without using a lot of yeast and starch. Germinated wheat or any other grain, which contains organic substances necessary for fermentation, is called malt. For germination, only clean and mature grain is selected, harvested at least 3 and no more than 12 months ago.

Checking the quality of wheat and the content of chemicals in it is simple: soak a handful in hot water for a few minutes and smell it. The processed grain will have a characteristic unpleasant smell.

However, this is the most popular technology for making alcohol from cereals.

How to make malt and malted milk

Start cooking by sifting and washing the raw materials. This is necessary to remove debris, empty and chipped grains, dust. After cleaning and sorting the grain, the wheat is soaked in a wooden or ceramic container for 6-8 hours. When the first sprouts hatch, the grains are washed in running water and transferred to a flat surface (this can be a basin with low sides, a baking sheet, a baking board). After soaking, the seeds are germinated in a well-ventilated area at a temperature not exceeding +20°C. To prevent drying out, the raw material is covered with a damp cloth or gauze. Stir every 4-6 hours.

When the first roots appear, the seeds are placed in a glass bottle. The layer of grains should be from 15 to 25 cm.

The temperature in the room is increased by 2-4 °. This is necessary for the activation of the grain and the active accumulation of malt enzymes. The malt is ready for use when the length of the sprouts has reached 13-15 mm.

Milk is made from green malt: only wheat is used for pure wheat malted milk. But many winemakers recommend a mixture of 2 parts germinated wheat and 1 part germinated barley and oats (grain is germinated in a similar way). The mixture is washed three times, then poured into a bottle, poured with hot water and left for 8-10 hours.

From wheat, it is necessary to grind 2 kg of flour, add about 200 g of malt mixture and pour a liter of water. Mix well. The resulting malted milk is necessary for the saccharification of starch raw materials in the main mash during the preparation of alcohol.

Home brew

To prepare alcohol mash you need to take:

Yeast;
Sugar (for every 5 liters of water, 1 kg of sugar is required);
clean water;
Foods containing starch (mash);
aromatic additives.

The yield of ethanol alcohol is the result of the vital activity of a yeast fungus. You can use ordinary baker's yeast (10-15% by weight of the total raw materials), or you can make homemade live yeast.

Hop Yeast Recipe

Ingredients:

A glass of warm water;
A couple of tablespoons of hops;
st.l. Sahara;
A quarter teaspoon of salt;
Potatoes - 110 g;
Wheat flour - 30 g.

Hops pour into a thermos and pour a glass of boiling water. Leave to infuse for a day. Strain the cooled mixture. Add sugar to the resulting infusion. Dissolve 30 g of wheat flour in warm water and add to the total mixture. Mix well: the liquid should turn out to be cloudy in color, homogeneous. Pour into a bottle and leave in a warm place for another 48 hours. Shake contents periodically. Boil potatoes, mash, add to sourdough. Mix the mass and leave for a day. On the fifth day, homemade yeast is ready.

How to make alcohol mash

Starch is found in potatoes, legumes and cereals. To prepare wheat mash, you will need fresh flour and water (proportions 1: 1). Knead the dough and leave for 20 minutes. Then it is transferred to a sieve placed in a container with water (about 1.5 liters of water is needed for 0.5 kg of dough). Rinse thoroughly. The process is necessary for the starch to pass into the water.

The next step is mashing the congestion. It consists of three parts: gelatinization, liquefaction and saccharification. Pour 500 ml of malted milk into a ten-liter bowl, add 500 ml of cold water. Mix the contents of the container well and pour in the starch water. Put on a slow fire. When the mass reaches a temperature of 58 ° C, add the remaining malted milk, and boil for another 5 minutes.

Preparation of alcohol wort

To prepare the wort, the mash is placed in a water bath with a temperature of 65 ° C, incubated for 4 hours. The readiness of the wort is checked with an iodine test - it should show the absence of unsweetened starch. To determine the acidity of the clarified wort of wheat mash, a strip of special indicator paper is used. Another indicator of normal acidity is a slightly acid taste. The wort must be cooled to 30 ° C, after which yeast and ammonium chloride (0.3 g per liter) are added to it. Stirred and cooled to 15°C.

Pour into a fermentation container and put in a dark room. The bottle is tied with a cotton cloth, the contents are shaken every 6 hours.

Conventionally, fermentation can be divided into three phases: initial, main, post-fermentation. The first stage is accompanied by saturation of the mash with carbon dioxide and an increase in temperature by a couple of degrees. The stage lasts a little more than a day. The end is determined by the disappearance of the sweet aftertaste. At the next stage, the battle is revived: air bubbles and foam appear on the surface. The temperature level of the liquid reaches 30°C. Braga becomes bitter-sour due to an increase in alcohol concentration and a decrease in sugar levels. Fermentation time from 12 to 26 hours. During fermentation, the foam settles. The temperature of the mixture drops by 5-6°C, the taste does not change. At this stage, the residual products of the transformation of starch - dextrins are fermented.

If the technological process is followed, the highest quality mash will be obtained. Its indicators: alcohol level - from 10%, acidity - up to 0.2%, residual sugar - no more than 0.4%.

For the distillation of alcohol, home-made or purchased distillers are used. Regardless of the model or manufacturer, their principle of operation is the same. When heated, alcohol from the mash passes into a gaseous state. Alcohol moves through the pipes and enters the cooling chamber, where it condenses on the walls and flows into the receiver.

In the moonshine still, the mash is heated to a temperature of 82-93 ° C. To obtain raw, with a strength of 80 degrees, the distillation process is repeated several times. If only one distillation of moonshine is made, then it is not necessary to neutralize the alcohol tint. To do this, use soda at the rate of 10 g per liter.

Re-distillation is carried out under constant control of the amount of alcohol in the acceptance using an alcohol meter. When the concentration of secondary alcohol reaches 55-61 ° - it is poured out. The fraction following it is drinking alcohol. It is distilled to a temperature of 98.4 °C. Repeat the distillation if the concentration of alcohol in it is less than 30 °.

Purification of drinking alcohol

Carrying out rectification allows you to get high-quality alcohol that does not contain harmful impurities and oils. The process consists of chemical cleaning with substances that neutralize impurities, separating them through repeated evaporation and condensation of vapors. The drink is divided into several fractions, and the concentration of alcohol increases. The process is carried out in a distillation apparatus.

They start with the first cleaning - saponification of fusel oils. If there is a lot of acid in alcohol, it must be neutralized with baking soda or alkali. Then a solution of potassium permanganate is prepared: per liter of alcohol, 2 g of manganese dissolved in 50 ml of distilled water. Everything is mixed and left for 20 minutes. After the allotted time, a soda solution prepared according to the same percentages is added and clarified for 10-12 hours.

As a result, the level of pollution of fusel oils is reduced by 95-97%.

Purified alcohol is filtered through a dense cloth. Start fractional distillation. It is carried out in a distillation cube with a drop catcher. Raw alcohol is diluted with soft water to a maximum strength of 51 ° and poured into a moonshine still. The temperature is quickly brought to 60°C, then the heating intensity is gradually reduced and brought to a boil (82-84°C). The resulting alcohol is purified by charcoal. Crushed lime or birch charcoal is poured into a glass or ceramic container at the rate of 50 g per liter of drink. Alcohol is poured. Everything is thoroughly mixed and infused for 20-22 days. After the allotted time, the alcohol is filtered daily through gauze for another 14 days.

Determining the quality of a drink

The color level of alcohol is determined using an ordinary glass: the presence of a whitish tint indicates poor cleaning and the presence of fusel oils. If the mash was boiling too actively, the drink will have a cloudy color. Fusel oils can be removed by additional purification and distillation. To check the smell and taste, a little alcohol is poured into a bottle and diluted with cold water (1 to 3). Mix and try.

Strong alcohol at home is stored in a closed bottle in the refrigerator. Shelf life of alcohol - no more than 5 years. On its basis, various tinctures are made on berries, roots, herbs, fruits and flowers, jam, fruits and root crops. It is also used to prepare such noble drinks as cognac, whiskey, absinthe, liqueurs, gin. Many medical tinctures for hypertension, colds, indigestion and other diseases are also made on its basis.

Moonshine from wheat without yeast was one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in ancient Rus'. It was made for every holiday. Many families kept their own unique cooking recipe, which was carefully passed down from generation to generation. Largely due to this, moonshine from wheat remains popular today.

Features and Benefits

Wheat moonshine without yeast in terms of taste characteristics is in many ways superior to moonshine prepared with other yeast. Of course, preparation will require more time and effort, but the result is a drink with a soft, balanced taste, and most importantly - completely natural. Such moonshine is easy to drink and sweetish notes are felt in taste, let's take a closer look at how to make moonshine from wheat.

How to choose wheat

The main thing to remember is the rule on which the quality of grain mash and the final drink depends - you need to choose the best wheat of the highest grade. The spoiled, rancid taste of the grains will spoil the moonshine, it will become bitter, with an unpleasant odor.

Must be dry
It is strictly forbidden to use grains with mold
Do not use wheat that was harvested less than two months ago
Grains must be free of husks and debris

Recipes

There are several ways to make moonshine from wheat without yeast at home. Each recipe is quite simple and requires several steps:

sourdough preparation
staging wheat mash
distillation

The finished product is of high quality, it can be drunk in its pure form or as an ingredient for cocktails.

The fermentation process of yeast-free mash is different from the fermentation of mash with yeast. The smell is more bready, reminiscent of kvass, and bubbles are not formed so actively. Distillation is started when the sweetness disappears. It is not recommended to wait for a complete cessation of fermentation for a very long time, in this case there is a high risk that the mash will turn sour.

Yeast sourdough from wheat

Before making mash from wheat, you need to prepare fermented with wild yeast.

Ingredients:

Wheat grains - 1 kg.
Water - 1 liter
Sugar - 0.25 kg.

Cooking:

Prepare sugar syrup, pour water into the pan and pour sugar, start heating until the sugar is completely dissolved
Cool the syrup down to 30 degrees
Prepare the wheat, it should be free of husks, impurities and dirt
Pour it into a wide plastic or metal dish in an even layer.
Pour sugar syrup so that the water covers the grain by 3-4 centimeters
Cover the dishes with gauze or a towel and put in a warm place for 5 days until the fermentation process begins
After soaking the grain, it must be constantly stirred at least once a day, otherwise it may turn sour
The beginning of fermentation can be understood by the release of foam and hiss
The sourdough is ready, now it can be used for any mash instead of yeast

Braga from wheat and sugar without yeast

Ingredients:

water - 25 liters
sourdough - 2 liters (all from the recipe above)
sugar - 5 kg.

Cooking:

Mix water and sugar in a saucepan in a ratio of 1 kg. sugar and 0.5 liters of water
Heat over low heat until the sugar and water turn into a golden syrup.
Pour the remaining water and sugar syrup into a fermentation container of a suitable size and mix
Achieve a mash temperature of 25-30 degrees so that the yeast does not die
Add wild yeast sourdough
A glove with a small hole in the finger is put on the neck or use a water seal
Leave to wander in a dark place at room temperature from +20 to +25 degrees for 10-14 days
When the mash on wheat without yeast has finished fermenting, remove from the sediment and strain through cheesecloth into a distillation cube so that the mash remains absolutely clean
Drive two times

The remaining sediment with grain can be used to prepare a few more servings of mash. After the third use of the starter, it is better to throw it away, as the activity of wild yeast decreases.

Braga from wheat without yeast and without sugar

There are several recipes for moonshine from wheat at home without the use of yeast and sugar:

First way- this is when wheat is saccharified with malt (see), green sprouted on its own (see) or dry bought in a store and instead of yeast, which is recommended to be added in the recipe, sourdough is added, as described above. Fermented and distilled twice.

Second way- this is when only wheat malt is taken, malt mash is prepared (see or), and sourdough is added instead of yeast. Fermented and distilled twice.

Moonshine from wheat without sugar turns out to be soft, its taste qualities are superior to the taste of moonshine made with cultural yeast.

Sprouted wheat mash without yeast

The next wheat mash recipe without adding yeast is done like this: do everything according to and instead of yeast, add sourdough, the recipe of which is described above.

cleaning

If desired, before the second distillation, you can additionally purify the raw alcohol obtained, but it is not necessarily enough to make a correct double distillation with the separation of heads and tails.

Distillation

If you want to get bread vodka according to the mash recipe on wild wheat yeast, instead of the second distillation, do a rectification and get high-quality alcohol, dilute it with water to 40%, run it through a coal column and let it rest in glass for 7 days.

Making moonshine is a long and laborious process, it will take patience and professional skills. Before starting work, it is better to familiarize yourself with all the nuances and recipes of wheat mash for moonshine. Only subject to the advice and technology can you prepare a high-quality alcoholic drink.

Making moonshine from wheat at home is not limited to one recipe. The drink can be made from ordinary grain or germinated culture, with or without yeast, granulated sugar. It all depends on the preferences of the taster. The main difference of this product is naturalness and unusual taste qualities.

The main stages in the preparation of wheat mash for moonshine are as follows:

selection and preliminary preparation of grain;
making mash;
distillation of moonshine;
product filtration.

Before cooking, the moonshiner faces an important task, it is necessary to determine the type of the main ingredient and choose it correctly. There should be no mold in the grain mixture, otherwise the final product will receive not only an unpleasant aroma, but can also harm human health. Therefore, the choice of raw materials must be taken responsibly.

VIDEO: Wheat moonshine - a step-by-step recipe from mash to tasting

Yeast wort

So, what characteristics should an alcoholic drink have at the exit? If you need a mild taste, then wheat will serve as the best option for the base, to get a stronger and sharper alcohol, you need to use rye, and you can get a whiskey-like drink from barley.

Homemade wheat moonshine recipe includes the following ingredients:

drinking water - 25 l;
granulated sugar - 6.5 kg;
wheat grains - 2.7 kg;
dry granulated yeast - 100 gr. or live - 500 gr.;
kefir, sour milk or fermented baked milk - 500 ml.

First of all, you need to soak the grains in water and let them brew for 30-45 days. After this time, pour the grain into a fermentation tank.

In a separate container, dissolve the sugar in water and pour the syrup over the grain. Activate alcohol yeast, add them along with kefir to the main composition. Mix everything thoroughly, put in a warm place.

After the wort stops emitting carbon dioxide, foam, the taste of the mash becomes bitter, and the aroma becomes alcohol - the product is ready for distillation.

When making moonshine from wheat at home, do not forget to separate the “tails” and “heads”. This part of the alcohol is not suitable for use, but it can be left for the secondary distillation of moonshine.

VIDEO: The process of selecting tails and heads

Yeast-free moonshine from germinated malt

Moonshine from wheat without yeast at home is better than alcohol prepared according to the previous recipe. In this case, germinated grains, that is, wild yeast, will act as a traditional yeast product. A distinctive feature of such a product is the absence of a pronounced smell of fusel oils.

The task of yeast in such recipes is performed by cereal malt - as a result, you can get pure wheat alcohol.

A fairly simple recipe for moonshine on wheat involves the use of the following components:

grain - 4.5 kg;
sugar - 4.5 kg;
purified water - 31 l.

The main steps on how to make moonshine from wheat:

Rinse the grain thoroughly, sort it out of foreign matter. When filling the container with grain with water, all the debris will rise to the surface, so it will not be difficult to separate it. For wheat moonshine, this is a very important stage, since impurities can transfer their aromatic or taste qualities to the product, which is unacceptable in this case.
Place 1 kg of grain crops in a plastic tank, spread evenly on the bottom and fill with water so that its level is 2 cm higher than the surface of the grain. Cover and leave to swell for 1 day.
At the end of this period, pour 500 gr. into a barrel with grain. sugar, mix ingredients. Close the reservoir with gauze and place in a warm place for 8-10 days. Shake the components every 2 days to eliminate the possibility of souring.

Add the rest of the ingredients and water at 25°C to the starter on the grain. Close the fermentation tank with a water seal and place in a warm place for another 7-9 days.
When the fermentation process is completed, drain the brew for moonshine on wheat from the sediment and strain. The must is ready for distillation.

The remaining sourdough can be used to prepare the mash 3-4 more times. At the same time, the quality of the finished product will not deteriorate. It is enough to add 4.5 kg of granulated sugar, water and put on repeated fermentation.

To get moonshine from wheat at home, pour the mash into a cube of Dobrovar or another modern moonshine still and distill the product into alcohol. Raw is recommended to be cleaned with charcoal.

Next, the moonshine is diluted with clean water until a strength of 20 ° is obtained, it is expelled again, but already with a division into “heads”, “body” and “tails”. Heads - the first moonshine in the amount of 5-10% of the total, approximately 30 ml per liter. Next comes the "body" with a strength of 40-50 °. Tails - everything below 40°, they are selected and can be used for external use.

If necessary, the resulting alcohol is diluted with water, after which it is left for 2-3 days to infuse. If you wish, you can make a tincture on oak blocks from grain moonshine. It will be an imitation of cognac.

VIDEO: How to cook mash with wild wheat yeast

Cooking mash without sugar

In this recipe for making mash, yeast is used, but granulated sugar is not used. The latter is homemade green malt.

Ingredients:

grain - 6 kg;
drinking water - 25 l;
granulated yeast - 25 gr.

Steps for making mash:

Making green malt

To obtain green malt, you need to thoroughly rinse 1 kg of grain, remove debris from it, soak for 7 hours in water. Next, the raw material is re-washed from mucus, poured with a solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes, after which it is evenly distributed on a pallet and left for 3-5 days.

Grains need to be washed abundantly 2 times a day. The moment of readiness is determined by the wheat germ, the sprout should be equal in size to the grain itself.

Wort preparation

After preparing green malt, it must be processed again with a solution of potassium permanganate in proportions of 0.2 g. per 1 liter After 20 minutes of infusion, the raw material is washed and ground.

The remaining grain product is also crushed and placed in a mash container, filled with water, heated to 65°C. At this point, you need to add green malt and mix the ingredients.

Remove the tank from the stove, wrap it in a warm blanket and leave for 3 hours. During this time, the wort acquires a sweet taste. Cool the consistency to 25o, transfer to a fermentation tank, add pre-activated yeast. Close the container with a water seal and put it in a place where there is a constant temperature of 26-29o. Holding time - 5 days.

Completion of fermentation

After the mash has been fermented, it will acquire a bitter taste, a lighter color and stop emitting carbon dioxide. Strain the ingredients through multilayer cheesecloth.

It is necessary to expel wheat moonshine by means of a steam generator or a steam-water tank. During the primary distillation, fractions are not separated; during the secondary distillation, tails and heads must be taken separately. After preparing moonshine, it is recommended to insist 4-7 days.

Classic yeast recipe

It is not always possible to ferment the wort with the help of wild yeast, and then spirit ones come to the rescue. In terms of the quality of the finished drink, to be honest, the difference between the yeast and yeast-free way is felt - the latter is softer, lighter with a bready aftertaste. But we could not tell about this method.

Ingredients:

wheat - 3.5 kg;
drinking water - 2.5 l;
sugar - 6 kg;
kefir 3.5% fat - 0.5 l;
pressed yeast - 0.5 kg (can be replaced with dry granulated 100 gr.).

Cooking:

Cereals are laid out in a bowl with a wide neck, poured with warm water and placed in a warm place to activate growth.

If after this time the cereals have not sprouted, they need to be changed - the quality of the raw materials is poor. To avoid souring, carefully shovel the grain every day.

After 3-4 days, the first loops of sprouts appear, they should grow to 2-2.2 cm and look tangled.
It can be added to the mash in this form, but it is more convenient to grind the dried sprouted grains and add to the main wort.

To do this, pour warm water into the tub, pour sugar and stir until completely dissolved, then add malt, soaked yeast and mix again. Close the lid tightly, expose the water seal and send it to a warm, dark place for fermentation. It is advisable to wrap the container or use an aquarium heater.
When the fermentation process has stopped, remove the liquid from the sediment by passing through a gauze filter or a regular colander (the latter is less preferable, since the cake may burn during distillation).
Kefir is added to the mash, it absorbs some of the harmful impurities and fractional distillation begins.
After the second distillation, the product is purified by means of a carbon column and diluted to the desired strength.

VIDEO: Wheat - second launch

Getting directly to cooking, you should familiarize yourself with the basic rules, time-tested and experienced by skilled moonshiners:

As a basis, you should take the grain that has lain for at least 2 months in a room with a good air flow so that the charm does not appear.
If there is a need to intensify and speed up the fermentation process, it is better to give preference not to baker's, but to special beer or wine yeast.
If you want to get more ready-made alcohol, with the same high taste, it is recommended to use recipes with sugar.
When distilling moonshine up to three times, homemade alcohol is obtained, indistinguishable in its properties from many elite drinks of our time.

Below are the basic recipes for home-made wheat grain moonshine with the addition of various ingredients. After reviewing them, each moonshiner will be able to find the best option for the manifestation of their "culinary" delights.

Homemade moonshine from grain without sugar can be prepared by both an experienced moonshiner and a novice winemaker. To do this, you need to take 8.5 kg of spring wheat grains, 1.5 kg of unfermented barley malt, 25 liters of water, about 35 g of dry yeast (which can be replaced with pressed in the amount of 175 g or special beer in the amount indicated on the package in the instructions). The recipe for moonshine from grain at home is as follows:

Wheat must be sorted out, low-quality elements separated, the remaining mass ground to a state of fine grains (not flour!). Then you should put water on fire in a large bowl, heat it to 71 ̊С and add grain cereals with malt there, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. As a result, the container should have a dense homogeneous mass. It must be brought to a temperature of 65 ̊С and not allowed to cool for a couple of hours so that the starch turns into sugar under the influence of malt enzymes.

After two hours, it is necessary to test with iodine. The mass should acquire a light shade. The resulting wort should be cooled as quickly as possible so that its temperature reaches from 25 to 27 ̊С. The cooler can be a chiller or an ice/cold water bath. Next, the mass should be poured into the fermenter (no more than three-quarters of the volume of the container). It is important to consider that the sugar content should be from 12 to 13%. If this figure is higher (you can measure it with a hydrometer), you need to dilute the wort with water to the required value.

The next stage is the addition of yeast, which must be dissolved. After that, the fermenter should be tightly closed with a water seal, and the wort should be left for fermentation for 5 days at a temperature of 28 to 30 ̊С. If a bottle is used as a fermenter, it is enough to put a rubber glove on its neck with a small hole in one of the fingers.

At the end of fermentation, it is necessary to drain the mash from the sediment, pass it through a gauze cut and distill on the existing moonshine still, not forgetting to separate the “head”, “main” and “tail” fractions.

Moonshine from grain with sugar without yeast: cooking technology

One of the common technologies for creating an alcoholic drink indispensable for any feast involves the use of sugar, but without yeast. According to one of the simplest recipes, you will need 1.5 kg of wheat grains, 10 liters of water and 6 kg of sugar (3 kg for each stage of preparation).

To get high-quality moonshine from grain without yeast, you should follow the following algorithm:

It is recommended to sort out wheat, remove spoiled grains from the total mass, rinse the remaining ones under running water, and then pour warm water (about 2 liters) to a level 5 cm higher than the grain level in the vessel.
Add 3 kg of sugar to the grain, close tightly with a lid and put in a cool place until completely swollen for 7 days.
After a week, it is necessary to add water in a volume of 8 liters to this mass, and also add another 3 kg of sugar, mix all the ingredients thoroughly and leave to infuse for another 3 days.
Before you start distilling moonshine from grain and sugar, it is recommended to filter the liquid.

Distillation can be performed up to 4 times, allowing the moonshine to brew according to the technology described above, starting from the second stage. This will greatly improve the taste of homemade alcoholic beverage.

How to make moonshine from germinated wheat

At home, you can make moonshine from sprouted grains, in particular from wheat. She, being a key component, is able to play the role of the basis for high-quality malt.

To get a strong alcoholic drink of your own production, it is enough to follow the following sequence of steps:

It is necessary to take about 5 kg of wheat and carefully sort it, eliminating spoiled and rotten grains.
After that, you need to sift the raw materials for moonshine and wash several times in clean running water. Next, the grain should be poured with preheated (not hot) water 3-4 cm above its level and let it swell well (this can be determined visually). To prevent wheat from sour, it is recommended to change the water in it approximately every 8 hours.
The completely swollen grain should be transferred to pallets, leveled with a thin layer, put fabric cuts soaked in water on top and left for germination. During the first 5 days, the wheat must be thoroughly mixed so that air enters it. Over the next five days, this procedure will no longer be needed.
Further, before making moonshine from grain, germinated wheat with green sprouts and roots must be washed and dried in an oven at a temperature of 40 ̊С until it becomes completely dry.
The next step is grinding the grains into flour.
After that, you should start making malted milk. To do this, mix flour with 6.5 kg of sugar, pour 10 liters of freshly boiled water and let it swell for 1-2 hours. Then a small amount of water (up to 4 l) should be poured into the mass, let stand for another hour, dilute with 4 l of cold water, add 100-150 g of dry yeast and leave in a warm place for fermentation for at least 5 days.

After the allotted time has elapsed, it is possible to distill the mash using a standard moonshine still or a steam generator. To obtain high quality alcohol, you need to separate the “head”, “body” and “tails”. Distillation can be carried out from one to three times in a row.

Moonshine from wheat grain malt without sugar and yeast

The most economical recipe allows you to make moonshine from grain without sugar and yeast and please your guests with a fragrant and soft alcoholic drink. The substitute for both ingredients are zaparka and wheat malt.

The preparation of moonshine from grain using this technology involves the following steps:

To prepare malt, you will need about 5 kg of wheat grain, which must be sorted out, washed, germinated and ground according to the principle described in the previous paragraph.
Then you need to prepare a zaparka, for which you will need 2 liters of freshly boiled water, a handful of fresh hops and flour. It is recommended to mix the ingredients with constant stirring in order to prevent the appearance of lumps. If dry hops are used instead of fresh, double the amount of hops.
Next, 3 kg of the resulting malt and the brew must be combined in one container and diluted with such an amount of water that the mash acquires a semi-liquid state, then close it with a water seal and leave it to "win" in a warm place. If it takes about 5 days to complete the fermentation according to the recipe with yeast and sugar, then in this case the procedure will be delayed for a period of 3 to 5 days beyond the standard period.

When distilling 6 liters of mash, you can get about 3 liters of ready-made wheat moonshine at the exit, which tastes even softer and more pleasant than cooked with yeast and sugar.

Obviously, wheat grain allows you to make a real "live" drink, as it gives it natural vitality. To learn more about the recipes and technologies for making moonshine from grain, watch the video below. After all, knowledge of the basics of home brewing, along with high-quality ingredients, is the key to creating real alcoholic masterpieces.

Experienced moonshiners know that grain moonshine is much better than regular sugar mash.

But it will take more time and effort to prepare it.

We will look at how to make moonshine from wheat or other grains (barley, oats, millet or corn) at home. The technology is not very complicated, anyone can repeat it.

First, let's deal with the taste of grain moonshine, it depends on the choice of culture. Wheat makes a very soft and even slightly sweet drink.

Strong and sharp moonshine can be driven out of rye, something like whiskey comes out of barley. The choice of raw materials is yours. Personally, I prefer wheat.

Compound:

grain - 2.5 kg;

water - 20 liters;

sugar - 6 kg;

dry yeast - 100 grams (or 500 grams pressed);

Ryazhenka (kefir) of high fat content - 0.5 liters.

Before soaking, the grain should lie at least 2 months. It is better to use alcoholic yeast, rather than baker's yeast, then the fermentation will be more intense.

1. Preparation of malt. Lay the wheat in a layer of no more than 2 cm on flat pallets, then soak it in warm water. Water should only slightly cover the grain, otherwise it will not germinate. Place pallets in a warm (18-25°C) dark place.

On the second or third day after soaking, the first shoots will appear. If they are not there, then the grain is of poor quality and you will have to take another one. During germination, the wheat is turned over once a day so that it does not become moldy and sour.

When wheat sprouts reach 2 cm in length and begin to intertwine with each other, they must be taken out of the water without separating.

Add warm water (50-60°C) and sugar to a 40 liter container. Mix well. Wait until the water cools down to 28-30°C.

Then add the malt made in the previous step and the yeast diluted according to the instructions on the package. Stir again, then install a water seal on the container.

3. Distillation. Strain the mash that has won back through a colander to filter the wheat. The collected grain can be used 2-3 more times. The taste of moonshine will not change.

Add 0.5 liters of kefir or other fermented milk product to wheat mash. This is done in order to have less fusel oils in the final product.

Distill the mash on a moonshine still of any design, selecting the distillate until its strength drops below 35 degrees.

4. Cleaning. This stage cannot be called mandatory, but many experienced moonshiners clean moonshine with charcoal after distillation, even if it is not from sugar, but from cereals.

5. Redistillation. Improves the quality of wheat moonshine. The distillate is diluted 50% with water and distilled a second time. Drain the first 30-50 ml per 1 liter of moonshine into a separate container.

For example, with 3 liters of raw alcohol, 150 ml of output must be collected separately. This is a harmful fraction that worsens the taste. When the fortress falls below 40 degrees, the selection of the main fraction is completed.

Wheat moonshine is better to distill twice

6. Dilution. Dilute the resulting moonshine of the second distillation with water to the desired strength (usually 40-45 degrees). Before use, it is advisable to let it brew for 2-3 days.

This completes the process of making grain moonshine. The result is 5-6 liters of the finished product with a strength of 40 degrees.

P.S. If there is no desire to engage in the germination of cereals, I can offer another recipe for moonshine from wheat. This drink is called homemade bread vodka, during its preparation, the grain is immediately added to the fermentation tank.

The only drawback of this method is that the output is too small. It turns out two times less moonshine than from germinated wheat.

Definitions of the readiness of the mash

To get high-quality moonshine, it is important to learn how to correctly determine the moment when the mash is ready for distillation. If you start distillation earlier, then the yield will be smaller and some of the sugar will simply disappear.

At the same time, you can’t overexpose the mash, otherwise it will start to turn sour, which will worsen the taste of moonshine.

We will consider all available methods to check the readiness of the mash. To improve accuracy, I recommend using it comprehensively, that is, all at once (with the exception of the last one).

1.Time. Depending on the quality of raw materials (sugar, yeast, water) and external conditions (temperature, humidity), ordinary sugar mash ferments from 5 to 14 days, 7-10 days on average, starch less - 3-5 days.

Grape mash without yeast needs 21 to 28 days to ripen. Due to the large time scatter, this method is too imprecise to fully rely on.

2. Taste. Braga ready for distillation has a bitter taste. If sweetness is felt, then the yeast has not yet processed all the sugar into alcohol and you need to wait.

This is the most effective verification method that allows you to control not only the readiness, but also the quality of the mash.

If the temperature regime is not observed (the optimum temperature of the mash is 18-24 ° C), the yeast may die ahead of time, as a result of which the fermentation will stop even before the full production of sugar.

3. Appearance. In the finished mash, foam stops forming, carbon dioxide bubbles are not released and no hissing is heard. The upper layer of the mash begins to gradually lighten, the remains of yeast and their metabolic products settle to the bottom.

4. A lit match. During active fermentation, a large amount of carbon dioxide is released, which displaces oxygen from the tank. To determine the readiness of the mash, it is enough to bring a lit match to the surface.

If it burns, then the fermentation has stopped and you can start distillation. The damping of the match indicates that the fermentation is still ongoing.

5. Professional method. The most accurate, but requires a special device - a hydrometer, which only experienced moonshiners have.

To determine the remaining sugar (non-fertility), 200 ml of mash is filtered through a dense cloth, poured into a measuring cup and a hydrometer is lowered there. At values below 1.002 (corresponding to 1% sugar in mash), you can start the distillation.

We improve moonshine by re-distillation

Re-distillation of moonshine removes third-party impurities, improving its quality. In the people, the final product is called "double moonshine".

Although it will take 2-3 hours more to prepare it, in the end you will get a crystal clear, odorless soft distillate.
Any moonshine, regardless of raw materials, lends itself to secondary distillation.

The mash recipe and the distillation technology you have chosen (moonshine still) do not change. You can even refine a drink that was kicked out much earlier.