QA

Question: How Make Moonshine

How do you make moonshine at home?

Procedure: Place your mash pot on its heat source and pour in 5 gallons of water. Heat water to 165 °F. Turn off heat source when you reach 165 °F and immediately stir in 8.5 pounds of Flaked Corn Maize. Stir mixture continuously for 7 minutes.

What is the easiest way to make moonshine?

We’re making legal moonshine here, which is an easy moonshine recipe.Directions: Pour the grain alcohol into a 1/2 gallon jar with a lid. Add all of the blackberries. Crush the blackberries with a wooden spoon. Seal the jar and let it sit for 3 weeks. Shake the jar every other day.

How long does it take to make moonshine?

As you can see, the process of fermenting and distilling moonshine is quite time-consuming. In general, you can expect it to take between 1-3 weeks to make moonshine, as the mash must ferment and the distillation process must be continued until the final shine is safe for consumption.

How is real moonshine made?

Making moonshine or any other distilled alcohol consists of two processes: fermentation and distillation. Ethanol (alcohol) has a lower boiling point than water so it evaporates first from the boiling fermented mixture. The alcohol vapor is then cooled and condensed inside the condenser to a liquid form.

What percent alcohol is moonshine?

Moonshine is usually distilled to 40% ABV, and seldom above 66% based on 48 samples. For example a conventional pot stills commonly produce 40% ABV, and top out between 60-80% ABV after multiple distillations. However, ethanol can be dried to 95% ABV by heating 3A molecular sieves such as 3A zeolite.

What alcohol is in moonshine?

Moonshine purists define the spirit as a homemade, unaged whiskey, marked by its clear color, corn base and high alcohol content—sometimes peaking as high as 190 proof. Traditionally, it was produced in a homemade still and bottled in a mason jar.

Can you make alcohol with just water sugar and yeast?

The key ingredient, sugar, is converted into alcohol by the process of fermentation by the second ingredient, yeast. Homemade liquor can be made easily if you have sugar, water (to form a sugar solution) and baking yeast.

How much moonshine will 5 gallons of mash make?

A 5 gallon run will yield 1-2 gallons of alcohol. A 8 gallon run will yield 1.5-3 gallons of alcohol. A 10 gallon run will yield 2-4 gallons of alcohol.

Can I make moonshine for personal use?

Today, people make artisan moonshine out of a sense of nostalgia and preference for taste. These can be sold in liquor stores or brewed just for personal use. However, distilling alcohol at home, even for personal use, is illegal under federal law. These produced legal moonshine for sale and distribution.

How do you speed up the fermentation of moonshine?

So, say you brew 5 gallons of beer day one, aerate and pitch an adequate yeast pitch for that size beer, then put 5 more gallons on top of that 12-24 hours later you will drastically speed up fermentation time. Just be sure to aerate each batch well.

How much does it cost to make a gallon of moonshine?

It costs around $8 per gallon for the sugar and wheat to make the moonshine. The selling price is around $25 a gallon if sold in bulk, or $40 for retail price.

How do you make 200 proof moonshine?

It’s not possible to make 200 proof moonshine using distillation alone. However, there are several ways to produce alcohol this pure including the use of a molecular sieve, which removes the last 5% of water from 191 proof moonshine. Pure ethanol is usually made from dehydrated 191 proof spirits.

What do moonshiners use to make their moonshine?

Alcohol can actually be distilled from almost any kind of grain (the earliest American moonshiners used rye or barley), but virtually all moonshine made in the United States for the last 150 years has been made with corn.

What is in moonshine that makes it illegal?

One way the government has been able to market this law is by alluding to the idea that moonshine-making at home is unsafe, due to its potential to be tainted by toxic heavy metal particles. These arguably avoidable risks include tainting the spirit with methanol, which is known to cause blindness.

Is moonshine stronger than vodka?

Physically speaking, there is no real difference between vodka and moonshine. Both are unaged neutral spirits, usually cut with water to increase volume and produce a more drinkable product.

Is moonshine stronger than Everclear?

Moonshine has a minimum alcohol content of 150 proof (75 percent ABV) and the maximum alcohol content is 190 proof (95 percent ABV). In this way it is very similar to Everclear and the same warnings should be considered in regard to its consumption.

Will moonshine get you drunk?

It’s easy to get drunk on moonshine quickly, since it’s so strong. Try to limit yourself to 1 drink per hour if you’re drinking moonshine.

What is the strongest moonshine you can buy?

At 128 proof, Blue Lighting is the strongest moonshine yet from Ole Smoky.

Is moonshine a whiskey or vodka?

Commercial liquor labeled as moonshine is typically one of two things: neutral grain spirits or unaged whiskey. White whiskey, in other words, is different from vodka, but some of what gets sold as “moonshine” is legally vodka.

Is ethanol a moonshine?

Potent potables. Fermentation produces two forms of alcohol: ethanol and methanol, which is also known as wood alcohol. After fermentation, moonshine is distilled to concentrate the ethanol and other volatile flavor ingredients.