The best way to clean moonshine at home. Reasons and methods for cleaning cloudy moonshine. Milk and egg white

Ideal moonshine has no color, and the turbidity that appears in the output (opalescence) indicates a violation of the preparation technology. To understand why moonshine is cloudy, you need to familiarize yourself with the possible causes of this deficiency.

Causes of cloudiness

In the process of preparing moonshine, there are several points, the violation of which can result in an opaque final product. Turbidity in moonshine appears for several reasons:

1. Sprinkler
2. Presence fusel oils
3. Hard water
4. Using the wrong containers
5. Imperfections in the design and materials of a moonshine still

Let's take a closer look at why moonshine becomes cloudy.

Sprinkler

It happens when you poured too much mash or the mash foams a lot, such as grain mash. This also happens when the heat is too high when the mash boils, foams and enters the cooler (refrigerator or coil), where it condenses. As a result, turbidity appears. In case of splashing, it is recommended to complete distillation, disassemble and clean alcohol mashine. The cloudy distillate must be distilled again.

How to prevent it?

To prevent splashing, you need to follow several rules:

1. Fill the moonshine still with mash not completely, but 70-75%.
2. Control the temperature. For these purposes, a thermometer must be built into the design of the moonshine still; it is installed in the distillation cube.
3. Wash the moonshine still thoroughly after distillation is complete.
4. Before the first distillation, clean the mash with bentonite

Cleansing with bentonite

Clarification of the mash with bentonite (natural white clay) should be carried out after fermentation is complete.

1. Grind bentonite with a coffee grinder or blender
2. Prepare the required amount of ingredients (1 tablespoon of white clay and 0.5 liters of water per 10 liters of mash)
3. Combine hot water with bentonite, then mix with a mixer or spoon until smooth.
4. Pour the resulting solution into the mash in a thin stream, mix and close.
5. After 24 hours, separate the mash from the sediment containing bentonite.
6. distill Braga

Important! It is forbidden to flush bentonite sediment into the toilet, as cement plugs may form in the sewer pipes.

Presence of fusel oils

Fusel oils are toxic substances and impurities formed during the fermentation process.

How to prevent it?

Proper double distillation with separation into fractions reduces the appearance of turbidity to a minimum. It is necessary to timely cut off the head fraction (the first 10–12% of absolute alcohol) and the tail fraction, which contains fusel oils. When the temperature in the cube reaches 95°C tail fractions begin to flow, stop sampling.

Hard water

If the moonshine becomes cloudy when diluted with water, then the problem is its poor quality. Water can contain a huge amount of salts and impurities, which precipitate after dilution.

How to prevent it?

Moonshine at home should be prepared exclusively with high quality water. This rule must be observed both during dilution and at the stage of setting the mash. The salt content should be minimal and not exceed 1 mEq/l. Diluting moonshine with tap and distilled water is prohibited. Highly hard water should be allowed to stand for 1–2 days.
If moonshine becomes cloudy when diluted, the problem may also be that this procedure was carried out incorrectly. Several conditions must be met:

• It is necessary to pour the distillate into water, and not vice versa
• When diluting moonshine, the temperature of both liquids should be the same and be in the range of 10–20°C.

Incorrect containers

We are talking about all containers used in the preparation and storage process. This includes a fermentation container, the moonshine still itself, and containers for collecting the alcoholic beverage and storing it.

How to prevent it?

Thoroughly clean containers at each stage of moonshine preparation. Keep alcoholic drink Only needed in glass jars or bottles. When interacting with alcohol, plastic containers can release toxic substances, and the moonshine will be unsuitable for drinking.

Imperfections of a moonshine still

We are talking about both shortcomings in the design and in the materials from which it is made. Poor quality materials from which the device is made may undergo an oxidation reaction. It occurs especially violently when high acidity mash. The moonshine still must be made of food grade stainless steel.

After oxidation of the copper parts of the apparatus, the distillate turns out not only cloudy, but also yellow; copper parts must be cleaned with citric acid before distillation. With such violations, opalescence of moonshine may not occur immediately, but only after several days.

How to prevent it?

There is only one piece of advice - you need to choose a high-quality moonshine still, having carefully studied all the details of its design.

Moonshine purification

To understand how to clean cloudy moonshine, you need to determine the cause of opalescence and eliminate its occurrence in the future. There is no need to pour out the cloudy distillate; it can be easily cleared of turbidity. Let's look in detail at how to make moonshine transparent and how to lighten it at home correctly, without spoiling the taste.

Cleaning methods:

• Re-distillation
• Heating
• Cooling
• Charcoal cleansing

Let's take a closer look at how to clean moonshine.

Re-distillation

Purifying moonshine using this method is very simple; distill cloudy moonshine again, dividing it into fractions, after diluting it with water to 20–30%

Heating

This is one of the simplest methods, which does not always give the desired transparency. It involves heating the distillate to 70°C and then rapidly cooling it. The precipitate that forms is easily filtered out.

Important! Heated moonshine is highly flammable.

Cooling

An aluminum pan with cloudy moonshine should be covered with a lid and placed in the freezer for 12–15 hours. During this period, fusel oils will freeze to the surface of the pan, and the alcohol will remain liquid, since it has a lower freezing point.

Charcoal cleansing

Let's figure out how to clean moonshine using coal. For these purposes it is advisable to use charcoal brands BAU-A or BAU-K.
Cleaning technology:

1. Pour the coal into a clean container
2. Dilute the cloudy distillate with water to 40 degrees and pour it into a bowl with coal, observing the proportions - 25 grams of coal per 0.5 liter of moonshine
3. Seal the container hermetically and place it in a dark and cool place for 6 hours.
4. Drain the purified moonshine from the sediment by filtering it through cotton wool.

Making cloudy moonshine

To understand how to make cloudy moonshine, you don’t need to be an expert. There are several simple ways opalescent an alcoholic drink, which can be done at home:

• Adding whey in a ratio of 5–15 ml per 500 ml of moonshine
• Adding milk powder in a ratio of 2–7 grams per 0.5 liter
• Adding a few drops vegetable oil for 1 liter of alcohol.

The quality of the alcoholic beverage will not change when performing these methods.

Cloudy moonshine is not only a colorful product, it is also a low quality alcoholic drink. To figure out how to clear turbidity from moonshine, you must first understand the cause of opalescence and take measures to eliminate it.

Moonshining dates back to ancient times, and to this day does not lose its relevance. Many people prefer homemade moonshine not only vodka, but also all other strong alcoholic drinks, because on its basis you can create very good cognacs and whiskeys (and not only by imitation of color and taste).

But lovers of this homemade drink always face the problem of harmful impurities that fill their moonshine. They need to be removed so that the alcohol becomes like “crystal” or “a child’s tear,” that is, pure.

It is worth remembering that unrefined moonshine is a harmful liquid, even partly poisonous. Everyone has heard about the presence of fusel oils in it, but in addition there is acetaldehyde; formic-ethyl, butyric-ethyl, valerian-ethyl, acetic-methyl and acetic-ethyl esters, methyl and amyl alcohols, formic and acetic acids. There is no need to be scared by these terrible words. Moonshine can easily be cleaned of all this. To do this, our alcohol needs to be purified (chemically or biologically), distilled once or twice, filtered and infused.

You need to purify the alcohol obtained after you distilled the mash for the first time, using any of the methods described below. After this, the drink is filtered, diluted with water to 40 degrees and distilled again. But even if you are going to distill the moonshine three times, keep in mind that you still need to drain the first 40 ml (for each liter of raw moonshine) separately. For drinking purposes, you can only use the “golden” mean. The “tails” are suitable for drinking, but rather weak. However, they can be collected for the next haul, with the help of which the “losses” can be made up.

After two distillations, the drink is diluted to 40 degrees and passed through filters.

How to remove odor from moonshine

The smell of homemade moonshine is his bane. It is because of this that some (especially ladies) refuse this drink in favor of other alcohol, forgetting that both cognac and whiskey are essentially moonshine. But still, no one likes a product with a “smell.”

The problem of aroma can be solved extremely simply. There is only one point to consider: the higher the strength of the drink, the worse it releases harmful substances.

Therefore, before cleaning, we dilute our alcohol to 40 degrees and begin to eliminate “harmful substances” and, accordingly, odors.

Cleaning moonshine with milk

This method is based on a process called coagulation. The fact is that albumin and casein contained in milk protein perfectly bind fusel oils and harmful substances in moonshine. When they react, they precipitate in the form of flakes. The drink is then filtered, and its taste becomes very soft.

It is better to take skimmed milk for clearing, because fat gives the alcohol a cloudy appearance. This does not look very aesthetically pleasing, but in the case of double distillation it is not of fundamental importance. If you decide to use powdered milk, then you need to prepare it and cool it 2 hours before the start of the procedure. Moonshine when purified with milk should not be stronger than 70 degrees.

This option is quite compatible with other purification, such as coal, and can be applied to both ready-made moonshine and mash.

If you decide to clean the mash first, then for every 5 liters of it add 1 liter of milk. You will need to “drive” slowly, preferably twice (to remove turbidity).

If you are cleaning ready-made alcohol, then for 1 liter of it you need to add 1 glass (200 ml) of milk. During the adding process, you need to actively stir the liquid, and then close the mixture and place it for a week in a place where there is no access to light, while vigorously shaking the contents daily.

After 7 days, the moonshine needs to be filtered, which is best done using cotton wool, inside of which crushed activated carbon is poured. After which the drink is diluted to 40 degrees and distilled a second time, releasing the usual 3 parts. Only the “middle” is taken “for drinking”.

There is a nuance in this method that beginners sometimes encounter. After a week, no sediment forms in the mixture of moonshine and milk. There is no need to think that your moonshine is “crystal clear” or to panic. Add 1-2 drops to the liquid lemon juice or 1 crystal citric acid and stir thoroughly. The flakes will appear in a matter of minutes.

After this cleaning, to obtain an ideal product, carry out another cleaning - using rye bread.

The same manipulations can be carried out with vodka by adding 30-50 ml of milk (skimmed) per 0.5 liter, shaking it and passing it through a carbon filter. You will lose only 1-2 degrees in its strength, but it will become “drinkable”.

Cleaning moonshine using bread

Most often, this cleaning is used after cleaning with milk has already been carried out, but it can also be done independently.

The bread used for the process is rye and freshly baked. Old bread will not work because... may give the drink an unpleasant taste.

Bread gluten cleans alcohol just perfectly, eliminating all the “nasty” in it.

So, fresh bread needs to be broken into small pieces and added to the moonshine at the rate of 100 grams per 1 liter of the finished drink. The mixture is shaken well and left for 2 days, after which it is filtered.

Cleaning moonshine with potassium permanganate

This method has 2 options. In both cases, oxidation of fusel oils occurs.

First option. "Simple".

Add about 1-2 grams of potassium permanganate to 1 liter of 40-degree alcohol, mix and leave overnight. After a precipitate has formed and the liquid has become light, we carry out filtration.

Second option. "Combined".

In this option, we take 1 liter of moonshine, 40 degrees strength and 300 grams hot water, in which about 2-3 grams of potassium permanganate are diluted. Mix both liquids with constant stirring with a wooden spatula. It is better not to use metal objects. After 20 minutes, stirring again, add baking soda (only baking soda!) and salt (not iodized!) - 1 tablespoon each - into the liquid.

After leaving the mixture overnight, you can start filtering it in the morning.

The filtration process in both options is extremely important.

Filters can be:

• regular water filters
• homemade from a plastic bottle and cotton wool, inside of which the adsorbent can be calcined river sand, crushed activated or birch carbon, crushed pharmaceutical tablets "Carbolena"

You can prepare several homemade funnels to speed up the process. If the filters become clogged, they need to be replaced.

The resulting moonshine is distilled a second time.

Cleaning moonshine with soda

The method is good for acetic acid in moonshine (it is completely neutralized). It is also good to carry it out before cleaning with potassium permanganate.

So, for 1 liter of alcohol, take 1 gram of soda (at the tip of a knife), stir, leave for about 10 minutes and filter.

Cleaning moonshine with charcoal (activated, coconut, charcoal)

This cleaning option can be used both on its own and after other cleanings, since coal serves as both an excellent adsorbent (absorber of harmful substances) and a filter (which retains these “harmful substances”).

Option 1. “Activated carbon”(1 month)

You buy activated carbon tablets at the pharmacy, crush them and add them to moonshine (50 grams of powder per liter of alcohol). Leave for 3 weeks, shaking the suspension daily, leave for another week and filter through a funnel with a layer of cotton wool between two layers of gauze (cloth) or through a water filter (“jug”).

Option 2. “Charcoal”(3 days)

Its essence is to cook coal yourself. We take a young tree (up to 50 years old), free it from the bark, cut out the knots and the core.

We light a fire and when the coals have not yet cooled down, but the heat is still present, they are collected in a prepared container, while blowing off the ash. The coals are covered, and after waiting for them to die out, they are ground and passed through a sieve. At the same time, different trees produce coal with an excellent degree of absorption. The best ones for this are beech, birch, pine and linden. They are followed by spruce, oak, aspen, alder, and poplar.

Application: per liter of moonshine – 50 grams of charcoal. After three days you can already filter.

Option 3. “Coconut charcoal”(3 days)

The method is identical to the previous one, but instead of wood, it uses charcoal from coconut shells. Its ability to absorb harmful substances is higher than that of charcoal, since its pores are much smaller. In addition, much less of this coal is required - only 10 grams per 1 liter of moonshine.

I would like to say that it is not necessary to prepare charcoal yourself from either wood or coconut. It can be purchased in specialized or online stores.

Cleaning moonshine with egg whites and freezing

Egg white acts on harmful substances in alcohol as a coagulant, precipitating along with them. This method is similar in action to “milk cleansing”. Beat two egg whites (not until foamy) and mix with alcohol. After flakes appear at the bottom, filter. This method, it must be said, is not cheap.

It is cheap to “freeze” fusel oils. Having sent a bottle of moonshine to the freezer, after a while you will notice that some of the liquid has frozen to the walls, and some has remained unchanged. We will pour it into another bottle. To avoid incidents, a few words must be said about freezing temperatures. Alcohol with a strength of 40 degrees freezes at a temperature of minus 28-29 degrees, with a strength of 9-12 degrees - at minus 5 degrees.

Who hasn’t seen in old movies the main attribute of a village holiday - a huge, ten-liter bottle, in which whitish, cloudy moonshine, as if stained with milk, splashes appetizingly. In the unanimous opinion of Soviet directors, “vodka from the farm” should look exactly like this. Although in reality, if the technologies of fermentation, distillation and purification are followed, the resulting alcohol is clear, like a tear. If for some reason you do not get pure moonshine, you can successfully fight this.

Why does cloudiness occur?

Quickly navigate to the article

Before you take specific steps, you need to understand why moonshine is cloudy. Most often, the reason for this is suspension - very small particles, which, due to their insignificant mass, settle extremely slowly. Such alcohol can be clarified by simple settling, but how long this will take - a couple of days or several weeks - is unknown.

The situation is worse if some extended or reversible chemical or biochemical reaction is constantly taking place in the finished moonshine. Then it is useless to simply defend the product - it will remain opaque for a very long time. Most often, this result is obtained if the fermentation was not only yeast, but also fermented milk. You can get rid of turbidity by chemical purification, filtration and subsequent distillation.

We check compliance with technologies

The surest way to do homemade alcohol cloudy - use dirty dishes for fermentation. In this case, the most unexpected things will go into the wort. biochemical processes, and the output may be, which will be extremely difficult to clean by both filtration and settling.

If during the rectification process the moonshine is distilled too quickly and at high temperature, even the central fraction - the “body” - will get too many harmful impurities. They will almost 100% give a cloudy tint, and in some cases - a visible suspension. The same effect - cloudiness of moonshine - can be expected if the “heads” or “tails” are not cut off or cut off too weakly.

Experienced moonshiners agree that the most effective and fastest way to purify moonshine from fusel oils is the method using activated charcoal or charcoal. This is not surprising, because coal particles have large pores that can absorb not only small impurity elements, but also large ones.

So, how to purify moonshine at home so that the filtration takes place with maximum effect. Let's consider 2 effective ways:

1. Express method. During distillation, a funnel is placed in the container into which the distillate will be collected. One layer of cotton wool is placed in it, small fractions of coal are poured on top, then larger fractions and finally covered with 2 cotton pads. Everything needs to be pressed tightly. As a result, you will not need to spend additional time cleaning moonshine from fusel, since the product is filtered right at the exit from the moonshine still.
2. Infusion. After distillation, the alcohol is poured into glass jar, crushed coal is also placed there. Everything is thoroughly mixed and left in a cool place for 5-14 days. At the end of aging, the consistency must be filtered through multi-layer gauze.

This is one of best options, how to quickly clean moonshine before the second distillation. It is preferable to use coal from birch. A water filter component will be no less effective. It often contains silver, which will only improve the quality of filtration.

Use coal in the following proportions: 50 g. for every liter of alcohol. This calculation is suitable for both the first and second cleaning methods. Therefore, when filtering moonshine through a funnel, the cotton wool with filler will need to be periodically replaced with a new one.

Vegetable oil

Not all moonshiners know that fusel impurities and other harmful components are perfectly neutralized in vegetable oils. Therefore, moonshine can be cleaned with olive or sunflower oil. The main thing here is to use an odorless product, that is, refined, otherwise the concentrated aroma will be transferred to the drink.

With this method of purifying moonshine at home, some of the vegetable oil remains in the alcohol, even with high-quality filtration. Therefore, the second distillation in this case is a mandatory step.

How to clean moonshine after the first distillation with vegetable oil:

1. Dilute the moonshine with water to a strength of 20o. For every liter of alcohol you will need 20 ml of oil. For example, in 5 liters you need to add 100 ml of cleaner.
2. Mix the ingredients for 1-2 minutes, then leave for 5 minutes and shake everything thoroughly again.
3. Place the jar in a dark place with constant temperature conditions 6-15°C, the lower the value, the better.
4. After infusion is completed, the liquid will become slightly cloudy, and an oily film will form on its surface. You need to drain the pure alcohol through the tube. Try to do this in such a way as not to touch the film.

Milk

Filtration of moonshine with milk is very popular among experienced craftsmen - this way the “soul” of the drink is preserved and its taste is softened. The principle is based on the binding of harmful impurities by casein and albumin molecules, which are part of milk protein. As a result, a flocculent sediment appears, falling to the bottom due to gravity. Filtration takes about a week, after which the distillate is removed from the sediment and distilled again. After cleaning, the moonshine acquires a pure structure and also becomes soft in taste.

Milk is a simple, effective and completely safe way to make high-quality alcohol

Please note that milk contains fats, which make the drink cloudy. Therefore, in moonshine there are 2 cleaning recipes. In the first, low-fat milk is used, and re-distillation is not provided; in the second, the percentage of fat content of the product is not important, since secondary distillation will help clean the structure.

A method for purifying moonshine with milk without distillation

The advantages of this filtration of moonshine are obvious; the method is absolutely safe, does not require secondary distillation and makes it possible to combine alcohol purification with other methods. But it also has disadvantages; in rare cases, the structure of the liquid may become cloudy.

Cleaning steps:

• prepare a low-fat pasteurized dairy product at the rate of 150 ml per 10 liters of fortified drink with a strength of 50°;

Instead of pasteurized milk, in this case it is allowed to use dry milk. But 3 hours before purifying the moonshine from fusel oils, you will need to dilute it in warm water.

• mix the dairy product with the fortified drink, seal the jar hermetically and leave for 5-6 days in a dark place with a temperature of 20-25°C;
• every day during infusion, the container should be shaken well;

From the very first minutes, a precipitate in the form of large white flakes will begin to form in the liquid. This milk protein enters into a chemical reaction and precipitates harmful impurities.

• At the end of aging, the alcohol is drained from the sediment and filtered several times through multilayer gauze with a cotton pad.

If, after cleaning at home, the moonshine has acquired a cloudy structure, it should be filtered through a charcoal filter.

VIDEO: What is better to clean the distillate - coal, oil or milk?

How to properly clean moonshine followed by distillation

In this case, fat content dairy product it doesn't matter, the main thing is that the milk is fresh. The process of eliminating harmful impurities is as follows:

• 100 ml of homemade dairy product is mixed into 1 liter of alcohol, but the alcohol is first diluted to obtain a strength of 45-55°;
• all components are mixed well, tightly closed with a lid;
• the container is placed in a dark place for 4-6 days, while the contents need to be shaken for better cleaning for the first 3 days;
• The moonshine is drained from the sediment and diluted 20% with water, after which it is sent for secondary distillation, divided into fractions - heads, body, tails.

Using these methods, you can check the quality of store-bought vodka. Sometimes the result is shocking in terms of the volume of sediment.

Chicken egg white

Purifying moonshine at home using protein from chicken eggs allows you to eliminate not only harmful components in the drink, but also an unpleasant odor. This method works best when filtering distillate prepared with wheat or sugar mash. But if the alcohol was prepared with berries or fruits, it is not recommended to use egg whites for cleaning.

The composition of the cleaning product includes casein and albumin, in fact, thanks to which all impurities are deposited at the bottom. In terms of absorption level, this method of purifying moonshine at home is not inferior to coal. In addition, it should be noted that distillate losses are minimal - only up to 5%.

Let's look at the steps on how to clean and filter moonshine from fusel oils and unpleasant odors using egg whites:

• dilute the distillate to a strength of 45-55°, but leave 20% free space in the container;
• separate the white from the yolk, add water to it in a volume of 10% of the alcohol and beat with a mixer until smooth, but until foam forms;
• mix the protein solution with moonshine, cover the container and leave to infuse for 1 week;
• Shake the mixture every day, but do not perform these manipulations 1 day before removing the sediment.

After the holding time has expired, strain the liquid without sediment through a cotton-gauze plug in a funnel. Change the filter and do the same with the sediment. Dilute pure alcohol drinking water until you get a strength of 18-20° and distill it a second time.

Freeze

This is the easiest way to filter moonshine at home. When the temperature drops below 0°, fusel oils and other impurities begin to freeze, while the freezing point of pure ethyl alcohol is -114°C. The method is quite time-consuming compared to other cleaning options, but high quality in this case is guaranteed.

You need to put the jar in the freezer or outside if weather conditions meet the requirements for freezing. When ice forms in an alcoholic drink, and this is fusel oil, the remaining liquid must be drained and the rest must be disposed of.

In the north they practice the “crowbar” method, although it is more convenient to use a metal corner. They leave it outside for a while so that the metal freezes well, place it in a bowl and slowly pour the distillate over it. When moving, the fusel freezes and the raw material flows off. The result is fast and quite effective.

To eliminate extraneous aromas from moonshine as much as possible, it is recommended to add 30 grams to 1 liter of drink. raisins and chopped violet root 5 pcs. The consistency should sit for at least 10 days, after which it will be completely usable.

Rye bread

In ancient times, few people were interested in the best way to clean moonshine from harmful impurities, since they used a centuries-old bread cleaning recipe. This method has not lost popularity in our time.

You should only use fresh bakery products from rye flour without various impurities. Ideal option will serve Rye bread homemade.

This product contains a lot of yeast and gluten, which help retain fusel oils. As a result of such cleaning, even the lowest quality alcohol will acquire a pleasant aroma and become lighter in color.

The process will require 100 grams. bread pulp per 1 liter of moonshine. Before purification, the alcoholic drink should be filtered using one of the previous methods. After this, the bread is cut into slices, they are cleared of the crust and crumbled into small particles.

The crumbs are poured into a container, mixed with the distillate, covered with a lid and left for 3 days in a dark place. After infusion is completed, the consistency will acquire a yellow color, which is eliminated by subsequent filtration.

Place a funnel with a stopper made of cotton pads into a clean jar and strain the alcoholic drink through it. The remaining pulp is disposed of without pressing. Next, the moonshine must be diluted with water and put to distillation, separating the fractions.

Gluing

Bonding of fusel oils and other impurities is carried out using Karluk glue. Before use, the component is first diluted in water until a jelly-like consistency is obtained, and then mixed into the moonshine. Adhesive elements bind unwanted components of the drink and are deposited on the bottom of the container.

This method is of the highest quality; it purifies the distillate as much as possible. Its only disadvantage is its inaccessibility. The fact is that glue was used, as a rule, in large-scale production activities. The shortage is also affected by a sharp decline in the number of sturgeon, from whose swim bladders the component is produced.

Salt and soda

Quick cleansing of the drink from toxins and fusel oils is carried out by using baking soda with salt. The advantages of the technology are that it is short-term, the process requires no more than 1 day. The downside is ineffectiveness. The fact is that soda is not capable of precipitating all harmful components, so it requires repeated distillation.

Cleaning steps:

• dilute the moonshine to obtain a strength of 40-50°;
• separately dilute 10 g. baking soda in 100 ml of clean water;
• mix the ingredients with 1 liter of alcoholic drink, close the lid;
• shake thoroughly and leave for half an hour, then stir again;
• place in a cool, dark place for 15 hours.

After a precipitate has formed, the clear liquid is carefully drained and filtered. A cotton pad is placed in the funnel, granules of crushed charcoal are poured on top, after which everything is covered with one layer of cotton wool. A fortified drink is passed through such a “sandwich” into a container.

Using salt and soda, you can partially clean the product from harmful impurities, the smell and taste remain unchanged.

Potassium permanganate with soda

There is also a conventional method for cleaning moonshine with potassium permanganate, but it is less effective than the combined method, so let’s consider the second option. Baking soda helps neutralize acetic acid, when potassium permanganate partially eliminates fusel oils.

The main advantage of such cleaning is the minimum time required. The downside is the likelihood of residual manganese crystals, which has a negative impact on human health. To eliminate this factor, it is necessary to distill the composition a second time.

Prepare the ingredients based on the following proportions: for 1 liter of alcohol you need 1.5 grams. manganese and 10 gr. baking soda. Pre-mix potassium permanganate with water in a volume of 200 ml, pour the alkaline solution into moonshine and shake thoroughly. Add manganese, cover the jar and stir well.

Place the container in a dark, cool place for 14 hours. During this time, a thick sediment forms at the bottom of the jar, the clean liquid is drained from it and placed for repeated distillation.

Fruits

A less effective cleaning method that partially cleanses an alcoholic drink of harmful components, but at the same time gives it a pleasant aroma and aftertaste. Secondary distillation is definitely needed here.

For 3 liters of alcoholic product with a concentration of 20o you need to prepare 1 carrot and 1 apple. The fruits are peeled, coarsely chopped and added to a container with moonshine. After this, the jar is left to infuse for 2-3 days until the fibers begin to separate from the carrots and apples.

Making alcohol cloudy

Some tasters prefer cloudy moonshine. milky, as they are made in real Russian settlements. To achieve this effect, you can use several recipes that give the product the desired shade without compromising its taste and aroma.

Some people like the authentic color of moonshine - it can be specially made cloudy

1. Whey from milk. For 1 liter of moonshine you will need from 10 to 25 ml of serum, depending on the required color saturation.
2. Powdered milk. Use the ingredient in proportions of 5-15 g. for every liter of fortified drink.
3. Vegetable oil. To obtain a white consistency, 3-5 drops of refined sunflower or olive oil. After adding the component, the liquid must be mixed thoroughly.

VIDEO: Little tricks of a moonshiner

Quantity and quality are the basis of consumption alcoholic drinks. The first one is simple. You just need to maintain an acceptable dose. Then a painful and destructive addiction does not threaten, but with the second it is more difficult. Many people make alcohol at home to suit their personal preferences. Knowing how to remove odor from moonshine is a matter of final quality. It even affects the safety of the product. An unprocessed drink with poisonous oils, acetone and methyl alcohol will definitely affect human health.

Causes of the unpleasant smell of moonshine

Everything that is unpleasant to smell and harmful to eat is formed during the fermentation process of sugar, yeast and water. At this stage, the mash is filled with ethyl and methyl alcohols, formic acid, aldehyde, acetone and other substances. Ethyl alcohol is the final product that the moonshine brewing procedure is aimed at. By-products, such as methyl alcohol, aldehyde, acetone and other poisons, are guaranteed to cause harm to human health. And often with a fatal outcome. A clear sign of their presence in an alcoholic drink is an unpleasant, pungent odor.

On top of that, alcohol homemade full of fusel oils. Experienced home brewers are well aware of these toxic substances. They have a brownish-yellow color and have the same characteristic smell. It is necessary to purify a drink from fusel oils not only for the sake of taste. Severe hangover And headache– this is their minimal impact on the body. The only thing worse is the poisoning that often occurs when consuming such oils.

How to remove the smell of moonshine at home

Craftsmen have invented and published many ways to rid alcohol of harmful substances. All filtering methods are divided into two categories:

• applied before the second distillation;
• applied after the second distillation.

Cleaning with coal and potassium permanganate – universal methods. They are equally effective in both cases. It is recommended to use milk and eggs only after the final distillation has been completed. This will avoid partial losses of moonshine. The remaining folk discoveries are applicable only before the second distillation. It is worth noting one important nuance: any of these methods, with the exception of coal, can spoil homemade moonshine. If the quality of the drink was damaged during filtration, then re-distillation will solve the problem.

Purifying alcohol (as well as any other liquids) using charcoal is a proven way to get rid of by-products without risks to the product. Other methods are not as effective. They will reduce the concentration of harmful substances to varying degrees, but will not eliminate them completely. But at home you can experiment with double filtration. For example, after the first distillation, purify the moonshine with coal, and after the second, with milk.

Potassium permangantsovka

Able to kill the stench of acetone, neutralizes the harmful effects of side poisons. For filtration you will need potassium permanganate crystals - half a teaspoon (2-3 grams) per 3 liters of moonshine:

1. Add manganese to your drink.
2. Mix thoroughly and leave to infuse for a couple of hours.
3. Carefully pour the purified moonshine so as not to affect the sediment of harmful impurities that have accumulated at the bottom of the container during filtration. Before doing this, you need to clean the hose in advance.

Soda

Another way to turn raw alcohol into... delicious drink home made. Suitable only for drinks with a strength of no more than forty degrees. Otherwise, the product must be previously diluted with water. For 1 liter of moonshine you need to prepare one tablespoon of salt and a similar portion of baking soda:

1. Add the indicated portions of salt and soda to forty-degree moonshine.
2. Stir the drink and leave to infuse for half an hour.
3. After this, mix the moonshine again and place the container with it in a dark place where the sun’s rays do not penetrate.
4. When the liquid separates, remove the top formations from it. This way, fusel oils are excluded from alcohol, giving the drink a pleasant aroma.

Activated carbon

As mentioned earlier, this method has been tested by time and practice. Helps to reliably clean moonshine at home from harmful substances without compromising its quality. One pharmacy package of activated carbon is enough for 3 liters of alcohol. Filter paper with a plastic funnel will also come in handy:

• First, grind the activated carbon tablets to a powder.
• Next you need to create the filter itself:
  1. Place paper on the bottom of the funnel.
  2. Pour crushed powder onto it.
  3. Cover it with paper.
  4. Lightly “load” its top layer with something. This will prevent the filter from floating up when a drink is passed through it.
• Slowly pour the moonshine into the same funnel through the “loaded” paper with activated carbon powder.
• After this, dilute the drink with water so that its strength does not exceed 28 degrees.
• At the end of the filtration, the moonshine is distilled again. Cleaning with coal is carried out according to the same algorithm.

Charcoal

A method similar to the previous one on how to clean moonshine from the smell of fusel oils. It differs in the main ingredient - in this case, the drink is filtered with charcoal from birch wood (preferably BAU-A brand). For 3 liters of moonshine you will need a handful of this cleaner, crushed into powder:

1. Grind the coal to fine crumbs.
2. Form the same filter as in the activated carbon method.
3. Slowly pass the moonshine through it.

There is an alternative recipe technique. The cleaner is added directly to the drink. The ingredients and their proportions are the same, no plastic funnel required:

1. Grind the charcoal to a powder.
2. Pour the appropriate dose of this cleaner into the moonshine.
3. Leave to infuse for a week. During this period, it is necessary to shake the container once a day.
4. Next, leave the drink for 10 days without any external influence.
5. Strain the alcohol through cheesecloth or filter paper.

Freezing

How to remove the smell from moonshine without extra costs? You need to freeze everything except ethyl alcohol. This is how the main product of moonshine is separated from other components. A simple method that does not require additional ingredients is suitable for this:

1. Pour the moonshine into a saucepan of suitable volume.
2. Leave the container with the drink in the freezer for about 4-5 hours.
3. Take out the pan with frozen alcohol and drain the unfrozen liquid - this will be the same ethyl alcohol.
4. If necessary, repeat the procedure until the product is completely cleansed of impurities.

Milk and eggs

Milk filtration is based on the coagulation process - combining the proteins albumin and casein with fusel oils. As a result, harmful substances settle to the bottom in the form of flakes. Experienced lovers use powdered milk. For 1 liter of distillate you will need 100 milliliters of the ingredient in diluted form. In addition to this, you need to stock up on water in a 1:1 ratio. Gauze or filter paper is suitable for straining. The method is used after final distillation, and only on moonshine with a strength of up to 40 degrees:

1. Dissolve milk powder in warm water. Stir thoroughly and leave for 3 hours.
2. Pour the resulting solution into alcohol.
3. Leave it for a week.
4. After this period, strain the moonshine through cheesecloth or filter paper, sifting out the resulting sediment.

Purifying moonshine from fusel oils using protein works in a similar way. Need 2 raw eggs for 10 liters of alcohol. The permissible strength of the drink is still the same - 40 degrees maximum:

1. Beat the egg white with a little water. Do not let it become foam.
2. Slowly pour the resulting liquid into the moonshine, stirring constantly.
3. After some time, the same flaky sediment forms at the bottom of the jar. Strain the drink.
4. Sometimes both of these procedures require repetition, since purifying moonshine from fusel oils is not an easy task.

Lemon

An additional measure that is used after traditional cleaning through a carbon filter. For a liter of alcohol you will need 3 lemon/orange/lime peels:

1. Wash citrus skins. It is advisable to scald them with boiling water.
2. Beat until chopped.
3. Season the drink with them and leave it for 3-4 days.
4. Strain.

The varieties of citrus fruits do not matter. It is permissible to use peels from both one type and several different fruits.

Honey

An interesting way to give a drink a softer taste. Although it cannot be compared with how carbon filters can remove the smell from moonshine. There is no guarantee that after this cleaning the alcohol will stop smelling like fusel. Therefore, honey is only good as a supplement after the second distillation. Per liter of distillate you will need 4 tablespoons of the ingredient. Moonshine should be diluted to 45 degrees of strength.