Purification of moonshine is an important stage in its manufacture. Since not only the quality of the drink depends on this, but also its safety.

There are many cleaning methods, and they can be combined and get a tasty and safe drink. Some of the methods have come from ancient times, and some are based on modern technology.

Why is unrefined moonshine dangerous? How to clean it and get rid of the unpleasant odor? Read on.

Fusel oils is a group of substances of oily consistency, which are a by-product of the preparation of alcohol. Fusel oils are necessarily found in any alcoholic beverage, even in rectified alcohol.

Fusel oil- a by-product of alcoholic fermentation and is a mixture of higher monohydric aliphatic alcohols, esters and other compounds (about 40 components in total, 27 of which have been identified).

What is the danger?

Fusel oils are a whole bunch of substances, most of which harm not only the drink, but can also seriously undermine human health.

Substances that are meant under this formulation are:

• Isopropyl alcohol.
• Isoamyl alcohol.
• Acetone.
• Furfural and others.

These are compounds of high toxicity.

They lead to damage to the mucous membranes, irritation of the skin, the development of dermatitis and eczema. With the systemic use of low-quality alcohol, a person begins to suffer from severe intoxication, liver and brain damage.

Important! If you use unrefined moonshine, then severe poisoning can occur after the first use!

Ways to remove harmful impurities at home

Typically, homemade moonshine is cleaned in two stages:

1. First cleaning... At this stage, the raw material (the drink after the first distillation) is cleaned. Cleaning methods vary. Potassium permanganate, activated carbon, egg white, milk, soda, etc. can be used here.
2. Second phase- separation of the drink into fractions (re-distillation). At this stage, the fractions containing the maximum amount of harmful substances (heads, tails) are sorted. The result is a clean drink that can be consumed (body).

1. Refined vegetable oil

The essence of the method is that fusel oils are able to dissolve in other oils. At the same time, alcohol does not dissolve in them. Therefore, this method is very effective.

Methodology:

1. Make sure the vegetable oil is odorless, refined, fresh and of high quality. When buying, pay attention to the date of manufacture.
2. Before cleaning, the moonshine must be diluted with water to a strength of 20-30 degrees. The lower the degree, the more effective the cleaning.
3. Now you can add oil in a ratio of 20 ml to 1 liter of diluted moonshine.
4. Shake container with mixture vigorously for 1 minute, let stand and shake again.
5. Put the container with the mixture in a dark place for a day. The drink should be infused at a temperature of 5-15 degrees.
6. After a day, a film forms on the surface, which has already absorbed all the harmful substances.
7. Gently pierce the film with a sharp object and carefully pour the moonshine into another container. Do not damage the film!
8. Filter the drink through cotton wool and crushed charcoal to remove oil particles.

How to properly clean the raw sunflower oil is described in the video:

2. Coal

It is best to use birch or coconut charcoal for this method.

Methodology:

1. Coal is crushed in a container to a powder state.
2. Charcoal powder is added to moonshine in a proportion of 50 g per 1 liter.
3. The mixture is infused for 7 days in a dark place.
4. Shake the mixture two to three times a day.
5. After a week, the drink is filtered through a cotton-gauze filter.

3. Potassium permanganate

Technology:

1. Dilute 2 g of potassium permanganate with 50 ml of boiled water.
2. Pour the resulting solution into moonshine and mix thoroughly. Proportion: 50 ml of potassium permanganate solution for 3 liters of drink.
3. Leave on for 8-10 hours. During this time, the drink will become light, and a sediment appears at the bottom.
4. Gently strain the solution through a thick cloth (flannel, waffle or linen towel).

How to clean moonshine with potassium permanganate is described in the video:

4. Milk

Technology:

• Add milk to the raw alcohol at the rate of 1 liter of milk per 10 liters of drink, mix and cover.
• The resulting mixture should be infused in a dark place for a week. In this case, it needs to be shaken daily.
• After a week, the liquid is drained from the sediment and filtered through cotton wool with activated carbon.
• Now you can start re-distilling.

reference! Milk protein contains substances such as casein and albumin, which bind fusel oil molecules. The resulting compounds precipitate, which is easily filtered.

The technology for purifying moonshine with milk is shown in the video:

5. Baking soda

Cleaning technology:

1. Dissolve 50 grams of baking soda in 50 grams of water.
2. Pour the solution into a container with moonshine (5L), shake thoroughly, leave for 30 minutes and shake again.
3. Insist 5 days in a dark place. A sediment will appear on the bottom of the container.
4. The final stage is filtration with a gauze, cotton wool and charcoal filter.
5. The filtration procedure should be repeated several times.

Important! When filtering, take care not to touch the precipitate, it must remain intact.

6. Using a water filter

The meaning of the method is that such a filter contains several components - activated carbon with silver, shungite zeolite, flint, ion-exchange resin, mechanical filter.

The components are arranged in layers and passing through them, the drink receives a high quality purification.

Technology:

• Dilute the "raw" with water up to 20-30 degrees (if a repeated distillation is planned).
• Flatten the drink up to 10 garus.
• Attach the filter to the neck of a 3-liter can.
• Pass the liquid through the filter.
• Repeat filtration 2-3 times.

Attention! You should not pass the drink through the filter more than 3 times, otherwise its taste will become harsh, acquiring a characteristic vodka flavor.

7. Fruit

Such cleaning can be used both as a primary and as a finishing one. It removes harmful impurities and adds fruity notes to the taste.

Technology:

1. For 3 liters of liquid, you will need one large apple.
2. Peel the apple, cut into large slices, remove the core.
3. Put the chopped apple in a jar of moonshine and stand for several days.
4. After about 5 days, fibers will begin to peel off the apples. This is a sign that cleaning is complete.
5. Drain the drink, strain, discard the apples.

8. Egg white

They also cleanse with egg white.

For this:

1. For 1.5 liters of moonshine, you need to take one egg white.
2. Whisk the protein and dilute with one glass of warm boiled water. The mixture is poured into a container with moonshine.
3. Then they act according to the above technology.

reference! With this purification, harmful substances react with milk and turn into a sediment, which lies on the bottom of the container in the form of flakes.

In the video, an experienced moonshiner tells how to purify a distillate with egg white:

9. Bentonite

Bentonite is a type of clay that can absorb unpleasant odors, moisture, and absorb protein compounds. When mixed with water, it forms a filter that traps harmful substances in the production of moonshine.

Cleaning technology:

1. Grind bentonite to a powder.
2. Dry in the oven for 30-40 minutes at a temperature of 120 degrees.
3. Mix the resulting powder with water in a ratio of 1 tablespoon of clay to 0.5 l of water, mix until smooth.
4. Pour the resulting composition into the mash in a thin stream. The proportion is 0.5 l of solution per 10 l of home brew.
5. Mix the resulting mixture, seal it tightly and leave for a day.
6. Drain the mash carefully, leaving sediment at the bottom.

Attention! When using bentonite, it is the mash that is cleaned, not raw!

Fractional cleaning (head, body, tail)

After cleaning the "raw", you can start the second level of distillation (fractional distillation).

At this stage, the drink is divided into three fractions (head, body, tail). Of these, only the middle fraction (body) is usable.

Distillation technology:

1. The cleaned raw is poured into a moonshine still and intensely heated to 60 degrees.
2. The heating rate is reduced and the drink is slowly brought to 80–84 degrees (at this temperature, the moonshine boils).
3. The first 10% of the fluid released is called the head. It is in it that the main amount of harmful substances is contained. The heads are unsuitable for use.
4. After the moonshine boils, the heating rate is slightly increased. In this case, the 2nd fraction of the drink (body) is expelled, which is approximately 40% of the total initial volume of liquid. The body is pure moonshine ready for consumption. Its strength should not be lower than 40 degrees.
5. In order to determine that the entire body of the drink is expelled. It is necessary to measure the strength with a speedometer in each portion of moonshine.
6. If the fortress has fallen below 40 degrees, this is a sign that the tails have gone. The tails are driven out until the temperature of the wash reaches 98 degrees. The distillation is then completed. The tails contain a large amount of fusel oils, have an unpleasant odor and cloudy color. They are also unusable.

Reference! The heads and tails of moonshine include: acetone, methyl alcohol and acetaldehyde. Their use poses a serious danger to human health. It is fraught with severe poisoning and serious complications.

How to eliminate unpleasant odor?

Usually, there is no unpleasant smell if the technology is followed, purification is carried out and the drink is distilled again. But sometimes the smell remains.

However, do not be upset, there are several effective ways to neutralize it.

Ways to eliminate unpleasant odor:

• Infusion on lemon peels... To do this, you need to take the zest of one lemon and pour it with 3 liters of the finished drink. Insist 12-14 days. Then filter through a cotton-gauze filter or filter paper. You can also use orange peel.
• Infusion on the root of the violet. To do this, you need to take one hundred grams of a crushed dry plant and pour 3 liters of distillate. Insist for 10-12 days. Then you should carefully pass the drink through a cotton-gauze filter. Moonshine becomes soft in taste, the unpleasant smell disappears completely.
• Freezing... A great way to remove bad odors from moonshine. To do this, place a container with a drink in a freezer and leave it for 4–5 hours. The water in the drinks will freeze together with harmful substances. In this case, alcohol will remain in a liquid state, since its freezing point is much lower than that of impurities. After 4–5 hours, the drink is removed from the freezer and the liquid is poured into the prepared container. This is a high quality refined moonshine.

Ways to combat the unpleasant smell of moonshine are described in the video:

1. After each distillation, thoroughly wash the tank and all other equipment.
2. For the preparation of mash, you need to use only alcoholic yeast. This will ensure a high quality drink without unpleasant taste and smell.
3. During distillation, it is undesirable to raise the temperature above 85 degrees.
4. The slower the distillation process, the cleaner and higher quality product.
5. Do not use pharmacy activated charcoal to clean your beverage. Since the cleansing effect will be very weak.

Purification of moonshine will not be difficult if you follow the technology and rules of the procedure. It is also very important to follow the manufacturing technology of the drink itself.

You should use quality raw materials and equipment, do not neglect the advice.

And remember, a well-refined drink is the key to your safety.

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

But lovers of this homemade drink are always faced with the problem of harmful impurities that fill their moonshine. They need to be removed so that the alcohol becomes like "crystal" or "child's tear", that is, pure.

It is worth remembering that not refined moonshine is a harmful liquid, even partly poisonous. Everyone has heard of the presence of fusel oils in it, but besides there is acetaldehyde; formic-ethyl, oil-ethyl, valerian-ethyl, acetic-methyl and acetic-ethyl esters, methyl and amyl alcohols, formic and acetic acids. You should not be afraid of these terrible words. Moonshine can be easily cleaned of all this. To do this, our alcohol needs to undergo purification (chemical or biological), overtake it once more - another, filter and insist.

You need to clean the alcohol obtained after you distilled the mash for the first time, in any of the ways described below. After that, 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 use only the "golden" mean. "Ponytails" are suitable for drinking, but rather weak. However, they can be collected for the next haul, with the help of which to make up for the "losses".

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

How to remove odors from moonshine

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

The problem of aroma is solved very simply. It is worth considering only one point: the higher the strength of the drink, the worse it gives off harmful substances.

Therefore, before cleaning, we dilute our alcohol to 40 degrees and begin to eliminate the "harmfulness" 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 skim milk for cleaning, because fat gives the alcohol a turbidity. 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 milk powder, then you need to cook it and cool it 2 hours before the start of the procedure. Moonshine when cleaning with milk should not be stronger than 70 degrees.

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

If you decide to start cleaning the mash, then for every 5 liters of it we add 1 liter of milk. "Drive" will need to be slow, preferably twice (to remove the turbidity).

If you are cleaning ready-made alcohol, then 1 glass (200 ml) of milk should be added to its 1 liter. In the process of adding, you need to actively stir the liquids, and then close the mixture and put 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 with cotton wool, inside which crushed activated carbon is poured. After that, the drink is diluted to 40 degrees, and distilled a second time, with the release of the usual 3 parts. Only the "middle" is taken away "for drinking".

There is a nuance in this method that beginners sometimes encounter. After a week, no sediment occurs in the mixture of moonshine and milk. Thinking that your moonshine is "crystal clear" or panic is not worth it. Add 1-2 drops of lemon juice or 1 crystal of citric acid to the liquid and stir thoroughly. The flakes will appear in a matter of minutes.

After this cleaning, to get the perfect product, do another cleaning with rye bread.

The same manipulations can be carried out with vodka by adding 30-50 ml of milk (skim) per 0.5 liters, shaking it and passing it through a charcoal filter. You will lose only 1-2 degrees in its fortress, but it will become "drinkable".

Cleaning moonshine with bread

Most often, this cleaning is applied after the milk cleaning has already been carried out, but it can also be independent.

Rye and freshly baked bread is used for the process. Old bread will not work as can impart an unpleasant taste to the drink.

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

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

Purification of moonshine with potassium permanganate

This method has 2 options. In both cases, fusel oils are oxidized.

First option. "Simple".

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

Second option. "Combined".

In this version, we take 1 liter of moonshine, with a strength of 40 degrees and 300 grams of hot water, in which about 2-3 grams of potassium permanganate is 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 soda (only food!) And salt (only not iodized!) To the liquid - 1 tablespoon each.

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

The filtering process in both options is extremely important.

Filters can be:

• conventional water filters
• homemade from a plastic bottle and cotton wool, inside of which calcined river sand, crushed activated or birch charcoal, crushed pharmaceutical tablets "Karbolena"

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

The resulting moonshine is distilled a second time.

Cleaning moonshine with soda

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

So, for 1 liter of alcohol, 1 gram of soda is taken (at the tip of a knife), stirred, aged for about 10 minutes and filtered.

Purification of moonshine with charcoal (activated, coconut, wood)

This type of purification can be used both by itself and after other purifications, since coal serves as both an excellent adsorbent (absorber of harmful substances) and a filter (which delays these "harmful substances").

Option 1. "Activated carbon"(1 month)

Buy activated charcoal tablets at the pharmacy, crush and pour into moonshine (50 grams of powder per liter of alcohol). Withstand 3 weeks, shaking the suspension daily, settle 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 the charcoal 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 are still warm, and the heat is still present, they are collected in a prepared container, blowing away the ash. The coals are closed, and, after waiting for them to fade, they are ground and passed through a sieve. At the same time, different trees give coal with an excellent absorption rate. The best ones 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 coal"(3 days)

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

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

Cleaning moonshine with egg white, freezing

Egg white acts on the harmfulness in alcohol as a coagulant, precipitating along with them. This method is similar in action to "milk cleaning". Beat two squirrels (not to foam) and mix with alcohol. After the appearance of flakes at the bottom, we filter. This method, I must say, is not cheap.

Freezing fusel oils is cheap. After sending a bottle of moonshine to the freezer, after a while you will notice that some of the liquid has frozen from 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 minus 28-29 degrees, with a strength of 9-12 degrees - at minus 5 degrees.

One of the most traditional (after mead) strong alcoholic drinks of our Russian origin is moonshine. The principle of its production is similar to those by which distillates of all foreign types are distilled: cognac, whiskey, rum, gin.

If we take away from the word the negative meaning given to it during the years of Soviet power, when moonshine was fought hard against (the state monopoly on alcohol), moonshine is a solid, high-quality drink. If you drive it out and clean it up using technology.

There are several ways to clean moonshine:

Chemical cleaning

For purification (in any way) take the product of the first distillation, cooled to room temperature. The technology, at first glance, is not easy, but having done it once, it will not be difficult to clean it in the future. For each liter of prepared liquid, a simple solution is taken: 2 g of potassium permanganate per 50 ml of boiled water. After dissolving the manganese crystals, the solution is poured into the moonshine and left for 10 hours.

Sediment remains at the bottom of the container. Filter the liquid through cotton or flannel. Flannel is a regular cotton fabric that is great for this kind of filtration. Distill the solution once more. After that, it is recommended, about this it is written below.

Fractional purification (distillation)

Alcohol above 45 degrees is difficult to get rid of unnecessary impurities, so it is better to dilute it to 40 degrees. The resulting product is poured into an apparatus and heated to 60 degrees Celsius. Then, reducing the intensity of heating, slowly bringing it to 85 degrees Celsius. In this case, about half of the harmful impurities leave the solution.

But formic and acetic acid, amyl alcohol, valerian ethyl ether are still present!

The first fraction obtained for ingestion is unsuitable and even dangerous; it can be used for kindling and other similar purposes. Its volume is from 5 to 8% of the total.

When the liquid boils, the intensity of heating is reduced, bringing the temperature to no higher than 97 degrees Celsius. At the same time, the second fraction is expelled, which is used to prepare the drink.

About 10% of the haul - the tail fraction, unusable! It is better to control this with the help of an alcoholometer (hydrometer), on how to use it, read the article "". When the distillate went below 40 degrees - this is the final fraction, it can be distilled again. Save the result of distillation below 40 degrees for technical purposes, the rest is a good product.

Second chemical cleaning

The most affordable and practical way is coal cleaning. To do this, you can use activated (sold in the pharmacy) or charcoal. It is believed that better cleaning is done with charcoal. You can buy it in the store, but it will not be difficult to cook it yourself.

The wood of birch, pine, linden, spruce is most suitable for this. To obtain coal, the wood is heated, restricting the access of air, until it burns out completely, then the resulting coals are cooled. Crushed to a powdery state.

Coal, 50 g per liter, is mixed with liquid, insisted for 2-3 weeks, shaking several times a day. After that, they leave alone for a week, waiting for the coal to lie to the bottom.

The settled nectar is filtered through cotton wool or flannel. Basically, the moonshine is ready to drink. But to improve the taste, you can insist the resulting liquid per liter: 50 g of raisins, a pinch of St. John's wort - 3-4 days. If consumed in moderation - fun and without a hangover!

Biological treatment

The scientific name for the biological purification of the drink is coagulation. After the first distillation, pour in fresh milk, whipped egg white or kefir. The mixture coagulates, the sediment gradually falls to the bottom of the container. Neatly filtered moonshine is distilled, a crystal clear drink is obtained. The article "" reveals in detail all the nuances of this method.

After repeated distillation, the liquid is diluted to a strength of 40 degrees, and cleaned with fresh rye bread. To do this, break it in small pieces, put it in moonshine (100 g per liter). Bread gluten cleans the moonshine from the last remnants of fusel oils.

Freezing

The method is simple: when the temperature drops, the components in the liquid below 40 degrees (and these are fusel oils) freeze. It remains to pour a quality product, filter it again. This is a more time-consuming method, but with a guaranteed quality of the final product.

To surely get rid of extraneous odors, you can perform the following procedure: for 1 liter of liquid, take 30 g of raisins and 4-5 finely chopped violet roots, all this is insisted for 10 days.

Gluing

This method is exotic and expensive. To clean the moonshine, "Karluk" glue (made from the swimming bladders of sturgeon) is used. It is preliminarily diluted in water to the consistency of a gel, and added to the settled moonshine. The glue gradually settles to the bottom of the container, binding the fusel oils.

The cleaning method is high-quality, guaranteeing a clean drink. The problem is that the karluk is difficult to find, as the sturgeon population has declined dramatically in recent years.

Unconventional methods of cleaning moonshine

Tannin or oak chips are a great way to cleanse your drink. Tannin is a substance found in the heart of oak wood. These components improve taste and remove unwanted inclusions from the liquid.

Suffice it to mention that cognac spirits must be aged in oak barrels for several years before being poured into bottles. Tannin gives the drink astringency and all the famous aftertastes of cognac: apricot, cherry and other tones, for which everyone appreciates the drink.

Moonshine is produced using the same technology as cognac. For cleaning, 5-10% of tannin powder or oak shavings are added to the liquid, from the volume, they are kept for 10 days.

There is also a variant of insisting on oak cubes. Saw cubes 2-3 cm, fill it with spring water several times, changing it after 2 hours. Then it is poured for three hours with a solution of baking soda (1 tablespoon per 5 liters of water). Washed, poured with boiling water. When the cubes have cooled, they are dried.

Then it is fried in the oven for 3 hours at a temperature of 160 ° C. They put it in a container with moonshine (5-8 cubes per 3 liters), insist for a week (more is possible, this is just the case when longer is better).

Cleaning moonshine with soda

Take 5-10 g of soda per 1 liter of liquid, add water with 2-3 manganese crystals diluted in it, pour into the solution, and stand for 20 minutes. The same amount of soda is added again, kept for 12 hours. The resulting moonshine is filtered through cotton wool or coal.

Tincture on pine nuts

If, after all the purifications, insist on moonshine on pine nuts, you get a drink of the highest purity, with a pleasant aroma and color. Nuts are poured into the container in a volume of 3% of the total, insisted for two weeks.

During the infusion, the remaining harmful impurities will be absorbed by the walnut bark. The drink will receive a rich brown color and a light aftertaste with a hint of cedar aroma. Drinking the drink in small doses has a healing effect similar to that of cedar bark tincture.

Giving the drink a pleasant taste and color

After the purest drink has been obtained, it will not be superfluous to give it a pleasant color to the eye.

Colors that can be given to moonshine:

• brown (cognac) color: 1 tablespoon of tea per liter of liquid;
• brown (saturated) color: pine nuts;
• blue: yarrow flowers;
• green: mint leaves, parsley;
• orange: orange peel, walnut partitions (except for color, good for health, in small quantities);
• yellow: lemon peel.

Herbal balm

Another recipe for giving aroma and useful properties to the drink, personally tested. The drink is guaranteed to have a pleasant, close to cognac taste. A purified and filtered distillate is taken in a volume of 3 liters.

Ingredients that are put into the liquid:

• 2 bay leaves;
• 6 peas of black pepper;
• 1 tablespoon sugar

The rest is in pinches:

• parsley
• spurge
• lovage
• St. John's wort
• calendula
• oregano
• rose hip
• bird cherry
• basil
• Melissa

The solution is infused for 1 week and filtered. And on your festive table, there is a drink with a taste similar to five-year-old cognac!

And finally, watch an interesting video about moonshine, taken from the YouTube channel of the user GrazhdaninPoet. It has nothing to do with cleaning moonshine, but watching, unlike drinking alcoholic beverages, will not hurt!

By cleaning we mean maximum disposal of moonshine and fusel oil, aldehydes and other harmful impurities... There are currently 7 ways that can significantly improve the quality of the distillate, add transparency and remove unpleasant odors. They are all ranked from most efficient to totally useless.

Note that some purification technologies require a second distillation, so the highest quality method will not always be convenient and fast. At the same time, we understand the importance of speed, since this process is far from interesting and pleasant for everyone, and therefore we will mark the amount of time required for adequate purification of the distillate.

What is the best purifier to choose?

There are two approaches to cleaning moonshine that are used by ordinary people at home:

1. Purification of a ready-to-drink beverage 40-60% ABV (quick but not quite correct method).
2. Purification of diluted distillate to 15–30% strength (long, with a second distillation, but high quality).

When choosing between the two, remember: the lower the strength of the moonshine, the more efficient the cleaning is... The best strength is 15%, at which the "fuselage" is best separated from the distillate.

It is not always desirable to "steam" about dilution, additionally distill the product and waste extra time. Therefore, we are deeply convinced that the golden rule is recommended, but not necessary. Many do not carry out any manipulations with moonshine at all and the distillate turns out to be excellent.

Therefore, you can safely clean liquid with a standard strength and not be afraid to drink it. Most of the harmful substances will definitely go away and the result will still be decent.

Rating of the best methods for cleaning moonshine

I suggest not to postpone the matter indefinitely and start a review.

Activated carbon BAU and KAU

The undoubted leader is birch and coconut activated carbon, which is sold in specialized stores and on the Internet at a price of 200–250 rubles per 0.5 kg. We give the first place to him, since it is possible even after cleaning with some other means.

Quickly and efficiently (within 1 hour you can drain a decent amount), the cleansing takes place using the following technology:

1. We make a carbon filter. We cut off the bottom of a bottle with a volume of 2 or 5 liters, put a thick layer of cotton wool or gauze on the neck, pour the required amount of sorbent on top of it based on the proportions above. The filter is shown in the picture on the right.
2. Before filtration, the charcoal should be rinsed with a liter of water to minimize alcohol loss.
3. The filter is installed on top of the container into which the purified moonshine will drain.
4. With the help of a silicone tube and the principle of communicating vessels, we begin filtration.
5. We repeat filtration 2-3 times until complete cleaning.

Egg white

We singled out the second in quality.

Interacting with moonshine, there is precipitation in the form of white flakes, which are further filtered and discarded. It is these flakes that contain all the harmful impurities that we strive to get rid of during cleaning.

Do not be afraid to pour egg white into the moonshine - everything will be fine!

Correct step-by-step actions:

1. Cooking egg white in a ratio of 1 egg to 1 liter of moonshine.
2. Pour into moonshine and shake vigorously.
3. We insist 1 hour (if you want faster) or 1 day in a dark place.
4. We remove the distillate from the precipitate and filter through cotton wool (for transparency, you can use charcoal).

By the amount of sediment, you can judge the quality of your moonshine. The less it is, the cleaner the drink.

Sunflower, refined, deodorized oil

The third place is deservedly taken, which clings to the "sivukha" and cleans the moonshine from the unpleasant odor. Due to the fat content of the oil, this method can be called rather dirty, but not so much as to refuse it. After purification, a second distillation is required..

To remove the film after infusion, use a syringe

1. We dilute the moonshine to 15–20% of the fortress. The lower the strength, the better the cleaning will be.
2. Pour the prescribed amount of oil into the moonshine (20 ml per 1 liter), close the lid and stir vigorously.
3. For 10 minutes we intensively beat the liquid 2-3 times more.
4. We insist the resulting mixture in a cool place (refrigerator, balcony) for 12 hours.
5. The distillate will have a film over the surface, which ideally needs to be drained. In order not to spoil the tube and not wash it again, you can use a regular syringe, which can then be thrown away.
6. We filter the distillate through cheesecloth or cotton wool. To increase the efficiency of cleaning, you can use carbohydrate, it certainly will not be superfluous.
7. We send the resulting product for re-distillation.

The drained oil will have a very unpleasant odor. Something like this smells "fuzzy" in its purest form.

Milk

On the fourth line is located. There is no need to be afraid to mix these two liquids, since after intense filtration, the moonshine will completely lack an unpleasant odor, and in appearance it will be transparent as a tear.

The cloudy mixture becomes transparent after filtration

1. Pour milk into the finished moonshine in proportions of 150 ml per 10 liters of product.
2. Shake the resulting mixture vigorously and put in a dark place at room temperature for a week. Shake occasionally for the first 3-4 days.
3. We remove the moonshine from the sediment using the principle of communicating vessels and a silicone tube, after which we filter through several layers of cotton wool or gauze. To increase the cleaning efficiency, you can add BAU or KAU coal.

Milk has been considered an extremely popular moonshine purifier for hundreds of years, so there is no need to worry about the end result. Just follow the instructions and do everything conscientiously.

Black rye bread

For this method, we need fresh, black, rye. This product perfectly absorbs fusel oils and toxins, and in return gives a dark brown color, like whiskey or cognac. It turns out an interesting cleaning method, which also tints our moonshine.

1. Pour the moonshine into a container with a wide neck, through which it will be convenient to lower and pull out a slice of bread (best of all in a jar).
2. Cut the bread into squares in the required proportions and pour into the distillate.
3. Shake vigorously, after which we remove our product in a dark place for 3 days.
4. Filter the distillate through cotton wool or cheesecloth, taking care do not squeeze the bread... There will be losses, but not so critical.
5. To stabilize the taste, let it stand for 1–2 days in a dark place, after which you can put it on the table.

Many, in an attempt to minimize the loss of moonshine, squeeze bread and cheesecloth. It is categorically not recommended to do this, since it is there that all the harmful impurities remain, from which we purify alcohol.

Soda, salt

Sodium chloride () and sodium bicarbonate () also cleanse fusel oils and toxins quite well, although they do it much worse than the substances described above.

1. Take salt in a ratio of 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon soda per 1 liter of moonshine and pour into the distillate.
2. Shake vigorously for 10 minutes 2-3 times, after which we remove the container in a dark place for a day.
3. We filter the resulting solution through a cotton filter.
4. We carry out the second distillation of moonshine.

By properly filtering the distillate, you can avoid re-distillation and save a lot of time.

But still, salt and soda are quite pungent in taste, so any of their notes in the product will feel just awful. In view of this, it is better not to risk it.

Freezing cold

This method is extremely ineffective and complicated, so we recommend that you use it as the last resort. This is an old folk method, thanks to which part of the "sivukha" remains together with the frozen water, and pure alcohol gets into another container.

1. We guess cold, winter and calm weather (at least minus 15) without precipitation in the form of snow.
2. Freeze the moonshine to a jelly state.
3. We take a metal object such as a crowbar, ax or shovel and put it in a basin.
4. Slowly pour the distillate onto the iron (it sounds ridiculous) so that it drips into the prepared container.
5. We clean the frozen layer of ice and harmful impurities from the iron and repeat the procedure.
6. We do this until the moment you get bored or start to freeze yourself.

As you can see, it even sounds pretty wild, not to mention practice. it is interesting to do it with humor and in good company, but at home it is completely uninteresting to do it alone.

Potassium permanganate (the method does not work absolutely)

We were deeply interested in this issue and came to the conclusion that potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) cannot be used to clean moonshine.

First, as a result of a chemical reaction, moonshine turns into a poison, which must be distilled or thrown away a second time.

Secondly, the precipitate from the crystals of this substance is not fusel oils and harmful impurities, but the alcohol itself, which has reacted with. In view of this, it becomes extremely impractical to purify the distillate in this way.

In modern times, many are engaged in home brewing, and it's not just about saving. In order for the drink to be of high quality, the correct technology must be followed. An important step in home brewing is the purification of moonshine. The process will make the drink more noble and tasty. How to clean moonshine from odors and impurities, we will tell you below.

The main methods of cleaning moonshine from the smell

The main methods of cleaning moonshine

Purification of moonshine occurs after the second run. There are many popular recipes on how to get rid of the smell of fusel oils and harmful impurities:

• Cleaning with coal. We recommend using pharmacy activated charcoal or birch charcoal.
• Cleaning with potassium permanganate. Manganese powder will help get rid of the bad smell and eliminate the action of harmful substances in raw alcohol.
• Powdered milk. The strength of the drink before cleaning should be no more than 40 degrees.
• Egg white. More than one generation knows and uses this recipe. Protein helps to bind fusel oils and forms a sediment in which toxic substances remain.
• Salt, soda. The raw alcohol purified by this method will become an exquisite drink without foreign smell.
• Cleaning with rye bread. You need to break the bread into pieces (for 1 liter of drink, 100 grams of bread are taken), put in a container with alcohol, mix. After a few days, the drink is filtered out. On a note! Only fresh bread is used!
• Freezing. At low temperatures, only ethyl alcohol does not freeze.
• Fruit cleaning. If you apply this method before the second distillation, the drink will acquire light fruity notes.

Having decided that the drink needs cleansing, you should learn how to clean the moonshine from impurities.

How to remove odors from moonshine

First, you need to make sure that the drink should be cleaned. To do this, liquid is poured into a spoon and ignited. If, after the alcohol burns out, an oily liquid remains at the bottom of the spoon, the drink must be cleaned without fail. How moonshine is purified:

• You will need 50 grams of activated carbon per liter of raw alcohol. Coal must be crushed into powder. Lay out the bottom of the funnel with filtered paper, on top is a layer of charcoal powder. The third layer should be paper again. Pass the drink through a charcoal filter and dilute with clean water to a strength of 28 degrees.
• The second method of cleaning with charcoal is the use of charcoal. The crushed powder is poured into a bottle with alcohol. The drink should be infused for 5-10 days.
• You can get rid of the bad smell with milk powder. For 10 liters of alcohol, you need to take 10 liters of water and 6 grams of milk powder. Milk is diluted in 10 liters of warm water, mixed, and settled for several hours. After that, raw alcohol is mixed with diluted milk. After a week, the pure product is filtered from the precipitate.

Dilution of moonshine before re-distillation

Re-distillation is necessary in order to get rid of the characteristic mash smell and to purify the alcohol from fusel oils. After re-distillation, the drink will be of very high quality. Previously, there was no information about the dangers of the "first", and people were happy to use it. Now everyone knows about the need for re-distillation.

After the first distillation, crude alcohol with a strength of about 70 degrees comes out of the mash. Purification of moonshine is done at a strength of 20-30 degrees, so the alcohol is diluted with clean water. To eliminate poisonous impurities and odor is possible only with a reduced strength. It is recommended to dilute raw alcohol with distilled water or water from a well. You can use tap water that has settled for several days or melt water.

Before re-distillation, it is allowed to dilute the moonshine

Purification from impurities before the second distillation

• Manganese powder will not only eliminate the characteristic odor, but also get rid of toxic constituents before the second distillation. In 6 liters of raw alcohol, a teaspoon of potassium permanganate powder is diluted, mixed. After two hours, gently drain the moonshine from the sediment.
• Cleaning the moonshine by freezing will help get rid of unnecessary impurities. Moonshine is poured into a saucepan and placed in the freezer for 5 hours. If it's freezing outside, the pot can be taken out there. Unfrozen liquid is very carefully drained and cleaning is complete.

Effective methods for cleansing home-brewed moonshine with or without distillation

Cleaning method using milk or eggs:

• Add three egg whites or 100 grams of raw milk to a liter of raw alcohol.
• Close the bottle with a cork, shake the contents.
• When milk-curd flakes form at the bottom, the liquid can be passed through a filter.

Cleaning method with salt and soda:

• Pour one tablespoon of baking soda and salt into a liter of 40-degree drink.
• Stir the contents, leave for half an hour.
• Stir again, place the bottle in a dark place.
• As soon as layers appear in the container, carefully pour the top layer into a clean bottle.