Our people are accustomed to distilling alcohol from everything that is at hand, and primarily from berries and fruits: pears, apples, and even kiwis. Vegetables are also popular - potatoes have become a real classic. You won’t surprise us with cereals either: buckwheat, rice and even oats are perfect for wort.
What about ready-made drinks as raw materials? Today we will tell you how to make mash and moonshine at home from concentrated juice, as well as from regular store juice. At the end you will get a pure product of the required strength with a pleasant aftertaste.
We tried to choose the recipes as simple as possible - ones with which you can even begin your acquaintance with the world of moonshine. Well, people already experienced in this matter will make alcohol without any problems at all. By the way, the beauty of this option is that you can take almost any nectar that is sold in stores and supermarkets, be it peach or birch. There is a convenient opportunity to prepare strong alcohol with the flavor that you have always liked.
First, a few words about what such an original base for wort is. Concentrate is already pressed and processed, but not yet reconstituted (diluted store-bought) nectar. It can be apple, grape, pear or other, but it is usually a thick and even viscous liquid (so much so that it is measured in kilograms, not liters). But alcohol prepared from such raw materials will have pronounced organoleptic properties.
Ingredients for mash
From these ingredients you can make approximately 25 liters of mash. To speed up the “game” process, you can use alcohol yeast instead of wine yeast (you will need 100 g of it), but keep in mind that with it the aroma will not be so rich.
Preparing mash with concentrated juice
- Dissolve sugar (invert syrup) in water, stirring gently.
- Pour the concentrate and water into the fermentation container.
- Rehydrate wine yeast to activate it. Leave them in a glass of water (200-250 ml) and 1 tsp. sugar - for about 15 minutes until it sizzles - and add to the wort.
- Close the fermentation container with a water seal and send it to a dark place (the temperature in which is 24-27 ° C) to infuse.
- Keep the liquid for 7-10 days.
- Filter through cheesecloth, removing sediment.
The mash is ready, you can proceed to distillation, but keep in mind that the organoleptic properties of the final product will greatly depend on the type of nectar chosen. If, for example, you used apple wort for the wort, then in the end you will get almost nothing but an even more pronounced taste and aroma. For many, this is even an advantage.
Home brew from store-bought juice
There is one key point here. That fruit drink that is sold in bags is definitely unnatural squeezed nectar: in fact, it is water in which a small part of the concentrate is diluted and to which acidity regulators have been added. But it contains up to 15% sugar, which means it will “play”, albeit relatively slowly. So you can still make alcohol from it.
Just consider what such moonshine from juice will be like: a store-bought drink will give only a light fruity note. To get a truly powerful taste, you should arm yourself with a press and start pressing and squeezing... but more on that in the next recipe.
You will need these ingredients
To test the recipe, we prepared mash from Dobry juice, although any other purchased packaged or bottled one, for example J-7 or Rich, will do. The taste qualities will be well revealed not only by apple or pear, but also by orange or peach; as an original, but also appropriate option, you can take tomato.
Did you know? Instead of baker's yeast, you can also use dry yeast, but you need to take it in the amount of 50 g rather than 200 g.
Step-by-step preparation of the base
- Dissolve sugar in purchased nectar and pour the resulting liquid into a fermentation container (choose the volume so that it remains at least a third empty - this will facilitate foaming).
- Pour the yeast into it, put a water seal on the bottle (or other container) and send it to a warm place (maybe near a radiator or in the sun) to infuse.
- Let the wort “play” for 2 weeks. During this time, the liquid will become bitter and lighten in color.
- Remove the sediment by draining the liquid through a gauze filter, and you can proceed to distillation.
From 10 liters of such raw materials, approximately 3 liters of the finished product will come out with a strength of about 43 degrees. We recommend taking pear juice: you will get excellent alcohol - without the cloying note that it has, but with a light aroma and taste of Duchess. But the tomato version is also gorgeous, at least for its originality.
Moonshine from peach juice
A real life hack for those who have their own garden or the opportunity to profitably buy a large quantity of these juicy fruits, as well as the desire to work on the press. We'll tell you how to make moonshine from freshly squeezed peach juice, which is so thick that it is a wonderful natural concentrate in itself. Please note an important feature of the recipe: no yeast is used.
Ingredients for peach alcohol
Step by step making peach moonshine
- Pour all the nectar into an enamel container, add 1 kg of granulated sugar and 1.5 liters of water. Then cover with gauze and leave in a warm corner for 2 days (48 hours).
- Pour the “playing” liquid into a glass fermentation bottle, add raisins and the remaining 2 kg of sugar, add 2.5 liters of water.
- Install a water seal (glove) and send the container with the wort to the same warm corner for 7-10 days. During this time, the fermentation process should be completed (you can understand that it has ended by the absence of gas bubbles).
- Remove the sediment by filtering the mash through gauze rolled up in several layers and pour it into a cube.
- Perform the first distillation, taking it until the jet pressure drops to 25 °.
- Dilute the distillate with water so that its strength becomes 20°.
- Perform a second distillation, this time dividing into fractions. The first 200-250 ml of alcohol will be “heads”, then the “body” will come, which is suitable for consumption, and when the pressure in the stream drops to 35 °, harmful “tails” will begin.
- You taste the finished product and drink it the same way as vodka, that is, in glasses and gulps (but don’t be too zealous).
Here it is appropriate to consider the issue of diluting moonshine with juice. It is diluted in the same way as with water, according to a very simple formula:
X = (A/B)*C – C, where
- A and B – available and desired alcohol strength, respectively;
- C – volume of alcohol.
An example with specific numbers. Let's say you made 5 liters of alcohol with a strength of 45 ° and want to dilute it with nectar to 30 °. Then X = (45/30)*5 – 5 = 2.5 liters.
Moonshine from palm sap
So we got to the exotic. Is it possible to distill alcohol from wood? Yes, and Ostap Bender’s notorious stool has nothing to do with it. The same palm tree contains juice that ferments (after all, it contains sugar), which means it can also be wort. Moreover, the technology for preparing alcohol is the same as in the previous recipe, just the raw materials are different.
But where can you get as many as 10 liters of “palm tears”, and even in our latitudes? This is problematic, but it's good that there is an alternative. We suggest infusing moonshine with coconut juice, which is quite concentrated and gives its own taste. Well, a nut is also part of a palm tree.
For coconut moonshine you need
Cooking procedure
- Mix coconut milk with water, add cinnamon and sugar and bring to a boil over low heat.
- Cool the resulting liquid (it will become clearer) and pour alcohol into it.
- Leave in a warm, dark corner for 3 days, then filter through cheesecloth and leave for another 1 day.
- Drink in glasses, but without fanaticism, 50-100 ml.
The final product will have a “liqueur” consistency. It will turn out thick, like, for example, . Connoisseurs find a special charm in this, and in the tenderness of the coconut flavor too.
Video with recipes for moonshine with concentrated juice
Here's an apple classic. The finished drink can even be proudly considered homemade Calvados.
But the original recipe is almost chacha. Grape nectar, dextrose and yeast make a wonderful drink - try it.
And how many options for preparing alcohol have not yet been covered! Mash from juice, store-bought bagged, concentrated or freshly squeezed, can be made in dozens of different ways. Do you know any original recipe? Share it, we’ll be happy to read it and turn it into a drink.
Today, the variety of alcoholic beverages on store shelves is amazing. Various colors and in various containers. I just want to try everything. But you can make moonshine at home from juice, which is not inferior in quality to store-bought products. To do this, you need to have a moonshine still and raw materials.
About fruit and berry moonshine
Quickly navigate to the article
There are many recipes for making mash based on juices. Sweet syrup and even tomato paste are also used. Both fresh and fermented juices are suitable for making moonshine. If you use fruit and berry juices for mash, then take another third of a kilogram pack for their 10 liter container (bottle). They are mixed in a sweet liquid, and the container is placed in a warm place for two weeks. The temperature of the mixture should be maintained at 20 - 25 degrees. It is not necessary to add sugar if you do not plan to get a strong alcoholic drink. The yield of moonshine from 10 liters of such mash will be 3 liters.
Application of tomatoes
From tomato juice. For 30 liters of it, take a kilogram of sugar and add a little yeast (about 40 g). The mixture in the container is kept warm for a week. The mash will ferment and produce alcohol. It can be distilled. Tomato paste is also suitable for this. You can make it at home from tomatoes, or you can buy it ready-made. But homemade is preferable. To make mash you need: 
1. Liter of tomato paste.
2.11 kg sugar.
3. A bottle of beer.
4. 30 liters of water.
The paste is first stirred with a small amount of water (1 - 2 liters). This thick sauce is then poured into heated water. After stirring, sugar is added. And lastly, half a liter of beer is poured there. The container with the mixture is placed in a warm place for half a month. This will make mash without adding yeast. Before distillation, strain through cheesecloth. If a little vanilla sugar is added, the taste of the moonshine will be softer and more pleasant. You can also make mash from tomato pulp. Water, sugar and beer are added to it in the same way. So the well-known tomato is also used.
Read also: Review of schnapps
About birch sap
If it is easy to make mash from tomato raw materials, then it is even easier from birch sap. But trees provide it only in early spring. Having collected a 40-liter flask of such healing liquid, you can put it on the mash. The recipe is:
1. Birch sap – 40 l.
2. Sugar – 12 kg.
3. Yeast – 0.8 kg (pressed) or 160 g (dry).
4. Fresh cow's milk - 4 tablespoons.
Heat birch sap to a temperature of 25 - 28 degrees.
Stir sugar in it. Pour in the yeast solution. To reduce foaming, add milk. Place the flask in a warm place. Braga should ferment at a temperature of 18 to 28 degrees. The warmer it is, the sooner the process will end. It is necessary to provide for the release of gases during fermentation. Distill the prepared alcoholic liquid into an alcoholic drink. This kind of moonshine is popularly called “princely” for its special taste.
Apple
Moonshine from juice turns out aromatic when using fruits or berries grown on 
personal plot. You will need a juicer. If apples are taken, they are passed through it. Freshly squeezed juice is mixed with pulp and water in a ratio of 5: 1: 4. The container with this mixture is placed in a warm place. The temperature required for fermentation is + 27 degrees. After 12 – 15 days. It needs to be distilled immediately, otherwise it will quickly turn sour.
Pomegranate
Delicious moonshine is made from pomegranate juice. It can be made at home. To prepare it you will need 10 kg of pomegranates. All you need is their grains. They are placed in a container, and 4 kg of glucose is added to them. After a week, pomegranate juice will be released. 20 liters of water are added to it and another 4 kg of glucose (dextrose) is added. Another yeast solution is poured in (a kilogram packet of pressed yeast dissolved in water). Intense fermentation will begin. After 3 - 5 days, the mash will be ready for distillation. There is no need to remove pomegranate seeds from the mash. The moonshine will have a sour, spicy taste. The pomegranate flavor will remain.
Every more or less well-read person has heard of Calvados. Many of us have had the opportunity to try this magnificent apple distillate at least once.
But not everyone has the knowledge to make something similar in their own kitchen (even if it’s not the canonical Calvados, but an unpretentious, but no less pleasant moonshine from apples). In this regard, the primary question is: how to make (or rather, how to prepare or, if you want, supply) apple mash for moonshine.
Believe me, the distillate made from mash made according to this recipe has never disappointed anyone.
List of ingredients
Apples – 30 kg
Granulated sugar – 2-4 kg
Water – 10-20 l
Dry wine yeast – 100 g
Cooking method
In our case, the apple pulp remaining after obtaining the juice can also be used. At the same time, the output will be a kind of apple equivalent of the famous chacha.
List of ingredients
Apple pulp – 10 kg
Granulated sugar – 5 kg
Water – 35 l
Yeast – 100 g dry or 500 g pressed
Cooking method
If you are a true gourmet, you should choose this option. Apple brandy, prepared from pure juice, is the most perfect in its taste and aroma.
List of ingredients
Apple juice – 15 l
Granulated sugar – 3 kg
Dry wine yeast – 200 g
Honey - to taste
Lemon zest - to taste
Cooking method
Strain the juice from the sediment for several days, then mix with sugar and yeast solution; If desired, you can add a little honey and lemon zest.
Keep the resulting substance in a dark, warm place for a month, stirring it periodically.
After the specified period, the finished mash can be put into use.
Apple mash without yeast
All of the above-mentioned mash options can be prepared without yeast and, accordingly, without sugar.
The main thing is to leave the fruit unwashed so as not to destroy the wild yeast necessary for this type of fermentation.
The tangible advantages of this method will be the taste of the distillate not distorted by the sugar-yeast factor and the reduction in financial costs for its preparation.
The disadvantages of the mentioned method include a long fermentation period, sometimes reaching up to two and a half months, as well as a smaller amount of finished brandy obtained at the exit.
Drinking apple mash, essentially cider, is a pleasant-tasting, self-sufficient, refreshing low-alcohol drink.
List of ingredients
Sour apples – 5 kg
Sweet apples – 5 kg
Cooking method
Squeeze juice from soft but not rotten fruits.
Separately stand the juices from sour and sweet varieties of apples for 3 days.
Then, remove them from the sediment and mix to taste.
Bottle the resulting preparation, throwing a few raisins into each bottle.
Seal the bottles very carefully and place them in the cellar or refrigerator.
In about a month, your drinking mash will be ready.
Of course, such a drink can be prepared using the sugar-yeast method, but we would not recommend drinking it in its pure form.
Firstly: yeast will significantly worsen the organoleptic properties of the drink, and secondly: undistilled yeast mash contains a significant amount of toxic substances that can seriously harm your body.
Choose fresh fruit
When selecting fruits for mashing, try not to use fallen apples with rotten rot. If you still cannot manage without falling apples, carefully cut out all rotten areas. Otherwise, the semi-finished product for moonshine will turn out to be too bitter.
10% rule
When placing the wort in the fermentation container, make sure that there is at least 10% of the free space left in it, which is necessary for the accumulation of foam and carbon dioxide.
Baker's yeast - a taboo for quality alcohol
When making mash, you can use baker's yeast. In this case, the fermentation process may be completed in a week, but the product itself will have a characteristic unpleasant taste and smell.
Sugar mash with apples
You can try adding apple pieces to a regular sugar-yeast mixture for moonshine. In this case, at the end of the fermentation period, you will have a refined sugar mash with apples.
Experiment
It is allowed to mix apples with other fruit and berry ingredients. In this way, for example, you will get a mash from apples and plums or a mash from apples and grapes. The main thing in such cases is to ensure that the sugar content of the future wort does not exceed 20%. Otherwise, fermentation simply will not take place.
Mash from pears and apples
If you have prepared a distillate based on a mash of pears and apples, it should either be consumed within the next few months or aged in an oak barrel for about a year. According to experts, this drink, after six months of storage, partially loses the fullness of its flavor bouquet for some time.
Error or something to add?
Grape moonshine is known all over the world. And although the names of the distillation product are different - chacha, grappa, rakia or kizlyarka - the original product is the same: grapes. Grape moonshine is equally good both as an independent drink and as the basis of a drink in.
In terms of frequency of use in grape raw materials, it is confidently among the top three. Most often, mash for grape moonshine is prepared from cake or pulp, but it is quite possible to make mash from grape juice. The recipe in this case is even simpler than when using grape marc, but here we will definitely need to add yeast. Wild yeast found on the surface of the berries and grape stems in the juice, as a rule, does not remain, or their quantity is negligible.
How to properly make mash from concentrated grape juice (find the recipe below)? It is convenient to use the juice of sour grape varieties, which are not very suitable for wine. Use a natural, proven product, without preservatives or dyes. Homemade juice is ideal; juices in retail packaging are not suitable in this case.
Grape juice mash recipe
Ingredients:
- grape juice - 3 liters
- granulated sugar - 1 kg (for sweet varieties) or 1.5-2 kg (for sour varieties)
- clean water - 6 liters
- yeast - 90 grams (dry) or 300 grams (pressed)
Making mash:
- Pour the juice into the fermentation container and dilute it with water heated to a temperature of 30-40°C.
- Add sugar while constantly stirring.
- Activate the yeast in a small amount of warm water with the addition of 1-2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the starter in a warm place for 60 minutes
- Then add the starter to the fermentation container and mix well.
- Close the lid, put on a water seal (or a signal glove), and put it in a warm, dark place.
- Fermentation time is approximately 7-10 days.
Remove the finished mash from the sediment and distill. To ensure high quality of the final product, we recommend
Not as difficult as it seems. This is the best use for fruits that can spoil quickly. Recycling is not a complicated process. Some people prefer to make preserves or preserves from apples, while others have enough of such preserves, and so they begin to think about where to use the apples. The recipe and technology for creating real moonshine from apple juice is quite simple.. If you figure it out, the result will exceed all expectations.
If you decide to make such a drink, then you need already ripe fruits to create apple juice. Varieties may be different. The main thing to remember is that the apples must be of the sweet variety. If they begin to deteriorate, then you need to cut out the rotten and damaged parts.
Sugar content can vary from 8% to 14%. It turns out that from one kilogram of apples you can make from 90 to 175 ml of strong moonshine. In this case, the strength will be like that of vodka. By adding 1 kilogram of sugar, the volume increases to 1.1 liters. If the apples are of a sweet variety, then sugar may not be added. If the fruits are acidic varieties, then it is better to artificially make them sweet.
When a proportion is drawn up, you need to know the recipe well. You must always adhere to the rules. To one part sugar you need to add three parts water. In this case, the wort should consist only of peeled apples, after which it is diluted by a third. It turns out that you need to pour in 30% of the total volume of water. If you use apple juice, you need to add water in the amount of 20% of the total volume.
Be sure to use dry or compressed yeast. In this case, the drink will be ready in 5-10 days. However, you should not be surprised if a yeasty smell appears. To prevent a slight yeast smell, you need to choose wild or wine yeast. They are placed on the surface of the apples. These strains are quite popular, but they are used less often. They extend the fermentation process to 45 days. If you have time, it is better to wait and get an excellent drink.
From apple juice
Making mash from apple juice is much easier than making mash from whole apples. This recipe is much better. This is because the mash will lack pulp and peel, which can worsen the final result. Over the entire period of creating mash from juice, this recipe was considered the best and has remained so to this day.. This recipe includes the following ingredients:
- 5 liters of apple juice;
- 1 kg of sugar, if the juice is sour;
- For 1 liter of juice – 200 ml of water;
- For 1 kg of sugar – 3 liters of juice;
- 10 grams of dry yeast, but not required. They can be replaced with 30 grams of raisins per 1 liter of apple juice.
A special feature of the recipe is that wine yeast is placed on the raisins. In this case, the raisins are not washed. With the help of yeast, there is no unpleasant odor during fermentation. The recipe is very simple and you need to do everything in order:
- Take apple juice and add sugar to it if desired. You can choose from dry yeast or wine yeast with raisins;
- The resulting composition is poured into a container where fermentation will take place. A medical glove is placed on top of the neck of the vessel. A hole is pierced in one of the fingers. If you don’t have gloves, you can take a water seal;
- The vessel is placed in a dark place where the air temperature should be between +18°C and +28°C. The fermentation period will vary. It all depends on the type of yeast and can range from 5 days to 45 days;
- To know whether the mash is ready or not, you need to keep an eye on the glove. When it deflates, it means the mash becomes unsweetened and bitter. At the same time, it will lighten up. A sediment will form at the bottom, which will need to be distilled for moonshine.
The recipe for making apple mash for moonshine is nothing complicated. After creating such a drink once, you will no longer have any difficulties in creating it in the future.. As you can see, making a simple apple mash for moonshine is not that difficult.
