We get odorless moonshine. Various ways to eliminate the unpleasant smell of moonshine How to make moonshine not smell

08.09.2023 Survey

Some people like the characteristic fusel aroma of moonshine, for which they leave some of the fusel or do not clean the drink as thoroughly as required. But for most, such an intrusive aroma is still unpleasant. After all the manipulations, I want to get a really crystal clear product with a light alcoholic flavor.

The dream of every distiller is to get odorless moonshine every time, and not as a result of random manipulations. It is unlikely that we will reveal the secret if we say that the abundance of aroma directly depends on compliance with the production technology. So, how to brew odorless and tasteless moonshine - basic recipes, nuances of technology and the overall result.

Why does moonshine smell?

Homemade alcoholic drinks rarely smell pleasant unless it's apple cider or light raspberry liqueur. Whether or not you like the moonshine spirit is a secondary question. But the presence of this smell indicates a complex chemical formula, which includes not only ethyl alcohol, but also a whole complex of impurities, alcohols and essential oils, which together give this sharp fusel aroma. When the drink is completely free of fusel, it has virtually no smell. Remember the smell of medical ethyl alcohol with a strength of 95-98°, and no one will say that it smells like moonshine, since it contains the minimum permissible amount of chemical elements.

But the concentration of the following impurities is responsible for the fusel aroma:

Unfortunately, even after filtration, infusion and purification, the concentration of impurities in homemade moonshine still remains very high, so after drinking such alcohol, a hangover occurs after a while. This is poisoning of the body with toxic elements, which if abused can lead to serious consequences. In order not to go to extremes, it is necessary to eliminate a number of shortcomings that are sometimes made even by experienced craftsmen.

VIDEO: How to make the purest distillate

We can tell by smell what's wrong

You don’t always need to look for odorless moonshine recipes; it’s enough to correct some points to end up with a tasty and safe (in reasonable doses) drink.

Sour smell

It indicates the presence of a large number of aldehydes and is the result of the metabolism of lactic acid and other bacteria, which at some point, simultaneously with fungi, begin to process organic matter. In simpler terms, the mash turned sour before it had time to ferment.

In order to prevent such shortness of breath from appearing in the future, you need to thoroughly wash all the equipment you use, use only fresh fruits and berries, do not allow grains to germinate until they begin to sour, and shorten the fermentation period.

Burnt rubber smell (distinct or subtle)

In recent moonshine stills, this problem practically does not occur, since only food-grade silicone is used. This smell is caused by rubber hoses and gaskets, which can simply be changed to get odorless moonshine at home.

Acetone

This is a consequence of incorrectly cut off heads already in the process of moonshine. The average formula is 50-60 ml for every kilogram of sugar. If you do a double distillation, remove 50 ml on the first and 30 ml on the second, resulting in a relatively pure product.

You remove it immediately - the first drops appear, place a separate container, collect the entire volume (300-400 ml, if you used 5 kg for mash). Afterwards, they removed the steam tank, cleaned it, returned it to its place and changed the receiving container, where the body will go after the head.

It is clear that this is only a short list of potential diseases, but even at this stage you can significantly improve the quality of moonshine and get it without a sharp fusel or sour smell.

What a distiller should know

With experience will come an accurate understanding of proportions, catching by smell the moment the heads stop and the body begins to move. But first, it’s worth understanding at least the basic basics in order to distill moonshine without odor or foreign impurities.

Products for mash that give minimal aroma are sugar and wheat. This wort contains the lowest concentration of harmful impurities, which also affects the general organoleptic properties. Grain and fruit must contain an abundance of bacteria, the result of metabolism of which is methyl alcohol and acetaldehyde in high concentrations.

A prerequisite is double distillation with intermediate purification. Don't be lazy and skip this stage. It will take a little time, but the result will be excellent. Even activated carbon or a carbon column (charcoal placed in a dense layer in a bottle) is suitable as a filter for purification. Next, the alcohol is diluted with water to 20% and distilled again - this will really be odorless and tasteless moonshine.

It is impossible to remove all harmful components during the distillation process, since the boiling point of some is higher than the boiling point of water. For example, isomeric amyl alcohol boils at a temperature of 139°; this boiling point cannot be recreated at home.

Since it is impossible to make good odorless moonshine without cleaning, several stages are practiced at once:

on the first distillation;
after the second distillation;
filtration.

After the first distillation, you can clean the drink with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Take 2 grams of moonshine for every liter. potassium permanganate, dissolve, shake vigorously, and then pass through a filter.
After the second distillation, a carbon column is made and alcohol is passed through it. The already purified product is filtered through gauze or cloth.
It helps a lot to pass the liquid through a regular filter, after which it is bottled, sealed and left to age for 2 weeks.
Charcoal does the best job of removing impurities - it absorbs more than 80% of impurities. And further dilution with water to 40° reduces their number even more.

Odorless moonshine recipes

Here are 2 basic recipes, the main secrets of which are the use of sugar and wheat to prepare the wort.

For the mash we prepare:

water - 22 liters;
sugar - 5 kg;
pressed alcoholic yeast - 200 gr.

How to cook:

Make a starter from 0.5 warm water (26-28°C), 0.5 kg of sugar and the entire volume of yeast. When fermentation has begun, you can pour it into the main container.
Heat water, dilute sugar or invert syrup and mix with yeast starter. Close and leave for 4-6 days to mature, stirring daily and releasing carbon dioxide.
After ripening, remove from the sediment, pour into a large saucepan, heat to 50°, stirring vigorously. To completely remove all gas.
The mash is cleaned with bentonite and sent to a still for distillation.

On wheat

Ingredients:

premium wheat - 4 kg;
sugar - 4 kg;
water - 30 l.

How to cook:

Wash the grain very thoroughly to remove chaff and other debris.
Pour into a container, fill completely with warm water, cover with a lid and leave for 2 days to swell.
After this time, add half a kilo of sugar and mix as thoroughly as possible. Cover with a thick blanket and send to a warm place for a week.

Stir the wort every day so that it does not turn sour, otherwise the taste and smell of moonshine will be disgusting.

A week later, a starter is made from the wort, warm water and the remaining sugar. Cover with a glove or a lid with a water seal and leave for another week to ferment.
When the mash separates, carefully remove it from the sediment and pour it into the distillation cube.

VIDEO: Different ways to clean moonshine

(2 votes, average: 4,00 out of 5)

Moonshine is a fairly widespread strong drink, prepared at home using practically available ingredients, with a mild taste and a noticeable difference from purchased products. But many people who try this drink for the first time subsequently refuse to drink the drink again because of its pungent smell and taste.

As a rule, this is due to the fact that the finished drink contains many impurities, or more precisely fusel oils.

That is why, when preparing, it is important to think about what to infuse the drink with, choose recipes to get rid of the unpleasant odor, to get pleasant emotions and impressions when drinking.

Technology for making odorless moonshine

There are already tested and proven technologies and recipes for distilling a strong, odorless drink. First of all, it is cleaned of various types of oils and opacities, and there are several different methods for this. After the raw material has become clean and transparent, you can proceed to the next step, namely, giving the moonshine a certain taste and aroma.

For example, do this using mint, various spices, spicy and aromatic herbs, vanilla, horseradish. All these ingredients cope with the task quite well - they fight off the annoying and unpleasant odor. Write down our recipes to your home piggy bank.

About the advantages of purifying moonshine

Quite a wide circle of people are not without reason interested in the question of how to correctly and easily make odorless moonshine at home. Even though environmentally friendly and natural ingredients are used to distill moonshine, the drink often contains unpleasant impurities that can be dangerous to the human body. This is due to the fact that during chemical processing substances can be released from products that change their composition and become dangerous. And in order to get a clean, tasty, odorless final product, a cycle of removing these substances is performed.

During the first “distillation” of the mash, only part of the harmful substances are removed from the drink, and the so-called “pervach” turns out to be especially strong and contains the remaining part of the impurities and fusel oils. This product is categorically not recommended for use; the most it can be used for is technical needs. It needs to be re-dried for safe consumption.

There are currently many recipes and other options for how to clean moonshine from impurities and unpleasant odors at home. It is not at all difficult to carry out such manipulations, following simple recommendations and advice, and then the moonshine will turn out incredibly tasty, soft and safe for consumption.

How to remove odor from moonshine at home?

Having distilled the mash and received the initial product called “pervach,” the next step involves choosing a technology and a method to obtain odorless moonshine. Our recipes are simple, so even a beginner can cope with the task..

1st way to remove odor from moonshine

This method is especially popular not only among those who prepare a strong drink for personal use, but also among those who sell it. It also happened that sellers do not think about how high the quality of the product is, devoting all their efforts to flavoring the product, using the simplest recipes. This technique is considered the simplest and cheapest, although absolutely meaningless from the point of view of safety for the human body.

Almost any ingredients with spicy, pungent aromas are suitable for use. This could be citrus zest, or a special culinary essence purchased at a large supermarket.

In this case, the finished odorless moonshine may be slightly cloudy due to the addition of additional ingredients, and you will have to additionally color it to give the drink an appetizing and attractive look.

2nd method of cleaning moonshine from odor

When setting the task not only to kill and muffle unpleasant odors, but also to remove this defect from a homemade drink, this method is the most optimal. Freezing as a method of cleaning and getting rid of impurities is familiar to us from school chemistry lessons. So ethyl alcohol freezes the slowest, and fusel oils, even at -20C, will turn into a solid state and can be easily removed.

The only drawback of the method is that the average refrigerator has a freezer temperature of -17C, and this is not enough to carry out the intended procedure. But you can always find a way out, for example, cleaning homemade moonshine in the winter, using weather conditions.

Finally

No matter what kind of unpleasant odor you choose, you will not be able to completely get rid of it.

Therefore, in order to make the strong drink tasty and safe, it is recommended to combine both methods. And then the drink will be acceptable for consumption according to all criteria.

Having received odorless moonshine, you can subsequently prepare more than one delicious fruit drink of medium strength in order to please lovely ladies.

Reasons for the smell of moonshine

Compliance with the rules for performing the technical process of preparing a drink is also important because it is the impurities in the composition that give off the smell that cause hangover symptoms. If the drink initially had an unpleasant odor and the distiller hid the aroma through filtration or infusion, then the amount of harmful substances has not decreased and intoxication of the body cannot be avoided. Therefore, it is important to know how to make it odorless and radically change the manufacturing method, and not just cover up the unpleasant aroma. By the smell of the finished drink, you can even determine the impurity in the moonshine. For example:

Alcohol smells sour - this means that it itself is partially sour, lactic acid and other bacteria have appeared in it, which prevented the yeast from finishing its work. To prevent this from happening and to prevent it from turning sour, you need to either increase the amount of sugar and yeast, or reduce the amount of water. Then there will be no time for souring, because the drink will ferment faster. You also need to take clean dishes, good fruits and berries.
If the apparatus for distilling the drink is faulty, then the moonshine will have the smell of burnt rubber. In this case, parts such as rubber tubes or gaskets are replaced with silicone or food grade rubber.
If the drink stinks of acetone or smells excessively of yeast, you should carefully select the “heads” and “tails”.
If the moonshine is bitter, especially the one prepared with fruit mash, it is possible that some of the pulp got into the distillation cube and burned there.

And these are not all the flavors that homemade alcohol can have. But if you follow at least these tips, you can get odorless and tasteless moonshine, and you don’t even need to change the mash recipe.

How to brew odorless moonshine?

It is not necessary to look for a new mash recipe in order to distill odorless moonshine; you can follow these tips and principles, which do not even require experience in moonshine brewing:

It is best to use potatoes or sugar as products for making mash. Other types of raw materials already contain bacteria that will release acetaldehydes or furfural. This applies to fruit mash, as well as grain drinks.
Secondary distillation must be present in the moonshine process. Both distillations are done fractionally.
But even distillation is unable to completely remove all aromas - this is explained by the different boiling temperatures of fusel oils, as well as the imperfection of equipment at home. For example, furfural boils at +130 degrees Celsius, and the alcohol will boil away before the harmful substance.

Instructions for making odorless moonshine:

The mash recipe for moonshine must be strictly followed. The drink should not be overexposed and wait until other microflora are activated. As soon as it has completed its activity, we immediately send it for purification and distillation.
The decanting step cannot be skipped, even for fruit mash. The liquid must be removed from the sediment, and if it is not a fruit-based drink, then the mash is clarified. This is best done using white clay, that is, bentonite.
Raw materials should not be passed through quickly during distillation in the apparatus. It is important to monitor the process temperature and pressure in the containers. If you increase the distillation rate and increase the temperature, there will be large losses of alcohol.
Distillation must be fractional: both primary and secondary.
Before secondary distillation, the drink can be purified and diluted to 20% strength.
After the second distillation, an additional filtration step is carried out.
Moonshine should sit for two to three days until the taste stabilizes. After this, you can clean with activated carbon.

But if the distiller has already produced a batch of alcohol with an unpleasant odor, it can be hidden with the help of several manipulations. For example, the following methods are used for homemade moonshine:

Re-distillation. If there were only two of them, you can do a third one, which will remove not only the unpleasant smell, but also increase the strength of the drink. This technique will take the most effort and time.
Freezing, or freezing, a drink. The method is more than a hundred years old, it has been tested for years, its essence lies in freezing raw alcohol. The entire drink will not freeze, but at the edges of the container, water with harmful impurities will turn into ice. As soon as the water freezes, the remaining liquid must be carefully poured into another container and, if necessary, repeat the procedure.
Potassium permanganate can also remove unnecessary odor. It should be added to the drink at the rate of 1 gram of crystals per 1 liter of raw alcohol. After adding, the liquid is mixed, you need to wait for a precipitate to form. Next, the drink is filtered.
If you want to clean moonshine with soda, then you need to use the following calculations: for 1 liter of alcohol, take 10 grams of soda. You need to stir immediately and after half an hour. Next, the drink is infused for 12 hours and the top layer with an unpleasant odor and impurities is removed. It is soda that works well with fusel oils.
You can pass the moonshine through a birch charcoal filter wrapped in gauze.
Some distillers infuse the distilled liquid on orris root for two weeks to eliminate odor. But the method is not very popular.

It is important not to forget to constantly improve cooking technologies, choose a new recipe for moonshine and learn how to prepare it correctly. Only then can you get the perfect result, which will be pleasant both in taste and smell.

Many novice moonshiners, who easily obtain the coveted drops, are wondering how to properly purify the resulting liquid to rid it of the unpleasant aroma and taste.

For odorless moonshine recipes, or more precisely for cleaning methods, well-known methods are usually used:

filtration through activated or specially prepared charcoal;
cleaning with milk;
purification using manganese;
re-distillation;
use of a distillation column.

The basis of all these methods and recipes for how to remove the smell of moonshine lies in the cleaning mechanism, with the help of which all impurities and harmful substances are removed from the drink, thereby eliminating the unpleasant aromas of the finished product. All of these odorless moonshine recipes are good, and each master chooses the best and most convenient for himself.

Filtration through activated or specially prepared charcoal

Purifying moonshine through charcoal: you can make a homemade filter - crush a few tablets, wrap them in gauze and cover the funnel from which the finished product comes out. The main rule with this filtration method is not to overdo it, since you can remove not only unpleasant odors, but also the special flavor and aromatic component of moonshine. When using a carbon filter for purification, the result is a clean drink.

Cleansing with milk

You can use milk to purify both mash before distillation and finished moonshine. Cleaning will occur due to the fact that fusel oils stick to the milk and precipitate (after which the drink must be strained). There are two ways to do this cleaning:

pour milk into the mash at a ratio of 1:5, let it sit for 2-3 hours, drain the mash from the sediment, then distill over low heat.
Or pour milk into the finished drink (100-200 ml of milk per 1 liter of moonshine), mix thoroughly, wait until it curdles, and strain.

Purification using manganese

Purifying moonshine with manganese is very simple:

you need to add manganese to moonshine (at the rate of 1-2 grams per 1 liter of moonshine),
stir, leave for 10 hours,
the drink will lighten, a sediment will form,
All that remains is to filter it.

Re-distillation

Repeated distillation not only cleans, but also strengthens the finished moonshine. In this case, the resulting drink must be divided into fractions:

The “head” makes up about 5% of the volume of the distilled drink. You can't drink it, and it's even dangerous, it's better to pour it out.
“Body” is 80-85% of the volume, the main product is high-quality moonshine. It is selected until the strength of the distillate falls below 40 degrees.
Next will be the “tails,” which make up 10% of the total volume. Drinking is also not recommended; it can be used for technical purposes, or added to the next mash for greater strength.

Using a distillation column

You can turn ready-made moonshine into rectified moonshine. Using a rectification column, you can separate moonshine as much as possible into pure ethyl alcohol and foreign impurities. The alcohol content in such a drink will be at least 96 degrees; it must be used with caution.

Basic mistakes

However, during the preparation of the drink, errors occur, which subsequently lead to an unpleasant odor, which no recipe for making odorless moonshine at home can help remove:

First, you need to prepare the mash correctly. To get a good result, it is not necessary to use complex ones. The simplest one will do, as long as it’s done correctly. For a 30-liter container, you need to take 400 grams of yeast, 6 kilograms of sugar and 1 loaf of stale rye bread, cut into small pieces. Mix all this well and put it in a warm place for 10 days. Next, the mash can be taken out and distilled.
Secondly, you need (we recommend choosing a device with a distillation column brand) and choose it correctly. Here they will come to the rescue

Moonshine is a drink that causes sharp rejection among many. The thing is that it has a specific smell and taste associated with the presence of fusel oils and other harmful components in it. This is not a death sentence, and the situation can be corrected if you approach the distillation process wisely: choose the right recipe, purchase high-quality equipment and natural ingredients. Let's look at the best ways to make a tasty and smooth homemade drink.

The subtleties of making odorless moonshine

To make a product that tastes and smells good, you need to use only high-quality moonshine equipment and follow some subtleties of technology. Place the container with the mash over high heat and bring the liquid to 70 degrees. When this threshold is reached, reduce the gas and wait for the first exit to appear. After this, record the temperature of the mash.

Control the yield of the finished product. Moonshine should drip at a rate of 2-3 drops per minute and flow out in a thin stream (no thicker than a match). The ideal outlet temperature is 30 degrees. If it is higher, the situation needs to be corrected. If you are using a water cooling method, increase the flow of cold water.

To get an odorless drink, do not use the entire output, but only the “golden mean”. The first 10% of the product will have a specific “aroma” - they are not suitable for use. “Tails”, i.e. moonshine with a temperature below 40, is also better to pour into a separate container.

The “core” will be pleasant to the taste and practically devoid of the unpleasant “amber”. To make it as pure as a tear, repeat the distillation. You will have a drink that can be safely used both for drinking in its pure form and for producing home-made cognac or whiskey.

Grain based recipe

To make this delicious-tasting moonshine, you will need:

30 liters of filtered water;
300 g yeast;
6 kg of grain (wheat, barley or rye).

First you need to germinate the grain. To do this, fill it with water and leave it in a room with a temperature of at least 18 degrees for 3-4 days. Make sure that the process of rotting does not begin in the container; if necessary, add water from a spray bottle.

The raw materials will be ready when the sprouts reach half a centimeter in length. Wash them, dry them and grind them. Boil water and add the resulting flour into it so that a mixture is formed, similar in consistency to jelly. Close the container with a lid, wrap it in a blanket and leave to infuse for 11-12 hours.

After the specified time, dilute the yeast in warm water, pour it into a container with the grain mix and leave for 5-7 days. Once the mixture has fermented, distill it. The recipe gives a yield of 5-6 liters.

Pay attention to the quality of the moonshine still: the taste of the final drink depends on it. Do not use faulty structures: it can be dangerous to your life.

Moonshine based on jam

If you have unused homemade preparations, do not rush to throw them away. Using old (or even spoiled) berry sweets, you can brew soft moonshine without an unpleasant odor. The recipe will require the following ingredients:

30 liters of purified water;
6 liters of jam;
300 g yeast.

Add jam to water and stir thoroughly. Combine the yeast with warm water and pour into the same container. Cover the container tightly and place in a warm place for 5-6 days. To give the drink an extra berry flavor, use raspberry, cherry, blackcurrant leaves, etc. Once the liquid has fermented, strain it and subject it to the distillation process. The net yield of alcohol is 6 liters.

Apricot moonshine recipe

An excellent raw material for homemade alcohol is fresh, sweet fruit. It has long been known that apricots can be used to make a drink that even experienced drinkers will enjoy.

Take two buckets of fruit, 20 liters of purified water and 3 kg of granulated sugar. Prepare a syrup from water and sugar and pour it over washed, pitted and slightly mashed apricots. Leave for 7-8 days in a warm (or better yet, sunny) place. Filter and distill the resulting mash. You will get 5 liters of a delicious drink.

Bread moonshine recipe

If you have stale bread left, don’t rush to throw it away: the product can be an excellent raw material for homemade alcohol. To prepare delicious, odorless moonshine, stock up on the following ingredients:

crusts of Borodino (or cumin) bread - 1.2 kg;
cinnamon powder – 40 g;
30 sprigs of cloves;
moonshine – 10 l.

Mix all the ingredients, cover the container with a lid and leave for 4-5 days. After the specified period, add 5 liters of water and distill. At the end you should get 10 liters of aromatic drink.

Cleaning the finished moonshine

Whatever recipe you choose, it is better to subject the finished drink to additional purification. So, you can remove fusel oils and other harmful components from homemade alcohol that give it an unpleasant taste and aroma.

There are the following proven cleaning recipes:

Freezing - pour the moonshine into a glass or steel container and put it in the cold for several hours (preferably the temperature is below -25 degrees). Harmful impurities and water form an ice crust; “good” alcohol will not freeze. Pour it into a separate bottle and serve.
Cleaning with potassium permanganate - add 1 g of the substance per liter of homemade alcohol. Leave for several hours until sediment appears at the bottom of the container. After this, the liquid should be filtered through several layers of gauze lined with cotton wool.
Cleaning with soda - mix alcohol with soda (10 g per liter) and leave for 12 hours. A sediment containing harmful impurities forms at the top of the container with alcohol. Remove it and filter the moonshine.
Cleaning with protein - add egg whites to the drink, beaten in a small amount of warm water (one white per 0.5 liter of “hot drink”). Wait until white flakes of precipitate appear, then filter several times.
Carbon filter - take several layers of cotton wool and gauze and place activated carbon powder between them. You will end up with an improvised filter through which you need to pass homemade alcohol several times.

To make high-quality moonshine, you need to take into account a large number of nuances: choose the right recipe, find good equipment, use one of the methods for purifying the finished product. Spare no time and effort in home brewing, and then you will end up with alcohol that is truly enjoyable to drink.

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