How to make a sugar mash? How to make moonshine?

 

First of all - why mash instead of wort? Simple: because mash is made from grains. So unless you're malting, not using enzymes, or not processing grains - you prepare MASH, not wort for moonshine. Let's stick to that.

 

Theory: Yeast eats sugar and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide (along with many other compounds, but let's not focus on those for now). Besides sugar, they need vitamins and minerals, and the sugar concentration must be at the right level.

 

So let's start:

 

Buy a hydrometer - also called a saccharometer or a sugar meter. It will allow us to determine the current sugar concentration in our mash. Ideally, the initial concentration should be around 24-26 degrees Balling, commonly referred to as BLG degrees. The optimal concentration is achieved using 7kg of sugar and 21 liters of water, which gives us about 25 liters of mash. Dissolve the sugar by pouring it into 10 liters of warm water (from the tap) and stirring constantly, then add another 10 liters - this time cold water. Pour the water from a height or, for example, using a showerhead - this oxygenates our mash and facilitates yeast activation. When we have about 24 liters of liquid in the bucket or barrel, tear open the yeast packet, sprinkle it over the surface of the mash, and add the last liter, submerging the scattered yeast. Then mix the whole thing for about 1 minute.

 

Which yeast to use? We distinguish between yeast:

 

1. Baking yeast. A relic of the moonshine PRL era, let's avoid it if we can. These are suitable for baking bread, cakes, and pizza. The product obtained with these yeasts has a nasty yeast smell and typical moonshine taste. These fungi are quite resistant to adverse conditions (e.g., temperature), but they have a low tolerance for alcohol, so they may not ferment all the sugar. They do not need to be preliminarily propagated. They are yeast of last resort when all stores with dedicated yeast are on vacation, or we are in a country where they are not available. Baking yeast is not suitable for moonshine!

 

2. Wine yeast. Yeast requiring preliminary propagation - the so-called mother yeast. This involves pouring the contents of the packet with a bit of nutrient into warm compote or fruit juice and waiting for 2-3 days. When they start foaming - pour into the mash. Fermentation takes 4-6 weeks. They multiply quickly, so from a small 50g packet, you can inoculate large volumes later. Ideal yeast for fruit and wine mashes. They create a much better bouquet than baking yeast, having been selected from grape skins of various varieties (hence the names: Tokay, Malaga, etc.). They are not very suitable for so-called "sugar washes," i.e., mashes made from just sugar - it simply takes too long.

 

3. Active wine yeasts. Instant wine yeast in powder form. Incredible temperature tolerance and high sugar and alcohol concentrations. You can "restart" unsuccessful fruit mashes with them, to which you forgot to add yeast or started on wild yeasts. They cope well with fruit mashes, ferment jams, compotes, and fruit juices excellently. Besides yeast and nutrients, the packet contains a pectolytic enzyme that facilitates the breakdown of fruits but also limits the level of methanol produced from pectins during fermentation. They can also handle sugar washes, but it will take longer. For cherry mashes, plum mashes for slivovitz, or apple mashes for calvados, it's worth adding dedicated FD-3 yeasts. These are yeasts for fruits that provide the best bouquet, i.e., taste and aroma. They are available in packages of 50g and 500g. These are the yeasts used by professional distilleries!

 

4. Turbo distiller's yeast (for sugar mashes). This is a packet of ready-made yeast-nutrient mixture calculated for a specific volume of water and sugar content. These yeasts can ferment 25 liters of mash in 24-36 hours, characterized by very turbulent fermentation but very low production of unwanted odors. Ideal for sugar washes, they are not any "chemical" inventions, but simply selected high-alcohol yeast strains. They do not require the addition of nutrients to the mash or acidity regulation - everything is already in the packet.

 

If you want a high percentage of alcohol, use dedicated, professional spirits yeasts: HG-1. They are available in packages of 50g and 500g. They have a very high alcohol tolerance (up to 18%!). It's worth adding the appropriate nutrient to them (e.g., DAP) - professional yeasts do not contain it in the packet. Dosage: 1g of yeast per 1 liter of mash - so for a 50-liter mash, use 50g of yeast and half of this volume of nutrient (25g).

 

The mash temperature should be around 18-35 degrees. The rule is that lower fermentation temperature = longer time but better taste and aroma. Lower temperatures simply produce fewer by-products. Do not heat our mash, e.g., with aquarium heaters, because a higher mash temperature leads to a significant deterioration in the quality of the resulting distillate.

 

Monitor the progress of fermentation by measuring the sugar density. As fermentation progresses, the sugar meter will immerse, indicating a decrease in BLG degrees. At some point, the meter will show 0 BLG - this is a sign that fermentation is almost complete. The float will continue to sink until it reaches about -4 BLG. Why does this happen? Alcohol present in the mash reduces the solution's density, so the meter, which would show 0 on pure water without sugar, will sink further in the presence of such alcohol.

 

1kg of sugar is about 0.55 liters of 100% alcohol, so from 7kg of sugar, we will get 7x0.55 = 3.85 liters of 100% alcohol. From simple proportions, you can calculate that our mash will have about 15% alcohol content after fermenting all the sugar [(3.85 x 100) / 25.2l].

 

Now that we've discussed yeast, added the mash, and wait for it to ferment, let's talk about preparing for cooking, i.e., Clarification.

 

This is the process of purifying the mash from dead yeast and turning the suspension into a transparent liquid. Again, we can distinguish several clarification methods, such as gravitational clarification, the use of bentonite, or instant clarifying agents. Choose the clarification method that best suits your needs and preferences.

 

After 24 hours of clarification, pour the mash from above the settled yeast sediment, which we discard. Pour the crystal-clear mash into the still - but if you want to do it later, no problem - just close the airflow and it's okay - like wine - it can be stored for weeks without losing quality.

 

If this is your first contact with a still or you're just looking for one that's easy to use, check out our guide "How to choose a still." Also, see our most popular choice for beginners - the Elite! You have some questions? Call us - 518-321-377! We're here for you Monday-Friday 9-16.