Here is the best DIY moonshine recipe for beginners. Moonshine drink is a minimal alcohol usually produced at home or on a small scale. This drink is generally made from corn, wheat, and rye and is often processed by mixing it with fruits or other spices to make it more flavorful.
Although it is said to be illegal because it is still produced on a small scale and has not been commercialized, moonshine drink is considered a high-quality alcoholic beverage. It is because it has a longer shelf life and a much harsher flavor than other types of whiskey.
Simple Steps to Make Moonshine Recipe for Beginners
So, how to make your moonshine drink at home? You can follow these steps to make a delicious moonshine drink.
1. Making Mash
Ingredients:
- 5 gallons of water
- 5 pounds of piped corn
- 5 pounds of crushed malted barley
- Yeast
- Sugar (optional)
Tools for making the mash:
- Mashpot
- Fermentation container
- Heat source
- Thermometer
- Long spatula
- Scales
- 2 Other containers
Steps to Make Mash
- Place the mash pot on the heat and pour 5 gallons of water. Let the temperature reach about 165°F.
- Once it reaches that temperature, turn off the heat and immediately begin stirring the flaked corn consistently for about 7 minutes at the lower temperature.
- Then, stir the mixture for about 30 seconds every five minutes to ensure the temperature drops to about 152°F.
- Once it reaches that temperature, add the crushed malted barley while stirring continuously.
- Stir the mixture every 20 minutes for about 30 seconds to ensure the temperature drops to about 70°F. Please note that this process can take several hours to complete.
- Once the temperature reaches 70°F, add the yeast.
- Pour the mash from one container to another for about five minutes to lower the temperature. Then put the mixture into the fermentation bucket.
2. Mash Fermentation Process
Tools and materials needed:
- Citric acid
- Filter cloth
- Siphon
- pH meter
- Hydrometer
- Fermentation
Things you should pay attention to:
- The mash fermentation process lasts for 7-15 days
- Check the gravity at the beginning and end of the fermentation process using a hydrometer
- Use a siphon to extract the mashed mixture, then make sure the sediment is not mixed.
- Use a filter cloth to separate the mash from the fermented water.
- Check the pH of the filtered and fermented water. Once the pH is 5.8 – 6.0, add calcium carbonate or citric acid to lower it.
3. Distillation Process
Distillation when making moonshine is a process of separating the liquid mixture by utilizing the difference in boiling points. The alcohol-containing liquid mixture is heated to a boiling point lower than the other liquids. Then the alcohol vapor is condensed and captured in a separate container.
- This process is repeated until the desired alcohol content is obtained.
- Turn on the heater and wait for the temperature to reach 150°F.
- Turn on the water at the same time.
- Raise the temperature until you start to see drips coming out.
- Turn down the heat when the distillate is dripping 3 – 5 drops per second.
4. Moonshine Collection
Make sure to collect the droplets from the distiller in a glass container. During distillation, the first 5% are called foreshots and contain harmful methanol, while the next 30% are called heads and still have small amounts of methanol and other deadly substances. The liver, or quality product, is present in the next 30%, while the tails are the final part of the distillate and contain proteins and carbohydrates. Avoid foreshots and heads as they can cause health damage, and choose the liver to produce a quality product.
This article on Best DIY moonshine recipe for beginners has given you a better understanding of making moonshine drinks. However, to ensure the safety of minimal alcohol consumption, we recommend choosing safer and legal options.
