Moonshine is the term that is used to describe alcohol distilled at home, especially in places where home-production is illegal. The homemade whisky got its name from the producers and smugglers who produced liquor at night, under moonshine i.e. the light of the moon, to avoid getting arrested by the police. From there, the term got spread to even legitimate home-production of alcohol. The basic procedure of making moonshine comprises of fermenting a sugar source with yeast, so as to produce ethanol and then using the distillation process, to separate alcohol from the fermented mixture. In the following lines, we have provided the basic recipe for homemade moonshine whisky.
How to Make Moonshine at Home
Things Needed
- Water
- Cornmeal
- Sugar
- Yeast
- Pressure Cooker
- Copper Tube
- Vessel (to collect moonshine)
- Charcoal
Instructions
- Go to the market and buy 25 pounds of cornmeal, 100 pounds of sugar, 100 gallons of water and 6 ounces of yeast.
- Next, you will be required to collect the necessary equipments, like a few large pots, a large pressure cooker and a coiled copper pipe.
- Put water in the pot and place it on stove. Keep on boiling it until it reaches a rolling boil.
- Add cornmeal to the water. The resultant mixture will be known as mash.
- Keep aside the mash and let it cool down, till it is warm to the touch.
- Now, add sugar and yeast to the warm mash.
- Again, keep it aside and let it ferment for 4 to 5 days.
- Keep on checking the mash and when it stops bubbling, it means that it is ready. At this stage, the mash is known as sour mash or beer.
- Put the sour mash into the pressure cooker and keep it on fire, till it goes up to 173 degrees Fahrenheit.
- At this temperature, the alcohol content of the mixture will start rising to the surface.
- With the help of a coiled copper pipe, passed through cold water, trap vaporized alcohol in a separate vessel.
- As the vapors from the cooker pass through the cold copper tubing, they will slowly condense into the liquid called moonshine.
- Finally, filter the moonshine through charcoal, making it absolutely fit for consumption.