How and how to clean moonshine from fusel oils. The best ways to clean moonshine

Many lovers of not only production, but also drinking various alcoholic beverages know that some are drunk easily and do not leave a trace in the morning, while others cause a very strong hangover. The latter is the result of poisoning with harmful impurities that are transferred from raw materials during fermentation or distillation through the apparatus. Such substances are called fusel oils.

Modern equipment largely prevents the ingress of harmful substances into alcohol. But moonshine at home in most cases is far from ideal. Therefore, after preparation, mandatory cleaning of moonshine is required. The better it is done, the safer and tastier the drink will be. Exists different ways purification of moonshine, applicable at home and not requiring special equipment.

In addition to fusel oils into the body along with low-quality alcohol methanol and acetaldehyde can get in. They mostly come out with the first fraction, but they can also get into the drink itself. Therefore, it is necessary to filter moonshine prepared at home with special care.

Fusel oils in moonshine is secondary product, formed during the fermentation of raw materials made from starch, sugar or fruit and contained in almost all alcohol. AT pure form they have a yellow or brown color, an oily texture and a characteristic bad smell and taste.

Fusel oil consists of more than 40 different substances. They influence the effects of alcohol consumption. Most of the composition is isoamyl alcohol. It is the most dangerous for the human body. At high concentrations, this alcohol causes alcohol poisoning and severe consequences for the body, and when it comes into contact with the skin in its pure form, it leaves burns. That is why fusel oil is so harmful to the human body.

But not everything is so clear. In some alcoholic beverages, the content of these impurities determines the organoleptic properties. Without them, wine would radically change its taste, and everyone's favorite whiskey and cognac would become just alcohol with water. That's why beneficial features and harm are determined by the composition and concentration of harmful substances. All toxic impurities must be removed, leaving only useful ones.

In order for the prepared moonshine to become safe for consumption and lose its unpleasant odor, it must first be filtered to remove the harmful substances formed in it. Knowing how to clean moonshine from fusel oils, the procedure can be performed quickly enough without prior experience and special equipment. Most often, natural and inexpensive products constantly used in everyday life.

There are two ways to check the content of fusel oils in moonshine. The first is the presence of a characteristic bad smell. To detect it, you don’t even have to carefully sniff it, it is felt immediately. If the check is made after additional cleaning and it may not be so noticeable, then you need to grind a couple of drops of moonshine between your fingers, let the alcohol evaporate and sniff.

The second and most effective is combustion. A little moonshine needs to be poured into a spoon and set on fire. If, after the complete combustion of alcohol, an oily yellow liquid remains, it means that the composition of this drink contains harmful substances and additional purification is required.

How to clean moonshine from smell and harmful impurities

After the first distillation, an unpleasant odor and taste remains. How to remove these consequences? Purification of moonshine from fusel oil is most often carried out by filtration. Alcohol is poured through a filter filled with a purifying agent, or mixed with it and settled until a precipitate forms. Since moonshine can be properly cleaned using several cleaning methods, the following can be used as a filter:

Coal.
Potassium permanganate.
Milk.
Egg white.
Freeze.
Fruit.
Soda.
Oil.

In the case of freezing, there will be no precipitation, harmful substances will simply freeze to the walls of the container. And when cleansed with fruits, they absorb all the fusel oils. They are good both as an intermediate cleaning of moonshine and as a final one. The best cleaning method is coal. This filtration has earned wide popularity, as it is the fastest and moonshine is filtered better.

Only cooled and settled moonshine is taken for cleaning. The temperature must be room temperature. The second condition is that moonshine should be of low strength 25 - 30 degrees. To do this, it is diluted with purified water. This is required due to the fact that harmful substances do not come out well. strong alcohol and the better they separate, the lower the degree of fortress

After settling in all cases, except for the use of freezing and fruit, the moonshine is filtered and re-distilled to improve the result of the drink. With the correct implementation of all stages, moonshine will turn out to be “crystal” clean and without an unpleasant odor.

When using quality moonshine still and the double distillation method, purification may not be necessary. But for beginners who have not mastered all the subtleties of distillation well enough, it is better to resort to this purification method for additional safety.

Coal

Coal purification of moonshine is the fastest and most affordable. This is due to the fact that charcoal is a powerful adsorbent. It captures and absorbs all harmful substances, passing only pure product. For charcoal filtration you will need:

Activated carbon.
Funnel.
Special filters or cotton wool.

The main component is most affordable to purchase at a pharmacy. This charcoal will clean well, but it may contain impurities such as talc or starch. Due to their impact, moonshine can acquire an unpleasant bitterness. Therefore, you can use a different coal. The one used by winemakers is very good. It is sold in narrow-profile stores and is quite cheap. Such a filter will be as effective as possible and will not affect the taste and aromatic properties of the finished product.

You can make your own charcoal. Birch, cedar or beech are suitable for them. The wood is carefully cleaned of bark and core and burned at the stake. Ready coals are completely cooled, cleaned of ash and crushed for convenient use.

Moonshine can be filtered in two ways: by pouring liquid through a cleaning device or by immersing coal directly into the drink. In the first case, you need to make the filter itself. To do this, take a funnel or cut off upper part necked bottles. The narrower part is laid with cotton wool, previously wrapped in gauze, coal is poured on top. We clean the moonshine through this design, pouring it several times with the replacement of the coal layer.

This method requires pre-training cleaning agent. Coal must be washed in advance to clean it of dust. If this is not done, then after passing through the funnel, more stringent filtration of moonshine from dirty sediment will be required.

In the second case Activated carbon crushed and added to moonshine with the calculation of 50 grams per 1 liter of liquid. This mixture should be infused for a couple of weeks, stirring occasionally. After that, the liquid settles for a week at a temperature of about 20 - 25 degrees Celsius while not moving the container, after which it must be drained several times through a cotton filter.

After all stages of purification, the liquid is re-distilled with the separation of the first and last fractions to complete the separation of fusel oils from moonshine.

Potassium permanganate

Cleaning moonshine with manganese does not require additional costs, but is considered not the most effective. A solution of potassium permanganate is not able to take away all the harmful substances formed during the fermentation process, and some of the fusel oils will remain. At the same time, other hazardous substances harmful to the body are released from the reaction of raw alcohol.

But this method is still common. For its use, 2 grams of potassium permanganate per 1 liter of alcohol are dissolved in water. At the same time, it must be necessarily cleaned and boiled. The resulting solution is poured into moonshine and left for one night. In the process of settling, a precipitate falls out, and the drink itself brightens. After that, it must be carefully drained and re-distilled.

It has long been believed that it is quite difficult to clean moonshine at home in this way. There are other, safer methods for this. For example, with fresh rye bread. It should be just recently cooked, as the old one gives an unpleasant aftertaste. For 1 liter, you need 100 grams of bread crumb without crusts. It will need to be crushed, pour into a container with moonshine and mix. The resulting mixture is infused for a couple of days. After that, the bread is removed. Such moonshine will acquire yellow tint and to remove it, you will need to filter the drink a couple more times, and then re-distill.

Milk

Purification of moonshine from fusel oils with milk is used as a finishing step. If it is used in intermediate cleaning, milk residues can burn in the still and give an unpleasant taste. For this cleaning method, you need to choose only a pasteurized product with a low percentage of fat content. For 1 liter of moonshine, 10 milliliters of milk will be required. For the process to be carried out correctly, you need:

Mix milk with moonshine that has gone through several stages of distillation.
Seal the container.
Insist for a week in a dark place at room temperature.
Stir the first 5 days.
For the last couple of days, do not touch the container until a precipitate in the form of flakes falls out.
Pass moonshine through a cotton filter.

Purification of moonshine in this way is also used in factory production, therefore it is the most effective tool. Only in such conditions, not pure milk, but casein is added. This is a protein that is actively involved in the cleansing process.

If, after filtering, moonshine still retains a cloudy tint, then it can be removed with lemon or orange zest. For this, one fruit per two liters of alcohol is enough. To use a product with a low fat content, you can take powdered milk. It must be prepared a couple of hours before cleansing and completely cooled. If after a week the precipitate does not fall out of the flakes, you can add a little lemon juice or dry acid.

Egg white

Another eco-friendly way to clean moonshine from fusel oils at home is egg white. According to its principle of action, it is very similar to the milk method, since the composition of the egg includes casein. All harmful impurities along with it will precipitate in the form of white flakes.

For mixing, you need to take 1 protein per liter of moonshine 50% strength. Although many believe that this volume can be cleaned and 2 liters. It must be carefully separated from the yolk and mixed with a quarter of a glass of water and beat well. It should be boiled, but not hot, but warm. After that, the mixture is poured into moonshine and clogged. The container is infused in a dark, cool place for a week. The first day the mixture is shaken twice, after which it is left alone.

After precipitation, the moonshine must be carefully drained and filtered twice from the remaining white flakes. This method, as well as milk, is used for final cleaning. If it is applied between two distillations, then at the end of the process there may be a strong deterioration in the smell of moonshine with the appearance of a characteristic aroma of sulfur. Since it will not be possible to clean moonshine from this in the future, it is better to use the protein method at the very end.

Freeze

Purification of moonshine by freezing is a very controversial method. It is believed that during strong cooling, all harmful substances formed in the process of obtaining mash freeze on the walls of the container with a frost coating. Alcohol, on the other hand, has a lower freezing point and remains pure and liquid. The container is placed in a very cool place for a period of 12 hours to a day. During this time, moonshine should not only be cleansed of such harmful fusel oils, but also increase its degree of strength.

In fact, it is unlikely that it will be possible to clean alcohol from impurities in this way. Indeed, the lower the ambient temperature drops, and as a result, the drink itself, the greater the strength of the moonshine will be. Only fusel oils will not separate. And all because the higher the degree of alcohol, the worse it is cleared of harmful impurities. Some manufacturers practice this method specifically to increase the alcohol content in the drink. Therefore, in order to obtain high-quality and delicious alcohol it is better to use other more proven methods.

Fruit

No worse than others natural ingredients fruits are cleansed of harmful impurities. For normal purification, this method is used after the first distillation. And to give the drink a more persistent fruity aroma, you can apply such cleaning on last step. For high-quality removal of fusel oils, moonshine of the first distillation of a small fortress is used, approximately 25 - 30 degrees.

For 2 - 3 liters of alcohol, 1 apple and 1 orange are added along with pre-washed and separated zest. Fruits are cut into small pieces, apples are peeled and core. One of the fruits can be replaced with fresh peeled medium-sized carrots.

The zest is removed after a day of infusion. The remaining fruits lie for another 1 - 2 days. An indicator of the completion of the process is the exfoliation of fibers from the fruit. After that, all the ingredients are removed from the moonshine, and the resulting drink is filtered before re-distillation. With the final infusion, the exposure time can be increased up to 5 days. Cleaning with fruits is a very affordable method that gives moonshine a special flavor, but not the most effective, since the quality of the resulting moonshine changes with long exposure.

Soda

This product is in every home and is very popular with distillers for cleaning moonshine after the first distillation. Its advantage is that cleaning does not require a long wait of several days. For one liter of moonshine, 10 grams of soda will be required. They need to be dissolved in half a glass of purified water. The mixture is poured into alcohol and shaken thoroughly. The container should be allowed to brew at rest for half an hour to an hour. After that, the mixture is shaken again and placed in a dark cool place at 12 o'clock. During this time, it forms a precipitate, into which not only soda falls, but also harmful fusel oils absorbed by it.

Cleaned moonshine must be carefully removed and additionally filtered through a cotton or ordinary kitchen filter. After that, alcohol is subjected to redistillation. Although this method is fast, it is not efficient enough. Since soda cannot completely separate fusel oils, additional filtration and a second high-quality distillation are required when cleaning with soda.

Oil

This method of cleaning is also not particularly difficult, but requires great dexterity to remove. Oil envelops the harmful substances contained in moonshine with a film that raises them to the surface. Thus, the sediment does not fall out, but floats up, leaving pure moonshine in the lower part of the container.

For this method, refined sunflower or olive oil. Others are not suitable, as they most often have a pronounced characteristic aroma that can be transferred to the drink. For 1 liter of moonshine, 20 milliliters of oil is taken. The liquids are thoroughly mixed and left in a sealed container for half an hour. After that, the jar needs to be shaken again and left to infuse for another day in a cool place. A funnel is carefully inserted into the resulting stratified mixture and a tube is lowered through it to the moonshine, through which a clean liquid is drained.

The disadvantage of this method is that oil, like others natural supplements cannot sufficiently remove fusel oils and after such a technique additional purification, filtration and distillation will be required.

In general, each of the methods has different efficiency and required time costs. Eco-friendly methods will always be easier to use, but not of sufficient quality for such alcohol to be considered quality and safe. Some, such as a carbon filter or oil cleaning, are a good intermediate step, but not a standalone way.

The most effective is still considered complete rectification or high-quality double distillation in compliance with all the rules and technologies. It is they who provide the highest quality and safest product to use, which does not cause a painful hangover and serious health problems.

Moonshine is one of the oldest crafts that continues to develop and improve. Over time, knowledgeable people have developed universal methods for preparing and filtering this strong alcoholic drink. As you know, it is not enough just to distill alcohol: you also need to remove from it most of the harmful chemical compounds that cause severe hangover. In this article we will tell you how to clean moonshine from fusel oils at home.

General cleaning algorithm

There are a lot of algorithms for cleaning alcohol from impurities. All of them are characterized by the presence of one active ingredient, which absorbs harmful substances remaining in moonshine after distillation. You can not clean only the drink that is obtained in the process of rectification, although it is considered the most harmful. All other moonshine products must go through the process of filtration and re-distillation.

Most often for these purposes are used:

potassium permanganate
milk
charcoal
baking soda
egg white
Rye bread
vegetable oil

Most of the "garbage" exfoliates even at the stage of re-distillation, as well as in the presence of distillation column, sump or dephlegmator.

Pros and cons of cleaning with potassium permanganate

Purification with potassium permanganate is a popular but unsafe method. When this substance interacts with ethyl alcohol, an alkali is formed, which is used in Food Industry as a preservative. Also, during a chemical reaction, acetaldehyde, which poses a great danger to humans and is addictive.

It must be remembered that manganese is not able to draw out all unnecessary impurities from the solution. Some of them will inevitably remain in the liquid.

If you are not afraid possible consequences, and you still decide to try cleaning with manganese, use the recipe:

1 l of mash glass containers
300 ml hot water
2 g potassium permanganate powder
1 tablespoon table salt and soda

Prepare a weak solution of potassium permanganate and mix it with moonshine. Let it brew for 8 hours, then filter.

Rectification with milk

There are three ways to purify alcohol, the active ingredient of which is milk.

Adding this product just before the distillation process in a ratio of 1:5. This method has long been widely used in villages and entails clouding of the solution. Therefore, after the filtration is completed, the mash is distilled again.
Adding milk to ready vodka. After interacting with alcohol, it coagulates and absorbs dangerous elements. The resulting mixture must be filtered.
The use of powdered milk. An indisputable advantage of this method is that when diluted, milk powder is easier to make skim, which will not allow the drink to become cloudy. Take 10 liters warm water and dilute in it 6 g of powdered milk. Stir the solution to a homogeneous consistency and leave for several hours. Combine milk formula with 10 liters of homemade unrefined alcohol. After a week, a precipitate will appear in the moonshine. Drain the liquid and filter thoroughly.

To get the perfect result, clean the mash in several ways.

Purification of homemade alcohol with charcoal

An effective and simple method that involves the use of any type of coal: both charcoal and activated. You can use supermarket-bought charcoal, but young beech, cedar, or birch stump charcoal will also work. It is preferable that the age of the tree is less than 50 years.

Filtration process:

take a tree stump, clean it of bark, knots and twigs. Remove the core of the tree, cut it into pieces;
throw the wood into the fire and wait until it is completely charred. Take out the coals before the fire is completely attenuated;
finely grind the resulting coal;
add the powder to the liquid and soak for three days. Filter the drink.

Cleaning "vodka" with soda

Cheap and effective way. Application baking soda let you get soft alcoholic drink With pleasant taste and smell. And the ingredients for the implementation of such a cleaning option will no doubt be found in the kitchen of every housewife.

Take 1 tablespoon of salt and soda per liter of homemade mash. Stir the ingredients thoroughly and wait 30-40 minutes. After this time, mix the mixture again and leave it for 12 hours again. During this period, the liquid should exfoliate, after which the upper part must be drained.

The use of egg white as an absorbent

When interacting whipped egg white a chemical reaction occurs with alcohol, due to which the protein coagulates and precipitates along with fusel oils. This process is called coagulation.

Proteins for cleaning are best whipped without foam.

Filter moonshine with rye bread

For 1 liter of 40-degree moonshine, take 100 g of rye bread. Divide it into small pieces and mix with alcohol. Filter the precipitate after 2 days.

The fight of vegetable oils with fusel

The use of vegetable oils makes the cleaning process environmentally friendly with maximum efficiency. For a liter of drink with a strength of 40 degrees, take 80 ml of refined sunflower oil.

Sequencing:

mix moonshine with clean water in a ratio of 1: 3;
mix the solution with vegetable oil, shake the resulting liquid well;
let the solution brew, then shake the container for a minute;
put the container in a dark place. The air temperature in the room should not exceed 15 degrees;
a day later, a greasy layer with a high concentration of harmful chemical elements will appear on the surface of the solution. To drain clean liquid, make a funnel in the center of the film and insert a hose or tube into it. Filter the drink.

Freezing

The simplest method, for the implementation of which auxiliary substances are not needed. You will need any amount of moonshine, a stainless steel or glass pan and a freezer. A balcony is also suitable if the frost on the street reaches 15-20 degrees.

Leave the pot with the intoxicating drink in the cold overnight. In the morning, fusel oils and impurities will freeze, only pure moonshine will remain liquid. Drain it into a separate bowl.

To purify alcohol by freezing it is better not to use plastic containers. Under the influence of low temperatures, the plastic will react with alcohol, and toxic substances can enter the solution.

Advice! To finally clear homemade vodka from harmful impurities, be sure to re-distill the product.

All of these methods will be effective if you carefully calculate the proportions and responsibly approach the process of cleaning moonshine. In this case, your efforts will not be in vain: at the output you will get a soft, high-quality, aromatic alcoholic drink.

Many have heard about the dangers of home-brewed alcohol compared to factory-made alcohol. This is especially true of strong alcohol, in particular, moonshine. But why is moonshine so harmful? It turns out that it contains a number of impurities, which are fermentation products and are very harmful to the body. In production, in the manufacture of vodka, a rectification process is used, resulting in a very pure drink. At home, you can also apply some simple cleaning methods; what is the cleaning of moonshine?

First of all, it is worth noting exactly which impurities affect the fact that the benefits of house drink small. These are fusel oils, aldehydes, methyl alcohol and acetone. The main purification that moonshine must go through is distillation. It must be carried out at least twice, and at least once the “heads” and “tails” must be cut off.

Purification of moonshine with a barrier filter

What are "heads" and "tails"? During distillation, moonshine is not separated into pure fractions, as during rectification. Despite the fact that the boiling point of water is 100 degrees, some of it will boil at a lower temperature. The same applies to other parts of the mash. Nevertheless, the main part of the substance evaporates at a specific time.

When the temperature of the mash reaches a little more than 74 degrees, the process of evaporation of impurities begins, in particular, acetone and methyl alcohol. The moonshine that will flow into the receiving container at this time contains alcohol, but a significant part of it will be these substances. They are easy to feel by the characteristic smell of acetone. This fraction is called "heads" and should be cut off.

After the "heads" another fraction is separated, called the "body". It consists mainly of water and alcohol with small impurities. The “tails” are cut off last - a liquid with low content alcohol and high - fusel oils and aldehydes. It is these oils that are the main harmful substance in moonshine. And even though the “tails” are poured out, some of them remain. The main methods of cleaning moonshine are aimed precisely at cleansing it from such oils.

Physical cleaning methods

Why is alcohol that has been stored the most valued? The fact is that with aging, part of the fusel oils precipitates. In order for moonshine to be purified, it must be stored for at least three years. For such storage, oak barrels and glass are used. But what if there is no such time?

In production, in order to speed up the aging process of alcohol, the so-called heat stroke is used. It has long been noted that alcohol ages much faster at high temperatures. For example, at a temperature of 70 degrees, this requires only a day, at 60 - four days, at 50 - 16, and so on. A temperature above 70 degrees does not make sense, since in this case the alcohol can boil.

How to properly clean moonshine with this method? It is necessary to find the warmest place in the house and place moonshine in a glass container there, it is perfect three-liter jar. Where could such a place be? If there is an attic above the house, then the temperature in it in summer can reach suitable values. If possible, a thermostat can also be used. Further, depending on the temperature, we maintain the required time interval and get a tasty and clean drink.

Another effective way cleaning - freezing. Here the effect is that the freezing point of different substances is different. Fusel oils, as you know, begin to solidify already at a temperature of 10 degrees. Over the entire volume of the container under such conditions, they fall into flakes and are well filtered with a paper towel.

To quickly separate fusel oils, use a refrigerator or freezer. If you cool the drink to 30 degrees, then you can also significantly increase its strength, since part of the water will also freeze. However, the method also has a disadvantage: only fusel oils can be separated, lighter fractions remain.

Chemical cleaning methods

Most best method- cleaning with activated carbon. There are several possible ways carry it out. So, :

Install the filter immediately after the moonshine exits the coil and in front of the receiving tank. The filter consists of a funnel, in which a cotton pad is first placed, and then small fractions of activated carbon are placed. Large fractions are laid out on them and again - a cotton pad.
Another way is as follows. After the drink is ready, add activated charcoal directly to the jar and let it brew for a while, from two to 14 days, then strain through cheesecloth.

Cleaning moonshine with milk

This cleaning is ideal for processing before. It is recommended to use charcoal, in particular birch. One option for such cleaning is to simply use a water filter, especially if it contains pieces of silver. There are also specialized filters. If cleaning is carried out by placing coal in a jar, then by quantity it should be taken at the rate of 50 g per liter.

Another common substance for cleaning moonshine is potassium permanganate, or potassium permanganate. How to clean moonshine with potassium permanganate? It must be used in diluted form, three grams of the substance is taken per 300 ml of warm water. The prepared solution is used for two liters of finished moonshine. To increase efficiency, you can add a spoonful of soda and salt. After 12 hours, the settled product is filtered with cotton wool.

Milk is also an excellent product for cleaning moonshine at home. The only thing worth noting is that this method can only be used after the final distillation. The fact is that after cleaning, a certain amount of protein molecules remain in the moonshine, which, when heated and evaporated, can give it an unpleasant smell and taste.

With the help of 200 ml of milk, 20 liters of moonshine with 50% alcohol content can be purified. At the same time, milk should be pasteurized and low-fat, no more than 1–1.5%. In order to do it right, the following recommendations should be followed:

after the final purification stage, the milk is poured into moonshine;
after that, shake the container with force several times;
close the container with the product with a lid and set it for seven days in a dark place with a temperature of about 20 degrees;
shake the mixture daily for five days in a row;
two days fusel oils will settle;
after that we filter through a layer of cotton wool.

If the drink at the end turned out to be cloudy, then you can use the peel of a lemon or orange. It must be added to the drink and insisted for a day. So that the smell and taste are not strongly felt, take one fruit per three liters. This method is somewhat similar to the one used in production, but casein protein is taken instead of milk.

By analogy with milk, cleaning moonshine at home from fusel oils can also be done egg white. One protein is taken per 1.5 liters of moonshine, provided that the alcohol content is 50%. The protein is whipped with a glass of warm water and placed in a drink. Further, the technology exactly corresponds to that of cleaning with milk.

Before the second distillation, you can try to clean the moonshine with fruit. This processing is characterized by the fact that it gives the final product a distinct taste and aroma. Example: we take one carrot and one apple for three liters of 25-degree moonshine, or 1.5 liters of 50-degree moonshine. First, they must be cut into pieces, and the core should be removed from the apples. We defend the product for two to three days, until the fruits begin to exfoliate into fibers. After that, they can be removed, and the solution re-distilled.

by the most affordable product for cleaning is soda. It is inexpensive and is always at home at hand. A powder of 10 grams per liter of moonshine is taken and settled for at least 12 hours. In order to remove the sediment, filters or cotton discs are suitable.

It is quite original to clean moonshine with refined oil. The possibility of such cleaning is the fact that water and alcohol do not mix with oil, but fusel oils stick together with it. For one liter of product, you need to take 20 grams of oil. It should be as clean as possible, otherwise the taste will remain in the moonshine.

After adding the vessel, shake thoroughly every five minutes three to four times. Set aside 12 hours. Fusel oils and refined oil will be on top, while moonshine is on the bottom. In order to get it out of there, we use a tube lowered to the bottom. Alternatively, you can also turn the bottle upside down so that the moonshine is near the cork, and drain.

All methods of cleaning moonshine are good, but not ideal. In order for moonshine to be completely cleaned and not inferior in quality to factory-made drinks, it is necessary to use another method - rectification. Today it is quite affordable for home conditions, necessary equipment you can buy and make your own. It shouldn't take a large number time and money, but the quality of the product will be excellent.

Purification of moonshine is an event necessary for those who, when drinking their favorite drink, do not want to be poisoned by dangerous substances and feel crushed in the morning. Of course, not only harmful. First of all, you should not forget that it is not so important what quality the drink you drink, if you do it in limited quantities. Lots of moonshine even good quality cause irreparable damage to health.

Purification of moonshine from fusel oils is an integral step in obtaining high-quality alcohol at home. High-quality moonshine is ethyl alcohol separated from unnecessary impurities. If moonshine is not purified during its distillation, then methyl alcohol, acetaldehyde and fusel oils will remain in the composition of alcohol. The first two are toxic substances that, when ingested, lead to severe intoxication and lethal outcome. Oils with a sharp ethyl odor are less dangerous for the body, but they spoil the quality of the drink. People practicing homemade alcohol, know how to clean moonshine from the smell and fusel oils at home.

To understand the methods that allow you to independently cope with fusel oils, you need to understand their specifics. Sivukha is a by-product formed during the distillation of mash. Contained in raw alcohol, since its boiling point exceeds that characteristic of ethyl alcohol. Fusel oils are also called "tails", because during the distillation of moonshine they disappear last.

The main advantage of sivukha is that it gives alcohol a characteristic smell and taste. It is believed that the presence of a component in the consumed alcohol activates the liver enzymes responsible for the processing of alcohol faster. But there is an opposite opinion, according to which fusel oils cause a severe hangover after drinking alcohol.

Each moonshiner decides for himself whether to purify homemade alcohol from fusel alcohol or use raw alcohol. If moonshine is the basis for the preparation of other alcoholic beverages, then it is better to get rid of fusel oils using effective proven methods at home.

How to clean?

Purification of moonshine from fusel oils is carried out before its distillation. To ensure that there are few undesirable impurities in the finished alcohol, you need to take care of the quality of the mash. Double distillation will help get rid of fuselage:

the first distillation of moonshine is performed without separation of raw materials into fractions;
during the second distillation, alcohol is divided into fractions: “heads”, “body” and “tails”.

To correctly expel the "heads" and "tails", you need to know their boiling point and the effect on the strength of moonshine. One liter of the drink will always contain 50 milliliters of "tails", which should be guided by the selection of this fraction. When the temperature of the mash reaches 89 degrees, ethyl alcohol will begin to evaporate at this stage. Its selection is continued until the strength of the moonshine drops to 40 degrees. When the temperature of the mash exceeds 91 degrees, fusel oils will begin to be removed from the raw materials.

Double distillation does not always allow you to get rid of fuselage in in full. To clean alcohol from impurities at home, you can apply effective methods. Distillate purification methods are conditionally divided depending on the ingredient that allows you to remove fusel oils.

Coal cleaning

Activated carbon is a sorbent with a porous structure, due to which it quickly absorbs harmful impurities contained in alcohol. Cleaning moonshine with tablets is quite simple:

For each liter of liquid take 50 grams of tablets.
The ethyl product is poured into glass jar and put prepared coal into it.
In order for alcohol to be qualitatively cleansed, it must be infused for 10-14 days.

Then a clean jar is prepared, a plastic funnel is placed in its neck, inside which several layers of cotton wool are laid out. Through an impromptu filter, you need to strain all the moonshine, which was insisted on coal.

Potassium permanganate

A mixture of potassium permanganate and soda will allow you to effectively purify alcohol. For manipulation, you will need 1.5 grams of potassium permanganate powder, diluted in a glass of chilled boiled water. When all the crystals are dissolved, 10 grams of baking soda is added there. The composition is poured into moonshine, close the container with it with a lid and shake thoroughly. After that, the jar with the product is infused for 14 hours, as a result of which the sivuha will separate from the alcohol and precipitate.

Moonshine with a snack

Powdered milk

To improve the quality of moonshine with milk, it is recommended to use a dry product. Pre-milk is diluted with water and poured into a container with moonshine. After the mixture is infused for five days in a dark place. milk protein, reacting with fusel oil, precipitates it, as a result of which a thick white precipitate forms at the bottom of the can.

After settling, the distillate is filtered through several layers of gauze.

Egg white

Purify moonshine with protein chicken egg recommended only if sugar or was used to make alcohol. If berries and fruits were used in the preparation of raw materials, then this cleaning method should not be used, since the egg neutralizes the pleasant aroma of fruit alcohol.

Before using the protein, the distillate must be diluted with water so that its strength drops to 45 degrees. The diluted ethyl is then poured into a clean empty container, leaving a 20% empty volume.

The protein is separated from the yolk so that these components of the egg do not mix. After that, half a teaspoon of water is poured into the protein and beat it with a fork until foam forms. The solution is poured into the distillate and infused for a day. After that, the moonshine is filtered through a homemade cotton-gauze filter. During the cleaning process, the latter must be changed two or three times.

Freeze

Freezing the distillate makes it possible to achieve good results in its purification from harmful impurities. This method is based on the difference in freezing temperatures between ethyl alcohol and fusel oils.

A jar of moonshine is placed in the freezer, and after a few hours the condition of the alcohol product is checked. When ice forms in the liquid, it must be carefully separated from it by draining clean moonshine into a separate container.

fresh fruits

If you need to not only get rid of the fuselage, but also saturate homemade alcohol with a pleasant aroma, you can use the fruit cleaning method. This method is applied after the second distillation of moonshine. To perform cleaning, one carrot and an apple are taken for three liters of product. Both fruits are cut into large pieces, which are then placed in a container with moonshine.

After that, the bank is insisted for two days. The process is stopped when fibers begin to separate from the fruits.

Soda

To purify alcohol with soda, it must first be diluted to 40 degrees. After that they prepare water solution sodium bicarbonate, taking 10 grams of this component in half a glass of water. A portion of the solution is taken per liter of product. Soda with water is poured into alcohol and shaken thoroughly. After half an hour, the action is repeated, then moonshine is infused for 15 hours.

After the procedure, you need to pass through several gauze filters.

Oil

Vegetable oil, due to its fatty consistency, quickly binds the molecules of fusel oils, contributing to their settling. Before cleaning, alcohol is diluted to 20 degrees with water. Oil is taken at the rate of 20 milliliters per liter of the initial alcohol-containing raw material.

The oil is combined with moonshine and the mixture is allowed to brew for several days. To accelerate the sedimentation of impurities, the jar must be placed in a cool, dark place. So that the oil does not get into the pure product during filtration, it is better to prepare a tube through which the purified alcohol should be withdrawn to another container.

Each cleaning method can be easily used at home and gives a good result.

The primary reason that prompts to is the state of abstinence that occurs after drinking an unpurified drink. In other words, abstinence? it's a hangover syndrome. But it is worth noting that a hangover is not the worst adverse condition that can take you by surprise in the morning. An unrefined drink can cause poisoning of the body, because it contains a lot of harmful, hazardous to health, impurities, fusel oils, and also has an unpleasant odor.

What are fusel oils and why are they dangerous

During the fermentation process, in the preparation of alcoholic beverages, both at home and in factory conditions, toxic substances and impurities are inevitably formed. Fusel oil? it is a single complex of one-component substances, which is by-product alcoholic fermentation. This collection of toxins visually represents a reddish or yellowish liquid, resembling oil in consistency, with a very unpleasant characteristic odor.

These oils not only have a detrimental effect on the mucous membrane, but are also truly capable of poisoning human body. Fusel elements, getting into the bloodstream, cause severe dizziness in a person, loss of orientation in space, and also provoke nausea. A properly prepared drink does not contain a huge dose of the toxins presented, but they are quite enough to cause serious damage to the body.

A variety of ways to clean moonshine

Exist different recipes and methods for cleaning and filtering moonshine at home. Some are physical or chemical methods, while others simply consist in repeated distillation of the drink until the purest result is obtained. In order to purify moonshine, it is necessary to take into account the fact that at a higher alcohol strength and temperature, toxic substances and harmful impurities are more strongly retained in the final product. Therefore, moonshine should be diluted with water so that its strength varies from 40 to 45 °.

Cleaning moonshine with milk

This method will help to get rid of the characteristic unpleasant odor and improve taste qualities product. simple and reliable recipe allows you to combine other elements that contribute to cleaning at home. To clean moonshine from harmful fusel oils, you will need to perform the following steps in a certain order:

It is necessary to take 100 ml of pasteurized milk and add it to a 10 liter container with alcohol.
Mix thoroughly and cover the container with a lid.
Then you should keep the solution in this form for a week, stirring every day.
After 7 days, the liquid should be carefully drained and filtered through gauze or cotton wool.

Cleaning moonshine with soda or salt

This method is short-lived due to the use of an absorbent solution of baking soda or salt. A huge plus
this method is fast cleaning drink that runs for 24 hours. The recipe is easy to follow, it requires:

Take 10 g of soda dissolved in 100 ml clean water, per 1 liter of moonshine 40? 45 °.
Then add the alkaline essence to a container with moonshine.
Seal the container and shake or stir thoroughly.
Let stand for about 45 minutes.
Repeat the shaking or mixing procedure and leave in a cool place for 10-15 hours.
Next, it is necessary to drain from the sediment and filter through gauze or cotton wool, after wrapping crushed activated carbon in the filter.

Manganese purification of moonshine

More effective chemical cleaning is achieved by combining potassium permanganate with soda. This method has a number of significant advantages, which are that soda contributes to the withdrawal of such a substance as acetic acid, and potassium permanganate cleans moonshine from fusel oils. This recipe requires a clear implementation of the steps in the prescribed order:

Potassium permanganate in the amount of 1.5 g is diluted with 200 ml of pure water. The resulting solution is added to 1 liter of moonshine. Proportions are important and it is strictly forbidden to change them.
Next, you need to prepare a solution of soda according to the above recipe.
The resulting alkali solution is added to a container with moonshine, thoroughly mixing the liquid.
Then the alcoholic drink needs to stand for about 30 minutes.
The container is sealed and placed in a cool place for 10-14 hours.
After the expiration date, the drink should be filtered, and then made secondary distillation product.

Upon re-distillation, this way allows you to achieve a high-quality and pure drink, in which the taste will acquire sophistication, and the unpleasant smell will completely disappear.

Cleaning moonshine with vegetable oil

The oil cleaning recipe causes the removal of fusel from moonshine oils. In order to avoid the transition of a third-party smell into moonshine, it is necessary to use raw materials with a weak aroma, and it is better that the oil is completely odorless. Cleaning technology consists of the following procedure:

It is necessary to reach a fortress of 20 °.
For 1 liter of moonshine there are 20 ml of oil, which is added to the drink.
The container is sealed and shaken continuously for a minute, then the liquid settles for about 5 minutes and the shaking procedure is repeated with the same time.
Then the solution must stand for 24 hours in a cool place.
After a day, you will need to remove the collected oily film, then.

The product, purified with oil and filtered through gauze with activated charcoal, is redistilled with separation of fractions.

Cleaning moonshine with activated or charcoal

Activated or charcoal are excellent as
cleaning agent for alcoholic beverages prepared by one's own hands. The convenience of this method is the use of a carbon filter during the distillation process. To create a filter, you will need the following elements:

Purchase activated charcoal. This can be done in a regular pharmacy.
Next, you need to grind the coal to a powder state.
Then you should take an ordinary household watering can in the form of a funnel, put gauze rolled up in several layers, or cotton wool into it.
Pour coal into a watering can equipped with a filter at the rate of 50 g per 1 liter of drink
Put a funnel under the faucet of the moonshine and drip the drink. Or just pour the coal into a container with moonshine, mix and leave for 2 weeks, shaking or stirring daily. After the expiration of the period, the liquid should be filtered several times through cheesecloth, rolled up in 2-3 layers.

Cleaning moonshine with egg white

Casein and albumin? these are the main substances contained in egg whites, which have impeccable absorbing qualities. Thanks to these elements, fusel oils combine with protein and precipitate,
forming a substance in the form of flakes white color. The method is not difficult to implement, for this you need to perform the following steps:

For 1 liter of drink there are 2 eggs, followed by separation of the yolk from the protein.
Proteins must be added to water and beat it all with a mixer (100 ml of water is used for 1 liter of alcohol).
Pour the resulting liquid into the alcohol product and mix thoroughly.
Let moonshine stand for a week in a cool environment.
For better absorption of fusel oils, during the allotted time, shake the container every 12 hours daily.
After the moonshine settles, and the sediment accumulates at the bottom, the drink must be drained and filtered through a cotton or gauze filter.

Purification of moonshine using rye bread crumb

In the old days, most effective way cleaning of an alcoholic drink with the help of a crumb of freshly baked bread was considered. Subsequent use
With this method, moonshine lost its unpleasant odor and fusel oils. The recipe for this type of cleaning requires strict adherence to certain actions:

First of all, you need to purify alcohol with an absorbent product: egg white, coal.
For 1 liter of moonshine there is about 100 g of bread crumb.
It is necessary to crumble the crumb, pour into a container with an alcoholic drink and mix thoroughly.
Next, you should securely seal the container and put it in a cool place for 2-3 days.
Then moonshine is filtered.

Alcoholic drink should be filtered twice, and after? re-distill, due to this, the taste will improve and the unpleasant smell will disappear.

Cleaning moonshine with a water filter

Aquaphor or Barrier water filters are great as a homemade alcoholic drink cleanser. Its use does not require any skills or additional equipment, it is enough to drive the moonshine through the filter twice in order to get purified alcohol.

Frosty cleaning moonshine

In fact, this method requires nothing but low temperatures. To purify moonshine from harmful impurities, fusel oils and other
toxins, simply freeze the drink and drain the unfrozen alcohol residue. This procedure should be repeated until frost forms on the container, and the sediment in the form of a liquid stops forming.

Moonshine cleaning process? this is the last action, during which the purest drink is obtained. methods great amount, and every moonshiner will find a suitable one for himself. The main thing to remember is a simple truth: if alcohol created by oneself has a cloudy color, then this means that it contains fusel oils, which must be disposed of. The above recipes will help in achieving the best result.