While you can always use some other alcohol like Everclear from your drinks, where’s the fun in that? The term moonshine came from its illegality, which forced people to make it at night or under the light (or shine) of the moon. Now, you just need to distill your mash water and separate all the alcohol content into a purified form. The basic ingredients for making corn moonshine are water, flaked corn maize, crushed malted barley, bread yeast, and optionally, sugar. So, purists opt for a corn whiskey mash, which will give you the classic, smooth, full-flavored moonshine.

Before we get started on how to make your first run of homemade moonshine, here’s some information about it that’s really interesting. Overnight, illegal alcohol, like moonshine, became one of the most profitable businesses in the country. We highly recommend taking down notes throughout your distilling and moonshine-making process so you know what to improve on whenever you start a new batch. Heads make up the next 30% and contain volatile alcohols that can cause unpleasant effects like hangovers. To get the best results, we recommend using a hydrometer to check the specific gravity at the start of the fermentation and when fermentation is done to ensure that your mixture has used up all the sugar.If it gets too cold, boiling temperature, the fermentation can stop because the yeast will go dormant.

Now that you are reaching the end of your product, you will get to the end of the ethanol and hit the last stage: the tails. This means that even if you cleaned it after the last time you used it, you need to wash it again if you let it sit empty for a while. Many people use this because it is a more convenient and economical mash the achieves something pretty close to the classic taste of moonshine. This is most popular for beginners and those looking to really experiment with the flavors of their shine because it doesn’t require any mash and you still get the same abv.The basic process requires you to dissolve sugar into water, pasteurize it (optional), then add the yeast nutrient and yeast to the good stuff. By doing this, you can use a formula to figure out how much ABV (alcohol by volume) your fermentation has produced, or an ABV calculator like this. Using sugar can potentially increase the fermentable material, thereby boosting the yield, although it may also impact the flavor profile. Moonshine is a distilled alcohol made from any grain or fruit, depending on what is accessible to you. They have a distinct “solvent” smell that comes from its alcohols, such as the acetone present in the heads.

It will also feel slippery between your fingers because of the water, carbohydrates, and proteins in it. It’s important to note that distillation of alcohol for personal consumption is illegal in many jurisdictions without a proper license. Distilling refers to the process that separates different chemicals from one another by taking advantage of different evaporation temperatures between the chemicals.Therefore, while there are many variables, a well-controlled process based on the given recipe could yield around 2-3 gallons of diluted moonshine. This is critical, especially if you are using copper stills that are showing some salt buildup already.