Moonshine made from grapes is prepared quite easily, without requiring additional treatments. The color, taste and smell at the outlet are amazing, there is no need to insist on natural flavors. Moreover - the drink retains an abundance of vitamins and beneficial properties of the grapes themselves. The undoubted advantage of such home-made moonshine is that it is possible to use not the berry itself as a raw material, but squeezes formed after obtaining juice from the fruits or wine blanks.

What is grape moonshine called?

The crystal clear grape liquor, which we simply call moonshine, is known as “chacha” in the Caucasus, and in Italy it is even more harmoniously called “grappa”. The degrees of the fortress in his place fully correspond to the Italian or Georgian temperaments, sometimes reaching 55%.

Moonshine is traditionally prepared at home - on the basis of mash, which ripens very quickly in the case of grapes, and the percentage of ethanol yield in it, as already mentioned, is quite high.

Braga from grapes for moonshine

For its preparation from grape meal you will need:

  • 15 l of water;
  • 5 liters of non-fermented pomace or 10 liters of already fermented pulp;
  • 2.5 kg of sugar;
  • 50 g of pressed yeast (if possible, it is better to replace with 5 g of wine yeast!).

We prepare a container in which the mash will ripen. Winemakers are advised to choose stainless steel dishes - this material is very strong, resistant to acid and alcohol, can inhibit the development of pathogenic microflora, which causes irreparable harm to Braga.In addition, the finished product, prepared exactly in such a container, has a more saturated and pleasant smell than a similar one that has matured in a vessel of glass, aluminum or plastic. Regarding the size of the vessel, the rule is as follows: its volume should be at least three times the volume of the liquid therein.

The step-by-step preparation of grapes from moonshine:

  1. We fall asleep inside the selected capacity of the cake.
  2. We preheat the water to 30 ° C.
  3. We prepare syrup from all sugar and 2.5 liters of warm liquid.Important! The amount of sugar in the recipe can be reduced if you want to get a more grape taste of the finished moonshine. And if the berries were grown in the south of the country, where they gained a lot of their own sugar during the growing season, it is worth doing it even more so.
  4. We brew yeast, following the instructions on the packaging.
  5. Pour syrup and diluted yeast into the prepared pulp, then add the remaining volume of water.
  6. Thoroughly mix all the components, close the lid and install a water lock (desirable, but not necessary). If necessary, wrap up (if T ° C is below 25 degrees) and leave for aging in a warm, dark place, on average, for 1.5 weeks.

At least once a day, a vessel with a braga must be opened and the jumped “cap” from the cake back into the liquid. If this is not done, the likelihood of mold in the pulp is high.

Simple step by step recipe

After the fermentation process has ended (when the gas ceased to be released, the color of the mash has become several times lighter and a precipitate has formed on the bottom), the resulting product must be filtered using a multilayer gauze, a piece of burlap or a sieve with a small mesh. This is done so that the solid part of the ripened mixture does not burn in the distillation process.

 

The fragrant mash of grapes for moonshine, or rather - its subsequent distillation, is ready.

Further steps:

  1. We use moonshine of any configuration. Intensive boiling is prohibited! Distillation should be carried out evenly over moderate heat.
  2. The first 30 - 40 ml of yield, which the people have called the "head", are collected separately and poured. It is recommended to do the same with 20-30 ml of the collected alcoholic drink for every kilogram of sugar that has been added. This is a dangerous fraction, unsuitable for consumption.
  3. We drive the mash to the “tail”, then we’ll chop it off when the fortress in the stream drops to about 45 - 40 degrees. We stop collecting distillate just at this stage. If desired, the resulting chacha can be re-distilled by equipping the apparatus with a steamer, which will get rid of the specific smell of an alcoholic beverage, leaving only a pleasant grape aroma.
  4. It is generally believed that such moonshine does not need to be cleaned with milk or manganese, because they spoil its taste. You can apply double purification using Activated charcoal (activated charcoal) or add pine nuts to the container with the expelled alcoholic beverage, which can absorb all the harmful essential oils from it in a couple of weeks. This step is variable and remains entirely at the discretion of the "cook".
  5. The resulting home-brew is diluted with water to the desired strength, usually 40 degrees. Water cannot be taken chlorinated, as well as distilled. The best option is a well or soft, cleaned.
  6. For 2 - 3 days, we send the finished product to a dark place so that its taste is stabilized and balanced. The container is hermetically sealed.

From the amount of ingredients proposed for the mash, ultimately you can get ∼2 - 3 liters of home-made moonshine grape, with a strength of 50%.

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No yeast or sugar

Specialists in the field of moonshine insist that it is absolutely unacceptable to include yeast, as well as sugar, in the list of components of grapes from grapes for moonshine.Why? Everything is simple - on the skin of berries and so there is natural, wild yeast, due to which spontaneous fermentation is possible.

In addition, for chacha in its homeland, in Georgia, take clusters with ridges (the so-called stems forming a brush of grapes), since they contain a large percentage of tannins and potassium, which also contribute to natural fermentation. Sugar should not be added to the recipe for grape moonshine, since it eliminates the unique flavor of the finished drink.

Ingredients:

  • 25 kg of grapes with ridges (or finished meal);
  • 50 liters of water.

The cooking process is no different from that already described. Unless the mash "ripens" on natural yeast much longer - up to 60 days. The yield of the product after distillation is up to 6 l, if the mash was prepared from grapes, and up to 3 to 4 l, if it was made on the basis of grape meal.

Moonshine from Isabella grapes at home

Note! Chacha from Isabella grapes is always prepared with the addition of sugar, because in this variety there is very little glucose, and acidity, on the contrary, is increased. For mash, berries are selected very carefully - only ripe fruits are needed. The presence of clusters, leaves or unripe grapes is unacceptable, otherwise the final product will turn out tart and bitter.

Ingredients:

  • 5 liters of suppressed grapes;
  • 2 kg of granulated sugar;
  • 15 l of water;
  • 40 g dry or 200 g pressed yeast.

Step-by-step preparation of grape moonshine at home:

  1. We send ripe grapes for 12 hours to the freezer.
  2. Defrost berries, leaving them at room temperature for several hours for natural thawing, or simply doused with warm water.
  3. Carefully crush the grapes and send the resulting mass to a fermentation vessel.
  4. Add warm water to the pulp, previously diluted yeast, sugar and mix everything thoroughly.Experienced in moonshining, craftsmen recommend introducing sugar into Isabella grapes during 4 approaches: 1 kg on the first day, and the second in equal parts over the next 3 days. With the help of this simple method, the drink will turn out to be more flavorful at times.
  5. We send Braga to a dark, dry place for 1.5 weeks. Do not forget to stir the jumped “hat” daily to avoid the formation of mold.
  6. We wipe off the mash from the sediment, distill it through the moonshine still, guided by the tips and subtleties described above.

Using dry grapes

In order to drive chacha at home according to this recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

  • 2 kg of dry grapes, i.e. raisins;
  • 10 l of purified water;
  • 100 g of granulated sugar.

Cooking Technology:

  1. First, prepare the leaven for future mash. To do this, mix 200 g of unwashed raisins with sugar, pour 1.5 liters of warm water and leave for 2 hours to dissolve the sweet crystals and swell the berries.
  2. We take out the raisins, grind them with a blender or a meat grinder, and return the crushed product back to the wort.
  3. We close the container with cling film and make several small holes in it - this is necessary for the chemical fermentation process. Leave in a warm place for 2 days until the appearance of visible signs of drilling.
  4. The remaining raisins are poured with water, after swelling we grind it and mix with ripened sourdough.
  5. Pour the resulting mixture into a fermentation tank, tightly cover with a lid and clean it in a room with a temperature in the range of 25 - 27 ° C for 3 to 5 weeks until the completion of the fermentation process.
  6. We filter the mash through the filter, run it through the moonshine three times and enjoy the most delicate aroma and very soft taste of grape moonshine.

How to cook from homemade wine

To dispose of an unsuccessful batch of homemade wine, you can use the proven recipe and get a delicious moonshine, which is much better than the analogue, expelled with the addition of sugar.

Cooking Technology:

  1. We remove the wine from the precipitate (its quality, strength, aging are not so important), pour it into the distillation cube.
  2. The first time we run without separation into fractions. When the strength in the stream drops to 25-30%, the process is completed.
  3. We measure the strength of the drink, determine the percentage of pure alcohol in it, dilute it with water to 20%. Immediately begin the second distillation.
  4. We collect the "head" separately, do not forget that this fraction is unsuitable for drinking.
  5. We collect the "body" until the moment when the fortress falls below 40%. The distillation process should take place slowly, up to 3 liters of pure product per hour.
  6. The expelled moonshine is again diluted with water to the standard 40%, poured into glass bottles, tightly closed. To complete the completion of all chemical reactions, the drink is sent to settle for about 3 days.

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Fragrant chacha, which is considered one of the most valuable strong drinks throughout the world, is ready. It's time to call the guests for a tasting!

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