Whiskey is one of the most “brutal” alcoholic beverages, which many gentlemen, and even some ladies, prefer. It is made from cereal raw materials, mainly from barley, by distillation and prolonged aging (at least 2 years) in oak barrels burned in a special way. As a result, the whiskey gets a yellowish-golden or light brown hue, a unique taste and a multi-faceted bouquet. Such a drink can not be cheap, and not all of our compatriots can afford it. But they are able to drive excellent moonshine, which is quite possible to give color, taste and aroma, reminiscent of scotch. Some argue that it is impossible to make whiskey from moonshine at home, but they are wrong. If you drive it out of barley and stand for 2-3 years in an oak barrel, the drink will be almost identical to ordinary varieties of scotch. But from the usual moonshine, expelled from sugar and yeast, you can make something resembling a real whiskey. You just need to know the recipes and cooking technology.
Cooking Features
The winemaker who has the goal of turning the moonshine into whiskey is faced with the task of simulating the organoleptic properties of the scotch tape, so that it seems as if it is made of barley and honestly aged in a barrel of baked oak. There are several ways to achieve this, knowledge of several subtleties will allow to achieve the intended goal.
- As a basis for making homemade whiskey, it is advisable to take moonshine made from grain raw materials: ideally, from malt and barley, it is permissible - from wheat. Moonshine from sugar can be used, but it will be a bit more difficult to give it a resemblance to whiskey. In any case, moonshine should be of high quality: subjected to double distillation and passed through a carbon filter.
- Before use, moonshine is diluted, bringing the content of alcohol in it to 45%.
- To give the drink fruit notes, it is drawn on dried fruits. Caramel and malt notes will give it a caramel color. “Smoky” motifs will add burnt wood chips. The same ingredients will help give the drink a proper shade.
- To simulate aging in oak barrels, oak chips or oak bark are used. The first option is preferred. If you opt for a more affordable oak bark, sold in pharmacies, you must first pour it with hot water, after 15 minutes, drain the bark and dry the bark. This is done to remove excess tannins that can spoil the taste of the drink.
- After insisting the moonshine on the aromatic raw material, it is filtered first through gauze folded in several layers, then through a cotton pad. Only then will the drink be clear and transparent.
There are several options for making homemade whiskey from moonshine, with different degrees of complexity. The more complex the recipe, the better the imitation.
Whiskey from grain moonshine
Composition:
- barley malt - 3, 2 kg;
- corn grits - 2, 8 kg;
- wheat flour - 0, 4 kg;
- alcoholic yeast - 40 g;
- water - 12 l;
- oak slats about 2-3 cm wide, about 15 cm long - 2-3 pcs. (if there is no oak barrel).
Method of preparation:
- Go through barley. Fill it with water, leave for 3 hours. Drain, sprinkle barley 5-cm layer. After 7-10 days, it will begin to germinate.
- Sprouted barley, dry, chop with a blender.
- Stir the wheat flour and cornmeal, cover with boiled water and cook for 5 hours, stirring occasionally. You can cook in batches.
- When the brew has cooled to 40 degrees, add chopped barley malt to it, mix.
- Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of water at room temperature, add to the resulting mixture, mix well.
- Wrap the container with the mash, leave in a warm place for a week. Periodically the container can be opened and its contents are mixed with a wooden stick.
- After a specified time, overtake the brew, cutting off the “heads” and “tails”. Clean the fusel oils in your usual way. You can skip through the carbon filter.
- Dilute moonshine to 45 degrees. You will get about 2 liters pervacha.
- Oak slats wrap in foil, put in the oven. Cook for an hour. When the temperature of roasting is below 200 degrees, you will receive material that will give the drink a light woody flavor. If you fry at 200 degrees, the flavor will be perceptible vanilla notes. Smoky aroma appears when roasting rods at 220 degrees. A roasting temperature of about 270-280 degrees will add almond notes.
- Unfold cooled slats and lightly burn them on open fire. Put them in a clean two-liter jar.
- Fill the can with samogon, close tightly.
- Store the jar in a cool shaded place. Hold for a year.
- Filter the drink, bottle it and store it. The drink is ready to eat.
If you have an oak barrel, you can do without slats. In it, moonshine need to insist 2 years, then it will be almost indistinguishable from this whiskey.
Simple recipe for moonshine whiskey
Composition:
- well-cleaned moonshine (45%) - 3 l;
- charcoal - 50 g;
- oak bark - 50 g;
- dried apricots - 6 pcs.
Method of preparation:
- Pour oak of bark with boiling water. After 10 minutes, drain the water, scatter the bark on the table, let it dry.
- Pour the oak bark into a jar, place the charcoal, crushed to dust, and dried fruits.
- To the brim, fill the jar with moonshine and close it tightly.
- Store the jar in a cool place, protected from sunlight.
- Insist on for 2-4 weeks. The longer moonshine will insist on aromatic raw materials, the more it will resemble whiskey.
- Strain through cheesecloth and cotton pad.
- Bottled. Close them, put in storage.
This is the easiest and most affordable recipe for making homemade whiskey from moonshine. Its advantage is the absence of the need to wait for the result for several months or even years.
Scotch moonshine whiskey whiskey
Composition:
- double distilled brew (45%) - 1 l;
- oak bark - 50 g;
- liquid smoke - 2 drops;
- sugar - 20 g;
- water - 20 ml;
- sherry - 30 ml.
Method of preparation:
- Mix the sugar with water and hold it over the fire until it dissolves. When the syrup has a caramel color, mix it with sherry and liquid smoke.
- Soak in water for 15 minutes and put the dried bark on the bottom of a liter jar, pour the liquid mixture into it.
- Fill with moonshine. Close the jar tightly and shake. Clean for a week or two in a cool dark place. Shake the can daily.
- Strain the drink, pour into the bottle.
Additionally, the drink can be tinted with saffron. 25 g of its dried and crushed leaves are added to the jar along with the bark of the oak.
Whiskey from moonshine on barley and spices
Composition:
- double distilled brew (45%) - 3 l;
- pearl barley - 0, 4 kg;
- black leaf tea - 15 g;
- black pepper peas - 5 pcs .;
- allspice peas - 5 pcs .;
- carnation - 2 pcs.
Method of preparation:
- Fry pearl barley in a dry frying pan, cool, pour into a clean jar.
- Add tea and spices to the jar.
- Fill aromatic ingredients with moonshine.
- Close the can, put in a dark cool place.
- Insist 2 weeks, shaking the jar every other day.
- Filtered, bottled.
Pearl barley gives the drink the taste and aroma of barley, thereby emphasizing its similarity to whiskey. Tea and spices add to the drink additional notes and the corresponding color.
Whiskey, made at home from moonshine, will not be identical to the famous Irish and Scottish drinks, but to give it an obvious similarity with them is quite possible. Knowledge of recipes and cooking technology will allow to turn home-distilled liquor into a drink with excellent organoleptic qualities and strongly reminiscent of whiskey in taste, color and aroma.
