O'Donnell Moonshine -"Tough Nut" | 700ml | 25% ABV | 50 proof

Product Information

Increase the heat to high until the still produces drips. Keep it between water and alcohol’s boiling point (173°F and 212 °F) With a good stilling kit, moonshiners can make anything, even apple pie and chocolate-flavored moonshine! It all depends on the recipe you decide to follow or create. Sugar shine is popular among beginners and those looking to experiment with flavors as it doesn’t require any mash. The hybrid mash replaces some corn with table sugar, allowing for a higher yield with the same amount of corn. Final Words

Distillation happens when you heat a mix of corn, sugar, and yeast (this mix is called corn mash) in a big tank or pot. The heat causes the yeast to turn the sugar into alcohol, a process known as fermentation.Here’s what you can expect for the amount of sugar added vs the potential alcohol in your mash. Up to you on how to proceed. Proper Storage Use cheesecloth or auto-siphon to transfer the mash water into your still, including none of the solid material that may be leftover. The distillate is collected in four stages: foreshots, heads, hearts, and tails. Foreshots, the first 5% of the liquid, contain potentially harmful alcohols like methanol and should be discarded. Heads make up the next 30% and contain volatile alcohols that can cause unpleasant effects like hangovers. The basic process requires you to dissolve sugar into water, pasteurize it (optional), then add the yeast nutrient and yeast to the good stuff. The Hybrid In the historic run, farmers used this to earn extra money because low-value corn crops could be made into high-value whisky. The U.S. government had a hand in this because of the how much sugar how highly they taxed alcohol.

It’s important to note that distillation of alcohol for personal consumption is illegal in many jurisdictions without a proper license. On a speculative note, future advances in fermentation technology, such as engineered yeast strains or enzymatic treatments, could potentially optimize yields. This is critical, especially if you are using copper stills that are showing some salt buildup already. So, before transferring your mash water, make sure you wash and clean your still again. Just like the foreshots, the heads contain volatile alcohols that you should try to avoid consuming. While this will not blind you, it will give you one hell of a hangover which isn’t really pleasant. Some recipes call for a 1:1 ratio. For example, you will use 1 gallon of water to 1 pound of sugar and 1 pound of corn meal. Feel free to experiment and see what works for you! Equipment For Creating the MashRemember that you always want to reduce the amount of sediment in your corn mash water as much as possible. Running Your Still This is when your skill and experience will come into play. It’s important that you isolate the hearts well to maximize your production. Collecting Tails In this guide, we’ll give you the most basic recipe so you can build on it for future purposes. The Classic: Corn Whiskey You’ll notice there will be a significant drop in the sweetness from the cane sugar. You will even see an oily top layer on your alcohol.

The first 5% of the liquid separated fuel alcohol made by your distilling process is the foreshots. The foreshots has the earliest-evaporating alcohols in your corn mash water. Remember that just like making mash, the distillation part is both a science and an art form. It will take a lot of practice and trial and error before you get great at this, so be patient with yourself.Note that the ingredients we mentioned above will differ, depending on the recipe you follow if you are making something other than the classic corn-barley-yeast moonshine recipe. Equipment and Supplies You Will Need Basic Moonshine Ingredients Making moonshine involves a process called distillation, which is commonly done using a pot still. The distillation process starts with creating a mash, a mixture of corn, sugar, and yeast, which is heated in a large tank or pot. The heat causes the yeast to turn the sugar into alcohol, a process known as fermentation. 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.