KEEP IT SHINING Moonshiners Tips and Recipes

How to legalize your still for home distilling in South Africa

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 18:35:39 GMT

How to legalize your still for home distilling in

South Africa

Without going into all the legal aspects, laws and regulations I will give you the short version and methods to do it legally.

The law in South Africa allows you to own and distill alcohol beverages for own use at home provided you register your still and yourself for the manufacture of excisable Goods. This is covered under (and mean under cover/hidden) in the laws and regulations, however Article 116 covers the registration and requirements.

Want to read it, here’s a link: LAPD-LSec-CE-RA-2019-002-Rule-amendments-Stills-and-manufacture-for-own-use.pdf (sars.gov.za)

OK, What now?

4 easy steps to doing it…

Obtain a legal and numbered still.
Complete the DA185 form for registration and mark the two areas Download DA185 PFD

( DA185.4A15 – Manufacturer of excisable goods solely for own use by the manufacturer) and
( DA185.4B12 – To own, possess or keep stills Download DA185.4A15 & DA185.4B12 PDF

Supply all the necessary document
Submit to SARS together with the required payment

Typical documents to accompany the registration: (original or certified copies)

A bank statement or proof of bank account holder
Municipal account to confirm the address details
Detailed site plan or a rough sketch of where the still will be used
SARS registration details
Cell phone or fixed telephone line operator’s account to confirm contact details.
Copy of Identity/passport document
Pictures of the still being registered

Need online assistance? Here’s a link you can follow :

Export Help Assistance completing forms for exporter registration

Link to the regional Customs and Excise offices addresses:

Excise Offices – South African Revenue Service (sars.gov.za)

Recipe for Cherry Moonshine

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 16:23:54 GMT

mix-it up

Cherry

Moonshine Recipe

USING YOUR SHINE YOU MADE…… Some mix-it-up recipe’s

Fruit-flavored moonshine is a easy to make crowd pleaser! The perfect gift, party drink and treat at the end of a long day. This drink is sweet but dangerous. Please consume responsibly.

Ingredients

1 pound of fresh red cherries pips removed
1 cup sugar
750 ml of moonshine
1/2 cup cherry juice (optional)
½ cup water

Directions

Place 1 cup of sugar and ½ cup water and ½ cup cherry juice (if using) into saucepan on medium heat.

Once the sugar is dissolved, you have made a simple syrup.

Pour the syrup into a clean mason jar.

Place cherries in a large bowl and remove their pits.

Use a potato masher to slightly mash the cherries to help release the flavor. You want to keep them intact to eat as atomic cherries.

Add the simple syrup and moonshine into the bowl of cherries.

Evenly divide the mixture into mason jars.

Seal the jars and let the moonshine infuse. The longer the better.

Once your moonshine has reached your desired taste you can strain out the cherries to enjoy as 'atomic cherries'.

#KEEP IT SHINING

Recipe for Coffee Moonshine

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 16:19:57 GMT

mix-it up

Coffee

Moonshine Recipe

USING YOUR SHINE YOU MADE…… Some mix-it-up recipe’s

Love cafe mochas? Why not infuse your moonshine to make the ultimate spiked coffee?

Ingredients

8 ounces moonshine
4 ounces Organic Chocolate Syrup, the syrup should be thin like Italian syrup
1/4 cup Premium Coffee Beans

Directions

Mix the moonshine and the organic chocolate syrup

Fill two small 6 oz mason jars with 1/8 cup coffee beans

Pour the chocolate moonshine mixture evenly over the beans in the two jars.

Add the lid and allow to ferment until the moonshine reaches your ideal taste.

Once infused, strain out the coffee beans and enjoy

Recipe for Sweet Honey Moonshine

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 15:46:41 GMT

mix-it up

Sweet Honey

Moonshine Recipe

USING YOUR SHINE YOU MADE…… Some mix-it-up recipe’s

This is one recipe that has generated a lot of 'buzz' for being a sweet favorite for sippin', shootin' and parties.

Ingredients

1 Gallon of honey
5 Gallons of water
Distiller’s yeast

Directions

Start your mash by heating 2.5 gallons of your water to 120°F in a large pot. Make sure to keep the rest of your water at room temperature.

Add one gallon of honey and stir until completely dissolved and well incorporated.

Now we can add the second half of our water to the honey mixture.

Now it is time to cool down your mash. You can use an immersion chiller or use a sink full of ice water. Cool the mixture to a balmy 70°F.

Next, we want to aerate the mash by pouring it back and forth between two buckets.

Once your mash is well aerated, transfer it into your fermenter.

Add two tablespoons of yeast.

Install the airlock. It is important to maintain a steady temp of while you ferment. Fermentation will take up to 2 weeks depending on the type of yeast used.

Once the activity in your airlock has ceased for about two days fermentation is complete. Wait another 5-7 days to let your mash settle.

Once your mash has settled, use a siphon to remove your mash and transfer it into your still.

Distill as you normally do. Make sure to fraction.

Age your moonshine for two weeks using oak chips.

Optional* add a little bit of honey back into your moonshine for flavor.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Moonshine

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 15:31:49 GMT

mix-it up

Peanut Butter

Moonshine Recipe

USING YOUR SHINE YOU MADE…… Some mix-it-up recipe’s

Your childhood favorite peanut butter will soon become your favorite adult beverage with this delicious recipe! Keep the infused peanuts from this recipe to enjoy as moonshine-soaked peanuts. To make them even tastier, roast them a second time and then roll them in cinnamon and sugar for a sweet treat with a bite.

Ingredients

750 ml moonshine
2 cups raw peanuts
2 Tbs creamy peanut butter
2 tsp brown sugar

Directions

Skin peanuts if necessary. Roughly chop the peanuts into large pieces.

Place in sauté pan and roast lightly (about two minutes).

Allow peanuts to cool before placing in 32-ounce canning jar along with brown sugar.

Pour moonshine over the mixture and seal your jar.

Place in cool, dark pantry and allow to sit seven days, shaking occasionally.

Be sure to also taste your moonshine to allow to sit as long as it takes to get your preferred flavor.

After seven to ten days, add peanut butter to jar and return to pantry for three days.

Strain your finished infusion into a clean canning jar using a fine strainer, removing the peanuts and the bulk of the peanut butter.

Place the jar into the freezer for 24 hours to solidify any fats. Strain the frozen mixture again using your mesh strainer over a large mixing bowl.

Immediately re-strain the mixture using doubled cheesecloth. If the fat has begun to re-liquefy, you may return the mixture to the freezer before the final straining step.

Finally, strain the mixture using a cone coffee filter.

Recipe for Gingerbread Moonshine

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 15:01:39 GMT

mix-it up

Gingerbread

Moonshine Recipe

USING YOUR SHINE YOU MADE…… Some mix-it-up recipe’s

Let the taste of the holidays all year long with our delicious gingerbread moonshine recipe. Add a little cream to this moonshine to make a delicious boozy cocktail.

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh ginger peeled and chopped
1 small cinnamon stick
1/4 cup molasses
3 whole cloves (Visit Gypsey Gin Botanicals for Cloves)
1/4 cup of distilled Water
A few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg (Visit Gypsey Gin Botanicals for Nutmeg)
1 TBS sugar
2 cups of moonshine
1/3 cup of rum

Directions

Combine all the ingredients except the liquor in a small saucepan.

Simmer on low heat for about ten minutes stirring frequently.

Cool the mixture completely.

Pour the mixture into a quart jar.

Add the moonshine and rum to the jar. Close the jar and shake well to combine.

After 48 hours, strain the solids out of the infusion.

Allow the mixture to rest for another four days and then enjoy!

Recipe for Dark Chocolate Moonshine

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 14:03:12 GMT

mix-it up

Dark Chocolate

Moonshine Recipe

USING YOUR SHINE YOU MADE…… Some mix-it-up recipe’s

This creamy and delicious moonshine recipe is the perfect addition to coffee, after dinner drink or can even be enjoyed poured over ice cream for a fun after dinner treat.

Ingredients

1 473ml carton of whipping cream
4 ounces of dark chocolate
¾ cup of white sugar
½ cup of water
½ tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups of moonshine

Directions

In a saucepan over medium heat add your whipping cream.

Add four ounces of dark chocolate broken up into small pieces.

Stir well to combine.

Keep the temperature low as to not burn the chocolate

Once the chocolate is melted, add ¾ cup of white sugar and ½ cup of water.

Add 1/s tbsp of vanilla extract

Turn off the heat and allow your mixture to cool completely.

Once completely cool, fill two mason jars halfway with your chocolate mixture.

Add one cup of moonshine to each jar.

Shake well to combine.

Recipe for Spicy Jalepeno Moonshine

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 22:06:20 GMT

mix-it-up

Spicy Jalepeno

Moonshine Recipe

USING YOUR SHINE YOU MADE…… Some mix-it-up recipe’s

This is a simple rum recipe that will win the blind taste test up against the top-rated bottles of rum that you find on the liquor store shelf. Nothing on the shelf can beat a handcrafted small batch rum recipe

Ingredients

8 oz moonshine
8 oz distilled water
1 whole Jalapeno, chopped with seeds (available at Gypsey Gin Botanicals)
1 tbsp whole peppercorns (available at Gypsey Gin Botanicals)

Directions

In a clean 16 oz mason jar pour in your peppercorns

Add equal parts moonshine and water to the jar

Add the whole jalapeno pepper being sure to keep all the seeds as they contain the spice.

Allow the moonshine to infuse. Check your moonshine after 48 hours to check the taste. You can continue to infuse until you have reached your desired flavor.

Once your moonshine is flavored to your liking, drain out the solids and it is ready for your favorite savory cocktail.

Recipe for Simple Rum Shine

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 21:28:51 GMT

Simple Rum Shine

Recipe

Recipe to make Simple Rum Shine

Ingredients

3kg of cane sugar
2,2kg of unsulfured molasses (Black strap or Trickle 3)
250ml of honey
130g Rum Yeast or 100g Turbo Yeast

Directions

Fermentation Bucket with Lid and Air Lock

Large Spoon

Large stock pot or brewing pot

Process

Heat up 7,5liter of water to boiling then slowly mix in sugar until dissolved then add 250ml honey. After sugar is dissolved then add molasses then top off to 24liters. Move contents into a fermenter. When temperature is under 26⁰C and over 21⁰C add the yeast. Stir in the yeast and save a little to sprinkle over the top.

Put the lid and air lock on and let sit for 24 hours then mix for several minutes then put the lid and airlock back on and let it sit for 8 days. Keep at between 20⁰C-24⁰C for optimal fermentation. After fermentation is complete place the fermenter on a countertop and siphon the wash out from the top of the fermenter through a strainer with cheesecloth into another clean bucket. Leave the heavy sediment on the bottom so don’t siphon this out. Then siphon filtering through cheesecloth one more time, then the wash will be ready to distill.

We suggest using a pot still to distill your rum. Pot stills will carry over flavor. Run the still real slow at about 70-80%ABV to get a clean rum spirit. Depending on the still design some distilleries will run the rum recipe through a stripping run then through a final spirit run at 80%ABV.

Ideas

Leave it as is for white rum.
Add oak chips or oak staves to glass jars and let age for a couple months.
Put rum in a used whisky barrel and age for several months. This has become popular with distilleries and makes a unique rum.

Now that you’ve created a great spirit, check out the Coconut Rum Recipe…

Recipe for Amaretto

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 21:08:20 GMT

Amaretto

Recipe

Recipe to make Amaretto

First make some neutral spirit using a sugar wash or you can use vodka

Ingredients

2 cups (500ml) of water
1.5 cups (350ml) of moonshine, neutral spirit, or vodka at 80% to 90% alcohol
1.5 (350g) cups of white sugar
1 cup (250g) of brown sugar
2 (30ml) tablespoons of almond extract
2 teaspoons(8ml) of vanilla extract
1 oz (30ml) of glycerin

Directions

Put water and sugars in a pan bring to a boil over medium heat stirring continuously until all sugars have dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes then add 2 tablespoons of almond extract, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 1 oz of glycerin, and the moonshine or vodka.

Learn About Distillation Column Packing

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 17:01:39 GMT

Learn About Distillation Column Packing

Copper Mesh or Ceramic Raschig Rings?

We receive a lot of questions about distillation column packing. Must I use it, what are the advantages, how much must I use, how do I install it, how do I clean it, and how long does it last…..

In this blog I will cover the two most common packing materials, copper mesh and ceramic Raschig rings. Note that you would not use either of these types of packing in a flute column because the flute column uses copper bubble plates, which eliminates the need for any other type of column packing thus for “normal” reflux columns.

Copper Mesh or Ceramic Raschig Rings?

This is a matter of preference as well as what you’re distilling in your still. Copper mesh is available and affordable whereas Raschig rings are more expensive and not readably available to the home/craft distiller.

COPPER MESH is great for reflux distilling, plus the copper reacts with the sulfur compounds formed during fermentation.

So, the copper helps to eliminate these sulfur compounds from your distillate, which is important when you’re distilling beverage-grade alcohol in a reflux still.

The downside to copper mesh is that it does have a shelf life and you will need to replace it from time to time. You also need to clean it regularly with vinegar.

This is the stuff that your vapor passes through, so if you want a clean distillate, you’ll want to use clean column packing. Keep it clean and when it cant be cleaned anymore, replace it.

CERAMIC RASCHIG RINGS are also great for all reflux-type distillation. Raschig Rings are overall better for distilling things like water and essential oils, which require more of an inert type of packing. Unlike with copper mesh, you don’t have to worry about packing the column too tightly, which can cause choking. Choking is when there’s not enough room for the vapor to rise and the refluxing liquid to descend in the column. The ceramic also possesses a greater surface area because of its porous nature, so that combined with the Raschig Rings’ incapacity to cause choking can make it easier to attain higher purity distillate than the copper mesh. Raschig Rings are also easy to clean because you can just use some equipment cleaner—plus, they pretty much last forever. Well, at least until you lose them.

However, Raschig Rings aren’t without their disadvantages either. You’ll need to use them in a distillation column that has a way to hold them in place, such as a screen at the bottom of the lower column portion, so they don’t just fall straight through. This is true for any type of loose column packing, so if you do want to go with Raschig Rings, make sure your distillation column is equipped for it.

What types of condensers are used in the craft distilling?

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 15:25:53 GMT

What is a condenser?

A condenser is an apparatus that cools vapour or steam thus converting the vapour to its liquid form. During distillation of alcohol, alcohol vaporises at a lower temperature than water, this vapor travels to the condenser and then the condenser helps change the vapor to liquid alcohol. Thus, the alcohol vapour that travels through the line arm towards the cooling condenser is then cooled and returned to a liquid form. The condenser is the most important part of the distilling process because it controls the internal re-distillation process and the separation of the final output. Depending on the type of still design, the condenser may be located at different positions to provide different functionality in the still operations.

Types of condensers

There are basically five types of condensers used in the craft distilling industry which I will explain below. The larger manufacturers use more modern plate condensers but these are seldom used by the craft/home distillers and will not go into their design and use.

CONDENCER COIL

This is the simplest format of a condenser. Ever seen moonshiners on TV or some pictures of the old moonshiners? Using a drum filled with cooling water a copper tube is spiraled in the drum on a downwards slope to allow the vapour from the line arm to flow down the coil and with the water in the drum to cool the condensate to a liquid form. This may not be the most effective way to cool your distillation as many times the user needs to replace the water or constantly replenish it to keep it cold enough for the distillation to return to liquid. One of the reasons the old moonshiners always set up their stills near a water stream and the modern shiners next to the swimming pool…

LIEBIG CONDENSER

A Liebig condenser has an inner tube going straight through a surrounding tube with a water inlet and a water outlet in the outer tube. The outer tube works as a jacket of water and the flow of water through the jacket condenses the alcohol vapor in the inner tube. This is a very efficient condenser. It is used in both pot and reflux still designs. The Liebig condenser is a simple yet very effective condenser for the home distiller to make and use.

SHOTGUN CONDENSER

Although similar in design and functionality to a Liebig condenser the shotgun condenser differs only that it has multiple inner tubes instead of just one. The water jacket concept is still the same where the cooling water supply runs between the jacket and the core tubes. This condenses the liquids contained in the hot vapours coming from the column and going through the core.

These condensers (also called Dephlegmators) is also used on the top of a packed column in order to divert some of the condensed alcohol out of a collection tube, while the rest is dripped back down over the packing. Many users use a shot gun condenser for their final cooling condenser.

Shotgun type condensers have become favored among many distillers of Scotch because they cause the final spirit to have a higher copper content. The higher copper content causes the final product to be smoother and less sulfured.

CROSSFLOW CONDENSER

In design, it is the reverse of the so-called "shotgun" condenser in that the coolant flows through the tubes and the vapour passes over the tubes at right angles, allowing much larger volumes of vapour to be condensed for no increase in condenser size.

The Crossflow condenser is a concept used extensively in large-scale steam recovery systems for turbines. Applied to ethanol distilling, it is particularly suitable for coolant recirculating (recycling). Its advantages over other condensers are very low coolant friction, therefore low-power pumping requirements; compact size compared to product volume output; Large heat transfer surface. Very few of these are used by the craft/home distillers due to the difficulty in build and keeping the tubes clean.

HELIX COIL CONDENSER

Helix coils are a metal tube that has been bent into a spiral shape. Depending upon the required specifications of the finished product, a helical coil may consist of only one or two spiral turns or may be a series of spirals several feet in length.

Cooling water is circulated through the tubing which causes vapor to collect on the outside and normally used in the top of a reflux (Bokakob) still. The advantages of this type of this condenser is that you get a lot of cooling power into a small volume.

A Graham type of condenser is the reverse of a Coil Condenser where the vapour flows through the central tube (Coil) and condenses along its walls to flow towards the collection point and the cooling water on the outer of the coil. Basically a Liebig but the inner tube is not straight but coiled.

FUN, FACTS and MYSTERY: What does the “XXX” on a Moonshine jug mean?

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 14:13:13 GMT

FUN, FACTS and MYSTRY

What does the "XXX" on a Moonshine jug mean?

The XXX on moonshine jugs is a classic symbol. It has been caricatured and cartooned many times in modern portrayals of the moonshiner. Everyone instinctively knows that “XXX” written on a jug indicates that it contains moonshine, but what does that symbol mean and why did moonshiners’ scrawl that on their jugs?

In the old days, before the invention of more modern distilling techniques like thump kegs and reflux stills, moonshiners used a basic pot still – the simplest of all types of stills. It’s made up of two components: a boiler to cook the mash and a condenser to collect and cool the alcohol vapor back to a liquid.

SCROLL DOWN TO READ MORE

While it is an effective device, you don’t get pure alcohol when you run a batch through the first time. The fermented mash, which is very similar to beer, starts out at about 5-10% alcohol by volume (ABV). When you run the mash through a pot still, the product coming out of the other end contains about 30-40% alcohol, the rest being mostly water. This is called “singlings.” (While the first run produces liquor at about 60-80 proof and is drinkable, you wouldn’t want to drink it since it still has quite a bit of off flavors carried over through the water from the mash. To raise the alcohol content, you must save up all the results of your first runs, and then run all of that through the still a second time. The second run raises it up to the 60-70% ABV range. Moonshine that had been run through the still three times was very close to being pure alcohol, above 80% ABV.

The “XXX” signifies how many times the moonshine batch had been run through the still. Three X’s indicated that it had been run through three times and that the shine was pure alcohol.

Any jugs like that would have to be quite old since moonshiners moved to half gallon mason jars many years ago……

FAQs about distillation column packing and bubble plates

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 12:43:47 GMT

Frequently asked questions about Fractional Distillation Columns

Recipe for Apple Pie Moonshine

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 12:43:46 GMT

Recipe for Apple Pie Moonshine

Apple pie moonshine is an old favourite.

Apple pie moonshine is an old favorite. Its sweet, pleasantly spiced apple flavor and takes the edge off especially strong moonshine and makes it more enjoyable for people who can’t handle the kick and flavor of straight-up shine. Once you’ve tried apple pie moonshine, you’ll want to have some on hand all year long, but it’s especially good during summer when fresh apple cider is on store shelves. Apple pie moonshine keeps very well due to the high alcohol content, and the flavor improves with age, so don’t be afraid to make a big batch since there’s no chance of it going to waste.
Ingredients

Ingredients and equipment needed to make 12 liters of apple pie moonshine.

Large cooking pot
2 1l mason jars
4 liters of apple cider
1,5 liters of apple juice
6 cups (1,2kg) of brown sugar
12 cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves
2 teaspoons (12g) of grated nutmeg
2 cups (500ml) of spiced rum
350ml high-proof neutral spirit (your shine at 90% ABV)

Recipe

There are two stages to making apple pie moonshine.

The first stage involves making a flavourful base out of apple cider, apple juice, sugar and spices.

The alcohol is added to this flavour base in the second step, and then the moonshine is put into jars for storage.

This recipe is split up into two steps in order to avoid heating high-proof alcohol on the stovetop, which can cause a fire and reduce the alcohol content of the finished product. It’s an easy recipe if you follow the directions carefully, and the moonshine that it makes can’t be beat.

First, add the following ingredients to your cooking pot and bring them to a boil:

Apple cider

Apple juice

Sugar

Cinnamon, clove and nutmeg available from Gypsey Gin Botanicals

After the cider and juice mixture boils, turn off the heat and cover the cooking pot with a lid.

Allow the mixture to sit, covered, until it returns to room temperature.

Once the cider and juice mixture has cooled, you can add the alcohol and stir for a moment in order to mix the alcohol well.

Then use a ladle to carefully fill each mason jar 3/4 full of the apple cider moonshine and put on the lid.

Optionally , you can add one cinnamon stick and one clove to each jar before storing them in order to increase the flavour of the spices over time.

After 6 weeks of ageing, your moonshine will taste exactly like apple pie.

Storage

For best results, you’ll want to store your Apple Pie moonshine in a cool, dark space for at least 2 weeks before drinking. This method of storage helps to age the moonshine and mellow the flavours, taking the edge off the spices and letting everything meld into tasting like a delicious apple pie.

After you’re happy with the taste of your apple pie moonshine, you can move it to the refrigerator in order to slow down the ageing process.

It can also be stored indefinitely in the freezer, although depending on the alcohol content it may freeze solid. If the air space in each jar is large enough, freezing isn’t an issue. But if the contents are too cramped then it’s possible to crack a jar during freezing.

Refrigeration is the recommended method for long-term storage, but it’s not necessary as the alcohol content of the moonshine will stop it from spoiling.

Learn About Distilling Cuts, Fore Shots, Heads, Hearts and Tails

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 08:16:18 GMT

Learn About Distilling

Distilling Cuts...

Distilling Fore Shots

Distilling Heads

Distilling Hearts & Tails

Foreshots

NOTE: You should only use this alcohol as fuel or cleaner. Do not consume this part of your run!

The first 5% or so of your run will consist of the fore shots. This 5% contains methanol. Generally, as a standard practice, you would throw out the first 250 ml per 20 liters as this part of your run will consist of these fore shots. However, since we’ll be using this alcohol as a sanitizer/disinfectant product instead of a consumable spirit, you should keep them. Good rule of thumb is between 5ml/l wash to 10ml/l of you wash.

The alcohols found in the fore shots and heads work great as strong cleaning agents, fire starters, de-greasers, and solvents. Again, DO NOT consume these because they are toxic and will poison you and/or make you blind.

Heads

Next, comes the part of the distillate known as the heads. The heads make up 30% percent of your alcohol run. As mentioned above, you will find lots of different volatile alcohols in the heads of your run. One of the particularly volatile staples of the heads is known as Acetone.

Acetone has a very distinct and solvent-like smell, making its identification easy to recognize. Just like the fore shots, you’ll want to isolate these and use them as strong household cleaning agents and solvents. These are NOT for using on your skin.

NOTE: A great way of isolating both the fore shots and heads in your run is to bring your still to around 75 °C and keep it there for around 10 minutes. The alcohol produced during this duration will consist of only fore shots and heads. Once the condenser stops producing at 75 °C, you’ll know that you’ve collected all of the more volatile alcohols that make up the fore shots and heads of the run.

Hearts

The next 30% of your run will be the sweet spot of your alcohol run, known as the hearts. You’ll want to raise the temperature of your still to 80 °C to 82 °C range to start collecting this portion of your distillate.

As you get into the hearts portion of your run, you should notice that the solvent smell of acetone tapers off and is replaced with a sweet-smelling ethanol alcohol. This is where practice makes perfect. In order to maximize high-quality hearts, you’ll need to focus. You should be able to recognize the hearts by their sweet and neutral flavor. Taste just a bit of the distillate on your finger. The main giveaway is the sweet/smooth taste of ethanol.

If you can identify where the acetone stops and the ethanol alcohols begin, you will be able to maximize the total amount of viable alcohol that you can use as sanitizer or disinfectant.

Tails

The last 35% of your alcohol run is made up of the tails. You can recognize the tails by sight, smell, and taste. You’ll see an oily film start to collect on the top of the distillate and be able to smell/taste a burnt type of flavor.

The tails contain protein and carbohydrates from the wash that you don’t want in your final product.

Be sure to keep your tails because you can run them again as their own wash in the future to pull out a bit more useful product.

Neville at LIKKER TECH #KEEP IT SHINING

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 21:49:05 GMT

Lemon Cream

Recipe

Recipe to make Lemon Cream Shine

This recipe can be easily adjusted up or down with creamer and or sugar to get the taste you like. Experiment to create your moonshine recipes.

Ingredients

Sugar
Lemon juice
lemon
Coffee creamer (powdered, regular flavour)
Shine neutral spirit or vodka neutral spirit

Directions

Fermentation Bucket with Lid and Air Lock

Large Spoon

Large stock pot or brewing pot

Process

Put 1.5 cups (350ml) of water in a pot on the stove with 1 cup (250g) of sugar and bring to a boil stirring continuously so the sugar dissolves in the water. Add 4 TBSP (60ml) of Lemon juice, 2 TBSP (30g) of coffee creamer (powdered, regular flavour). Squeeze ½ fresh lemon into the mixture. Let simmer for 3 minutes then cool to room temperature. Pour contents into a 1-liter mason jar and top off with 70% ABV neutral spirit or vodka neutral spirit.

Should end up at about 40% ABV. Remove pulp from lemon and twist rind into the jar and leave in the jar.

Place in the freezer, shake before drinking.

Perfect summertime treat.

Recipe for Coconut Rum

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 21:37:51 GMT

Cocunut

Recipe

Recipe to make Coconut Rum

First make a homemade rum by following our rum recipe on our Simple Rum Recipe. After following the rum recipe and making a rum then follow the directions below on how to make a coconut rum. This is coconut rum recipe to make a 1l mason jar of coconut rum.

Ingredients

2 mature brown coconuts
Sugar
Water
white rum

Directions

Drill a hole in the end of the coconut and drain water into a container. The coconut water can be filtered through a coffee filter and chilled to be enjoyed later as is. We won’t be using the coconut water for this recipe.

After the coconuts are drained then put them in the oven for 15 minutes at 150⁰C. Then remove coconuts from the oven and let sit until the coconuts cool to room temperature. This will cause the coconuts to get brittle and make it easy to break them to ultimately get all the white raw coconut meat. Break the shells off the coconuts using a hammer and use a vegetable peeler or grader to get the brown skin off so what is left is raw white coconut meat. Wash the coconut meat to remove any dirt or particles from breaking the shells.

Put the coconut meat in a food processer or blender or you can use a cheese grader. Chop / blend the coconut up into small pieces finely graded. Put this in a bowl ready for later use.

Put 2 cups (500ml) of water in a pot on the stove and turn on the heat to bring up to a boil. Add 1.5 cups (350g) of sugar stirring continuously so it does not caramelize. After sugar is dissolved then turn heat to a simmer and add 2 cups or more of the raw white coconut meat that has been finely graded. Let this mixture simmer for 3 minutes stirring continuously so nothing sticks and burns to the bottom.

Take this mixture of sugar, water and coconut meat and fill two of the one litre mason jars 1/3rd to 1/2 full. Top off with white rum then put on the lid and this mixture will stay macerating or soaking for 3 weeks. Shake the jar at least once a day for three weeks. Keep in a cool dark place.

After three weeks of this mixture soaking then strain through cheesecloth or fine strainer into a mason jar. Keep in the refrigerator ready to enjoy.

Sugar Wash Recipe

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 20:32:29 GMT

Sugar Wash

Recipe

Sugar Wash Recipe.

Base Ingredients & Materials

21 Litres of Distilled Water (You can use tap water if clean)
5,5kg of Raw Cane Sugar (Normal white sugar works best)
40g Turbo Yeast
Brew Pot or Urn
Floating Thermometer
Long Spoon

Before you start the sugar wash procedure, be sure to thoroughly clean and sanitize all of your distilling equipment.

Making the Sugar Wash

After sanitizing, your brew pot, place it on a heat source and pour in 17 litres of water.
Heat the water to 50 °C.
Dump the hot water into your fermentation bucket.
Stir in Raw Cane Sugar and stir with your long spoon until the sugar is completely dissolved. (you may have to stir for a while to get the sugar to fully dissolve into the water)
Once the sugar is fully dissolved, pour in 4 litres of cold water to bring the temperature of the wash down.
Check temperature and stir your wash for 30 seconds every 5 minutes until the temperature cools to 28 °C. (This process can take several hours on its own but can be sped up significantly with the use of an immersion cooler.)
When the wash has cooled to 28 °C, add the turbo yeast into your mix.
Aerate the wash by dumping it back and forth between two separate containers for 5 minutes. You can also stir like crazy to aerate the wash.
Pour the wash into your fermentation bucket. It is important to have the bucket seal properly and an airlock.
Seal your fermentation bucket with the airlock and store in a dry and dark place around 24 °C – 28 °C.

Fermentation

A wash made purely with raw cane sugar will need to ferment for 3-7 days and when ready, should no longer taste sweet or emit gas from the airlock. The yeast will fully convert all the added sugars to alcohol in the wash during this time period. You’ll know that the fermentation is complete when there is no gas coming out of the airlock in your bucket kit.

After 3-7 days, open your fermentation bucket and stir in the clearing agent. A clearing agent is used to clear the wash of any leftover yeast cells or unwanted solids. Within 24 hours over 90% of these unwanted compounds are pulled to the bottom of the wash. Note, that if yeast cells are not removed, they will break open during boiling, releasing off-flavors and aromas into the distillation process and reducing distillate quality. It usually takes less than 24hrs to completely clear the fermentation.

Straining

Once fermentation is completed and the added clearing agent has finished, we’ll need to leave behind any solid material that is leftover. The unwanted solid materials can lead to headaches if left in the wash and distilled. A cheesecloth is a great option for straining the wash before distillation. You can also use an easy siphon for transferring all the usable wash, while leaving the unwanted sediment behind to be disposed of.

(Advanced) Some distillers will test the pH of their wash. The ideal pH is 4.5 to 5.0. Use citric acid to bring the pH down and calcium carbonate to bring it up.

Safety tips on distilling at home

Fri, 13 Aug 2021 18:56:52 GMT

Safety tips on distilling at home

Every sport has its own dangers and injuries….

Distillation and storage of alcoholic spirits (mainly ethanol) has some potentially fatal dangers associated with it. Reflux columns can produce very high strength ethanol, at a concentration of 95% ABV.

While there are some very real dangers, following some basic, common sense safety rules will reduce any risk down to an acceptable level:

If you are new to distilling, then stick to using well tested designs and materials and recipes to start with. Experimenting with new ideas is good and part of what we do, but you should learn to stand and walk properly before you try to run. Thus, get to know and understand your still and its capabilities before trying new ideas.
Check your equipment carefully before each run. Make sure all the openings and pathways are not blocked, and any valves are working. Set the whole still up, including connecting the coolant system up fully and test it, before turning on the heat source for the still.
Always a good idea to distill in a well-ventilated area as the gas used and the vapours from the distillate are dangerous and volatile. Once again, I can’t express it enough, check for leaks and make sure you are prepared to deal with them if the occur during a run.
Have a fire extinguisher near you, they come in handy if something goes wrong! Sounds like a safety tip from work but trust me on this one.
NEVER leave a running still unattended. That is just asking for serious trouble. Get to know the behaviour of the still well, and directly always monitor it during the run. Make sure you will not be disturbed during the run by anybody or anything. Do not run a still while you are tired or sick or upset, or under the influence of alcohol or any other kind of intoxicating drugs. Keep your mind firmly on the job. You working with ethanol (flammable), heat (gas or power) and air (oxygen)….. the three components of a potential fire. Keep them separate!

Liquid ethanol above a concentration of about 50% abv is very flammable, and the vapours are also flammable and highly explosive in the right concentration of air-vapour mix. In these ways ethanol is similar to the dangers from petrol. Liquid ethanol above a concentration of about 50% abv is very flammable, and the vapours are also flammable and highly explosive in the right concentration of air-vapour mix. In these ways ethanol is similar to the dangers from petrol.

Ethanol vapours are almost invisible, and the flame from burning liquid ethanol is almost invisible in med-strong light. Do not allow vapours or liquid product to be anywhere near a heat source, especially a naked flame.

Types of stills for home-distillers

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 12:43:47 GMT

Types of stills for home-distillers

STILL TYPES

Stills for distillation can be broken down into two main categories, the basic Pot Still and the more complex Reflux Still

Let’s start with the most common still, the Pot Still.

POT STILLS

A Pot still is named as a result of the simple way in how it operates. It consists of a boiler in where the wash is boiled to vapour temperature and has a simple column or collector on top of the boiler to allow the vapour to follow a path through the neck to the condenser.

With the heat source on the boiler the vapour will rise from the boiler and through the column where it reaches the neck at the top of the column (called the point of non-return) and then follows this path down into the condenser where the vapour is cooled and collected. All the vapour that passes past the neck of the column is condensed and collected assuming the condenser is adequately sized, be it in the form of a coil, Liebig or shot gun condenser. (I will discuss the types of cooling condensers in another topic)

The only way to control a pot still is by controlling the amount of heat you put into the boiler, whether power or gas is used as a heat source.

Most pot stills used by the home distiller are in the form of a beer keg with a short column on top of it or an Alembic still.

REFLUX STILLS

Firstly, let's discuss the term Reflux: As Wikipedia describes it, Reflux is a technique involving the condensation of vapours and the return of this condensate to the system from which it originated. Reflux is thus gained in two behaviors namely by Controlled cooling or by natural means.
Controlled cooling reflux: In simple terms, a reflux still has an additional condenser sitting usually on top of the column and by controlling the temperature of this condenser, often called a dephlegmator, a reflux still is used to ensure that higher boiling point components like water is returned to the boiler while lighter elements like alcohol is passed to the cooling condenser. This is useful in producing high quality alcohol, while ensuring that less desirable components (such as fusel alcohols, in other words “the bad stuff”) is returned to the boiler.
Natural Reflux: By adding a copper "boiling ball" (also called a Whisky head or an onion head) in the vapour path creates an area where expansion of gasses into the ball causes cooling and subsequent condensation and reflux. Also, the addition of inert materials in the column (e.g., packing) creates surfaces for early condensation and leads to increased reflux. Packing generally used by the home distillers are either copper mesh, copper Raschig rings, ceramic packing or glass balls, and in some cases a combination of them.

Reflux stills are generally categorized to in 3 different types, this being LM, VM, & CM. These anagrams stand for Liquid Management, Vapour Management, and Cooling Management, and refer to the way in which the output condensation collection is managed. In plain words it’s the process used to control what, when, and how fast you collect from the vapour. There are many variations on these types, however for simplicity, I will only explain the basic operation of the three different types not to confuse the users with the combination and variations of them. Plated column reflux stills (bubble plates) is a type of cooling management still but this will be discussed in a separate blog together with still packing.

LIQUID MANAGEMENT (LM)

The liquid management still controls the output of the actual liquid distillate which is allowed to exit the still to the cooling condenser. A typical LM still is the Bokakob (Boka or Bok for short) a common name for a Dual Slant-Plate Single Column In-line Reflux Still designed by Alex Bokakob in 2001. This still is popular with many novices for its simplicity to build and operate, while being able to yield 95% ABV neutral spirits by use of a needle valve.

The column contains two slant plates which are placed in on an angle in the vapour path of the column. As the vapour rises through the column, it reaches the reflux condenser on the top of the column, condenses into liquid and falls down the column. Some of this falling distillate catches on the top plate, which is slanted at a downward angle, and falls onto the bottom plate, which is angled upwards, and fills that space until it overflows and falls back down the column.

The output is controlled by a needle valve from the bottom plate and lets a small amount of the liquid to be drawn off. By keeping the valve closed for the first half hour or so of the distilling process, the column gets itself into a sort of equilibrium, where the continual rising of vapour and falling condensate, refreshes the liquid held by the slant plates and allows higher % ABV alcohols to be held on the plates.

As the needle valve controls the release of the liquid it is termed a Liquid Management still.

NOTE: For safety purposes the Bokakob still must have a free opening to atmosphere as not to place it under pressure during the equilibrium phase. Normally a small hole in the top end cap.

VAPOUR MANAGEMENT (VM)

There are many various designs of the Vapour Managed still, just like the other categories, however a common design has a inline condenser at the top of the still and a tee-off branch below this condenser with a controlling valve to the cooling condenser to control the flow of vapour. A gate valve is normally used, although ball valves have been used, a gate valve gives much better control which is important in a vapour management column design.

The vapour rises in the column as normal, where the vapour path splits into two at the tee. Vapour that continues towards the top is condensed by the reflux condenser and falls back down the column as explained previously in the description of reflux. With the gate valve closed, the column continues in this cycle reaching an equilibrium where the alcohol components are separated in the column. Lighter alcohols find their way towards the top of the column, and heavier alcohols settle around the bottom of the column. The distiller would keep the valve closed for the first say half hour, to allow the column to separate the fractions of lighter and heavier alcohols. The valve is then slightly opened to allow a small amount of the vapour through it which will flow through to the cooling condenser for collection.

As the gate valve controls the release of the vapour, it is termed a Vapour Management style still.

NOTE: For safety purposes, as for the Liquid Management still above, the Vapour Management still must have a free opening to atmosphere as not to place it under pressure during the equilibrium phase. Normally a small hole in the top end cap.

This applies for both Vapour and Liquid Management stills, or any still where it is not vented to the atmosphere and can be closed off by a valve. You will not loose any alcohol if there is sufficient cooling in the reflux coil.

COOING MANAGEMENT (CM)

The output of these column stills is controlled by manipulating the coolant water through the reflux condenser. The reflux condensers used in a cooling management still are usually inline and manufactured to allow the vapour to rise through it when the operator reduces the coolant flow to it. Typical designs of reflux condensers are water jacket and the shotgun condensers. Some designers have wrapped a coil on the outside of the reflux column, and this can also be considered as a reflux condenser.

The idea behind this design is that with sufficient cooling flow through the condenser the column can be held in full reflux so that all of the vapour is condensed in the column and falls back down the column as liquid. After the column has reached an equilibrium, the flow of coolant water to the reflux condenser can be restricted by control of a valve to allow a certain percentage of the rising vapour to rise through it and on to the product condenser where it is collected.

As the coolant water is manipulated to control the output from the still, it is termed to be a Cooling Management type still.

As mentioned above the plated columns (bubble plates) are also a type of Cooling Management columns as the cooling water is controlled to flood the bubble plates and to allow the amount of vapour to rise towards the collection condenser. I will discuss the plated columns in another blog together with column packing as the bubble plates are basically packing.

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