Moonshine mash or wash is a raw material for distillation. The most popular mash recipes in this article.
If you are interested in knowing more about moonshine mash and the types of available recipes, you have come to the right place. Dive into this article and unleash all the mash recipes that we have chosen for you.
How To Make Moonshine Mash
Moonshine mash or wash is a raw material for distillation like wine or beer, prepared after fermenting sugar by the yeast. Read more about how to make good moonshine at home.
Sugar can be directly added in water, can be taken from the fruit juice, or can be extract from the grain like cornmeal, oats, and wheat.
The recipe for mash is not fixed as everyone has some personalized ingredient or method to contribute. Here is a basic recipe that you can follow if you are not aware of the procedure.
The basic steps of preparing mash for moonshine involve:
- Extract sugar from the primary product;
- Add the yeast;
- Wait for the end of fermentation.
The mixture that is obtained after that steps is called a mash.
Once your mash is prepared, you leave the mash to rest for a while so that the sugar can go through some changes.
After a considerable amount of time, the sugar that was extracted from the fruits or grains will turn into alcohol.
The next step in line is called distillation which has to be carried out very carefully.
Before the process starts, evident pieces of husk and other substances are removed so that the solution
can be transparent.
The solution that is obtained after the removal is generally called
moonshine or whiskey wash. An important thing to note here is that the mixture’s ingredients play a very significant role in
the entire process.
If you do not have the right set of ingredients or the quality is poor, your output might not be the way you wanted.
Sugar Mash
The sugar mash variants include sugar shine and thin mash whiskey. These variants are high in alcohol content as the entire sugar is transformed into alcohol.
This is the most cheap and fast way to produce moonshine, but it is not so good taste and smell. Usually this type of mash good for reflux still column.
Ideal for beginners and drinks like vodka or gin.
Sugar Shine
Sugar shine is one of the easiest beverages to prepare. The mash preparation takes only a couple of hours, and the process does not require the use of anything extensive that might not
be available at your home already.
For 5 gallon of sugar shine:
- Sugar 8 pounds;
- Water 4.5 gallons;
- Yeast
You can also put in some raisins to add a nutritional punch to the entire mixture.
The ingredients do not cost a lot, and therefore you can
prepare a large amount of it if you are on a strict budget.
Distillation on the reflux still ensures that the output is free of any odor. It also guarantees that the result is devoid of any traces or remnants of the original taste.
The recipe to create sugar shine resembles the basic recipe of making moonshine.
Thin Mash Whiskey
Thin mash whiskey can allow you a nice break from your regular drinking patterns. The process to create is entirely effortless, and therefore you will not have to struggle with getting the
recipe right.
The process of creating thin mash whiskey starts with assembling all the ingredients that are required to make this beverage. The list comprises:
- 10 gallons of water;
- 8 pounds of sugar;
- 8 pounds flaked corn;
- 1-2 pound malted barley or malt in crushed form;
- Yeast
The main idea of thin mash whiskey is adding some sugar to grain whiskey mash. This helps to raise final product, but quality of the moonshine will be better than sugar shine.
Fruit Mash For Brandy
If you have some sugary fruits, they are prospective ingredients for your next refreshing moonshine. The sugar in the fruits is easily converted into alcohol, so you can devour the refreshing drinks you create.
Ripe fruits are the ideal choice to go ahead with when it comes to
preparing fruit mash. The process of creating the fruit mash is precisely the same as creating a regular mash.
In this case, you use the ripe fruits and then capitalize on the sugar present inside them. Various fruits are used for different drinks owing to the concentration of sugar that they have.
You can also opt for a fruit masher in order to crush the ripe fruits before adding them to the enclosed chamber with water.
Apricot Mash
Apricots are an excellent variant of fruits that you can use to create moonshine. They have a decent amount of fructose inside them, and therefore the need to add sugar is minimized.
You can add more sugar if you want to increase your beverage’s alcohol content, but the overall symmetry of the drink might take a hit because of that.
You should add sugar in particular situations, for example, when the apricots are sour and cannot do without compromising the taste.
The only setback that you will face while preparing fruit-based moonshines is the amount of time that it will require to be fermented.
The general duration for this subtype to ferment is around a month. It can get prolonged if the situation is not favorable, which means that there might be a lot of waiting involved before you can savor your drink.
The option of adding yeast to speed up the process is available to you. However, you have to use special type of yeast for fruit mash.
Apple Mash
The process of creating an apple mash for moonshine involves a longer route. In order to use apples as your base, you will first have to create apple wine that you can be further use for making apple moonshine.
The result of this mixture will be in the form of a solution having the
qualities of brandy. The process of creating apple wine is relatively easy.
You will need to mash the apples you have chosen with the use of a heavy-duty mashing device. After obtaining the mashed apples, you
will have to use another machine to juice the ground apples.
The juice that you will obtain will be a 100 percent nutrition-rich apple nectar. This output is then mixed with yeast and sugar to carry out the process of fermentation.
The reason why you have to add sugar to apple mash is the choice of sour apples that are chosen for apple mash.
If you have decided to use ripe apples, the addition of sugar can be monitored and restricted.
After that apple mash needs to be distilled by the pot still method.
Grape Mash
The process of creating grape mash for moonshine is somewhat similar to the ordinary operation of creating any fruit mash.
You can also opt to make wine first and then use the same process before distillation.
The time duration in terms of the grape mash is not as much as
apples. Since the grapes are super ripe, the conversion takes less time as compared to other fruits.
- Crush the grape. Not so much, just for the berries burst;
- Place to the cool and wait 3-5 days;
- Press the mash and use juice for the wine;
- Pour water over the grape pulp;
- Add a sugar about half weight of the pulp;
- Add spirit yeast.
As long you will wait, as better will be result.
Grain Mash
The creation of whiskeys and bourbons at your home can be a great feeling. It will motivate you to brew more often at home and will help you to modulate your drinks according to your taste.
The effort to create these final drinks requires a bit more work, but they are worth it. The grain will leave some added flavor in the beverage you will make to amplify the overall impact.
Grain mashes are created after following a four-step process. This process includes malting, gristing, mashing, and fermenting. Malting is the first step of the entire machinery.
It is a process of sprouting and germinating the grain that you have chosen as a base. It is imperative as it converts the starch present inside the grain to sugar.
This sugar is further converted to alcohol when yeast is added. Gristing is a simple step in which the starch is exposed. That is done to ensure a better flow of operations in the mashing stage.
The next step in the process is mashing. It involves mixing the grain and malt in water and then heating the solution. Once the heating starts, the sugar gets thoroughly mixed with the mash,
and the final output is ready for fermentation.
You must strain the solution to remove any pieces of grain or any other bits of concrete substances. The final step of the process is fermentation which is carried out based on the grain that is
used.
Grain mash can de distilled by column and pot still methods as well. Read more about column still distillation.
Here are some of the prominent grain mashes that you can explore and then eventually prepare.
Malt Mash Whiskey
As you have read about various ways to mash, there is a unique way to mash the grain too. Malt wash is actually beer without hop.
You can opt for the mash in a bag process. This process will award you with an all-time grain mash bag that you can use later as well.
Mashing is an auxiliary process that makes the final process of fermentation easy. It does so by breaking down the complex sugars into simpler sugars.
The mash in the bag process involves mixing the grains and malt with hot water. The bag also acts as a filter so that you do not have to separate the complex substances later.
Once you have gathered the filtered mixture in a kettle, you can start the fermentation by adding yeast to the solution.
Read more about How to distill whiskey
Just Moonshine
For 5 gallon malt wash:
- 8 pound crushed malt;
- 5 gallons water;
- Yeast
Process is quite easy:
- Start to heat up water;
- On the 158 F pour in malt;
- Keep 145 F about 90 minutes;
- Filter it out and cool down the wash;
- Bring the yeast
- Wait for 3 days
Corn Mash
Corn mash is the raw material for bourbon. Read more about bourbon here.
People claim that it requires multiple pieces of equipment, and actually it is true. Really corn mash is not for beginners.
You can make corn mash without special equipment, but it will be quite difficult.
You can prepare a magnificent corn mash with utmost ease if you have a big pot, a funnel, and a plastic bucket.
You will need some tools for aeration, but they are a prerequisite for brewing at home. The basic process of creating this beverage is identical to all the methods that you have read above.
You will need to strain the final mash, add some yeast and then leave it to rest for a couple of weeks. Post that, your mixture will be ready for distillation.
Potato Mash
It is not good way to home distilling.
In the case of a potato mash, you have to follow the same processes as other grain ingredients like a corn.
The only specific thing to ensure is to cut the potatoes into small cubes so that preparing the mash is hassle-free for you.
Rum Mash
Rum mash is more like sugar shine. But for the rum you have to use raw cane syrup, sugar or molasses.
For 5 gallon rum mash:
- 8 pounds cane syrup or molasses;
- 4.5 gallons of water;
- Spirit yeast (I do recommend special rum yeast)
Final Words
Now that you have read about all the major possible combinations of moonshine mash, it is time to gather the ingredients and let your inner brewing talents flow.