Many people consider juices to be one of the types of raw materials for mash. First of all, we are talking about packaged juices in tetra packs. Moonshiners - both experienced and beginners - are also interested in the possibility of creating mash from concentrated and freshly squeezed juice. In general, the topic is quite in demand and popular.
Braga from store-bought juice
The problem with making mash from store-bought juice is that store-bought juice is not really juice. It is a mixture of a large amount of water, a small part of juice concentrate, acidity regulators ( lemon acid, usually). The sugar level is around 10-15%. As a result, mash made from store-bought juice either does not begin to ferment at all, or ferments very, very slowly. In addition, the mass content of the juice is not very high, the banal addition of sugar will certainly speed up the fermentation process, however, the resulting alcohol will be quite simple and featureless, without a characteristic fruit or vegetable taste.
Ingredients
In general, if you want to make mash from store-bought juice, it is better to use apple, pear, tomato or Orange juice. For every 10 liters of juice you need to add 2.5-3 kg of sugar. You can use 50 grams of dry or 200 grams of baker's yeast as a seed. A good solution would be to replace the yeast with 150-200 grams of raisins.
Preparation
The process of creating store-bought mash is similar to creating any other mash. First you need to mix the juice with sugar, then dissolve the yeast in the sugared juice or put the raisins in a fermentation container. It is worth remembering that approximately a third of the container should remain free for foaming. To reduce foaming, you can use a spoonful of kefir, however, the best solution is to simply use a larger container. It is better to place the container with mash in a warm place (near a radiator or just in the sun), closing it with a stopper with a water seal.
After two weeks, the mash ceases to emit carbon dioxide. The liquid itself should lighten and taste bitter. The mash must be drained from the sediment, after which the distillation process can begin. As a rule, 10 liters of store-bought juice produces about 3 liters of moonshine with a strength of 40-43 degrees. It is worth remembering that the quality of the finished moonshine from store-bought juice can be significantly improved if you use charcoal to purify the moonshine.
Braga from juice concentrate
Mash made from juice concentrate is more promising. It contains a large proportion of aromatic substances that will create the necessary fruity aroma. In addition, juice concentrate itself has a high level of sugar and almost never needs additional sweetening (sometimes even the opposite - the amount of sugar should be reduced, since all the sugar simply does not have time to decompose through fermentation). The disadvantage of mash from concentrated juice It is worth considering the high cost of raw materials - 3 liters of juice concentrate costs from 1000 to 2000 rubles in central Russia, and a little cheaper in the south.
On the other hand, you can make juice concentrate yourself if you have a juicer and a fairly large amount of appropriate fruits or berries. If on your personal plot There are quite a lot of fruit trees, and the harvest is quite abundant each year, then in this case it would be most preferable to use your own harvest to create mash from juice.
Just in case, let us remind you that before all manipulations it is necessary to rinse the fruits, otherwise there is a possibility of simply spoiling the mash with bacteria located on the surface of the fruit.
Required Ingredients
As already mentioned, the main advantage of juice concentrate for making mash from juice is the sugar level - it is high. High sugar levels are also a disadvantage. Therefore, it is necessary to add so that the sugar level is around 15%. It is, of course, worth taking into account the sugar content of the raw materials themselves. So, sweet apples can have a sugar level of up to 20%, but black currants can easily have a sugar level of around 3%.
You can also use baker's yeast or, better yet, wine yeast as a seed. Raisins are a good substitute. Dry yeast needs about 50 grams per 10 liters, and about 150 grams of raisins with patina (white traces of wine fungus on raisins) are needed per 10 liters.
Making mash from juice concentrate
As in the previous case, preparing mash from juice concentrate comes down to thoroughly mixing all the ingredients, sealing with a water seal and a long, two-week soaking in a warm and, preferably, dark place. Within 2 weeks, all the sugar should disappear, and the strength level of the mash should increase to 13-14 degrees. The mash itself from the concentrated juice should become bitter. After this, distillation can begin.
Used Books
Artisan Distilling (A Guide for Small Distilleries), Kris Arvid Berglund, Ph.D. (Michigan State University (MSU) and Lulea University of Technology (LTU)).
Strong alcoholic drink Calvados, prepared on the basis of fruit raw materials - from apples or pears. This a type of French brandy, which is obtained by distillation (a drink with a strength of up to 6 degrees).
Homeland and the only original producer of Calvados - Normandy. This is an area located in northwestern France. A recipe for Calvados made from apples at home exists, but it is somewhat complicated.
Calvados belongs to the elite species. Previously (at the beginning of the last century) it enjoyed great popularity, which mainly extended to Normandy, where it was the local national drink. French legislation regulated its production by only a few departments, one of which it is named after.
Interesting! The preparation of Calvados should include only those fruits that are grown in the same area: apples and pears.
Based on these rules, the drink is apple or apple-pear brandy with a strength of at least 40 degrees, but reaching up to 60. The legislation also provides for the presence of three possible types of Calvados:
- AOC calvados.
- Calvados Domfrontais.
- Calvados Pays d'Auge, which is especially appreciated by amateurs.
All types are tied to the production areas and have specific technological characteristics.
How is it produced?
Making Calvados is a complex, time-consuming technology consisting of the following steps:
1. Selection of fruits from local harvests belonging to special varieties. These are small apples with flavor, separated according to taste. for 4 groups:
- bitter - 10%;
- sour - 20%;
- bitter-sour-sweet;
- sweet.
The last two groups make up 70% of the raw materials. Sometimes pears are added, and the ratio changes. So in Calvados Domfrontais, according to the standard, these fruits can make up half.
2. Cider is made from this mixture within 5 or 6 weeks. But in some unique recipes it ferments for 6 months, giving a strength of up to 7 degrees.
4. The distillate (in French - eau-de-vie) is aged in a chamber that is burnt on the inside, with thick walls and porous wood.
5. The product is transferred to “old” barrels, where the alcohol-containing liquid different ages(at least 2 years) mixed in the required ratio.
How to do it at home?
Homemade Calvados is prepared from moonshine in the following steps:
- We get low alcohol cider ( lung Home wine ) by fermenting apple juice.
- Produce from cider (distillate).
- Withstand it in an oak barrel.
- Filter.
Among the ingredients, only apples with the maximum good quality. According to different recipes, they add to cider honey, spices (vanilla), sometimes they ferment it together with cake. Simple and complex technologies are improved and supplemented by inclusion in the fermentation process yeast or raisins(50 g each).
Calvados, made at home from apples, is informally called " apple cognac". During the production process they use single and double distillation recipes. Drinks prepared at home may also vary in this respect. The first technology is carried out continuously in a vertical distiller.
The second option is more accessible: in a moonshine still. In this case, the alcohol-containing liquid is divided into fractions. The first portions are thrown away, as they contain harmful substances.
When preparing Calvados with your own hands, it is better to use barrels for aging. Before use, new containers are steamed, soaked and washed with 20% alcohol.
Note! After the first two years of storage, Apple Calvados acquires an almost endless shelf life.
Classic recipe
How to make Calvados at home so that the drink retains the aroma of apples and resembles the real thing? First of all need to mix apple varieties, taking 4 parts of sweet and bitter fruits, adding 2 parts of sour fruits. We prepare in the following steps:
- Squeeze the juice without pulp, keep it for a day at normal (up to 25 degrees C) temperature conditions.
- Remove the foam, pour the liquid into the fermentation chamber. Put on a throat or medical glove with a hole in the finger made by a needle.
- Move the bottle to a dark fermentation room and keep it there for room temperature until you get cider.
- When the contents become lighter, a sediment appears, and the bubbles stop appearing (or the glove deflates), the process can be considered complete. You need to drain and filter the drink from sediment.
- Obtain distillate from cider using. Measure the strength with an alcohol meter.
- batch with water to a strength of 20 degrees, distill again. Select the 40-degree liquid, draining its first 12 percent as an unusable, harmful part (technical alcohol).
- Get moonshine at 70 or 80 degrees, place it in an oak barrel or in a glass container with the addition of oak stakes (read:).
- Dilute the liquid to 40 degrees with water, pour into jars, seal tightly, wait for ripening in the dark and cool for 6 months or a year.
- Filter, bottle and seal.
How to cook quickly?
How to prepare Calvados more simply and quickly? It is possible to prepare a similar drink for vodka. Essentially this is apple tincture up to 35 degrees at strong alcohol. A simplified method for preparing Calvados at home is not very complicated. It is recommended to include only high-quality apple and vodka in the manufacturing process. Compound:
- 2 kg apples;
- 1 liter ;
- 200 g sugar;
- 10 g sugar with vanilla;
- 150 ml water.
The preparation steps are as follows:
- Cut clean apples into cubes without core, put them in a glass jar with vanilla sugar and mix.
- Fill with vodka, seal tightly with a lid and keep for 2 weeks in the dark at room temperature.
- Strain the contents and squeeze through cheesecloth. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes without foam, pour it into the tincture when cooled.
- Mix, bottle and store in a cool place for up to 3 years.
How to drink Calvados?
The rules for drinking Calvados are depending on variety and aging. For those under 4 years of age, it is consumed as an aperitif, an addition to the feast.
More aged varieties are drunk to improve digestion after meals ( digestif), using special glasses with a thick bottom, filling them 1/3. First, they inhale the fruity aroma and savor the taste, and then taste it.
The strength of the drink can reach up to 50 degrees; some people add Calvados to the cocktail, combining it with tonic and other ingredients. Traditionally used as a snack cheese, bread, confectionery, desserts and fruits. And the taste is quite suitable for meat dishes.
Braga from concentrated juice is not only aromatic drink, but also suitable raw materials for the preparation of stronger and purer alcohol. Wine or cider is often made from such mash, and moonshine can also be obtained.
Concentrated juice
Benefits of using concentrate
Home brew from concentrate has a number of advantages over other varieties and other types of raw materials:
- The drink is prepared from highly concentrated juice, which means that it is based on fruit. It is these raw materials that give the delicious aroma in the finished moonshine.
- There is no need to prepare and add fruit yourself. Since the concentrate does not have pulp, it means that furfural and a large amount of fusel oils with aldehydes will not form in the mash. There is also no need to filter the finished mash through cheesecloth to get rid of the pulp, and nothing will burn in the cube of the device.
- The concentrate already has ready-made indicators of sugar content and the content of various substances in the composition. You don’t have to determine the sugar content by eye, but calmly calculate the required amount of sugar and yeast. You can also calculate the yield of pure alcohol in advance.
Juice concentrate is a relief for the distiller's work. Since he does not need to deal with fruits, crush and filter the juice from them, pasteurize it. If we talk about proportions, then apple concentrates are diluted 1 to 6. If there are 5 liters of the substance, then it is diluted with water in the amount of 30 liters and a juice is obtained, which is sold in stores.
After such dilution, you can save on raw materials for mash and get more drink, and, accordingly, more moonshine. In this case, use recipes on how to prepare mash for fruit juice. But you don’t have to dilute the concentrate with water, but use it to prepare moonshine in its original form.
Technology for preparing mash
The concentrate cannot be used without additional sugar or a carbohydrate source. To do this, make invert sugar or purchase dextrose. You can also additionally purchase oak chips to infuse the moonshine with concentrate.
Based on the amount of ingredients, you can use the following proportions:
- 4 kilograms of dextrose or sugar syrup, that is, invert sugar.
- 5 liters of concentrate (apple or grape).
- 20 liters of water. The requirements for water are the same as in other recipes.
All components are mixed together; the temperature of the contents in the fermentation container should not exceed 20-25 degrees. With these indicators, the density of the wort is measured, and the information is also checked against the instructions for the yeast. It is worth using alcoholic or wine yeast, they give more yield from the mash. The concentrate will require about 100 grams alcohol yeast or the amount is calculated according to a special table in accordance with the density and sugar content of the mixture.
Pre-dried alcoholic yeast can be activated. To do this, the culture is poured into a container with water and mixed for three minutes. There should be no more than half a liter of water to activate the yeast. After stirring, foam will appear on the surface of the water, which will mean the yeast is ready for further work.
Braga is placed for 5-7 days. But you need to monitor the fermentation process daily. Alcoholic yeast can behave unpredictably. The acidity of the concentrate can also affect the rate of fermentation and lead to rapid souring of the product. If the mash is sour, then only additional addition of dextrose or sugar can save it. To prevent this from happening, a water seal is placed on the mash and foam formation is controlled.
Since the fermentation time is reduced with the help of yeast, and there is no pulp in the drink, the process proceeds quickly and without much foam formation - you do not need to use defoamers. But for everything to go smoothly, you need to monitor the temperature in the room where the fermentation container is located; the indicator should be between 20 and 30 degrees. Also, the container should not be exposed to sunlight.
The tendency for mash to sour is not the only disadvantage of using concentrate. This substance not only reacts unpredictably, but also costs more than juice or other types of raw materials. The concentrate can be found on the Internet or ordered from a juice factory. The main thing is that there are no chemical impurities in the concentrate, otherwise the mash will turn out tasteless. It is also important that all the characteristics of the concentrate, such as acidity, are indicated on its label.
At the end of the fermentation process, the drink is removed from the sediment. The taste and smell of this mash are different from traditional types alcohol. Braga resembles hard cider when made from apple concentrate. The approximate strength of the drink, provided that alcohol yeast is working, is 18-20%. The mash is removed from the sediment before distillation, but is not clarified, as this will eliminate the pleasant aroma.
The distillation can take place at maximum speed. Selection of fractions is mandatory, but filtration before the second distillation can spoil the taste. Chemicals must not be used for mash and fruit-based drinks. The distillation itself is carried out according to the standard scheme. During the first distillation, the “heads”, or first distillation, are selected - this part is used as technical alcohol or pours out.
Before the second distillation, the drink should be diluted to a strength of 20%, and then the moonshine is distilled and do not forget about selection. The first 8-12% of the drink are “heads”, and after the strength drops in the stream to 40% there are “tails”. The result is clear moonshine from concentrated juice, which can be infused in an oak barrel or on oak chips to produce Calvados.
Making moonshine from concentrate is not too difficult a task for the distiller. The main thing is to correctly calculate the proportions of ingredients, focusing on your own concentrate. And the taste of the drink is practically no different from moonshine made with fruit mash.
The concentrate is made from natural apples, which allows you to preserve nutrients and vitamins. The composition of the concentrate is natural and does not contain impurities or sugar.
- Appearance: Thick, almost transparent liquid.
- Consistency: Clean, rich, viscous.
- Colour: Typical orange to light brown.
- Taste: natural, sweet and sour, well expressed, characteristic of this type of product.
Juice concentrate production technology
Apple concentrate is produced using freezing technology, that is, apple juice is obtained by greatly reducing the temperature (direct pressing). Unlike juice production using evaporation technology, in our case there is no decay useful substances, which are part of apples, thus the juice retains vitamins.
No sweeteners are added to the juice. It is excellent for both the preparation of reconstituted juice and the production homemade alcohol eg cider, wine, Calvados.
- Volume: 5 liters
- Packaging: canister
- Production: Russia
Recipes
To prepare reconstituted juice:
- Dilute the concentrated juice with water in a ratio of 1:4
- If desired, add dextrose or sugar to taste
- Reconstituted juice can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 1 day.
Cider from concentrated apple juice:
- 4 l. concentrated juice
- 20 l. water
- 1 kg. dextrose (sugar)
- Wine yeast - 10 gr.
In a sterile fermentation container, mix water, juice, dextrose or sugar (make syrup first), check the temperature before adding yeast.
Add wine yeast, seal the container hermetically, and install a water seal. Leave to ferment. When finished, pour into sterile bottles adding 1 tsp of sugar or dextrose to each bottle. (4-5 g) per 1 liter of cider. Seal tightly and leave at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. Before use, cool in the refrigerator at a temperature of 2-4 degrees for 2-5 days. Cider bottled in sterile bottles can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 months (if bottled in plastic), up to 1 year (if bottled in glass).
Calvados from concentrated apple juice:
- 4 l. concentrated juice
- 20 l. water
- 5 kg. Sahara
- Wine yeast - 60 gr.
Mix water, juice, sugar in a fermentation container. Add wine yeast, seal the container hermetically, and install a water seal. Leave to ferment. When finished, let sit for 2-3 days to allow the yeast to settle. Distill with selection of heads and tails, insist on oak chips 3-4 weeks or in an oak barrel (aging time depending on the age of the barrel), pour into a glass bottle (preferably sealed with a cork stopper), leave in a dark place for at least 1-2 weeks.
For a long time, Calvados was considered the alcohol of commoners, since the drink is made from ordinary apples. But after this alcohol began to appear in the works of the writer Remarque, the situation changed. The elite became interested in apple moonshine infused in barrels and it quickly became fashionable. We will look at how to make Calvados at home using classic recipe and in the form of an imitation tincture.
On a note. Only a drink produced in Normandy (a region in northwestern France) can be called Calvados; in all other cases, apple distillate should be called brandy.
Imitation Calvados (apple liqueur)
Preparation takes a minimum of time and money. The smell of the tincture is slightly similar to the original. If you want to make real homemade Calvados, I advise you to immediately move on to the second recipe.
Ingredients:
- apples – 2 kg;
- vodka – 1 liter;
- sugar – 200 grams;
- water – 150 ml;
- vanilla sugar – 10 grams.
Technology:
1. Wash the apples, remove cores and seeds, cut into cubes.
2. Place the cubes in a jar, sprinkle with vanilla sugar.
3. Add vodka, close the lid and put the jar in a dark place at room temperature for 2 weeks to infuse.
4. Remove the apples by straining the drink through cheesecloth. Squeeze out the pulp.
5. Mix water and sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil, simmer for about 5 minutes (until foam forms), skimming foam from the surface. Ready sugar syrup cool to 25-30°C, then pour into apple liqueur and stir.
6. Pour the finished tincture into glass bottles and seal tightly.
Imitation Calvados Store in a cool, dark place. Shelf life – up to 3 years. The taste is sweetish apple vodka with a strength of 32-35 degrees.
Recipe for apple calvados (real)
The proposed technology is as close as possible to the original. The only ingredients needed for homemade Calvados are apples. Although you will end up with a distillate (moonshine from fermented juice), I still advise you to take the quality of the apples seriously. They must be ripe, without signs of rot or spoilage. The variety is not of fundamental importance, but it is better to use sweet and juicy fruits.
1. Making cider. Extract juice from apples using any available method. The less pulp, the better. Leave the juice for 24 hours in a dark place at room temperature. Then remove the foam from the surface and drain from the sediment through a straw into a fermentation container. Install a water seal or rubber glove with a small hole in one of the fingers (pierce it with a needle).
Transfer the container to a dark place with a temperature of 18-27°C. After fermentation is complete (signs: the water seal does not release bubbles for several days or the glove has deflated, the drink has become lighter and has no signs of sweetness in taste, sediment has appeared at the bottom), pour the finished cider into alembic, trying not to touch the sediment at the bottom, you can additionally filter through gauze. If this is not done, the solid part will burn during heating, ruining the taste of Calvados.
Fermentation of wort under a water seal 2. Distillation. It's time to distill the cider. For this you need alcohol mashine any design. During the first distillation, the output should not be divided into fractions, selecting the entire product until the strength in the stream drops below 30 degrees. Measure the strength of the resulting apple moonshine and determine the amount of pure alcohol.
Dilute the moonshine with water to 18-20 degrees, then distill it again, removing the “heads,” “body,” and “tails.” Collect the first 12% of the amount of pure alcohol in a separate container and pour it out (use for technical needs); these are “heads” that contain harmful impurities, spoil the taste and have a bad effect on health.
3. Exposure. To apple moonshine turned into Calvados, requires infusion on oak wood. IN classical technology are used oak barrels. But not everyone has this opportunity at home, so a simpler option is suitable - aging in glass jars(bottles) with oak pegs.
You need oak wood with a trunk diameter of 25-35 cm. Bark, sawdust and shavings are not suitable, as they contain too many tannins, which make Calvados bitter.
The wood needs to be divided into pieces 5-8 mm thick and 10-15 cm long. Pour boiling water over the resulting pegs, leave for 10 minutes, drain the broth, soak in cold water for 20 minutes, then drain the liquid and dry the wood. Place the treated pegs in jars and fill them with apple alcohol diluted with pure cold water up to 45 degrees. Roll up the cans iron lids(close tightly with corks), place for 6-12 months in a cool, dark place to ripen.
