Some moonshiners keep their recipes as tightly guarded secrets and others are happy to share. I believe we can all help each other become better distillers by sharing what we know (that’s why I started this site). Let’s get started with some basics for your first run.
What is it?
A Wash or Mash is the liquid that will eventually go into your still to make a spirit. It is a combination of water and some form of sugar that yeast has been introduced to, converting the sugars in the liquid to alcohol that can be separated during distillation.
If you came from lesson 1 you already know that recipes are divided into 2 categories, Mashes and Washes. Some people also use the term distiller’s beer, that is because we are essentially making a beer that will be distilled into our final spirit, but unlike a beer recipe there is no boil or hop addition.
What’s the difference between a Mash and a Wash?
Some people use these terms interchangeably and may define them differently than we will here but the liquid you are going to distill can fall into 1 of 2 categories.
Sugars can come from a variety of different places. The type of spirit you are trying to make will determine what sugar source you use. Different sugar sources and types of yeast can create different compounds in your wash or mash that carry flavors over to the final product.
What is a Wash?
A Wash is made from liquid and some form of sugar that can then be converted by the yeast you add into ethanol. The simplest form of a wash would be a mixture of plain white sugar and water. Sugar washes lack some of the nutrients needed by the yeast so they are usually added in to the mixture.
Other forms of washes could be a molasses based wash for rum or fruit based washes made by crushing or pureeing fruits and dissolving the sugars into the mixture. All spirits made from fruit are considered brandy.
What is a Mash?
To be considered a mash the sugars need to come from grains. Whiskeys are made from mash. Unlike washes the starches in the grains need to be converted into sugars before the yeast can consume them.
This is done through a process called mashing.
- Grains are first crushed
- Then they heated to a temperature around the boiling point of water to become gelatinized
- Next enzymes need to be added either from a malted grain or exogenous enzymes in liquid or powered form. The use of malted grains provides another layer of flavors compared to adding exogenous enzymes. The mash is held at a temperature around 160 degrees f to allow the enzymes to convert the starches to sugar.
Generally, the grains used in a mash can provide all the nutrients the yeast will need.
Fermentation and Clearing your Mash
There are 2 types of fermentation – On the Grain or Off the Grain
Off the Grain Fermentation
In off the grain fermentations all the solids are filtered out of your wash or mash before filling your fermentation vessel. Once fermentation is complete the only thing left will be your wash or mash and the yeast cells.
Generally, off the grain fermentation leaves a slightly cleaner lighter taste
Clearing the wash just means that you let the solids, in this case the yeast cells settle to the bottom of the container so only the clear liquid goes into the still.
On the Grain Fermentation
This means that all the chucky bits of the fruits or grains you are using are left in the mixture during fermentation or distillation.
On the Grain Fermentation can result in a more flavorful spirit
Fermenting on the grain is relatively easy and once fermentation is complete the finished liquid can be siphoned off the top into your still or into a secondary fermentation container to allow even more solids to settle out and “clear”.
What is Secondary Fermentation? Clearing your Wash or Mash
Secondary fermentation is basically just the process of clearing your fermented wash or mash of solid particles.
There are several ways to clear your wash:
Option 1: The simplest method to clear your wash is just to be patient and let gravity do its job. Fermentation can finish in about a week, but it could take another week or more to clear.
Option 2: Cold crashing will speed up the process. This is done by taking your fermenter and placing it in a refrigerator or some other cold space. As the liquid cools the solids settle out and can clear in a day or two.
Option 3: Chemical clearing, Beer brewers and wine makers have been using chemicals to clear their products for a long time. One of these most popular methods is using Kieselsol and Chitosan. The combination of additives causes solids to attract to each other making them heavier and then setting out faster.
Another option is to use plain unflavored gelatin. Sprinkling the gelatin over the top of the liquid will create a “solid” layer that will settle to the bottom catching particles as it sinks to the bottom.
Getting your Distiller’s Beer into the Still
Once you liquid ready for distillation once it is:
- Fermented
- Relatively clear
- Around 5-15% alcohol by volume
There are several ways to transfer the wash to you still. The size of your still and volume of liquid you are transferring will both influence the method you choose. Here are a few options.
Scoop it out
Probably the most basic way to move the liquid to the still is to scoop it out. You can really use anything you have, a large cup, a stock pot, measuring bowl. While this doesn’t require any special tools or equipment it may be the least efficient.
Gravity
5-gallon batches are a common size among brewers, wine makers and home distillers. This is because fermentation buckets are about this size and are relatively inexpensive and easy to get. Lifting a full 5-gallon bucket can be a little challenging, but if you are able to get it above you still may have a drain valve near the bottom that would let you empty the bucket right into the still. If you are using this method, just make sure the drain is above any trub, the layer of yeast that settles out, so that you don’t scorch the yeast in the still and ruin a batch.
Siphon
Another method is to siphon the liquid into the still. Siphoning could be as simple as a hose that you suck on to get the flow started, this would be a major no-no if you were making a beer or wine, but because the next step in distillation is boiling the mash we don’t have to be quite as worried about “infecting” our beer. Another common brewer’s tool is an auto-siphon. An auto-siphon allows you to start the siphon going without sucking on the hose.
Pump
If you’re looking for the fastest way to get everything in your still a pump is the way to go. Another good reason to use a pump is if you are fermenting and distilling large batches, especially if your wash is not right next to your still. You could go out and get an expensive food grade pump and all the matching stainless steel fittings, but I find a cheap submersible pond pump from Amazon or your local hardware store works great. I use the same pump that circulates the cooling water in my still. A quick rinse before and after transferring the wash to the still has worked for me.
A Note on Sanitation When Mashing and Fermenting
One other topic to cover right away is sanitation. If you are coming from the beer or wine world you have been taught to sanitize everything that touches the liquid going into the fermenter. Except for sour beers any introduction of bacteria in a beer or wine could result in off flavors or possibly lead to getting someone sick.
Luckily for us, sanitization of our Washes and Mashes isn’t quite as important. Because we will be distilling after fermentation the risk of illness is almost gone.
In fact, some bacterial infections like lactobacillus can even be desired and improve the flavor of our final product. Bacteria and the acids they form can form esters when heated in the still creating new flavors. Unfortunately, if these esters come from poor cleaning or sanitization they may be unpredictable and hard to repeat in future batches. Commercial distilleries may add precise doses of specific bacteria to maintain consistency in their finished product.
All of this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep everything clean, and a little Star-San is always nice to have on hand.
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