How to make a moonshine still with your own hands - step-by-step instructions. How to make a moonshine still with your own hands at home Do-it-yourself vertical moonshine still

Moonshine– this is a whole wonderful world. You only have to try a drink made with your own hands once and you will understand that store-bought drinks do not evoke virtually any emotions. But, as in any matter, without some knowledge in the area, not even the first pancake can come out lumpy.

Beginners who are just starting to take the first step in making their own alcohol ask themselves a thousand and one questions:

1. alcohol mashine?
2. What's happened ?
3. Why in moonshine?
4. How to make it yourself?
5. How to do it at home?
6. What should it be?

What's better - purchased or homemade? Which device will work smoothly for decades, and which will require constant attention and constant maintenance?

Device, types and rating of the best

We have prepared a number of articles for you, after reading which you will become a real ace. Everything related to the design of moonshine stills, a description of physical and chemical processes, technologies and, of course, detailed information.

Try to start small - by reading an article about. The simple and intelligible language in which our authors write is aimed at ensuring that all the nuances of moonshine brewing are easily understood by people far from the technologist profession. Following tips and tricks In this section, in a few days you will understand all the important nuances of production.

This section will also be useful to relatives of people who are passionate about moonshine brewing. We will help you choose exactly the right one gift a moonshine still that your loved one will appreciate.

And, believe me, the most difficult thing is take the first step. But we have done everything to make this step a little easier for you.

Do-it-yourself moonshine still is an original Russian, traditional creation of folk thought. Craftsmen manage to make installations that ensure the production of a final product that is not inferior in quality and purity to industrially produced strong drinks. With the right choice of design and careful manufacturing, you can get a fairly simple device for use that can meet your own needs for high-quality and cheap alcohol.

If you assemble the device according to the instructions below, you will be able to produce alcoholic drinks that are head and shoulders above the quality of store-bought counterparts.

At its core, any moonshine still is a home device for distilling raw materials with alcohol content into a high-strength alcoholic drink (moonshine). As a starting product, you can use any mixture that contains ethyl alcohol - this is mash, low-quality wine, alcohol with impurities (raw), etc.

The purpose of using a moonshine still is to produce an alcoholic drink with an ethyl alcohol content of at least 60-70%. At the same time, the final product must be free of impurities that are dangerous to humans, spoil the taste and impart an unpleasant odor.

The operating principle of a moonshine still is based on the fact that alcohol actively evaporates at temperatures at which water remains liquid. As is known, evaporation of water occurs when it boils, i.e. at a temperature of about 100 ºС, while alcohol begins to turn into steam already at a temperature of 55-60 ºС. The intensity of its vaporization increases with increasing temperature.

In the moonshine still, it is necessary to ensure a temperature above 55 ºС, but below 90 ºС.

• Alcohol vapor must be removed from the surface of the water, and their transformation back into liquid is ensured by condensation, i.e. contact of hot steam with a cold surface.
• The final stage consists of carefully collecting the resulting droplets of alcohol, after which it can be purified from harmful impurities.

The classic design of a moonshine still should include such basic parts as an evaporator and a condenser.

• The evaporator is a container where the raw material is heated to the desired temperature.
• A condenser is a container with a cooled surface on which condensation is released.

Additional but necessary parts in the design of the device include an element for removing alcohol vapor from the evaporator, a container for collecting condensate and control devices.

In addition, it is important to ensure proper heating of the raw material into the evaporators and constant cooling of the condensing element. Cleaning is ensured by filters and the addition of various sorbents.

What is taken into account when designing

According to the principle of operation, homemade moonshine stills are classified as distillation-type devices, i.e. use the mechanism described above, in contrast to the industrial production of alcohol, where distillation columns are used, based on the separation of raw materials into fractions. When designing a moonshine still, the following main characteristics are taken into account:

Structural elements

A homemade moonshine still can have different shapes and sizes. Its design can be very simple, made temporarily from improvised means, or quite complex, with process control. The device must include the following required elements:

Making an evaporator

How to make a moonshine still with your own hands? The solution to this problem begins with the creation of an evaporator, i.e. distillation cube. Most often, ready-made containers with a volume of 15-30 liters are used for this purpose.

Stainless steel

The best option is stainless steel intended for food purposes. You can successfully use ready-made household vessels made from this material. Homemade containers are made from stainless steel sheet 1-2 mm thick using welding. When forming a homemade tank, it should be remembered that during operation, in addition to high temperature, excess pressure is created in it, which can reach 0.5-0.7 atm, which requires particularly high-quality welds.

The manufacture of a distillation cube is carried out in the following order.

1. A container of the required volume is taken ready-made or welded.
2. An important condition is the presence of a flat bottom if it is installed on a tile or burner.
3. A cover is installed on top, in which a hole is drilled to attach a coil or steamer.
4. With an internal diameter of the coil tube of 11-13 mm, a hole with a diameter of 22 mm is drilled and a pipe thread (half an inch) is cut.
5. The lid is installed on the tank with the joint sealed.

In the case of a collapsible structure, rubber gaskets are used, and in the manufacture of a stationary structure, sealing is ensured by silicone sealant.

During the distillation process, it is desirable to control the temperature that is provided in the evaporator. To install a thermometer, another hole is drilled in the lid of the distillation cube to insert a thermocouple or install a thermometer.

A convenient option for a distillation cube is a pressure cooker. It has one important drawback associated with its small volume, but for your own needs it is quite suitable. The main advantage of this design is the presence of good tightness. Modification is required only in the part of drilling the hole in the cover. A completely ideal option is a multicooker, which provides heating and maintaining the temperature in a given mode.

Making a capacitor

A do-it-yourself condenser or refrigerator for a moonshine still includes 2 main parts - a coil and a cooling source (cooling compartment). The quantity and strength of the final product depends on the correct functioning of the refrigerator.

The coil can be made of non-ferrous metals, stainless steel or glass.

The dimensions of the tube for the coil are selected according to the following parameters:

1. Inner diameter. Increasing it leads to an expansion of the contact area with steam, which increases the productivity of the device, but affects its dimensions and significantly complicates manufacturing. The recommended inner diameter of the tube is 9-13 mm.
2. total length. Here again there is an alternative. A longer length increases the condenser area, but at the same time the resistance to flow increases, which slows down the speed of the process. It has been practically established that the optimal length is in the range of 1.6-2.2 m.
3. Wall thickness. The smaller this parameter, the easier it is to cool the system, but the strength of the element decreases. The use of a tube with a thickness of 1-1.2 mm is considered normal.

The cooling compartment must ensure that heat is removed from the coil in a constant manner. In principle, cooling can be provided by ice, air or water flow. The most commonly used is water.

There are 2 options for submitting it. Is it a closed or open system.

• In the first case, the container is filled with cold water. Cooling occurs until it warms up, after which the coolant is replaced with a new portion.
• The second option is considered more effective, because cooling is provided by running water.

Step by step

The manufacture of the refrigerator is carried out in the following sequence.

1. A metal tube of the optimal size is filled with sand to prevent deformation and is wound in the form of a spiral onto a cylinder with a diameter of about 30-36 mm with a turn pitch of 11-14 mm.
2. The sand is poured out and the spiral is washed under running water.
3. Next, the cooling compartment body is made from a metal or plastic pipe with a diameter of 76-82 mm. Connections for supplying tap water are installed on the compartment body.
4. Then part of the coil is passed inside the compartment, the ends of which are hermetically sealed.

Both ends of the coil remain free, one for connection to the distillation cube or steamer, the other for discharging the finished product.

How to make a steamer

The steamer and the bubbler play the same role; their manufacture does not differ significantly from each other. There are still important conditions for their functioning. The volume of elements should be 9-11 times less than the volume of the distillation cube.

They are made in the form of a piece of pipe or a small metal container. At the ends of the steam chamber, fittings are installed for connection with the coil and the evaporator cover.

The bubbler is connected to the coil at the upper end, and the lower end is lowered through the hole in the lid of the cube so that there is a gap of about 25-30 mm to the bottom of the container.

How to provide heating

To carry out the process of distilling raw materials into moonshine, it is important to ensure reliable heating of the distillation cube. It is provided in the following ways:

Moonshine is considered a traditional drink, and when prepared well, it can compete with factory-made drinks. A moonshine still helps to prepare it, the manufacture of which can be done with your own hands.

Unfortunately, the statistics of poisoning with vodka and other alcohol make us think. Sometimes counterfeit goods that are very dangerous to health end up in stores, so some people have a question about how to make a moonshine still at home. With proper production, you can only get a high-quality product.

General description and principles of operation

The circuit of the moonshine still is simple, like everything ingenious. In design and operation, it is not much different from the distiller used in many chemical laboratories.

Device structure. The main components are the following:: container for raw materials (mash); refrigerator with coil; tube to connect them.

To obtain higher quality moonshine, the device is sometimes supplemented with: a steamer; bubbler; carbon or wood filter.

You can buy a ready-made device. However, many are more interested in assembling it themselves. They even do electrical installations using automation.

Mechanism of operation

The raw material is mash based on sugar or starch. Yeast is also added here. The composition is optimal for the growth of the necessary microorganisms - fungi.

In the process of life they will release waste- alcohols in concentrated form, of which only ethyl is of interest. During distillation the following happens:

1. In the distillation cube, the mash is heated and breaks down into liquid and vapor containing alcohols.
2. The vapor moves through the tube, the coil. Alcohols are divided into fractions (types).
3. In the refrigerator, a container of water, suitable alcohol is cooled and condensed.

The difference between moonshine and rectified

It is worth considering that even if you carry out this procedure several times, using additional devices (filter, bubbler, steamer), harmful impurities will remain. The quality of the product depends only on their volume.

There is a method that allows you to obtain alcohol with a minimum amount of impurities. This is rectification, in which alcohols are divided into fractions in several stages. To carry it out, you will need more complex equipment, which is difficult to make yourself.

The rectificate can be found at the pharmacy: this medical alcohol(95.57%). Moonshine is also called distillate based on its production method.

The following drinks are prepared using rectification:

• vodka;
• liqueurs, etc.

In the process of obtaining rectification properties are lost required for some drinks. For example, the aroma of cognac appears due to fusel oils, so this drink is best made from distillate. It is usually obtained in a professional industrial way. As an option, flavorings are added to the rectified product.

The opinion that rectified alcohol is safer than moonshine is erroneous. The purer the alcohol, the its intoxicating effect is stronger. Molecules move from the blood into the nervous system faster, and harmful products take longer to be eliminated. The poison is better absorbed and comes out harder.

Installation assembly

Distillation cube. Any container with suitable qualities is suitable for a distillation cube. It is often heated on the stove.

The main requirement is tightness. Some weld the container themselves from regular or stainless steel. This option may be unreliable for the following reasons:

• The mash sticks, but there is no way to stir it, since it needs to be sealed.
• When exposed to high temperatures and pressure, poor quality seams will come apart.

Fridge. The quality of the refrigerator as part of the distillation unit determines: operating speed; quantity of product. Refrigeration structures are divided into two types:

• cumulative;
• flow-through

In running water, the water moves, so it does not have time to heat up. The design includes tubes.

1. Through the first, water enters the refrigerator.
2. From the second - it comes out.

Storage refrigerator- closed container with water. Inferior in quality to flow-through: the amount of condensate and the volume of product are reduced. Cooling is not as effective, which is why there is 15-20% less moonshine.

You can find many drawings of a storage refrigerator for a homemade moonshine still. The simplest design is regular plastic bucket with holes for draining and collecting water and a coil inside. In winter it is especially convenient, as you can collect snow and ice.

In storage containers, the hole for draining should be at the top, for collection - at the bottom. It is advisable to keep the temperature in the distillation cube as low as possible. This will result in less steam and more product.

The moonshine will come out through another hole. To control, try on the wrist. If it’s cool, the cooling system is excellent, if it’s hot, it’s bad. In the latter case, the product will be about a third less.

Coil - tube, placed in the refrigerator and connected to a cube or, if available, to a steamer. The longer, the better the steam is cooled. The following simple manufacturing options are common:

• Copper tube measuring 15-20 mm, screwed onto the base. During winding, it is advisable to fill it with sand to prevent deformation that would interfere with the escape of condensate. To prevent sleep, they plug it with a rod, for example, made of wood. The base is in a vice.
• Siphon hose, the desired length is 2 m. It is also twisted into a spiral. Fastened using nipples, gaskets, nuts. Additionally, a sealant is applied to any coil.

Steamer and bubbler

The steamer is an optional part of the design of a moonshine still, made at home with your own hands.

He is needed for removing fusel oils. It is located between the still and the coil. With its help the following happens:

1. The pressure and temperature decrease, so the vapor becomes liquid. The next wave of vapor pushes them out.
2. Fusel oils collect on the walls of the vessel. When repeating the procedure 2-3 times, almost no of them remain.

The drink itself is often called fusel because of its characteristic taste and smell. Fewer amounts of these oils make the product safer for health: The hangover is not so severe.

It is not possible to completely get rid of them during moonshine brewing (distillation). In many well-known drinks, these oils are necessarily left in a certain amount (whisky, rum, etc.). Such products are “advanced” analogues of moonshine. Three steam steamers are often used in a cascade. The advantages here are:

• the moonshine comes out to be of very high quality, with a high degree of purification;
• Already on the first distillation, the strength is about 80%.

Three containers - the optimal number: if it is less, then the effect will be insufficient; a larger number plays almost no role.

The volume of one steamer is approximately 10 times less than that of a container with mash. It's easy to make. Usually a glass jar of the required volume is taken, and the lid is “modernized” to it.

The lid must be screwed on. Two holes are made in it, for example, with a knife or screwdriver. You need to try to avoid burrs. Fittings are inserted into the holes and secured with nuts. Next, the tubes are put on.

Periodically, the water is drained to avoid it getting into the coil, and then into the moonshine. The steamer is also used for flavoring. Add something to taste, for example:

• berries, preferably dried;
• herbs;
• citrus peels, etc.

Feel free to experiment with scents. They will be barely distinguishable, and more by smell than by taste.

The bubbler is used for the same purposes as the steam steamer. The differences are more related to the design. In the bubbler there is usually liquid, through which the pairs are passed. The supply tube is lowered much lower, almost to the bottom of the container.

Connecting tubes and filters

If flexible hoses are used for connection, it is better to choose silicone ones. If you use PVC pipes, toxic substances will be released upon contact with hot vapors. Externally, these materials are sometimes confused. You can distinguish by some signs:

1. A piece of PVC burns with a lot of smoke and an unpleasant odor. Silicone does not smoke, has almost no smell, and leaves behind a light ash.
2. The silicone is pleasant and silky to the touch.
3. PVC hardens at -10 °C, silicone remains elastic.

Filters for purifying the finished product are made, for example, like this:

• The bottom of a plastic bottle is cut off.
• There are many small holes made in the cork.
• The filter itself is prepared from cotton wool and coal fractions inside. Roll a ball at least 4 cm in length.

Moonshine is passed through the resulting device. Before filtering, the drink must stand in a container with coal.

Selection of materials

In Soviet times, it was widely believed that the best material for a direct-flow distiller was copper. It was easy to find and inexpensive.

However, when alcohol vapor interacts with copper, ethers and aldehydes are formed, which remain in the system. There is always vinegar in the mash. When interacting with aluminum, harmful salts are obtained - alum.

Glass has neutral qualities and does not react. However, this material has a significant drawback - fragility. Food grade stainless steel- perhaps the most reliable option:

• does not react and does not form deposits;
• reliable;
• easy to care for.

Although, in terms of thermal conductivity and ease of making coils, copper is much better. In terms of accessibility, other materials may benefit. The harm from their use is usually not significant. Therefore, a design made from various suitable materials often pays off.

Examples of simple installations

A moonshine still of the simplest design can be made from available materials. The main thing is to follow simple rules and use your imagination.

Moonshine still from a saucepan. Even a regular five-liter saucepan is suitable for the device. It is better to use a pressure cooker as it is more airtight. In addition to it, you need to find: a 5-liter plastic bottle; copper tube: length - approximately 1 meter, diameter - 4-5 mm.

1. The handle is removed from the lid. A fitting is inserted into the hole and secured on the inside with a nut. If the hole is small, you need to drill it out.
2. A silicone tube will be used as a connecting tube. It is harmless and does not change the taste, so it is often used by industrial producers.
3. The refrigerator will be a plastic bottle with a copper tube placed inside. The bottle is turned over and the bottom is cut off. A coil is made from a tube, about 8 cm in diameter. It comes out through a hole made in the bottle cap.
4. Water is poured into the mini-fridge and mash into the pan.
5. For sealing purposes, the lid of the pan is pressed with clothespins. Its edges can be covered with dough. It will harden when heated. Another clamp option is carpenter's clamps, and the seal is a cut silicone tube.
6. The design can become more complicated and improved. For example, there is also a hole in the lid for a pin thermometer.

Can based distiller

Often a large milk can (flask) is used for production. It is initially quite airtight.

The rubber gasket must be removed. The mash will absorb its smell. Instead, it will do food grade silicone gasket.

You can make it yourself from aquarium silicone:

• Apply to the edges of the lid. After complete drying - at least two more layers.
• Ordinary cellophane is placed on the neck of the can, after which the lid is closed. You need to wait a few hours.

Further, a hole is made in the lid under a tube or a long coil. The thickness of the latter is about 12 mm. As a refrigerator, you can use, for example, a specially designed plastic bucket with holes at the bottom for water to flow in and moonshine to come out.

To submit hose used connected to the water supply. Draining occurs through a hole in the top of the tube.

If done correctly, it may well compete with store-bought products. He also has clear advantages: low price and comparative safety.

Attention, TODAY only!

Many today prefer to buy a moonshine still on a website on the Internet or from a special company. But the cost of a purchased unit is usually high and amounts to 8-16 thousand rubles. At the same time, you can make a moonshine still with your own hands at much lower costs and cost 1-2 thousand rubles. In this article we will talk about making a simple moonshine still from a saucepan using improvised means.

To assemble a moonshine still, you will need the following tools: a hacksaw, a drill and pliers. Of course, you can use a Dremel instead of a hacksaw and drill, but this is at your discretion.

This design does not require drawings of a moonshine still, everything can be done virtually “by eye”, and the article has a sufficient number of photographs so as not to make mistakes during production.

The list of materials for manufacturing looks large, but all the components are easy to get and they are very cheap.

We will need: a large saucepan with a lid - this will be a heated tank, a piece of plastic plumbing pipe (45 mm in diameter) and 2 meters of aluminum or copper tube (the latter can be taken from an old refrigerator) - this is for making a coil.

2 fittings with hoses, a half-inch plumbing coupling and a nut for it, a dropper from a pharmacy or another flexible and thin tube, a piece of rolled aluminum (an old curtain or corner will do, you can take runners from an old children's sled), fluoroplastic tape (at a plumbing store - fum lena for pipes), a couple of anchors with nuts and tin from a beer can.

To make a steamer, you need a jar with a tightly screwed lid (suitable for store-bought gherkins or salted mushrooms).

The following adhesives will be required: a package of epoxy glue and cyanoacrylate superglue (a couple of tubes).

As you can see, a lot can be found already in the house or in the rubble of old things in the garage, and even if there is a lack of materials, you can buy all this at the flea market very inexpensively.

How to make a coil

Making a homemade moonshine still begins with winding a coil.

The moonshine still’s coil is the main thing in the entire unit! Look at this article, a lot of interesting things are described there about the coil and its installation.

To prevent the tube from being crushed during the manufacturing process, fill it with dry sand, tamp it, clamp the ends of the tube with pliers and carefully wrap it around any round object of a suitable size. The finished coil should be inserted into the plumbing pipe with a gap of approximately 0.5-1 cm.

Attention! All actions with the tube (bends for installation, etc.) must be performed only with a tube clogged with sand! Otherwise, the tube may flatten or break!

This is what the coil looks like before it is inserted into the cooling pipe.

We cut off the cooler tube 4-5 cm from the end of the coil.

We will modify the fittings for water supply and drainage.

They are glued overlapping onto the cooler, so we cut off the sides using a saw or Dremel. This is what the device looks like.

We heat the finished fittings on a gas stove or lighter and press them tightly to the plastic pipe. This will allow you to form flat areas to which the fittings will be glued.

After this, glue the fittings to the pipe using cyanoacrylic superglue. If such a connection seems unreliable to you, you can clean the area around the glued fitting, degrease it with acetone and additionally coat the outside with epoxy glue or use a heat gun. But, as practice shows, if there are no blows or attempts to deliberately break off the fitting, then it will hold perfectly even with superglue.

After this, carefully drill holes in the pipe using the fittings as guides for the drills.

Inside you get something like this hole. Burrs can be cut off with a knife or the inner surface can be sanded with sandpaper.

There are 2 fittings - for supplying and discharging running water through the coil of the moonshine still.

The end caps are cut from tin beer cans. You can use plastic caps for three-liter bottles - they are thicker and easier to adjust to the diameter of the cooling tube.

We make cutouts in the covers for the coil tubes and carefully glue them into the cooler with superglue. The main thing here is to fix and fill the gaps between the cover and the cooler. To seal cracks, you can use a hot glue gun or soda. Soda is poured along the contour, a “side” is carefully formed using superglue, and a very rigid composite is obtained.

Now it is necessary to completely seal the coil. To do this, dilute epoxy glue (you can mix it with silver or myrosphere to give a noble shade and reduce glue consumption) and fill the end of the cooler tube. All that remains is to wait for the glue to polymerize and repeat the procedure for the other side of the cooler.

Making a hotbed

It is better to make home moonshine with a steamer. A steam reflux condenser is necessary to remove fusel oils between the distillation tank and the coil. Heavier fusel oils released together with alcohol in the form of vapors settle in the steamer and the moonshine turns out more tasty. Headache during a hangover is the result of drinking fusel oils along with moonshine. Moonshine that was made on a machine with a steamer does not give you a headache!

A hole is cut in the lid of the jar for the coupling.

We clamp the inserted coupling with a nut. This must be done carefully, so that you do not then have to use a rubber gasket for the coupling to ensure sealing. Drinking moonshine with a rubbery taste is not very pleasant, so be careful and be careful again!

We try on and bend the tube from the coil to the steamer, and take the rest of the tube to the pan.

Now we clean the surface of the tubes with sandpaper, wind them together with threads and insert them into the steam container. We seal the space between the tubes and the coupling from the inside using cotton wool and fill the outside with epoxy.

After the epoxy has “set”, remove the cotton wool and check the tightness. The steam steamer should not “suck” air!

If everything is fine, we proceed to the manufacture of the distillation tank.

Distillation tank of a homemade moonshine still

We make a heated container - a distillation tank - from a large saucepan.

To do this, drill a hole along the diameter of the tube in the sidewall, 4 cm from the top. We put the tube inside and bend it so that there is 4-5 mm between the lid and the edge of the copper tube. In this case, the tube will only collect sublimation vapor and will not “choke” if the mash boils.

We seal the tube with the pan using the usual sealing procedure with epoxy glue.

Now you need to ensure the lid of the moonshine still is sealed.

To do this, we make a holder from anchors and an aluminum profile.

The ear of the anchor heats up and extends. An isolette is wound around the handles of the pan or a piece of PVC tube is put on (cut up). This will allow you to more “softly” regulate the force of pressing the lid onto the pan.

In the places where the lid is pressed, pieces of bottle cap are glued to the holder; they will also cushion and protect the lid of the pan from scratches.

Homemade moonshine still

This is what a homemade moonshine still looks like assembled.

In this case, a furniture aluminum profile is used as a holder. The cuttings were taken from a kitchen manufacturing site. If you don’t have the opportunity to get aluminum, you can use a piece of stick from a hockey stick or a handle from a shovel. The latter, of course, is too massive, but cheap and can be easily bought at the “Everything for the Dacha” store.

All that remains is to ensure that the lid fits tightly to the pan. Here fluoroplastic fum tape from the hardware store comes to our aid.

When preparing moonshine at home, wrap 6-7 layers of this tape around the edge of the pan and, covering it with a lid, attach the structure using anchors.

All that remains is to perform a test run of the homemade moonshine still - to do this, fill the pan halfway with water, seal it and place it on the stove. Hot steam will go all the way and clean the system. The same thing needs to be done every time after you have made the next batch of moonshine and are going to put the device away for storage.

When producing moonshine, a hose from a dropper is attached to the outlet of the coil and connected to the receiving container. Hoses are put on the cooler sockets, cold water is supplied to the lower one, and water is discharged from the upper one to the sink. It is better to place the coil at an angle to the surface and place it at a distance of 20-30 cm (or more) from the pan. The photo shows the unit intended for transportation. At the place of use, the tubes will be carefully bent and the steamer will take its place on the straight line between the pan and the coil.

The question of how to make a moonshine still at home arises for those who have tried high-quality homemade alcohol. Be it moonshine or variations on the theme of homemade cognacs, whiskey, tinctures or liqueurs based on them. The first questions are asked to the hospitable hosts, asking how they did it, teach and show. Yes, many people in our time fall into the ranks of moonshiners in approximately this way. The next step is to search the Internet for the question of which one to buy or how to make a moonshine still with your own hands.

There are not many options for a beginner if you analyze your needs and preferences. The easiest, but somewhat expensive way to purchase a ready-made kit in one of the many online stores. To do this, you need to spend several hours of your time searching for a model, and most importantly, reviews from real users, which are best looked for on thematic forums.

In this article we will consider the second option - a do-it-yourself moonshine still. Here everyone is their own designer, technologist, and mechanic, as they say, who is good at what, we will try to give some recommendations and give examples.

Briefly (since you’ve probably already found a lot on the Internet) let’s look at the moonshine brewing process.

Quite simply, moonshine brewing is the process of heating an alcohol-containing liquid (mash) to the point of evaporation of alcohols (mainly ethyl). Further cooling of alcohol vapor to a state of condensation into a liquid fraction.

Based on this, you can understand which elements of the device must be present.

Alembic

The first thing you need is a container for heating the raw materials or a distillation cube. The most common household items are aluminum milk cans and pressure cookers. Both are good because they are hermetically sealed. It’s worth noting right away that all rubber sealing gaskets must be replaced with silicone ones, since when alcohol vapor comes into contact with native elements, the final product will have a specific chemical taste. On the flask, the rubber gasket can also be wrapped tightly with fum tape in five or six layers, overlapping. Well, on modern pressure cookers the gaskets are made from food materials that can heat up to high temperatures; for a mini device this is the best option for a distillation cube. The population also has a wide variety of homemade containers in use, most often welded from stainless steel in the form of tanks or cubes with a neck and a screw cap with a thread for a fitting. If you search among friends and relatives, someone probably has such a rarity from the times of developed socialism and Prohibition lying around somewhere in a garage or barn. If you do not have a suitable container at hand, and the question arises about purchasing one, we will give some recommendations:

• The material is definitely food grade stainless steel (more about the materials below);
• Volume 25-30 liters at least. There is no point in buying a small cube or pressure cooker and going through the whole rigmarole of moonshine brewing for the sake of a liter of drink, and if you like it (friends, colleagues, relatives) you will have to buy a larger container;
• The neck should be as wide as possible, try scraping the burnt mash from the bottom through the “bottle neck”, and it’s just more convenient to wash;
• Workmanship and metal thickness. As a rule, these indicators are proportional to the price and do not directly affect the quality of moonshine; they remain at your discretion and financial capabilities; it is clear that thin metal can wrinkle or deform from mechanical stress or overheating, but the durability of the container depends on welding and rolling.

Fridge

Flow-through refrigerator with a coil inside

The second necessary element of even the simplest device is a refrigerator. In principle, they can be flow-through or non-flow-through (capacitive). A flow-through refrigerator is compact, takes up little space and is easier to store. It is based on a spiral of a tube - a coil placed in a sealed container through which cold water from the plumbing system is passed. A flow-through refrigerator can also be made direct-flow, this is when the cooled tube is located in a pipe of larger diameter and water is passed between their walls. This type of refrigerator is simpler to manufacture, but it has large linear dimensions and requires a stand to position it. Flow-through refrigerators have an advantage over non-flow refrigerators - they are more efficient, that is, a tube of shorter length and diameter is enough than in a simple capacitive design due to the constant temperature of the supplied cooling water from the water supply.

Homemade static refrigerator for moonshine still from a bucket

A static refrigerator is usually made on the basis of some kind of tank or canister with a volume of 20 - 30 liters. A spiral-shaped tube is cut into it. When distilling, the tank is filled with cold water and, as it heats up, the hot water is scooped out from the top and cool water is added, but this is somewhat inconvenient and not technologically advanced, but it also has its advantages:

• The easiest way to make such a refrigerator is to assemble it on your knees from scrap materials;
• In the absence of running water, this is probably the only design option;
• In winter, you can use snow or frozen water in plastic bottles.

You can also make a simple combined option, for example, take a galvanized 10-liter bucket, cut a spiral from a tube into it and install a drain fitting under the hose almost at the very top. The hose for supplying cold water must be secured to the bottom of the bucket, for example, by tying it with wire to a coil. This design is more compact due to the use of running water. Plus, it is possible to work without running water, you just have to drain and add coolant more often, and drive more slowly (heat the cube less), you can also use snow or frozen bottled water.

It is also necessary to adjust the volume of supplied liquid so that it does not overflow if the drain hose is taken with insufficient cross-section, and the excess water will not be used for cooling and will be wasted.

During distillation, you can adjust the water supply experimentally; the resulting moonshine should be cool or slightly warm, but not hot; if this is the case, then alcohol vapor may escape from the refrigerator. This is unacceptable, since, firstly, the yield of the product decreases, and secondly, it is unsafe, especially if heating is carried out over an open fire.

Sukhoparnik

Let's consider another element of a simple moonshine still, such as a steamer. This detail is completely optional, but very necessary if you want to significantly improve the quality of your product. The steamer will be placed in the steam line between the distillation cube and the refrigerator. Let's consider the principle of operation of a steam steamer.

During the boiling and evaporation of ethyl alcohol, partial capture by steam of heavy fractions boiling at higher temperatures, which contain fusel oils, occurs. This is where the common noun for bad moonshine comes from – “fusel”. It is the high content of fusel oils that makes moonshine smelly and unacceptable to many people. When there is a small amount of fusel oils, they give the product its own uniqueness and depend on the raw materials for making moonshine.

After all, all the famous world brands, be it cognac, whiskey, rum, Calvados, grappa and others, are nothing more than moonshine, albeit made according to their own recipes and technologies, specially purified and aged under certain conditions.

But let’s return to the steam chamber, and so, hot steam from the cube enters it and condenses into the liquid fraction; as it heats up due to fresh vapor, the alcohol begins to evaporate again. Since the process of secondary evaporation occurs in a cleaner environment than the previous one, in a smaller volume and from a liquid with a higher percentage of alcohol, the capture of fusel oils is significantly reduced and most of them remain in the steam tank. Thus, the final product is less smelly and a little stronger. It is also common to use dry steamers in a cascade, that is, when they are located one after the other, in this case the cleaning is even better and the strength of the product is up to 75 - 80% (of the entire batch between the heads and tails). If you use two or three steamers in succession, you can get really high-quality moonshine in one distillation. It is not worth using a larger amount, since the process will drag on significantly, and the effect of each subsequent steamer is reduced. The design of the first steamer is more important here; the simplest solution is a glass jar with a screw cap.

Homemade steamer from a can

If you have a distillation cube of 30 - 40 liters, it is better to take a jar with a volume of about 3 liters, since by the end of the distillation, up to 1 liter of liquid (reflux) can accumulate in the steamer, if the container is small there is simply not enough space. The screw cap has fittings cut into it for supplying and discharging steam; it is advisable to extend the inlet channel inside the can with a tube or hose almost to the very bottom. This is necessary to eliminate the possibility of non-condensed vapors passing from the cube into the refrigerator, since the holes in the lid are located very close. In this case, when liquid accumulates at the bottom of the container, active seething will occur, and if there is a lot of reflux, it may splash into the outlet pipe and get into the refrigerator and into the final product, which is extremely undesirable, so the volume of the jar (height) must be sufficient.

Very often, various aromatic components are added to the steamer during the second distillation, such as:

• Dried fruits, dry berries;
• Fragrant herbs;
• Spices;
• Lemon, orange peels, etc.

These components give the moonshine an additional aroma and taste, but it depends on your taste and preferences; the flight of fancy in experiments is simply unlimited.

Tubes and hoses

Silicone hoses for moonshine

The distillation cube and the refrigerator must be somehow connected to each other. Ideally, of course, the system should be without connectors and connections, and by the way, such devices are on sale when the steamer and the refrigerator are rigidly welded to the lid of the cube and to each other with a tube. But when you make a simple device at home, and do not have the skills to weld or solder metals, repeating this option is quite problematic. No, of course, you can find a welder, a turner, or anyone else, order and make all the components, but then it’s cheaper to buy a ready-made device, and the design will already be proven and tested by more than one user.

In our case, you can use silicone hoses on clamps. Hoses with nuts for supplying gas or water made of corrugated stainless steel are also suitable, the main thing is to replace the rubber gaskets with silicone ones.

Do not under any circumstances use rubber or PVC hoses for the steam line and the outlet of moonshine from the refrigerator, if you do not want to get a product with a persistent chemical taste, they can only be used for the cooling system.

The easiest way to purchase silicone hoses is in an online store, or in pharmacies, or some specialized retail outlets. How to identify a silicone hose, at subzero temperatures it remains quite elastic, unlike PVC and rubber counterparts; if you set fire to a piece, it burns without soot and a light, crumbly ash remains.

Which metal is preferable

It is difficult to find a definite answer to this question on the Internet, as they say, there are so many people and so many opinions. We can say, more or less confidently, that the best solution for making a moonshine still at home is to use food-grade stainless steel.

There is a lot of controversy about the use of copper in structures. Many argue that previously all devices were made of copper, but this is because there simply were no other technologically advanced and widespread metals. And we must not forget that all strong drinks were aged in oak barrels, and there, under the influence of oxygen entering through the walls, aldehydes and ethers decomposed (they are formed when hot alcohol vapor comes into contact with the copper elements of the apparatus). And during breaks between uses of the device, a film of oxides that is hazardous to health is formed on all copper elements, which must be washed off with acid solutions, such as citric acid, before using the equipment for its intended purpose. Aluminum, in the presence of acetic acid (always found in some quantity in mash), forms salts of little use - alum. Stainless steel for technical purposes may also contain components of little use.