Hi all!

A couple of weeks ago I came across some very interesting equipment for moonshiners - mash column . It is also called a film column or a reinforced distiller. A distiller I know bought it and kindly offered to test this unit.

What is the result you ask? My colleague makes excellent 88-degree moonshine, and now I know what to answer to readers when they ask me “How to make strong moonshine.” Interested?

And so, in today’s article I will tell you what a mash column is, the principle of its operation and how to properly distill moonshine on it.

What is a mash (film) column

Now I will briefly tell you why a mash column is needed, and in the next chapter I will examine in more detail the principle of its operation.

So, a film column is equipment that allows you to obtain very strong and pure moonshine. Up to 90 degrees! And at the same time, the equipment is quite simple in design and use, and its price is relatively low. It is installed directly on the distillation cube.

In appearance, the mash column resembles an ordinary one straight-through distiller. In fact, this is how it is, the only difference is that there is another refrigerator installed on the pipe rising from the cube. The so-called reflux condenser or partial condenser.

This is where the whole point lies. But more on that in the next chapter.

Operating principle of film column

To make it more clear, I drew a simple diagram of the work.

So, as I already said, the column is placed directly on the distillation cube. The heated vapors of moonshine from the cube enter a partial (in Russian - partial) condenser. There, part of the vapor condenses and settles on the walls of the cooler, and the other part goes further.

That's why the first cooler is called partial, because it does not condense all the steam.

The liquid that settles on the walls of the cooler is called phlegm. Hence another name for the partial cooler - reflux condenser.

As you remember, moonshine consists of various impurities, which are conventionally divided into three main groups - “heads”, “body” and “tails”. The heads evaporate at a lower temperature than the other groups. The body is higher than the heads, and the tails are the highest boiling fraction. We drink, as we know, only the body, and cut off everything else. This distillation is called fractional.

So, when cooling the moonshine vapors in a reflux condenser, we separate them and pass on the lower boiling components, while everything else condenses on the walls of the cooler and flows back into the still as a film.

Hence the second name of the column - film.

In this case, the alcohol-containing steam rising in the drawer of the partial condenser constantly interacts with the phlegm flowing towards it. A process of heat and mass transfer occurs - the steam snatches low-boiling components from the reflux and gives it high-boiling ones (fusel oils and water). Hence such crazy strengthening - up to 90 degrees of the final product!

By adjusting the water supply to the temperature in the dephlegmator, we can quite efficiently divide the moonshine into fractions and cut off its unnecessary parts. To begin with, we set the temperature so that only the “heads” pass into the second cooler, and return the alcohol and everything else to the cube. And then we raise the temperature and drive out the alcohol, leaving “tails” in the phlegm.

But in order to clearly cut off the heads and tails and get pure and strong moonshine with the column, you need to work correctly. Fortunately, this is quite easy to learn.

How to work on a mash column correctly

• First distillation.

Well, everything is simple here. Our column will only work as a distiller; a reflux condenser is not used. We supply water only to the second refrigerator and distill the mash into raw alcohol as quickly as possible. For those who don’t know why this is done, read the article double fractional distillation.

• Second distillation.

Goal selection

We begin to heat the cube. When the temperature in the cube approaches 75 degrees, we supply water to both coolers. Moreover, it is necessary to supply enough water to the reflux condenser so that the steam in it is completely condensed and does not enter the second cooler. Those. Nothing should flow into the receiving container.

This mode of work is called “self-employment.” It should last 25-30 minutes. During this time, the head fractions will concentrate in the tsarg.

Now, very carefully, we begin to reduce the water supply to the strengthening distiller until moonshine begins to drip from the second cooler at a rate of 2-3 drops per second. It is worth noting that the response time of the column to changes in water supply is quite long.

Therefore, it is necessary to pause between changes in the incoming parameters - slightly reduce the water and wait 30 seconds. Then look at the result and, if necessary, reduce it further. Or they added.

And so, at a speed of 2-3 drops per second, we select the heads. They are usually selected based on smell, but if your moonshine brewing experience does not yet allow you to do this, then use the standard proportion - 50 ml for every kilogram of sugar in the mash.

When we run out of heads, we change the container and begin selecting the body.

Body selection

Slowly reduce the water supply to the reflux condenser. The moonshine starts to come out faster. The less water you supply, the faster the process begins. But at the same time, the strength and purity of the distillate decreases.

Here, choose for yourself - either faster at the expense of the degree of purification and degree, or stronger and cleaner, but longer.

A compromise solution, in my opinion, is the speed at which the moonshine flows in a thin stream.

Now it’s time to pay attention to the thermometer installed above the film column. At this moment, a certain temperature should be recorded on it. I can’t say which one you will have, because... it depends on the strength of your raw alcohol poured into the device.

But here's what you need to remember. If you have chosen correct mode selection, then the temperature should be kept at this level. If it grows, even very slowly (by 1-1.5 degrees), but constantly, then we are supplying too much heat and the moonshine is of poor quality. Therefore, we either increase the water supply or reduce the heating.

Now that we have adjusted the column and a stream of strong moonshine flows from the second direct flow, and the temperature of the alcohol-containing steam leaving the column is constant (fluctuates between 0.1-0.2 degrees), we select the body.

But after some time, the temperature still begins to increase - all because there is less alcohol in the cube. Then it is necessary to slightly increase the amount of water supplied to the reflux condenser. The temperature will return to its previous value, but the amount of moonshine coming out will decrease.

In this mode we select the body down to the tails. Experienced moonshiners will be prompted by their own nose. For beginners, I recommend moving on to tailings selection when the temperature in the cube (in the cube, not above the column!) rises to 93ºC.

Tailings selection

If you are engaged in the selection of tailings, then simply turn off the water supply to the reflux condenser and squeeze out the residues as in normal distillation. Just in case, let me remind you that we collect the tails in a separate container.

Update: In February, I purchased my own film column HD/4-2500 PC produced by Samogon and Vodka. It has been slightly modified compared to the factory design - the reflux condenser has been insulated and needle valves have been installed to regulate the water supply.

General impression and conclusions

I liked working on the film column. And the resulting product was also to my taste.

Let me list the advantages that I noted

1. The heads come concentrated, with a pungent odor. The line where they end and the body begins is clearly noticeable. It's the same with tails. Therefore, you can clearly divide the moonshine into fractions and get very quality product.
2. The strength of the distillate reaches 80-90%. Of course, you won’t get alcohol; this requires more serious equipment, but we didn’t set that goal either.
3. Fruit and berry mash do not lose their taste and aroma.
4. Sugar moonshine it turns out softer and more pleasant to the taste
5. Simplicity of design, relatively low price and ease of use.

In general, I drew conclusions for myself - for sugar moonshine a mash column is required. And very desirable for fruit and berry production.

Such equipment allows us to produce a product of very high quality. Personally, I have already decided that I will order myself such a column. True after New Year's holidays when the family budget is restored.

Update: I finally bought the column in February. Her photo is in the previous section.

Bye everyone.

For many people who produce moonshine, sooner or later the question arises of how to improve the quality of their product, so that it is pleasant to drink for yourself, and it is not a shame to treat your friends. The most common solution to this problem is re-distillation through a moonshine still; the resulting product is often called double moonshine; it will be much cleaner and stronger than the original product. So, we highly recommend that you spend a few hours more time, but at the end you will actually get quality drink, without foreign impurities and odors.

It is worth canceling that the second distillation can be carried out with any type of moonshine, while neither the recipe for the mash, nor what raw materials it was prepared from, have absolutely no significance. You can even distill old moonshine, which is already for a long time is stored in your possession.

Distilling moonshine a second time is not difficult; now we will look step by step at how to do it correctly.

Step-by-step technology for producing double moonshine

Dilute

The first thing we need to do is before moving again. This should be done by pouring moonshine into cool water until the strength of the drink is 20-35%.

Many people don’t understand why we need to dilute moonshine, why can’t we drink it as is? Well there are several reasons:

1. Firstly, you should think about safety if you distill Reviver, the vapors will have a high concentration of alcohol, which will greatly increase the risk of a moonshine still catching fire.
2. Secondly, the stronger the moonshine, the stronger its molecular connection with fusel oils and repeated distillation will be less effective and will not give the result we need.

Clear

Before the second distillation, it is advisable to clean the moonshine activated carbon, potassium permanganate or any other method convenient for you. I prefer to use soda. To do this, add a tablespoon of kitchen salt and baking soda, mix and leave for two hours. Once the drink has settled, it must be filtered. ideal option For this, a regular water filter can serve, but if this is not possible, then you can do it the old fashioned way through a cotton-gauze filter.

Distill

And so, it’s time for the third final stage of preparation. double moonshine, this is the distillation itself. Everything is as usual here, this process is absolutely no different from the primary distillation from mash, we use the same moonshine still. The only thing to remember is that distilling a strong drink is dangerous and less effective. So before distilling, check the strength again. If you distill moonshine for consumption without further processing, for example, such as rectification or another distillation, then it is very important to divide it into fractions: heads, body and tails.

The first 10% of the yield, the so-called heads, should not be drunk under any circumstances; they can only be used for technical purposes. They can be easily identified by their unpleasant odor. Approximately, as soon as you have managed to distill a tenth part, drop a little of the yield on your finger, if bad smell disappeared, you can substitute a container to collect the main part.

The last approximately 10% are tails, they are determined by the strength of the output, as soon as it drops below 45%, then the tails have already gone. They are usually poured into mash to increase its strength. If you plan to distill several, then the tails need to be collected only on the last distillation.

The remaining 80% of double moonshine does not require additional processing or cleaning. The only thing we can do is dilute it a little to the strength we need.

According to reviews on the Internet, some people do not advise diluting moonshine with water before distillation, explaining that in this case we will not be able to get rid of the unpleasant smell. And this is a completely reasonable statement, but in this case, before distilling a strong drink, make sure that there is no open source of fire nearby.

The number of stages can be as large as desired, but, as a rule, three stages are sufficient.

Found a mistake? Select it and click Shift + Enter or

To calculate fractions, I use the work of more experienced colleagues and my own practical experience.

When selecting heads, I focus on the standard of 10% absolute alcohol. But previous experience in distilling specifically rice mash showed that after selecting 5% AC, SEM was produced without heads. I factored in another 2% for force majeure situations. Details by faction are in the table below.

Second (fractional) distillation

1. Acceleration of the column at maximum. I reduced the heating power after the temperature in the tank reached approximately 75-80 degrees.

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2. At 75 degrees in the tank, turned on the cooling (water supply to the refrigerator)

3. By controlling the temperature in the refrigerator and observing the return of reflux to the column through the diopter, I set the supplied heating power (for me it is about 1/3 of the maximum power)

during “rectification”, it is advisable to keep the water temperature (at the outlet of the refrigerator) in the region of 35-45 degrees, since when the reflux is strongly cooled, part of the packing part is “lost” due to the fact that the cold reflux, until it is heated and enters heat and mass transfer, more than necessary rolls down the nozzle. In addition, the likelihood of liquid plugs (slugs) increases.

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4. Let the column work for itself (for an hour)

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5. Started a drop-by-drop selection of heads. The volume of goals turned out to be higher than expected. I selected until the smell of chemicals disappeared from the selection.

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6. After selecting the heads, I increased the supplied power to approximately 50% of the maximum and selected the body until the bitterness characteristic of the tail fractions began to appear in Sam.

7. I didn’t take the tails.

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Interim indicators and results are presented in the table below.

Previously, few people understood why double distillation of moonshine was needed and why “transfer products.” Moonshine brewing consisted only of preparing mash, which was distilled once and then consumed. The wort was produced without the use special recipes, calculating proportions, and all products from the garden were used as ingredients.

Today everyone knows what to eat clean mash Moonshine cannot be made without primary or secondary distillation. The distillate contains many harmful components, of which the more well-known ones should be highlighted:

• aldehyde;
• acetone;
• methyl and isoamyl alcohol;
• acetic and formic acids
• fusel oils.

The accumulation of such elements in human body may lead to fatal consequences.

You can clean the mash enough simple method– double distillation of moonshine at home. This makes it possible to obtain a strong drink with a clean structure and increased degree. The main thing here is to figure out how to properly distill the distillate a second time, what water to dilute it with and in what proportions.

Basic work in 3 stages

Every experienced distiller has many secrets and tricks that they use when distilling moonshine. Everyone wants to receive a quality product. To make the distillate happy, you need to know the basic steps of how to distill moonshine a second time.

Diluting moonshine

Regardless of what technology was used to create a homemade fortified drink, the strength of moonshine must be brought to 35-40°. Otherwise, you may end up with a damaged moonshine still and fireworks in the kitchen. Therefore, before distilling the moonshine a second time, it must be diluted with drinking water.

For dilution, use filtered or bottled liquid. But before diluting it, it is cooled by placing it in the refrigerator.

The fractional process of diluting alcohol is carried out by gradually mixing water into the moonshine and regularly checking the strength with an alcohol meter. The most optimal value is considered to be 35°.

Also keep in mind that you need to dilute the distillate with water by adding water to alcohol, but not vice versa. Otherwise, the alcohol may become cloudy due to a chemical reaction.

Moonshine cleaning

Re-distilling moonshine at home involves preliminary cleaning of its structure. In this case, several methods are used in which:

• wood charcoal;
• Activated carbon;
• potassium parchment - potassium permanganate;
• filter cardboard, paper.

The last cleaning option before the second distillation of moonshine is considered the simplest. It is enough to place special paper in a funnel and then pour alcohol through it. The process should be done as slowly as possible; this is the only way to achieve the best result.

Moonshine can also be purified with potassium permanganate before the second distillation, but here it is important to take into account the proportions, how much of the component is required for a certain volume of the drink. Follow the steps in the following sequence:

• prepare required quantity raw materials and potassium permanganate - 1 liter of alcohol requires 50 ml drinking water and 2 gr. pharmaceutical component;
• dilute potassium permanganate with hot water, wait until the granules are completely dissolved, then dilute the distillate with the contents;
• leave the raw material for 10-12 hours, after which a sediment should form at the bottom;
• first, before making the second distillation, strain the raw material through 3-4 layers of gauze or flannel.

This stage allows you to eliminate harmful impurities from alcohol to the maximum, so if you want to get high-quality and safe product There should be no doubt whether the moonshine needs to be cleaned before the second time.

Second distillation of moonshine

The process of distilling the distillate a second time does not differ much from the primary distillation. But in the case of double processing of raw materials, the result will be significantly more than the original product. It should also be noted that the second distillation requires much less time.

The technology is no different from the first time - the same temperatures, the same order of cutting off heads and tails

Despite the increased level of purity of moonshine after secondary distillation, experts also recommend dividing the volume into fractions:

• heads (10-12% of the total volume);
• body;
• tails (when the strength drops below 45°).

Therefore, during the second distillation you need to take an active part, regularly monitoring the alcohol strength.

What you need to consider when making double distillation moonshine:

• of the total amount of raw material, 10-12% is allocated to heads, which are prohibited from being consumed as a drink, but they can be used for technical purposes;
• be sure to monitor the alcohol concentration; if the strength drops below 45°, you need to change the tank to a container for collecting tails;
• body – 80% of the total product, the product has pleasant aroma and is completely usable;

As for the tails, they are used to increase the alcohol concentration in finished product, this fraction is returned to the mash after the first distillation and before the second. They can also be used for external use.

It is up to the distiller to decide whether to do a second distillation or not. But experienced moonshiners do not recommend neglecting this method. This is quite understandable; the output will be pure product without harmful impurities which have a detrimental effect on human health.

VIDEO: How to properly improve the taste of moonshine

Distillate purification

After the second distillation, an important stage begins - additional purification. Most effective method filtering through milk will serve. It doesn’t matter which one to use – homemade or store-bought – in both cases it contains milk protein, which reacts with harmful impurities.

To separate raw materials, you can even use powdered milk, previously (2-2.5 hours before) diluted with water. Next, the mixture is introduced by analogy with regular milk.

1. Prepare necessary ingredients. In our case, you will need 250 ml of milk per 1.5 liters of fortified drink. As soon as you start to inject, a reaction will be immediately noticeable - albumin and casein, which are part of the protein, begin to bind fusel and acid molecules, forming a flaky sediment.
2. Pour the product into moonshine and leave to infuse for 7 days in a dark place. For the first 5 of them, shake the jar vigorously every day; during the last 24 hours, don’t touch it at all so that the sediment thickens.
3. A week later, the distillate is carefully drained from the sediment, passed through a gauze and cotton-carbon filter, after which the product is ready for distillation.

Cleansing with milk is considered the most gentle and at the same time effective way, which preserves the “soul” of the drink and remains mild in taste.

After the moonshiner decides whether a second distillation is needed for his product and carries out all the above procedures, he can further refine his product. For this purpose, recipes for infusing moonshine with herbs, spices, fruits, and berries are used. From such a product you can get cognac, absinthe, rum, medicinal tincture or real homemade whiskey.

If the distillate is prepared using fruit mash, it is recommended to use only carbon filters between distillation and at the end ( coal column) without chemical intervention (milk, soda, potassium permanganate, etc.).

VIDEO: How to work with milk correctly

The third approach - benefit or harm?

Making homemade alcohol should be treated without excessive enthusiasm. The only way the third distillation of moonshine can affect the product is to reduce its volume. Moreover, if wine alcohol is prepared from grape chacha, then, on the contrary, a third distillation is necessary. It is usually used to make brandy and cognac.

If there is a goal to make moonshine of even higher quality, then it is better to purchase a moonshine still with a distillation column. This unit will serve as the best assistant in the task of more accurately separating the body, heads and tails. And at the end you get pure rectified alcohol with a strength of 85-90°.

Popular Distillation Questions

1. Is it necessary to do fractional distillation if the apparatus has a steamer?

Yes need. Due to the temperature difference, the steam steam tank (reflux condenser) traps impurities, but in small quantities. It is even more needed to protect against mash getting into the refrigerator (splash carryover). In any case, fractional distillation cannot be abandoned.

1. Is it necessary fractional distillation when working with fruit mash?

Yes, I need it. The concentration of fusel milk, acids and alcohols in them is no less than in sugar and grain. It is advisable to run 2, but for wine alcohol even 3 times, but clean not with soda or potassium permanganate, but with charcoal. This way the characteristic taste will be preserved.

1. How many tails and heads to take from sugar mash?

Everyone has their own way. When selecting heads, we recommend focusing on sugar - on average, about 100 ml for each kg of fermented sugar for both stages. It turns out that on the first you collect 50 ml from each kg, and on the second the same amount. The tails are cut off (drained into another container) as soon as the strength drops below 40° - you can use an alcohol meter or set fire to spoons in the old-fashioned way.

1. At what temperature should the mash be brewed?

Most moonshine stills maintain the temperature at 78-83°C to ensure a crystal clear product.

VIDEO: Homemade Hennessy

Progress never stands still. And even in the production of strong alcoholic drinks at home, technologies are improved every year. Primitive distillers were replaced by distillers with a steamer, and they, in turn, are gradually being replaced by mash and distillation columns. indicate that the mash column makes it possible to obtain a product of a higher degree of purification than when using a distiller with a steamer. This article is dedicated to mash (or film) columns.

The principle of operation of the mash column

The operation of any moonshine still is based on the principle of distillation - the evaporation of liquid followed by its condensation. Thus, a mixture of liquids with different temperatures boiling is successfully separated into separate fractions. However, it is the quality of separation of these fractions that ultimately determines the quality of the resulting drink.

The mash column (film column, reinforced distiller) is more complex in structure than the steamer. Whereas the steamer simply comes into contact with the air environment, the column is equipped with an additional (strengthening) refrigerator, in addition to the usual (condensing) one.
Thanks to the feed cold water In the reinforcing column, the vapors rising from the cube are partially condensed, forming the so-called phlegm. This thick liquid, forming a film on the walls of the column, flows back into the distillation cube. That is why the mash column is often called a film column.
The flowing phlegm is enriched with high-boiling impurities rising towards it and carries these impurities with it into the cube. The remaining non-condensed alcohol vapors become stronger and take away the rising alcohol fractions with them. It turns out that in the column there is a more accurate separation of fractions than in the distillation cube. Thus, both the strength of the distillate at the outlet and its purification from tail fractions increases significantly.

When distilling using a column, there is no need to talk about such a thing as “splash carryover”, since all unnecessary components flow back into the cube. An important point is also the fact that mash column There is a thermometer installed that allows you to monitor the temperature of the vapor and accurately cut off fractions. This happens by adjusting the water supply to the reflux condenser (strengthening the refrigerator). The less cooling water, the less strengthening occurs, and the greater the distillate flow reaches the outlet of the cooling refrigerator. If you want to get a distillate of higher strength and purity, then more water is supplied to cool the reflux condenser. But distillation in this case will take a lot of time.

As you can see, the principle of operation of the mash column in moonshine still not that complicated. It is only important to get used to adjusting the water supply: visible temperature changes do not occur immediately. The system is inertial, so you need to regulate the water slowly, pausing for 20-30 seconds to establish a new equilibrium in the column. But precisely thanks to precise adjustment temperature regime due to the refrigerator, more precise selection heads Yes, and tails too.

As for, there are absolutely no restrictions here. The mash column is especially well suited for producing drinks that imply the absence of the flavoring and aromatic properties of the raw materials used for the mash.

Fundamental difference from a dry steamer

In an apparatus with a steam steamer, some of the heads (and this is acetone, ethers, methanol - in a word, everything that boils at a temperature lower than alcohol) inevitably “slips” into the product. The steamer is in contact with the air in the room, and the temperature of this air is usually constant throughout the entire process and is high enough (for the comfort of the distiller himself). And since in this case it is difficult to create a more significant temperature difference, ethers and alcohols with a boiling point close to the boiling point of alcohol will inevitably end up in the product. The column allows you to accurately verify desired temperature vapors and maintain it for a long time.

In the case of tailings (fusel oils and heavy esters), cooling is even more preferable than reheating the steam (as happens in a steam boiler). And when working on a column with reinforcement, it is better to lower the temperature and not add a little alcohol than to let a “bouquet of tails” into the product, which will ruin the drink. It turns out that when working with a mash column, we have a choice: either maximum strengthening (here we regulate the temperature regime), or the maximum possible speed (we do not regulate anything, and we get the result as when working with a dry steamer).

Continuous mash column - what is the difference

There is also the concept of a continuous mash column. This unit allows you to distill large quantities mash. The principle of operation of a continuous mash column is that the distillation process is ongoing, portions of mash are continuously fed into the system, and a pump is included in the package. The operation of such a column implies large production volumes (from 100 liters of mash) and the production of only liquids with a low boiling point (up to 76-78°C). Thus, there is no question of separating the head fraction here, and a second distillation will definitely be required. Whether such a unit is necessary at home is a controversial issue.

Advantages of using a mash column

The film (mash) column allows you to strictly adhere to the production technology strong alcohol at home, as well as carry out high-quality purification of the distillate from harmful impurities and fusel oils. Precise adjustment of the distillation temperature allows you to achieve high strength and purity of the drink, which is important when using it in. When working correctly, a film column allows you to obtain a higher quality distillate than when using a dry steamer. Well, in the case of using additional attachments (tsargs), such a column completely turns into a rectification column.