Apricot Moonshine recipe
In the classic recipe without yeast and sugar that is one of the most aromatic fruit distillates with a soft sophisticated taste. The technique of making apricot moonshines depends on the main aim: the quality, yield or time consumption. We’ll look over all of these variants.
You can use ripe and overripe apricots of any variety. You can even pick bruised and very small ones. The main thing is that the fruits are not tainted or moldy.
Ingredient:
• Apricots – 22 lbs/10 kg
• Water – 3.1-4 gl/8-15 liters
• Sugar – 11 lbs/5 kg (optional)
• Yeast – 3.5 oz/100 grams of compressed or 0.02 oz/20 grams of dry (optional)
Depending on the variety and region of growing apricots contain up to 11% of fructose. This means that without adding sugar from 22 lbs/10 kg of fruits you’ll get about 0.3 gl/1.2 liters with 40% ABV at best. Adding sugar according to the proportions in the recipe will increase the yield to 2 gl/7 liters, but it will harm organoleptic. If the fruits are very sweet, I recommend making apricot moonshine without sugar or yeasts. You’ll get real German Schnapps. You should add sugar to sour apricots; otherwise, you’ll be unpleasantly surprised with the final product.
Fruits themselves contain wild yeasts which carry out their purpose perfectly. Their only flaw is long fermentation. The brew will be ready only after 25-40 days. Adding standard distillers yeasts reduces the fermentation time to 4-10 days but affects the smell and taste. That’s why it’s best to make an apricot brew with wild yeasts. However, if you want it quicker, go for the distillers yeast.
Apricot Brew Recipe
1. Remove pits from Apricots (If you plan to use Distillers yeast, you can was appricots, if want wild yeast to make fermentation it’s important not to wash apricots, otherwise wild yeast will be washed out). Pits arre removed because they might make the moonshine bitter.
2. Process apricot pulp into a homogenous mash by hands or using a meat grinder or blender. Then put this mash into a fermentation container.
3. Add water, sugar and distilling yeasts according to the manual (for fast fermentation). Stir it up. If you don’t use sugar you’ll need 2.1-2.6 gl/8-10 liters of water. With sugar – 4 gl/15 liters.
4. Install an airlock on the bottleneck of the container and put it in a dark place with room temperature. Depending on chosen yeasts after 2-48 hours you’ll see the first signs of fermentation: foaming and hissing. After a few days the airlock will start emitting gas (bubbling).
5. With wild yeasts apricot brew ferments for 25-40 days, with distilling yeast – up to 10 days. The fermentation is finished when the airlock stops emitting gas, the brew becomes brighter and bitter, and there’s sediment at the bottom. It is now time for distillation.
Getting Moonshine from Apricots
6. Pour the brew through gauze into a moonshine still. Filtering is necessary in order for the remains of the pulp not burn during the distillation process and not spoil the taste.
7. Distill the brew in a moonshine still of any design. Stop drawing off the distillate after the ABV drops below 30%. It is preferable not to clarify the moonshine with coal or other techniques, because it may cause it to lose part of its aroma. Second distillation might improve the quality.
8. Dilute the drawn off distillate with water decreasing ABV to 18-20%. Distill it once again.
9. Draw off the first 50-100 ml of the yield (200-250 ml if you added sugar) separately. That’s a harmful fraction called “heads”, you shouldn’t drink it. Finish drawing off the distillate until the potency of the yield drops below 40 degrees. That’s the product we need.
10. Dilute the apricot moonshine with water until you get desirable ABV (around 40-45%). Mature it for 1-2 days in a dark cold place before consuming.
