Homemade Honey Moonshine

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make honey moonshine at home? Gather your ingredients. Any honey works — even old honey, even old honey still in the comb (in that case you'll need to strain the mash). My yeast is dry today, but you can use fresh.

2. Step 2:

   

   Stir the honey into the water, bring it to a boil, and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, skimming off the foam.

3. Step 3:

   

   Cool the syrup to room temperature, then pour it into a fermentation vessel.

4. Step 4:

   

   Dissolve the yeast in warm water. To keep the yeast alive, the water should be no hotter than 104°F (40°C). See the note at the end of the recipe for more.

5. Step 5:

   

   Wait until the yeast activates — a foamy cap forms on the surface. With fresh yeast this usually takes about 10 minutes. Pour the yeast water into the fermentation vessel.

6. Step 6:

   

   Stir everything together. The vessel should be no more than two-thirds full. Large glass jars work best for this.

7. Step 7:

   

   Stretch a disposable glove over the mouth of the jar, then set it in a warm, dark place. The temperature should be 68–82°F (20–28°C).

8. Step 8:

   

   When the glove inflates, fermentation has begun. It can take 10 to 18 days — mine took 14.

9. Step 9:

   

   Once the glove deflates, the mash is ready to distill. If you used regular honey (not comb honey), there's no need to strain it — just pour the mash into the still. Strain comb-honey mash through a cheesecloth-lined sieve.

10. Step 10:

    

    Assemble the still according to its instructions. If your model uses them, hook up all the cooling-water hoses. Set it over low heat. Once the temperature reaches 158°F (70°C), turn on the cold water. Throughout the run, watch the temperature — it shouldn't rise above 176°F (80°C). Collect the moonshine in a separate container. It's ready to drink as is, but I recommend a second distillation.

11. Step 11:

    

    A second run gives a cleaner product with no off odors. Dilute the moonshine down to about 20% ABV (use 500 ml of water per 1 liter of moonshine). Pour it back into the still and run it the same way. On this second run, collect the first 100 ml and the last 100 ml separately — those "heads" and "tails" are loaded with fusel oils and harmful, so discard them.

12. Step 12:

    

    Pour the remaining moonshine into bottles and let it rest for a couple of days. Please drink responsibly!