Beetroot moonshine

I wash the sugar beet, cut off the skin from it, and then cut the root vegetables into medium-sized cubes. After they need to be crushed, for example, twisted in a meat grinder. We transfer the beet mass together with the released liquid into a saucepan, pour water. You need so much water that the volume of beetroot mass has doubled exactly. The pan must be chosen large.

Put the pan on high heat, bring to a boil, stirring. When the mass boils, reduce the heat to a minimum and cook the beets for an hour. After the heating is turned off, and the pan is covered with a lid. We leave the beet mass in this form for 4-5 hours (until it cools completely).

Now the beetroot mass needs to be filtered through gauze, folded in several layers (at least three). Squeeze the grounds well from the juice. Pour the filtered liquid into a large saucepan and put it back on high heat, bring it to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium and cook the juice until it thickens. Turn off the heating and leave the contents of the pan to cool down again.

When the liquid cools down to 35-38 degrees, pour it into a container suitable for fermentation. Glass or enameled is better. The size should also be suitable - the container should not be filled more than three quarters of the total volume. This is important because during fermentation the mass will increase. Top up the water in the proportions of 1: 1.

Then we dilute yeast with a small amount of juice, add to the total mass, mix everything well. We install a water seal on the container and remove the container to a warm (room temperature) and dark place for 10 days. During this time, the fermentation process should begin and end. The end of fermentation is indicated by the precipitate that has fallen at the bottom and the silence of the hydraulic lock. At the same time, beetroot braga itself has a bitter taste and practically does not contain sweets.

So, we drain the liquid, without affecting the sediment, into the alembic. We distill the braga, we make a selection until the strength of the liquid in the jet becomes below 30 degrees. After diluting the resulting liquid with water, so that the strength of the liquid is 20 degrees. Of course, you can't do without an alcohol meter.

Now we filter the liquid, for which we use birch charcoal. We are constructing a structure called a "watering can". From a one-and-a-half-liter plastic bottle, cut off the bottom, then put cotton wool in the bottle, pour coal on top. We filter the moonshine through a "watering can".

Now you need to overtake the moonshine for the second time. And this time we select the "head" - the first 20% of the liquid. The "head" is used only for technical purposes, since it contains substances harmful to the human body. The "head" is never used internally. Next comes the "body" - the main product for which everything was started. We make a selection until the fortress in the jet is below 50 degrees. The "tails" are what's left in the cube. They are also not used.

Moonshine, which turned out in the end, needs to be diluted with water again to a strength of 40-45 degrees.

Everything is ready!