Apple moonshine is considered by many to be the best drink. And most importantly - the most affordable, because every garden abounds in apples, and in winter this fruit can be bought at no extra cost. There is a small nuance - the correct recipe. In general, you can brew moonshine from any product, but it is the apple that is valued for its incredible taste and aroma. That is why we decided to reveal the secret of this drink.
Apple Moonshine Theory
This alcoholic beverage is among the ten most simple and tasty types of alcohol prepared at home. Its taste can not be compared with any other alcoholic beverage, even prepared in an industrial environment.
The popularity of this moonshine is due not only to the simplicity of the recipe, but also to the amazing taste and available raw materials - apples are easy to find and grow in our area. 
Did you know? Statists estimate that every second fruit tree on the planet is an apple tree.And these fruits are distinguished by a high percentage of sugar content - 8-15%. Consequently, from a kilogram of fruit you can get 85-150 ml of a drink with a strength of 40 °.
Selection of quality raw materials
Absolutely all varieties of apples are suitable for moonshine, including an off-spec product (central part, peel, fallen fruits). But the ideal option - whole juicy pieces of fragrant fruit without seeds. However, as experts say, it is generally not necessary. The main condition: fruits should not contain signs of spoilage.
Before processing, wash the apples is not recommended (unless it is very contaminated fruit). This rule is important to follow if the drink is made from apples alone, without yeast and granulated sugar. If you chose a recipe where these ingredients are present, you can safely wash the fruit.
Important! The sweeter the apples, the less sugar will be needed.Raw materials for moonshine do not have to be fresh fruit, you can take the waste remaining after squeezing the juice, the juice itself and dried fruits.
Learn how to make apple wine, vinegar and cider at home.
Braga
Apple beer is a universal product from which you can get excellent moonshine, and you can drink it as a separate low-alcohol beverage. The most popular type of home brew that is known to almost everyone is cider.
Whole apple braga
This recipe can be called "classics of the genre." You will need:
- 15 kg of ripe apples (you can one variety, but you can and assorted);
- 10 liters of water;
- 2 kg of granulated sugar;
- 10 g dry or 50 g pressed yeast.
Cooking sequence:
- Fruits are washed, pruned parts pruned, remove the stem and pith. Next, the fruits are cut in small slices, which then rub on a grater.
- The resulting mass is placed in a volumetric bottle and pour part of the water (9 liters). Add sugar to the rest of the water and mix well until the sand is completely dissolved. This syrup is then poured into the bottle.
- Yeast is poured with warm (+ 25 ... +28 ° C) water and allowed to ferment, after which everything is poured into the bottle and mixed.
- A hydraulic lock is installed on the container, closed and put in a warm place for 7-14 days. All this time, periodically you need to mix the brag and drown the resulting cap.
- The readiness of the drink is determined by the hydrometer. The indicator should be 0-1%. You can also determine the taste (the drink is not savory) and in appearance (a precipitate forms at the bottom of the container and no carbon dioxide is released).
Did you know? Apple seeds contain the dangerous substance amygdalin. Getting into the stomach, he, under the influence of hydrocyanic acid, turns into a strong poison.
Apple juice braga
To make apple mash it is not necessary to have fresh apples on hand, this drink can be obtained from the juice. For this you will need:
- apple juice - 15 liters;
- sugar (regulated depending on the degree of sweetness of the juice) - 3 kg;
- raw yeast - 200 g
Fermentation will last 25-30 days, after which the drink is ready for further distillation or consumption.
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Braga without yeast
Cooking a low-alcohol home brew is also possible without a leaven (because there is natural yeast on the skin of the fruit), using natural material - raisins or wheat germ. The result is a natural aromatic drink containing a minimum of alcohol. And you can drink it in the hot season to quench your thirst.
For the manufacture of yeast-free home brew will need:
- sweet apples - 10 kg;
- water - 3 l;
- sugar - 3 kg;
- raisins (if you decide to use it) or sprouted wheat - 100-150 g.
Important! Water must be drinking, but not boiled, otherwise the fermentation process is disturbed.Technology of preparation of brew without yeast.
- Ripe fruits are cleaned from contamination (do not wash!) And crushed to a uniform consistency. The resulting mixture is poured into an enamel bowl, add 1.5 liters of water there and pour 1 kg of sugar. All this is mixed, covered with gauze and placed in a warm place for 2-3 days.
- After the start of fermentation, everything is poured into a glass dish, poured the rest of the water, add granulated sugar and raisins (wheat). It is all mixed up, a water seal is placed on the neck and placed in a warm place for fermentation.
- Over time, the spent wort is poured into bottles, drunk chilled. If you overtake this brago, excellent apple brew will come out.
Cider
This option is prepared mainly from acidic varieties (sugar content - 7%, acidity - 0.5-0.7%).
A tasty drink can be obtained from a combination of several varieties, of which 10% are bitter, 70% are sweet or bitter-sweet, and 20% are sour.
Important! If pears are used in the recipe, they are equated to sour varieties.Unripe fruits are removed from the tree and placed in a warm place for ripening, after which the juice is squeezed out. The resulting cake squeeze again. The wort of the primary and secondary extraction is taken in a 4: 1 ratio.
In the preparation of this cider, yeast and sugar are not added to the product - fermentation takes place under the action of natural ingredients. However, to activate the process, it is necessary to separately prepare the leaven (3-5% of the total volume). For this, fruits (do not wash!) Are cut and mixed with sugar and water. All this before the start of fermentation is placed in a warm place. It is this starter and add to the wort.
Cider should ferment in a cool (not above +20 ° C) place 30-45 days. If the temperature is too low, the fermentation process may take 3-6 months.
For preparation, it is better to take roomy bottles and fill them with raw materials at 6/7. The glove is put on the neck, which, when filled with carbon dioxide, is removed and put on again.
When the wort ceases to ferment, the drink is ready for use or further distilled.
In folk medicine, various tinctures are widely used - propolis, green nut, peony, Adam's root, wax moth, goldenrod, bison, bee sting, aconite.
The process of distillation of apple samogon
Many who surpass apple brago notice the absence of a characteristic aroma in the final product. And the thing is that the mash should not be pre-filtered.
Of course, the must should be freed from the thick, but it should not be filtered. And you need to make sure that the mash is not burnt. Therefore, it is necessary to heat the container slowly. 
One of the basic principles of distillation is the division into "head", "heart" ("body") and "tails":
- "Head" is 200-250 ml and it is simply poured.
- "Tails" are obtained in 40 degrees. They are collected and distilled after repeated.
- The part that turned out in the middle is the “body” of the drink, which is used further.
Did you know? Many nations have their own types of moonshine. For example, in Ukraine it is a gorilka, in Hungary - palinka, in England - hooch, in Ireland - potin. Even the famous absinthe, brandy, whiskey and rum are also types of moonshine.
Calvados
This drink is produced by distilling cider on a special apparatus, followed by a long maturation in oak containers. However, real Calvados is made exclusively in Normandy, in the department of Calvados. In short, Calvados, like champagne, is the property of the nation. 
Producers take only medium-sized, fragrant categories of apples. And here the combination of different varieties is significant. For the classic drink take the following varieties:
- sweet and sour - 70%;
- bitter - 10%;
- sour - 20%.
After the first distillation, the so-called distillate is obtained, which in professional language is called aquavit or o-de-vi. To get really Calvados, it is poured into barrels and aged. Of course, it is desirable that the barrels were new, then the drink will penetrate the tannins and soak in the aroma. Only then can the future Calvados be poured into old containers.
Important! The peculiarity of Calvados is that it is not aged in one barrel, but is constantly poured, including mixed with other alcoholic beverages.Therefore, everything that is prepared at home is called apple brandy. But at home you can make an aromatic drink with an unforgettable taste.
This will require:- cider (6% strength) - 10 l;
- pulp - 10 kg;
- sugar - 1 tablespoon;
- purified water.
The resulting drink is drawn in barrels or in glass containers, adding oak sawdust. Sugar is added to the same distillation and the drink is put on aging (4-8 months).
After ripening, Calvados is filtered and poured into bottles for a week. Only after this period it can be tasted.
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Some practical tips
No matter how simple the recipes for making alcoholic drinks from apples seem, there are still nuances that should be taken into account. 
- To prepare, you need to take only high-quality fruits, discarding the caddis and rotten apples. If you have only fallen fruits, scrupulously process them, cutting off all rotted places, otherwise drinking will be too bitter.
- When placing the wort in a container, leave at least 10% of the empty space. This space is necessary for the formation of foam and carbon dioxide.
- Baker's yeast is not suitable for obtaining high-quality drink - they accelerate the fermentation process and the drink does not have time to get enough of a specific taste and aroma.
- You can simply add pieces of apples to a simple brew for moonshine. Thus, after fermentation, a refined drink will come out.
- You can experiment by adding different fruit and berry components. This is how a unique home brew with a taste of plums, pears and grapes will turn out. The main thing in this procedure is that the sugar content of the wort should be no higher than 20%, otherwise it will not ferment.
- If you were preparing a distillate based on apples and pears, it should either be drunk in the next few months, or left for aging in a barrel for at least a year. After six months, the drink temporarily loses its characteristic bouquet.
- It is possible to verify the quality of the selected material in this way: a kilogram of fruit is ground and left for several days. If they did not ferment, then it is better to refuse such raw materials.
