Honey Cracked Corn Moonshine Recipe
Make moonshine the traditional way with a sweet twist. Check out our honey cracked corn moonshine recipe.
Why Make Moonshine?
Making moonshine is a great hobby that can take simple ingredients and turn them into delicious spirits all in the comforts of home.
While making moonshine is an American tradition, it didn't actually originate in the United States. In fact, the term moonshine was used as far back as the 15th century in Europe.
When European settlers came to North America they brought the art of fermenting grain into alcohol with them. Traditional moonshine recipes have been passed down from generation to generation.
If you want to make moonshine the traditional way, you can't go wrong with cracked corn.
How Different Grains Affect the Taste of Moonshine
The type of grain you use in your moonshine plays a significant role in shaping its final flavor profile.
Corn: the most common choice, yields a neutral spirit with a slight sweetness.
Barley: introduces grainy and earthy notes, while rye contributes a spicy kick. Wheat offers a smoother, more delicate character,
Rye: can add unique nutty or floral nuances.
Ultimately, the grain selection provides the foundation upon which fermentation and distillation techniques build the complexity of your moonshine.
How to Make a Moonshine Mash
To begin, gather all the necessary ingredients and equipment. Making moonshine requires speciality equipment to ensure a great output. At How to Moonshine, we offer equipment to suit everyone from beginners to serious shiners. Our Starer Kit is a great option to get you started.
The first step of making moonshine is called making a mash. While the ingredients in the mash can vary, the process is generally the same. When using a grain base for your moonshine you need to heat the mixture and 'cook' it for about 90 minutes. This time is needed to convert the starches in the mash into fermentable sugar. You can test to make sure this has occured with a simple iodine test.
This conversion is not necessary when using a fruit-based mash or a sugar, brown sugar or honey recipe.
Benefits of Making Moonshine Mash with Cracked Corn and Honey
When it comes to making moonshine mash, using cracked corn provides a range of benefits that enhance the overall quality of the beverage.
The cracked corn plays a crucial role in the conversion process, resulting in a mash that is rich in fermentable sugars.
This is due to the fact that starches in the cracked corn are broken down into sugars, which yeast can then convert into alcohol during fermentation.
Additionally, the inclusion of cracked corn adds a smooth sweetness to the moonshine mash. This sweetness is complimented by the use of honey, which further enhances the flavor profile.
The combination of cracked corn and honey results in a mash that has a well-rounded and delightful taste, making it highly enjoyable to consume.
Distilling with honey can offer some interesting flavor profiles in your final product, but it's important to manage expectations. Here's what you might experience:
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Unique Flavor: Honey can impart a floral and slightly sweet character to your distillate. This can be especially appealing for those who enjoy a smoother spirit.
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Potential for Complexity: Depending on the type of honey used (different floral sources can vary the taste), your distillate might pick up subtle hints that reflect those flowers. This can add a layer of complexity to the final product.
Furthermore, cracked corn contributes to the texture of the moonshine mash by providing a creamy consistency. To achieve this, it is recommended to bring the cracked corn to a boil and then simmer it for at least an hour or more.
This longer simmering time ensures effective gelatinization, where the starches in the corn break down, allowing for a creamy texture to be developed in the mash.
Equipment Needed to Make Moonshine
While making a moonshine mash can often occur in a kitchen, you probably aren't going to be able to use your current kitchen equipment to complete the job. This is because the quantities required in most moonshine recipes require specialized equipment. In addition, there is specialized equipment that is necessary to ferment and distill your moonshine.
Moonshine Kettle and Mash Paddle
Making a moonshine mash often requires large quantities of ingredients that would not fit in the typical kitchen pot. Using a moonshine kettle allows you to easily incorporate your moonshine mash ingredients.
The introduction of a mash paddle, which is designed to facilitate ingredient incorporation in larger pots, simplifies the process.
Cheesecloth allows you to easily remove solids from your mash and a thermometer and hydrometer will help with starch conversion and help with fermentation and to determine ABV (alcohol by volume).
You can easily get everything you need in one kit with our moonshine starter kit. Our Starter Kit Includes:
- Moonshine Kettle
- Mash Paddle
- Cheesecloth
- Hydrometer (Deluxe)
- Moonshine Thermometer
- How to Make Moonshine E-book
Fermentation
Once you have made your moonshine mash, it is time to ferment. There are several options when it comes to fermentation. Typically, this is done with a large receptacle with an airtight lid and airlock.
Fortunately, there are some distillers that are both a fermentor and a still. These all-in-one options are a great way to save money and storage space while making your shine.
For those who prefer a separate fermentation vessel, there are some great options available as well.
Level 1 Starter Kit
Our Level 1 Starter Kit is a great option for anyone who wants to take fermentation to the next level.
This kit includes:
- Fermenter- 32L w/Lid and Grommet
- Airlock
- Thermometer- Stick-On
- Plastic Spoon
- Stainless Steel Siphon w/Clear PVC Tubing
- Alcoholmeter- 30cm- Premium
- Hydrometer- 30cm- dual scale- Premium
- Test Cylinder- Glass- 13"
- 2 x High Spirits Turbo 48 Turbo Yeast
What is Distillation?
Distillation is the process of separating a mixture of liquids by exploiting their differences in boiling points. A gallon pot still is one type of apparatus commonly used in distillation.
It consists of a large pot or kettle used as a boiler, a condensing unit, and a collection vessel. The mixture to be distilled is heated in the boiler, causing the volatile components to vaporize. These vapors rise through a column and are then condensed back into liquid form, resulting in the separation of the desired alcohol or spirit.
A traditional pot still operates on a simple principle. The vapor rises from the boiling mixture and directly enters the condenser. Once condensed, the liquid is then collected. This method is relatively straightforward and is suitable for producing spirits with distinct flavors and aromas.
On the other hand, a reflux still is designed to maximize the separation of different components in the mixture. It does this by utilizing a fractionating column. Within this column, the rising vapors encounter packing material that creates a larger surface area for condensation to occur.
As the vapors condense, they undergo a reflux process, falling back down through the column and re-distilling. This repeated condensation and re-distillation result in higher purity and more efficient separation of the desired components.
