What is the first cut of moonshine called?

The foreshots are the first vapors to boil off during distillation. These contain the most volatile alcohols and should not be ingested, as they contain methanol and other undesirables. Commercial distillers always discard the foreshots and never consume them.

What are the stages of moonshine?

Let's delve into the homemade moonshine whiskey making process.

• Step 1: Choosing Your Preferred Type of Mash. ...
• Step 2: Making Moonshine Mash. ...
• Step 3: Fermentation and Straining Process of making Moonshine. ...
• Step 4: Distillation process. ...
• Step 5: Collecting Your Moonshine.

Why do you throw away the first bit of moonshine?

This means that methanol (148F boiling temp) will start to boil before the ethanol (174F boiling temp). This is why commercial distillers always throw out the first bit of shine they produce from each production run (more on this below).

What are cuts in moonshine?

The process: Making cuts

Making cuts refers to the process of switching out the container collecting the distillate, separating it into four different stages: foreshots, heads, hearts and tails. One of the hallmarks of a seasoned distiller is the ability to gauge the right moment to transition between those stages.

What does tails mean in moonshine?

Tails: A distillate containing a high percentage of fusel oil and little alcohol at the end of the run.

How does bad MOONSHINE make you go BLIND?

Can you drink the tails in distilling?

The main distillate or condensed steam collected from the still. The hearts or body comes off between the "heads" and "tails" and is the most desired part of the distillate as it will be the part that tastes the best and is of the best quality. Tails: The last portion of alcohol that is produced from most stills.

Why do they shake moonshine?

Discovery broke down the science of what, exactly, the moonshiners are looking for when shaking their jars of whiskey. "When shiners shake a jar of moonshine to check the proof, they're observing the size of the resulting bubbles and how long they take to dissipate," a video on the topic explains.

Why is the first distillate discarded?

The more volatile components such as acetone, methanol and the various esters are undesirable; methanol for instance has been known to cause blindness. It is common practice to throw away the first portion of the distillate, this way you will get rid of the methanol.

What is a cut in distillation?

Distillation cuts are the output streams from a distillation tower. They are called "cuts" because they are the result of separating the crude oil into its constituent parts based on the different temperatures at which they evaporate and condense (e.g., cut points).

What is the difference between heads and Foreshots?

Foreshots (that come off at low temp) contian higher concentrates of methanol, acetone and othere low volitials. You want to get rid of these, put em in your Coleman lamp or use them for cleaning solvent. Heads on the other hand are mostly ethanol, but there are still traces of nasties mixed in.

Why does moonshine give me a headache?

Alcohol not only contains a chemical called histamine, but it also spurs your immune system to make more. This boosts inflammation throughout your body. A chemical called ethanol is alcohol's main ingredient. Once it gets into your system, it is converted into a chemical that triggers migraine.

How much head do you throw away when distilling?

Always discard the foreshots — they make up around 5% or less of the product collected during a run. Throw out the first 30 ml on a 1 gallon run, the first 150 ml on a 5 gallon run, or the first 300 ml on a 10 gallon run. Heads come off of the still directly after the foreshots. Simply put, they taste and smell bad.

What do you do with heads and tails distilling?

Some distilleries discard the whiskey heads and tails but many municipalities require onsite remediation before dumping them down the drain. Many other distilleries recycle the whiskey heads and tails by adding them to the next batch of fermenting mash.

What are the heads of moonshine?

The distillate's initial part is called the “head,” and the head's own initial part is called the “foreshot.” The foreshot contains most of the toxic methanol produced as a fermentation byproduct. Most traditional distilleries have a significant amount of foreshots from their pot stills.

How many times should you distill moonshine?

If the mash contains less than about 10 %ABV alcohol, you have to distill twice (double distillation). If the alcohol content is higher than that, a simple distillation is completely sufficient.

Is Everclear moonshine?

Both Everclear and Moonshine are unaged spirits; however, Everclear is made from grain and Moonshine from corn. Everclear is a brand name of a neutral-tasting, very potent grain alcohol. Moonshine is a general term used to describe illegally produced corn whiskey.

What are the whiskey cuts?

Pot stills allow the smaller guys to batch their whiskies and manipulate the cuts they make in the distillate. During distillation, whiskey comes off the still in three main sections, commonly known as the “heads, hearts, and tails.” Here we discuss what each of these means for the creation of small-batch whiskeys.

Why do you throw away the heads?

Collecting the Heart

Once the distiller makes the first cut, the heads are generally either disposed of or redistilled in able to collect more alcohol from them. After the distiller has decided that the quality of the incoming distillate is good enough to keep for drinking purposes, they will cut to “hearts”.

Why is it necessary to discard the first few drops of distillate?

The first few drops collected are the forerun that contains low boiling impurities and should be discarded. If, after you heat your distillation pot for a while and you notice no distillate, you may need to insulate your fractionating column and distillation pot with cotton and aluminum foil.

How do Distillers remove methanol?

Fortunately, you can reduce the amount of methanol produced by avoiding fermenting fruits that are high in pectin and doing so with healthy yeast at controlled temperatures. Then, when distilling, make careful cuts to remove the 'fores' and 'heads' which contain the methanol at the start of distillation.

Can you drink 180 proof moonshine?

In case you never were told the definition of proof, 200 proof is 100% alcohol, 180 proof is 90% alcohol, etc. About the most a person can comfortably drink is 100 to 120 proof.

How much will a 5 gallon still make?

For the instant gratification seekers in the crowd, here's the short answer: A 1 gallon run will yield 3-6 cups of alcohol. A 5 gallon run will yield 1-2 gallons of alcohol.