*DISCLAIMER: This is for educational purposes only. Consult your local laws, follow the instructions at your own risk. I accept no responsibility for YOUR actions.
Now that nonsense is out of the way, let's get to the good stuff!
Things you will need:
Fermentation tank. For the beginner or small batch maker a 5 gallon bucket with airtight lid.
Fermentation bubbler
Sugar TurboYeast
Water distiller
Prepare your bucket by measuring the bung size of your fermentation bubbler and drilling a hole in the center of the bucket lid. Accuracy is important because we want to maintain an airtight seal. Once this is done add a bit of water to the bubbler following its instructions.
Now to make a simple recipe moonshine you are going to need some corn. The cheapest way is to use cracked corn or whole kernel feed corn. This can be found at your local farm supply store. One bag of either is less than twenty dollars (US) and will yield many batches.
Preparation of the corn if using the above mentioned: Fill a medium sized pot ( approximate 12 cup sized pot) about a third to halfway full with corn and top off with water.
If your water has chlorine, iron, or other "purifying" chemicals DO NOT USE IT! Yeast is not very happy in treated water and good booze does not come from iron water. This applies to wine and beer as well but more with distillates like brandies and etc. Boil the feed corn for about an hour. Stir often and you will have to add more water as the corn will rehydrate as you cook it. After the corn is finished cooking add about 5-6 lbs. of sugar to your bucket. Pour the cooked corn solution through a colander into the bucket. Add additional water as needed in order to dissolve the sugar. Take some corn from the colander and add it to the bucket. No more than a couple of cups worth. Fill the bucket no higher than six inches from where the bottom of the lid will be. Fermentation requires headroom or foam will come up through the bubbler. Avoid this because this will result in more methanol production. More on methanol later.
Once the mix has cooled to below ninety degrees Fahrenheit, you can either stir in the turbo yeast directly or pitch the yeast. I prefer to pitch the yeast. To do this slightly warm a cup of water with a couple of teaspoons of sugar dissolved in it and the stir in the yeast. You notice after a few minutes a head forming. Once the head is visibly growing stir the contents into your bucket and close the lid. Your bubbler should soon start to bubble and it will get faster as time goes on. Keep your bucket in a warm place for best results. You can use any kind of yeast for this recipe but I prefer turbo because it will finish within a few days with a high alcohol content.
Once the bubbles have stopped the fermentation process has completed. You should taste the wort. If their is any sweetness it is likely that the yeast slowed to a crawl because your bucket is in too cool a place. Likely the wort will taste sour, look milky, and smell like a strong beer.
Before distilling you must strain out all corn bits and press their juices back into the liquid. These bits will burn easily in a water distiller and give your shine a bad flavor. Generally speaking a normal water distiller is not the best thing to use but they are cheap. This is also a very time consuming process that you must pay close attention to. This part is a bit hazardous as well because alcohol vapor is more flammable than liquid alcohol. Although the risk is small please take note.
THIS PART IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!! The fermentation process yields 2 kinds of alcohol. Methanol is the first to distill and it can cause death or blindness. It has a boiling temperature of 167 degrees Fahrenheit. It will be the first to come out of the distiller, throw it away. You will have to do this every time you refill the water distiller.
The alcohol we are going to drink is ethanol. It has a boiling temperature of about 185 degrees Fahrenheit give or take. Methonal burns red ethanol burns blue. So remember if its red you're dead.
There is no way to control the temperature of virtually all water distillers. What I did, was I would periodically light a couple drops on a spoon. When it stops lighting it is time to refill the distiller.
Each run through the distiller will take more than hour and you will kill the better part of a day doing the whole bucket. There will be time to kill while each batch gets to temperature. If you save the solution that is left after distilling, you can simply add some sugar and re-ferment. Maybe add some corn if you want a stronger corn flavor.
The process for rum: No corn (unless you want to experiment). Dissolve seven pounds of brown sugar and a half cup of black strap molasses into your bucket with some turbo as stated above and ferment then distill.
The process for brandy uses fruit juice and sugar adding depends on how sweet the juice is. You will also want to use turbo for wine or champagne yeast. If you use apple cider get it from the orchard because the pasteurized version at the store does not turn out right. For all other kinds of juice concentrates can be used at double strength. Also hard apple cider is a great marinade and tenderizer for bbq meats and smoking. Remember to use charcoal or wood because its well worth the time.
Final notes: Since distillates start at a higher proof and get weaker mix the runs together for a consistent abv.
This will get you started and there are tons of recipes out there. Don't be afraid to experiment.
I have never aged any of the above because even small charred barrels are expensive. I will however do so at some point. I hope you find this information useful. CHEERS!
