Moonshine is a high-proof liquor with an extensive history. It was deemed illegal in the past and is still derived illegally sometimes. However, certain producers have started labelling their liquor products as moonshine and are selling it commercially on a larger scale.
It was given the name moonshine since it was derived at night time, hidden from the authorities. Moonshine has really high proof level, that is why it is considered to be illegal.
The moonshine can have a proof level of up to 190 proof. That makes it highly strong and illegal in most of the states as well. That is the reason you will not find moonshine easily in some liquor stores, or the one you are getting commercially doesn’t have the actual tendencies of moonshine either on them.
Moonshine is pretty cool stuff and is usually clear as any other liquid liquor that you can get. But, if you are feeling that your moonshine is getting cloudy, here are a few factors to know about it.
Cloudy Moonshine
1. Temperature
The most important factor, that would contribute to the clear or cloudy moonshine is the temperature that you keep while making the liquor. It is pretty clear and you will need to be very precise with the temperature that you are keeping while dealing with the spirits to make Moonshine.
It is pretty simple, and if your temperature is really low, you will not be able to get the moonshine done properly. However, raising the temperature too high will cause the spirits to evaporate and then when they are condensing in the column to come back into your collecting vessel, that will turn your distillate to be cloudy.
That is why, if you are thinking about making the moonshine, then you will need to be careful about all the factors, and ensure that not only you are well aware of the perfect temperature that you need to make it all work properly. Not only, do you need to know the right temperature settings, but you also need to have the right equipment that can maintain that specific temperature for you.
2. Fusel Oils
Fusel oils that might be contaminating your moonshine can also be a reason for it to turn out cloudy. However, if you are doing it right, and know the process to be followed, you can get it sorted out pretty easily without having to deal with any such issues.
If you are using essential oils to make the moonshine, a certain level of cloudiness is unavoidable and the fats with oils can be causing all that haze after cooling down. It would be better to use spirits and alcohol. There can be contamination with the alcohol as well, so you will need to end the process sooner to prevent those fusel oils from making their way into the collection vessel. It will increase the work for you, but the more effort you put in, the better results you will be able to achieve.
3. Use Filtered Water
Water is the best thing for distillation process and it is used with all sorts of liquor to lower down the proof level on these liquor types. The same goes for moonshine as well, and water is used for the distillation process. Most people making the moonshine use water during the process to cool down all the alcohol there, and also to distillate it at the same time.
However, if you are using tap water for that, it can have certain impurities that might later cause your moonshine to turn out hazy when it is cooled down. It goes without saying that tap water can have other metals or elements in them that you need to be careful about.
So, if you are using tap water to make moonshine, it would be a better choice to be using filtered water. The filtered water contains no such impurities, and if you are using the good filtered water, that should be enabling you to have clear moonshine as you would like.
Be mindful that tap water might look clear on higher temperatures, but once it cools down, it can turn out cloudy. That is why, you will need to ensure that you are only using filtered water for distillation.