Making your liquor isn’t all big machines and plants and warehouses. It’s something you can make in the comfort of your own home. Homemade hooch is a lot easier to make than you’d think. All you have to do is get a few key products, follow a recipe, and wait for your booze too, well, become booze. 

Not only is this a money-saver, once you wait the two-to-ten days for your alcohol to ferment, but this process will also finally let you live out your Prohibition fantasies. Of course, the moonshine you make will be legal, and you won’t get raided at all hours of the night, which kind of takes away from the thrill of making alcohol, but you’ll get a taste of yesteryear that you can chase with homemade alcohol. 

Before you make ‘homemade brewer’ your main personality trait, it’s important to drink in moderation, especially when you’re in charge of your liquor. We don’t condone the abuse of alcoholic beverages. Drink responsibly. And by the end of this article, drink something you can make in your kitchen.

Step by Step Guide

Safety Precautions

There’s more to alcohol [1] than drinking it. The key factors you need to be aware of, above all else, are temperature and cleanliness. Otherwise, your alcohol will be wasted, and you won’t be.

If fermentation is compromised by a temperature that is too warm or too cool, the batch of alcohol you make will be compromised as well. 

And if we learned anything in the pandemic, it’s that cleanliness is close to godliness. From beginning to end, cleaning and sanitizing need to be an integral part of the entire alcohol-making process (and an integral part of any kitchen process). That’s because cleaning removes the dirt you can see and sanitizing removes bacteria you can’t.

Equipment Needed 

Making your liquor will pay off in the long run — we promise. Getting started, and getting the right equipment won’t necessarily break the bank, but it could put a dent in it. But because the equipment you need can (and will) be reused, it’s just a one-time bulk purchase. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• A bucket (at least seven gallons)     

• A thermometer

• A hydrometer

• A spirit hydrometer (range from 70%-100& ABV)

• A medium easy start siphon with a flow stopper and bucket clip

• A mixing paddle

• Another bucket with a lid bored for immersion heater

• And finally an air still

Ingredients Needed

In this article, we’re covering the basics of how to make your liquor. Beer is so yesterday and wine is just a little too basic for our tastes. How about having your whiskey? 

The Moonshiners Manual [2] has a simple list of ingredients you’ll need to make your mash (that’s what the cool kids call homemade whiskey). What you may not know is that whiskey can be any of a variety of distilled liquors that are made from a fermented mash of cereal grains and aged in wooden containers, which are usually constructed of oak. Commonly used grains are corn, barley malt, rye, and wheat. For this one, though, we’re going to stick with corn. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Five to ten gallons of warm water

• Two and a half to five pounds of cracked corn

• Five to ten pounds of sugar

• A quarter-pound of yeast

• And one pint of molasses or one cup of unflavored malt

Alcohol Potency Calculator 

Think of making alcohol as a sort of science experiment. A fun, social science experiment that will eventually get you drunk. But there is a science to the distillation process. And you have to make sure that your ingredients line up with alcohol content. The American Home Distillers Association [3] has a free distilling calculator. All you have to do is plug in the numbers and let them do the hard part. This calculator is helpful in accurately determining how much water is required to dilute a given volume of alcoholic spirits at a known strength down to the desired strength. Any standard values can be used for the calculations just as long as they are consistent. For example, quarts, liters, ounces, or milliliters, as well as an ABV percentage or proof can be used. The calculator's default values are in milliliters and proof. Also note that the calculator labeling was worded to be a reminder that alcohol should be added to water, not water added to alcohol, to help reduce the possibility of clouding the resulting mixture.

Fermentation

 Now comes the part of the science experiment that’s a little more convoluted: the dependent variable that is fermentation. How long you will have to wait depends on a lot of things, some of them outside of your control. If the water was cooler than 90 degrees, the yeast isn't going to reproduce as quickly, and the whole process is going to get off to a slower start. If the water is cool, expect to wait longer. The yeast can vary in freshness, and that will make a difference. All in all, this fermentation process should take no more than a week. Once the mash is sticky and sickeningly sweet, you’ll know you’re heading in the right direction. If you love fermented drinks, skip the distilling process altogether.

Distilling 

Before getting to this part, make sure distilling is legal in your state. Once you’ve purchased your still, the waiting game begins. Your mash must be at the right temperature. It’s imperative to check and double-check that there are no leaks in your still [4]. That’s because once alcoholic vapor is produced, the whole operation becomes extremely combustible — which can result in explosions. When your mash is securely in a still, it's kind of out of your hands for a while. You need to make sure your mash is at a piping hot 80 degrees Celsius (if you buy a still, it should have a built-in thermometer), as that's the temperature where alcohol evaporates.

Aging

You can leave your liquor in a barrel for as long as you want. The longer you keep it in there, the more the alcohol will absorb the notes of oak, cedar, or other components from the wood. Within a day or two, the mash will turn a rich brown, but to get that whiskey taste you’ve grown to love, you’ll probably want to wait a few months or even a year. 

Storing 

Whiskey is much more durable than wine, and won’t mature or spoil within a sealed bottle. The biggest takeaway when storing your whiskey is to keep it someplace a little warmer. Cooling your whiskey won’t hurt it, but whiskey’s less flavorful when chilled. 

Buying Guide

• Want to keep track of when your whiskey is made and how long to wait before cracking it open? The Munbyn Thermal label printer comes with sticker labels that will go great with Personalized Whiskey Making Kit from Man Crates.

• As for the making of the alcohol, check out the Hydrometer Alcohol Meter Test Kit from Brewing America. 

• If you read this article and are serious about starting your hobby of homebrewing, go all out. Get the 10-gallon brew kettle from Beverage Factory, it’ll pair well with the Grainger Stirring Paddle.