Vodka Recipe

Prepare Mash

Heat 15 l of clean water to 65°C. Add the 3 kg of mashed or crushed malted barley (or chosen cereal) slowly while stirring to avoid clumps to create the mash. Maintain temperature at 62–65°C for 60–90 minutes to allow enzymatic conversion of starches to fermentable sugars. If using low-starch materials or extra sugar, add the 50 g diastatic malt and stir thoroughly. If using added sugar, dissolve the 1 kg sugar in a small amount of warm water and add after the conversion period.

Mash Out and Cool

Raise the mash temperature to 75°C for 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity (mash out). Then cool the mash rapidly to 20–25°C using an ice bath or heat exchanger. Strain or lautering: separate the liquid wort from spent grains using a sieve or lauter tun; collect the wort in a sanitized fermentation vessel.

Prepare and Pitch Yeast

Measure wort volume and adjust to roughly 18–20°Brix (if you added sugar). Adjust pH to about 4.5–5.0 using the 5 ml food-grade lactic or phosphoric acid. Sprinkle or rehydrate 14 g high-alcohol distillers yeast per manufacturer instructions. Add 5 g yeast nutrient and stir well to oxygenate the wort briefly (20–60 seconds of vigorous stirring) to support healthy fermentation start.

Primary Fermentation

Seal the fermenter with an airlock and ferment at 18–25°C. Active fermentation should begin in 12–48 hours. Allow fermentation to proceed until activity slows and specific gravity stabilizes for 2–3 days (typically 5–10 days total depending on yeast and temperature), targeting a wash of 6–10% ABV (approximately 1.010–1.020 SG final). Cold crash to 2–4°C for 24–48 hours to help settle yeast and solids, then rack or siphon off the clear wash to a sanitized container for distillation.

First Distillation (Stripping Run)

Transfer the washed, settled wash into a still (pot still or reflux still). Heat gradually and perform a stripping run to concentrate alcohol to ~20–30% ABV in the distillate. Collect fractions but full separation is not critical at this stage; stop when wash is nearly exhausted (low still temperature or low ABV output).

Spirit Run (Fractional Distillation)

Clean the still and load the stripped low wines. Perform a spirit run using a column or reflux still to achieve high purity. Make careful cuts: discard foreshots (first ~0.5% of total expected final volume) which contain volatile undesirable compounds (methanol, acetaldehyde). Collect heads separately until the aroma and taste transition to a clean spirit (heads may be 5–20% depending on run). Collect the heart (the potable vodka) until you detect the onset of tails (oily, lingering flavors) or ABV drops below your chosen cutoff (often 30–40% ABV at the still output). Save tails separately for later re-distillation.

Filtration and Blending

Dilute the collected heart with clean water to a manageable ABV for filtration (e.g., 40–60% ABV depending on filter capacity). Pass the spirit through 200 g activated charcoal packed with the chosen filter medium; perform several passes if necessary to remove congeners and achieve the desired neutral profile. Optionally, filter through paper or polishing filter to remove fine particulates.

Final Proofing and Bottling

Using the 5 l of clean water, slowly add chilled, sanitized water to the filtered spirit to bring it to final bottling strength (commonly 40% ABV). Stir gently and allow the spirit to rest for a day to homogenize. Optionally run a final micro-filtering step. Bottle in sanitized bottles and seal. Label and store upright in a cool, dark place.