I'm making apple hooch, and am in the process of preparing apple juice. However, one jar of juice went bad: it got green mold.
This juice is, obviously, unfit for drinking. But will it be good for fermenting and distilling if pasteurized? Can the toxins produced by molds pass
through the copper coil and infiltrate the moonshine?Bert - 21-9-2015 at 10:25
Paging our resident moonshiner...
In 1, 2, 3...
Oh. He's winterizing boats this week? Tsjerk - 21-9-2015 at 23:11
I think you should be fine. I would guess that they won't come over, but to be sure you could use bentonite to absorb the toxins. ave369 - 22-9-2015 at 06:38
Will activated carbon do?kecskesajt - 26-9-2015 at 00:32
If Im right,some fungis die at 60°C but their toxins remain untuched at 130°C.Good idea to make it sterile in a pressure cooker at 200°C.
I dont really thust activated carbon.
Bert,He is Russian.Who knows if it is legal for him?
In Hungary,moonshine (Pálinka)is completely legal and tax free under 50liter 100w/w%. unionised - 26-9-2015 at 02:41
Why not just throw that jar of juice away and use the rest? mayko - 26-9-2015 at 07:47
Scheele's Green (copper arsenite) used to be a wallpaper pigment, and when the wall decorated with it would mold, the fungus metabolized the salt into
volatile methylated arsines. This may have contributed to Napoleon's death, and it caused poisonings into the early 20th century.
No particular bearing on fermentation/distillation, but an interesting volatile mycotoxin.PHILOU Zrealone - 26-9-2015 at 08:59
Those are non volatile but may be dispersed by certain processes like agitation/evaporation --> mist/fog
Are you refering to patulin in apple juice?
It is not destroyed by heating and pasteurization...lbelle - 18-10-2015 at 09:36
I would ID the organism first,then you would know the possible toxin produced. Also saw this :" Some scientific studies have shown that two forms of
organic arsenic found in apple juice, dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), may also be a health concern...." on this page; http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm271595....
latest data here; http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/arsenic/
Who would have thought-apples! Watch rice/wine too. Lead arsinate was used on farm fields-still in the soil.Einherje - 19-10-2015 at 08:30
While wanting to identify the organism(s) first is admirable I think that might be too much effort for a guy who wants to know if he can use a jar of
apple juice for his next batch of moonshine.
As someone who likes to make a good drop myself I'd never consider using potentially spoiled fermentables in a batch - generally using tasty
fermentables makes for a tasty drink, provided you are good at distilling.
Ignoring that, I'd wager on just about all stills suffering from entrainment, so anything in your wash can end up in your product, unless it is broken
down or otherwise transformed by the heat.
All that aside, I expect that the juice (or some of it) has been fermented and distilled by now, and that ave369 can tell us how things turned out
battoussai114 - 19-10-2015 at 18:14
All that aside, I expect that the juice (or some of it) has been fermented and distilled by now, and that ave369 can tell us how things turned out
Unless she's currently sick because of the mold toxins...ave369 - 25-11-2015 at 23:13
Oh, I completely forgot about this thread.
The hooch turned out to be just fine. No carrying through mist or fog: my apparatus has a good fractionating column ("doubler") and a high arc of
copper pipe before the coil, no mists or sprinkles can come through. No filtering through carbon needed: we drank it and felt no bad effects aside
from what 70% alcohol usually does.
Moonshining is legal in Russia for personal use. Sale of one is illegal, but I do not sell it.
