
Simple and straight to the point, this sugar shine recipe is proof to the concept of beauty in simplicity. This recipe uses ordinary table sugar to provide nutrients for the yeast instead of using a more complex mash.
This is as simple as it gets in terms of mash, but picking the right yeast type can make all the difference in the final flavor.
We strongly recommend going with a strain that works well with simple sugars, such as bakers yeast?like this:

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With a clean and fast fermentation you should get a nice wash that?s very easy to distill.
But beware, this light and tasty shine will hit you with a vengeance if you?re not careful enough and get a little sip-happy!
- 8 lbs White Sugar
- 5 Gallons Filtered Water
- 2 Small Packets of Yeast (see our guide on great yeasts to use)
- 1 lb Raisins (optional)
Equipment - See our guide here! - Boiling Pot
- Fermentation Bucket
- Airlock
- Siphon Tube
- Strainer/Filter (optional)
- Moonshine Still
- Pour two gallons of water into a pot and heat it to no more than 120?F.
- When the water reaches the desired temperature start adding a few pounds of sugar at a time.
Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved before adding more. - Keep adding sugar until all is dissolved.
- Pour sugar syrup into the fermenter and add three more gallons of water.
- Let the temperature drop to room temperature and then add yeast.
- Close the fermenter, place the airlock in place and let the mash ferment. Raise temperature to about 70-80?F for faster fermentation and higher liquor yield.
- Once the bubbling activity in the airlock stops completely, allow 2-3 more days for complete fermentation then open the fermenter.
- Rack the wash off the yeast sediment into the still?s pot using a siphon tube.
- Fire up the still and perform the distillation run.
If the proof is too low for your liking, collect all the fractions (without the foreshots) and distill again.
It is very important to discard the first 5oz or so (the heads) of the collected runnings as these usually contain methyl and other harmful fusel oils.
Preferably use smaller glass vessels to collect the runnings in order to better manage the resulting fractions.
If necessary, taste the spirit by mixing a small amount with an equal amount of cold water.
Keep in mind , that it?s best to stay sober and focused during the run!
Giving this recipe a go?
Make sure you’ve got the things you need!
Manage your heads, hearts & tails!
A common mistake is not having enough small jars around to collect plenty of cuts throughout the run. We use a variety of them in different sizes, like this:
Make sure you label/number the jars as you take cuts!!!
This is especially important if you’re still learning for two reasons:
- It will help you familiarize yourself with your still and gain that shiner’s ‘palate’ so you know when the gettin’s good!
- It will help maximize your output, since you’ll be throwing away less hearts that you would have otherwise accidentally tossed out as heads.
Wanna spice up this simple sugar shine?
Toss it into a whiskey making kit and let it age a while! We’ve done this a handful of times and it works well. Highly recommend getting some extra oak chips to toss in while it ages too.

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What temp of the 3 gal water added ?
How long does this mash take to ferment?
i have an 8 gallon pot i only get about 4-5 quarts of decent alcohol out of a run the rest is so low volume its not drinkable is there anyway to up the output?