How do you know what proof moonshine is. i want 200 proof or more?!

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Five gallons of mash will make you less than a quart of 60 to 80 proof if you do it right. That won't get you out of the driveway, son, and it'll burn out your piston heads before you reach the mailbox.

Proof is a measurement of the alcohol content of something. It is equivalent to 0.5%. So 200 proof alcohol would be pure ethanol. However you can not get alcohol pure. About the closest you can get is about 95% ABV or 190 proof (actually 95.6% or 191.2 proof). This is do to the fact ethanol is an azeotrope, or that its boiled vapor pressure passes the vapor pressure of water at that limit. Or in other words you can not distill that last bit without also getting water present.

If you want to make it however the recipes are all over the internet. You will need something to distill with. And that is illegal in most places. And the thing you brew (at 4-6% ABV) is mostly NOT alcohol. So if you brew 5 gallons you will only get about 4 cups of alcohol. And when you distill you throw away the first part, called the heads, keep the middle part, and sometimes collect the ends to put together later. So you really only end up with about 1-2 cups, depending on your skill as a distiller. And if you want good moonshine you need to run that cup back though for at least two more times. So it is more like 1/2 a cup when you are done

As for what to make the mash from it is simple. It is sugar, water and yeast. And it can be just about any sugar source (fruit, grain from wort, whatever). There are recipe for certain grans or fruits, but that is for people who make things like whiskey which retains some of the esters from the distillation.

You can't use moonshine as fuel except in drag racing, and the engines are made specifically to burn commercial fuel Ethanol.

Proof = Alcohol % times 2. So 200Proof is pure ethyl alcohol, which is nearly impossible to create. You can get nearly pure with Neutral Grain Spirits like Everclear (98%). If you really are making moonshine, you keep distilling to increase the proof, but unless you have very good equipment you'll never get above 60%.

I think Everclear is actually 190 proof (95% alcohol). With a good still or distillation set up, you can produce 95% alcohol from pretty much any fermented source. Making it 100% requires that the remaining water be removed chemically--not something you really want to try at home.

I don't know the legal ramifications, but you might be setting yourself up to get into trouble with the Feds, should they find out about your operation...

proof isn't restricted to moonshine. it is the alcohol content of a distilled beverage. No product can be greater than 200 proof because that designates 100% ethyl alcohol, which is essentially impossible because at 100% it would evaporate.

If you see a beverage marked 80 proof, it is 40 percent alcohol by volume. Ethyl alcohol will not fuel an engine.