Distilling

[DeejayDebi]

I downloaded a book on Brewing and distiling from 1890 something a few weeks back that was pretty neat. I can't remember where but it wasn't google books I am thinking it was something like books online or something. I don't have the link or the book anymore but it was very interesting.

[FRANCOIS]

I'm going backwards from you guys.  I started out with cheese now I am moving into brewing.  We were out on a day trip a few weeks back and I bought an airlock and 5 gallon pail with a bung on it.  It seemed like a good investment considering we have apples, peaches, passion friut, grapes, fejoas, oranges and lemons.  Plus of course honey if my lazy bees ever get their act together.  I should be able to brew something.

First project is going tobe mead and wine I think.  After that I can worry about a distiller.  I would really use it at first for making sherry and brandy.  I'll keep the offer filed away in my ever forgetful mind.

[DeejayDebi]

Congrats on the new hobby Francois. Brewing can be as frsutrating as cheese sometimes but a lot of fun.

[FRANCOIS]

I won't be making anything until we have home grown product to use.  As it is I have a number of projects to finish up before I start brewing.  I have a motorcycle to finish and a pile of skins to tan.  After that (this autumn perhaps) I'll have some time.

[DeejayDebi]

It is easier when the temperatures are a bit cooler I think. Less hassle trying to keep things cool with a more even temperature.

[Dean]

usually, I don't advertise another forum while on one, but homedistiller.org is a forum much like this, but dedicated to home distilling.  It has all the information you'd ever need and more about home distilling.  Read the safety portions first, as with any home distillation, the first bit that comes out of the still (the heads), is the nasty stuff that gives hangovers and is full of high alcohols, fusels, etc.

At any rate, these people on there really know what they are talking about when it comes to distilling.  Much like here when it comes to cheese.

[tellner]

This is an old topic, but it will certainly come up again...

Home distillation doesn't have to be dangerous, and the product can be excellent. The three main problems are the Law, explosions and poison.

Be aware of your local laws. Home distilling is legal in New Zealand and one or two other countries. It is absolutely illegal to distill potable alcohol in most other countries without having a long talk with the government about taxes. In the US you need to have a commercial distiller's license, $15,000 bond, commercial space, etc. Get in touch with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for specifics.

Ethanol holds a lot of potential energy and is very flammable with a low flash point. An alcohol producing still is a controlled bomb.  A tight still, proper containers, no open flames and respect for the process will keep your still from becoming an uncontrolled bomb.

Most of the poisoned moonshine troubles come from bad materials, denatured alcohol and not making cuts properly. Going blind and so on is mostly from the Prohibition days when industrial alcohol was reformulated to make it actually deadly rather than simply unpalatable. Tens of thousands died this way at government hands. It was quite a heated political debate at the time. Read The Poisoner's Handbook for in depth information plus all sorts of interesting history about poisons and forensic medicine.

If you're going to do this and have satisfied the Law or at least your evaluation of the benefits and risks of breaking it you'll need information. There are some excellent resources out there. Among the best are the Home Distiller's Forum and Artisan Distillers. The Bible for distillers is Nixon and McCaw's The Compleat Distiller available from the Amphora Society. Those wonderful purveyors of old tech Lindsay publications have several others from Vince Gingery's still to early 20th century distiller's technical manuals.

[ArnaudForestier]

LOL, you're too kind. I think I seem smarter on the Internet. In real life, I'm more of an idiot savant, but without the savant part . I do love biology and chemistry, though.

Would that I were so blessed with such a surfeit of idiocy.

Old thread, glad to have come across it.  I never got into the distilling game, as I knew there was nothing in my beer that could kill people, and I (mistakenly - as this thread has prompted me to find out) thought there were too many vagaries in distilling to ensure safety.  Probably informed from one story from real life, my wife's family (they are Estonian) friend, an Estonian, served with the Soviet army in Siberia.  It was common for the boys to make moonshine, there, out of whatever they could find.  Many went blind, from what he told me.  Of course, "whatever they could find" was the cause. 

Francois, don't know if you've ever read the series, but as a kid I was fascinated by reading through Foxfire.  The first volume had step-by-step instructions on building a still, and operating it - "Moonshining as a Fine Art."

(also there:
Aunt Arie
Wood
Tools and Skills
Building a Log Cabin
Chimney Building
White Oak Splits
Making a Hamper out of White Oak Splits
Making a Basket out of White Oak Splits
An Old Chair Maker Shows How
Rope, Straw, and Feathers are to Sleep on
A Quilt is Something Human
Soapmaking
Cooking on a Fireplace, Dutch Oven, and Wood Stove
Daniel Manous
Mountain Recipes

Preserving Vegetables

Preserving Fruit
Churning Your Own Butter

Slaughtering Hogs
Curing and Smoking Hog

Recipes for Hog
Weather Signs
Planting by the Signs
The Buzzard and the Dog

Home Remedies
Hunting
Dressing and Cooking Wild Animal Foods

Hunting Tales
Snake Lore
Moonshining as a Fine Art

Faith Healing
Hillard Green)

-I was 10 or so, in Southern California, and really wanted to build a still. I also wanted to raise a hog to slaughter.  My mom begged off, for reasons unknown to me.

[coffee joe]

François,

Here in Brazil, making alcohol for human consumption as well as for automobiles is quite commonplace. I don't know how much volume you need, but you do need a column at least 1.8 meters tall for results of about 92% in a single pass. This can be glass, stainless or copper and can be as small a diameter as 35mm. It is best to be able to fill the column with some hard spheres, glass marbles work well or ball bearings. The water will condense on these spheres and return to the pot and the alcohol will continue up to the condenser. This is the easiest way to achieve the Reflux that Linuxboy mentioned. As the column gets shorter, the amount of water vapor reaching the condenser increases, yielding a weaker concentration.
 The length of the condenser depends on how cold you can keep the condenser tube as well as your volume. You can do a great job of keeping water vapor out of the condenser only to let the alcohol vapor not have time to condense before it gets to the end of the tube and be lost.

In the glass setup pictured, you will be able to remove about 10% of the water present with each pass by keeping the temperature at the head of the pot to < 85ºC and filling the middle vessel pictured with Marbles.

[linuxboy]

That's a good design, Joe. Another option is to use ceramic rings (raschig), or to use copper mesh rolled up and stuffed inside the column. I like the copper because sometimes when distilling organic volatiles, you get bits of sulfites and other nasties (especially with wine, the grapes are dusted with sulfur), and the copper helps to take care of it. Usually not necessary to use copper mesh when using a copper pipe for a column

[coffee joe]

Here, every farming community has at least a couple Cachaça producers. This is made from Sugar cane and is normally about 85 proof. Here is a link to one of the better known manufacturers of copper stills. Some great pictures and ideas. ATF would have a fit with one of these in Seattle

http://www.alambiquessantaefigenia.com.br/internas/galeriadefotos/index.php

[ArnaudForestier]

Here, every farming community has at least a couple Cachaça producers.

Oh my...many fond, and painful, memories of good times with my friends from Minas Gerais, at Berkeley.

[FRANCOIS]

I actually have Foxfire's 1-5 on the book shelf next to the computer I am using so yes, I am familiar with them. 

I haven't run the still in a few months.  Mostly because I have a few litres of rum and some schnapps, and I don't drink it, so I don't need any more until I have to barter for something. Thanks for the design though CoffeeJoe, if I  ever start making more than a litre at a time I'll look into it. 

A farmer down the road has an entire brewery in storage in one of his sheds.  A local brewery went out of business and they asked him to store the equipment for them.  That was 15 years ago and no one's been back since.  He has no idea what's there or what sort of condition it is in, but he invited me down to have a look.  When things calm down a bit I may have a look, you never know there could be a still there.