Alcohol

[Swany]

Mmmm, 27 pounds of fulimates.....

 

Hah.

 

But seriously fellows, I have a question: how hard would it be to distill to an azeotrope (96.5%) in one run? Would that be terribly ineffecient due to the long condensor? Am I delusional? I just would not mind pumping in sugar yeast and water, add some heat, a week later I have enough EtOH for my life.

 

Too bad I don't drink.

[hst45]

In my very limited experience "back in the day" with this type of rig you'll have a hard time netting over low-90's percent. If you want to up the proof, for some ungodly reason, try running the product through a dessicator.

 

I once thought about trying to "dry" the product with salt. I never did this, but I thought about drying some rock salt and filling a 2" PVC tube with it. The end would be capped, several holes drilled in the bottom end and a filter placed over it. My thought was that if the raw product was then slowly poured through this tube the water would be drawn to the salt, and since salt is insoluable in ethanol, a more concentrated ethanol would pass through. This procedure may be dilusionial but it's based on something I read, I can't remember where , but I recall something about EtOH being purified by quicklime, so I suspected that rocksalt might work also.

 

This isn't one of those "In my dreams" deals, this is actually just a theory. Try it, ignore it, flame me; I'm not a chemist so I deserve whatever derision I call upon myself for my ignorance.

[Draco_Aster]

One of the only practical ways I can recall is through vaccum distillation. The column is attached (usually) through silver solder. Its clean, easy and relatively cheap (especially if you don't own a welder). The other option is welding, I don't know which way I will go as I have both a MIG and TIG in that little shed of mine....swaying towards silver solder.

 

 

Not a bad still there maxi.

mmmm, reminds me to go take some pics of that boiler

[maximusg]

Maxim, might you want to go into more detail about how you contstructed that? I have a half barrel sitting at home for this exact purpose. I am interested in how the column is attached to the keg. Did you make use of the sankey connection at the top? (The part the tap screws into) Is there a way you have to remove the top and clean? Are you using any scrubbers or plates for reflux?

 

mmmmmmm, 18 bottles at once.

Sure,

 

The valve was unscrewed from the top of the keg to leave a two inch hole. I made four slits in the end of the column and hand twisted the pipe into the thread of the keg, the slits alow the diameter of the tube to retreat pretty easy, making a tight fit.

 

The condensor hose cannects to the top of the column via lead free solder. there is also a larger hole in the top through which a corked thermomoter fits. I think the rest is pretty self explanitory. Figuring how to attach the column to the boiler is the trickiest part. I have seen some pretty nice ring clamps on other people's rigs which seem to work well.

 

I havent used reflux media as of yet, as i get a high enough proof with out it. And it strips alot of the flavour out of the brew, but if you where using the product for lab purposes i would reccomend it!

[moonshot]

i dont think its such a good idea to use metal pipes at least if your going to use the alcohol for drinking. the copper pipes will leave a pretty nasty metallic flavour

If your gonna build a still the ONLY material to use is copper, stainless steel and/or glass. Anything else will poison your ass blind!

[Draco_Aster]

Where did you get that idea? Im sure there are many more substances that will resist alcohol. The only reasons poor alcohol production making people blind is a high methanol/light spirit content, though I have read somewhere that some american hillbilies ( ) during the prohibition used to add a certain chemical to their wash for faster distillation.

 

Maybe you have a bad source of information of maybe your just not thinking before you post.

[hst45]

You're both right, on the whole. The quality of Prohibition liquor varied from very good to deadly. The best was imported foreign spirits. Some top quality stuff was "imported' by a rum-runner named McCoy, hence the name "the real McCoy" meaning the good stuff. The worst was bathtub gin, made by mixing ethanol and anything, and I do mean anything, that would give the poor bastard drinking it a buzz. Adulterants included methanol, ethalyne glycol, and formaldehyde.

 

As far as genuine hillbilly moonshine, some of the small time operators used automobile radiators as condensors. These might have ethalyne glycol residue and lead solder. Also, if the moonshiner was a complete dipshit, he'd run the whole batch into the product instead of discarding the early and late parts of the run. Removing these reduces the oils, "cogeners", and traces of other products that result in a rat-bastard of a hangover. Stay away from materials such as lead solder that might have health side effects and you'll be fine.

[moonshot]

Where did you get that idea? Im sure there are many more substances that will resist alcohol. The only reasons poor alcohol production making people blind is a high methanol/light spirit content, though I have read somewhere that some american hillbilies ( ) during the prohibition used to add a certain chemical to their wash for faster distillation.

 

Maybe you have a bad source of information of maybe your just not thinking before you post.

Look at what the people who know what they are doing are building thier stills out of. No plastics,no galvanized pipe, no aluminum just pure stainless , copper or glass and yes if your gonna solder copper joints use silver solder.

[Draco_Aster]

I am in the middle of making 750ml of....''fine''....port. At first I thought it didn't work becaus in the first 2 days I saw no bubbling or changes, but that was because I am used to turbo yeast. It has been fermenting for 12 days now and is just coming to a halt. I used Diammonium Sufphate as the nutrient in this recipe scaled down-

 

4 Litres of 100% Grape Juice

l Kg Brown Sugar (Not Dark)

1 Teaspoon Yeast

1 Teaspoon Wine Nutrient

Rack off after 10 days.

Rack off again after 24 days.

Top up bottle with juice.

Rack off after 3 more weeks.

Rack off into 2 litre juice bottles.

Let stand for 2 months.

 

I don't know If I will need to age it along with oak chips but will see what happens. It already has a port-like taste though a very sour one at that (sourness wll probably dissapear over time and with topping up) . I don't think it is possible to get bacterial growths or mould because of the alcohol content (which I will test later) but will still take basic precautions (wash bottles with bleach and place in boiling water before transfer).

[psymon]

I make wine and beer. Right now I have about 30 pints of bitter in my pressure keg. Its really cool to be able to just go up to it with a glass and turn on the tap for a pint of bitter...

I have 2 demijohns for fermenting wine. I think I have about 10 bottles maturing at the moment and another gallon on the go. Its strawberry wine. Should be quite nice when it finishes in about a week or so.

Its quite interesting to see that pyro guys all have several hobbies. I have mates who go to work and come home and watch TV... Are we just different?

[maximusg]

I dont even have a TV! heh I go next door on fridays to watch the footy but thats about it.

 

I distilled 2/3 of a wash that finished fermenting today. I did 40L and got 4.2 L of 91% white rum. It's amazing how much flavour still remains even at such high percentages.Molassis is sweeet. Doing the last 20L tomorrow. Molassis is sweeet

 

... I need to buy some mason jars... hehe

[Mephistos Minion]

I went on a mission to the tip shop today ion search of something to make a still from, with no luck

 

I am not after lots and lots, just some strong ethanol to use in chem and for drinking. Can I make a little one from a glass jar? Like a big amber one? I saw one in the 2 dollar store that would be perfect, it has a rubber stopper with a hole and everything.

 

EDIT:

I went to the home brew shop, and got a nice 25 litre plastic barrel to ferment 8kg of sugar with some turbo yeast to make 23.5% alcohol for distilling.

[Draco_Aster]

Go to a gardening shop like porters or bunnings and get a stainless one like mine, the column is the most expensive part but I got mine from the muffler shop for....$30 I think, can't remember now. Whne you are at the dump shop you may be able to get an element out of a kettle. Mines 2400W im pretty sure.

[imgnarly]

Im thinking about making a still like inthis book http://distillers.tastylime.net/library/Th...still/index.htm but I dont know how much pipe I need I have a one gallon glass boiler and will be using a hot plate for a heat source could someone with experience in this help me

[Draco_Aster]

Using that still design for a small batch like one gallon will be extremely ineficient and time consuming. Think many hours for a small amount of ethanol. Though that just my opinion and I don't know how much you want or what you want to spend on electricity.

 

Hmmm....isn't that a plastic still?

[Mephistos Minion]

Finally bought some sugar. I now have 25 litres of sugar water reacting with turbo yeast and nutrients. Should be done in 5-6 days, and I can store it for a while, because bugs and bacteria wont survive in 23.5% alcohol. I will be distilling most, and maybe adding cordial to some 23.5% stuff if I get desperate My older brother, being the douche he is, stepped on my fucking hydrometre. So now I have no way to measure the exact content (unless I spend another $6.50, yes I am really cheap). I still don't have a still though. I am very tempted to buy a 4.8 litre one with a column stuffed with Cu mesh for $315, but I dunno if it is worth it. It puts out 600ml of ~95% EtOH per 1.5 hours.

I am thinking of making an old-school copper one, but I dont have any thick copper sheet. Any ideas?

[h0lx]

Finally my friend got me 20l of apple juice, gonna get wine fermenting today

[Chemguy]

Copper sheets should be easy enough to get, my grandad works with metals and he gets the m from metal work shops, or welding supplies. As for the $315 still, sounds like a good deal to me, but I'm not experienced in the world of stills and alcohol, I have tried 5 times to make alcohol, and have failed miserabely each time, I think the alcohol oxidizes to acetic acid or acetaldehyde, because it stinks.

[h0lx]

chemguy, did you let oxygen to it while fermenting?

[Chemguy]

Ahh... is that the problem, I have been doing it in a 2 liter flask type thing, stupid me . But if I don't expose it to oxygen I'll have to make it airtight, but wouldn't it explode from the CO2, I'm pretty sure it will be obvious once I find out

[Mephistos Minion]

That is where an airlock comes in handy My 25 litre barrel has an airtight lid, but there is a hole in the lid with an O ring in it. You force fit some tube into thos O ring and run the tube (like clear hose) into a bottle of water. This way the CO2 can escape, but O2 can't get in.

[Chemguy]

That's a good idea, I will try doing this, but with not as much sugar, a test basicly.

[Draco_Aster]

Made a nice batch (2 shots) of drinking grade alcohol on the weekend and I must say it was very nice after letting it sit for 2 days with some flakes of charred wood. I also added carmel to this one for colouring.

 

Does anybody here know what types of wood other than oak can be used for ageing without "poisoning". I have heard that certain types will create poisons when roasted (don't know exacty what types of chemicals). I just used pine and it made a surprisingly large difference to the quality of the drink.

 

Grrr. Dad says he won't help put together the still untill I finish my other "projects". But I might look into it this week sometime and take parts into work for a bit of abuse .

 

 

MEMPHISTOS- I, personally wouldn't get one of those stills. They are overpriced and there is little you can do to customise them. Unless you don't mind constantly drinking stripped (flavourless) booze. Also, what yeast are you using? 23.5% seems pretty high content, mine is "Alcotec 24Hr Turo Yeast".

[Mephistos Minion]

Some form of turbo yeast, takes 5-6 days to ferment 6kg of sugar in 21 litres of water. The woman at teh store said to use 8 kilos, but the packet said 6, so I went with the pack. I guess we will know what is going on on Friday or Saturday. I will open her up and give it a taste, should not be sweet right?

[moonshot]

Finally bought some sugar. I now have 25 litres of sugar water reacting with turbo yeast and nutrients. Should be done in 5-6 days, and I can store it for a while, because bugs and bacteria wont survive in 23.5% alcohol. I will be distilling most, and maybe adding cordial to some 23.5% stuff if I get desperate My older brother, being the douche he is, stepped on my fucking hydrometre. So now I have no way to measure the exact content (unless I spend another $6.50, yes I am really cheap). I still don't have a still though. I am very tempted to buy a 4.8 litre one with a column stuffed with Cu mesh for $315, but I dunno if it is worth it. It puts out 600ml of ~95% EtOH per 1.5 hours.

I am thinking of making an old-school copper one, but I dont have any thick copper sheet. Any ideas?

Get a beer keg for a boiler. Check out maximus set up on page 2. He's making some serious shine with that rig. Kegs are stainless steel and readily available. The trick is making a clamp that will attach the copper column to the keg. I came up with a great design but it takes some machine work to build it.