Difference between revisions of "Distillation -- Operating a Still"

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;fenny: cashew or coconut liquor from India.
 
;fenny: cashew or coconut liquor from India.
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;reflux: this is a device that multiplies the effect of a still. It condenses the vapor stream and redirects the fluid back into the vapor where the heat from the vapor vaporizes the the fluid again. While the fluid may move backward it gains a little bit each time it is vaporized. Each time it gets a little bit stronger. The water keeps moving backwards and drips back into the boiler.
  
 
;doubler: this is a primitive form of reflux found in moonshine stills.
 
;doubler: this is a primitive form of reflux found in moonshine stills.

Revision as of 16:50, 21 November 2012


Beware: these are very rough notes.

Notes on stills, making a still, distilling, distill, distillation of alcohol.

How to make a still

Safety

Distillation vapor path should not be pressurized. Avoid potential clogs in the system.

Secondary distillations should avoid open flames.

Liquid condensates should be directed far from boiler. Avoid concentrated flammable liquids near a source of ignition.

The Methanol Myth

Distillation of alcoholic spirits has been practiced for at least 800 years. Whisky has been made in Scotland for at least 500 years. I'm sure the Scots of 500 years ago knew significantly less about biology and chemistry than we know today, yet this whole concern about blindness is a fairly recent myth. (I don't mean to single out the Scots. Scotland has a bad rap these days just because they talk funny and wear kilts, yet Scotland was a major center of philosophy and science in the 18th and 19th centuries.)

The reason methanol is also called "wood alcohol" has nothing to do with wood being fermented into alcohol. The term "wood alcohol" comes from the fact that wood already contains methanol which can be directly distilled from the wood. This is how it was discovered. Yeast does not ferment cellulose into methanol. If it were easy to make methanol we wouldn't have an energy problem. What little methanol that shows up in fermented beverages comes from natural enzymes that break down pectin into methanol. Fruits that are high in pectin also contain the enzyme which converts their pectin into methanol. There is nothing in the fermentation process that enhances this.

The origin of the myth that homemade liquor will blind or kill you comes from instances where unscrupulous or stupid people adulterated homemade liquor with industrial solvents such as methanol in order to boost its "kick". Sometimes people don't understand the difference between methanol and ethanol. This is still

byproducts

The two biggest byproducts you will get in your liquor are acetone and acetic acid. Acetic acid is just vinegar and is relatively harmless; although even a little bit makes for a smelly, harsh drink. Acetone is less harmful than most people think. Most of it is easy to keep out of what you drink, but even if you left it in the worst you will get is a bad hangover. This description is actually a simplification. You will get a wide variety of Carboxylic acids and Ketones.

Note the boiling points of various components of a fermented mash:

  • Acetone boiling point 56-57 °C (21 °C difference from ethanol)
  • Methanol boiling point 64.7 °C (14 °C difference from ethanol)
  • Ethanol boiling point 78.37 °C (22 °C difference from water)
  • Water boiling point 100 °C
  • Acetic acid boiling point 118-119 °C

Note that acetone and methanol boil quite a bit lower than ethanol. These will boil off first and will be the first to come out of the still.

Yields

As a rule of thumb, expect an 8:1 yield of mash:50% alcohol. So, 8 liters of mash should yield 1 liter of 50% alcohol (100 proof).

8 : 1

That's a minimum to expect when first setting up a still. You are probably extracting only half the total alcohol available. With skill, careful distillation, and improved fermentation you can expect better yields.

yeast

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

hydrometer

Distilled spirits are measured in proof and %ABV (percentage of alcohol by volume). Proof is obsolete, but it is still popular in the United States, but legally, all alcohol is labeled in %ABV. Most manufacturers still include proof on their label because people expect it, but if you look you will always see %ABV. In the US proof is simply half a percent, so 100 proof is 50 %ABV (The United Kingdom used a different scale for "proof".). The %ABV scale is sometimes called a Tralles scale (not Tralle's, not Tralle, not Traille.).

Alcohol hydrometers for distilled spirits usually measure alcohol by volume. The scales usually read proof and Tralles. They are referred to as Proof and Tralles hydrometers. Note that Tralles is frequently mispelled as Tralle's, Tralle, Traille. Tralles is the correct name as it is named after Johann George Tralles.

Beer and wine hydrometers are used to measure properties of mash and wine before distillation. They are not used to measure proof or %ABV.

recipes

Bread Rum

  • 1 gallon of water
  • 1 pound of sugar
  • 1 packet of yeast
  • 1 slice of wheat bread

Put the slice of bread in a blender and blend until you have fine bread crumbs. Add a few glasses of water. Add yeast and blend again to mix the yeast well. Let this sit while you prepare the rest. Add sugar to 1 gallon jug. Add hot water to cover sugar. Swirl this around until the sugar seems dissolved. Add cold water to almost fill the jug, but leave a little room for bread mash. Add the bread mash to the jug. Cover the opening of the jug with aluminum foil or an air-lock device. After a day the mixture will start to fizz and bubble like beer. Let this ferment for four days to a week or until the mixture seems to stop fizzing. Distill the mash.

Simple Corn Whiskey

This is basically like Bread Rum but with the addition of a can of corn.

  • 1 gallon of water
  • 1 pound of sugar
  • 1 can of corn (12 ounces, cooked, unsalted)
  • 1 packet of yeast
  • 1 slice of wheat bread

Put the slice of bread in a blender and blend until you have fine bread crumbs. Add the can of corn to the bread and blend until smooth. Add yeast and blend again to mix the yeast well. Let this sit while you prepare the rest. Add sugar to 1 gallon jug. Add hot water to cover sugar. Swirl this around until the sugar seems dissolved. Add cold water to almost fill the jug, but leave a little room for the corn mash. Pour the corn mash into the jug. Cover the opening of the jug with aluminum foil or an air-lock device. After a day the mixture will start to fizz and bubble like beer. Let this ferment for four days to a week or until the mixture seems to stop fizzing. Distill the mash.

Blind Man's Bluff

Doctor Whoch

misc

ranbiki
a form of Japanese still usually made of ceramic. Introduced to Japan by the Portuguese and Dutch in the late 1600's. Basically similar to an alembic still.
alquitara
a Spanish and Portuguese style of pot still. It is a simple still somewhere between an alembic and a pot still.
poitín
an Irish liquor usually made with potatoes. Poitín means "little pot", as in a small pot still. Poitín had a notorious reputation and was usually made illegally.
pot still
the most common form of still. Pot stills are a descendant of alembic stills. Pot stills usually have a separate boiler and condenser.
alembic
one of the earliest forms of still. Often the condenser was part of the boiler.
continuous still
an industrial still in which mash can be added continuously without having to shut down the still (as opposed to a "batch" still).
retort
synonymous with alembic still.
fenny
cashew or coconut liquor from India.
reflux
this is a device that multiplies the effect of a still. It condenses the vapor stream and redirects the fluid back into the vapor where the heat from the vapor vaporizes the the fluid again. While the fluid may move backward it gains a little bit each time it is vaporized. Each time it gets a little bit stronger. The water keeps moving backwards and drips back into the boiler.
doubler
this is a primitive form of reflux found in moonshine stills.
thumper
synonymous with doubler.
condenser
a device to condense the alcohol vapor into a liquid. This is the most important part of any still.
slobber
this device may be synonymous with doubler, but may also be used as a trap to stop sludge boiling over from the boiler from getting into the condenser.

references

File:secondary fermentation compounds.pdf

File:Drop by Drop.pdf by Wolfgang Michel and Elke Werger-Klein from the Journal of the Japan Society of Medical History, Vol. 50 (2004), No.4, pp. 463-492.

books

Mountain Spirits by Joseph Earl Dabney. This is one of the best books to have for the history and lore of moonshining.

More Mountain Spirits by Joseph Earl Dabney. Equally as good as his first book.

The Home Distiller's Workbook - Your Guide to Making Moonshine, Whisky, Vodka, Rum, and So Much More! by Jeff King. This is probably the best practical book for a beginner to get.

Making Pure Corn Whiskey: A Professional Guide For Amateur And Micro Distillers by Ian Smiley. This is a more advanced book. It has lots of good information in a small space. My only complaint is that it tends to make the process of making whiskey sound harder than it has to be, but it is intended for a more advanced audience.