>To: "'Distillers newsgroup'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > "'New Distillers newsgroup'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Tony & Elle Ackland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Delivered-To: mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] >List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 17:35:48 +1200 >Subject: [Distillers] New Distillers FAQ > >New Distillers FAQ >****************************************************************** >"NEW DISTILLERS" Frequently Asked Questions (Sept'00) > >Posted near the 1st of each month, to the NEW_DISTILLERS newsgroup at >www.yahoogroups.com > >Please email any additions, corrections, clarifications required, etc >regarding the FAQ to Tony Ackland ([EMAIL PROTECTED]), however please >direct any general questions to the newsgroup itself. > >******************************************************************* > >1) Is distilling hard to do ? >2) Is it legal ? >3) Will it make me blind ? >4) Whats the difference between a pot still, reflux still, and >fractionating column ? >5) How do I get or make a still ? >6) How do I make a whisky / rum / vodka / gin ? >7) Should I use sugar or grains ? >8) Can I use fruit wine ? >9) How do I get rid of that "off-taste" ? >10) How do I measure the strength of it & dilute it ? >11) How do I flavour/turn the vodka's into something else ? >12) What web resources are there ? >13) How do I contact the NEW DISTILLERS news group ? >14) Can I run my car on it ? >15) How do I convert between gallons and litres and .... >16) What is a "Thumper" ? > >********************************************************************** >1) Is distilling hard to do ? >Nope - if you can follow instructions enough to bake scones, then you can >sucessfully distil. To distil well however, will require you to understand >what you're doing, so read around and get a bit of information under your >belt before you begin. >2) Is it legal ? >Probably not. It is only legal in New Zealand, and some European countries >turn a blind eye to it, but elsewhere it is illegal, with punishment >ranging from fines to imprisonment or floggings. This action against it is >usually the result of either religous beliefs (right or wrong), but more >generally due to the great revenue base it provides Governements through >excise taxes. So if you are going to distil, just be aware of the potential >legal ramifications. >3) Will it make me blind ? >Not if you're careful. This pervasive question is due to moonshine lore, >which abounds with myths of blindness, but few actual documented cases. The >concern is due to the presence of methanol (wood alcohol), an optic nerve >poison, which can be present in small amounts when fermenting grains or >fruits high in pectin. This methanol comes off first from the still, so it >is easily segregated and discarded. A simple rule of thumb for this is to >throw away the first 50 mL you collect (per 20 L mash used). Probably the >greatest risk to your health during distilling is the risk of fire - >collecting a flammable liquid near a heat source. So keep a fire >extinguisher nearby. >4) Whats the difference between a pot still, reflux still, and >fractionating column ? >A pot still simply collects and condenses the alcohol vapours that come off >the boiling mash. This will result in an alcohol at about 40-60% purity, >with plenty of flavour in it. If this distillate were put through the pot >still again, it would increase in purity to around 70-85% purity, and lose >a bit of its flavour. > >A reflux still does these multiple distillations in one single go, by >having some packing in a column between the condensor & the pot, and >allowing some of the vapour to condense and trickle back down through the >packing. This "reflux" of liquid helps clean the rising vapour and increase >the % purity. The taller the packed column, and the more reflux liquid, the >purer the product will be. The advantage of doing this is that it will >result in a clean vodka, with little flavour to it - ideal for mixing with >flavours etc. > >A fractionating column is a pure form of the reflux still. It will condense >all the vapour at the top of the packing, and return about 9/10 back down >the column. The column will be quite tall - say 600-1200mm (2-4 foot), and >packed with a material high in surface area, but which takes up little >space (pot scrubbers are good for this). It will result in an alcohol 95%+ >pure (the theoretical limit without using a vacuum is 95.6%), with no other >tastes or impurities in it. >5) How do I get or make a still ? >If you're after a pot still, these are generally home made using what-ever >you have at hand - say copper tubing and old water heaters or pressure >cookers. Reflux stills can be made from plans on the net, or bought from >several manufacturers. For reflux stil plans see Stillmakers : >http://stillmaker.dreamhost.com/ (free!) or Gert Strands : >http://partyman.se/Engelsk/default.htm (US$5). See the list of "web >resources" below for links to sites selling ready-made stills. > >Regarding the choice of heating for the still - if you have 240V available >it is usually easiest to control & safer (particularly with internal >elements). Gas can be used, but more care is needed to keep the collection >container further away and not letting it overfill. >6) How do I make a whisky / vodka / rum / gin ? >Whiskey : Heat 4 kg cracked or crushed malt with 18 L of water to 63-65C, >and hold there for 1-1.5 hours. Heat to 73-75C, then strain off and keep >liquid, using 250 mL of hot water to rinse the grains. Cool to below 30C >(should have an initial specific gravity of 1.050). Add hydrated yeast & >leave to ferment (maintain at 26C) until airlock stops bubbling and final >SG of around 1.010. Let settle for a day, then syphon carefully into a pot >still. Discard the first 50 mL's, collect the next 2-3L of distillate or >until you start noticing the tails coming through. > >Vodka : dissolve 5 kg of sugar & 60g of nutrients in 20L of water, cool to >below 30C and add hydrated yeast. Leave to ferment at 25C until below an SG >of around 0.990, then settle for a day. Syphon into a reflux or >fractionating still, and collect as per usual. > >Rum : as per vodka, but use some brown sugar or mollasses, to give an >initial specific gravity (SG) of around 1.06 - 1.07. Run through either a >pot still, or a not-so-great reflux still. > >Gin : make a very pure vodka, then add the following essence. Simmer 35g of >juniper berries in 350 mL of 50% vodka for ten minutes with the lid on, let >cool overnight, then filter through coffee filters. Use 5-10 mL of this >essence per bottle of vodka. > >When doing any fermenting, take a lot of care to ensure that any items used >are clean/sterile (soaking them in a water + bleach (10 mL per litre) ), or >else the wash can start growing other things. Use a closed fermenter with >an airlock too, to let the CO2 out without letting wild yeasts, bugs etc >in. For more information about fermenting, see beer or wine homebrewing >sites. >7) Should I use sugar or grains ? >It depends on what sort of still you have, and what you are trying to make. >If you have a reflux or fractionating still, only use whatever is cheapest >(usually sugar), as the refluxing will strip out all the flavours anyhow. >If you have a pot still, and are after a bourban or whiskey, then you need >to go the grain route, or mollasses if after a rum. If you are trying to >make a neutral spirit for flavouring, go for sugar. >8) Can I use fruit wine ? >Sure, if you have it available. Again, using a pot still will result in a >brandy/grappa/schnapps, whereas a reflux still will just strip it down to >neutral spirit. >9) How do I get rid of that "off-taste" ? >That "rough moonshine edge" or "off-taste / wet cardboard smell" is due to >impurities such as the higher order alcohols, known as cogeners or fusel >oils. These will be present more when using a pot still, less if using a >reflux still, and just about absent if using a fractionating column. So one >way is to use a taller packed column and increase the amount of reflux >occuring. They can also indicate that you've tried to collect too much of >the alcohol, and have run into the "tails"; so finish collecting a little >bit earlier next time. Soaking tainted alcohol with activated carbon for a >week (or even months) will help remove some of this flavour - this is known >as "polishing" the spirit. >10) How do I measure the strength of it & dilute it ? >You need a hydrometer. This is a wee float, with a scale inside it. The >more alcohol that is present, the lighter the density of the liquid, so the >hydrometer sinks a bit lower. You then just read off the scale how much >alcohol is present. You need a seperate hydrometer for measuring the >density of the mash, as this is generally > 1.0, whereas the spirit is < >1.0, and they can't accurately do both ends of the scale. >11) How do I flavour/turn the vodka's into something else ? >There are now many commercial flavourings available, which turn vodka or >neutral alcohol into pretty decent gin or whiskey, or all manor of >liqueurs. See the commercial sites, like Des Zines >http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~topkiwi or Ray Toms http://moonshine.co.nz/ >for details.Or you can soak it with oak chips and make whiskey, or soak >fruits in it to make your own liqueurs. >12) What web resources are there ? >For more details, see : >Tony Ackland's http://www.geocities.com/kiwi_distiller >Aaron Smiths's http://www.go.to/distillation >Steve Spence's http://www.webconx.com/ethanol.htm >13) How do I contact the NEW DISTILLERS news group ? >Both the NEW DISTILLERS and the DISTILLERS news groups are available via >YahooGroups, at http://www.yahoogroups.com . NEW DISTILLERS is, as the name >suggests, intended for those of you new to distilling and after simple, >straight-forward discussions, whereas the DISTILLERS group is a bit more >advanced, throwing in bits of design philosophy, theory, and alternative >ways of achieving the results. Both tend to overlap to some extent. >14) Can I run my car on it ? >You can run your car on alcohol over about 80% purity. See Steve Spences >site for more details. In addition, in the USA, you can get a "small fuel >producer" permit, which allows small scale distilling for "motor fuel" >purposes. A nice advantage is that they don't require denaturing for "fuel" >used on the premises. The regulations are posted at >http://www.webconx.com/ethanolusaregs.htm >15) How do I convert between gallons and litres and .... >To convert between SI & Imperial units, multiply the first unit by the >conversion factor to get the second. Divide back to do it in reverse .eg 1L >= 0.264 US gal, so 20 L = 20 x 0.264 = 5.28 US gal, and 20 US gal / 0.264 = >75.76 L > >1 L = 0.264 US gal = 0.221 UK gal >1 L = 1.057 US qt = 0.880 UK qt >1 kg = 2.204 lbm = 32.15 oz (troy) = 35.27 oz (av) >deg F = ((9/5) x deg C )+ 32 >1m = 1000 mm = 39.37 inch = 3.28 ft = 1.09 yd >16) What is a "Thumper" ? >A "thumper" is an extra chamber sometimes fitted to a pot still. It can be >as simple as a glass jar with two holes in the lid. The off-take from the >still is fed into it, with the pipe running almost all the way to the >bottom of the jar; the jar is half filled with liquid (water or mash or >tails) so that the vapour from the still will bubble up through it; then >the vapour coming off it is collected & cooled as per normal. It acts as a >second distilling chamber using just the heat from the vapour, and lifts >the purity from 50-60% to 70-80%, hence improving what might otherwise be a >very mediocre design. > > > > > >Your use of Yahoo! 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