Alcohol making

Whether you're a working stiff or a business owner yourself, this is the place to discuss all aspects of financing your drinking habit ;-)

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kocdim
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Re: Alcohol making

Post by kocdim »

Cruisemonkey wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 6:31 am Sounds like a great way to make yourself go blind.
:stir:
Why go blind?? In my family we are making alcohol for home for who knows how many generations nobody went blind or any problem. We made vine also. Most of the neighbors did that also no problem.
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frank lee bent
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Re: Alcohol making

Post by frank lee bent »

you have to discard the methanol foreshots when distilling.
not hard to make safe spirits.
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Re: Alcohol making

Post by peppermintpaddy »

kocdim wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:52 pm
Cruisemonkey wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 6:31 am Sounds like a great way to make yourself go blind.
:stir:
Why go blind?? In my family we are making alcohol for home for who knows how many generations nobody went blind or any problem. We made vine also. Most of the neighbors did that also no problem.
correct....my family too has been making poteen for generations.....nobody went blind......I'm surprised and heartened that its not illegal in Cambo.....
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frank lee bent
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Re: Alcohol making

Post by frank lee bent »

people make it and sell it throughout the provinces. some do not understand that the foreshots containing the lower evap temp methanol should be discarded. when mixed back into the total run it is unlikely to kill, but if all the foreshot run is collected in a single bottle, it can kill.
i always used mine for window cleaner.
when i get my pension i will run a nice fractionating still for grog and essential oils for fun.
you can get a really nice big set up off alibaba in stainless and copper for under 5k
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Re: Alcohol making

Post by peppermintpaddy »

frank lee bent wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 3:59 pm people make it and sell it throughout the provinces. some do not understand that the foreshots containing the lower evap temp methanol should be discarded. when mixed back into the total run it is unlikely to kill, but if all the foreshot run is collected in a single bottle, it can kill.
i always used mine for window cleaner.
when i get my pension i will run a nice fractionating still for grog and essential oils for fun.
you can get a really nice big set up off alibaba in stainless and copper for under 5k
traditionally in Ireland ,some of the first run was collected as rubbing alcohol for arthritis....and a little spilled on the ground as propitiation for "the little people"......I only ever collected it all and put it back thru the still ....never drink the first run is the golden rule......I've never heard of an aluminium still,I had a stainless steel one.....an aluminium beer keg served as the mash tub...
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frank lee bent
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Re: Alcohol making

Post by frank lee bent »

aluminium is ok- lots of controversy about it on distilling fora- a neutral ph wash is no problem like grain mash.
it is universally used here for srasor.
you will see the stills for sale anywhere rainwater tanks and sheet metal goods are sold- they will often have a double nozzle and are big! cheap too!
if you started using grapes and other fruits though- you would dissolve your boiler quick!

the virtue of copper, of course, is that it reacts with impurities and keeps them in the still in the form of copper sulfate.

my reflux still was all stainless.
man there are some nice ones on ali baba with the little bubble sight glass fractioning unit modules
some of the asian ones like for shoju are pretty interesting.

they seem kind of inexpensive when you consider what it would cost to hand build.
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frank lee bent
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Re: Alcohol making

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frank lee bent
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Re: Alcohol making

Post by frank lee bent »

here is a great little rig that you can expand by just buying a couple more boilers and preheat the wash
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... zyqVjN&s=p
you can push it right to the limits of the power rating by using the sight glasses, or push it over limit for underproof with the flavors able to come across as in a pot still.

of course, they make gin baskets for these stills if you want supercritical fluid extraction on the botanicals.

rose geranium, and several other very expensive essential oils could easily be produced here.
one guy in SR is doing this now.

for stuff like lemon grass, ti tree ( Melaleuca spp )and eucalyptus ( all present here growing feral ) the local srasor stills are entirely adequate, and there is a good local market for these oils.
for those who did not know the number of x characters formerly denoted how many runs through a simple pot still, with xxx being generally the highest proof.

with a vapor pressure less than gasoline, pure ethanol is dangerous, so it is watered down to "proof"
200 proof is 100% alcohol.
back in the day the proof of 40% was to pur some blackpowder in a spoon with the spirit in question and try to light it.
if 80 proof or better, it would burn,less than that- too much water.
http://learntomoonshine.com/proofing-yo ... -explained
likewise- the 1900's expression of a "highball" mixed drink, came from the moonshiners slang.
if you shake the spirit in a jar, liquid bubbles will form from the azeotrope. if they sit high above the suface meniscus of the liquid- that is "high ball" likker as the bubbles are higher alcohol than the parent solution. how high they sit is an indication of proof to the experienced bootlegger.

LOL am i off topic or what. you may think i like a drink.
commissioned my own funeral urn from a renowned ceramicist and paid with a gallon of rum.
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Re: Alcohol making

Post by peppermintpaddy »

frank lee bent wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:32 pm aluminium is ok- lots of controversy about it on distilling fora- a neutral ph wash is no problem like grain mash.
it is universally used here for srasor.
you will see the stills for sale anywhere rainwater tanks and sheet metal goods are sold- they will often have a double nozzle and are big! cheap too!
if you started using grapes and other fruits though- you would dissolve your boiler quick!

the virtue of copper, of course, is that it reacts with impurities and keeps them in the still in the form of copper sulfate.

my reflux still was all stainless.
man there are some nice ones on ali baba with the little bubble sight glass fractioning unit modules
some of the asian ones like for shoju are pretty interesting.

they seem kind of inexpensive when you consider what it would cost to hand build.
bloody hell,thats an eye opener for me Frank,all that stuff on ali-baba.....There was nothing like that available when I was home brewing....Its illegal in UK to even own a still,you can be fined thousands of £££'s for even possessing a still,no need to prove you were using it,,,,I had a stainless steel still I inherited off a serious poteen maker who sold his produce as a sideline.....Anyway,I don't bother anymore,I've packed it in,I had gotten fairly good at it(even tho'I say so myself) and I passed my still onto my brother who dabbled a little himself....Ali Baba didnt exist when I was brewing......I was always trying to buy a Liebig Condensor,but could never find one.......
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