Moonshine Still Products(reflux stills, pot stills, ethanol stills)
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White Lightning e85 conversion kit
Distiller Assembly Instructions
Medical Marijuana Tinctures/Extracts
Fruit and Vegetable Based Mash
How to Convert Your Car To Alcohol
Misinformation About Distilled Water
Preparing Grain Worts or Mashes
Starter Kits, Accessories, and Supplies
Using Your Still to Make Flower Essences
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Are You New To Distilling?
| Get yourself a copy of The Alcohol Fuel
Handbook (if you're wanting to make ethanol) by
clicking here Read every word of www.homedistiller.org at least three times. Almost everything you need to know is right there. We're here to answer questions, but it's up to you to do your homeowrk! There aren't enough hours in the day to "teach" each of you by phone or email if you're starting from scratch. For instance, here are the instructions of assembling your still, as well as here for hooking up the hoses. There are great places to ask questions, share experiences, and learn for free! Try these forums on the net:
To convert metric measurements that you may find in recipes go here: http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/volume.php You can run your car on alcohol over approximately 80% purity. Because any water present will separate in the presence of the gasoline (and become a problem), you either need to exclusively use the alcohol, or dry it right out (eg 99%+ purity) if using it to mix with gasoline. (use zeolite to dry out your ethanol. The product can be dried out in the over or the sun and used over and over again.) It's here at the bottom of the page. What about cleaning up the taste? That rough edge or off-taste is due to impurities such as fusel oils. These will be present more when using a pot still, less if using a reflux still. So one way is to use a taller packed column and increase the amount of reflux that occurs. Poor taste can also indicate that you've tried to collect too much of the alcohol and you've run into the "tails". So just complete your collecting a little bit earlier next time. Soaking tainted alcohol with activated carbon for a week or more will help remove some of this flavor. We call this "polishing" the spirit. Using copper packing in the still, where it comes in contact with the vapor, will also improve flavor. Don't ask me for a technical reason why, it just works! I've been asked about using fruits for your mash. Using a pot still will result in a brandy/grappa/schnapps, whereas a reflux still will just strip it down to neutral spirit. If you need to know how to operate a pot still, go to http://homedistiller.org/dtw.htm#use_pot If you need to know how to use your reflux still go to http://homedistiller.org/dtw.htm#use_reflux If you're trying to make whiskey or rum, you'll want to monitor transitions between the foreshots, heads, middle run, and tails, and want to specifically limit your collection. The reflux still lets you judge the changes between the various stages and target your collection. Typically you would discard the foreshots, collect the heads, middle run, and just a tiny bit of the tails, until the purity has dropped to around 58-60% (82 °C). You will collect it faster and at a slightly lower reflux ratio than for a neutral spirit since you're trying to retain the flavor. How about why you need a alcoholmeter....An alcoholmeter is a 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. You may have heard how people have gone blind buying moonshine made in the hills. It is methanol which can hurt the optic nerve, and these are discarded with your heads and tails. If you're using a pot still, wait until your second run to remove the heads and tails. They are easier to separate and more distinct. Is it legal, in the U.S., to make moonshine? No! The only alcohol that you can legally make at home is ethanol, and you are required to have a permit to do so. You can find out about applying for your permit here. If you want to make your own still, here are some resources for still plans:
The first time you use your still, make it a water only run to clean out any impurities! For neutral spirits. there are many different ways
of running a still to achieving the same results. If your run turns milky in color, you've let it run too long. Once the still has started dripping, make sure you
throw away the first 50 mL per 20 L of wash. This is called the heads
and can contain methanol. You can produce a product up to 95 % ethanol (190 proof). You can't drink it this strong (remember - ethanol can be poisonous); it needs diluting. Get a spirit hydrometer (or one for wine), measure the % alcohol, and dilute it down to around 40 % (whiskey) or 22 % (liqueurs). If the alcohol is still warm, it will be "lighter" than at the "standard" temperature (usually 20C), so the hydrometer will sink lower in it, making you think that its got more alcohol in it. That's why you see claims of getting 97% purity. Only 96.5% is possible without using a vacuum still, or by drying the alcohol (even then, if left in an open container, it will absorb the moisture from the air and dilute itself back to 96.5%). Most hydrometers come with a chart for making temperature adjustments. An Alcoholmeter (as apposed to a Wash, Wine & Beer Hydrometer) is used to test the strength of your spirit. Additives such as flavoring and Liquid Glucose will distort the hydrometer readings. Alcoholmeters should only be used to test spirit in the following conditions:
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