Distill Vodka To Make Everclear

Making everclear (food grade alcohol) through the distillation of vodka.
WARNING!!! DRINKING PURE EVERCLEAR IS EXTREAMLY DANGEROUS!!! EXCESSIVE USE CAN RESULT IN BLINDNESS OR DEATH!!! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY USE OR ABUSE OF ANYTHING IN THIS INSTUCTABLE.

Step 1 Materials

Materials:
1. Hotplate
2. stand to hold beaker (optional)
3. Glass beaker
4. Collection cup
5. Glass tubes
6. thermometer (preferably one with a broad range)
7. Rubber Cork (with holes to allow for tubes and thermometer)
8. Ice (or other means of cooling)
9. Vodka

Comments

[excessive.insurgence]

does anyone know the volume yield from this? like how much everclear comes from how much vodka?

[im3733]

Simple, you know the ABV (alcohol by volume) of the vodka that you start with, you know the target ABV of the everclear, all you have to do is crunch the numbers.

8 oz of 80 proof (NOT degrees proof, that's a different number) vodka (40% ABV) -> 3.368 oz 190 proof everclear (95% ABV)

8oz * 0.4 ABV = 3.2 oz of pure ethanol
3.2 / 0.95 ABV = 3.368 oz of everclear

Of course, there is some margin of error as is would be nigh impossible to start with alcohol that is EXACTLY 40% ABV and/or end with EXACTLY 95% ABV, but the differences should be slight and only noticeable with larger quantities.

[spark master]

Hi All

saw most of Ken Burns' PROHIBITION last night. the only thing you could legally have was what you owned b4 its passing (rich people went out and bought cases and cases of booze), patent meds, whisky bought by prescription(yep, 3 pints per month unless the whole family was sick), home made wine (in house only) , 200 gallons per year, sacramental wine. (hey anyone can be a Rabbi and there were Irish Italian, Black, German, Polish Chinese Rabbi's, (no becoming priests since the church controlled who became priests.

[Matt D655]

In my opinion vodka tastes ok but i would'nt risk getting arrested to make it.

[unpicky]

alcohol isn't illegal dork, this isn't the 1920's anymore.

[spark master]

you need to read more, and not on the web.

Making distilled spirits was illegal the day the government said you gotta pay taxes on it.

And it is not illegal, it is illegal to do w/o approval from government and a tax payment and all kind forms to fill out. Even to make farm fuel from corn you need permits, still plans production plans and of course payment for the inspections. And they do check it all out.

If you make beer or wine they want records and such but unless you are making huge amounts and selling it or giving it to no family members , you can make quite a bit of it. Distilling in this country USA , is illegal w/o paperwork and inspections and tax stamps, illegal illegal illegal. Real jail time, bubba up your butt illegal.

New Zealand , as far as I know , is the only country that allows it citizens the right to make booze.

[MissouriVillian]

Missouri Revised Statutes
Chapter 311
Liquor Control Law
Section 311.055

August 28, 2010

License to manufacture not required, personal or family use--limitation.
311.055. No person at least twenty-one years of age shall be required to obtain a license to manufacture intoxicating liquor, as defined in section 311.020, for personal or family use. The aggregate amount of intoxicating liquor manufactured per household shall not exceed two hundred gallons per calendar year if there are two or more persons over the age of twenty-one years in such household, or one hundred gallons per calendar year if there is only one person over the age of twenty-one years in such household.


Don't know about other states, but as long as I don't sell it I can and do make it legally at home.

you need to read more, and not on the web.

[spark master]

Federal law trumps that law and says No No Nannette!!

ATF a goes after "shiners" as well as FBI. This allows locals police from ignoring your still, and not bothering to alert the ATF and FBI . If they chose to ignore it.

The state POT Laws are same, and so if your state has a medical pot/decrimmed pot law on books, it makes it the FBI's responsibility. If the state is aggressive about it they can tell police to never call the FBI on this. The Feds can strike back by connecting pot enforcement WITH say education funding.

This was done with 21 year old drink laws. Either you have it or we don't fund your roads.

All states now are 21 for public drinking, or the serving of alcoholic beverages to non family members in a home scenario.

[MissouriVillian]

Spark is correct folks. Federal law makes no allowances for distillation without permits. They say essentially the same thing he does but with more legalesse. Contrary to what he said though they do allow for the (giving only) of beer to non family members, no records nessecary. Otherwise homebrew competitions would not occur without much hassle. It would seem though that there is paperwork nessecary for wine making of any large amount in the form of being bonded. I apologize again for my rudeness and uninformed comment.

http://www.ttb.gov/faqs/genalcohol.shtml

[spark master]

Back in the 70's when I started making beer there was hoopla of what you could and could not do. I am not a liar, errr lawyer, and the people at the supply house explained I could make 200 gallons of beer or wine no tax, personal use on premise, (visitor could have some if they were legal age ), not to be given as gifts/away. We were pissed one was allowed to make the same amount of either, wine a much higher alcoholic beverage and in theory you drink less, so you get to make a lot more so beer should have been up to 400 or 600 gallons. And beer made at a 12 % level is nasty and if you try to push it to 16 -17 like sherries, it is worse.

Perhaps the rules were adjusted, but I remember thinking about brew contests and saying "can't be legal" . No one cared, we brewed what we wanted and we made some awedacious suds, some complete crap as well (hey there is a learning curve). My friends dad, a former resident of the way back in the woods Wisconsin , and a HVAC mechanic who made and ran shine, offered to make me a still in a 50 gallon drum (self contained), to run out my mistakes. Shoulda let'm, but I was living in parents home and dad was a cop and we knew the issues. So no deal.

Oh and while the term BOOZE is all inclusive, I did mean Distilled Spirits. With all the people I know booze is the general term for DS

[MissouriVillian]

I will have to check that. If it's true then I spoke brashly, my apologies. But no one I know personally has ever had a problem with recreational distilling, so I suppose it never came up.

[jj32x]

alcohol isnt illegal but distilation without a license is.

[The Mollusk]

Your not making vodka, your making everclear. Vodka is 80 proof (40% alcohol), everclear is about 195 proof (97.5% alcohol). Its more than twice as strong, and has many more uses than getting you drunk. ... Maybe I should add a uses step...

[NInja99]

You can make n ferment (i think) flower perfume with grain alcohol or something as everclear

[andybuda]

in england theres no laws that i can find that say you can`t distill. it illegal to sell
your home brew.
you can grow tobbaco but you can`t dry leafs for smokeing due to tax same as selling alcohol. if any 1 knows of a goverment page or related link...
i did find a page on the web about bio fuels and how much your aloud to keep over 1000L if i remember

[mpmayer]

couldnt you just freeze the stuff in dry ice to separate the alcohol and water

[andybuda]

no even worse. ice crystals are sharp and hold on to the alcohol. some people thing, like i use to that when alcohol freezes theres separation like oil on water.
it goes to slush

[realcelestialphoenix]

(removed by author or community request)

[Derin]

bam explosion

[chamunks]

Bam Innacurate. The only reason why you would have an explosion is if you spilled your alcohol or somehow you werent condensing the alcohol gas in your distiller enough and much of it was escaping and hit your Gas Stove this is the only way that I could imagine that you're going to blow up anything.

Im certain you would notice that much alcohol gas in your space. Let alone nothing here is under pressure.

There is nothing in this instructable that actually proves that you've actually stilled anything.

But yes without a licence to distill it is illegal to concentrate any alcohol at all.

Its even illegal to make something called Jack, where you accidentally leave beer or wine out in the cold or your freezer too long and the water inside freezes. If you remove the ice thats formed that act in itself is illegal.

But you know what this is for knowledge purposes anyways if you were to actually do it ;) you would be sure to get the licence :P

Also Downloaded as a PDF incase this ible dissapears.

[lostinacrowd]

Focus!

[mattbomb]

HaHaHa, looks like you got a meth plant going there, lol

[dela213]

thats cool, i don't mean to be rude, but everclear is corn whiskey, where as vodka is potato.

[Gazaman]

dela213, just want you to know that vodka today is rarely made from potatoes, rather, its from grains. Poor peasants in the old days used spuds because they had to...

[lwjoestar]

 Technically, it doesn't matter, since Everclear is quite literally nothing but ethanol (95.6%) and a tiny bit of water (4.4%).  Pure ethanol derived from corn is identical to pure ethanol derived from any other source, so any difference is purely psychological by this point.

[harley_rly]

i thought they use rice to make it

[harley_rly]

dude you cant become blind from everclear...you can however become blind if your thermometers off and you accidently distill methanol too.

[ForgetMyProfile]

Dude, this instructable is about distilling commercially produced,  store bought vodka.

Where exactly would the methanol come from?

[harley_rly]

dude that's  a good point

[rbdeli]

Everclear makes a fine low-calorie martini. :)

Shake heavily with ice, strain over two olives.

<a href='http://productreviewratings.com/2010/01/everclear-alcohol-low-calorie-drink/'>Everclear Alcohol</a>

[excelblue]

Have you ever scientifically tested the concentration of alcohol in your distillation? It can be done by detecting the temperature at which the distilled result boils at. Use some formulas for boiling point depressions due to impurities (in this case, water), and it should be possible to calculate the concentration. Too complicated? Just measure the temperature at which your distilled result boils at (as precise as possible - preferably to the 0.01th degree). You know when it boils when the temperature stays constant (while bubbles come up) when being heated on the hot plate. I should be able to calculate it then.

[netbuddy]

Specific Gravity tells you to +/-0.5% (1%) the concentration of alcohol present by the way it changes the specifi gravity of the fluid when the water is removed through brewing and turned in to alcohol.

[netbuddy]

Distilling or extraction of alcohol from spirits wines and other alcohol sources is illegal in most countries around the world. Please take note and check your countrys legislation.

[Estwald]

What you are showing is a Florence Flask (15th Item down the page) not a Beaker (11th Item on the same page).

[sk187]

it is simply not possible to distill vodka @40% with this set up to 97.5%. By the laws of physic, molecular attraction and gas laws.

[triggernum5]

sk187 Is right.. The still you have has no reflux, thus no real HETP.. If you start with 40%alc, that solution will boil at about 184.5°F, and the vapour elvolved will be about 77%.. That is the initial strength, this will drop as the solution depletes its alcohol.. Once the BP hits about 204°F, the distillate drips will be lower than 40% (the solution in the still will be down to about 6%) Remember your thermal equilibrium is shifted if you're getting a BP reading of 174.5° for 40% vodka.. In actuality, 85-90% alcohol boils that low.. So lets say you start with 1L of 40%, and distill it until the vapours are 40%.. Just guesstimating that to happen when the wash is 75% distilled, you'd have 250ml at 6% in the still (15ml achohol) and 385ml alcohol in the 750mL you distilled or 51% alcohol.. Its a comprimise between waste and potency, but everything can be saved I suppose.. Theoretically accepting only the first most potent drips, then redistilling.. 40% yields 77% -> 77% yields 87% -> 87% yields 90% -> 90% yields 91.5% and so on all the way up to 95.58% which is a theoretical limit.. So starting with 1L of vodka you could get a few drops of everclear equivalent in only a few dozen extremely picky redistillations, or 750mL of 51% with one extremely unpicky distilation, or anywhere in between.. On the other side, if you distill that 6% leftover, you'll get a 25-30% product that could be redistilled to give you a little tad of stronger stuff..

[The Mollusk]

I'm sure that you thought that out a lot, but if it's not possible, then how did I do it? After I used this process, I had someone of legal drinking age try a drop or two, and they claimed it was stronger than anything they have ever tried (keep in mind that this adult goes to a lot of parties and has probably tried everclear) and said "congratulations, you just made everclear". So even if its not at 97.5%, then it's pretty damn close

[andybuda]

put some in a metal container say 100 ml set fire to it, then measure the residue.
this will give aprox %
if you can`t set fire to it you aint even close

[Re-design]

It was more bitter than they ever tasted but bitter doesn't mean it is stronger.

[WallaceTheSane]

[How they do it] the minuscule amount of water remaining is usually removed through chemical processes, as physical processes (distillation) do not work beyond certain concentrations with many solutions. Wikipedia has a great article about it.