How to make a still

This contribution tells you how to distill liquids in your own kitchen.
Maybe for illegal liquor, maybe for purifying water.

! Drinking distilled alcohol may be harmful / fatal.
! Distilling alcohol may be illegal
! Drinking distilled water may be harmful / fatal

Step 1 Materials

I used:
A pressure-cooker
8mm OD copper tubing
A plastic bucket.

Comments

[pegasus917]

Oh just a note though. It will taste real sweet and peachy when first done then as it ages it gets more refined.

[pegasus917]

If it calls for 3# then its 3 pounds of that ingredient.

[pegasus917]

Stevegrimmer- here is a site with a recipe for some great brandy that doesn't need any special equipment and no distilling required http://brewery.org/brewery/cm3/recs/12_51.html
I have been making it for years and years with peaches and it is always a big hit. Potent too. My family and friends just love it.

[stevegrimmer]

hi pal what douse # Qt and 112f mean please

[pegasus917]

Pound sign (#) and 112 degrees Fahrenheit

[stevegrimmer]

thanks pal im off out to get ingredients now. let you know how it turns out.

[Dorsel]

Hi, I would like to build a column still and have done some research but have some questions. Some columns are short and some very tall. (5ft or so) Dose anyone know why and what’s better? Also should I put the thermometer close too the boiling mash or at the top of the column just before the condenser? Thanks for the help.

[lemonie]

Longer columns (that are otherwise identical) have more "effective plates" so they work better for your output %.
The thermometer should be right at the top of the column to give you the boiling point of what you're actually collecting out of the condenser.

L

[stevegrimmer]

hi lemonie
im just trying your pressure cooker still out. can you give me a recipe for brandy. i saw them making moonshine brandy on telly [moonshiners] but i dont know recipe or how much to put in. thanks pal for your time,

[lemonie]

If it's rough-brandy you distill wine, simple as that. Oh and then add a bit of caramel to make it brown and slightly-sweeter.

L

[stevegrimmer]

thanks pal. on telly they used fruit ie bananas. you know anything about that.

[lemonie]

You don't get Brandy from bananas.

L

[tboy1972]

Hello I am wanting to kake a couple 400 gallon pots to cook my mash in what is the cheapest and simplest way i should go about doing this? Thanks Tobester

[lemonie]

400 Gal?
I do not know, that's "industrial"

L

[wiseolemule]

Do any of you out there know of a distilling process that will turn a plant product, say Hemp Budd's in to a medicinal oil?

[lx2036]

You're looking for an essential oil distiller. Basically a still with a longer column where steam is used to "strip" the oils out of the hemp (or whatever) held in the column itself. The key word you're looking for is "Sieve Tray Still." Google it, and if you don't turn up anything, try "essential oil distilling." I know Whiskey Still sells the smaller ones for a decent price, but if you can make your own, that'd be best and would help you learn the process better.

[lemonie]

Dry your hemp-buds, simmer in butter or oil and water, until the water has boiled-off. It's a bit of a steam-extraction. Sieve it, maybe using an old shirt so you can give it a good squeeze
If it's butter make cakes, otherwise do what you wish with your oil.

L

[ilpug]

i want me some of those cakes.

[lemonie]

Yes, they really are super. I've got an Altoids cake-tin Instructable to do next week...

L

[ilpug]

Hmm. the perfect Portable Treat. It seems that you might be interested in what our main source of economic growth is here in Mendocino County, California.

[biodieseldave]

Any alcohol can be flammable. I would advise anyone that is distilling anything in which alcohol is recovered in any percentage NOT TO USE A FLAME! for a source of heat. This is a good way to blow yourself up if the conditions are right.

[durbandave]

i need help i just started making a pot still with a preassure cooker. what i wanna know how my fruit ratio should be and how much of what i should ad if i use say peaches with a 10 liter pressure cooker and the steps leading too my yummy juice

[lemonie]

Hi!

Make sure that your brew (fruit) is good enough to drink anyway before you distill it.
For brewing I would advise that you find a home-brewing book somewhere (eBay, library, bookshop, Amazon etc.)

K

[Jyssa]

this is kinda confusing...!
I live in NZ (New Zealand) where anyone can brew their own alcohol at home - I'm trying to find an instructable telling me HOW to distill spirits (and can I use the plums from my back yard for it somehow?)

But all the double-talk and nuances to avoid sounding illegal for allll the places where you CAN'T do this is difficult to read through!!

Any simpler advice, specifically re making a beautiful liquor out of my plums?

[purplemutant]

Check out the home distiller site. http://homedistiller.org/ It's done by a guy in NZ. Lots of good info on that site. They also have a forum with experienced home distillers. There are at least a couple of people from NZ who post on that forum.

Yes you can use plums. You just have to ferment the plums into alcohol first. Then distill the plum wine to make plum brandy.

[coffee steam]

Exellent site, I have been doing stuff with the plums using the info from homedistiller.org They will also tell you why you should not use aluminium for a still. You CAN get stainless pressure cookers.

[sliv111]

i have just seen your post about using plums. yes you can My girlfriend is slovakian they make a drink called slivovice from plums . they also use most other fruits cherries, pears blackberries etc to make various strong spirits. all very goodto drink

[whiskymonster]

http://www.homedistiller.org

check the forums, and youll find all the info you will ever need fella, probably from one of the many of your fellow kiwis in the forums!

[thanson]

1) Extract the juice somehow.
2) Mix it with a yeast to make a plum wine
3) distill it

[lemonie]

You could distill plum wine with kit like this - just boil it gently and steadily.

L

[ohyeahitsthechad]

Im gonna try plastic fish tank or oxygen tubing, It is just as flexible but hopefully won't create the blue water issue.

[lemonie]

Hot alcohol will strip plasticisers from that tubing. You'll notice this when it's not as flexible as it was.

L

[joshbierton]

would food grade tubing work (most brewers use it for siphoning)?

[purplemutant]

Plastic should NEVER be used on a still where it will come in contact with alcohol vapors. Hot, high strength alcohol vapors will leach plasticizers from the plastic. Notice how high strength alcohol like everclear always comes in glass bottles?

I use plastic tubing for siphoning my wine. That's fine because the wine is room temp and no more than 18% abv.

[lemonie]

It's not good with hot-vapour, and apart from anything else the thermal conductivity is poor.

L

[Love88z]

I have read several places that using aluminum can be very dangerous to distill in. What is the different between using aluminum pans to cook in, wouldnt that also be toxic?

[purplemutant]

from what I have read you shouldn't use aluminum in a still. The only acceptable materials are copper, stainless steel, and borosilicate glass.

[lemonie]

I didn't have / don't know of a problem there. Cooking things in Al can be corrosive, high-acid fruit for example.

L

[whiskymonster]

acids will corrode aluminium, but it should stay in the solution, not travel through the vapour. metal is heavy, and unlikely to reach melting, never mind boiling point.
that said, your alu cooker wont last too long, so its better to find a steel one.

[lemonie]

Yeah, I didn't empty it last time, and after some months it had gone very nasty corroded...

L