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

[Jugband]

Is there a way to monitor temperature on this still arrangement?

You need to stop the run when the temperature starts rising above 190F, or you begin getting propanol coming out, and alcohol content starts dropping, because at about 200F the water starts putting off vapor mixing in with the alcohol vapor.

You don't just boil out all the ethanol then start boiling the water at 212F. When the water starts getting close to it's boiling point, it's already giving off steam, to dilute the alcohol output.

It looks to me like you'd have to just guess at when to stop the distillation, or is there something I'm not seeing about where/how to put a thermometer?

[sttt]

(removed by author or community request)

[romandoc]

nothing needs to be made out of copper. stainless steel works best

[Jugband]

You're right, nothing needs to made of copper, so long as you don't intend to drink it.

Vapor from a mash contains sulfur compound that are removed by passage through copper.

Better taste comes from discarding the foreshots, (which are about the first 20ml of output), and by having as much copper in the process as possible.

[freddysserpent]

acutually copper helps remove some of the sulphides where as stainless doesnt, unless you use a reflux tower (generally they are packed with copper mesh though) only a tast thing though.

[lemonie]

Hello!
This Methanol-business is often repeated, but it makes no sense. If you drink a bottle of wine you drink any methanol in it. Also, you find it very hard to separate meth/ethanol without a sophisticated fractional-still.

L

[Jugband]

It makes no sense when people are saying that it will harm you... it will not, but only because the percentage is so low.

But separating it out is the simplest thing in the world. It boils at a lower temperature than ethanol, so it is the first thing out of the still, along with acetone and a couple other nasty-tasting alcohols.

Simply discard the first 20ml of output, and it's a done deal. No need for a fractional still.

With the tiny amounts of mash you can fit in a pressure-cooker, 20ml is probably on the high side. With a 5-10 gallon run of mash in a larger boiler, it's about 20ml.

[brimble1]

you can separate methanol from the ethanol using a pot still like the one you've kindly shown us how to use. methanol boils at a lower temperature than ethanol, about 64 degrees C i think. so this will come out of the condenser as a steady stream before ethanol. i think this method is called topping and tailing. i heard somewhere that the methanol is a bi-product of distilling so is created by cracking during the heating. if the methanol was in the wine originally you'd be poisoned!

[lemonie]

Not that simple - look up azeotrope.
Methanol is not created by 'cracking' during the heating, that's something I've not heard before.

L

[brimble1]

thanks for that link. i have since done quite a lot of distilling and was always worried about the methanol because i only seemed to be getting fluid coming out of my condenser at about 90 degrees!
Everyone seems to be so scared of methanol because of stories of moonshine turning people blind and making them paralyzed in prohibition america. But I've read that this was caused by moonshiners adding denatured alcohol to their drink to make it stronger!
Thanks for the help

[Jugband]

No, moonshiners weren't adding denatured alcohol to their output, they were distilling it instead of making a mash and distilling THAT.

Feds used to watch for trucks loaded with hundreds of pounds of sugar and barrels of molasses, then follow them back to the still.

But you could carry 40 gallons of denatured alcohol in a car pretty much un-noticed.

On top of that, they didn't have to spend time fermenting a mash, which was the other big way they got found. A fermenting mash smells like fresh-baked bread, and a bunch of large fermenters could be smelled at a great distance.

So the feds and local sheriffs would hike the woods, trying to sniff fermenters.

Distilling denatured alcohol made their operation harder to locate, while resulting in higher profits (it was cheaper than the ingredients in a mash) with less time and effort.

But denatured alcohol was pure methanol, so they couldn't "Distill the poison out of it", since it was pure poison, rather than alcohol to which some poison had been added.
;

[mgraham12]

Do I pour both bottles in the cooker? Please email a prompt response @ [e-mail].

Thank You sir!

[lemonie]

One or both would work.

L

[whiskymonster]

methanol is made from the thermal breakdown of fructose, or fruit sugar, and is easily removed in your still. the first few shots will be the stuff with the lowest boiling point, ie methanol and other nasties. just throw away the first few shots (the foreshots and heads) and youll befine.
besides, methanol isnt all that bad in the doses your gonna encounter here.
and the natural antidote to methanol? ethanol!
the main problem with a still is fire hazard. anything over 40% will burn, so as such you might as well be boiling petrol!
just be carefull and youll be good

[Jugband]

There isn't enough methanol in a mash to do anything at all except detract from the flavor. That myth dates to when moonshiners got the bright idea to distill denatured alcohol, which was pure methanol. It was cheaper, quicker, and nobody would follow a truck loaded down with sugar back to the still.

But when you distill Pure Methanol, the output is Pure Methanol.

Unless you separate out the heads from a hundred batches of moonshine, save it all then drink it when you have enough, you aren't going to get enough out of drinking the entire output of a large run to actually do you any harm.

While methanol is toxic, there simply isn't enough by percentage in moonshine to hurt anyone. What there IS boils out in the first 20ml, along with the acetone and other alcohols and esters which smell and taste nasty.

Just catch the first output in a shot glass, toss it down the sink, and you're good, taste-wise AND health-wise..

[Jugband]

Not sure what is meant by "Drain Pipe".

You need copper in your vapor path if you plan to be drinking what you're distilling, because copper absorbs sulfur compounds in the vapor which detract from the taste.

I wouldn't want chrome in the vapor path at all, because hot alcohol vapor is corrosive, and might pick up chromium from the fittings.

[Country411]

I in no way meant to be rude when I said, "do some research", sorry it offended you. There is very little methanol in a bottle wine, but that doesn't matter to me because I am distilling corn mash. I am a layman, not a PhD, and my understanding of azeotropes is that they are a combination of fluids such as, ethanol and water, that can not be separated by distillation. This is only relavant to me because my final distilled product will never be more 95ish% alcohol . In reality it's probably lower, I use the bubble test, and not a hydrometer. I understand that this post contradicts my last post, but the method I use (including charting the temps) produces a good product. Just trying to keep it simple, and in terms that simple minded people like myself can easily understand. Thank you for the correction, it pushed me to understand my little back woods hobby in a fuller more scientific way.
L

[Country411]

Just so everybody know methanol boils at 149 degrees, and that is the alcohol that will kill you, or make you blind, do some research the stuff is toxic. Ethanol boils at 178, and that's the good get ya drunk stuff. Water boils at 212. So boil your mash to 178 degrees, then throw it away. Keep everything between 179 and 211. Once the temp raises to 212 your getting water, this is when your done. Another little fact that might help, your temp will not rise to the ethanol boiling point till the methanol has been boiled off. Same with the water, it will not turn to steam until the ethanol is gone.

[lemonie]

With regard to "do some research"; I have and I've got the paperwork to prove it somewhere (BSc, PhD).
Do you know anything about azeotropes ("it will not turn to steam until the ethanol is gone" is false), or how much methanol there is in a bottle of wine?

L

[demon00]

what length of copper coil did you use ?

[lemonie]

I don't know because I didn't measure it. I just re-shaped the coil so it was never straightened and measured.

L

[guitarMan85]

ok ill try it. thanks, also another question, can you use chrome brass drain pipes on the still?

[lemonie]

"chrome brass drain pipes" - probably, but I don't see a need. If you're really bothered about purity; do a second distillation with glassware.

L

[guitarMan85]

im tryin to make a personal still out of things i already have. these pipes are 'chrome plated white brass' but only the outside of the pipe is chrome. i was just wondering if the alcohol vapor being exposed to the brass was bad, cause i dont ever see brass on any stills except for a few connectors. Also, are you saying do the whole process again with glass? cause if i had a glass setup i would just do that, and would only have to do it once right??

[lemonie]

A lot of top-quality, expensive spirits are distilled in copper-stills. Copper would be good, but I think you'd be fine with brass.

L

[guitarMan85]

sorry. no clue why it sent 3 times

[guitarMan85]

im tryin to make a personal still out of things i already have. these pipes are 'chrome plated white brass' but only the outside of the pipe is chrome. i was just wondering if the alcohol vapor being exposed to the brass was bad, cause i dont ever see brass on any stills except for a few connectors. Also, are you saying do the whole process again with glass? cause if i had a glass setup i would just do that, and would only have to do it once right??

[guitarMan85]

im tryin to make a personal still out of things i already have. these pipes are 'chrome plated white brass' but only the outside of the pipe is chrome. i was just wondering if the alcohol vapor being exposed to the brass was bad, cause i dont ever see brass on any stills except for a few connectors. Also, are you saying do the whole process again with glass? cause if i had a glass setup i would just do that, and would only have to do it once right??

[guitarMan85]

is it ok to use an old flexible copper tube water line? its not shiny insinde now, its a little dark. but no green corrosion at all. i mean we had been drinkin water out of it so it cant be that bad. plus its not real close to the heat its gonna be the worm

[lemonie]

I would think so: try it and see what it tastes like.

L

[stetsberg]

If i am just trying to make pure water, would any copper leach into the water? The water would be acidic so i also wonder about the pipes corroding. Also, is there any point to making the coil if all i want is pure water? It seems like what i am looking for would turn to steam and then go through the tube and into the collection tank. Am i correct in assuming this?

[lemonie]

The purest water is distilled in glass, but why would your water be acidic?
Coil is to cool the vapour back to liquid.

L

[boongirl00]

if one were to theoretically distill alcohol, is there a good way to control the temperature to ensure the alcohol evaporates but not the water?

[lemonie]

You build a more sophisticated still.
(Look up "aezeotrope")

L

[BigCountry]

if for some reason (I can't think of one) you didn't want to use the plumber's putty on the bucket you could just use bagged ice. Might lose a little efficiency, but not too much.

[mrceeky]

Really interested in stills? Look up HillBillyStills in Barlow, KY, they build the best stills and sell world wide. Just look it up on line and you'll see what I'm talking about. Also check out on youtube,com for sessions on stills and operating a still. Very good video's. Small family operation, they'll welcome you as friends from your first contact.

[grannyjones]

Another reason to throw out the first and last bits of your distillate is because that is where all the bitterness/unpleasant flavor comes from. If you get it right, the resulting hootch is smooth, mellow, and fragrant. A work of art.
Also, if using copper tubing, the tubing needs to be thoroughly cleaned and dried before and after each use, to avoid contamination by copper salts.

[tallguy89]

What are the other reasons I wold want to throw out the first and last bits of the distillate and how much should be thrown out? Also how long should I let it boil for?

[Broom]

Well, it's related to what grannyjones said... There are multiple alcohols present, but only ethanol is drinkable, and the others impart "off" tastes. Fortunately, (1) ethanol is by far the greatest component of the alcohols, and (2) the others distill at slightly different temperatures - some slightly lower, some slightly higher.

So, in addition to taste, removing the first part (the cooler-temperature mix of non-ethanol + some ethanol) and the last part (the hotter-temperature mix of the last of the ethanol, + some high-temp non-ethanol) reduces the toxicity of the distillate.

You won't die if you you don't do this, but it sure won't make your hangovers (and life expectancy) any better. So do it. :)

[warren_adams]

The pressure-cooker, isn't that made of stainless steel or aluminum? I have read a few things about it's effect, I mean using this kind of metal distiller in the spirit taste as against using a copper still. I broke my whiskey still so I thought I might as well come up with an improvised distiller. I've made a couple of run with my old still using a recipe from this site: http://www.whiskeystill.net/pages/how-to-make-moonshine, it was excellent. I'm all new to this hobby but the recipe really worked well for me. I'm just not sure how it will turn out if I prepare it with a homemade distiller.