methanol?

are there any test u can run to make sure the spirits after being distilled is ethanol not methanol

Distilling? Um, what're you distilling?

Home distilling is illegal without proper permits. Home brewing is legal.


IB4TL...

its all legal in nz

I'm sure there are some sites out there about distilling spirits. This site is centered around brewing beer, wine, and cider.

Isn't Methanol what they put in cigarettes?

im not really sure at moment i had a go at distilling some mash (?) a wee while back that just had yeast warm water and brown sugar i distilled it and it came out with something that was definitely alcoholic but not sure if it was poisonous any ideas???

I thought Methanol was what a Prius ran on?

its just metholated spirits (u know the purple cleaning stuff) but its also a product that can be created in same way as ethanol (drinking alcohol)

The methanol will boil off at 64.7 °C and the ethanol will at 78.4 °C. I not really sure exactly how they do it, but I think they just wait until they hit the ethanol temp to start collecting it. They probably collect the from 64 C up to 78 C and throw it away. I would definitely not drink it if you didn't' know exactly what you were doing. It wouldn't be fun to live the rest of your life blind...or maybe dead.

Oh and don't take my word on the temps either I found it on wikipedia.

yeah, from the VERY limited experience I've had with distilling... you toss out the first runnings of the still until you get up to the correct temps.

Just FYI, methanol is the fuel race cars like Indy cars burn. Ethanol is added to most gasoline products these days for your daily driver. Heh heh.... only real men drink the methanol!

You won't get methanol...it's not possible for the enzymes to actually make it. It's a common myth about moonshining. Moonshiners back in "the day" used to "water down" or rather "heat up" their product by pouring in some industrial alcohol, which would bump up the methanol content.

Also, legal issues aside, I highly advise against making a still if you don't know what you're doing, and it doesn't sound like you do given your above posts. Every one of these alcohols you're trying to concentrate is extremely flammable, and if the proper measures aren't taken you will light your ass on fire. It's against the law (here) and its unsafe.

That said, IBTL.

Can't believe this hasn't been Locked yet. Guess The mods feeling have been hurt.

But to the OP....Drink it. If it gives you the worst headache you've ever experienced....You did a poor job at your cuts.

This is a beer, wine, and cider forum. Distilling for personal use is illegal in most countries, including the US. Discussions about distillation are not generally permitted here.