Hi from London

[McGrath Brewery]

Hi i have just started brewing in london, which for a large city has very few brew shops. Im a complete novice who is just about to start his third brew so i have alot to learn Also even though this has nothing to do with it, if i was making alcohol in a still how do i make it drinkable?

 

[Darth Konvel]

Hello and welcome.

Can't say I know anything about destilling alcohol though.

 

[david_42]

A still is used for concentrating alcohol, rather than making it. If your source material (beer, wine, mashed potatoes) is edible, the results would be ok. There are many types of stills. This one is neat Bucket still Easy to make and run. You can also spend hundreds of dollars buying one.

Saw an article today. The French have so much excess wine that they are distilling part of the inventory into fuel alcohol.

 

[Orfy]

Hi from Cheshire.

Do yo know you can get fermentation kits that claim to get to commercial vodka strength.

 

[McGrath Brewery]

Yeh i saw that article. I have been making alcohol in a still from beer i was just wondering if i could drink it or if it was poisonus.

 

[Caplan]

I have been making alcohol in a still from beer i was just wondering if i could drink it or if it was poisonus.

Only one way to find out! Give it a good quaff and if you're still posting on this site in the morning you're probably still alive (pun intended )

Welcome on board the Love Boat!

 

[D@VID]

Hello and welcome McGrath Brewery

 

[Caplan]

I fear he's drunk the results from his still experiments and expired.....

 

[McGrath Brewery]

Hahaha no i drunk a bit and it tasted like ****... but its fun to make!

 

[Caplan]

Glad you're alive!

 

[sudsmonkey]

Man, the plastis still seems cool, but when they tell you to filter through activated carbon, I'd get nervous. try moonshine.still.com . They give step by step instructions for building either an internal or external reflux still that probuces about 2 liters of 150+ proof alcohol in a 5 hour run. Cut it with water, and you double your batch size. I really want to build one to distill water , etc..

 

[david_42]

I don't think there is a yeast that can survive past 22%, not even a saki or distiller's yeast. 44 proof isn't my idea of vodka.

The activated charcoal is to remove any flavors from the output. If there isn't anything in the mash that's bad, the still won't add anything. Now, if you were trying to make Grappa, you could be setting yourself up for trouble. The fermentation of the skins and seeds can result in a fair amount of methanol. It's really tricky to seperate ethanol & methanol.