Home alcohol distiller

[mynamehere]

Hi, I am thinking to start distilling spirits at home. Before investing in equipment I would be keen to talk with someone who has experience, so that I don't walk in blind. If anyone distills alcohol at home and is open to being asked some questions that would be very helpful, thanks.

[womanofdulwich]

You know it's illegal ?

[flocker spotter]

Only if OP does this in the UK and even then, it is a grey area.

[bob]

You need a still you need a still licence from HMCE Or just don't tell any one.

Bob S

[uncleglen]

http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/still-spirits/?gclid=CJmb4rD8_skCFQ26Gwodu-YONg

[mynamehere]

I do understand that a incense is required! To apply for one however you need to detail your operation and that's where the lack of experience stumps me a little.

[apbremer]

To mynamehere

You say that you don't want to walk in blind. but you may well walk out blind.

[mynamehere]

Thanks everyone I've done more homework and this idea has been binned. Definitely not a goer

[Saffron]

Binned because of the technical requirements, or because of the bureaucratic box ticking?

[Grok]

Or not :-)

mynamehere Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Thanks everyone I've done more homework and this

> idea has been binned. Definitely not a goer

[malumbu]

So hands up. As a chemistry undergraduate most of us tried it.

Pretty easy to get a pure product through double distillation.

And confirmed as such through gas chromatography.

But nobody would drink it, and with all the effort to brew the alcohol in the first place it wasn't worth the effort.

To do it properly, and get carry over of the other chemicals which give it taste is a skilled art.

Perhaps you could get a job where industrial quantities of illegal and probably quite dangerous liquor are produced.

[maxxi]

Wasn't there a period (allegedly) of Poit?n making involving potato wine put into shallow trays and frozen? The Applejack method - http://www.distillingliquor.com/2015/02/13/how-to-make-applejack-freeze-distillation/

[malumbu]

Clnical distillation (ie that produces 97% or so alcohol) or freezing produces similar results. A super strength vodka. The only flavour is the alcohol which you then need to dilute and preferably add some flavour.

Various hooches can carry over methanol and other pretty horid higher alcohols, tasting nasty and possibly causing harm.

They add other stuff to meths, including the colour, to put you off drinking it and again this can be harmful.

The real stuff as said is an art to get the right flavours over - eg wood alcohols in Whisky and a complex cocktail in gin, from the juniper berries.

I read up alot about this when I was going through the motions. I even bought a bag of maize, ground it down and maleted it. A failure! As I said rights of passage.