distilling

[kurgan 5]

anybody here tryed distilling at all ,its probaly aginst the law but then most things are ,i made one of these's a while back (just distilling water of course)should have a few bottles of what ever in a few days .Really easy to make if your in to your home brews its just getting the thermostat thats a pain in the ass but a guy on ebay does them and sets them at the right temp 45 -50 degrees.Check out this pdf file if you have any trouble.www.amazingstill.com/Amazingstill.pdf http://shop.stillshop.co.uk/index.php?p=pr...6&parent=16

[maty j 6]

sounds easy kurgan, is it?? i was looking on ebay for one a few months ago. was going to make up a mash of hedgerow fruit with perhaps a bit more mixed in so its cheap. i got put off by the cost of the still in the end. do you still chuck the first little bit that comes out the still with this plastic still. youve got me interested again now.....free distilled water for the car how much did it cost you to make or did you just buy the set?

cheers,

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Just asking, out of pure curiosity but; Isn't home distiling fraught with some pretty hectic levels of Real danger? I mean, I know there's the one about freezing a bottle of something or other. They reckon ye end up with two sorts of 'pure' alcahol. One gets ye wrecked. The other blinds or just plain kills ye. I mean, seriously: F*ck That for a game of Russian Roullette!

 

Similarly, I was chatting to my sister just a night or two back and the subject of " Pocheen " came up. I automatically mentioned that I'd heard about someone who is known to provide the 'Safe' stuff. When she asked me what I meant by that, I again explained that I'm given to believe I picked up somewhere down the years that, done wrong, ye not going to enjoy the results of drinking the stuff.

 

Like I say. I'm not here to argue with anyone. I have no point to argue. I'm just genuinely curious as to others opinions on all this

[dyer 5]

just read that pdf ,very interesting .Do you think that when it comes to filtering it that running it through on of those brita water filters would do the same job ,after all they are charcoal ?

And what about distilling some cider would that produce cider brandy?

Edited December 9, 2007 by dyer

[kurgan 5]

I had a chat with the doctor i work with and she says a lot of the old wifes tails are just that you wont go bilnd or poision yourself if you use common sense that only happens if you add battery acid or what ever crap that people but in it to save a few bob,its only water ,sugar and yeast after all ,if you can get the thermostat or fish tank heater that goes at 45-55 degrees the rest is dead cheap less than 15quid to set up but it is worth getting decent yeast not the wine stuff ,no you dont chuck the first lot thats distilled its all ready been distilled twice because of the design of the still.I've drunk loads of the Bosnia stuff when i was out there and if 6 months of drinking slivavich has'nt killed me this should be okay.To be on the safe side i have set it up in the garage but seeing as its a big plasic bucket it should really blow up ,will keep you posted if you see a post like this'ihfg9erqwjkjmdkopvja sdoifuiowerut=[qr 'you know i've gone blind

[paddy.t 5]

Just asking, out of pure curiosity but; Isn't home distiling fraught with some pretty hectic levels of Real danger? I mean, I know there's the one about freezing a bottle of something or other. They reckon ye end up with two sorts of 'pure' alcahol. One gets ye wrecked. The other blinds or just plain kills ye. I mean, seriously: F*ck That for a game of Russian Roullette!

 

Similarly, I was chatting to my sister just a night or two back and the subject of " Pocheen " came up. I automatically mentioned that I'd heard about someone who is known to provide the 'Safe' stuff. When she asked me what I meant by that, I again explained that I'm given to believe I picked up somewhere down the years that, done wrong, ye not going to enjoy the results of drinking the stuff.

 

Like I say. I'm not here to argue with anyone. I have no point to argue. I'm just genuinely curious as to others opinions on all this

 

 

dead right ditch, we did the same experiment in science the other day, me and a freind had the bright idea to make our own brew, but after speaking to the teacher we decided to give it a miss. best off sticking to the legal 'safe' suff i would say

[maty j 6]

let us know how it goes. when i ment the first lot i met the first few ml's. remembering what i read it was pure ethanol?? could be way off the mark there, i remember reading it wouldnt kill you (or make you go blind) just taste really bad. i know that was with a different still so perhaps it varys and this type is allright. you've definately got me interested again now what did you add in to the mash fruit wise??

 

with this amazing plastic still i can see on ebay they do sets and when you look at the imersion heater costing nearly 30 quid off this seller to get one to go to 45-50 deg cel, the whole kit, all the buckets etc is only about 54 quid. ive printed that pdf off anyway so will have a good read off it tonight and see if i can source any cheap plastic buckets

[fishfish 17]

might i add that a realy good yeast to use is a SHERRY yeast,its very tolerant to alchohol levels,and so reaches far higher alc contents in yer wines. as for the cider question,quite simply the answer is yes,use proper 6+% scrumpy ,the west country cider brandy manufacturers do just this,Bulmers museum in hereford does it on sit at the museum,40pints of scrumpy makes i believe half a pint of cider brandy,it realy is good stuff,waitrose sell it. the french make the same product illicitly,they call it calvados,they make theirs however from the fermented apple pulp that is left from making the 'cheese' in the cider making process.

I remember my gran talking of a spirit the polish soldiers that were billeted with her during the war used to make,they stilled plumb wine ,cant remember what it was called.

[TOPPER 1,809]

when i live up on the slieve bloom mountains we used to make pootsheen from molasas sugar and water then distilled it in our homemade still == old hotwater cylinder 5ft pipe into a copper coil running though a 45 gal drum filled with water worked a treat when the first drips came out we use to set them on fire if it was a bright blue flame it was good stuff - orange flame bin it it always amazed me when we got raided by the guards they would sit around sampling it for an hour or two then steal our copper cylinder but leave the burner and 45 gal drum fun that mined you we did get fined 250 punts back then but the good news was production only stopped for one day, ha the good old days!!

[maty j 6]

hows it coming on kurgan?? remember to let the machine cool down before opening it up and dont breath the ai in when you take the lid off it either. ive been looking into them and found this out, could be bull but better safe than sorry.

 

anyone any ideas how they get this into this? making it more hot? dont really want to pay 30quid when you can get them for a tenner just not hot enough

[kurgan 5]

Try this guy he does them for £20 quid http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/applebyhomebrew ,cheers for the advice you let the still cool down for half an hour as opening it up will cause the thermostat to crack .Hope fully i'l have my first batch by next week will let you know how it goes.

[maty j 6]

top job. thanks for that kurgan. the other had varyable temperature but for an extra tenner dont know if its worth it? supose you would have more control over the qaulity or quantity you produce then though. still be interested if anyone knows how to modify the heaters to a higher temperature. sorry if it sounded like i was teach ye to suck eggs mate, but would hate your set up to knacer if i never said anything.

 

have you got a filtration system sorted yet or not bothering with the activated carbon??

been reading and double even triple distilled sounds interesting. something else to play around with anyway. keep us posted mate.

[kurgan 5]

top job. thanks for that kurgan. the other had varyable temperature but for an extra tenner dont know if its worth it? supose you would have more control over the qaulity or quantity you produce then though. still be interested if anyone knows how to modify the heaters to a higher temperature. sorry if it sounded like i was teach ye to suck eggs mate, but would hate your set up to knacer if i never said anything.

 

have you got a filtration system sorted yet or not bothering with the activated carbon??

been reading and double even triple distilled sounds interesting. something else to play around with anyway. keep us posted mate.

Just made a carbon filter like in the pdf ,filter funnel and a bit of 35mm pipe attached will try and join that to a demijohn some how.

[ianrob 2]

Just asking, out of pure curiosity but; Isn't home distiling fraught with some pretty hectic levels of Real danger? I mean, I know there's the one about freezing a bottle of something or other. They reckon ye end up with two sorts of 'pure' alcahol. One gets ye wrecked. The other blinds or just plain kills ye. I mean, seriously: F*ck That for a game of Russian Roullette!

 

Similarly, I was chatting to my sister just a night or two back and the subject of " Pocheen " came up. I automatically mentioned that I'd heard about someone who is known to provide the 'Safe' stuff. When she asked me what I meant by that, I again explained that I'm given to believe I picked up somewhere down the years that, done wrong, ye not going to enjoy the results of drinking the stuff.

 

Like I say. I'm not here to argue with anyone. I have no point to argue. I'm just genuinely curious as to others opinions on all this

Hi Ditch, I've done it other ways, but as I see it, If you ferment a drinkable brew, ie a beer or wine type brew, if the result is drinkable, stilling it won't turn it to poison, it just seperates the alc from the flavouring. You probably want to retain some of the flavouring so only run it once or twice. Just follow basic good ingredient brewing and you'll be ok.

[harrycatcat 31]

Chap up our street makes stacks of the stuff. I got talking to him and he borrowed my mulching machine and in return he gave me a litre of gin that he had made. It was OK but he makes whiskey and any wine or beer he doesn't like he puts it through his still.

I think he will have to give me some lessons