Home distillers

[Spots]

Are there any home distillers here? I've been giving some thought to setting up a small 10 gallon setup, after securing the appropriate and free Federal Fuel Alchol permit of course. I would like to do a 10 gallon copper setup using a traditional pot still with a thump keg. I have found the still I like, now I'd just like to talk to someone who has distilled to find out about heat sources (propane, and wood if shtf) and other information.

This is the still I'm looking at

http://www.hillbillystills.com/product/traditional-moonshine-still-sizes/

Disclaimer
I have no intentions of performing illegal activities by distilling drinkable alchol.

Sent from the backwoods

[dats82]

My buddy and I built a reflux still several years ago.  We did make a couple of runs of whisky; never sold any, didn't even drink the first batch.  We just wanted to do it to see if we could.  It is not that hard to built your own, and it can certainly be done for less than $700.  Ours was not as pretty, but it probably distilled a more pure product.  If you are wanting it to produce fuel :cool: , I would think a reflux still would be even more import to have over a pot still so you have a more pure and consistent product.  With a reflux still, you can place a thermometer at the top of the column so you know when each type of alcohol is coming off, and you can turn it off when you start boiling the water off.   

 

As for heat sources, the only thing I ever used was a propane burner.  Regardless of the heat source, the most important thing is to take your time heating it up.  I think propane would be easier to keep at a constant temp, but if you were to use wood, I think a reflux still would help you again.  With a reflux still, you can have a decent amount of temperature fluctuation in your pot, but the temp at the top of the column will remain fairly constant which is what will allow your product to stay more pure. 

 

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have specific questions about construction.  You are obviously a pretty handy guy, so it would not be hard for you to build one.  Ours was not any kind of show piece, but it worked well and probably cost less than $200 total.  It has long since been destroyed, otherwise I'd probably just give it to you. 

[A.J. Holst]

So, will your ethanol fuel be apple, cherry or straight clear?

[TGO David]

Let me preface this with the statement that when the SHTF and society collapses, alcohol as a beverage is very likely to once again become a form of currency just as it was in the old days.  Anyone who does even a casual bit of reading about the history of distilling spirits will quickly note how many ministers distilled bourbon and whiskey back in those times.  It was to keep their families financially solvent; no man needs that much whiskey for himself.  :)

 

So, framed in those terms, I'd absolutely become a student of how to distill my own alcohol for drinking and medicinal purposes also as a survival tool.  Learning doesn't have to mean doing either, and learning is still legal.

 

But back to your stated purposes... that's pretty cool.  :)

[R4MBO]

I have seen a set up, and it's very nice. I believe you can get most everything you need from here http://www.milehidistilling.com

[DWARREN123]

Good idea, strong alcohol can be used for many things besides fuel and drinking.

[Jct1911]

The first part of distillation is fermentation. Also most important. As a side project, and totally legal, learn to brew a drinkable wine or beer. In a SHTF scenario, beer provides some sustenance and vitamins(think monks in fast) and nothing microbial than can kill you or make you sick can live in beer or wine.
As to fuel distillation, proper yeast will make you first run much more efficient. Look up turbo yeast, you can get into the high 20%+ abv from fermentation before the yeast quits working. Most beer/wine yeast can only get you to about 12% as will standard bread yeast. Champagne yeast can get you up to 18-20%.
For fuel purpose finding a cheap sugar source is the hardest part. Learning to transform starch to sugar is what makes it cheap but requires specialized equipment(mash tun).
In a true SHTF scenario, look into building a solar still, plenty of ways to distill without a "real" still. Double boiler is used in 3rd world countries to distill by millions everyday.

[Raoul]

I hear these stills work pretty well...

 

http://www.clawhammersupply.com/

[TNWNGR]

I believe that if I were wanting to get started and decide whether I wanted to dealve deeper into the art of distillation I'd start out with a pressure cooker still set up...

http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/how-to-make-moonshine.html#.Vghe0TZdFjr

With a set up like this you can easily turn inexpensive wine into grappa or cognac w/o doing a mash. As for me I'm trying to learn to make a decent beer.

[Raoul]

My only suggestion is "sweet feed".

[Spots]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will define try look in to building my own, my biggest issue is that time is at a large premium right now due to my job working an average of 80 hours a week, so sometimes it's easier to buy it than build it. I will look in to reflux stills and everyone's suggestions. The reason I said it was for fuel, is because making distilled spirits for consumption is illegal without an expensive and hard to obtain federal license, where as a fuel license is free. Most of my "fuel" would get cut down to 100 proof and would probably do a lot of apple flavored fuel. Since my lawn mower likes apples, you know. One of my big reasons for a pot style still is the heritage behind it. I'm not looking to make huge runs, just being able to do it the old fashioned way is interesting to me. I think it's definitely a valuable commodity for trade in a shtf situation, and usually alchol consumption goes up when times get hard. I have heard of doing sweet feed raoul, I'll look into that as well. Again thanks everybody. Dats82 I'll pm you and pick your brain once I get my questions in order.

Sent from the backwoods

[East_TN_Patriot]

Let me preface this with the statement that when the SHTF and society collapses, alcohol as a beverage is very likely to once again become a form of currency just as it was in the old days.  Anyone who does even a casual bit of reading about the history of distilling spirits will quickly note how many ministers distilled bourbon and whiskey back in those times.  It was to keep their families financially solvent; no man needs that much whiskey for himself.   :)

 

So, framed in those terms, I'd absolutely become a student of how to distill my own alcohol for drinking and medicinal purposes also as a survival tool.  Learning doesn't have to mean doing either, and learning is still legal.

 

But back to your stated purposes... that's pretty cool.   :)

Yes, and in all seriousness, the ability to distill water would likely be a very helpful skill.

I have been reading that it really isn't all that difficult or expensive to convert vehicles to flex fuel so you can actually make your own vehicle fuel at home should it be needed or desired.

[h2o]

I had looked at this site some time ago. I was thinking of building one of theses but never acted on it. Looks like you could set this up fairly reasonable.

http://moonshine-still.com/


h

[CommsNBombs]

I recommend getting into homebrew first. Nowadays it seems everyone is doing it, and you can find a plethora of online help and kits regarding it.

Remember, making your mash is still the most important part...

When we "graduated" to distilling we did it on a stove top reflux still we made to use in an apartment on a gas stove or grill - we had a made it out of copper, with the cooling unit being first - about a 10 foot small coil that we submerged in a fishing cooler and ran off into a 5 gal bucket.

That would not evenly cool it so we went to a 18" downpipe and put a "muffler" over it with two spigots - one so we could run a water hose from out sink through it and another hose leading to the drain.

Now - if you have a ton of room you can make a giant reflux still out of old copper water boilers and have your cooling unit setup anyway you see fit.

It is a great hobby to get into - and when the world ends, you bet money people would trade you virgins and cigs for the stuff.

A lot of work goes into it but it is a lot of fun and a great source of pride - especially when you have your own recipes.

Other tertiary things to keep in mind are the type of plastics or glass you may or may not use to store/capture your end product. Fermentation of your mash. The Almighty Original Gravity. Different kinds of sugars and strains of yeast. Not drinking methanol.

Hooyah!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[JAB]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will define try look in to building my own, my biggest issue is that time is at a large premium right now due to my job working an average of 80 hours a week, so sometimes it's easier to buy it than build it. I will look in to reflux stills and everyone's suggestions. The reason I said it was for fuel, is because making distilled spirits for consumption is illegal without an expensive and hard to obtain federal license, where as a fuel license is free. Most of my "fuel" would get cut down to 100 proof and would probably do a lot of apple flavored fuel. Since my lawn mower likes apples, you know. One of my big reasons for a pot style still is the heritage behind it. I'm not looking to make huge runs, just being able to do it the old fashioned way is interesting to me. I think it's definitely a valuable commodity for trade in a shtf situation, and usually alchol consumption goes up when times get hard. I have heard of doing sweet feed raoul, I'll look into that as well. Again thanks everybody. Dats82 I'll pm you and pick your brain once I get my questions in order.

Sent from the backwoods

 

The strange thing is that, from what I could find based on research I did in the past to see if it was still legal to make small amounts of drinkable whiskey just for one's own consumption, the justification for not allowing people to legally do so was that stills pose an explosion risk.  It seems to me that fuel stills would pose the very, same risk.  So, once again the government gives some B.S. line to try and cover the fact that it is really all about the money.

Edited September 28, 2015 by JAB

[TNWNGR]

I'm curious if the alternative energy ethanol still has to be permited prior to the build or prior to putting it into production. But once you've figured out the ATF approved course of action let me know. I can easily make a trip and help you out for a day or so, by then I should be making a little bit of beer at home.

[diamondback]

The feds are going to bust the site thinking some of us are running shine.

[dralarms]

The feds are going to bust the site thinking some of us are running shine.

Lol. Heard it through the grape vine that they changed it to a misdemeanor anyway. Right now my truck won't run on it so I ain't making any but if I get a flex fuel for my next truck I will sure get into this. Fuel is just to dang much

[Raoul]

There's really no way to save money by distilling ethanol. And unless you have one giant honking still the output will be more geared to the human intake and not the auto intake.

At least that's what I heard...

[dralarms]

I'd about that but once in a while I end up with a bad batch of wine, it'd sure be nice to pour it in my tank.

[TNWNGR]

There's really no way to save money by distilling ethanol. And unless you have one giant honking still the output will be more geared to the human intake and not the auto intake.

At least that's what I heard...

 

Actually for those of us here it'd be more about learning how to do it and then putting it to a practical application until satisfied with the knowledge and experience. 

[rmiddle]

There's really no way to save money by distilling ethanol. And unless you have one giant honking still the output will be more geared to the human intake and not the auto intake.

At least that's what I heard...

 

My understanding is that unless you have a good source of cheap sugar you are correct it will never compare to buying gas.  Now if you have a source for cheap sugar or starches like you are able to get waste from a bread plant it will never be cheaper that using gas from a pump.  There are few reason people get into this.  1) A hobby some people like to build things.  2) As a backup in case of SHTF. 3) Someone gets access to a source of stuff that can't be used as food but contains high sugar content.

 

Thanks

Robert

[Raoul]

My understanding is that unless you have a good source of cheap sugar you are correct it will never compare to buying gas.  Now if you have a source for cheap sugar or starches like you are able to get waste from a bread plant it will never be cheaper that using gas from a pump.  There are few reason people get into this.  1) A hobby some people like to build things.  2) As a backup in case of SHTF. 3) Someone gets access to a source of stuff that can't be used as food but contains high sugar content.

 

Thanks

Robert

 

You forgot 3)

The entertainment factor.

[rmiddle]

My understanding is that unless you have a good source of cheap sugar you are correct it will never compare to buying gas.  Now if you have a source for cheap sugar or starches like you are able to get waste from a bread plant it will never be cheaper that using gas from a pump.  There are few reason people get into this.  1) A hobby some people like to build things.  2) As a backup in case of SHTF. 3) Someone gets access to a source of stuff that can't be used as food but contains high sugar content.

 

Thanks

Robert

 

You forgot 3)

The entertainment factor.

 

I think #1 covers that pretty much.

 

Thanks

Robert

[Spots]

So quick update on this. At income tax time I'm gonna be ordering up a still. I'll be ordering from Clawhammer Supply and will be going with their 10 gallon copper, build it yourself kit. This let's me have some pride in workmanship and I feel capable of doing the work, but I also know all the parts are there and I can call them for help if I run in to something unexpected. I went with a 10 gallon as a starter so I can take things slowly but still run enough for it to be worth it. I'm also gonna order up a couple of books to read up on. And I'll probably be picking several people's brains when I can. For those of you who have done this, let me see if I have the process right.

You make your mash, adding sugar, corn, or sweet feed, etc and yeast to water. This fermets in a mash barrel. Once it's done fermeting, you siphon off the wash (liquid) into a separate container. Then you do a stripper run and don't make any cuts. This makes low wines and clears your wash of most of the water, particles etc. Make enough stripper runs to have 10 gallons of low wines? Then add all the low wines, and distill slowly, cutting out the foreshort (methanol) then cutting the heads, hearts and finally the tails. This will yield high wines or high proof alchol in your hearts correct? Is there anything I'm missing or that j am misinformed on? How much wash does it to take to strip off and make 10 gallons of low wines? And with 10 gallons of low wines, how much finished product can be expected?

Sent from behind the anvil