Does anyone distill their own liquor?

[deevergote]

I'm in the process of slowly piecing together my beer brewing setup... and I began wondering what it would take to make my own liquor as well.

I need to do more research, but I'm still trying to figure out the best option for a still. I'd like to do very small batches (which is probably the opposite of what most people do! )

Anyway, I checked on ebay for cheap stuff, and I found this for under $200 shipped
Cheap Chinese stuff, as is most super-inexpensive stuff found on eBay. I'm wondering if going the super cheap route like this might actually work, or if this is something I'd need to spend serious money on.

[PUMASTi]

Its still pretty popular in prison I believe lol.

I don't know anyone who distills their own liquor. I have a few friends that are big into brewing their own beer and have been doing so for a while.

I've never had a beer brewed by someone I know, I'm usually satisfied when the Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale comes around lol.

[deevergote]

Guys in prison have that much freedom? Wow.

I've done beer before, just once (with the assistance of a master.) I actually arrived at the idea of distilling liquor as I was researching the process for "all grain" beer brewing.
The draw to distilling over brewing beer is that I might be able to make very small batches (that wouldn't be a waste of money or time... as very small batches of beer would be!) Beer, I'm looking at no less than 5 gallons at a time to really make it worthwhile. Liquor, I could do much less... making it far easier to do in my tiny house.

[wildBill83]

It's dangerous, spend the money on quality equipment and get a permit from the local authorities to remain legal.

Do it outside also.

Equate cheep stills to riding with blown struts and cut springs.

[deevergote]

It's dangerous, spend the money on quality equipment and get a permit from the local authorities to remain legal.

Do it outside also.

Equate cheep stills to riding with blown struts and cut springs.

Thanks. That's the kind of info I wanted!
I know with beer, if you do it wrong you'll just end up with awful beer. With liquor, you can do serious damage.

Is a permit required to distill? I know I can whip up a batch of beer in my basement without violating any laws. Then again, beer is no more than 20% as potent as most proper liquor.

[toycar]

Thanks. That's the kind of info I wanted!
I know with beer, if you do it wrong you'll just end up with awful beer. With liquor, you can do serious damage.

Is a permit required to distill? I know I can whip up a batch of beer in my basement without violating any laws. Then again, beer is no more than 20% as potent as most proper liquor.

Depends on local laws and how exactly you are distilling it.

Ive made whiskey and moon shine plenty of times.

I also make whine every year with apricots and apples from my tree.


Im with bill in the notion that buying quality equipment is pretty important.

Its really no more difficult than making beer though.

[wildBill83]

You will have to check with local laws. It may be determined by the amount you distill, and it may even be plain out illegal in other places. You are correct that it is because of the actual alcohol content, but also the possibility of someone doing something wrong and blowing up their house or starting a large fire and therefor affecting the unknowing public.

Also if you brew beer and don't sterilize correctly you can breed botulism and die horribly slow and painfully.

[4U2H8ME]

I recently have started a lil research into distilling liquor. It started when I started watching "moonshiners" on Discovery. The best thing I can tell you is google it. Now there are alot of federal regulations in regards to distilling liquor and you have to get bonded. Making liquor as opposed to beer or wine is a different process. You have to be careful when making it, because you can actually wind up making methanol at 1 level and ethanol at another. Then there's the mash or must as some refer to it that has to ferment. Depending on what kind of liquor your making your basic mash consist of water, sugar and yeast. rum would be made from distilled molasses, tequilla from distilled aguave. This is just some of the things I've learned from reading up.

[RyanD]

Atlantis does not have any laws so your good

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.ht...&f=50&t=471617

You will have to have a permit. And you can only brew so much per year. Also you cannot give it to anyone as that is distribution which is against the law

Good luck

[toycar]

Whiskey is made by allowing seeds to germinate, and then killing them before they able to grow.

This is the "mash" that was spoken of. If you were in prison you would take all the fruit from your cell block, make a "mash" and put it in the mop bucket or a toilet deemed only for brewing.

The "mash" forments and over time you have to remove the shit that builds up on top-basically the mold.

The yeast and water are the active ingredients that force formenting to happen.



You have to be able to seal the container from air but the container needs to be able to breathe. Basically, several circles of tubing that allows the pressure to escape but stops the fresh air from circulating into the container works just fine.


The container needs to block light. Its gotta be dark in there.



After its sat long enough, usually 4-6 weeks, the first part is done. You filter out the mash, and start over by pouring the liquid back into the container mash free. At this point you could drink it, but allowing it to forment a second time will yield a better tasting finished product.

Continue allowing to forment until you are ready to consume, usually another 30 days or so.


Theres a lot more to it than that, but Im not going to go into great detail and teach a bunch of kids how to make booze. What I described is a basic method of making whine/moonshine, not liquor and I did leave out a few steps on purpose.

The variables here involve the recipe, the equipment, the distilling process, how much of what and how long it takes to be ready. The type of yeast you use plays a huge role as well. Different batches with the same recipe will take different amounts of time to get ready. Atmospheric pressure, humidity and temp all play a role here.


Deeve if you want some pointers on recipes or need help troubleshooting hit me up.



Whiskey or any other hard liquor requires trapping the alcohol as it evaporates, and generally you use heat to make that happen. It is much more risky to make liquor over whine or beer but the general concept is the same. The risk comes from making bad shit that can make you sick or die, and the heat used to make the alcohol evaporate causing pressure in your decanter that is unable to be relieved. This pressure will eventually explode, and all the alcohol in side the decanter will ignite.


This is no good.

[deevergote]

Wow... yeah, the risks are probably too high, as is the amount of effort. I suppose I'll stick to beer. That's easier, even though I'll need to brew larger batches.

[wildBill83]

Wow... yeah, the risks are probably too high, as is the amount of effort. I suppose I'll stick to beer. That's easier, even though I'll need to brew larger batches.

Just get a few carboys and go at it. I have one 5gal for beer and one 5gal for wine and some plastic brew pales for primary fermentation. Wine takes considerably less effort, but takes longer to ferment. Beer takes more effort, but you will be enjoying it before wine.

Sterilize everything before you use it and then you don't even need to fear botulism.

The risk of going blind from drinking methanol is enough risk for me to consider never making hard alcohol.

[toycar]

Sterilize everything before you use it and then you don't even need to fear botulism.

The risk of going blind from drinking methanol is enough risk for me to consider never making hard alcohol.

Agree on both points.

I drank some shit when I was in prison that I regretted drinking. I was sick for weeks.

Fucking terrible. I suppose thats what you get from toilet made home brew. Learned my lesson the hard way, and have only made hard liqour a few times because of this.

Whine is awsome, but does take quite a bit longer and from my experience the sugars break down in a way that can give you headaches. Its finicky thats for sure.

[wildBill83]

toycar, did you use any preservatives in your wine? I never ran into headaches but heard those that used preservatives or drank the wine after its window did get headaches. Generally home made wine doesn't have the shelf life of store bought, because of the lack of preservatives. Some add preservatives after the fact to extend the shelf life. It's hard to drink 24 bottles of wine before they expire.

[toycar]

toycar, did you use any preservatives in your wine? I never ran into headaches but heard those that used preservatives or drank the wine after its window did get headaches. Generally home made wine doesn't have the shelf life of store bought, because of the lack of preservatives. Some add preservatives after the fact to extend the shelf life. It's hard to drink 24 bottles of wine before they expire.

No preserves, pretty sure its been a shelf life issue.

I've actually been studying how to identify this because I really have no idea on determining an accurate shelf life.

Input?