Distilling alcohol at home can be dangerous, but if done with caution and common sense it can become an interesting home science experiment. It is NOT recommended to drink the final product.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Prepare the equipment
Step 1. Prepare everything you need
It is important to use the right tools when distilling alcohol because unsuitable tools could catch fire. For your safety and to increase the chances of distilling real alcohol, retrieve the following tools:
- A pressure cooker. Use one that you won't be using for cooking, or buy one specifically for this project.
- Copper pipes. You will need about two meters of 6.35mm diameter tubing. You can find them both in hardware stores and in a DIY or gardening tools store.
- A drill that makes holes of at least 6.35mm to pierce the pressure cooker lid.
- A metal pot of at least 60 liters.
- A large plastic bucket.
- A tea towel or gauze.
- 1, 1 kg of corn flour, 4, 5 kg of sugar and 14 g of yeast (two sachets).
Step 2. Build the still
Make a hole in the lid of the pressure cooker so that a 6.35mm copper tube can pass through it. Insert one end of the tube into the hole, taking care not to introduce it for more than 2.54 cm. This is the condensate pipe.
- The hose should be long enough to go from the pot to the sink, then run down to the floor.
- If you don't want to pierce the lid of the pot, you can run the tube through the valve and secure it with electrical tape.
Method 2 of 3: Prepare the Must
Step 1. Boil 38 liters of water
Put the pot in the sink and fill it 2/3 full, then put it on the stove over high heat. Boil it.
Step 2. Cook the cornmeal
Add the cornmeal to the water and mix well with a wooden spoon or other tool. Cook it until the flour combines with the water to create a thick paste. Remove the mixture from the heat and pour it into the clean bucket.
Step 3. Add sugar and yeast
Pour the sugar and yeast into the wort, mixing well to incorporate all the ingredients.
To start the fermentation process, you can also use bread, specific yeast for fermentation, natural yeast or even mother yeast instead of freeze-dried one
Step 4. Ferment the wort
Cover the bucket with a tea towel (or cheesecloth) and place it in a cool, dark place, such as a cellar or basement, to start fermentation. Fermentation occurs when the yeast metabolizes the sugar and carbohydrates of the corn, producing alcohol.
- A brownish foam will appear on the surface of the dough in the bucket, and will gradually rise day after day. By the time the yeast has finished its job, the sugars will have been "metabolized" and you will notice that the foam, or "head", no longer rises.
- The wort is ready for the next phase when it stops “making bubbles”. At this point it is called "sour must".
Method 3 of 3: Distilling the Acidic Must
Step 1. Strain the sour wort through the tea towel (or cheesecloth)
Place a tea towel over the bucket, then tilt it to transfer the contents into a clean bucket or pot. You can also use a colander or a clean white T-shirt to filter the wort.
Step 2. Pour the filtered wort into the pressure cooker
Close the lid tightly and put it on the stove. Discard any solid part left over after filtering.
Step 3. Position the copper tube to create a condenser
Use the hose to connect the pressure cooker (through the lid or valve) to a sink filled with cold water. Roll the central part of the pipe in cold water, then pass the other end over the edge of the sink and make it arrive in a clean container on the floor.
Step 4. Turn on the stove under the pressure cooker
The content must reach 80 ° C and no more. This is the approximate boiling temperature of ethanol. While the pressure cooker heats up, the alcohol is transformed into ethanol vapor and passing through the condensate pipe, it cools. The result is a liquid that drips into the container on the floor. This is the distillate.
- The liquid that comes out of the copper tube before the pot reaches 80 ° C contains methanol, which evaporates at a lower temperature than ethanol. This liquid must be thrown away. Methanol attacks the optic nerves when it is ingested. You will have to throw away at least about 100 ml of liquid before ethanol, that is what can be ingested, begins to emerge.
- Continue to monitor the temperature and collect the alcohol until the temperature reaches 80 ° C or drops. You should be able to get about 7.5 liters of liquid.
Step 5. Pour the alcohol into clean bottles
Distilled alcohol is 90-95% by volume, practically pure ethanol. To make it drinkable, the responsible distillers "halve" its strength by mixing it with plain water.
Advice
- Let the must ferment until the head, or foam, seems to continue to grow, but there is a risk that it will go bad, so it shouldn't take more than 10-14 days depending on the temperature. Yeast acts slower at low temperatures.
- Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a particular yeast that is used both to leaven bread and in alcoholic fermentation. Brewer's yeast or whiskey yeast are types of Saccharomyces cerevisiae simply more resistant to high concentrations of ethyl alcohol and they take longer to die, thus increasing their useful life for the production of ethyl alcohol. These yeasts do not create by-products that cause illness, blindness or death. Distillers usually remove the first 5% of the distillate, called the "head" (which contains esters, methylates and aldehydes). It doesn't taste good and the smell isn't inviting either. For the record, this first product has never blinded, killed or made anyone feel bad, it just tastes bad.
- Keep the sour wort covered, but not sealed. A barrel with an air intake will do just fine.
- Use a hydrometer to test the alcohol content and a thermometer to check the boiling temperature for best results.
- Most people who distil alcohol do it outdoors, near a stream. This avoids the risks of distillation at home. The must, while it ferments, has a very strong smell, another reason to do everything outdoors.
- Don't invite friends over while you are brewing the wort. The smell is very intense.
Warnings
- In the unfortunate event that someone accidentally drinks the alcohol you produce, do not use aluminum pipes or pots.
- Using poor quality yeast will produce a certain amount of methanol, which could cause illness, blindness or death.
- Distilling alcohol is legal in Italy, but you must be allowed to do so and pay taxes.
- Don't drink what you make, it's just an experiment.
- The pressure cooker can be dangerous. Use a quality model and make sure it closes tightly before distilling the alcohol. You can do a test by letting the water boil and check for any leaks. If the relief valve is faulty, the pot could overload, breaking and dispersing the ethanol which could trigger a fire if it came into contact with a flame, a spark or a heat source. Never use a modified pressure cooker (unless a professional has modified it, and therefore able to withstand the pressure). Pressure cookers have a silicone-rubber cord designed to expand and seal them completely.
