Moonshine....yumm yumm......but not the drinking kind :(

For Science!

For Science!

wow, don't kill anyone. U sure this is legal? Be careful what U post.

Yeah it's legal but only as an experiment, it's only a 1 liter pressure cooker connected to my chemistry condenser. If I was selling it or making it for consumption it would be illegal. Also because its less than a five litre vessel any more than that is illegal. I truly am just doing it to get a better understanding of enzymatic action of yeast on sugar to create alcohol and the process of distilling a known solution at fixed temperatures to create a fraction of that solution in a near pure form. 78% Ethanol C2H5OH + 22% H2O. Was tested today to confirm. I will end up using it for making tinctures with some of my medicinal herbs to better understand that process as well. It is good to know the theory but doing it just makes you understand on a deeper level. You get to see the action of the process and smell the different smells and watch the changes take place. Just makes the theory complete when you can confirm with your own senses. Of coarse I did a small taste test but that was only part of the testing process for me. I also did an ignition test to check the colour of the flame produced to confirm ethanol burns blue.

Thanks for the concern, I am pretty sure the law is on my side. I would be shocked if I was wrong.

I don't quite know how the brew shops get on with selling the mini distillers and all the flavours etc. If the law was that concerned about the hobbyist the shops would close.

Yeah it's legal but only as an experiment, it's only a 1 liter pressure cooker connected to my chemistry condenser. If I was selling it or making it for consumption it would be illegal. Also because its less than a five litre vessel any more than that is illegal. I truly am just doing it to get a better understanding of enzymatic action of yeast on sugar to create alcohol and the process of distilling a known solution at fixed temperatures to create a fraction of that solution in a near pure form. 78% Ethanol C2H5OH + 22% H2O. Was tested today to confirm. I will end up using it for making tinctures with some of my medicinal herbs to better understand that process as well. It is good to know the theory but doing it just makes you understand on a deeper level. You get to see the action of the process and smell the different smells and watch the changes take place. Just makes the theory complete when you can confirm with your own senses. Of coarse I did a small taste test but that was only part of the testing process for me. I also did an ignition test to check the colour of the flame produced to confirm ethanol burns blue.

Thanks for your concern, I am sure I am on the right side of the law. I would be shocked if I was wrong.

I don't quite know how the brew shops get on with selling the mini distillers and all the flavours etc. If the law was that concerned about the hobbyist the shops would close because they sell up to five litre distilling pots specifically designed for production of ethanol.

the tubing your running the steam to your condenser

just out of curiosity is it safe to drink as i have seen some

tubing on the market that claims to be safe

Not if you are using it to drink, I wouldn't use it for continuous use if that's what you use it for. I was just trying the process. I had never distilled from yeast and sugar before. If you ran a few litres though then I suppose the next run would be ok but if you did it all the time I would definatly use a different type of tube. I could smell a little plastic at the beginning in the first bit but it might be because of the solvent that had been used in the tube a while back. I put it through again later and it was ok but even still I wouldn't be recomending others to do it if they wanted to drink it. Definitely use copper I hear, but I think stainless steel would be good. I just stuck this together from things I had laying around to understand it better. Since then I seen a bought one which was all stainless steel with a reflux condenser to get up to 95% ethanol. It had a built in heating mantle and thermometers, was pretty cool. But it was just a bit of fun and I will be able to use the 75% for a few things just to see how they work. Thanks .

I have tried about 100 ml since making it but not all at once. There was no taste of impurities after putting it through three or so times. I put it through twice but then I had a small bit of yeast mix to do so I put it through again and I got a bit of tailings in it so I think I put it through four times all together. It only had a big of a plastic after taste the first but that came through after the plastic expanded and settled it was ok. It had cooled been cleaned before going through the final time which I did try. Real sweet but probably too strong if I planned on getting drunk. I wouldn't want to drink too much 75 percent. I don't think it's going to be used again and not for consumption! What's the name of the tube you said is safe? Is it that water pipe white food grade stuff? Braided hose. I don't know if you might find it does the same thing on the first bit through. You will probably need to run a couple litres through then turn it off and clean it and put it through again to let it settle. But that's why they use the copper or stainless.