Distilling

[EX121]

Here in Washington it's legal to set up small distilleries and to have a home still. I have been considering it. Like a lot of things there is a confusing amount of information out there on the web.
I'm curious if anyone on the forum has experience?

[Javin]

I'm curious if anyone on the forum has experience?

With which part?

On a potentially unrelated note (is your distillery for water or alcohol?) I have seen a design that uses a large condenser coil buried under ground with a condensate collector hooked to a pump to bring it back to the surface. If this was for long term / large scale water distillation, I would consider a design like this. For alcohol distillation, the process tends to be a little more exacting, having to pour off the first bottle of each batch (or give it to people you want to go blind) and test the subsequent batches to determine alcohol content. Depends on what you're trying to do. My experience with alcohol distillation is limited to conversations with an ancient redneck in the hills of Kentucky, and some moonshine I'm pretty sure he gave me from the first bottle.

[EX121]

I've been thinking about trying my hand at making some Irish whiskey.

[Javin]

Ah, I can't help ya there. :) Seems it should be pretty straightforward if you can just find the recipe somewhere.

[monkeybird]

This seems to be a lost art!

[Javin]

Well, if your Irish, isn't the process something like:

1.) Create mead
2.) Taste
3.) Find way to increase alcohol content
4.) Goto step 2

[Javin]

The google-fu is strong with me:

http://www.whiskeywise.com/Irish_Whiskey.html

[EX121]

Thanks for the input, I've been doing some online looking but there is a lot of stuff out there. I like the mead/wine then fortify it approach. I'm not sure if I want to drop 1K on a kit yet. I'm still looking & again thanks.

[Jeremiah2913]

Thanks for the input, I've been doing some online looking but there is a lot of stuff out there. I like the mead/wine then fortify it approach. I'm not sure if I want to drop 1K on a kit yet. I'm still looking & again thanks.

1k for a still, thats just crazy. I looked into both water distillation when I was running reef aquariums and ethenol production. I priced 2" copper and came up with $300 I could build a decent reflux still for. The process is simple, water evaporates at 212 deg at sea level. Atmospheric pressure and humidity will play a role but thats a baseline. Anything that comes off before then will be alcohol. The first couple quarts are usually discarded as "foreshots" but it won't cause you to go blind as urban legend says. Distillation is a refining or purifying process and does not add anything that wasn't already there! the first product is recycled because of taste, it is not good for you but it exists in all beer and wine or otherwise "non distilled" product. The art is knowing when to start and stop collection, it's all about taste. The foreshots and aftershots are undesireable for a clean neutral spirit but whiskey depends on some of both. Why does the brewmaster make so much money, because he knows when to start and stop the collection for the perfect spirit.

Start with a simple sugar wash mash and work your way toward a full fledged grain mash using a reflux still. Then when you're ready to make "Irish Whiskey" you'll do a good job knowing when to collect or be building a more conventional still for the process. Avoid the turbo yeasts in fermentation as they have a terrible taste but are quick and easy for ethenol production.

[kappydell]

you need not drop too much on a still, either. i know of at least one alcholic who got a small water distiller, and ran wine thru it to make harder stuff....

[claymore]

Someone should do a "how to" on making moonshine! I had a few sips years ago, still trying to catch my breath.

[TyrannyUnleashed]

First point. I do NOT promote this web-site or ever used it, but it does show how to make "moonshine" fairly easy. I would assume you could adapt this to Whiskey by adding the "shine to a burnt oak barrel.
Good luck!

http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.co...moonshine.html

[claymore]

Nice site but can't save the page........plan B.

[TyrannyUnleashed]

Nice site but can't save the page........plan B.

claymore,
If you're talking about my link, I am able to save it to a bookmark just fine. Or do you mean save it some other way?

[Bearman202]

I read this, and my first thought was about the guy walking down a dirt road out in the country. A man jumps out from behind a tree and holds a gun on him. The man with the gun hands the other guy a jar full of clear liquid and orders him to take a drink. He does, and just about dies. After he gets his breath back, he croaks out, "Man, that is the WORST tasting moonshine I've ever had!" "I know, dang it," says the second man, "now here, you hold the gun."