Aluminum works just fine and it's safe!!!!!! I have been saying this for years and everybody bashed me for it. Thank you for bringing this to light...👍🏆🏆🏆🏆
George you are a gentleman, a great teacher and everything anyone needs to know about distilling is in your videos. Switch off a while, take a break, have fun again with your favourite hobby. It’s a hobby not a job , thankyou George for all your hard
Great info George! .. I was going to call you about the aluminum as I’ve got a pressure cooker I’m planning to use ... the methanol info is great too .. eases my mind ...thanks so much!
You know, I get on different Facebook sites that deal with distillation, and invariably I end up thinking to myself that if the people that frequent these places would just do two things they’d be far far ahead of the game. The two things are: #1- Read “The Joy of Home Distilling” cover to cover. #2- Watch every single video on Barley and Hops. I’ve wanted to do distilling as a hobby for quite some time, and I’m so glad I happened across your channel. This is good stuff. Thank you very much. George, you seem stressed. Don’t let these folks get you down.
I agree with you Philip. I can't imagine why some of these people don't go their library and read a few good books to get basic idea but there are no shortcuts. No one and I mean no one is the best educator and teacher of this wonderful crafts that George. He is the man. His time is valuable and he does this out of the goodness of his heart for all
Thank you George. I use 50 liters aluminum pressure cooker to ferment in and to distill. No issues with it. Before first use, i boiled mineral water and added salt and let it boil for 30 minutes. Then i disposed off that water. Coating formed.
Form my chemical engineering days, I know AL. is a highly reactive metal with a valance of +3, It's only the thin protective coating on AL oxide that forms on it that makes it useful. If the coating is scratched the Al cam react. Especially in an acid solution. I agree with you that AL can be used but I will always prefer stainless steal.
Hi Ted, thanks for your knowledge. A friend of mine who engineers in stainless tells me that it is constantly oxidising and as a result if he gets a small shard of it in his hand he has to make a concerted effort to get it out sooner otherwise it reacts with his skin and turns bad much quicker than normal steel. I wonder if you had come across this or knew of it ?
George, I’ve learned almost everything I know from you. Thanks mate. The quality of my hand sanitiser has improved beyond belief since I began learning from you. Thank you!
Thank you George! I read a lot of papers on aluminium and ethanol and could not find any other reaction than aluminium oxide (which occurs in all aluminium pots and pans) but I kept on reading to not use it on a still! Thank you for confirming that it's a myth. It's difficult to break these myths, so I admire your courage to put it out there. Love your work!
This is a case of "can I" or "should I". Using aluminum at 1000 times the pH below neutral (pH 4) of common mashes is just stupid (yep I said it). The structural integrity of the pot is affected over time. This is especially true when using propane or other very hot direct heat. Every year around Thanksgiving you hear of aluminum pot failures with people cooking turkeys on propane (in a base environment). Now imagine how much worse a spill could be inside on a stove over a fire or your feet. Just not a good idea when there are alternatives like copper, lab glass or SS are available that don't break down in low pH environments like aluminum does. Methanol is not the problem people think it is. If you would have no issue drinking wine or beer, why would you have an issue with those same products distilled when you take off/out bad tasting portions making it more "pure" than what you started with? A pure sugar wash will have almost no methanol. Methanol as you pointed out is a problem when people "spike" the ferment or spirit with other things to "stretch" the spirit. This was pretty common in prohibition times (USA). Your average glass of OJ you drink in the morning will have a lot more methanol than any spirit you produce! Methanol does NOT come out first. It comes out the WHOLE RUN on a pot still and there are a lot of studies with GCMS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) to prove this (over and over). It's a myth to think methanol comes out first! If you haven't found this you haven't looked hard enough. Plenty of different studies showing the same thing. It does come out "heavy" at the beginning but the proportion of Methanol to Ethanol actually increases throughout the run. Watch that wording as I'm not trying to play tricks. Methanol comes out most in the beginning but does come out the whole run. It "ramps" up compared to Ethanol measurements (always need to read data closely for this). What I do object to is a couple of your videos showing "methanol" being burned burning yellow. This is NOT METHANOL. Methanol burn nearly clear in daylight or very blue (more so then ethanol) in darkness. This is why pro racing banned the use of methanol fuel because it was a safety issue (can't see the flame in daylight or anything other than darkness). From a chemical standpoint for those who like chemistry, methanol has one carbon atoms vs Ethanol's two. The more carbon atoms the more yellow the fluid will burn. What you see burning different colors is not methanol but other "heads" components". Purchase pure products of both from a lab supply outlet and test this yourself! Copper helps to remove sulfur and is a catylist that helps to influence the taste of spirits when you especially get into tails or rerun your feints like the Scots do. Try changing out a SS shotgun condenser for a copper one during strip runs and taste the difference stripped to 5 or 10%. Now change the whole still out for copper and taste the difference in spirit. When you re-run feints they build up with SS or glass but not will copper! This is why Irish and Scots use copper. Again this is pretty well known information with a lot of research material behind it that is waiting to be read. Copper for whiskey pot still and SS for GNS or vodka/gin. Copper also is part key to getting maillard reactions in the boiler for certain spirits. Our grandmothers instinctively knew to use copper pots for certain things they cooked (even over wood stoves) for flavor due to maillard reactions that they didn't get with iron or SS. Same with pro chefs. Certain things cooked in SS and others things in copper. There is a lot of chemistry that takes place with different catylists. You should do full tails runs and recycle them instead of wasting them and you'll see what copper does for you on flavorful spirits.
What you say is correct, and I would like to add that if methanol were separable by distillation it wouldn't have been used as an alcohol denaturant during prohibition. A denaturant, in order to perform its function, must be non-separable by distillation. Methanol is not separable from ethanol by distillation (or, well, one can reduce its presence with a lot of pain and a lot of work, by a long long stabilization of the column and the elimination of heads which are a bit richer in methanol than the rest of the run, but yes, methanol is going to be present all over the run). Regarding the copper-SS debate, for what I know there is a firm consensus on the fact that a copper still is not superior, provided that there is "some" copper in SS still (a small quantity is enough). That could be one or two pure copper scrubbers in the column for instance. A small copper quantity goes a long way into removing sulphur.
Yep, however it's no longer used for denaturing as it can be dangerous. Now almost all denaturing agents are SUPER BITTER. "Super" bitter doesn't even describe it right. "Uber" bitter maybe gives you an idea. Let's put it this way. With 40+ plates distilling denatured alcohol using bittering agents it's still bitter and undrinkable. A home distiller has not chance or removing these denaturing agents (hence why they are used plus they are cheap!).
@@carloayars2175 Absolutely, the attitude of the US Government (or of some State governements) during prohibition was "criminal", and intentionally aimed at created victims among those who would attempt to extract drinkable alcohol from denatured alcohol, so as to "give them a lesson", "you punish one in order to educate many".
I have learned so much from you, George, and I love stainless steel with copper mesh in the column. Made a batch once without the copper mesh and I couldn't tell the difference!! However, I always filter and condition with glycerin. That absolutely makes a difference. And I always take it to 168°F and hold it in that vicinity for 15 minutes and toss what I collected and have had absolutely no problems. You, George, I consider as a Sensei. Thanks for everything! Matt
6:56 A beautiful example of the placebo effect. The ingredients in your mash, yeast strain, temperature, and distillation process have a much larger effect on flavor than the still materials.
Ok, George for over a year now I have been mashing in aluminum pot pull the grains and ferment in the same aluminum pot with fantastic results. ( loose fitting lit and all and no air lock Sometime I run it in a copper still and sometime in aluminum still NO DIFFERENCE and boy is that easy... GREAT JOB GEORGE from YOUR MAN IN CALIFORINA
Thanks for the interesting videos over the years George. My understanding from years back is that when experiencing methanol poisoning.... medical advice is consumption of ethanol......go figure! On one occasion many years ago I did experience methanol poisoning (vapour) and after drinking a half litre of Vodka I felt much better_ either that or I didn't care anymore.
I just made moonshine for the first time with Aluminium pressure cooker. The Problem I found was when running a clear steam through the system bits of aluminium came off. That was a mistake. After my Pineapple mash run it cleaned the damage from the clean water. Last night I ran my strawberry mash it came out Crystal clear . Great video .
Thank you. I was checking, and you saved me a lot of time. I made one from an aluminum pressure cooker that I gave to my girlfriend's 26 year old son for his birthday 4 years ago. He hung himself, and I was worried the aluminum still drove him crazy. Thank you for easing my mind. It means a lot to me.
George, I just looked up stainless steel the other day before watching this and found an article that said s.s. isn`t a good conductor of heat , and is why they make S.S. pots that have aluminum sandwiched between the S.S. pot ! Enjoy your video`s ! Mark
I've made soap a couple times and i know aluminum reacts with potash and lye. Another thing i've experienced is copper sulphate reacting with aluminum. This is why both pesticide sprayers and stills in the old days were made of copper. Despite that, I'll probably make a still out of an aluminum pressure cooker and fridge radiator tubes, bearing in mind what things it might react with, especially when cleaning. Tanks for the informative video.
Copper has a positive effect as it binds some sulphur components, but if you have a stainless steel still like I have you can achieve the same result by using copper mesh as packing material
George, Thank You for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us. I have learned more than I ever thought possible about the craft from you. Your style of teaching gets myself and others excited about distilling, I can understand why so many people reach out to you in search of answers. Please friends, watch George's videos, the answers to your questions are most likely found within them. Take Care.
i use copper simply because i don't have a TIG welder to be able to weld Stainless, and soldering copper is easy! As for "ALUMIUM" same deal, hard to work with. Love it when you get on a good one George. thanks again for all the help you give the community.
I know this is old video. But thanks George. You're the GOAT of home distilling. Also the temperature is not high enough to make aluminum melt for when distilling.
I don’t see an issue with Aluminum especially for home distillers. For commercial distillers? Sure. That’s because they run up against ASME boiler code and such. In terms of copper it does have one particular down side: the production of Ethylcarbamate, a carcinogen. Copper is a catalyst to react cyanate with ethanol to produce carbamate esters. Not good. But the way to solve this is to have a stainless dephleg and don’t allow the Ethylcarbamate with a higher boiling point to get past the dephleg. Copper does assist in removing H2S if you have an issue with egg smell in your fermentation. You can also get rid of the egg smell by titrating your beer prior to distilling with copper sulfate 0.01 molar solution. Wine growers do it on the regular. Agree with all your comments on methanol.
I can remember as a kid living in Georgia in the 60s, they would show these big stills being busted up by the police, after several people got sick drinking some moonshine at a party. The pictures would show rusty barrels, car radiators being used for condensers, rats floating in the barrels of whatever liquid was in them, and just general poor cleanliness. All of this was to scare people from searching out illegal liqueur. This was where most of those myths were born and they still exist today. Thank you George
Pretty good post George. I agree. I sell junk for a living, and I do enjoy my spirits (as do my customers). A pressure cooker might rarely sell for between $5 and $10. But... if I add a thumper and a worm, I can put 75 bucks in my pocket. Yeah, the doubters can doubt, and I'll whistle down the lane with my cash in pocket. Rock on, brother!
George Great show. Please consider the following facts. 1. Copper has totally different metallurgical properties than aluminium and stainless steel which plays a big role in the heat consumption and distribution of the metal. You will use much more energy with aluminium than with copper. 2. It always depends on what you want to make. If you want to distill wine to make brandy. Wine has a very complex nature with lots of phenols, aromatics and other flavours. Copper act as an "agent" in the distilling process of wine to make brandy. It also has something to do with the aging process. But I agree 100% with you that there are no differences in the taste of the distillate of a normal fermented sugar based solution. 3. I can confirm that a brandy made in a copper potstill tasted very much different than one coming from a stainless steel column.
Thank you!.. Thank YOU!!.. well said.I am so proud to be a part of this community.YOU are the best teacher i have ever had!... tuned in about a year ago. and went from all ways wanting to get into this hobby to doing this craft.....thank you for breaking the myth of BS from reality. every day when someone "samples" my drink.....:) and asks me the menthol question. I smile and set the stage straight. i tell everyone to tune into George he tells it like it is. You my friend are a straight shooter!! keep up the good work.....
Best video ever George, government perpetuate the myth because they don't want to loose the revenue, people who distill have read and understand about methanol,. you have just put the facts out there, happy distilling to all the community
Thank you for clearing up the aluminum mystery. I’m now betting the same holds true about using an aluminum vessel for brining and curing meats. Also aluminum is a more efficient thermal conductor so it probably has its advantages.
I have a giant 21 quart Presto pressure cooker from the 40s or 50s and I love that thing. I do a lot of canning and sterilizations in it, but never thought it would be safe to allow food to touch it.
Thanks for presenting the facts. Bummer that some people don't show respect when you share information. Always enjoy the information you present. Hope you are not getting frustrated. It seems at times when a person is thoughtful and of good character, there is always someone out in the world trying to knock down and spread negativity. George keep teaching and sharing with us. You are "Top Shelf" out here in this community.
I have been using a 15 gallon beer keg to distil from and I've only had about 15 runs but I have people telling me my shine tastes super clean 👌🏻 and smooth.
George you are an inspiration and so easy to understand very logical and i am looking forward to chance my arm at brewing . I live in a country at the bottom of the earth in a town with a very large fresh water lake . I hope the water makes the spirits taste as good as the water we drink .
George I have now watched many of your tutorial videos and I just want to thank you for the information you have provided. Thank you for taking the time to share the information and your opinions. It is very much appreciated by me.
George, thank you again for "All" the videos, teaching, clarification and encouragement in the hobby. I have learned so much about the hobby and processes involved. Keep them coming and know that many of us are so "Grateful" for everything that you do for the channel!
Many studies available on this. I am allergic to aluminum in deodorants. Developed in my fifties. Had to go natural, (Toms). Works great. New study out in January, of this year, in Technology Networks/NNR worth checking. I am very happy with my stainless, and copper stills. Have a small aluminum cookpot, with no stick surface, for second runs. I do not expect any effects, other than intended , by this little still, would have to drink thousands of gallons,(think lab rat). Goes on the induction plate, works very well. I use the top from my stainless still with this, very handy.....
Patrick Quinly it’s not the Aluminum you’re sensitive to. It’s the chlorohydrate or bromide in the compound. Aluminum chlorohydrate and aluminum hydroxybromid are not remotely chemically similar to metallic Al or Al2O3. If you were somehow allergic to aluminum oxide (Al2O3) you would be allergic to dirt, white paint, sandpaper, toothpaste, etc. Good thing you’re not.
@@SirBoden ,now that you mention it, I am sensitive to the dirt around here. Dust burns my skin, quite like battery acid does, takes a while to notice. Soap and water...... Gaaahhhh! Gonna have to live in a bubble......
George good topic ! Even though on Facebook you are being ridiculed on subject . Hats off to you ! I thought be safe if beer is stored in it . And as a pot still so low boiling point shouldn't effect pot nor spirit . As a newbie distiller I appreciate your knowledge and sharing . Thank you George and God Bless
There are about three or perhaps a handful of good You Tubers on this subject, George being one of them I would trust to listen to. A lot of other folks are just keyboard warriors on forums that take pleasure in belittling or blasting you out of the water if you have any opinions different to theirs. Keep it up George, we're all ears.
George, Thank you for your time and knowledge, I fully support your desire to manage your time and only spend time on answering questions that are meaningful to you! You deserve all of the accolades people are throwing your way and none of the nit picky BS some want to pursue. Your 11 videos are better than any book I have read and your un-fluffy no BS take on the art and process of distilling is priceless. "illegitimus non carborundum"
Hey George, I am extremely happy for the clearing. I looked into it myself out of curiosity and never found any info (books, or internet), moonshine life and science life. Never went to in depth of it and never followed through. Glad it's backed and to hear many others confirm. To all, happy distilling.
I grew up, and now 74 years old, eating out of aluminum pots and pans that food was cooked in without any problems. Cooking is done sometimes at a much higher temperature than a 175 degrees particular in an oven. I have never heard of anyone commenting on that? I decided to make a still out of an aluminum CO2 tank that held about 4 gallons due to this food preparation and it works very well.
I just want to say that I use a copper still that I purchased from Stampede Stills, and that is the only one that I have with that being said I have learned to do this hobby from watching many of your videos. I will say that sometimes I wish that I had a stainless pot still and someday just for the ease of the clean up and someday I hope to have one. I just would like to thank you for your time and knowledge that you give us, it sure helps, thanks Dan
I typically say that you shouldn't use aluminum, because it's hard to work with. You can't solder it like you can both SS and copper. It's got all the same softness issues and corrosion factors that copper does. The only advantage it has is that you (potentially) have it already on hand.
Thank you George for the reassurance. The only concern I have is that yes Aluminum is very reactive to some metal. I have had brass hardware react with the Aluminum and effectively locking it together do to racting with each other. Not sure if it reacts the same way with copper.
Hey fella I know this might a little off topic but your last few videos, the volume has been clipping. You may wanna bump the volume down in post. I love your videos bud.
I’ve used my grandmas old aluminum pot to mash in for the last 20 years. No issues. It’s big and heavy. It actually heats up pretty quick. I always heard use stainless, but never had a problem. It doubles as a crawfish and crab boiler. Lol. Wish I had grandpas old copper still.
Your video are right to the point and clear. Question How many inches of vacuum will a 1-6 gallon carboy safely withstand ? I’m going to use a medical quality vacuum system degassing my wine (help) 👍
I'll start this with saying I 100% agree with the aluminum. I haven't seen any peer reviewed study on it, and I doubt I will ever see one on aluminum. I wouldn't recommend aluminum on the downward portion, just because it's entirely possible that very small amounts of aluminum, in micropitting, could get into your spirit. But for the boiler itself, go for it. As for the other 2, I know for a fact that bronchantite (a patina) is formed in the presence of sulfur dioxide inside the still, and yeast do produce sulfur dioxide. This is, imo, one of the 3 constituents of the blue/green coloring people sometimes see. The other 2 being azurite and malachite, from non-sulfur based reactions. But sulfur dioxide, even if it made it all the way to the condenser on its own, isn't going to condense out. It will leave as a vapour since it's BP is like, -10C/14F. That said, I have seen 1 study on copper reducing the amount of DMTS, and possibly also DMDS and DMS. The study, titled The Impact of Copper in Different Parts of Malt Whisky Pot Stills on New Make Spirit Composition and Aroma, DOI: 10.1002/j.2050-0416.2011.tb00450.x In it they show how DMTS reacts with copper in different parts of a still. They also show there are other compounds present that contribute to sulfury aromas. The book Whisky Science: A Condensed Distillation by Gregory H Miller, also references this study. I will also agree that unless you add methanol, you aren't going to be producing enough to be dangerous to your health, although you might be violating "legal limits" of methanol in a spirit. I have seen studies showing the results of methanol, and which cuts it is found in, and you aren't necessarily correct in what you said. I'm a chemist by trade, so I tried to explain it a bit, but I also provided sources below. But before that, I will argue that unless you make proper cuts, that when making a stonefruit brandy with a pot still, you can be over the legal limits of methanol concentration, quite easily. Now onto more chemistry related topics. An azeotrope doesn't cause smearing, or mean something smears, or doesn't smear for that matter. An azeotrope means that when distilling you will eventually hit a point where the vapour composition above the liquid composition are the same ratios for the compounds making up that mixture. For example, a 10%ABW ethanol:water wash in the boiler will give you a 54%ABW ethanol:water vapour above it. So, in a fractionating setup, lets say using plates, the first plate will be 54% liquid and the vapour will be ~78%, 2nd plate will be like ~78% liquid and ~85% vapour, and so on, until at one of the higher plates you will eventually get to 95.6% in the liquid on the plate, and the vapour above it will also be at 95.6% ethanol:water, regardless of how many plates you have above it, because it cannot get any higher. That is an azeotrope. But there is more to distilling than just that, concentrations of compounds matter. Different concentrations of compounds can cause different effects to manifset. Methanol like ethanol, has relatively strong hydrogen bonds to water (and low-moderate hydrogen bonds to ethanol), which is why methanol sticks around when you are pot distilling, but the strength of the hydrogen bond between water and methanol isn't a strong as water and ethanol, which is why there is no azeotrope between water and methanol. When pot stilling, the methanol will smear across the heads, hearts, and into the tails because it is attracted to the water in the wash. But by the time you get to the tails, the temperature is high enough (enough energy) to break that hydrogen bond, and a respectively larger amount of methanol will be released, compared to the heads and tails. But even after you are done distilling, you will still find methanol in the wash. At the beginning of the distillation, some of the methanol in the heads will even come out at around 55C (131F) because methanol forms an azeotrope with acetone. Not much acetone present in our washes, so it gets past that pretty fast. When you are using a reflux column, it's different. Because as you climb the column, there will be less and less water to hold that methanol back, so the majority of the methanol shifts towards the heads, and that is where you will find the majority of it when reflux column distilling, with lesser amounts in the hearts and tails. But regardless of the distillation method used, it is found in all 3 cuts because of that hydrogen bonding, just less in the heads and hearts when pot stilling, and less in the hearts and tails when column stilling. Luckily for us, in both cases, the least amount of methanol always seems to be in the hearts, and there isn't a dangerous amount in the first place. What happens when distilling spirits is very convoluted and sometimes counter-intuitive because it's a very complex mixture with lots of interactions happening. It's probably also suprising to find that a lot of the higher (fusel) alcohols are found in the heads when pot stilling, because they are only slightly soluble, or insoluble, in the water (long carbon chains), and so they will float on the surface, or move to the surface, and evaporate away near the beginning of the distillation, even though the wash hasn't hit the boiling point of those alcohols yet. There is enough energy going into the compounds at the surface that it can evaporate away, like how water in a glass on your kitchen counter evaporates away over night. Just faster. Some sources for Methanol in various cuts: Homedistiller, where they link to a European Commission study: homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=40606 Distillation Techniques in Fruit Spirits (pg 139 shows Pot > Tails, Column > Heads) DOI: 10.5772/66774 The effect of distillation conditions an alcohol content in 'heart' fractions on the concentration of aroma volatiles and undesirable compounds in plumb brandies (pg 4, and 8) DOI: 10.1002/jib.441 < This paper is in the journal for the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, it's only about pot distilling though, which is why it shows that methanol is showing up in the tails. Trying to find a 4th study which is a comparison of single distillation vs double distillation, both in pot still style. It shows that there is more methanol in the fractions in the double distillation. I believe this just follows along with the other studies showing that water hydrogen bonding keeps methanol in the wash as long as possible. The double distillation has the second wash having a much lower amount of water, so more methanol is liberated.
@@chuckdontknowdoya6100 That's why I provided multiple sources. But the source isn't homedistiller, if that's the site you are referring to, they link to an European Commission study.
aluminum is just fine to make your still with but you don't wanna use it for your fermentation pod because the aluminum does react with acids to create different salts of aluminum and whatever acid eats in contact with. Desault selinum cause the pitting in the actual metal and depending on what kind of acid is in contact with will depend on how deep the pits get and whether or not it becomes unsafe although I agree with you would take an entire lifetime especially for talking about a keg as the steel pot because they are super thick for transportation reasons.
Very well said. I agree. I would not use aluminum for fermenting. Much prefer glass or stainless steel, even plastic works okay but is third on my list of preferred materials.
i have worked with aluminium conductors on and off for 30 years, using no gloves and handling that stuff well your hands become black and its very hard to get it out of your skin, best to use gloves handling that stuff. Using it as a still that's something I would never do.
@Auxiliary Stream Services in fact yes i have, the green blackish color that you see around uncleaned copper is due to oxidization from the elements, infact copper that has been exposed to the elements for 20 or 30 years will developed a semi conducting scale around it about as thick as a fish scale
everyone sees the green blackish change in color of copper and yes it should be cleaned before use. but after a 15 - 20 - 30 year period this color change devolves into a physical object when it is time to remove this copper semi conducting scale. If you remove this scale using a hard object then your will need to put on safely glasses or for sure the copper scale will get you in your eyes.
Thanks for clearing the air about those things... I was curious about aluminum, and already came to that same assessment about methanol...the only negative I've heard about copper is about the type of solder used...if you use the same as plumbers use, it's safe
Thanks this helps alot. Can you use aluminum for all your piping . I know cooper , then aluminum for your cooling coil aka condenser . You should do video of different types condensers what metals or other types you can use. I thank you so much for your time. I've learned alot
Hey George, I did find a study that looked at the anti surfer properties of copper both in the strip and spirit runs. The conclusions were interesting: copper is best in the vapor stream for the strip, and in the boiler / pot for the spirit run. In fact, if you didn't do it that way they saw increased sulfur in some of the tests.
I am new "green" have you, too the hobby and ABSOLUTELY love it. I appreciate ALL you do and have learned alot just from watching your videos!! Just wanted to say thanks...I also get alot from Jesse @ chase the craft and bearded and bored... thanks to all of you.
The only worry I would have is if using an acid mash and get a bit of puking. That may introduce a tiny amount of aluminum in the drink. I would also suggest that perhaps the column might be more susceptible to unblancing due to air currents because Aluminum has a lower heat capacity, however if insulated what is the problem? On the plus side the lower heat capacity will cost less to heat and heat up quicker. I have trained as a quality control analytical lab technician. In my very 1st lesson of organic chemistry I was told the most truthful statement I have ever been told... "there is no such thing as a pure organic chemical" If ethanol was 100% pure it would only one have a very precise boiling point. No heads, no tails, no oils. This is one of the very reasons I have never tried illegal drugs.. I could make any of them myself better than anyone can buy them (this is definitely not an offer!) But I would never take any of them myself! Because I understand organic chemistry. :)
@George, the methanol controversy is perpetuated with the inaccuracy that foreshots is all methanol. Most of the nasties in foreshots is not methanol but aldehydes and other bad stuff. While methanol is largely concentrated in the foreshots and heads, it's throughout the entire run. And as you mentioned, not in any concentration to cause health issues.
Scott Kaufmann is it throughout the whole run? If you run under 170 to remove foreshots/heads wouldn’t that boil the methanol off before you start running ethanol, I know there is going to be some very slight crossover, but I would think you could remove methanol before ethanol considering the different boiling points
agskennedy No not 100%. Nothing is really 100% based on boiling points. Some stuff gets left behind at point above it’s boiling point, some stuff comes over before it’s boiling point. Water for example makes it over and starts diluting the spirit well before its 212f boiling point.
Scott Kaufmann I’m no chemist by any means, but I think it’s unlikely you’d get methanol “throughout the entire run” given the boiling points, I’m sure you get some trace amounts as you raise your temperature, but as the temperature climbs the methanol is going to boil off completely at some point or another, and I would think after the heads are collected the trace amounts of methanol that may possibly carry over wouldn’t pose any issues, and certainly wouldn’t remain present through an entire run. Now if you’re speaking to trace amounts of something to be technically correct in your argument I think you’ve missed the point of the discussion.
@@agskennedy Denatured alcohol is ethanol with methanol added to make toxic to humans. Methanol is used because it can't be easily removed from the ethanol with a normal still. You need a demethylizer column to do so. In a solution, ethanol, methanol and water, which all have specific boiling points, never only turn to vapor right at their boiling points. This is why at any point in a run, you will get all three. How much of all three is determined by how close the wash is to their boiling point. The point is still true that Methanol is not what is harmful in distilling simply because there isn't enough produced during fermentation. Really recommend reading this very informative post about this. www.reddit.com/r/firewater/comments/cv4bu8/methanol_some_information/
Thank you! This aluminum thing has been in the back of my mind and this is the first time I have heard this addressed. I have not distilled a drop yet but I was thinking about this issue.
I proudly received a lifetime ban from a home distilling website site for coming to your defense the world and that website are full of haters George don't let them get you down they will be consumed by it life is to short and you only get one ride so you better in enjoy it. As always great information on our thing given to us in a way we all understand from the King of home distilling a heart felt thank you my friend.#HappyDistilling. Stay safe and God Bless you all
