@@DointheMost I'm primarily looking at it since I already have the Foundry, but it does seem to be a decent out of the box solution. Foundry has the added benefit of temp control over the standard T500 boiler (and I keep my clutter down by having one system for mashing, boiling, and distilling).
Would it be smart to do a fractional freeze then run a controlled boil in the heads temperature range only to try and remove some of the methanol and other stuff?
As someone who has been a huge fan of this channel & is also a home distiller, this vid made me cringe. With so little actual info or regard for safety of the equipment or process, there will now be a run on these cheap pos stills bought by a bunch of ppl that have no idea what they are doing just cuz they think it's cooool. I'm kinda disappointed, but "still" a fan. =]
Nice, basic chemistry, fractional distillation. Isn't it more accurate to temp the vapors (not the wash) just prior to them entering the condenser (fractional distillation)? If you are watching the temp of the vapors, you can know precisely what substances are coming through at any given moment, collecting at the purest point (100% ethanol). I'm honestly a bit confused by this contraption, as the only thing I've ever distilled is phenylacetone under a vacuum at about 50 torr, lol! It's been decades since I've done any distilling. If my wash is at 170F (or boiling point of ethanol) this means that all the nasty substances you described above this temp should be gone (from the wash), but with that chamber (thumper or sloberbox), they would be condensing inside of it due to the lower temp of such. I know I must be missing something. What am I missing BC? If I was to distill mead, I'd probably use the ice method. Savor the flavor!
So the thermometer in the still is meant to temp the vapor temperature at the top of the still above the liquid. And it does an OK job at that. However, with a set up like this, you’re never going to eliminate all of the smearing across cuts. So you will never get 100% pure ethanol, there will always be methanol and some other stuff in there. The goal is to go as slow as you can and get the cleanest hearts you can. There are huge multiplate stills that can do much cleaner and purer distillation than this home set up. But for use at home as a hobbyist I think it’s a pretty cool solution.
@@DointheMost Alright then, I think I got it, thanks BC. I'm more familiar with glassware. Give me a round bottom flask, thermometer and condenser, etc. and I'll get it 99% + ethanol. The way this seems to work, I guess it is more of an artform, rather than precision chemistry. That's very cool though! I might try it someday. For now, I'm sticking to mead!
So happy to see a (primarily) fermentation channel that I trust getting into distilling! Hope your channel becomes as robust in distilling wisdom as it is in fermentation
The home distillation laws in the US are ridiculous. It’s legal to make the alcohol just not to purify it. Dumb. If they changed these laws there would probably be a boom in craft spirits like home brewing did for craft beer. And that would be good for everyone. Thanks for the video. I’ve been debating buying a still for a while now. Good to know a $100 investment gives you decent enough results in smaller volumes. Some of these things go for thousands of dollars if you want a larger volume and a column. I might just decide to build one from an old beer keg.
"Freeze distilling isnt great cause it removes the water so youve gotta drink more water." Isnt that the same thing that regular stilling does? How is that different? Are you saying jack Daniels is more hydrating than freeze distilled spirits?
So as far as I understand, I can distill by fractional freezing then mix the stronger stuff with some juice, to get possibly some better tasting 5% ABV than normal homebrew without really any risks.
@@DointheMost Using this process, to concentrate the volume & flavors, of a thin tasting or really dry batch. A multi fruit wine, that is just irking my wife while it ages in my case.
Sorry bud but it's not a loop hole it's covered all distillation prosses are covered.... I think it's ridiculous personally. Home of the free not here in the usa
So use fractal method till you get 5 gallons to run through the still. Good idea. Distilling is one of those God given rights. How did yours turn out? Did the rubber seal on the pot affect the flavor? Did the still leak?
The seals on this one are silicone so I didn’t notice any adverse effects. Once I added the high temp plumbing tape everything sealed up pretty well. But the first time I ran it I was slathering it in dough trying to keep it sealed.
I want to make a sorghum rum, but have no idea how much methyl alcohol it contains. Since sorghum is a bit different than sugar cane, I wonder how safe it would be to use the fractional method. Could it be possible to heat the wash/wine up to methyl boiling temp and let the vapors escape to the air? Then stop the heating before ethyl starts to boil off as well and then freeze that for fractional distillation. Just wondering how I can remove the bad stuff and still retain the spirits flavor. Where I am from when shine is made, they remove the first 100ml to 200 ml of heads to drop the methyl out per 5 gallons of wash. Doing a full thumper still run destroys the aromas and flavors of the spirit to get a very high proof liquor. I want a fairly high proof spirit, but with as much of the sorghum rum flavor that I can get and be relatively safe to drink. I also would only be making around a quart of finished spirit to sip on for myself. More as an experiment than anything else albeit a tasty one and for the experience of making it.
Since ethanol is the cure for methanol poisoning, and the ratio is still the same, it simply cannot be made *more* dangerous than it already is simply drinking the alcohol undistilled. Because of the methanol and other fusel alcohols and various compounds not being removed, it'll give you a hangover more easily (and much worse) even if you're staying hydrated, but it won't be outright dangerous in any capacity beyond what you would typically expect for alcohol when heat distilled. If all you're doing is sipping a few drinks instead of shooting a dozen, you probably don't need to worry too much about that either. As for the methanol content produced by sorghum fermentation and removing it while freeze distilling, my assumption is that it would be relatively low since it's a grain rather than a fruit, but I have heard that boiling off a little of the alcohol after distilling can get rid of some of the nasty compounds and make it feel and taste a bit smoother. Even if you don't raise it to the boiling temperature of ethanol and only keep it at or slightly above the boiling temperature of methanol, some ethanol (and some water) will still inevitably be boiled off, and some methanol will still inevitably not be boiled off, but it should generally lower the methanol to ethanol ratio.
Nice - thanks - the think is - how much heads hearts tails from 25litres sugar wash at starting 21% - can any one help thanks - just starting next week
Induction boils faster than gas. Traditional electric just plain scks. Less energy efficiënt than both gas and induction... AND SLOWWWWWWW... AND THAT POWERRR BILLLLL. Induction all the way. Cheaper than gas. Faster than gas.
If you gonna freeze distill, better add your extra stuff for aroma later while bottling. Just use sugar wash and create vodka (if it's legal of course). Cause methanol mainly formes with degredation of plant fibers in our case. So your vodka gives you less headache than store bought wine. Way less methanol and no sulphur they use as a preserver
Excellent video. I do have one comment though, about fractional distillation. I have no problem with jacking cider and the like BUT while it is absolutely true that you are not in fact creating one gram more of any compound, (methanol for example), that is not in the original drink, if you are removing say, 7 pints of iced water and bottling 1 pint of cider, while you would not drink a gallon of cider at one sitting you mayY very well glug down that pint and so the problem is not simply that you don't have the accompanying water to rehydrate yourself, you are in fact likely to be consuming far more problematic alcohols in a shorter period of time. Bottom line: you are far more likely to suffer from hangovers and headaches from the volatile alcohols and acids.
@@DointheMost your say that but I’m willing to bet you’ll fortify a mead with something from this by the end of next summer! You’ll call it your Meadeira 😂
This is perfect timing for me. I went over board on the honey of my last cyser. 1.05 it's way to sweet but it's 15%. I've been trying to figure out what to do with it...
I love that you didn't use a tabletop water distiller. Hands down the easiest way. I used to use a clean wash and I would get 187 proof You literally ferment your mash is normal. Then you dump it in the tabletop distiller. Put the lid on. Plug it in. And come back when it's done
Yeah I could only feature so much in one video. And everything I’ve heard from friends is that it’s a lot of hassle for a very small yield. So it didn’t make the cut.
@@DointheMost You missed out a key component in your fractional freezing method, you are supposed to heat up the jack to temperature to cook off the methinol and other impurities and hold it there, for 5 to 10 minutes as you would for the distilling method, pass it through a charcoal filter to remove the fusal oils, this gives for a much smoother jack without the headaches and the burn. I guarantee it's come's out an much better product, test it, try it and see if you can improve on it. I learned this way from a old shiner in my village as a teen, and it worked for me.
@@DointheMost I meant to say, heat it enough to evaporate the impurities and nasties and cook them off. sorry about that, should of explained it better.
@@DointheMost It does work and I've seen it done, plus iv'e tested it myself and it does work in an open-top pot, like a stock pot or your beer-making mash tun. I really do think it's something you could properly experiment with. if works for me it should work for you. after all science is about, breaking new ground and debunking old research, just saying.
I brew beer on an induction stove top, you don't need propane. Yes I'm in the US, yes it's only 120V, and yes it could be faster. But it's better than propane.
I’ve never had success getting five gallons of anything to boil effectively on an electric burner. We actually switched out our kitchen range for nat gas because of how inefficient electric was.
@@DointheMost Induction isn't the same as an electric burner, and is way more efficient and faster than gas can be. Also gas burners require cleaning to help maintain the pressure over the life of the burner, most don't. Flow rate drops slowly over time otherwise. Also induction is safer! I'm only using a single burner limited to 1500 watts from the wall, but a traditional range is allowed much more power. I'm getting ready to remodel and I rejected gas over magnets. Brew in the future, not the past!
I could speak more clearly, I suppose. I hope you understand that when I say “electric” I mean versus “a flame.” I own an induction burner featured in many of my videos. Most recently here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fXeoo9StMG4.html To each their own, cheers! 🍻
@@DointheMost versus a flame, induction wins. It's better at directing more to the thing being heated, and less to the environment, BTU for BTU. Most folks however under size their induction burner, and think this is why it is less effective than a gas burner rated for a higher BTU output.
