Home Distillation of Alcohol (Homemade Alcohol to Drink)

Equipment

Here's a brief description of the basic equipment you will need for doing basic distillation. If you can't find it locally in a homebrew or winemaking shop, try contacting the commercial suppliers in New Zealand like Spirits Unlimited or Ray Toms Moonshine Supplies. See my links page for more listings. International postage is quite cheap these days, and you should a good rate against the NZ dollar (approx NZ$2 = US$1 at present).

Thermometer

You will need several thermometers. One for the fermenter, and one for the still.

The one on the fermenter doesn't need to be too accurate; it's only a guideline. It should show between about 10 C and 40 C. I simply use one of those stick-on types as used on tropical fishtanks (about NZ$5). Using a thermometer with the fermenter means you can keep your yeast happy - keep it in its ideal range; without one you may get it too cold (yeast goes dormant and you'll be waiting forever), or too hot (yeast dies).

You want a reasonably good thermometer for the head of the still - say from 40 C to 105 C. Mine cost NZ$15. The longer the thermometer, with the more space between the markings, the more accurate it will be. You can always check its accuracy - an ice/water slurry should give 0 C, and boiling water 100 C (at sea-level). If it is out by more than a couple of degrees, adjust your reading accordingly, or get a replacement. Using a thermometer to track the vapour temperature at the head of the still will allow you to know how the purity of the run is going, and when the tails are starting to come over (when the temperature starts to increase at the end of the run).

I've just bought a cheap digital thermometer from "Dick Smith Electronics" (www.dse.co.nz) (sorta like RadioShack ?) for NZ$28. Really accurate (to within 0.1 °C), and battery life of 1500 hours. It has a 4 inch stem on it. Highly recommend it.

Hydrometer

Again, you will need two of these; one for the wort, and one for the spirit. Each is about NZ$15. These work by measuring the density of the liquid. If the liquid is dense (eg water with sugar in it), they will float up high in the liquid; if the density is low (eg half the liquid is alcohol), they will float lower in the liquid. Its that prinicple of Archimedese' which got him running naked through the street, etc.

Why two of them ? The one for the wash is the standard hydrometer used by beer or wine-makers, good for specific gravities of 1.100 to about 0.970. You use this to work out how far the wash has fermented, and therefore how much alcohol you have in the wash. The one for the spirit is made for much lighter specific gravities. It is usually made with the scale reading between 0 and 100% alcohol, so it saves you having to do any maths. This is the one that is pretty important. It takes all the guesswork out of the distilling. Measure the % purity as you go, and you'll be fully confident that you've got a good product. None of this sniffing/shaking/holding a bead business.

Hydrometers are designed for use at a particular temperature. If the liquid is hotter (or colder) it will give a false reading. There is usually a conversion table supplied with them to help correct readings by. The instructions which came with my hydrometer advise the following corrections to the final specific gravity reading ...
TemperatureCorrection
10 °C -0.002
15 °C -0.001
20 °C none
25 °C +0.001
30 °C +0.003
35 °C +0.004

Fermenter

This is just a clean bucket or tub or barrel. Just go to a homebrew-beer shop, and buy a ready made beer-fermentor kit (about NZ$50). See - two hobbies in one - you also get the opportunity to learn how to make decent beer for yourself, at about 50c a bottle.

The fermenter has to be able to be easily cleaned and sterilised. It should have a good lid on it to keep out dust and bugs, and also an airlock. The airlock is usually about NZ$2, and is a "S" shaped bit of tubing that holds some water in it - outgoing gases can bubble out through the liquid, but nothing tends to find its way in. A simple alternative is to just run a tube from the top of the fermentor, ending in a jar half filled with water. Why the airlock ? Once the yeast is off and running, you want there to be no oxygen in the system, or else the yeast will forget about making alcohol, and just make more yeast. So don't have it breezy. But you don't want it airtight, or else the carbon dioxide (CO2) made by the yeast will build up in pressure and blow the lid off. You also want a tap near the base of the fermentor, so that you can easily run off the wash once it has finished fermenting. Mine has a wee do-hiky on the inside of the tap, which is basically a wee bit of slotted tube. This causes it to suck from the top side, and not draw in any of the yeast which has settled down below the tap.

You also need to be able to keep the fermentor warm. You can use immersion heaters, or have heating elements or pads on the outside of it (warp around, or sit it on them). You may also want to have some form of stirring in there too.

Still

See the pages Purchasing a Still and Making a Still. The bought ones range from about NZ$100 second hand / NZ$300 new to NZ$700 ??

Economics

That's really about all you need. You should be able to set up for around NZ$400-500. Now that you're making your liquor for about $1 alcohol + $5 flavour, you are saving about $20 a bottle. This means you'll have it paid off after about your 25th bottle. How long is that going to take you ?

Miscellaneous

There are a number of further gadgets you can also buy ... wall mounted carbon filtering systems, water purifiers, measuring spoons, oaks, essences, casks, etc, but you only do these as you feel inclined .
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