StillSmart

Hello, I'm a new member here looking at methods of building a still, this one in particular caught my eye -> http://fivegallonideas.com/still/
Its very simple and I have all the components at hand but I am worried I will poison myself with bad likker. Is it really safe to evaporate ethanol at 50 degrees Celsius in a plastic container? will it evaporate at all?
any advice is appreciated

Hi Kiddo

Welcome to our forum, in principle it will work as a way of separating alcohol from water, although ethanol boils at 78.15°c, not 45°c, however it won't make a particularly nice or safe drink of any kind, to start with its all made of plastic containers which should be avoided, chemicals in the plastic can leach into the produced spirit.

The only materials used should be limited, if possible to copper, stainless steel, glass, lead free brass and silicone or PTFE seals, also you need to be able to collect the output spirit in fractions (small amounts in numbered jars) this allows you to make cuts to separate the various other substances that are also present in your fermented wash, many of which are quite nasty and undesirable to drink.

If your looking to get started, have a look for an AirStill, AKA EasyStill or SmartStill, there's lots of info on this forum about how to use one and get good, drinkable results from one, you can pick a new one up for around £140, less for a second hand one

Hello, thanks for such a quick reply

I want to have a go at making a still myself before I dish out money on a fancy air still for now. I will probably have to reconsider using this design and if I do it will most likely be with stainless steel or something like that. If I do use it for my first few attempts I will only use a sugar wash as to stay away from nasty methanol.

Welcome Kiddo.
Unless you have materials at hand,and therefore no outlay cost,an airstill may prove the cheaper way to dabble in this hobby as a newcomer.
However you go at it,it is not just methanol that you need to avoid.
And you will need to learn to make "cuts"
A distilled sugar wash can yield many higher and lower alcohols,which,while not killing you will cause headaches or stomach upsets.
I can only advise you to do lots of reading,here or elsewhere,the information exists.
ATB.

Robert

Yes, methanol is only an issue if you buy a bottle of it and pour it in your product. That is how people go blind from "moonshine". It is not a matter of a bad wash or poor distillation. It is a matter of cheating to make a cheaper product to sell or sheer ignorance.

Chuck

Modify a pressure cooker.

If you use a pressure cooker use a stainless one not aluminium.

You also get methanol when fermenting fruits for brandy etc.

Adding it deliberately to reduce cost is foolish and criminal greed. It can cause blindness brain damage and death. It will get you drunk and the ethanol is preferentially processed by your body which would normally convert all the methanol into formic acid. First aid for methanol exposure is a stiff drink. That is why irresponsible and greedy criminals think they can get away with adulteration. It won't damage as many people as much as straight methanol would. Hell of a nasty hangover even in trace amounts though. Actually pouring it in is a path to disability and death.

As said it's not just methanol you have to worry about. Don't go into this with a focus on being as cheap as possible. Do it as cheap as it can be done right. It will never be as cheap as you could wish. Unless you have the bits or are lucky on ebay, flea markets, scrap yards etc.

Lots of helpful reply's here, I will have to start doing my homework reading up on other forum posts about "cuts" etc.

Is methanol only produced when you add some sort of fruit or corn to the mash? Im not talking about adding it to the distillate for more profit, but rather is it present in a sugar wash with no fruits/corn?

ant wrote:If you use a pressure cooker use a stainless one not aluminium.

SS not essential!

ant wrote: Don't go into this with a focus on being as cheap as possible. Do it as cheap as it can be done right. It will never be as cheap as you could wish. Unless you have the bits or are lucky on ebay, flea markets, scrap yards etc.

Very Good Shout

Kiddo wrote: Is methanol only produced when you add some sort of fruit or corn to the mash? Im not talking about adding it to the distillate for more profit, but rather is it present in a sugar wash with no fruits/corn?

Yes

thanks, was a little fuzzy on that

You will get some methanol fermenting fruits or grains. You will also get some if you drink wine, commercial orange juice, and a host of other products. Low concentration methanol is not a heath concern.

Methanol forms an azeotrope with ethanol, the same as water does. You will get a larger concentration in the fores, but you can't distill it out completely.

Some related reading:
http://www.noah.org/wiki/Distillation_- ... hanol_Myth
http://homedistiller.org/intro/methanol/methanol
http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/7794 ... -methanol/
http://www.methanol.org/methanol-basics ... made-.aspx

Methanol is not a serious concern if you are discarding foreshots and you are not distilling wood

Chuck

Looking at that 'still' design at the top, if you have your wash in some small bucket and lob some sort of element in it, then put that in a bigger bucket, you will also be heating the air in that big bucket and the outer walls.

Unless you start squirting a hose against the outer wall, how are vapours meant to condense?

Big plastic bucket full of explosive vapours - great idea!

Another thing just occurred to me about this still design: it is difficult to impossible to make cuts. So my answer to the original question of "Is it really safe?" is No. If you were stuck in Saudi Arabia and absolutely desperate for drink, this might be worth considering. Personally, even I would question why I needed a drink so very badly. Hmmm, what do you know - I DO have limits!

Chuck