StillSmart

Hi All,
I am definitely new to this distilling mullarkey and have just been gifted an airstill by the wife who now requires me to make her some nice stuff to drink and am about to make my first batch and am a bit confused on two counts
1 / nowhere in the literature that came with the machine does it mention discarding any of the first liquor to come out of the machine. Is it safe to drink all of it ?

2 / there is a very small carbon teabag to fit in the nozzle, which I have fitted. But the question I have is, why is it there if what comes out of the nozzle is at 60% and the video I have just watched with the bloke from lovebrewing says that active carbon is inefective with alcohol over 50% ?
Is it just me or are there many ways to skin this particular cat ?

Most of the distilling info out there is to do with running batches for whisky, brandy, etc etc.

People read of methanol production and panic. It's not in the tax authorities benefit to explain it, it's easier to keep people scared and compliant.....

So, every ferment will produce tiny amounts of methanol, some worse than other's (think fruit based batches). Methanol is indistinguishable from ethanol by taste and smell alone, but it has one important property in that, it boils before the ethanol so is one of the first to appear as the boil starts to condense. By dumping the first 25mls (only 5 teaspoons worth), you're being "belt and braces", though in truth its probably not necessary, sugar has already been refined so isn't likely to contain the methanol producing compounds in the first place. If you search about "making cuts when distilling" you'll get a better explanation than I can provide.

I remove the first 25 mills then keep it in a jar and when there's enough either use it for cleaning or stick it in your car screenwash.......

The carbon "teabags" work at any strength, just that the stronger the distillate, the quicker they "wear out" - if you check google, there is Gert Strands "Activated Carbon Filtration" ebook (it's a free .pdf file), that explains all about that. I use a "Z" filter now as Gerts book explains how to wash/rejuvenate carbon granules, which you can't do with the teabags really.

I used to change for a new once after I'd finished distilling each 25litre batch of wash.

The biggest safety issue, is to make sure your wash is properly degassed and when running the still you use ceramic rings or some sort of boil enhancers in the boiler and some distillers conditioner to prevent it boiling over (rare but possible).

Equally if you run you still and get 60% distillate, then water it back down to less than 40% and redistill it, you can achieve 80% plus......

If you're concerned about the strength of the spirit going through the teabag, you could just get a PET or HDPE funnel, find something to constrict the flow to a fast drip or very slow trickle, then just carefully shove the teabag down the spout of the funnel and run the spirit through that way.....

Heya buddy and what a hobby your entering.
You will find everything you will ever need to know on this forum.
May I suggest 2 names to you?
They are AM and Mozr.
Both guys are like distilling gods and are always willing to help.
They have both produced fantastic guides on getting the very best from the air/smartstill and I cannot thank either of them enough for the guidance they have given me.
The double distilling doesn't take much more effort but the difference is incredible.
I don't use the carbon tea bags with the smartstill but have just purchased a still spirits
Have fun and keep us posted on your progress buddy.
EZ inline filter.

Robert

Hi DD. Welcome to the forum mate.

+1 with what Phantom & Corps have said, your in the best place now you have a Airstill. It's seems like it's a steep learning curve to begin with, it's not just take it easy, but take it from me it's worth any minute. I've read a load of the older posts and believe me it's all gold. I done my first double distill only a few weeks back and the difference is WOW...and if I can do it..

Ps..If you've not found or read AM PDF file yet Links here.

Cheers

Phantom wrote:Methanol is indistinguishable from ethanol by taste and smell alone, but it has one important property in that, it boils before the ethanol so is one of the first to appear as the boil starts to condense

That seems to be a common misconception. Methanol and ethanol form an azeotrope -- they can not be separated by distillation. The good news is that the ferments that distillers use produce very little methanol.

Chuck

The antidote to methanol poisoning is ethanol. Doesn't mean it's a good idea to deliberately drink methanol though.

This has to be said, it's sort of an elephant in the room. The people that make and sell the airstill, T500 and whatever else distilling equipment have their VERSION of how to do things and we have ours. Top marks for their machinery, less than top marks for their advice.

That's as close as I can put it without being libelous.

Has it not always been such,Caveat Emptor - buyer beware.
There is business and there is concern for ones fellow man.
Sadly the two most often do not go hand in hand.
Robert.