Home Distilling

[WRATHWILDE]

For those of you who are interested I ran across this site. I thought it was interesting and might pick one up in the quite distant future (a year or two).

http://www.amphora-society.com/Equipment/Equip_1/equip_1.html

Wrathwilde

 

[Oskaar]

Distilling? You lookin to have the "revenue-ers" all up in your shiz-nee??

Oskaar

 

[WRATHWILDE]

I'm hoping in a year or two they will see their way clear to allowing home distilling, I've heard something like 5 gallons a year limit mentioned, I'd love to be able to start experimenting with producing different whiskeys. But yes, I'll have to check deeper on the laws in the US. Not all Gotmead members are in the states however and some of them might be in a country free enough that this is something they can pursue.

Wrathwilde

Would it be wrong to offer the ATF a drink when they show up?

 

[toolboxdiver]

I'm hoping in a year or two they will see their way clear to allowing home distilling, I've heard something like 5 gallons a year limit mentioned, I'd love to be able to start experimenting with producing different whiskeys. But yes, I'll have to check deeper on the laws in the US. Not all Gotmead members are in the states however and some of them might be in a country free enough that this is something they can pursue.

Wrathwilde

Would it be wrong to offer the ATF a drink when they show up?

You haven't ever met a ATF agent have you....lol. If you choose to offer the ATF a drink, all I can say is your making a BIG MISTAKE....lol. But whatever your ventures are good luck and I'll drink a toast to ya bro. ;D

 

[WRATHWILDE]

I was thinking of offering them a drink, a Cuban cigar, and asking them to join me out back to try out a collection of fully automatic rifles. We could set up a target down the alley.

Won't they be surprised when, after searching, they find I don't have any of those things. ;D

Wrathwilde

 

[Oskaar]

Say hi to Bubba for me when you get settled in to your new "room" at Leavenworth! LOL

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[Dan McFeeley]

OMG at $375 this looks like an awfully expensive way to make homemade hooch!

The watchword (or phrase) in home distilling is "don't ask, don't tell!" ;D But for anyone interested in this illegal topic, I'd strongly suggest looking around on the Internet for more info on the subject. Distilling is tricky stuff -- if you don't know what you're doing, you could create a batch of tasty poison, full of the wrong alcohols!

I've seen cheaper distilling apparatus available at legit supply stores. No, I've never tried it, although I've heard that mead brandy is especially good. I think Mike Faul at Rabbit's Foot meadery sells it.

 

[lostnbronx]

OMG at $375 this looks like an awfully expensive way to make homemade hooch!

The watchword (or phrase) in home distilling is "don't ask, don't tell!" ;D But for anyone interested in this illegal topic, I'd strongly suggest looking around on the Internet for more info on the subject. Distilling is tricky stuff -- if you don't know what you're doing, you could create a batch of tasty poison, full of the wrong alcohols!

I've seen cheaper distilling apparatus available at legit supply stores. No, I've never tried it, although I've heard that mead brandy is especially good. I think Mike Faul at Rabbit's Foot meadery sells it.

Mead brandy is good. I once got a couple of bottles of the stuff from a friend who has relatives in Lithuania. It was really smooth -- and really strong. This was not an import -- rather, they brought it back on the plane. It was about 140 proof, as I recall (the details are, um, fuzzy). My friend knew I made mead, so he thought of me right away. Too, he was a Jim Beam man all the way (and, eventually, all the way to A.A.). It might have done with a bit of oak, but that's just a hindsight impression. There were two types -- one was mead brandy, the other was mead brandy slightly sweetened with honey. My friend translated the labels, which made wild claims about the health-giving properties of the stuff.

As for home distillation, try this for a cheap and simple alternative:

http://www.amazingstill.com/

 

[Dan McFeeley]

Another place you can check is rec.crafts.distilling -- take a look here for the FAQ, along with more sites for good info:

Click

Again, you have to be careful with this stuff. The distilling temperature has to be carefully watched, otherwise the poisonous stuff you *don't* want will get into your batch. Remember, distilling concentrates what's in the material you're working with, including toxins that normally wouldn't cause problems at low levels. Small amounts of methyl alcohol are normal in winemaking or meadmaking, but an inexperienced distiller will concentrate it to levels where it becomes toxic. When you hear stories about people going blind from bad moonshine, it's the methanol (methyl alcohol) that's responsible.

 

[ScottS]

http://www.homedistiller.org/

Everything you've ever wanted to know about distilling and then some.

FYI - a very simple pot still can be made from a pressure cooker and copper tubing. That site has instructions. Keep in mind that it is written by a New Zealander for NZers, distillation at home is legal there. It is illegal to even possess a still above 1 cubic foot in capacity, or to use a still of any size to distill alcohol. We're talking a felony with a $5k fine and 5 yrs in prison. Always remember, the ATF has no sense of humor on this subject. That said, they aren't actively knocking on doors to enforce this particular law either. If you are going to do it, don't talk about it, and for Pete's (Oscaar's?) sake, DON'T SELL IT.

Just to satisfy my endless curiosity, I did some calculations to determine exactly how much methanol is in a 5 gallon batch of mead. You'd have to brew about 50 gallons of mead, concentrate all of the methanol into one glass, and drink that straight up to even reach symptomatic levels of methanol poisoning. Which means on a homebrew scale, it is virtually impossible to poison yourself by screwing up a distillation. You still want to do it right, because from what I hear, the heads (methanol etc) and the tails (heavy alcohols etc) don't taste very good. Methanol poisoning is only really an issue with high volume distillation, or intentional doctoring of a distilled product with cheap hooch to increase the volume, like moonshiners used to do.

 

[matt_maples]

I for one know of several people in my neck of the woods (Pacific NW) that do home distilling. I have even met an ATF (Or what ever they are calling it these days) agent. From what I gathered from these people (both the ATF and the home Distillers) is that the written rules is that you can not home distill PERIOD, the unwritten rule that the ATF does not really care (and this is from ATF’s words) “we really don’t care if someone wants to go blind in their back yard, but if they sell it that is another story.” I then heard the story of the DC sniper actually bought his guns up in this guy’s territory and his time is better spent dealing with these kinds of people then with busting someone making a gallon of hooch out in the shed.

This is reinforced by the fact that at our second largest beer festival a gentleman sells stills to the general public, as does the largest homebrew shop we have in our market.

Not that I want to encourage someone to break the law or anything. I mean it is really up to the individual as to weather it would be worth it or not. I for one am happy with the 15 to 16% mead I can make without any added costs, troubles or fuss.

Don’t get me wrong, if you offered me a snort or mead brandy I would gleefully accept it and thoroughly enjoy it but as for the production side, it is just not my bag.



Matt

 

[Oskaar]

What happens in my Meadworx, stays in my Meadworx!

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[ScottS]

From what I gathered from these people (both the ATF and the home Distillers) is that the written rules is that you can not home distill PERIOD, the unwritten rule that the ATF does not really care (and this is from ATF’s words) “we really don’t care if someone wants to go blind in their back yard, but if they sell it that is another story.”

I know of people though that were prosecuted because someone turned them in. If I call up the ATF and say "the guy down the street is running a still", they are pretty much obliged to investigate. If you are going to distill, the fewer people that know about it the better. You never know when someone is going to be a jerk and ruin your day.

 

[matt_maples]

I suppose that is true, they probably are required to respond to at the very least local law informent reports of distilling.

The less said about it the best

 

[griff_consortium]

I may be a newbie but I can tell you this.
Information on home distilling is not illegal.

Content Moderated by Oskaar 11/04/2006

I suspect you can reach 80 proof. It will not kill you or make you blind unless you used an anti-freeze bottle or used wood in ANY part of the process.
Three rules to remember.

1. Don't sell it!
2. Don't brag about it!
3. Don't call on me if you forget the first two rules!

 

[Oskaar]

Hi Griff and welcome to the boards.

Please note that while it is not illegal to discuss distillation, we don't like to take it to high profile here at gotmead.com. This is a mead board, not a distillation board.

We are affiliated with several organizations and we are in the process of trying to encourage subscribers and advertisers in order to support this site and keep it up and running. While freedom of speech is an integral part of our civil rights, this board has rules and regulations, and is operated out of pocket at the moment. We are beginning to pick up momentum with subscription and advertisers at this point in the boards evolution, and we don't want to give the impression that we are encouraging, promoting or instructing the general board membership on how to conduct illegal, illicit or questionable practices. Distillation of alcohol without a license at home is illegal, plain and simple. The two posters before you own businesses and contribute to this board by way of extending discounts, advice or generally helpful information to the members of Gotmead.com. Vicky and I keep an eye on threads like this specifically because we don't want to give the appearance of impropriety and bring any unnecessary scrutiny or attention on the business owners who come here to play.

Going forward please bear that in mind. Also, please bear in mind that this board is privately owned and is subject to Vicky's rules and guidelines the principal of which is "When in my house, play by my rules."

If you want to carry this discussion on please contact me via Private Message. I'm moderating your post and asking that you be sensitive to why I have done so.

Oskaar

 

[pearlheartgtr]

I just started distilling last weekend. My rum run came out pretty good.

As for the going blind part, you have to know what to toss and what to keep. You toss the heads (which is where the wood alcohol lives) and run on through to the tails. You just have to know the temperatures where certain alcohols come to life. It isn't rocket science. Just do some googling and you will find the facts and plans. I will just say don't order anything from stilldrinkin and their turbo stompers because they will screw you over in so many ways.