Stolen Homemade Still Information

How to Build a Still

What is Distilling?

The process of distillation is very simple. You are in effect taking a chemical mixture (usually water with other chemical substances such as sugar, etc) and heating it up so that the lowest boiling point atoms leave the other chemical compounds behind. For instance, if you take coca-cola and boil it very gently, the first items to evaporate will be pure water. The water leaves, the sugar and other additives and is sent into another compartment where it cools off and is condensed, creating pure water from coca-cola. Using this method you can make whisky from beer, and brandy from wine. It should be noted that all a still does is separate the original liquid into two different compounds. No new chemicals are created, just separated.

Items You Will Need to Create a Very Simple Still:
One large cooking pot (usually a pot that holds about one gallon of liquid will do the trick)
A mixing bowl with a round bottom. A flat bottom bowl will not work well, due to the fact that you would like the distillate to drip into the collecting jar
One 8 oz drinking glass
One magnet. The magnet is used to keep the collection glass from moving around the pot
One small weight. This weight will be used to keep the round bottom bowl in place. You can use a brick, or a 5lb weight used for weight lifting (you should have something very heavy to keep any alcohol vapor from leaking out)
One cooking thermometer, which is used to measure the temperature of the liquid
1/2 gallon of red table wine
A few ice cubes to cool the vapor
Optional: One proof hydrometer (sometimes called Customs House Hydrometer). This device helps you test the proof of your alcohol
Building Your Simple Still

Step1.
Place your large pot on your stove or burner securely. Pour 2 quarts of your red table wine into your large pot. Now place your 8 ounce collection glass in the center of your pot. You will now place the magnet in the collection glass holding the glass in place once the ingredients start to heat up.

Step2.
Turn on your stove or burner on high, wait for the contents to reach about 120 degrees Fahrenheit, check with your thermometer often. Once at this temperature, turn the burner or stove to a very low temperature. From this point on you will need to control the rise in temperature very slowly.

Step3.
Fill your small rounded bowl with a few ice cubes and place the bowl on top of the large pot. Make sure that your bowl has a good seal over the pot. The better the seal, the better your results will be. Add your brick or weigh to the bowl so that the seal is better at trapping any alcohol vapor.

Step4.
Bring the temperature of your pot up slowly over the course of about a half hour. As your wine heats up slowly, specific chemical compounds will start boiling at different temperatures. Methyl alcohol is the first to evaporate at 148.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Ethyl alcohol evaporates at 173 degrees Fahrenheit and water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The alcohol as it reaches its boiling point will turn into vapor and once it hits the above bowl, which is filled with ice cubes, will cool down and condensate. As it condensates, it will slowly drip down into the collection glass. For best results make sure that your collection glass is stable and that the cold bowl on top of it has a very tight seal.

Step5.
Make sure that the wine rises in temperature very slowly. Do not allow the wine to boil. As the water approaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit, shut off the heat and remove the collection glass. You can throw away the wine. In the collection glass, you will find about 2 to 4 ounces of water for about every 2 quarts of wine you cook. You can use your hygrometer to test the proof of the alcohol. Most novices can easily get above 20 proof, however it does take a good setup and some skill to reach anywhere around 80 proof which is 40% alcohol by volume. Please note; while not poisonous, the alcohol should not be created for consumption. And remember that in many countries it is illegal to create alcohol using a still.

While this is an extremely simple still set up, you can build much more complex stills. There are plenty of blueprints available online and many companies do offer still kits that fit together rather nicely.