how did they make a still?

[Homesteader]

There's an old electronic book floating around the internet called "Possum Living", I believe. It was written in the '70's by some woman and her father about how they lived close to free and below the radar. Quite a lot of it is devoted to the distillation process used to keep her pop in drink. It's worth a read to get a feel for how it's done these days, anyway. One can extrapolate from that how they may have done it back in the day.

 

[Sutallee]

Foxfire One has a long section on making blockade whiskey. There is a book called "Mountain Spirits" by Joe Dabney that discusses the history of corn whiskey in America. These are the two best sources that I know. Both should still be available on Amazon.

 

[Harrod]

It's illegal to make whiskey in any amount without a permit.Google "making moonshine" it will tell you everything you need to know.Corn whiskey was not somethin' that everybody made at home back in the day. A lot of millers were also whiskey makers. You can buy real nice stills off the internet. Of course they're expensive. You can make shine in small batches(gallon or two) on your kitchen stove using easily found equipment.It's illegal to make whiskey in any amount without a permit.

 

[Bountyhunter]

You can talk about it all day. You can make the parts. However, merely connecting the cooker, to a coil or any other parts constitutes reason for the BATF'ers to come break down your door. A high school in the area wanted to do a science project on distillation of spirits for a local science fair and the Nazis showed up to make sure that the cooker was on one side of the aisle and the worm was on the other. I couldnt believe it, but they did.

 

[Homesteader]

You can get a permit to distill non-potable alcohol for use as fuel. Farmers used to do it quite often. For it to be legal one must add enough wood alcohol to make it poisonous. No tipping allowed!

 

[ameling]

The concept or process is pretty simple.

Alcohol turns to steam at a temperature below that of water. So you take a liquid that has alcohol in it - like that fermented corn mash or wine. And then you heat it up to the temp where alcohol turns to steam. You then "catch" that steam and turn it back into liquid in another container. A copper cone above your "cook pot" attached to copper tubing that then runs down in a coil through another container of water helps turn that alcohol steam back into liquid. And then you have you liquor. Simple "process". Fermented corn mash makes corn whiskey. Fermenting ground rye makes Rye whiskey. Run Wine through your still and you end up with Brandy. Fermented potato mash gets you Vodka.

Hard cider is just apple cider that you let ferment. It turns it into a version of wine. But too much fermentation and it turns into vinegar - which has it's own multitued of uses.

Run hard cider through a still and you get applejack.

So the whole process is pretty simple. But you do have several things to worry about (besides the feds). Like "bad" yeast souring the mash. "Burning" the mash in the still - getting it too hot when cooking out the alcohol. And YES, you can "taste" that scorching in the final product. And most people filter the final product through charcoal, to remove a slight amount of "oil" that comes through. That "oil" can be dangerous to some people. Keeping everything religiously clean helps. And never using a vehicle radiator for your cooling coils - antifreeze residue and lead solder problems.

There are lots of books out there about building and running a still - for consumption and for vehicle fuel. Just do a web search. Linsey Publications carries a lot of those books. And check out those offered in the back of Mother Earth News magazine.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands - who's enjoyed an untaxed "wee nip of the creature" on occasion

 

[William Joy]

Thanks, I start to understand the concept!!

 

[Blizzard of '93]

basically stills (distillation vessels) are a low-pressure steam boiler with a condenser attached.
sealing the 'cooker' in order to put the distillate through the condenser is a chore that must be done correctly as are other steps (cooking heat is one major step)

 

[Mike 56]

I am of Portuguese descent and live in the San Joaquin valley. Making wine and diesel is common place out on the dairies. Diesel is 190 proof home made Portuguese brandy and can be easily found.

Mike

 

[hawk]

Mike is distiled brandy called GRAPPA ?

 

[Claude Mathis]

Mike is distiled brandy called GRAPPA ?

Grappa is a fragrant grape-based pomace brandy of between 50% and 80% alcohol by volume (100 to 160 proof), of Italian origin. Literally "grape stalk", most grappa is made by distilling pomace, grape residue (mainly the skins, but also stems and seeds) left over from winemaking after pressing. It was originally made to prevent waste by using leftovers at the end of the wine season. It quickly became commercialised, mass-produced, and sold worldwide. Some grappa, known as prima uva, is made with the whole grapes. The flavour of grappa, like that of wine, depends on the type and quality of the grape used as well as the specifics of the distillation process.

 

[smokeblower]

Rebel
I am not too far from you and would gladly pay 20 dollars for some fine corn water. My farm helpers like to relax with it. They say the stuff around here is made with corn meal and sugar. They also say it taste like the plastic bucket the mash worked in.

I do not drink any more due to health issues but I like being around those who do

 

[shmrck1]

Rebel
I am not too far from you and would gladly pay 20 dollars for some fine corn water. My farm helpers like to relax with it. They say the stuff around here is made with corn meal and sugar. They also say it taste like the plastic bucket the mash worked in.

I do not drink any more due to health issues but I like being around those who do

smokeblower,
Great to know the South is alive and well!
snake-eyes