how did they make a still?

[William Joy]

As I understand the made hard cider by fermenting apple juice and then destilled it to make liquor. How was this done at a homestead?

 

[Blizzard of '93]

no, that was brandy or 'applejack' distilled from 'hard cider'. hard cider of course is sort of apple wine - but if not kept tightly sealed and cool of course it turns into vinegar.
I suppose it was kept in spring houses or ice houses on ice.
some feller with a still was a much sought after man in frontier days.

 

[reddog]

And might "still" be! :grin:

 

[shortstring]

At one time Lindsay Publications had some books on the subject
www.lindsaybks.com

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Yep, glad this came up, is it legal or not to produce for household use your own alcohol, up to I think 10 gals? this is useing your own distilling unit. I'm almost certain it is, and this is besides the fuel-alcohol permit which is available to anyone requesting.

 

[shmrck1]

And might "still" be! :grin:

reddog,
No might about it! The price has increased
4 fold in the last 20years,but is 'still' readily
available in the mid-west and south.I enjoyed it
when it was $60 or less a gallon. When it went to $80 it was cheaper to drink taxed liquor.Hence, I
drink bourbon these days.For cheap stuff like
what I drink,Old Crow,runs less than $40 for a
bit over a gallon.If I still had the contacts to
get it I would have a quart of shine in my freezer at all times,just to remind me. :hmm:
snake-eyes :surrender:

 

[rebel727]

The price has increased
4 fold in the last 20years,but is 'still' readily
available in the mid-west and south.I enjoyed it
when it was $60 or less a gallon.

The last I bought which has been some years ago was 8 bucks a gallon. I'm sure I could find it for less than 20 now if I wanted to.

 

[J.D.]

no, that was brandy or 'applejack' distilled from 'hard cider'. hard cider of course is sort of apple wine - but if not kept tightly sealed and cool of course it turns into vinegar.
I suppose it was kept in spring houses or ice houses on ice.
some feller with a still was a much sought after man in frontier days.

Hard cider was often "jacked" by freezing any water contained within cider. The remaining liquid was poured off concentrating the alcohol content of the jacked cider.

 

[MSW]

there's a book floating about titled The Second Oldest Profession, or something along those lines. when i was a self absorbed suburbanite know- nothing, i found it a fascinating glimpse into a world from which i had been shielded (no doubt in the fear that i'd have an interest in such things).

now that i'm no longer a suburbanite (living in what my nephews call 'the great frozen north) i make my own beer, keep chickens and so on. making my own whiskey is a bit too much trouble- but thta's just one guys opinion. i might try it some day, just 'cause the government says i'm not supposed to. tried 'shine in Kentucky and in the Carolinas. the KY shine was better.

 

[shmrck1]

rebel,
Oh my, at that price you could make a ton of
$$$$$$$$,in the midwest.After my lst post I made
a call to a person still involved,he told me the
price ran from $15 to $20 a quart and more.He stated yuppies and college kids are his best
customers on the high end cost.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

good white likker here, the real corn squeezings not 'sugar likker' will fetch 15$ qt. or maybe little more.
'aged' in old whiskey barrels (usually aged a year) can go for 20$ qt.
I prefer the good white that has a peach dropped into the jar.
cheap stuff, the 'sugar likker' you don't know what it's been run through. some of them use cast-off commercial air conditioner coils - dangerous stuff.

 

[rebel727]

The penalties for gettin caught ain't worth it. I'm gettin old and skeert now. :rotf:

The stuff I was getting was made from sugar but was run through a copper coil in a drum of water and aged maybe 2-3 days. :rotf:

 

[buttonbuck]

The foxfire books have sections on this subject, the fifth one has a great 250 page section on muzzleloaders this is the last big book I really enjoyed.

 

[RonT]

Heard from a guy that heard from a guy (how's that for distancing me from the source? :grin: ) the going rate in North Central Ohia is $20/quart.
R

 

[Claude Mathis]

.... distilled it to make liquor. How was this done at a homestead?

Any ideas?

 

[Blizzard of '93]

yes, I do have an idea. you make 'beer' first then steam the spirit out of it through a cooling coil to condense it.
then clean the cooker and run the distillate again and filter through maple charcoal and you have very near to 120 'proof' licquor.
then you mix it about 15% of very clean water for 'drinkability'.
then you drink it and 'Yahooooo'! :thumbsup:

 

[William Joy]

I can see how the fermenting is done but then how did the evaporate it and cool the " steam". I can see how it is done with modern equipment and even how you could built a still in1750 if you a lot of resources. But if you lived on a homestead, I can't see you making all that. Commercial alcohol would have been expensive, I assume. Maybe the didn't drink!? :wink:

 

[Homesteader]

I've read many times that making "likker" was the best way for the western farmers to preserve their corn crop. It was so prevalent and specie (cash) so rare that in many places it became the medium of exchange. That's one of the reasons the heavy tax on it lead to the Whiskey Rebellion.

Doesn't answer your question, but it sure indicates that the homespun crowd knew how to distill and had the means to do so.

 

[William Joy]

Same thinking here.....

 

[Blizzard of '93]

the distilled spirit is run through a coil that is placed inside a barrel filled with cold water (usually water runs into the barrel to keep it cool), this condenses the steam into liquid. many distillers used a 'thumber' barrel to run the steam into first - this captured a lot of the spirit, then after the cooker ran off all the alky the cooker was cleaned and the thump barrel contents placed into it and ran off. this was nearly pure alky.
it is possible to eliminate the thump barrel by useing a 'puke box' placed into the worm before it goes into the coil.