Home Distilling
Discussion
Down under in NZ, home distilling is legal. Very good on the pocket, not so good for the liver.
Take 6kg of sugar, a packet of "super fast" yeast (made in the UK!), 21 litres of water, and leave to ferment for a couple of days. Into the still, four hours later...3 1/2 litres of raw alcohol. Total cost, under a tenner.
Pour a good inch into the bottom of a glass and top up with strong orange juice (to disguise the pretty awful taste) and plenty of ice. Chill out.
The taste acts like an aversion therapy, so tend to only have the one drink (maybe the equivalent of 7 or 8 shots though).
Anyone else do anything similar, or know a friend who does?
It's illegal in the UK without obtaining a licence firstly.
http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/still-spirits/
Not sure how difficult/easy it is to get clearance.
http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/still-spirits/
Not sure how difficult/easy it is to get clearance.
Indeed, illegal in the UK without a license.
However, you can readily buy 'water purifiers' that are in fact small scale stills. I guess unless you were selling what you made, or shouting about what you were doing on the internet, there would be no way for HMRC to find out and really, I doubt they'd be that bothered.
However I can't really see the attraction of home distilling. The amount patience and investment needed to make anything half decent that isn't just white alcohol for diluting in fruit juice don't make sense to me!
However, you can readily buy 'water purifiers' that are in fact small scale stills. I guess unless you were selling what you made, or shouting about what you were doing on the internet, there would be no way for HMRC to find out and really, I doubt they'd be that bothered.
However I can't really see the attraction of home distilling. The amount patience and investment needed to make anything half decent that isn't just white alcohol for diluting in fruit juice don't make sense to me!
The consequences of screwing it up are not so good either unless of course you don't like your eyesight.
That said these "water purifiers" that home brew shops sell do make the process sound quite easy though I still think why bother when you can get a bottle of supermarket own brand Gin/Vodka/Whisky for less than £10, more so if you're happy with some unheard of brand stuff from Aldi/Lidl.
That said these "water purifiers" that home brew shops sell do make the process sound quite easy though I still think why bother when you can get a bottle of supermarket own brand Gin/Vodka/Whisky for less than £10, more so if you're happy with some unheard of brand stuff from Aldi/Lidl.
C0ffin D0dger said:
The consequences of screwing it up are not so good either unless of course you don't like your eyesight.
That said these "water purifiers" that home brew shops sell do make the process sound quite easy though I still think why bother when you can get a bottle of supermarket own brand Gin/Vodka/Whisky for less than £10, more so if you're happy with some unheard of brand stuff from Aldi/Lidl.
Pretty much impossible to produce anything hazardous to your health (well, i guess alcohol isn't great for you), this is just an old myth.That said these "water purifiers" that home brew shops sell do make the process sound quite easy though I still think why bother when you can get a bottle of supermarket own brand Gin/Vodka/Whisky for less than £10, more so if you're happy with some unheard of brand stuff from Aldi/Lidl.
I've had some absolutely awesome Austrian home made Obstler (fruit schnapps), I would love to learn to produce that stuff. Just like most things produced on a commercial scale, it's not hard to produce better stuff cheaper at home.
Edited by fredt on Friday 22 May 15:18
Edited by fredt on Friday 22 May 15:18
I've thought of it for many years as too dangerous. I very near lost a good friend back in the day , who necked too much poteen of huge strength, doctors reckoned he was very lucky to escape with no permanent after effects. Had he not been pumped out very quickly, it may have been a different story.
Alcohol is fine, the problem is once intake passes certain levels , commonsense and logic can depart , having very strong stuff around in such circumstances can, and could be very dodgy.
Heck, I drink for enjoyment, if something is that vile it has to be swamped to be palatable , then its hard to see the point.
Alcohol is fine, the problem is once intake passes certain levels , commonsense and logic can depart , having very strong stuff around in such circumstances can, and could be very dodgy.
Heck, I drink for enjoyment, if something is that vile it has to be swamped to be palatable , then its hard to see the point.
Many a poitin maker would argue with you about palatability... and as a rule, throw out the first 25ml of your batch for every litre you distill - e.g chuck the first 250mls of a 10 litre batch, that gets rid of your methanol.
Then you just have the tails, the end of the run, to deal with - it starts to look a bit dieselly and gives you the nasty taste, so stop then and chuck that as well. Takes a bit of practice knowing exactly when to start and stop, but good poitin can taste almost sweet, and have less of a burn than a cask strength scotch when swallowed!
Then you just have the tails, the end of the run, to deal with - it starts to look a bit dieselly and gives you the nasty taste, so stop then and chuck that as well. Takes a bit of practice knowing exactly when to start and stop, but good poitin can taste almost sweet, and have less of a burn than a cask strength scotch when swallowed!
Cheese Mechanic said:
Heck, I drink for enjoyment, if something is that vile it has to be swamped to be palatable , then its hard to see the point.
That's the point, I've had some great stuff. Bit like home brewing, some people enjoy the making of it and you can make some really good stuff, but of course it generally takes a few attemptsguindilias said:
Many a poitin maker would argue with you about palatability... and as a rule, throw out the first 25ml of your batch for every litre you distill - e.g chuck the first 250mls of a 10 litre batch, that gets rid of your methanol.
Then you just have the tails, the end of the run, to deal with - it starts to look a bit dieselly and gives you the nasty taste, so stop then and chuck that as well. Takes a bit of practice knowing exactly when to start and stop, but good poitin can taste almost sweet, and have less of a burn than a cask strength scotch when swallowed!
But even if you don't bin the first few cl it's still nowhere near dangerous. Some fine spirits contain more of both the 'head' and the 'tail' for flavouring.Then you just have the tails, the end of the run, to deal with - it starts to look a bit dieselly and gives you the nasty taste, so stop then and chuck that as well. Takes a bit of practice knowing exactly when to start and stop, but good poitin can taste almost sweet, and have less of a burn than a cask strength scotch when swallowed!
I gather moonshines made a big comeback in the slums where a lot of the polish and other east european economic migrants hang out; around £2/litre or so buys you a plastic water bottle of something thats supposed to resemble vodka. I had some polish "builders" on a site keep trying to tell me how to make it, they couldn't understand I just didn't care to know- it sums up my feeling on what economic migration's creating in this country when you're made to feel a bit of a loadsamoney showoff t
t by telling someone you'd rather go to lidl, but I guess thats for the NPE forum
t by telling someone you'd rather go to lidl, but I guess thats for the NPE forumfredt said:
But even if you don't bin the first few cl it's still nowhere near dangerous. Some fine spirits contain more of both the 'head' and the 'tail' for flavouring.
It can be dangerous - if you mix up the whole batch and then bottle it, it'll probably taste nasty.But the real danger comes when you bottle it as it comes out of the still - as in "We'll keep the first bottle for uncle Frank" - he then gets all the methanol, which is what sends you blind, brain damage, etc.
But if you put all your makings into a barrel and bottle it from there, it is diluted enough to do no harm, but it'll give you a hangover to make you wish you were dead.
And the tails are not desirable unless you are making whisky or something with flavour - the whole idea of poitin is that it is flavourless, and you can then flavour it with what you want, if you desire.
Trust me, I have knocked out many a batch of the stuff here in N. Ireland - I know what I'm at by now.
Brandy Ball flavoured poitin is deceptively sweet, and invokes the "invisible sniper" - you think you are fine until you try and stand up, then realise you ain't got any legs worth using!
Nice youtube about old style poitin making - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_dHFWUOVzw
guindilias said:
It can be dangerous - if you mix up the whole batch and then bottle it, it'll probably taste nasty.
But the real danger comes when you bottle it as it comes out of the still - as in "We'll keep the first bottle for uncle Frank" - he then gets all the methanol
Sorry but these are just wife's tales. First time we made our own vodka (after secretly welding up a still in my parents garage..) we could not wait for the thing to finish, so drank it as it came out of the still. No one died, no one went blind. It is true there is some methanol produced when making alcohol om using yeast and sugar but it is 99.9xx% ethanol.But the real danger comes when you bottle it as it comes out of the still - as in "We'll keep the first bottle for uncle Frank" - he then gets all the methanol
Maybe if you have a industrial sized still you will produce enough for it to be dangerous, but certainly not with anything you have cooking away in your garage.
Growing up in Sweden where alcohol was stupidly expensive and hard to get hold of when we were young, pretty much everyone was drinking moonshine, I would say a big % of the population was on it back in the 90s, and I have never heard of anyone becoming blind or otherwise from methanol poisoning
fredt said:
Sorry but these are just wife's tales. First time we made our own vodka (after secretly welding up a still in my parents garage..) we could not wait for the thing to finish, so drank it as it came out of the still. No one died, no one went blind. It is true there is some methanol produced when making alcohol om using yeast and sugar but it is 99.9xx% ethanol.
Maybe if you have a industrial sized still you will produce enough for it to be dangerous, but certainly not with anything you have cooking away in your garage.
Growing up in Sweden where alcohol was stupidly expensive and hard to get hold of when we were young, pretty much everyone was drinking moonshine, I would say a big % of the population was on it back in the 90s, and I have never heard of anyone becoming blind or otherwise from methanol poisoning
Yes, and 0.1% is the FDA limit for methanol in wine. And it gives you a terrible hangover. First hand experience here - my neighbour's best mate buys a lot of the used barrels from Bushmills for flowerpots, seats, water butts and all that jazz. And they normally have a good slosh of whiskey left in the bottom - which he bottled and sold to my neighbour.Maybe if you have a industrial sized still you will produce enough for it to be dangerous, but certainly not with anything you have cooking away in your garage.
Growing up in Sweden where alcohol was stupidly expensive and hard to get hold of when we were young, pretty much everyone was drinking moonshine, I would say a big % of the population was on it back in the 90s, and I have never heard of anyone becoming blind or otherwise from methanol poisoning
Neighbour gave me a bottle one night as a "thanks" for cutting down a tree in his garden.
Being a pretty heavy drinker, I sank most of that bottle over the course of the next day.
Woke up feeling dizzy, sick (which I never get with a hangover), and most worryingly, "stars in my eyes" like a concussion - and they would not go away. Yep, I got the bottle that was largely heads from the old cask.
Went to the local hospital, told them what I had drunk, and they put me on an IV drip of ethanol, to stop my liver processing any more methanol.
I was in for two days altogether - one because they were pumping pure alcohol into me, the next because I was hammered from the ethanol drip and was not considered "safe to go home".
Very stern lecture, and only let go once they deemed me sober.
I won't be doing that again - and for the 25mls of drink you lose at a time - would never even risk it again.
I still make Poitin, but safely!
If after making the poitin you were to age it in a cask for some years would it improve it ? Would it taste better than commercial whiskies if you gave it care and did the right things ?
I've often wondered whether it would be worth my while to barrel age at home some of the young Calvados I buy in France .
I've often wondered whether it would be worth my while to barrel age at home some of the young Calvados I buy in France .
I doubt it would taste better than commercial whiskies - they have a lot more experience!
But yes, assuming you could get hold of the right barrel (normally bought by UK distilleries from American bourbon distilleries, as I think they are only allowed to use a barrel once), it might well make it more whiskey-like.
Not sure how a Calvados would taste though, unless you can get hold of an old Brandy barrel!
But yes, assuming you could get hold of the right barrel (normally bought by UK distilleries from American bourbon distilleries, as I think they are only allowed to use a barrel once), it might well make it more whiskey-like.
Not sure how a Calvados would taste though, unless you can get hold of an old Brandy barrel!
It's called "Rakia" in Bulgaria, and every village has its own still. You need about 100 litres of fermented plum/grape 'mash' to start the still, and provided you dilute the final (2nd or 3rd) distillation to 40% alcohol then it's untaxed.
The locals add spices, eg star anise, coriander seed, root ginger to flavour the clear alcohol, and often drop a charred stick into the mix. After a couple of glasses it almost tastes like whiskey.
it's vile.
http://windowtobulgaria.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-t...
The locals add spices, eg star anise, coriander seed, root ginger to flavour the clear alcohol, and often drop a charred stick into the mix. After a couple of glasses it almost tastes like whiskey.
it's vile.
http://windowtobulgaria.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-t...
My romanian buddy distills his own hooch, called Palinca, the whole village is at it making brandy from plums and pears or whatever fruit they have. When I went last year at distilling season it was carnage pretty much the entire village was wasted.
They usually distill twice and its around 55-65% proof, My friends dad had to carry me to bed which apparently earnt him kudos in the village as his hospitality put me to bed.
They usually distill twice and its around 55-65% proof, My friends dad had to carry me to bed which apparently earnt him kudos in the village as his hospitality put me to bed.
Just finished another 50 litre mash, all distilled out into 24 separate jars. From there you make the "cut" - it's been distilled twice so should be around 96% ABV (I have a 50 litre still) alcohol. The "middles" are the best stuff, no heads nor tails to add nastiness or unwanted fusel oils, etc.
Water it back to around 60% after chucking the heads and tails into the still for the next batch, then add your flavour of choice (or none, for a totally neutral "vodka" without that diesel smell you get from Smirnoff, etc.).
Going to experiment with traditional flavourings this time, like caraway seeds and a billion other things you can add in. Obviously clove rock, brandy balls, aniseed balls, butterballs etc. will be used in some of it, but if any of you drink unusual spirits, would be interested as to what it's flavoured with/made from?
Next run might be gin, I've added on a pot to my setup to put the juniper berries, cardamom seeds/pods in!
Water it back to around 60% after chucking the heads and tails into the still for the next batch, then add your flavour of choice (or none, for a totally neutral "vodka" without that diesel smell you get from Smirnoff, etc.).
Going to experiment with traditional flavourings this time, like caraway seeds and a billion other things you can add in. Obviously clove rock, brandy balls, aniseed balls, butterballs etc. will be used in some of it, but if any of you drink unusual spirits, would be interested as to what it's flavoured with/made from?
Next run might be gin, I've added on a pot to my setup to put the juniper berries, cardamom seeds/pods in!
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