Distillation - How to make moonshine
Questions & Answers - page 2
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Q: You have heard about neutralising wash by
adding sodium bicarbonate - what about it?
A: Not a good idea. Bottom line here is very simple.
Don't do it. If you add sodium bicarbonate, you will produce ammonia.
If you do not add it, you will not produce ammonia. Ammonia in a copper
still will make your spirit turn blue.
The modern Alcotec's (AT24, AT48 and VodkaStar) are all designed to
produce a slightly acidic wash to keep yield of ethanol high and glycerol
low and also to protect against any bacterial contamination.
The recipes themselves will NOT produce any ammonia
(a common misconception though). They would have done so if they had
been basically diammonium phosphate and some vitamins like some of the
very early turbo's - but modern turbo recipes are much more sophisticated.
Q: But I've heard that an acidic wash must
be neutralised!
A: This is not true in general. The modern
ethanol producing industry today uses acidic washes as an important
part in producing more and cleaner alcohol and we are using the same
technology for home fermentations.
It is of course important to control the level of acidity in the wash
- it cannot be allowed to bee too high. All modern turbo's do this as
an integral part of the recipe and it is important that the users do
not interfere with this. If you do - it is very likely you will move
away from the optimum wash.
If you have a reflux still - no acidity at all
will be carried over from a turbo yeast wash. If you use a pot still
instead, some acidity will be carried over - but an extremely low level
which will not affect taste or your health in any way. Neutralising
the wash by adding ammonia will produce more impurities than it will
remove.
Q: Should I use a pot still or a reflux still
- what's the difference?
A: A pot still is not as good as a reflux
when it comes to producing clean ethanol. The pot still is a simple
thing, heat up alcohol solution, collect the vapours and cool them down.
Some impurities will travel with the vapour and end up in the final
spirit. The only really good use for a pot still is when you make Whisky
etc and you actually want some impurities carried over.
A reflux, uses one vital component the pot still
doesn’t have - the column. The idea behind the column is to put
obstacles in the way of the rising vapour, preferably cold obstacles,
so the vapour condenses. But because hot vapour is still coming up from
underneath, the condensate will be heated up and boil a second (third
etc) time as it travels higher and higher in the column - and finally
falls over the edge. This process removes more impurities.
Q: Copper still or stainless steel? What's
best?
A: Stainless steel stills - definitely our
favourites. It's true that the Whisky industry and other distillers
found copper parts to be an essential bit when designing the optimum
still - but we are talking here about very small copper parts in a very
well designed stainless steel still.
Common home-stills can very well be 100% copper
(and of a not-so-perfect design really) - and that's not very good at
all. If you can - go for a stainless steel still and preferably a reflux.
However, we know there are a lot of people out
there with a massive amount of copper in their stills. So - for you
it is ABSOLUTELY VITAL that you do not add anything to neutralise your
wash. Addition of sodium bicarbonate will result in the formation of
copper ammonia salts (blue in colour) when wash comes in contact with
the copper. You may find it is better to use a "Pot Still Turbo"
(i.e. one with a pure fermentation) - the Alcotec VodkaStar is one of
the most extreme in purity you can find. It is not just another "Pot
Still Turbo" (often meaning just a bit slower), but a very innovative
and new way of using nutrients to control a pure fermentation
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