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Anyone here distill their own booze? (1 Viewer)

I built something to distill water a couple years ago.  Then got wrapped up in building a Lemons racecar, and haven't had time to research distilled water recipes.  It's a stainless pot with copper stuff above the pot.  I probably have $300-$500 in materials but I tend to go over the top when I build stuff.  Looked into distilling alcohol, and from what I remember you can do it legally with lots of paperwork to the feds.  Once you apply they can come to at anytime and search your entire house without a warrant.  If I was to distill alcohol it's doubtful that I'd do the fed thing due to restrictions and giving the feds free reign of your house.  PM me if you would like to discuss building a water distilling machine, or if you have a good hooch recipe.

ETA-stopped still to build racecar...LOL

 
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Brony said:
I've watched a lot of TV in my day and I"m pretty sure that you'll need bow and arrows equipped with dynamite.  Plus a cool vehicle that plays Dixie when you honk the horn. 
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For the real sophisticated stuff you need an Army tent, some chemistry glassware, a cross-dressing Lebanese man, and a war against communIsm.

 
“Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, please don't let me down.

I'm gonna take me a drink, and I'll roam around.

Check on my stills, and see if they're okay.

Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, please last all day.

I don't want to run out of my rye today, I won't have no more, or that's what they say.

Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, please don't let me down. I've got to go make another round.”

GB Jim Tom

 
squidrope said:
I built something to distill water a couple years ago.  Then got wrapped up in building a Lemons racecar, and haven't had time to research distilled water recipes.  It's a stainless pot with copper stuff above the pot.  I probably have $300-$500 in materials but I tend to go over the top when I build stuff.  Looked into distilling alcohol, and from what I remember you can do it legally with lots of paperwork to the feds.  Once you apply they can come to at anytime and search your entire house without a warrant.  If I was to distill alcohol it's doubtful that I'd do the fed thing due to restrictions and giving the feds free reign of your house.  PM me if you would like to discuss building a water distilling machine, or if you have a good hooch recipe.

ETA-stopped still to build racecar...LOL
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Yeah, think I'll pass on the notification process. 

 
=Smackdown= said:
“Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, please don't let me down.

I'm gonna take me a drink, and I'll roam around.

Check on my stills, and see if they're okay.

Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, please last all day.

I don't want to run out of my rye today, I won't have no more, or that's what they say.

Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, please don't let me down. I've got to go make another round.”

GB Jim Tom
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https://goo.gl/images/AiQPRs

So handsome. 

 
Definitely pass on notification in FL.  Distilling is illegal even for personal consumption unless you get a federal license and a state craft license. We had a backyard guy get raided up by me a couple years back. Loose lips sink ships and all that. Whatever you distill is going to be a relatively neutral spirit (white dog, white lightnin, etc.) unless you age it to pick up the flavor of the casks or add botanicals like gin for flavor. There are variations in flavor of the neutral spirit depending on the sugar source (cane, corn, beets, etc.) and the yeast used to make the wash. But the real flavor comes after distillation.

 
squidrope said:
I built something to distill water a couple years ago.  Then got wrapped up in building a Lemons racecar, and haven't had time to research distilled water recipes.  It's a stainless pot with copper stuff above the pot.  I probably have $300-$500 in materials but I tend to go over the top when I build stuff.  Looked into distilling alcohol, and from what I remember you can do it legally with lots of paperwork to the feds.  Once you apply they can come to at anytime and search your entire house without a warrant.  If I was to distill alcohol it's doubtful that I'd do the fed thing due to restrictions and giving the feds free reign of your house.  PM me if you would like to discuss building a water distilling machine, or if you have a good hooch recipe.

ETA-stopped still to build racecar...LOL
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Why did you spend $500 to distill water?  Isn't it like a buck a gallon at the grocery store?

 
Guinis72 said:
I watch Moonshiners a lot and have been tempted to try distilling too.  We have 2 apple trees in our yard that I was thinking we could possibly make some apple brandy with, if I ever get to the point that I know what I'm doing.  

I've thought about trying to buy something like this:  Copper Still  

I've brewed a few batches of beer, but it's been a long time.
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My buddy has one a lot like this. We distill beer. We have brewery connections so we can generally get some donations. Have also done homebrew. You want to start with something over 8%. He layers some Cooper and stainless scrub brushes in the top part to act as filters. 

 
E Street Brat said:
I've made apple pie moonshine. Using pure grain and vodka. But never distilled my own.
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Neighbor makes this every winter to give out as gifts.  The longer it sets in the refrigerator the better it tastes.   Caution it kicks ###!    So tasty.  

 
If there's one thing that Moonshiners has taught me is to use oatmeal to spackle any seams.

And never trust anyone named Tickle.

 
Ron Swanson said:
Definitely pass on notification in FL.  Distilling is illegal even for personal consumption unless you get a federal license and a state craft license. We had a backyard guy get raided up by me a couple years back. Loose lips sink ships and all that. Whatever you distill is going to be a relatively neutral spirit (white dog, white lightnin, etc.) unless you age it to pick up the flavor of the casks or add botanicals like gin for flavor. There are variations in flavor of the neutral spirit depending on the sugar source (cane, corn, beets, etc.) and the yeast used to make the wash. But the real flavor comes after distillation.
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These cats on TV seem to use heavily fruited/flavored mash and seem to get a lot of flavor in the finished product, or at least they say so. I've tasted shine with lots of flavor but have no idea if much of that is added post-distillation or not. 

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
Mead is easy to make, I've done it. You need so much to make truly rich mead (I like the thick honey flavored meads more than the honey wine versions) that it's damn near cost prohibitive unless, like your friend, you have access to large quantities of inexpensive honey. 
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Livonia, Meechigan farm.

 
I've brewed beer, and enjoyed it, but I really wouldn't see the point in distilling. Sure, for the fun of the process, but I can't imagine anyway that the effort is actually worth the reward.

The big distillers have been doing this for a long time. They do it well, and it's cheap. You can drop $15 on a bottle of very good bourbon that's been sitting in an oak barrel for 4-6 years and is delicious to drink neat.

So, I'm not sure what the point of taking the time and risk of distiling some rotgut straight from a still into a mason jar that's likely going to need some fruit and sugar added so that it doesn't taste like ####. I just don't get the love of apple pie or fruited shine. It's drinkable, but not great. And not generally even cheap. Just give me a bottle of Evan Williams White Label.

 
pollardsvision said:
I've brewed beer, and enjoyed it, but I really wouldn't see the point in distilling. Sure, for the fun of the process, but I can't imagine anyway that the effort is actually worth the reward.

The big distillers have been doing this for a long time. They do it well, and it's cheap. You can drop $15 on a bottle of very good bourbon that's been sitting in an oak barrel for 4-6 years and is delicious to drink neat.

So, I'm not sure what the point of taking the time and risk of distiling some rotgut straight from a still into a mason jar that's likely going to need some fruit and sugar added so that it doesn't taste like ####. I just don't get the love of apple pie or fruited shine. It's drinkable, but not great. And not generally even cheap. Just give me a bottle of Evan Williams White Label.
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You're not going to brew beer at home that's as good as what Ballast Point puts out, so why do that? It's about trying something different. What if I want to know what fig brandy tastes like? Can I go out and buy a bottle? No. That's the point. I've had moonshine that, while young/raw, has very interesting flavor. Maybe I can make something good, maybe not, but I won't know until I try. It's just a potential hobby like anything else, only with this one, you can get plastered on the end result. Win/win

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
You're not going to brew beer at home that's as good as what Ballast Point puts out, so why do that? It's about trying something different. What if I want to know what fig brandy tastes like? Can I go out and buy a bottle? No. That's the point. I've had moonshine that, while young/raw, has very interesting flavor. Maybe I can make something good, maybe not, but I won't know until I try. It's just a potential hobby like anything else, only with this one, you can get plastered on the end result. Win/win
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There is also the possibility you go blind or poison yourself.

 
So, doing some really quick reading, you can do multiple distillations to get successively higher alcohol content, but at the cost of flavor. i.e., the more times you distill to boost the alcohol, the less flavor carries over to the final product.

The other point I'd make is that if you're doing this from scratch (starting with fruit juice rather than wine, for example), then you need to be really good at the fermentation side to make the initial beer/wine to be distilled.  Any off-flavors you start with are going to be concentrated and magnified in the distilled product, unless you double- or triple-distill in which case you get a very neutral alcohol as noted above. (I've seen this noted in regards to freeze-distilling beer to make eisbock.)

 
heckmanm said:
So, doing some really quick reading, you can do multiple distillations to get successively higher alcohol content, but at the cost of flavor. i.e., the more times you distill to boost the alcohol, the less flavor carries over to the final product.

The other point I'd make is that if you're doing this from scratch (starting with fruit juice rather than wine, for example), then you need to be really good at the fermentation side to make the initial beer/wine to be distilled.  Any off-flavors you start with are going to be concentrated and magnified in the distilled product, unless you double- or triple-distill in which case you get a very neutral alcohol as noted above. (I've seen this noted in regards to freeze-distilling beer to make eisbock.)
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Totally.  Unlike the poor sods on Moonshiners, I won't have to worry about my mash getting infested with insects or knocked over by a bear.  Plus, I'll be making roughly 3-5 gallons (max) of mash, rather than multiple 55-gallon drums, so if the mash turns out ####ty, I'll just dump it and try something else.

 
rockaction said:
As a matter of fact, the only reason home brewing and microbrews are legal is because of Jimmy Carter and his administration (and probably executive order), believe it or not.  
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Best thing he ever did.

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
You're not going to brew beer at home that's as good as what Ballast Point puts out, so why do that? It's about trying something different. What if I want to know what fig brandy tastes like? Can I go out and buy a bottle? No. That's the point. I've had moonshine that, while young/raw, has very interesting flavor. Maybe I can make something good, maybe not, but I won't know until I try. It's just a potential hobby like anything else, only with this one, you can get plastered on the end result. Win/win
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I fully support the endeavor. No personal interest in fig brandy, but whatever warms your cockles. I'm not very experimental in my booze and beer, so just not my cup of tea.

Now, with beer though, sure I'm not going to equal a Ballast Point brew, but with homebrewing it's fairly simple to produce a reasonable and delicious APA (for example, though that's the style I mostly brewed). It's pretty simple and even a malt extract kit makes a good brew, and it usually comes out to the cost of Busch.

I've yet to taste a moonshine that's worth a damn though. I probably haven't tried the right stuff, but I have a hard time believing any of the stuff is nearly as good as even the cheapest bourbon (and I've yet find a bourbon that doesn't make for a good sipper). 

You are looking to experiment and GB you for it. Obviously, I'm not an experimenter with my booze.

 
pollardsvision said:
I fully support the endeavor. No personal interest in fig brandy, but whatever warms your cockles. I'm not very experimental in my booze and beer, so just not my cup of tea.

Now, with beer though, sure I'm not going to equal a Ballast Point brew, but with homebrewing it's fairly simple to produce a reasonable and delicious APA (for example, though that's the style I mostly brewed). It's pretty simple and even a malt extract kit makes a good brew, and it usually comes out to the cost of Busch.

I've yet to taste a moonshine that's worth a damn though. I probably haven't tried the right stuff, but I have a hard time believing any of the stuff is nearly as good as even the cheapest bourbon (and I've yet find a bourbon that doesn't make for a good sipper). 

You are looking to experiment and GB you for it. Obviously, I'm not an experimenter with my booze.
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Gotcha. I could definitely change your mind on moonshine, though. :banned:

 
I've had moonshine.  It was clear as water, went down hot, made me hallucinate, and then fight with my then white-trash girlfriend that was 11 years older.  

 
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There is a thread for every topic under the sun here. Was looking into trying this.

I wonder if EG ever did this.
 
This thread reminds me of my decade employment with the Bureau of Prisons. The hardest thing for the inmates to get to make booze was the bag. We gave them everything else. Also reminds me of Hank in Breaking Bad making his own beer. Just can't imagine making my own alcohol.
 
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