Questions You Need To Ask If You’re New To Alcohol Distilling

If you’ve just purchased raw materials, equipments or any stills for sale, try not to be too excited that you make yourself forget the basics in distilling alcohol. If you’re a novice, the following are common questions you need to ask before embarking on the craft of distilling.

What does distillation mean?

Ethanol distillation involves the boiling as well as re-condensing of ethanol, water and trace liquids such as congeners, higher alcohols, fusel oils. The objective of distillation is to decrease the amount of water while increasing ethanol and removing most, if not all, of the trace liquids. This process is made possible due to ethanol and water’s contrasting boiling points. 

Take note that ethanol’s boiling point is lower than that of water. Therefore, the vapor that boils off from a mixture of ethanol and water will carry more concentration of ethanol compared to the liquid where the vapor originated from. Essentially, the distillation process is the science of perfecting and controlling these effects.

Stills for sale – Is It Legal?

Have you ever wondered if advertisements for home distilling equipment are legal? Is offering stills for sale legal? Are using stills and/or purchasing stills against the law?

What does the law say?

According to the United States Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, offering stills for sale depends on how the still is to be utilized.

Alcohol may not be produced from these stills unless one qualifies as a distilled spirits plant. A distilled spirits plant is an establishment authorized to distill  warehouse or process spirits or any of its combination. Regulations do not classify distilled spirits plant due to size. Mostly, a distilled spirits plant proprietor could produce specially denatured alcohol, beverage distilled spirits, tax-free alcohol or completely denatured alcohol.

whiskey still?

What is a whiskey still and how does it work?

A whiskey still, also known as a moonshine still, is an equipment designed to produce a homemade mash usually referred to as moonshine or whiskey. 

The term moonshine was derived from the need to operate a distilling system in the dark usually under the light of the full moon. It has been said that the cold night air assists in the process of distillation since vapor is easily turned back into liquid. 

What is a whiskey still?

There are numerous kinds of whiskey still but most possess a large copper pot that has a narrow cone-like vent top and a tight lid. The vent allows the vapors to travel through a copper coiled length tubing and delivered straight into a storage container.

A whiskey still or moonshine still as well as any kind of alcohol distillation is deemed illegal thus its production is usually found hidden in mountainous regions and done under the cloak of darkness. Also, the fermentation process usually produces a distinctive odor thus the need for whiskey stills to be situated in isolated locations.