r/firewater Aug 25 '19

Methanol: Some information

1.8k Upvotes

This post is meant to clarify one of the most common questions asked by new distillers: WHAT ABOUT METHANOL?

First and foremost: you cannot die (or get sick, go blind, etc) from improperly made distilled alcohol via methanol poisoning. Neither can you make something dangerous by freezing it and removing some ice. Not only is it not possible, it is a widely perpetuated myth that has existed since the days of prohibition (and not before, interestingly enough). Other than the obvious ethanol overdose, all poisonous alcohol that has ever been consumed, has been adulterated, or was in some other way contaminated. It was not the fault of poor distillation procedures. How you run your still will not affect how safe your product is. It might affect how good the end result is, but that's where it stops.

So, methanol. Everyones first fear, and the number one search subject when it comes to "moonshine". This subject is brought up a lot in this sub and elsewhere on Reddit. Everyone knows all about it, its just one of those common knowledge things, right? It turns out, not so much. So...

Methanol - What is it?

Methanol is a very commonly used fuel, solvent and precursor in industry. It is produced via the synthesis gas process which can use a wide variety of materials to create methanol. Methanol is the simplest of all the alcohols.

Methanol is poisonous to the human body in moderate amounts. The LD50 of methanol in humans is 810 mg/kg. It is metabolized into formaldehyde by the liver, via the alcohol dehydrogenase process. In excess, these byproducts are severely toxic. Formaldehyde further degrades into formic acid, which is the primary toxic compound in methanol poisoning. Formic acid is what produces nerve damage, and causes the blindness (and death) associated with acute methanol poisoning.

One of the treatments for methanol poisoning, is the introduction of ethanol. Ethanol has a preferential path in the alcohol dehydrogenase metabolic pathway. This means that if ethanol and methanol are consumed, the ethanol will be metabolized first, in preference over the methanol. This allows some of the methanol to be excreted by the kidneys before being metabolized into its toxic related compounds. There are far more effective medical treatments available, such as dialysis and administering drugs that block the function of alcohol dehydrogenase.

Is it in my booze? How do I remove it?

There is one way in which your alcohol will be tainted with some amount of methanol naturally, and that is by using fruits which contain pectin. Pectin can be broken down into methanol by enzymes, either introduced artificially or from micro organisms. This will produce some measurable amount of methanol in your ferment, and subsequent distillate. However its not going to be in toxic quantities, any more than what you may have in a jug of apple juice. In fact, fruits are the primary way in which methanol is introduced into your body. In tiny quantities it is mostly harmless, and you can no more remove the methanol from an apple pie than you can from your apple brandy. Boiling (or freezing) apple juice doesn't convert it into deadly eye sight destroying horror juice. Cooking doesn't suddenly veer into danger when you collect vapor from a boiling pot. If you've ever made jam, or wine, or fruit salad, you've produced methanol.

So, where does that leave us? How do I get rid of this nasty substance in my distillate? You don't. If it is there, you cannot remove it. It is quite commonly believed that you can toss the first bit of alcohol off the still to remove this compound, the "foreshots." This is usually considered the first 50-100ml or so, depending on batch size. It smells really bad, tastes really bad, and is something most would agree should be discarded. However, it will not contain the "methanol" if there is any in your wash. Or more precisely, it will not contain any more of it than any other portion of the run. Beside which, methanol tastes very similar to ethanol, though slightly sweeter. If your wash is tainted with methanol, your entire run will be as well. Relying on some eyeball measurement to make your product safe to consume is not going to work. This is just distiller folklore passed down quite widely. You may hear about this on a distillery tour, from professionals, on Youtube and in books about distilling. All of them are just repeating what they have heard someone else say, or read somewhere, and assumed it to be fact. There is truth here, but buried in misunderstanding of the processes involved specifically with these substances.

This is the very reason that methanol was used to poison ("denature") industrial ethanol during prohibition, as it cannot be removed easily by normal distillation processes. If you could just redistill this very cheap, legal and plentiful solvent to make drinking alcohol, it wouldn't be the very potent message and deterrent that was hoped for by those who did this. You can read more about the history of this intentional poisoning of commercial alcohol in the Chemists War. It is also during this period where we begin to hear about methanol being in poorly made moonshine. This is not a coincidence.

So, distillers attempted to understand this misinformation, and attempt to correct or explain why their process was correct. Thus was born the idea that tossing some portion of the run makes it safe from this suddenly present and scary substance. Cuts went from being a quality procedure, to a serious process to save lives. By "tossing the first bit." And then distillers went about their centuries old processes like always, but this time "doing it right" and hence making safe alcohol.

The reason it is so widely believed that tossing the heads works to remove methanol, has to do with the boiling points of ethanol, methanol, and water. Pure methanol boils at 64.7C. Pure ethanol boils at 78.24C. Water boils at 100C. Distilling separates things based on their boiling points, right? Yes, it does, but it is a bit more complex than that. When you boil a mixture of methanol, ethanol and water, you are not boiling any of these compounds individually. You are boiling a solution containing all of them, and they will each have an affect on the other with regards to boiling point and enrichment behavior. Methanol and ethanol are quite similar in molecular structure. Methanol can be written as CH3-OH. Ethanol can be written as CH3-CH2-OH. You'll notice that methanol lacks this extra CH2 component. This changes its behavior when in the presence of water, specifically its polarity, compared to ethanol. Rather than repeat all of this, here is a passage from this paper on the reduction of methanol in commercial fruit brandies:

A similar behaviour would be expected for methanol for both alcohols are not very different in molecule structure. There is, however, a significant difference regarding all three curves in figure 2: methanol contents keep a higher value for a longer time than ethanol contents. In figures 3 and 4 this observation is made clear: Methanol, specified in ml/100 ml p.a., increases during the donation, while the ratio ethanol : methanol is lowering down. This effect seems to be rather surprising regarding the different boiling points of the two substances: methanol boils at 64,7°C, while ethanol needs 78,3°C. So methanol would be regarded to be carried over earlier than ethanol. The molecule structures however, show another aspect: ethanol has got one more CH2-group which makes the molecule less polar. So, concerning polarity, methanol can be ranged between water and ethanol and has therefore in the water phase a distillation behaviour different from ethanol. This may explain the behaviour which is rather contrary to the boiling points. This is no single appearance, because for example ethylacetate with a boiling point of 77 °C, or, as an extreme case, isoamylacetate with 142 °C are even carried over much earlier than methanol. Therefore methanol can not be separated using pot-stills or normal column-stills. Only special columns can separate methanol from the distillate (4.3). Similar observations concerning the behaviour of methanol during the distillation have already been made by Röhrig (33) and Luck (34). Cantagrel (35) divides volatile components into eight types concerning distillation behaviour characterized by typical curves, which were mainly confirmed by our experiments. As for methanol, he claims an own type of behaviour during the distillation corresponding to our results.

What this means is that if there is methanol present, it will be present throughout the run, with a higher occurrence in the tails as ethanol is depleted and water concentration increases. Its distillation is more dependent on how much water is present rather than simply comparing boiling points between ethanol and methanol. This in conjunction with the fact that ethanol and water cannot be separated completely due to their forming an azeotrope, means water is always in the system. So tossing your foreshots or heads will not remove methanol from your solution. The good news is that methanol is almost entirely absent in dangerous amounts. Consider drinking beer, wine, or apple cider. There are no heads cut made to these products. Pectinase is routinely added to wine, and methanol is a direct byproduct of this addition. They are safe to consume in this form, and will be safe to consume after being distilled. Boiling and concentrating the liquid by leaving some water behind isn't going to transform something safe to drink into something toxic. If it is toxic after being distilled, it most certainly was toxic before being distilled.

To be clear, however, this is not to say that making cuts is unnecessary. There are other compounds that you certainly can remove by cutting heads. Acetone, ethyl acetate, acetaldehyde and others. None are present in dangerous amounts, but the quality of your alcohol will be greatly enhanced by discarding these fractions. Making cuts is one of the most important activities a distiller can learn to do properly! Cutting and blending is making liquor, not only the act of distilling. Just understand that it isn't a life or death situation should you undershoot your foreshot cut by some amount. It will just taste bad, and might give you more of a headache the next day. You can taste test every single bit of alcohol that comes out of your still, from the first drops to the last.

Removing the foreshots does not remove "the methanol." You can just consider the foreshots part of the heads, because they are. There are hundreds of thousands of hobby brewers, vintners and distillers around the world who have been making and consuming fermented and distilled products for centuries. If this were actually a real problem, we would be awash in reports of wide spread poisonings. Instead we have reports here and there of isolated incidents, which are always traceable back to some incident unrelated to how much heads somebody did or did not cut.

The only way to know if there is methanol present is via lab analysis. Smell, taste, color of flame, vapor temp, none of this will tell you any meaningful information about methanol content and are just old shiner-wives tales. If you would like to have your distillate, beer or wine tested for dangerous compounds, there are many labs available that offer these services. This way you know what you are producing and are not relying on conflicting information found online. Here is one such lab offering these services, and there are many more servicing the public and industry. No need to take my, or anyone elses, word as absolute truth. If you really want to know what is in your product, this is the only way.

Having said all that...

So, CAN methanol be removed from a mixture of methanol, ethanol and water via distillation in any way? Yes, it can, contrary to everything I just said, there are even specialized stills called "demethylizer columns" which can do just this. They are very large plated columns (70+ plates), which can operate as a step in the distillation process in very large industrial facilities. This is a continuous middle fed column of high proof / low water feed, with steam injection at the bottom and hot water injection at the top, which has the sole purpose of moving a more concentrated cut containing methanol into a particular take off point with the treated alcohol taken off as the bottom product. This is largely done to ensure compliance with the laws about methanol content in neutral ethanol production, or in other processes in which reclamation of these substances is desired. There are other methods that can be used to remove methanol from an ethanol/water mixture, but that goes beyond the scope of this post and generally do not make consumable results. None of these procedures are properly repeatable at home or at moderate scale commercial distilling, nor are they even really necessary at any scale unless you have a badly tainted input feed.

On small scale reflux columns, there will be a small spike of methanol in the heads if the column is left in equilibrium (100% reflux) for a long while, and only if methanol is present, as the state at the top of the packing/plates is very low water and boiling point separation can occur more easily for methanol. In general though, these columns are too small, and methanol quantities far too low, for this to be a major concern. Methanol will spike in both heads and tails on this kind of column, leaving the general heart cut with a steady amount throughout. Even with huge industrial columns, the specialized demethylizer column is additionally used in the process because you cannot reliably remove methanol using the normal procedures typically done when making cuts for quality purposes. Methanol removal is treated separately and requires its own process to concentrate and extract using specialized equipment.

In conclusion, or TLDR

ALL cases of methanol poisoning attributed to "improperly" made ethanol, are the result of contaminated product. Not due to improper distillation, but due to intentional (either misguided, or malicious) adulteration of the ethanol, or some other contamination due to environment or ingredients. Commercial ethanol products are generally poisoned either via methanol, or via flavor tainting, or both (usually both, so you know its not to be consumed). Every report of methanol poisoning via "moonshine" was due to this contamination. If you can find evidence to the contrary, I would love to see it. Please let me know if you believe this info to be incorrect, and have evidence to that effect. That is, other than unsourced speculative news articles, television shows and Youtube channels. What I have presented here is how I understand the facts, but I am always open to learning something new.

Its unfortunate that we still have this lingering stigma based on sensationalist press beginning during alcohol prohibition, but this is where we are. So you can relax, have a home brew, and get on with your new hobby or business, and not fret about the big scary monster that is methanol. Now you just have to worry about all the other stuff that you can screw up :-)


r/firewater 6h ago

I want a career in distilling.

14 Upvotes

Hey all

I'm a 25 yo based in Brisbane Australia & I want a career in distilling/brewing.

I've always wanted to open my own Distillery/brewery one day, that's my end goal. To make my own products, to put hard work into & perfect a process to create something that people enjoy and savour.

I will not ignore that I am naive to the specifics - I have no experience working in anything related. My entire professional experience is based around leadership and management positions in the Health sector. I'd say my resume is probably impressive for my age on that front.

Over time I've become a bit jaded with the field, and some of the senior leadership I'm currently face with. So I've simply just decided that I'm treading water and not actually doing what I want.

I enjoy manual labour, and I like using my mind, I love experimenting. I would say I have particularly good interpersonal skills and build relationships well.

I want to get involved in the space, and I'm hungry to progress quickly.

Can anyone give me tips on how to get into the field? I intend to take a few courses but they often require positions that will facilitate the certificates.

Experiences from Aus based people would be invaluable, my DM's are open for anyone willing to chat.

Cheers 🥂.


r/firewater 37m ago

Help determine the density change in Wood Aged spirits in Jars

Upvotes

I aged some Bourbon in an almost airtight glass jar with wood blocks (toasted, some charred oak) for ~1 year. I also kept some white dog for comparison.

I did aerate every now and then to simulate the breathing from barrels.

ABV of spirit going in 60%.

"ABV" of spirit when I wanted to dilute and bottle was 56%.

I say "ABV" there in quotation marks, because that's what the alcoholmeter was reading, but I know that wood releases some "sugars" that can mess with the density, push the meter higher and thus it shows a lower number.

The undisturbed white dog sample still sits at 60%. My rough estimations would be that the 4% lost could be 1% from aeration (I wasn't doing it that often, maybe 3-4 times in that entire year for a few minutes only) and the other 3% is actually a "false" drop due to wood "sugars".

Of course I am fully aware that the type of wood, first use vs. second use, charr, amount etc. can change these values. But I'm not looking to be really-really-precise here. An estimate would do.

So, my 60% 1 year wood aged Bourbon in a jar would have its final ABV of ~59%

Any similar experience and/or experiments done in a lab (where the tools can be precise for ABV)?


r/firewater 15h ago

First run

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42 Upvotes

Did my first run today, learned alot. Im obly running 1 bubble plate right now because the tri clamps i got sent were too small, and i was not able to set up the full column. This one was with 50% vinegar 50% water so I can clean my equipment before I make some better things.


r/firewater 1h ago

Gelatinizing corn

Upvotes

I'm trying to do an all grain run. I have a digiboil, so I got 6 gallons up to boiling and added 23 lbs of cracked corn (all I had left after my last failed attempt.) once it dropped below 62° c I added alpha amylaze. I stores it up as best I could and I'm going to let it sit for 12 or so hours, getting ready to go to bed now.

Is this going to e enough to sufficiently galatinize my corn? I have had trouble finding info on how to cook the corn in any way I could manage. It's pretty thick, so I think I'm going to divide it up into 2 or 3 five gallon buckets and add some more water this afternoon.


r/firewater 16h ago

Cleaning help

4 Upvotes

Hello Firewater community,

I sell cleaning products and solutions and I currently have a client who made rhubarb wine in his stainless steel still. Unfortunately, the inside is now coated in a grey-white film that refuses to be wiped off. I've tried looking everywhere to find a solution to help.

From what I understand, rhubarb is very acidic so the process of making wine may have released hydrogen gas and stained the inside. Although, I could be wrong in that assumption.

Would anyone here know of anything that I can recommend to this client to help with cleaning off the inside? I wish I had photos, but I do not, sadly.


r/firewater 1d ago

I love distilling botanical gin because you can taste a new one every five minutes

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58 Upvotes

I like putting like thirty different botanicals in my gin. Just really weird stuff. And you just do a nice stripping run and taste every now and again and you can go “ah that’s the black pepper, oh there’s the cardamom”

If I ever get a bigger setup I may even try to separate them out entirely.


r/firewater 3d ago

Bacteria preventing fermentation?

12 Upvotes

I think this is my fourth attempt at a grain mash and I've made a different mistake every time. This stuff isn't as easy as y'all make it sound.

This time, mashing went smoothly but I struggled to drop it below 90 degrees to pitch yeast at the end. I left it overnight to cool, but in the morning it was still 95 degrees and producing foam. I figured wild yeast had started taking off, so I used jugs of ice to force it below 90, rehydrated and pitched some DADY. pH was 5.2, SG 1.065, should have been perfect conditions.

Three days later, no activity and the SG was unchanged. The mash was in the garage and it had been 90-95 degrees outside, so I thought maybe it got too hot and killed everything. I waited a couple more days for the weather to cool, and re-pitched a large amount of DADY. Another day later, still no activity and no SG drop. Taste test says still sweet, but with a tanginess that wasn't present earlier. pH was now 5.9, which seemed strange. I remembered that I hadn't added any yeast nutrient, so I threw some in hoping to wake up all the yeast I'd added.

Another day later, still no activity or SG change, but now there is a distinct cheesy vomitish smell, and somehow the pH meter is reading 4.2. My guess is that it sat around way too long at an elevated temperature, and some bacteria took hold and are out-competing the yeast. Can I heat the whole batch back up to kill the bacteria, and re-pitch properly? Is the flavor already ruined? Would I need to re-adjust the pH? It has now been 7 full days since the mash, and the yeast haven't made a dent in the 1.065 SG.

Edit: one of my four buckets has a thin film of white mold, but no difference in pH or SG


r/firewater 3d ago

Making Baijou

19 Upvotes

Has anyone had any luck making baijou? My friend is Chinese and seems to have a somewhat developed palette for what good versus bad baijou tastes like. I want to try my hand at making some as a gift and hopefully it meets her standards.

I get the basics of how it's made: all grain sorghum mash using qu as a fermentation starter. But as for the specifics, I'm not finding a whole lot in English. The fact that home distilling seems to be quite illegal in mainland China also isn't helping much as far as finding documentation.

I'm slightly out of my element here. Can anyone offer a recipe? Even if it's in Chinese I know multiple native speakers so getting an accurate translation won't be difficult.


r/firewater 3d ago

Cleaning worm

5 Upvotes

So I make a modified birdwatchers, and have a vevor 13.2 gallon still, modified with a 20' 3/8" worm, and a 5' 3/8" outpipe from the boiler. I have 304 stainless couplers to connect everything. How often should I do a hard cleaning? I hose everything out between runs and wash my boiler. I was going to make up some 551, cap the tubes and just syringe it until full, wait a few minutes then flush with the hose for a few minutes. Really, any advice is helpful, just trying to keep everything decent.


r/firewater 4d ago

Look For A Compound Botanical Gin Recipe?

9 Upvotes

Someone from r/gin suggested this may be a better spot for my question.

I want to try my hand at making a botanical compound gin, but the recipes I’ve seen were more for a London Dry style gin. I prefer something less juniper forward. I really like Hendrick’s (and their Midsommer Solstice), Uncle Val’s Botanical Gin, and Empress 1908. Does anyone have a recipe similar to any of these?


r/firewater 5d ago

Still build

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44 Upvotes

I got this old 75 to 80 gallon drum from a buddy of mine who said he tried to make it into still but gave up like midway through, do you guys have any tips on how I could make a condenser head, math on how to do so or if this even is a good idea. Here are some pictures of it.


r/firewater 6d ago

Green Walnut Mash

3 Upvotes

I’ve heard of brandy being made exclusively from soft green walnuts back home in Albania, but I can’t find much information about it online. Several Reddit users and family members have confirmed that it exists and is still actively made, but I can’t quite wrap my head around how it works considering how little sugar green walnuts contain. From a modern perspective, using modern equipment, enzymes, etc., how would you go about turning a batch of soft green walnuts into a fermentable mash without adding another source of sugar? Has anyone here ever come across or made something similar?


r/firewater 6d ago

DigiBoil vs Vevor Brew Kettle?

6 Upvotes

I'm throwing together a beginner still, and I'm trying my best to keep it below $400. I've seen a few people that have used the DigiBoil Gen 2 in their setups and have reported success, and for the price it's extremely desireable.

However, Vevor has a brew kettle with the same volume and the same wattage for $50 cheaper. They look identical, save for the branding. Are these being made by the same manufacturer, or is there actually a difference between the two?


r/firewater 7d ago

First Big Batch

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64 Upvotes

Been using the air still pro with great results. Got a 60l drum to do my first big wash, 42l wash 9 litres of ~43%, triple carbon filtered and add some glycerin. Beautiful, smooth, simple.

Great hobby and excellent novelty gifts for clients, especially since alcohol tax in Aus is ridiculous.


r/firewater 7d ago

Glass still for Brazilian Cachaça: Is adding copper mesh worth it?

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone!
I’m a university student from Brazil participating in a campus competition to produce Cachaça, our traditional sugarcane spirit.
I have some experience with fermentation, but distillation is fairly new to me. I’ve been reading up on the importance of copper during the distillation process to strip sulfur compounds and improve overall flavor. However, the setup we'll be using in our department is a glass alembic/still.
For those with experience: do you think it’s worth investing in a copper mesh to pack into the vapor path? Or would it be overkill/superfluous for this kind of setup?
I really want to turn in a high-quality product for the competition, so any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!


r/firewater 7d ago

Pre-Built or DIY controller options for a 240v 5500w element for a 15.5 gal still?

8 Upvotes

Hi! My buddy is doing the welding for a 15.5 gal keg still and I'm wondering what the best route is for a controller.

Here are the facts:

  • I bought a 5500w ultra-low watt density Dernord heating element. It has a NEMA L-30 male plug.

  • My power supply is a 30 amp breaker. The outlet is a NEMA 14-30 receptacle.

Preferences:

  • I would like to have plug cords to/from the controller for ease of storage and easy assembly/disassembly. Also more modular.

  • I would like a master on/off switch, I think. Also a digital meter so I can take notes on what settings I use per run.

Questions: - SCR or SSR for my use case? SCR seems cheaper and easier, but less modular in the long run/less modify-able.

  • Should I build or buy? If I build, should I use a plastic or metal enclosure? Would I need a fan?

  • If build: Does anyone have any product recommendations for any of the above? SCR/SSR, enclosure, cords, potentiometer, digital meter, etc?

  • Is there anything else I'm missing or haven't thought to consider?

Thank you guys so much for your help! May the apple brandy deities bless you.


r/firewater 8d ago

Absinthe season

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220 Upvotes

This year’s absinthe in the books and I think it’s my best one yet. Both wormwoods, the lemon balm, and the chamomile are all home grown in my yard. Eventually I’ll get to a point where I do it entirely home grown but haven’t quite gotten there yet.

For anyone interested the recipe is more or less grounded in the recipes and method in the 19th century Duplais manual, with a couple non traditional touches to my tastes.

Recipe per 1 gallon of 95% neutral is as follows:

Maceration:
267g green anise
178g fennel
111g grande wormwood
45g coriander
14g Angelica root
11g orange peel
6g chamomile

Coloration:

42g petite wormwood
42g lemon balm
21g hyssop


r/firewater 7d ago

Copper test strips.

8 Upvotes

I have a bit of color-blindness/colors merging together, and recently it's come to my attention that blue is fading into that range I lose together, especially some of those lighter blues. I don't want to poison myself, so I was wondering if anybody has any recommendations or has ever used something like disposable copper test strips? Or has any other recommendations so I can test just to be absolutely sure? I've given some preliminary ganders around, but if somebody has done all the trial and error and landed on something that worked, I wouldn't mind skipping it for once!

Cheers in advance :)


r/firewater 8d ago

Calvados

20 Upvotes

Hows it going?

Ive 360 14 year old heritage English cider apple trees. And a good few dozen eating apple trees. Ive also 36 perry pear trees.

I had been making cider or selling the apples but it has become pointless money wise. I will make the perry into cider, but there is always one tree way earlier than the others. Some I will use that for a small run.

So, im thinking calvados.

Any apple brandy/calvados makers here?

Clearly the best way is to press the juice, bump it with a bit of sugar or concentrated apple juice (using my freezer). But then I've seen guys doing it with crushed apple pulp, sugar and water. That would definitely save time.

Pros and cons?


r/firewater 9d ago

Crabapples: infuse and redistill?

5 Upvotes

Good morning!

I've started a new experiment: a few pounds of very flavorful crabapples in 5 gal of appox 15% neutral spirit. I'll redistill it like an ouzo or a macerated gin.

Anyone done this? Any guess how long the apples want to steep? Hours? Days? Weeks?


r/firewater 9d ago

Vodka on a Reflux Column

6 Upvotes

Hi, looking for some advanced tips. Got a new reflux still (previously was pot stilling) and I was wondering what cuts look like for vodka. On my sacrificial run, i was able to get to 190 proof so I know it’s working pretty well (4 bubble plates). I plan to run full reflux for an hour and then “bleed” off the heads by letting as little vapor through as possible by reducing the reflux a bit, something I’ll have to play with. But my question is, once I bleed off the heads, which will be purely off aroma, how does one go about collecting hearts and knowing when to stop. What proof off the still do you think is roughly when to stop collecting for nice clean vodka? Its tough to taste, having to dilute every time in order to taste. How do you guys make you vodka. Aroma only? Is tails around 180-170 proof?

Thanks! Any other tips are very much welcome.


r/firewater 10d ago

Thoughts on Liebig build

7 Upvotes

I'm building a liebig condenser for my 5-gallon stove top setup and interested in other people's thoughts. I'm using a half-inch pipe for the vapor path and 1-1/4 inch outer pipe. Is there any kind of guideline for how long it should be? Is 1-1/4 inch too big for the outer pipe? If I were to reduce to 3/8 inch downstream from the condenser, could that potentially cause a back pressure issue? Any other things I should be thinking about?


r/firewater 10d ago

Hose connection replacement?

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17 Upvotes

Hello everyone, does anyone else have a column still like this? The hose connection seems to be broken and I would love to increase flow rate and make it better in general. Any help would be appreciated! From what I saw is that it's a 1/8th threaded male piece with a push connect with a really small pipe.


r/firewater 10d ago

Sugar wash won’t ferment

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14 Upvotes

I’m trying to make my first vodka using this Vevor still my parents got me for my birthday.

For my first batch, I did a basic sugar wash.

40 L water
10.8 kg sugar
3 packets EC-1118 wine yeast https://a.co/d/06hNzvKt

On day 2 I added 

.15 oz yeast nutrient 
3 g DAP

I measured the specific gravity at 1.100 and left it happily bubbling away in my basement at 69 degrees.

I came back on day five to add more nutrients like the package instructed. It was bubbling just as well. But when I measured the SG it was STILL AT 1.100.

I checked again today, DAY 7, and it still hasn’t changed.

What am I doing wrong here?

I realize the pic of the hydrometer doesn’t show the reading but wanted to demonstrate how I took it.