Out of my element

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BMH
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Out of my element

Post by BMH »

Hi All,

I am an herbalist, so I’m not looking to make alcohol to drink as much as I am making it to make herbal medicine. This means I need to learn to make the purest, highest proof alcohol possible. (I do not sell my herbal medicine. I only make it for home use.)

In herbalism we use pure grain alcohol and water it down to whatever percentage is best to extract the medicine from a particular herb. Everclear is what I buy and use now but it is very expensive and there’s always the concern that in the future if we ever have a collapse that I won’t be able to access pure grain alcohol. Hence, my interest in learning to make my own from materials I can grow or forage.

I am just beginning the process of learning to make pure grain alcohol from corn without added yeast or sugar. I appreciate you all letting me join and hang out and I promise not to be too big of a nuisance.
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subbrew
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Re: Out of my element

Post by subbrew »

Welcome. I am sure you can find most of your answers here.

Specifically to your desire to make alcohol from corn using wild yeast. Unless you find malted corn which is a bit hard to come by, you will need to either use natural enzymes, usually from the addition of malted barley or commercial enzymes. And even then the corn starch needs to be gelatinized which involves boiling or steeping for a couple of hours at high temp, temps that kill any wild yeast on the grain. This process exposes the starches to be turned to sugars. Then you add commercial enzymes or malted barley which contains natural enzymes to introduce enzymes to convert the starch to sugar. Only at that point can yeast take hold and start converting sugar to alcohol. Do what you want but my recommendation is to start out adding a commercial yeast for consistency and control. Then once you have the process dialed in you move to using wild yeast.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Out of my element

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Welcome BMH.
BMH wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:44 am This means I need to learn to make the purest, highest proof alcohol possible.
From what Ive read its not to hard to make a better product than Everclear, Ive never smelled or drunk the stuff , but hear that its pretty mediocre stuff.
Before Jumping in to deep be very sure what still type you need for the job at hand. Many start out buying the wrong tool for the job which in turn costs time frustration and money in times to come.
There are plenty of plans, diagrams and photos of suitable still builds on these pages that will pump out azeotropic ethanol all day long....you just need to learn to solder.
BMH wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:44 am if we ever have a collapse
If that ever happened you wont be going to the shop to buy a still, time to get soldering n cutting pipe.
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Deplorable
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Re: Out of my element

Post by Deplorable »

Like Subbrew said, do what you want, but it seems the easiest, fastest route to clean neutral is sugar wash and a proper CCVM still column.
A lot of work in making 95% from corn and maximizing yeild.
Welcome to the forums. Plenty of reading here to help you find your way.
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contrahead
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Re: Out of my element

Post by contrahead »

If you wanted to make the purest ethanol, it would be easiest to stay away from corn. Sugar washes are less work and produce more (but not better tasting) alcohol. Like those before me just said.

If you really want to use just corn without added sugar or domestic yeast in the process, then use the “google search” button (at the top right hand corner of every HD page) and enter: “malted corn”. The first several returns to your query should give you advice on how to sprout your own corn. If your only components in a mash are corn and water, then roughly 20% of the corn should be sprouted first. The other portion of the mash that is not malted this way, should be cooked long and hard and then cooled down.

If you wish to preserve sprouted grain for future use, then it needs to be carefully and completely dried, to prevent mold or rot. Heat above 100 F might kill its intrinsic yeast; heat above 150 F will kill its enzymes.
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The Baker
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Re: Out of my element

Post by The Baker »

BMH said, 'I am just beginning the process of learning to make pure grain alcohol from corn without added yeast or sugar.'

Not going to happen. (Though you did say "added"...)

Alcohol comes from sugars fermented by yeast. Commercial or wild yeast.
Cane sugar (say), or the starches in grain (say) converted to sugars by natural or other enzymes.

Geoff
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acfixer69
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Re: Out of my element

Post by acfixer69 »

This is a Welcome thread for introduction of yourself. When I approved this I was afraid it would got off on a different angle. Glad it didn't but it has rolled to methods more appropriate for a different topic.
Welcome to HD.
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