well

[Uncle Jesse]

as long as you arent going to be drinking _any_ of your product, i don't see a problem using steel drums for boiling. aluminum should work for the column, though i'm not as familiar. at any rate, since you are only trying to make fuel alcohol, the real trick is to make a good stripping column. you're going to want high proof alcohol in a single run. i'd say this means putting some thought into your column efficiency.