Hello from Oregon!, and a few safety questions

[Pastis]

Good evening everyone. I am new to distilling. I just got a pot still yesterday in fact. I am sort of a cheater, however, because I bought the Turbo Air still. It looks like a gigantic hotel coffee pot, and is automatic. I have always had visions of setting up a real still in a part of rural countryside, but for now, this will have to do, and it will give me a lot of experience in the distillation of spirits.

I have run two batches of cheap wine through the still to just see what the whole process is like. I've always been intrigued by the science of food and beverage. It has been my dream for many years to be able to distill alcohol.

I have a question about the safety of distilling alcohol from a cheaper wine. I realize that grapes have pectin, and this can lead to some methanol production in the initial fermentation. I realize that whatever methanol that is in the wine will be in my spirits, and I cannot create new methanol by distilling. The alcohol I consume in the distilled product would have the same amount of methanol as if I were to consume the same amount of alcohol by drinking the wine. So I am fairly sure that the levels of methanol are safe in this home distilled spirit. Regardless of this fact, I'd still like to reduce the amount of methanol to enhance flavor and lessen headache likelihood!

I have read that many people pour off the first 150 ML of their distillation to get rid of the methanol. I am only distilling one gallon of wine or wash at a time, therefor I think 150 ML may be excessive. How much should I pour off?

Also, being that methanol is created from pectin, I have another safety question about my desire to make apple spirits. I have clear, filtered store grade apple juice. This is all natural, not from concentrate juice with no preservatives. It is Tree Top brand all natural. It is crystal clear. It will ferment, I have a cousin who makes wine from this stuff all the time.

I am fermenting a 3 gallon batch. I simply sterilized my fermenter, put in the 3 gallons and added the necessary amount of champagne yeast. I figure this taking about 7 days to ferment. Using this fermentation method, should I be worried about methanol? If so, what should I do? How much do I need to pour off?

Is there a way to detect for methanol?

Sorry for all the questions everyone. I look forward to hearing from you, and can't wait to start distilling!

[Hawke]

The general guide is to toss the first 100 to 150ml per 5 gallons of wash. (20 to 30ml per gallon)
Besides methanol, there is acitone and some -acitates that come off first. Even if you didn't remove them, they won't kill you. (You might wish it had in the morning though.)

Kiwistiller did a write-up on how to run an airstill. Think it's a sticky post in the Novice section.

[Dnderhead]

as a guide fore shots are about 3% maybe abut 2X for something with a lot of them.

[kiwistiller]

Kiwistiller did a write-up on how to run an airstill. Think it's a sticky post in the Novice section.

no I didn't!

[Hawke]

Oops, thought it was you.

[billy,hill]

howdy from the westside
oregon rocks!!!!!
us noobs need to stick together j/k
hopefuly mine will be together soon and workin great
best o luck,
billy hill