Aluminum Pot and possibility of contamination?

[mehdimilani]

Hi, I'm new to this forum just as I'm new to the art of distilling. First off, I feel necessary to explain that I come from a country in which both alcoholic beverages and home brewing/distilling is prohibited by law, so the range of measures I can take to improve the quality of my spirits are pretty narrow.

I used to distill my wash in a set of laboratory instruments made of heat resistant glass, but it turned out to be too costly because my instruments would crack or break and I had to replace them all the time and since the largest boiling flask I could find was 6000 ml, the process of distilling was time consuming and required a lot of maintenance. Then I decided to look for other solutions. The only distilling instruments available for sale where I live are used for extracting aromatics from flowers and plants, I thought basically this is the same thing, so even though I still needed to do some modifications due to its poor design, I decided to buy it. The boiling pot (still as you call it?) appears to be made of Aluminum (no way to be certain, it might contain other metals as well, I'm just guessing from its appereance and weight), and the top part is made of low quality stainless still. I have many complaints about the design but all and all it has made my life much easier until I saw the safety topics in this forum and noticed there are not many fans out there for Aluminum pots and started to think the issue I have with my final product might lie in the materials used in the device.

I usually double distill my product and it results a spirit containing 70 percents alcohol, smells and tastes just fine and it appears as crystal clear. But when I mix the spirit with water to reach 40 percents (no matter if i use either tap or distilled water) it turns into a grayish foggy solution. It needs to be stored for ten days until it turns clear again and the particles turn into larger bits and I can finally filter the solution. I used to distill using an old pressure cooker and I seemed to have the same problem. Now is it possible for my product to be contaminated? After filtering the solution and getting a clear product again, should I still be worried about Aluminum ions, if that's even the case?

Finally is there any way to avoid this problem using the same setup? it is going to be a lot of trouble for me building my own instruments and I'd like to avoid it for as long as possible. I have used treating the product with activated charcoal and it didn't help. What is happening to the product on a molecular scale anyways? Is there something I can do, like making chips from other metals to avoid the aluminum -or whatever else that causes this- from entering the product? Maybe I can paint coat the pot with a heat resistant material? Any hints may be very helpful and please let me know if you need more info, meanwhile I'm going to dig up the forum for any possible solution.

[rad14701]

The issues of using aluminum have been documented here in these forums many many times... Please see Rule #8 of The Rules We Live By... Stainless Steel or Copper for your boiler, so don't bother asking about any other materials because we'll just refer you back to the rules again... Regardless of what corner of the planet you live in we still want you to practice this hobby in a safe manner... Forget about the aluminum and move on...

[mehdimilani]

The issues of using aluminum have been documented here in these forums many many times... Please see Rule #8 of The Rules We Live By... Stainless Steel or Copper for your boiler, so don't bother asking about any other materials because we'll just refer you back to the rules again... Regardless of what corner of the planet you live in we still want you to practice this hobby in a safe manner... Forget about the aluminum and move on...

Thanks for the comment, but the thing is I'm not certain in anyways if the problem is caused by Aluminum, for all I know I can't even say for sure what the pot is even made of. I though maybe there are other people who have experienced this and possibly have a solution.

[NateTG]

...But when I mix the spirit with water to reach 40 percents (no matter if i use either tap or distilled water) it turns into a grayish foggy solution. It needs to be stored for ten days until it turns clear again and the particles turn into larger bits and I can finally filter the solution. ...

It's possible for oils (and other non-polar stuff) to come out of solution when you add water. This is common with ouzo and absinthe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louching" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Prairiepiss]

Are you making cuts?

[mehdimilani]

Are you making cuts?

I'm sorry but I'm not sure what you mean by "making cuts". not very familiar with professional terminology.

[mehdimilani]

...But when I mix the spirit with water to reach 40 percents (no matter if i use either tap or distilled water) it turns into a grayish foggy solution. It needs to be stored for ten days until it turns clear again and the particles turn into larger bits and I can finally filter the solution. ...

It's possible for oils (and other non-polar stuff) to come out of solution when you add water. This is common with ouzo and absinthe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louching" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I have a similar suspicion, it is possible that the alcohol solves some chemicals but when the alcohol concentration drops it fails to keep them in the solution, especially because when I heat up the solution it clears up again, I'm just worried if the source of these chemicals are not my mash (I use raisins) but my instruments, so I was wondering if some one has had the same experience.

[Prairiepiss]

Are you making cuts?

I'm sorry but I'm not sure what you mean by "making cuts". not very familiar with professional terminology.

Sory then you have a lot of research to do. Cuts are when you separate the good from the bad. Coming out of the still. First cut is the foreshots. The really bad stuff. Then the heads Sharp bite with bad headaches. Then the hearts the good stuff in the middle. Then the tails the watered down flavor ridden bad stuff. This is all explain in the must read new distiller reading lounge. Novices guide to cuts. There is also a glossary of terms there you should get to know.

I would suspect you are not making proper cuts. And that is why its clouding up.

But I would still say using a still made from an unknown material. Is not a safe way to go. If you are making drink for you and others. So why chance it?

[mehdimilani]

Are you making cuts?

I'm sorry but I'm not sure what you mean by "making cuts". not very familiar with professional terminology.

Sory then you have a lot of research to do. Cuts are when you separate the good from the bad. Coming out of the still. First cut is the foreshots. The really bad stuff. Then the heads Sharp bite with bad headaches. Then the hearts the good stuff in the middle. Then the tails the watered down flavor ridden bad stuff. This is all explain in the must read new distiller reading lounge. Novices guide to cuts. There is also a glossary of terms there you should get to know.

I would suspect you are not making proper cuts. And that is why its clouding up.

But I would still say using a still made from an unknown material. Is not a safe way to go. If you are making drink for you and others. So why chance it?

I usually collect the first 100 ml out of my 20 L wash and throw it away, and I stop collecting when the alcohol content reaches below 25 percents. The rest I just mix together, the resulting product, as long as its effects are concerned is among the best I have ever tried, no hangover no headaches. what worries me is the appearance which leads to the suspicion my product might be contaminated.

[Prairiepiss]

So you are making just the foreshots cut. And collecting everything else. That's your problem. Tails will cloud it up. Learn to make cuts.

[mehdimilani]

So you are making just the foreshots cut. And collecting everything else. That's your problem. Tails will cloud it up. Learn to make cuts.

Thanks for the hint, I'm going to look into this and the next time I'm gonna try making cuts!

[ezlle71]

I had a problem with a bit of cloudiness with my first batch but it was after i tempered it with water at our farm. Came to the conclusion it was lime in our water. the next batch i used store bought distilled water and it came out beautifully clear tempered. I do have a quick question, I have a 15 gallon aluminum stock pot a friend got from the military, he is graciously let me borrow for mashing all grain. Is it ok to use for the mashing process? i am not fermenting in it just mashing in it. Thanks
ez