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Hi there - I am almost ready to try my first run. I will be using what I believe is known as an "amazing still" (immersion heater in a bucket within an outer bucket). It reportedly will produce something around 45 - 50% with a sugar/water/yeast brew, and does this with an immersion heater running at about 150 degrees within the inner bucket.

I have done some reading on this type of still, but no one has ever mentioned whether it produces any methanol and how to avoid that. Methanol is the stuff that makes you blind ? Should I be concerned ?

You haven't searched this site for that information have you?

Yes, you should be concearned. This device has no way to remove the methanol. It is made of plastic. It runs really %^&*%$#@ slow. Many plastics dissolve partially into high strength alcohols.

There are better alternatives.


Look on the parent site, and search in the forums (there is a search function at the top of thepage).

never drink your first run. it's a good trial, and can clean your still

stoker wrote:never drink your first run.

Oh. Whoops.

I think it's a good rule, which fits in: 'safety first'
others might not think so. I didn't (BTW, neiter my second, nor third )

stoker wrote:I think it's a good rule, which fits in: 'safety first'
others might not think so. I didn't (BTW, neiter my second, nor third )

Oh, that's right. You're still sticking to that "I don't drink what I make" story.

not only what I made

Just a few reflexions :
1- I think methanol doesn't depend of the type of still, but well of the mash... So, don't drink the first 100 or 200 ml (depending of wash quantity); but it seems to be impossible to make such cuts with "the amazing still". So I'm agree with Possum, if you wanna make a good job, search another way.

2- About drinkin' (or not) your first run... I drank my first one! But my still was so clean as possible : two runs with 5 l water before to distil alcohol.

3- About plastics : I read different advises about that, but I've only one rule : no plastic in contact with my distillate. I only use plastic during fermentation. For all that concerns distillation : Stainless Steel, Copper and Cork gaskets.

Hi Guys - Thanks for the info - Here's a few items that I didn't mention earlier - I also have a reflux unit (that I'm building a condensor for). Its not ready yet, but in a few weeks, or maybe sooner.

I wanted something I could use now, and I came across one of these in a beer/wine store, and it was really cheap (same as 4 bottles of licqeurs), so I figured why not. The one thing that I think is pretty neat is that you can leave the unit unattended and it still works. Its slow, but for me that's not a problem. I plan to visit it once each day and just pour off the distillate. It reportedly produces close to 750 ml per day.

There's not a lot of info on methanol, and how to avoid it. I did try searching for it a few times. I do remember reading somewhere that methanol was related to what you were using as a mash in the first place. In my case I'm using some kind of turbo yeast and sugar. The person/shop I bought this unit from showed me what he gets from his (I sampled it) and its pretty good. He claims he gets 45 to 50 % from his, which isn't bad considering you don't have to sit by the unit and watch it for 3 - 4 hours.

I have seen a lot of info about alcohol dissolving palstic and rubber. The mfgr of this unit claims that the type and grade of plastic used is safe for this application, so I figure he must have at least reasearched what kind to use. I read somewhere that the dissolving problem increases with alcohol purity. This unit produces about 45 - 50 %, so I'm not sure how much of a problem it will be. I don't expect it to be a problem at all because a lot of these have been made and are being used all over the place. I think if he was using a plastic that would dissolve, there would be a lot of people wanting their cash back, or at least complaining about it. The one person I do know with one says it has always worked good for them. I haven't heard of anyone complainingabout it.

Anyway, if its true that methanol is produced at the beginning of a run, maybe I should just turf whatever this unit produces in the first few hours ? I sure wish there was an easy test to see where when and how much might be there.

No

the temperature and method is to wrong to be able to cut the meths out.

plastic is debatable on this forum, its not about it melting but about the chemicals leaching out of it n into ur product, theres some that use it n some that dont, me personally ill only ferment in it n ill not ferment more than 5 times per bin (this maybe OTT, currently seeking a stainless fermenter anyway)

Personally i find it kind of worrying that a beer wine store is selling this kind of still

Hello.
Did you have a look at this?
http://www.amazingstill.com

That's the one, except mine has a donut shaped submersible heater. To me, the unit looks pretty slick. The heater has an integral thermostat and keeps the mash heated to about 150 degrees F.