baby like new to this

[1jeeptigger1]

I need some information that I haven't been able to find yet. Does anyone here have the math equations I need to find out finished product produced from one gallon of fermented material and how much methanol is made from that one gallon of stuff? Thank you in advance.

[rad14701]

Greetings, 1jeeptigger1...

There are no hard numbers to answer the question you have asked, mainly because you have not provided enough information... One gallon of wash won't have much of anything in it, especially methanol... You don't remove methanol, you remove foreshots, which contains methanol and other lower alcohols... The rough number on that is 50ml - 60ml (2 fluid ounces) per gallon (4 liters)...

If you haven't already done so, take plenty of time to research the theories behind the overall process, from start to finish... Start out by reading the entire parent site or old parent site three times... Really... Then hit the New Distiller Reading Lounge...

One thing you will learn is that there won't be enough methanol in the wash to do any real physical damage... Partly because of the low amount in there and partly because ethanol is the antidote for methanol... Methanol poisoning is an old wives tail which has been carried on as a scare tactic to keep people from distilling their own spirits...

What was the recipe you used, including measurements...???
Also, what type of still would you be using to distill this wash...???

With your vague question we have more questions than answers...

Good luck and stay safe...

[Dnderhead]

unless your fermenting fruit or even worse grappa, methanol is not a concern.
fermenting on the pulp/skins/seeds/stems,has the most. processed fruit juice is next.
off the grain has little,on the grain ferments can have more especially if left
fermenting/setting extended time.refiend sugar has so little its almost unmeasurable.
this is not to say that you should not take off fore shots/heads because of other cemacols/alcohols.
each ferment can be a bit different.so there are no numbers.

[rad14701]

Distilling on the grain is perhaps the worst case scenario as far as methanol and very few people in our hobby do that... But those moonshiners on TV do...

[1jeeptigger1]

Thank you for the answers that you all have given me. They have eased my mind when it comes to methonal. I've been reading other posts here and in other forums and I wanted to run some numbers by you more experienced distillers to see if I am understanding things before I start distilling for myself. From what I have read Is the yield of finished product 15% of however much you start with? For example if you start with 100 gallons of mash then you should get somewhere in the range of 15 gallons of finished product? And the first gallon of that should be thrown away?

[rad14701]

From what I have read Is the yield of finished product 15% of however much you start with? For example if you start with 100 gallons of mash then you should get somewhere in the range of 15 gallons of finished product? And the first gallon of that should be thrown away?

That would only hold true if you started out with a 15% potential ABV wash, which we would consider a bit on the high side... Most of the sugar washes in the Tried and True Recipe forum range from ~7% - ~14% ABV... And that would be the total amount of 100% alcohol, not what is actually collectable... And part of that amount will be foreshots, heads, hearts, and tails... Essentially, you get what you get... The numbers are a bit more accurate with a reflux column than with a pot still, just still not exact...