Help with methane and distilling

[hockeycns]

I had a question about distilling in general. I have researched the "2 dolar crock pot still" (Diagram posted)

Next I looked at recipes. I have heard of some people distilling brand name alcohols to make them more potent. The method that intrigued me the most is using superyeast and fermenting a 20% alcohol base just as you would do with beer and then distilling that.

My few questions that I have about distilling are about methane, time, yield, and dangers.

Ive heard people online say that the first 5%, 10%, or 20% of the liquid that comes out of a still has to be removed because of methane. Is this true is one were to put a brand name alcohol or a superyeast batch through a still? also why is methane produced and what are the dangers of it?

How long does it take for liquid to go through a still? does temperature matter/what is the ideal temperature?

I assume that if you distil a 20% alcohol through, when you are done it should be roughly 1/5 the original amount if you are making close to 100%. Is this right? also with each pass through the still how much more potent does the liquid get?

Lastly, what other dangers come with making moonshine/home distilling?

Thank you guys and sorry about all of the questions, i am very interested in this subject and want to know more.

Thanks again!

[Dnderhead]

first its methanol not methane ,fruits have some grain/sugar wont.then its a very small amount.(unless your fermenting wood)
but there is other chemicals that should be removed.most all will be in the first 1/3..or the last 1/3..sagest you read up on "cuts"

[Durace11]

Holy moly, where to even begin. Let's just say you will want to research a lot more before you try to distill anything. That crockpot $2 still is not a very good idea.

All your questions and more can be answered but not in one post, there are all here on the forums in various sections spreadout to ensure they are categorized correctly according to their subject matter as related to distilling. Spend about a month reading the New Distiller reading lounge and Novice Distiller section and you will come out with more questions then you went in with but they will all be informed questions.

Good luck and still safe

[Richard7]

That two dollar still looks like its worth about a buck fifty! Read a lot more and you will learn what a still is. Good luck to ya.

[hockeycns]

Thanks a lot guys! I have done quite a bit of research and found the answers to most of my questions. I will post an update on the still I plan on making. It is a modified pressure cooker with an electric hot plate to reduce the risk that flames bring. I will post a picture of my plans (instead of drawing I just put a bunch of real pictures together to see what it would look like in real life)

[Soggy Bottom Boy]

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I suppose you could get a good bit of methane, .....if you were distilling the "cow pie & road apple wash" in the Tried and True section.

But, even with good cuts, I don't think the finished product would be to your liking.


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[Soggy Bottom Boy]

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Here is the text of a web page referencing the book (The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible) this build is in. ....and the very best advice he has, is in the last line:

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The Two-Dollar Crockpot Still

(Made out of a crock pot, piece of 1/4 inch copper tubing and a plastic milk jug filled with ice.) One ingenious type of stills included in this book, along with seven others is the Two-Dollar "Crock Pot" still. This still consists of parts readily available from your local stores and some that are probably in your kitchen. While this moonshine still won't put you in competition with commercial whiskey producer, you could reasonably expect to run off about a quart a session. Those with an inclination toward distilling will readily see how this one works. If you aren't sure, my book The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible explains it all in plain English. It is illegal to make your own whiskey in the US, or to possess a still without a permit. This is because Uncle Sam derives much money from taxing whiskey producers.

It is not illegal to know how to make whiskey and some countries do allow their citizens to make their own. A lot of Americans have made their own however, not only old time moonshiners and bootleggers, but their modern day counterparts who worked in Mid Eastern oil fields and actually printed underground manuals on how to do it.

In a meld of old and new, you'll learn how a variety of ingenious stills were built, operated and recipes for everything for traditional corn "likker," to bathtub gin. (2 lbs. sugar per gallon of water, bakers yeast and a couple of juniper berries.) You'll also learn the hazards of distilling, to include poisoning, fires, scalding, explosions and jail.

Don't try this at home kids!
*****

Boy, ain't that the truth! Hahahahaha!!!

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[Ghost]

Sure it will produce home made booze - yeah its cheap enough to be built under 20.00 - but why ?!?! I just dont get the desire to build a small stove top that will end up being way more trouble than what that still is worth!

Granted I am blessed with a 40x40 shop in the middle of country where I can still in peace - but there are other space alternatives that could be used besides this weird looking thing.

[caiobabe]

As I've found along with most others here is that nothing can suffice for READING on this site. Everything is here.
But also, I have one small set up for a pot still: 8 qt pressure cooker that sits on a 1500 watt hot plate and a really cool worm in a 5 gal. bucket. Small set up but sweet in the final product. Takes little over 2.5 hours to produce a liter of 65%abv. If I can do this in a little space with a little POS equipment you can too!
btw...I pull off only 30 ml of "methanol" in a 3 qt. wash run if you wanna call it so but foreshots is what I say and I dont need to take off even that much.

[hockeycns]

As I've found along with most others here is that nothing can suffice for READING on this site. Everything is here.
But also, I have one small set up for a pot still: 8 qt pressure cooker that sits on a 1500 watt hot plate and a really cool worm in a 5 gal. bucket. Small set up but sweet in the final product. Takes little over 2.5 hours to produce a liter of 65%abv. If I can do this in a little space with a little POS equipment you can too!
btw...I pull off only 30 ml of "methanol" in a 3 qt. wash run if you wanna call it so but foreshots is what I say and I dont need to take off even that much.

I have heard of people cutting it into thirds and only taking the middle third that comes out of the still (called the harts). Is this not true then?

I just want to make sure whatever I am going to drink is 100% safe as if I were drinking it from a brand name company

[Dnderhead]

" have heard of people cutting it into thirds"
more or less 1/3-1/2 is about what to expect.but cuts cant be made by volume.
as a teaching tool.most run into smaller containers saving the part they like.
many leave these open for verging amount of time to air out.

[Richard7]

I just want to make sure whatever I am going to drink is 100% safe as if I were drinking it from a brand name company

If you do your cuts right, it will be safer than brand name co. It won't even give you a hangover if it is cut right. Brand names don't care if you have to nurse your head the next day if they can make a sale. So they do continuous distillation, that does not cut the heads hearts and tails. It all goes in and wrecks the head the next day.

[caiobabe]

Go by what the pro distillers here say. I have stuck by every word they've posted with good results so read as much as possible.
For me, and just in my own experience... I cannot see anyway where I was making poison (methanol). You are looking at this a little too deep and worrying unnecessarily. Drink what you make.
As an example, I just did a run tonight. Last 1/3 of a brown sugar batch recipe that I hope to post soon. Made this batch about 30 times now and everyone in my extended family laps its up so I believe it is worth the recipe posting. That said, I only toss out the first 25 to 30 ml and keep everything combined until I see the drop in abv (@ 45%) which I collect for a later run. I like the advice here and have learned so much like "airing" out the collection which may seem so small a thing to do but really makes a huge difference in the product. This is quite the hobby to ENJOY.

[Dnderhead]

There is not enough methanol in a ferment to do harm (unless your fermenting wood)
but can be enough to give you a good hangover,about like a bad wine.with good cut
you should be able to eliminate most .

[hockeycns]

I just want to make sure whatever I am going to drink is 100% safe as if I were drinking it from a brand name company

If you do your cuts right, it will be safer than brand name co. It won't even give you a hangover if it is cut right. Brand names don't care if you have to nurse your head the next day if they can make a sale. So they do continuous distillation, that does not cut the heads hearts and tails. It all goes in and wrecks the head the next day.

Wow I never knew that. So they just take the foreshots out and thats it?

[caiobabe]

Wow I never knew that. So they just take the foreshots out and thats it?

From what I have read about production line, non stopping continuous stills as employed by the bigger booze makers and the huge blending that is done I do not believe that even fores are removed.