Sugar mash and methanol

[Olen Viin]

Someone told me (my dad) that methanol is produced from the cellulose component in the mash. If I am doing a pure sugar (and nutrient) mash, do I need to reject the first bit of heads? I am using a pot still. Any insight into where the methanol comes from and how to avoid it while I am still using my $11 still, would be most appreciated.

The pot is about 4L, so when I do a carbuoy load, the heads end up being a fair bit...

Alas...maybe someone knows

[masonjar]

Sugar washes don't contain significant amounts of methanol, but if you want to make something drinkable, you still have to take out some heads (and tails.) There are other things besides methanol that make booze undrinkable - namely ethyl acetate, which smells like finger-nail polish and is gauranteed to make your booze harsh and give you a nasty hangover. I usually toss around 200 mL of heads on a 4 gallon wash, so you should toss the first 50 mL of what comes out of each of your 4 litre runs.

Better yet, do a 'stripping run' and keep everything that comes out (except forsehots) and combine all of these so you have 4 litres of stuff that has been run once and then put that back in the still and make your cuts the second time around. I should mention that the stuff that comes out on the second distillation will be nearly 80% alcohol, and it gets harder to smell the smells you are looking for when the alcohol is that strong. So take a sample and water it down first before you take a whiff.

[BW Redneck]

From what I read on fruit mashes and in The Compleat Distiller, Methanol is actually produced by fermenting Pectin, abundant in apples, so, a pure sugar batch will not produce any methanol. But, as masonjar said, the first portions will contain acetates and some esters, many of which are undesirable. If you smell the foreshots, some will tend to smell like apple cider because of the esters present (they do in sugar-tomato paste and sweet mash runs, as that's all I've done so far). The foreshots make excellent fuel for starting the grill or wood stove, so save them in a very clearly marked container for fuel.

[birdwatcher]

Read this book.


http://www.gin-vodka.com/making-gin.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

G

[Olen Viin]

Thanks for the info. I like the idea of a re-distill without the heads. I was also planning to keep the heads for cleaning the bottoms of the legs of the chairs before putting on the felt floor protectors. Fire is good too.

Thanks again,

Amazing how much knowledge can be shared on a great forum like this. Yay yay!!