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In a nutshell, wash is heated up in a still to a temperature above 172 degrees, but below 212 degrees. Ethanol starts to boil and turns into a vapor, separating from the wash water. The vapor is then condensed (turned back into a liquid) and drips out of the still into a mason jar or some other collection vessel.
How does the Thumper work on a moonshine still?
The way the thumper works is that it takes the vapor from the head of your kettle and travels down a tube into the bottom of the thumper. This vapor is cooled when it enters the liquid in the thumper, which condenses the vapor while also heating that liquid in the thumper.
Can you distill moonshine for personal use?
Historically, moonshine meant liquor that was made and distilled at home. These can be sold in liquor stores or brewed just for personal use. However, distilling alcohol at home, even for personal use, is illegal under federal law.
Can you drink the heads of moonshine?
1- Foreshots The foreshots are the first vapors to boil off during distillation. These contain the most volatile alcohols and should not be ingested, as they contain methanol and other undesirables. Commercial distillers always discard the foreshots and never consume them.
What does it mean when moonshine burns blue?
Folklore tells us one way to test the purity of moonshine is to pour some in a metal spoon and set it on fire. 6 If it burns with a blue flame it is safe, but if it burns with a yellow or red flame, it contains lead, prompting the old saying, “Lead burns red and makes you dead.”.
What happens if moonshine is made wrong?
If the moonshine is not distilled properly, you could end up with high levels of methanol (methyl alcohol), which is indeed quite toxic. Our liver breaks down the methyl alcohol into formaldehyde and formic acid. So, yes, when distilled improperly, moonshine with high levels of methanol can cause blindness.
Can a distillery explode?
Fire and explosion hazards The primary hazards in craft distilling are fire and explosion. Dust from processing grain and combustion from wood floors, casks, and racks can also cause fires or explosions. A vapor explosion can occur if enough vapors are released in an enclosed space with ignition sources present.
Is 100 proof moonshine flammable?
Any alcohol listed above 100 proof – 50 percent ABV – is straight up flammable and would therefore not hinder the ability of gunpowder to fire.
How do you use a still with a thumper?
Just fill your boiler up to 20% capacity with a mix of 50% distilled hot water and 50% vinegar. Then, start distilling from your pot into your thumper, just like how you normally would when separating tails and distilling spirits.
Do you need a thumper on a still?
It was traditionally used in hillbilly stills to increase the alcohol content of the distillate because, traditional stills only output product with about a 50-60 percent alcohol content. In short, the answer to whether our stills need a thumper keg is: NO.
How much liquid do you put in a thumper?
You need to put some kind of liquid in the thump keg filling it about 1/4 full. The options are: left over mash, tails from a previous run, etc. But if you want the thumper to do what it is supposed to do (increase the alcohol % in the final product), there needs to be some kind of alcohol in the thumper.
What states is it legal to make moonshine for personal use?
“Legal” Moonshining In contrast to Florida, some state’s home distilling laws allow “legal” moonshining, even though it’s considered illegal federally. Those states include Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Rhode Island.
Can you make homemade moonshine legally?
While most states prohibit home moonshining, state laws sometimes conflict with federal law. But federal law trumps state law, and to the feds, distilling at home for personal consumption is illegal, period.
Can you distill liquor at home?
Distilling in California is illegal, even if it would be federally legal. 23300. No person shall exercise the privilege or perform any act which a licensee may exercise or perform under the authority of a license unless the person is authorized to do so by a license issued pursuant to this division.
Is the first part of moonshine poisonous?
Always discard the “foreshots.” For this reason, the old time moonshiners would always discard the first bit of shine that comes off of the still. This part of the run, known as the foreshots, smells like high powered solvent, tastes even worse, and is potentially poisonous.
What to do with heads distilling?
Once the distiller makes the first cut, the heads are generally either disposed of or redistilled in able to collect more alcohol from them. After the distiller has decided that the quality of the incoming distillate is good enough to keep for drinking purposes, they will cut to “hearts”.
How much head do you throw away when distilling?
Always discard the foreshots — they make up around 5% or less of the product collected during a run. Throw out the first 30 ml on a 1 gallon run, the first 150 ml on a 5 gallon run, or the first 300 ml on a 10 gallon run. Heads come off of the still directly after the foreshots. Simply put, they taste and smell bad.
How can you tell if moonshine is good?
Commercial distillers can eyeball the proof of their shine by shaking the mason jar and looking at the bubbles. If the moonshine has large bubbles that disappear quickly it indicates that the moonshine has a high alcohol content, while smaller bubbles that disappear slower indicate lower alcohol content.
Does alcohol burn blue?
The major types of alcohol: ETHANOL, PROPANOL, IPA(ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL) AND METHANOL all have their own characteristic flame color which are observed during their combustion. ETHANOL burns with a BLUE FLAME but METHANOL also burns with A PALE BLUE FLAME but THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE is that METHANOL’S FLAME IS INVISIBLE.
What color does pure alcohol burn?
Ethanol is a volatile, colorless liquid that has a slight odor. It burns with a smokeless blue flame that is not always visible in normal light.
