Just a note to those who do make their own moonshine: I figured out why the distillers cut it down to 100 proof. At 135 proof, it eats its way out of the Mason jars.

Does the same thing to your throat and stomach; my son in law said his Uncles who drank like that ended up with throat cancer. Drink water before ( qoute: martinez ) also helps the stomach if drinking straight. Never had moonshine I think thats for fools. "Everclear" is about as close as one can get to it; thats just silly 151 or 190 proof. I don't need to swallow paint stipper.

My opinion is Water and Ice or make a Manhattan; at least your not drinking 80 proof Whisky. Two Manhattans would be my max and it goes well with food.

kv

 

Does the same thing to your throat and stomach; my son in law said his Uncles who drank like that ended up with throat cancer. Drink water before ( qoute: martinez ) also helps the stomach if drinking straight. Never had moonshine I think thats for fools. "Everclear" is about as close as one can get to it; thats just silly 151 or 190 proof. I don't need to swallow paint stipper.

My opinion is Water and Ice or make a Manhattan; at least your not drinking 80 proof Whisky. Two Manhattans would be my max and it goes well with food.

kv

We would buy "Everclear" in Fla (still legal in Oregon) during the 70's. Great stuff for plugging a watermelon.
http://www.wikihow.com/Plug,-Spike,-or-Cork-a-Watermelon

Don't every over indulge with spiked melon!

 

Just a note to those who do make their own moonshine: I figured out why the distillers cut it down to 100 proof. At 135 proof, it eats its way out of the Mason jars.

Not if you place a very thin layer of iridium in the inside walls...

 

Not if you place a very thin layer of iridium in the inside walls...

I think titanium or tungsten would be easier to obtain...that is, if you can't obtain any water to dilute the alcohol.

 

All you need is to be friends with someone running a crystal lab. They used 200 proof for cleaning ... and some for a mixer.

 

I am a redneck and I will drink whatever Alcoholic Beverage you put in front of me ...
I prefer Vodka and JD and Rocky Mountain Mother F*****( Oh before you start it is a real drink and tastes so very good )

 

A unlicensed individual can make their own legal (GCA or National Firearms Act (NFA)) firearm (provided that he/she/it has no intent to sell or distribute it) but can't make a drop of of their own unlicensed whiskey with the same lack of intent so it seems booze is not a constitutionally protected right after the 21st amend.

You can make essentially all the beer and wine you could want, but not a drop of distilled booze. I think it's a nanny state thing. At least that's the most generous assumption of why the Feds might care. Protecting their hefty tax is another likely reason, even if they spend ten times more on enforcement than they could ever collect as tax revenue.

Anyway, it's very easy to make poisonous booze with a home still, with methanol being the main problem.

Another example is that the Feds don't want us drinking unpasteurized milk or eating cheese made from it. The dairy industry doesn't mind the free help eliminating smaller competitors. There are myriad other laws are designed to "protect" us from ourselves. Ridiculous.

 

A unlicensed individual can make their own legal (GCA or National Firearms Act (NFA)) firearm (provided that he/she/it has no intent to sell or distribute it) but can't make a drop of of their own unlicensed whiskey with the same lack of intent so it seems booze is not a constitutionally protected right after the 21st amend.

I know that well, I've made six M16 lower receivers from raw forgings. But you can't be a gunsmith repairing other peoples guns with out a SOT stamp. I was going to do gun repair as a side job, have both the tools and knowledge to do it but after a visit to the local(Youngstown, Oh) ATFE office and getting the law book from them it's just not worth the hassle. Sure you can do gunsmithing or for that matter distilling but be prepared to pay the price if you get caught.

NFA firearms are not legal to make with out a SOT stamp, even for your self, or prior permission. And you must have the tax stamp for the individual firearm in hand before making that firearm or silencer.

 

Anyway, it's very easy to make poisonous booze with a home still, with methanol being the main problem.

.

That's why it's distilled twice. The first time at a higher temperature than the second. To separate the methanol from ethanol.

 

Our government thinks we're incapable of such complexity.

 

Our government thinks we're incapable of such complexity.

Here's a different opinion: Any "legitimate" business in on the government treadmill. That's why getting anything repaired is so expensive. In the last 10 years, I typed the price lists for 4 different HVAC companies and I learned that the average cash from the customer for one man in the house is $250/hour, while the guy actually doing the work rarely gets 10% of that money (before payroll taxes).

When I was 30, I counted up the licenses I would need to legalize an average month of jobs I did. Seventeen.
Do I want to get on seventeen treadmills, complete with liability insurance, workers comp insurance, state and local licensing, permits, fees, inspections, penalties, sales tax records, federal tax records, payroll tax records.............?
It's no wonder to me that the brown goods repair business died. Right now, the white goods repair business is dying and the air conditioning companies want to sell you a new air conditioner when a $4 capacitor will get it running. They can't survive on $100 per house call.

 

Whiskey, a revenue source for the government since the beginning of the U.S. government. It's history as a revenue source was settled during the whiskey rebellion in the late 1700's.

 

Here's a different opinion: ....

Protecting their hefty tax is another likely reason, even if they spend ten times more on enforcement than they could ever collect as tax revenue.

I think we're on the same page. And now it's time for an icy cold sipping liquor. Cheers!

 

Anyway, it's very easy to make poisonous booze with a home still, with methanol being the main problem.

Is methanol a natural by-product of yeast and sugar?

Another way to say that: How does methanol get into the brew?

 

Is methanol a natural by-product of yeast and sugar?

Another way to say that: How does methanol get into the brew?

That's one of the big mysteries that I've often wondered about for a long time. I'm sure that @GopherT and @jpanhalt can provide a detailed answer, if they're up to it.

 

On its own in a small glass.

 

That's one of the big mysteries that I've often wondered about for a long time. I'm sure that @GopherT and @jpanhalt can provide a detailed answer, if they're up to it.

Is methanol a natural by-product of yeast and sugar?

Another way to say that: How does methanol get into the brew?

When heating wood fiber (e.g. Mash), without water present the cellulose decomposes to methanol. Generally, you have to get above 451F but this can easily happen during a distillation if a hack directly distills the mash without filtering and use open flames to heat the mash. As the liquids evaporate, the solids left above the liquid line can start to char and that is when methanol forms.

There is a classic middle-school chemistry lab where methanol (wood alcohol) is made.
- Load wooden Popsicle sticks into a fat test tube.
- add a one-hole stopper fitted with glass tube
- add hose from glass tube and place that hose in to another test tube that is sitting in ice-water bath

Slowly Heat the test tube they contains Popsicle sticks with a Bunsen burner and you will see liquids come off of the hardwood sticks. Initially it will be water (about 10% of the wood mass). Then it will heat to 400 to 450F and methanol will start coming off as the wood chars.

 

As Gopher said it's mainly from the pericarp of the gain. This is mainly cellulose. I'm not a chemist but I don't think straining will remove the methanol. They usually distill once at a higher heat to remove all the alcohols from the mash, mash is the complete grain water and alcohol mixture. Then distill again at a lower temp to separate methanol from ethanol.

 

Methanol is naturally occurring in fruits and a small amount can be produced naturally in fermentation. The problem is that a "small amount" is still a lot - a single shot of methanol can blind and/or kill you. It will come off first in the still and that's why you toss the low-boiling fraction.

 

Sounds like this fermentation and distillation process needs some judicious experimentation.

12 year old Scotch, two ice cubes.