Information on how to make a moonshine still
How to make a moonshine still is not very difficult even if you are a novice at it because all you have to do is follow the instructions step by step. The trick is to make sure that you have all the right equipment. It is wise though to first find out if distilling alcohol is legal in your state or not. Most likely it is illegal and you don’t want to break any rules or laws. However, building a still is not illegal and if you are still interested in manufacturing a still, follow these instructions.
The following equipment can be easily got. A large pot (capacity: 1 gallon liquid), a bowl that has a round bottom, an 8 ounce drinking glass, a magnet, a brick or weight that will help to keep the bowl steady and in place, a cooking thermometer that can help you monitor the temperature, red wine (1/2 gallon), hydrometer and some ice cubes.
Pour around two quarts of the red wine into the pot and place the same on the stone. Put the 8 ounce collection glass right in the middle of this pot and place the magnet in it so that it is held down. Put the ingredients into the pot with the water and heat it till a degree of 120F is reached. You should carefully monitor the temperature so that you get it right. This is when you should turn the heat down low.
Fill the bowl with ice cubes and place the bowl on the pot lid. This bowl should be well sealed so that no vapor escapes. The brick or weight should be placed in the bowl in order to keep it in place. Let the temperature rise slowly over the next half an hour. Once the alcohol starts to heat, chemical compounds start to boil at different and varying temperatures. For example, while water and ethyl alcohol will boil at their own respective temperatures, methyl alcohol will evaporate first. In time the alcohol will change into vapor when it starts to boil. When the vapors reach the bowl they will slowly condense because of the ice cubes and very soon the condensed liquid/alcohol will drip into the 8 ounce collection/storage glass.
There are two types of moonshine stills – the pot and the reflux still. The pot still is in fact a container that is used to heat the ingredients and brew it and the condenser which is used for changing the escaping vapors into alcohol. An old pressure cooker that you don’t use any more can be used. The lid of the cooker should fit tightly. In order to make the condenser wind a length of copper tubing over something so that it forms a coil. Place this coil in a bucket with a hold in its side through which the tube is passed, after fitting one end of it tightly on the cooker lid opening.
How to make a moonshine still can therefore be quite easy if you make sure that all gaps are sealed with waterproof sealant. Make sure that ice cubes in the bucket keep the coil cool during the process. Vapors that are caught are then transferred into a storage container.