"And there they go!"You're probably wondering what it, in fact, takes in the way of equipment to make spirits, wines, beers and such. Well, the answer is "not much".
Of course, as in all things, the better the tools, the better the result.
To start with, you have to decide what sort of spirit you're going to begin with! And you have to decide what sort of still you're going to use to distill out that precious spirit. And all the tools of the trade that go along with the invocation of spirits.
Distilling
There are any number of excellent treatises out there on distiling spirits.. I'd suggest you go out and find them to get a better idea of how this all works. To sum up: Spirits boil at a lower temperature than water and other liquids, so if you carefully heat a mixture of water and alcohol, then condense the vapor, it comes out of your still at a higher percentage of alcohol than you started with. Typically, a wash (a wash is a ferment made using SUGAR of any kind, a mash is using STARCH, which is turned into sugars, and fermented) finishest at 6% - 20% alcohol, depending on your preference and skill, the yeast you choose, and so on. Once distilled, obviously the percentage can go much higher.
Stills
There are many kinds of stills, but the old timers use a Pot Still, which is basically a pot with a copper out arm (the Lyne arm), connected to a worm (a coiled copper tube in cold water) out of which condenses your spirt. The Lyne arm usually has a short upwards rising part (from the still) and then a downwards part (towards the worm). A Pot still can get something like 80 proof liquor, assuming you cut off the stream at the right time.
Pot stills can also run REALLY fast compared to other types, and so they are also used by the more sophisicated saints as "strippers". You do a "stripping run" on the wash, getting everything out, making no cuts until the liquor coming out is at something like 20% alcohol, and your total alcohol content should be around 40%. Don't drink the stripped wash..it will taste like fuel since you didn't make any "cuts" while distilling.
Then there are fractionating stills, that are more sophisicated and do more and different things.. and there are VM/CM etc reflux stills that do even more. Look around on the magical InterWeb for more information about stills then you can imagine.
As for me, I am starting with a small VM Fractionating reflux still, but I am going to pray for, and build, a pot still in future, so I can do fast stripping runs.
YES you need copper in the path. It's good enough to have it in the still head. Better is the entire still made from it.
NO don't have any plastic in the path, regardless of how many people say "it works for me". NO don't use a plastic tube of any kind (except maybe PTFE) to guide your condensed spirits to a collection vessel.
Thermometers
Do I really have to go into this? Well, alcohol (red) thermometers are probably all you have access to. They work just fine for measuring various temperatures. Get a long one (over a foot) for measuring temperatures. Get three, they're cheap.
Fish tank thermometers that you stick on the side of things are handy to have on your fermenting bucket/jar/whatever since you don't have to open the thing to see what temperature it is at
Mercury thermometers are the best (aside from those infernal digital thermocouple types you can get for pennies at your local home store) as they react quickly at all ranges. Alcohol thermometers tend to be sluggish, especially at colder temperatures. If you get a mercury thermometer, don't chew on it or break it into your wash, and you'll be fine.
pH testing
Litmus paper is great for this, and will give you a rough idea of the acidity of your mixtures. If you are a bit more interested in accuracy, get an inexpensive digital model and a few bottles of buffer (you put the thing in the 7.0 buffer and adjust it to 7.0.. 4.0 to adjust to 4.0. Store a digital pH meter in a mildly acidic solution, or your 4.0 buffer).
Scale
a +/- 1g, kg capacity or so capacity digital kitchen scale works well for this. They are inexpensive and easy to use.
Spoon
Get a big stainless spoon. a 2 footer.
Fermenters
5 gallon buckets will work, but you really want food grade materials. Brew shops will have these, in 6 gallon+ sizes. Or, you can get food grade poly bags (NOT trash bags) and line anything you like with them. Obviously, stainless is best. In fact, if you only want to do one batch at a time, you could fit out a big stainless kettle or beer keg and use it as both a fermenter and a boiler for the still (though, you will get some flavor problems with this, since you're leaving the solids in the mix. It's a personal thing, and a taste profile issue) If you use stainless, wrap a blanket around it if you are in temperatures colder than 20C (7oF) or so.
You can get very creative with fermenters.. just remember the fermenting spirits will get angry if you put them in steel, non food grade plastic, or even wood (wood will hold the sugars and flavors, as opposed to aging finished spirits.. in which case wood is a GOOD thing. You could do it like the old monks, and run the wash in a beeswax lined wooden barrel...this is one area where progress is a good thing) One way is to reuse large containers used for vegetable oils.. ask around restaurants and they may have them. They won't hold 5 gallons, but 2 or three per, for the price of free, and I wouldn't complain.
Top of the line for washes is 20L+ glass carboys. They are a pain to clean though. I am using brew buckets lined with food grade poly bags (so flavors dont linger in the plastic). I am getting these bags for $0.06US each.
Funnels
Get some. Some big some small. Some fat some tall. Get a copper one if you can.
Air Locks
Some swear by em, others could care less about em. Basically, this is a water filled thingie that keeps air out of the fermenter when it is jumping. Some folks say its not necessary for a fast ferment since you are generating so much positive pressure. Air locks are very cheap, and all you have to do is drill a hole in your lid and put a rubber grommet in it, so you decide if you'd like to use one. I am going to use one unless it is somehow a pain in the blessed rear.
Hydrometer
Very important.. measures the density of liquids. Get TWO kinds.
#1 for low alcohol concentrations.. 0 - 20% or so
#2 for high alcohol concentrations. Sometimes called an alcoholometer.
You float one of these #1 babies in your wash and it tells you how dense it is. This tells you how much sugar is in there, and how the ferment is going . The density will go down as sugar is converted to CO2 and alcohol.
You float your alcoholometer in your distillate from time to time as you collect it to see what its alcohol content is. You can also use it for blending.
Glass Jars
To collect your distillate and for storing ingredients. Use pyrex to collect, or put your mason jar inside a Stainless steel pot in case it breaks.
Summary
Believe it or not, thats about it!
Now in reality, you can invoke spirits with a simple pot still made from copper pipe and a stainless steel pot, working solely on top of your stove. Just remember that the spirits ignite in the presence of naked flame, so make sure you collect well away from the pot, and you have a fan GENTLY blowing away the fumes (AWAY from the flame). You don't really need the hydrometers if you have a stock recipet. You dont really need thermometers, as you can make distilling cuts based on taste.
But, I would say that getting thermometers and hydrometers will save you a lot of trouble as you learn how to speak to the spirits. They are like translators, and nowadays many recipes say things like "bring the sugars to 1.090" instead of giving exact quantities. This is because water in different areas will have different properties.
pH is important too, and you can get away with only using litmus paper (lots of people actually just go by taste), but you'll have a better invocation with a pH meter.
No comments:
Post a Comment