Whiskey distilling

Say someone (not me, no sir) was interesting in making “artisanal” spirits, such as say bourbon/rye/whiskey etc.

Say that someone (definitely not me) knows that it is illegal to make said spirits without a distiller’s licence, and that according to the official guidance HMRC are unlikely to grant said licence if the production is likely to be less than 1800 hectolitres.

How would that someone (still not me) go about making a ‘proof of concept’ test run batch to see whether it’s worth stumping up the money to set up a still with sufficient capacity?

Not you certainly wouldn’t want to look into Air stills and their operation. Not you would also not want to look at the distilling section on the lovebrewing.co.uk website.

Definitely don’t look at this link[/url] !

(Erm… I mean don’t let your ‘friend’ look at that link…)

Hypothetically

Whisky and similar spirits are distilled in an alembic still, google it, they’re cheap.

Vodka is distilled in a reflux still which produces a much purer product because it returns more of the crap back to the still.

You need to keep the whisky in toasted (carbonised) barrels for years to absorb a lot of the crap that vodka distilling leaves behind in the first place. Which is one of the reasons why small stills are uneconomical, you need to have enough product in year 10 to sell and pay off the investment and 10 years of costs.

Gin is vodka distilled for a second time in an alembic still with botanicals. Which is why its popular with hipster distillers as there is a relatively low barrier to entry and it’s easy to come up with a unique recipie.

Whiskey, whisky, bourbon and rye all start off with something recogniseable as beer (vodca can too, but you can also make it from table sugar as most of the flavour is stripped out later anyway), so on top of the still you have the aded cost of a brewery (although on a small comercial distillery scale I suspect getting your beer contract brewed is cheaper).

Bookmarks. Checks regs in Belgium

Not all gin is vodka-based…..

Is a shed available for this hypothetical activity? Need to respect the fire hazard if you’re getting a still going.

I’m sure the OP is sensible – but probably the main reason home distilling is illegal is that the government doesn’t want scallies burning down a block of flats. It’s probably OK with the methanol poisoning.

This is a really interesting thread. I’ve decided to comment on it to bookmark it for a friend of mine who may be interested.

This is a really interesting thread. I’ve decided to comment on it to bookmark it for a friend of mine who may be interested.

Don’t. Seriously.

The reason it’s illegal is because there’s potential for a home distiller to create methanol. One of the fun side effects of consuming methanol is destruction of the optic nerve.

You’ll be, literally, blind drunk.

As above, produce the “wrong” output and it wouldn’t end well.

Whilst I agree that it can be dangerous, the reason it is illegal is more to do with not paying her majesty her tax dues

Oh, that’s ok then.

There’s a home brew near us that had a devise in the window which was some sort of electric distiller. It had a sign on it saying something along the lines of ‘this is for the creation of distilled water and ABSOLUTELY NOT for the distillation of spirits which illegal under the – quote act etc’

Hmm. I did wonder why they made such a big deal of it.

You’d have to be a complete spanner to get methanol poisoning out of a proper still, tbf. It’s easy to remove and present in v small quantities if starting from a mash.

Stories of methanol poisoning are usually from lunatics trying to distill meths or similar denatured spirits.

The spelling whisky is generally used for whiskies distilled in Scotland, Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe, while whiskey is used for the spirits distilled in Ireland and America.

Who knew? 😐

I did (-:

Time was, Scotch was deemed as inferior. Irish whiskey had a different spelling to distance themselves from Scotch Whisky. Whiskey in the US is so spelt due to immigration.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-06/grappa-poison-william-lynam-manslaughter/7481066

Prosecutor David Meredith told Toowoomba’s Supreme Court that Lynam was negligent when he mixed the grappa and caused methanol poisoning in the four men.

“It would be wrong to say he’s suffered enough because his sons died,” Mr Meredith said.

“Ethanol and methanol are indistinguishable unless you are a chemist.

“He made them the brew because they asked for it.

“This is an appallingly perfect example of a breach of duty of care.”

Just leaving that one there

Have some distilling mates here who are making some amazing stuff (probably we will know in about 15 years) the gin is a much faster turn around though and equally as good.

You’d have to be a complete spanner to get methanol poisoning out of a proper still, tbf.

Mr Meredith said Lynam bought methanol to use as industrial weed killer and confused it with ethanol when the home brew was made.

Like the bloke above

It was more the bit about it being really hard to tell the difference. Even using stuff properly people still make mistakes. Anyway making whisky and not having a plan to age it sounds a bit off.

You’d have to be a complete spanner to

Says the opening line to any hilarious story about industrial decapitations etc. (depressingly a line I’ve heard or read far too often)

Methanol depends on your feedsource. If you are fermenting then there wont be much present since the reduction are very specific. If yo are making large quantities and get your destination very wrong you may end up with a higher concentration in your first distillate. Personally it wouldn’t concerned me.

Id be more bothered about taste. Most homebrews ive had have been rough as unless they have sugar and strong flavour added.

Granted, the stuff I’m in regular contact with is ultra-pure, but methanol and ethanol smell different enough to not be easily confused. Methanol has a quite delicate, almost floral aroma, whereas ethanol strips the hairs and skin off your nasal cavity.