Bathtub Gin Part 1 by Duck Monster, Mudlock, Doodle Maier
November 18th, 2007 2:01 PMThe setup consisted of a big flask, surrounded by sand (to diffuse the heat) in a pot; a condenser; a tube that fits into the tops of the flask and condenser, with a hole above the flask for a thermometer; the thermometer; a gasket to seal the tube; a burner for heating the flask; a stand for holding the condenser; water to cool the condenser, as needed; a funnel; and beer.
At some point, for successful distillation to occur, one must take a tea break. The gods of liquor require it. Doubly so if one has not documented one's homebrew-making. Our teatime came after the sand was funnelled in around the flask.
We then began assembling our equipment and pouring the beer, using roughly 3 and a half bottles for this distillation. (As you can see, the beer is still drinkable, just ... not as good as it once was. It was Dale's and Duck's first homebrew, significantly helped along with the expertise of Doodle Maier. Poetic, perhaps, that it should be the first thing we distilled together, as well.) We affixed all the necessary tubes in all the right places, hit "go," and ... went for Pho, because it was going to be almost an hour before anything would happen.
Upon returning, we saw the first few drops of distillate dropping into the jar. Unfortunately, the first of the distillate had to be thrown out; therein lies blindness! (Methanes, ethanols, and other nastiness all have a lower boiling point than alcohol, which has a lower boiling point than water. Thank goodness!) Arguably, we lost a significant portion of our alcohol that way, but it was better than risking it. We shut off the boil when the temperature hit 95 degrees. (We'd started around 20. Man, Canada's cold!) It seems that, toward the end, there was a lot of water sneaking in with our alcohol; it's not super high proof, as shown by the "shake test" video.
We each tried a taste before heading our separate ways; it smelled nasty (something that will dissappear with age) but wasn't precisely unpleasant to drink. Woohoo!
There will be more distilling in the future (since most of that half-case is still around), and we'll probably try re-boiling what we get from the beer distillation down into something more potent, just to see if we can. Pictures will be posted and updates will be made, as the process continues.
condenser.JPG
This is the condenser. The steam goes into the little spiral tube and condenses into liquid there, because cold water sits in the space around it, force-cooling the whole thing. It's pretty.
equipment.JPG
condenser, thermometer and gasket, 24/40 adpater, 2 L florence flat bottom flask, all fashioned from borosilicate glass.
sifting_sand1.JPG
The junk mail helps direct sand, which conducts heat, in there around the flask without getting all over the table.
sifting_sand2.JPG
A slightly blurrier shot of the sand being poured in.
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The flask, in the pot, with sand all around.
tea.JPG
Symbolic of the fact that all the alcohol was home brewed from the very beginning, and since we couldn't document that part, we held a tea ceremony required of us by the liquor gods.
equipment_part_assembled.JPG
The adapter, gasket, and thermometer, now called the still head, assembled.
and_ingredients.JPG
The four bottles of beer, plus the rest of the setup. That tube going from the top of the picture, down into the condenser, is sitting in a bucket of cool water. If you open the clamp at the bottom of the condenser, it creates a syphon and sucks water into the jacket of the condenser from the reservoir. The Jager bottle is just a weight to keep the stand from tipping.
whole_setup.JPG
The full setup, prior to beer-pouring. Now you can see the bucket of cool water that the top of the vinyl tube sits in.
beer_going_in1.JPG
We pour in the first of the beer.
beer_going_in_duckmonster.JPG
Duckmonster tastes the beer, just to prove it's OK. ("Have you taken the picture yet? This beer isn't all that good.")
beer_going_in_2.JPG
Beer goes in the funnel!
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Mudlock pours some beer.
beer_going_in_4.JPG
More beer. The flask is filling.
equipment_going_together.JPG
And now Doodle Maier puts the whole thing together, so we can start the boil.
equipment_going_together1.JPG
Another shot of the various tubes being attached.
equipment2.JPG
Here's the setup, more complete. You can see the leftover beer that we didn't put in, over there in the left side of the picture.
bottle.JPG
Put a graduated bottle under the condenser as a receiver to catch the alcohol!
starting_it_up.JPG
Duckmonster hits the "on" button, to begin cooking.
distillation_begins.JPG
Catching a picture of the first few drops of distillate coming down.
distillation_begins2.JPG
There's the drop! More will follow!
distillation_is_happening.JPG
Check it out. There's some liquid down there! We dumped the first ounce, so called the "heads" because they're rich with compounds associated with hangovers and blindness.
look_at_the_alcohol.JPG
Holy crap, alcohol!
boiling_beer.JPG
The beer, boiling away. It's all about the bubbles!
slowing_the_boil.JPG
We slowed down the boil as the temperature got above 95 degrees.
Distilling.mov
Watch the exciting journey of a few drops of alcohol!
DSCN5573.JPG
Yum! votchka! the fruits of our labor!
DSCN5574.JPG
Pile in, there's enough for everyone!
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Aww! Thanks, Charlie!
We might. I missed that the tub had to have water (or alcohol) in it... Though I guess if it were empty, that would just be too easy. :)
...not to be a stickler, but if distilling wine / making sherry doesn't count..... what's the difference with distilling down beer?
Beer isn't typically made in the process of making whiskey, though the same grains and a similar process are used. Would you be willing to just ferment grains in order to make mash for liquor production, instead of gleaning some strong alcohol from leftovers?
Dude, we made the beer ourselves, too. Granted, it was a few months ago, but we started with malt, hops, and barley, and we ended with distilled alcohol.
The big difference is that we didn't need the hops, to end where we are.
The tasks instructions don't specify any particular type of liquor (ours is votchka!) and they don't rule out sherry, explicitly, only implying that the liquor should be stronger than sherry which technically doesn't require distillation (unless the author meant to specify brandy which is what distilled wine is called). But all commercial mashes, regardless of the spirit being produced, start with a 8-15% abv mash, whether it's based on fruit, grain, a combination of grains, sugar, molasses, honey, or whatever because that's the limit of alcohol tolerance of most yeasts, other than those employed to make fuel. Not only are we willing to ferment malted grains to in order to produce liquor, we do so on a routine and on-going basis. I think what we need to complete this task is a short clip of the distillate taken directly from the condenser poured over a small pile of gunpowder and lit with a match (which, had I authored this task, I would've specified - proof liquor!)
You guys are awesome players.
Are you going to do part 2?