Expert: Paul Wagner - 1/31/2009

Question
I have been researching how to make your own liquor. One web site suggested pouring beer into a pot, heating that and cooling the vapors to create your liquor- this video explains it-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htVKbrNS-..

Now I know that if heated at the wrong temperature, you will get methanol, which is poisonous, instead of the desired Ethanol. If you put a thermometer in the beer and waited for it to reach the temperature at which Ethanol boils and then attached the coil to collect the vapors, would that work and make it so you wouldn't be capturing any harmful methanol vapors? I do realize this is not exactly legal either.


Answer
HI Brian

Yes, your system would work--more or less.  Most distillers who use this kind of a still cut out the first 10% and the last 10% because those usually contain a less pure alcohol--the termperature isn't so predictable then.  And yes, it is illegal in the US to distill spirits of any kind.  So it's not only potentially dangerous, but also against the law.

By the way, beer has a relatively low initial alcohol level.  You can do the same thing with wine or other fermented beverages.  You can also cook potatoes to transform the starches into sugar, then ferment that, and distill the result:  that's vodka!

Paul Wagner