Moonshine Still - Accessories and Equipment
The Still that our Uncle Jessey built in his shed at the bottom of the garden, was a very basic affair. Originally it was made from an old copper central heating boiler and the copper coil from the interior of the boiler, but as the years went by, this was modified to a cheaper, lighter, plastic model. Can you make alcohol in plastic ? of course you can....here we show you how:-
First of all, you need to collect a few items from your local home brewery store etc.. This could be a task in itself as there aren't many Brewery stores around anymore, but you may find the odd one at the back of a health food store, Boots the Chemist used to provide a home-brew section (not sure if they still do?) or even above your local Pharmacy (why a home-brew store is related to well-being is beyond me???) . Alternatively, you will find suitable online brewery stores with a bit of searching (check out my links page)
Accessories and Equipment required to make 1 litre of pure alcohol spirit (purely for your own personal consumption! not for public consumption, not for re-sale. Please check the prohibition laws in your country before commencing.)
To make the Mash you will need:-
1 x 25 litre plastic fermenting bucket
1 x Sachet of 24 hour or 48 hour Turbo Yeast
8kg Granulated Sugar
25 litre of cold water
Clearing Agent/Finings
To Distill the Mash you will need:-
1 x 25 litre plastic fermenting bucket (food grade) with lid
1 x 10 litre white plastic fermenting bucket (food grade) with 2 x lids (nb. TWO
lids, this is important)
1 x strip of PE Plastic insulation foam (1 metre x circumference of the 25 litre
bucket). The white foam insulation sheeting/underlay used to line Laminated
flooring is fine so long as it states that it is made from polythene plastic
(PE) on the label.
1 x immersion heater with a thermostat that reaches at least 55 degrees C. (nb.
these are similar to the heaters submersed in a fish aquarium, however, a
standard "pet shop" aquarium heater only has a maximum setting of 35 degrees C,
which is too low for the job in hand, so you must ensure that you purchase a
high setting heater)
1 x oven thermometer (we use a digital meat thermometer)
To Purify the spirit you will need:-
1 x 1.5 metre length of plastic plumbing tubing at 40mm diameter
1 x 10 litre Funnel (a tractor funnel from the local agricultural supplier is a
safe bet)
1 x large sachet of Carbon with a granule size of 0.4mm - 0.85mm
Flavouring (optional)
To test the result you will need:-
A selection of fine spirit glasses
An excuse for a knees-up
A supply of willing friends or relatives..
Once you have collected everything you need, you can begin
making your mash,
read on............
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