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Sake

1 (2%)

Apple Jack

5 (9.8%)

Brandy

5 (9.8%)

Whiskey

14 (27.5%)

Grough(sugar spirits)

0 (0%)

Schnapps

0 (0%)

Rum

6 (11.8%)

Grappa

0 (0%)

Raki

0 (0%)

Aqua Vit

0 (0%)

White Lightning

8 (15.7%)

Absinthe

2 (3.9%)

Anisette de Bordeux

0 (0%)

Vodka(grain)

5 (9.8%)

Tequilla

5 (9.8%)

Total Members Voted: 21

[socalserf]

Low tech and VERY cool!

Any links for "how to" on this basic model constrction and science?

[Who...me?]

Low tech and VERY cool!

Any links for "how to" on this basic model constrction and science?

here is a great site on stills

http://homedistiller.org/designs.htm

[Yuki]

Low tech and VERY cool!

Any links for "how to" on this basic model constrction and science?

here is a great site on stills

http://homedistiller.org/designs.htm

Tony certainly explains it better than I could. Be sure to see the part on removing methanol(methyl alcohol)
I also have a copy of The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible. It has a whole chapter on the subject of not killing yourself.
Bear wants to know how to malt grains so I'm going to put it up early despite that we're still talking about stills.
I'll put it here after I check my messages.

[Yuki]

MALTING

First select your grain to be malted. Some popular grains for this are wheat, barley, corn(Zea maize), rye, oats, & rice.  Barley malt is the kind used for milkshakes and malt balls. All of these can be used for bread, beer, or distilled spirits.  When you decide what to malt, you should then obtain the grain from a farmer or co-op as it comes from the fields. Un-prossessed. Wash the grain to remove chaff and dirt. soak the grain overnight. Spread it out on a clean dish towel and lay another on top. Keep this all moist and warm (approx.78^O F) until all have little roots and some start to get shoots. Then you dry them in a warm oven.  Any roasting or toasting or smoking thereafter just adds flavor. you can do that or leave it as is, either way you now have wholsome delicious hommade malt.

[Mad Wet Hen]

Good to know but what about the good old fashion Blackberry Brandy. I try to make some every year for cough Syrup. I have a hard time picking enough to cover Blackberry Jelly and my cough Syrup so I make only a pint of Brandy. One of these days I'll find the time to pick more berries.

[Yuki]

So post the recipie already!
PS 1 tbs each whiskey and raw honey= cough syrup.

[Mad Wet Hen]

This is how I make Blackberry Brandy
Pick a 5 qt Ice Cream bucket, fill it with Blackberries. Mash the berries and strain through a cloth. Squeeze the cloth so the some of the sediment from the berries goes through the cloth but not a lot. set in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. The juice will need 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of sugar added to it every 2 weeks to keep it from getting bitter. Also it keeps you from using artificial preservatives. You can put it in bottles and seal it so you don't need to refrigerate it but you must keep it cool, or it will after a short time turn into vinegar. The sediment in the bottom of the jar will help it ferment and help keep away colds and clear the congestion.
I use it for cough medicine 1 Tablespoon every 4 to 6 hours if needed.

[Yuki]

Ummm... That's blackberry wine, brandy is distilled. 

[Mad Wet Hen]

If you say so but it taste like brandy to me when you leave some of the pulp. I can't stand the Blackberry wine that is in stores. I like the flavor of Blackberry Brandy which I had bought some a long time ago. When this stuff sits for a year with you adding sugar every 2 weeks it is thicker then wine taste like brandy and has a sweet taste. I have made some every year and had a little left from 12 years ago until the kids got into it and drank it all. Now I have to start from scratch. Hope I can get to the Berries before the kids and animals do.

[Yuki]

Still building being called an important skill in another (more recent) thread, I figured I'd just bump this up a bit.

[SoupMonkey]

I remember reading Harry Harrison's "To The Stars" trilogy way back then. I ran across a technique I would never have thought of,
due to environment, and that is cold distillation. Rather than cook it off, you freeze the water off. For those of us in the torrid zone
this makes no sense, but for those way up yonder its a great way to make something to keep you, ahem, happy for a while.

[Yuki]

That's how you make Apple Jack.
It is just freeze distilled apple champagne.

[SoupMonkey]

That's how you make Apple Jack.
It is just freeze distilled apple champagne.

GD, I didn't live in an air conditioned house until I was 22. Doing anything in the cold, to me, is dang near exotic.

[Yuki]

That's how you make Apple Jack.
It is just freeze distilled apple champagne.

GD, I didn't live in an air conditioned house until I was 22. Doing anything in the cold, to me, is dang near exotic.

What about a freezer or a shed in the winter?

[SoupMonkey]

GD: we didn't have freezers, we had smoke houses for curing meats(mostly pig). As for winter sheds, what winter? Most winters down here would make someone from Minnesota think it was spring. Cold distillation of hard cider would work great up north in the cold months. I still don't have a freezer because I don't want to depend on anything electric.
And by the way: RIP Popcorn, you were a true shiner.