[hotterotter]

Hi

I'm new around here but, I've recently made a discovery, of a safe (doesn't explode or make you blind) and possibly even legal way to make spirit strength booze at home. I've not been able to find any reference to it on the net an none of the homebrewers I know have heard of this method. Infact the only other person I know who's done it is my dad and he denies all knowledge of it when he's sober (I suspect this is under instructions from my mum). Maybe I've got this wrong and everyone does it, or maybe there's a very good reason why nobody does it.
Basically the idea is to use a freezer to separate the water from a wine, using a large shallow bowl in the coldest part of your freezer and straining the the slushy ice through a muslin cloth, if you squeeze the liquid out (wear rubber gloves, alcohol at -20 can hurt your fingers) you'll be left with snow which has very little alcohol in it and the remaining liquor should go back in the freezer to repeat the process.

I did the original gravity test on the wine I tried this out with and it was medium and had 14% alcohol by volume at the final reading and 2 litres of wine produced 600ml of spirits. Quick sums suggest that if all the alcohol remained unfrozen then the liquor should be about 47%! It will also burn, also a sediment formed very quickly as the liquor warmed, this is I suspect the yeast that couldn't take the boozy environment so it needs racking again once it has warmed.

Apart from from making the alcohol more concentrated this method unlike distilation keeps the sugar in and therefore concentrates it as well, the medium wine I tried this with has become a very sweet liquor. I'm currently fermenting 9 litres of rice wine which should be very dry to see if I can produce a more spirit-like beverage.

I was wondering if anyone knows the law on distillation and whether this is legal or not and also is this a known method, has anybody heard of this before or have I uncovered a family secret that the world is not ready for?

[muntjac]

its not the making of the brew .its owning a still that is illegal if memory serves    you can make home brew to any alchohol content but distilling it is illegal

[Eristic]

The posession of any dutiable product for which the duty has not been paid is a criminal offence. We are allowed to ferment our own beer and wine but anything else requires a licence and duty.

If you just want to get peed, it is quicker and cheaper to go to the supermarket.

[shaun]

they dont sell good old moonshine in asda  

[Eristic]

They sell polish vodka. Same stuff.

[muntjac]

i gotta recipe fer tennesee moonshine someplace will root it out fer ya .my ex's family used to run it many years ago lolo

[hotterotter]

If you just want to get peed, it is quicker and cheaper to go to the supermarket.

thats just not true, this stuff cost about 1-2 pounds a litre and tastes better than 7 pound vodka. Going to the supermarket may be quicker, I'll give you that but its not cheaper. Personally I think homebrewing is perfect for making nice fruit wines over the course of a year and also knocking out cheap hooch in 5 weeks.

[Celtic Eagle]

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure that the law is you may not distill alcohol by any method and this would count as a distillation method.

[hayles62]

The Prohibition kits are a nice enough alternative and legal.

http://www.hamstead-brewing-centre.co.uk/itmidx45.htm

http://www.ritchieproducts.co.uk/liqueurs.htm

I made the Coconut Rum one and it was great

[Gwiz]

They sell polish vodka. Same stuff.

ive got more respect for my liver.
im sticking to meths!

[Hedgewolf]

Hi   {:^)
I've been doing homebrew and other related stuff for some years now, including freeze-distilling (and the other kind too...)

One problem with freeze-distillation is that, as mentioned, only the water is taken out, which means that as well as increasing the alcohol content (including any Methanol which has occured), you're increasing the concentration of the volatile oils (things which give you a hangover)

So long as you don't drink too much at a time, you should be ok, but hot distillation gives you the ability to get rid of the nasties before (and after)collecting the 'good stuff' (and actually less chance of going blind, if you take a few basic precautions).

By the way, I have it on good authority that you're VERY unlikely to get into trouble with the law, even if you run your own still, unless it's big enough to start running as a business. The police shouldn't be interested unless the customs people call them in and customs don't get out of bed for hauls of less than five figures. A still isn't intrinsically illegal and 'could' be used for perfume making and other things {;^)

Yes, it was a mis-spent youth, but very informative !
Take care, have fun and play safe,
- Tony -

[Aunt Sally]

It may not interest the police very much Hedgewolf, but thiis forum can never recommend anything illegal.  So...  dont try this at home members  :!:

[leeky]

ok Aunt Sally, I will try it down the plot instead    




 

[Hedgewolf]

this forum can never recommend anything illegal. So... dont try this at home members...

H'rumph... no, of course not - very dangerous and irresponsible too. Chuckle...

[John]

Seriously folks as Hughie used to say..

is it worth the hassle to create a spirit? Decent whisky and cognac takes many years and a lot of skill to create. If you're just looking for a cheap spirit then the supermarket vodka is really dirt cheap.

As said earlier, it's illegal as well. Hardly seems worth breaking the law to produce an inferior product. The bit about methanol is scary too - that stuff makes you go blind you know.

Shall we close it off here.