*NOTE: A number of countries consider it illegal to make your own homemade Brandy , mostly due to loss of taxation revenues. Some of the countries do, however allow making brandy for personal consumption. In the United States of America, the average Federal Excise tax is $13.50 a gallon on distilled spirits. Individual states add their own taxes on top of that. In Canada, the average cost of 1.14 Litres of liquor is $32.00 The taxation revenues from each bottle cost $26.56(approx.83% of the retail price is tax). As you can see, the reason is obvious.
Please consult your local laws concerning this matter.
Distillation is a process involving evaporating a particular solution (wine) and condensing the vapour (alcohol) in a separate vessel.
There are several main components for any distillation apparatus.
In order for evaporation to occur, the solution has to be brought to the boiling point. The source of heat can be a kitchen stove, barbeque, wood fire etc. The ethanol boils at 70°C, which is first to vaporize.
The rest of the wine is mainly water, which boils at 100°C. The two are in equilibrium with each other, which means that both components will be present in the vapour, to the variable degree at any given time. The higher the temperature of the solution, the more water will evaporate.
The best material for a cooking container is stainless steel. Corrosive materials such as iron and aluminum must be avoided. Copper, although popular in early days should not be used since it leaves a typical metallic after taste.
The pot should be slightly larger then the amount of liquid to allow for the expansion of the solution once heated. It must have an airtight seal with an opening to direct the vapours to the condensing chamber.
To have an airtight seal is important for several reasons.
First and foremost, the vapours are hot gasses. If the seal is not airtight, the vapours will escape which defeats the whole purpose.
In the “old days” during the prohibition in the United States, there are legends of moonshiners blowing up the stills, as well as causing harm to them selves.
This can happen, however it is highly unlikely.
Ethanol is an organic liquid. Once vaporized it has a potential of exploding.
In order for this to occur the concentration has to reach the lower explosive limit (LEL).
This is the vapour concentration of organic solvent expressed in parts per million. This concentration is seldom reached when distilling wine since the concentration of alcohol is only 12-15% to begin with and is in equilibrium with water in the vapour phase.
Nevertheless, to eliminate even the slightest potential any connections made should be leak proof fittings.
The best material to be used is Teflon tape, like the one used in plumbing.
Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) is a chemically inert polymer, being the most stable of plastics, and has an excellent sealant characteristic.
It moulds to any of the threading providing a tight fitting seal.
The opening on the cooking pot should be ½” or greater, depending on the size to be cooked. The object is to provide an unobstructed flow of the vapours to the condensing chamber being joined with the tube of same diameter.
A condensing chamber is a simple heat exchanger. The goal is to cool down the vapour to liquid using cold tap water as the cooling media. Cold tap water is cheap and efficient for this purpose.
To make the condenser stainless steel tubing is the material of choice however, thinner wall, food grade, or plastic tubing (such as high density polyethylene or polypropylene) can be used.
Plastics are not the best heat conductors. To composite for this, you have to increase the length of the tubing used when making the condenser.
The tubing should be fitted in a container that will hold the water. For smaller containers, a five-gallon pail can be used and for larger ones, a 30-gallon garbage pail will suffice.
The top portion of condenser is connected to the tube from cooking pot and the bottom should have a watertight seal running through the bottom of the pail. It is left open where the condensed liquid (BRANDY) is being collected in a separate container.
It is crucial that the entire path through the tubing is unobstructed and free flowing, eliminating any potential for pressure build-up.
The concentration of alcohol is about 60-65 % at the beginning of the process due to the presence of water.
The longer you distil; more water will evaporate diluting the alcohol content of the BRANDY.
All of the BRANDIES being distilled are clear in colour.
To monitor the alcohol concentration use the hydrometer with calibrated alcohol percentage scale. Once you reach the 40% mark, shut the heat off which will stop the evaporation.
You have made the BRANDY of the particular fruit. For storage, glass containers are best.
Transfer the BRANDY to gallon jugs or 5-gallon carboy if larger amount made.
Bon Voyage
