Making Spirits: An Overview
To make spirits, first make an alcohol base. Mix grains with water and yeast. Ferment this mixture. Then distill it. Dilute the distilled product. Finally, add flavors and bottle it. The distilling process involves heating fermented liquids to evaporate alcohol. The alcohol vapor is collected and condensed into a concentrated solution. Flavors are added after distillation.
Different spirits have slightly different production methods. But distillation sets all spirits apart from un-distilled alcohol like wine. Distillation concentrates alcohol by evaporating and condensing it.
It takes around 7 days to make spirits using fast yeast, or 12 days with slower yeast. Distilling alcohol at home is illegal in the UK without a license. However, you can make naturally fermented alcohol for personal use up to 20% ABV.
Diluting Alcohol
To dilute 95% alcohol to 70%:
- Take 70 mL of 95% ethanol and add water until the total volume is 95 mL.
This method works for any dilution. But you cannot make 100% pure alcohol through distillation.
The easiest homemade alcohol is mead. It requires little equipment – just honey, water and yeast. Beer and wine also require few ingredients. But distilling spirits at home may be complex or illegal depending on local laws.
Distilling Spirits
Alcohol is called “spirits” because it is created through the process of distillation, which was believed to separate the liquid into its component parts and capture the spirit of whatever was being distilled. The short answer is that some sort of sugar is fermented to create what’s called a wash, which has lower alcohol content than spirits (usually about 5%-20% alcohol by volume). The wash is then put into a still. The still separates the alcohol from everything else so that it becomes more concentrated. From there, the distilled spirit is often aged, diluted, and bottled.
ABV and proof denote how much alcohol a spirit has, and they are the same. Proof is double a spirit’s ABV.
Newly made spirits kept in inert vessels remain colorless. When matured in wood, typically oak, the spirit softens. Like ethanol and water, compounds have different boiling temps. Congeners add flavor/complexity to some spirits but are removed from others to keep them pure.
Home Distillation
Making your own spirits is nothing new. It dates back centuries. Nowadays it takes less time and effort. What do you need? First, a still. The still type depends on the drink you want to make. The standard alembic still suits most spirits. Use a whisky still for whisky. Add a scraper to prevent fruit pulp caking.
Check if amateur distilling is legal where you live. Many variables exist, so an exact time is impossible. With fast yeast, nutrients, and an EZ Filter carbon process, you can drink homemade spirits in 7 days. Reflux stills collect less alcohol but at higher strength.
Instead, get everything to make your own moonshine with our all-in-one kits and Air Still. Moonshine isn’t a new hobby. It’s history is older than America. Many recipes gloss over a key detail: yeast. Yeast is vital in fermentation. It “eats” the mash’s sugar and makes ethanol and carbon dioxide. With such an important role, yeast choice matters.
Given spirits’ variety, you might think making them differs greatly. But only seven distilled spirits exist, each with unique flavors and distilling variations.
Spiritual and Ethereal Work
Deliberately creating a spirit starts with intention in imagination. If allowed autonomy it may move into other worlds, even ours, becoming a poltergeist. Ethically it’s best to start with a mindless agent. You risk creating a true spirit unintentionally – life involves risks.
Children are more spiritual than you think. What is spiritual programming? It lets residents connect through nature, music, art, words or self-reflection. Scatter these non-labeled programs so everyone feels welcome.