Page 210 - The Lost Ways

Alembic condenser (coiled copper tubing):

A Homemade Still

If you want to make your own homemade still, you’ll need four basic parts:

❖ The heater (vat), which heats up the liquid (fermented drink)
❖ A column, which helps to remove water from the heated vapors
❖ The condenser to cool and condense the vapors
❖ The vessel to catch the condensate in

Also, ideally, you need a thermometer; ethanol (the alcohol you’re after) boils at 173°F
and water at 212°F.

Distillation using a still works because the components of a liquid mixture, like a wine, boil
off at different temperatures. When you heat up the liquid, you end up with a continuous
stream of condensed vapors coming off into the vessel. The trick is to know which
component is the alcohol you are after.

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