If you want to distill alcohol, you
obviously need some materials. As it is always in life, you can use a
very simple home made set up which will cost you around $50 or you can
go for the Rolls Royce. It's up to you!
I will try to describe basic
materials as well as a more professional set of materials if you want to
take your hobby to the next level.
The basic set up
The most basic distilling set up
requires the following supplementary materials:
-
Fermentation vessel: the
sugar solution (mash) needs to be fermented in a clean environment.
-
Airlock: the airlock allows
carbon dioxide (formed by alcohol production) to evade the fermenter
while avoiding air to enter the vessel.
-
Siphon: a (garden) hose which
you can use to siphon the fermented wash into the still without
bringing the yeast sediment into the still.
-
Thermometer: measure the
temperature at the top of the still, in order to determine the quality
of the output (alcohol). Most commonly a standard glass thermometer is
used.
The "advanced" set up
-
Hydrometer: a glass tube
with a scale on it, used to determine the specific gravity of fluids.
