Noisebridge Distilled
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Noisebrige Distilled
About
This page gives people some info about the art of building, maintaining, and/or operating a still
The Equipment
Still Components
A pot, and a condenser :). Optionally, a reflux column.
Materials
- Glass is awesome for teaching and for beginners, but has crappy thermal properties.
- Copper with integrated heating coils is the choice of many pro distillers, but it is a real bear to keep clean, and reacts very badly to acids and bases.
Resources
Table of Boiling Points
- Acetate = 56.9C
- [1] = 64.7C
- [2] = 77.1C
- [3] = 78C
- [4] = 97.1C
- Acid = 118C (though this and other acids can react to form esters!)
Incredibly Useful Graphs
- Vapor Phase composition vs. Distillate Temperature - for EtOH / Water
- Vapor Phase composition vs. Pot Composition - assists in determining efficient reflux ratios when operating a reflux still (EtOH / Water)
Other Neato Stuff
- Proofing table - relates specific gravity of a liquid to its US Proof value.
- Industrial Data for Ethanol - otherwise known as everything you could have ever possibly asked about the solvent ethanol, in a 47 page document.
Legality
Owning and operation of a still is legal in California as given by part 23367 of the ABC code. Full unabridged (read: annoying) text of the 2010 ABC code can be found here: [5]
Note: Still laws vary state to state, so check to make sure you aren't breaking any laws!