How To

Step 1 - Hygiene

Sterilisation is one the keys to producing high quality spirits. Before starting a brew it is important to thoroughly wash and then sterilise ALL equipment. A solution of sodium metabisulphate (2tablespoons per 5 litres of water) or preferably sodium hypochlorate (Janola bleach - 250ml per 5 litres of water) is made up and all items soaked overnight, then rinsed and reassembled the following day. Note stills should not be cleaned with sterilising solution, use clean water only.

Step 2 - Preparing The Wash

In a clean sterilised fermentor, white sugar is mixed with water and nutrient. The ideal temperature of the mix is 25-35 Celsius. Yeast is then added and thoroughly mixed. The wash has now been prepared (a wash is known as a mixture of sugar, water, yeast and nutrients (they feed the yeast) fermented together to produce alcohol). Spirits Unlimited recommend the use of Superbrew a balanced blend of high alcohol yeast and special nutrients which rapidly ferment sugar and dextrose. 

At the end of 3-5 days the yeast will have converted the sugar into alcohol, resulting in a wash with 10-18% ethanol (% ethanol is dependent on the amount of sugar and the quality of the yeast used). The fermentor should be left in a cool place for 1-2 days to allow all the yeast to sink to the bottom (this is known as clearing). Please note that the resultant wash is not a pure mixture, it contains many other alcohols, organic compounds, fusil oils (higher order alcohols) and many other compounds. The purpose of the distillation process is to purify the wash. The cleared wash can then be transferred into the still.

Step 3 - Distillation 
 

Distillation is the principle of separating alcohol by vaporisation. The temperature ranges of common alcohol's are as follows: 

Methanol 64.5-65.5°C
Ethanol 78.0-78.5°C
Propanol 81.5-82.5°C
Butanol 116-118°C

A well designed still will heat up the wash to the correct boiling point of the alcohol to be extracted and hold it at this temperature until all alcohol has been removed. For creating spirits and liqueurs ethanol is the only alcohol required. 

Spirits Unlimited supplies two types of stills, a pot still (MK5E) and a number of refluxstills (the Euro range). 

Pot stills are basically a pot with a hemispherical lid and condenser. The wash is put in the base of the still and heated until the liquid starts to vaporise. As the wash is heated steam is produced and passes up through the condenser and is converted back into a liquid. This liquid is a solution of approximately 40-50% ethanol (by volume) and water. The distillate can then be carbon treated to further purify the spirit. 

The other type of distillation is know as fractional distillation, the Spirits Unlimited Eurorange are all fractional distillation devices (commonly known as reflux stills). A reflux stillconsists of a boiler and a fractional column. As the wash is heated, vapors rise up the column until they reach the top and are condensed (changed from a vapor state back to liquid). The liquid then flows back down inside the column to where the temperatures become hot enough to boil the liquid again and the process starts over. This process is called refluxing. 

As the refluxing cycle continues the vapors in the column are effectively re-distilled and separate into discrete layers within the column. The layers consist of the most volatile elements (lowest boiling points) at the top and the least volatile (highest boiling points) at the bottom. This allows the required layer to be drawn off, in our case this is the ethanol. The resultant distillate will be approximately 70-95% ethanol and water. 

Please note with both pot and reflux still designs it is not possible to achieve a 100% recovery of the ethanol in the wash being distilled, rather an 70-80% recovery is achievable with a home still.

Step 4 - Processing The Distillate

While a reflux still will produce a purer distillate both the output from the pot and refluxstills will benefit from a carbon treatment process. The aim of this process is to further refine the spirit. Spirits Unlimited recommend the twin carbon treatment process to remove any impurities in the distillate. The first step is to treat the spirit with a highly reactive carbon such as Spirits Unlimited Carbon Treatment. This carbon will assist in the removal of reactive organics while absorbing higher order alcohols (fusil oils). The spirit is mixed with the carbon treatment and left for at least 48 hours (the longer the better). 

The next step is to treat the spirit with a filter carbon such as Spirits Unlimited Filter Carbon. This carbon will further deodorise and polish the spirit. This is achieve by dripping the spirit through the filter slowly (approximately 1 drip per second) until all has been treated. 

Now you have a clean pure spirit ready for dilution and flavouring.

Step 5 - Diluting The Spirit

Depending on the type of still you have used the cleaned pure spirit will be in the range of 40-90% alcohol per volume. It is important to dilute this spirit if it is above 40% as very little spirit on the commercial market today is above 40% in strength. Diluting the spirit is also known as cutting. That is a clean source of water is used to dilute the spirit. It is important to use a clean source of water as you would not want to spoil a good batch of spirit with impure water. Ordinary filtered tap water is fine, or if preferred cooled boiled rainwater.

Dilution Of Spirit With Water

Having treated the spirit the last step before adding flavoring is cutting it. Spirits Unlimited recommend the use of a water/spirit hydrometer to accurately measure and dilute your spirit to 40% by volume. 

Some typical alcohol strengths (% alcohol per volume): 

Spirits e.g. Whisky, Brandy, Gin, Vodka 35-45%
Liqueurs e.g. cream based, herbal, orange 20-34%
Fortified Wines e.g. port, vermouth 15-20%

Making Spirits & Liqueurs 

After producing a cleared soft tasting neutral spirit, flavour is added to produce good flavoursome spirits, liqueurs and cocktails. Spirits Unlimited produces an extensive range of flavours, Spirit Flavours, Liqueurs and Concentrates.