How to Make a Still for Alcohol
People have been distilling botanicals into alcohol since before recorded history. If any of your craft projects call for the use of pure alcohol, a small still will provide you with enough for making soap, perfumes or other cosmetics. With a few household items and a little know-how, you can make a small still yourself.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- 8 mm OD copper tubing, approximately 6 to 10 feet Drill Pressure cooker Brewing cork Blu-Tack pressure-sensitive putty-like adhesive Plastic bucket
Instructions
-
-
1
Make a coil from copper tubing. Leave an uncoiled length of 1 to 2 feet at each end of the copper tubing. Wrap the center section around a gallon jug or another large cylinder.
-
2
Drill an 8 mm hole in the side of the bucket, about ½ inch from the bottom.
-
-
3
Insert one end of the copper tubing through the hole in the bucket. Bend the tubing so that the end dips below the bottom of the bucket. Seal the opening with Blu-Tack. Raise the bucket above the level of the countertop, and place a receptacle beneath the end of the tube to catch finished alcohol.
-
4
Fill the bucket with cold water so the coiled copper tubing is submerged.
-
5
Connect the other end of copper tube to the stem of the pressure cooker with a brewing cork.
-
6
Place materials to be distilled in pressure cooker. Do not fill more than half full. As the liquid boils in the pressure cooker, the vaporized alcohol works its way through the copper tubing and turns back into liquid as it cools. The finished product discharges through the other end of the copper tubing.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Use low to moderate heat when distilling.
Use care when distilling; alcohol is highly flammable. This method should not be used to distill alcohol for drinking.
