What Are Moonshine Stills?
Moonshine is a strong alcoholic drink made by distilling fermented mixtures of grains or mash. Also sometimes called corn liquor, rotgut or white lightning, moonshine has a long and colorful history in North America. Traditionally, it has been made illegally by clandestine operations, hence the name that reflects the secretive, dark-of-night activity. Today moonshine is still illegal in most places, unless a special permit is obtained. The device used to make moonshine is called a still and dates back thousands of years. Does this Spark an idea?
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Fermentation and Alcohol
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Moonshine contains alcohol and lots of it. The alcohol that we can drink is more properly called ethanol and is a clear, colorless liquid at room temperature that boils at 173 degrees F. The alcohol that goes into a moonshine still is usually made by a process of fermentation. Fermentation occurs when the microorganism yeast breaks down simple sugars and makes ethanol as a byproduct. The sugars can be provided by mixing the yeast with water and something sweet like brown sugar or by a mixture of a starchy food like corn mixed with malt. This "mash" is allowed to ferment until the yeast has made as much alcohol as it can -- about 14 percent alcohol is the most that can be reached by simple fermentation. To make the stronger moonshine, distillation is required.
Distillation
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Distillation is a simple process that has been used since the time of the ancient alchemists. To separate a mixture of two liquids, the mixture is heated until it gives off vapors. These vapors will contain a greater concentration of the lower boiling component, as compared to the original liquid mixture. By capturing and recondensing the vapors, the percentage of the lower boiling compound is increased. When distilling fermented mixtures, the idea is to increase the concentration of the lower boiling ethanol. Since alcohol and water are close in boiling point, a single distillation results in an increase from about 14 percent alcohol in the starting mixture to around 40 percent in the distilled mixture. This can be increased by repeated distillations or use of more refined distillation techniques.
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Basic Still
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The most basic still for production of moonshine is the pot still. This is a metal pot that holds the fermented mix and sits over a heat source, which can be as simple as a coal fire. The pot has an outward curved lid with a central hole to which a metal line is attached, so vapors travel up and along the line. This line runs downward to a receiving vessel. The line can be air cooled or immersed in water. Vapors condense in the line and the resulting liquid -- the moonshine -- trickles down into the receiving pot. Copper is usually preferred for still construction because of its heat transfer and chemical properties.
Complex Stills
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A more efficient distillation, resulting in strong moonshine with a higher alcohol content, can be obtained by using a reflux still in a process known as fractional distillation. A reflux still has a vertical column protruding upward from the pot in which the vapors condense and revaporize in stages as they move up the column, essentially producing a series of repeated distillations. The most concentrated distillate at the top of the column is drawn off. These stills can produce alcohol content of 70 percent to 95 percent.
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