Making alcohol at home. - Where the fuck do I start?

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

So I want to look into making my own high proof booze at home. Not for drinking, but for making hand sanitizer and as a sanitizing spray.
I'm getting tired of spending nearly $40 a pop on a handle of 190 proof grain alcohol.

The problem is I have absolutely no idea where to start. What kind of still should I get and from where? Any of you experienced enough in this shit to give me some advice or direction?

 

[DumbDude42]

"What kind of still should I get and from where?"
depends on what you want to do. if you just want to play around for fun and are ok with making a few dozen ml of product per batch then ordinary lab equipment will do. if you want to do larger quantities you'll have to look into commercial brewery and distillery equipment.

"advice or direction?"

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there's also a million videos on youtube where people show off their moonshine setups so you can look there for inspiration, too

whatever you do, make sure you know what you're doing before getting started. handling flammable substances at high concentrations and temperatures is a great way to burn your house down, and drinking improperly manufactured alcohol can leave you permanently blind or even dead from methanol poisoning

 

[Harnessed Carcass]

For an idea:

Above this type of home brew, you'll need to start looking for some real equipment, like a roughly 20 gallon copper distillery, It's extremely expensive, even if you have a mate with copper, due to how air-tight and secure you need all of the copper too be. Even an experienced moonshiner can have issues keeping the still together, so there are many 'deep-bush' techniques to keep it goin' good.

 

[The Last Stand]

Try this as a start. Rubbling alcohol is a must.

 

[Stoneheart]

due to how air-tight and secure you need all of the copper too be. Even an experienced moonshiner can have issues keeping the still together, so there are many 'deep-bush' techniques to keep it goin' good.

but why? just drill a whole in a pot, get a short piece of copper to a adapter on an other pot, let the first 10% run into the air, connect after that with the 2nd pot.
if you are in a hotter climate, you maybe need to put the 2nd pot in cold water. works perfectly fine for home use.

 

[Orion Balls]

Please don't build your still close to your house. That's all I ask. The above suggestions are generally good knowledge and input.

 

[soft kitty]

 

[MrWhoDat]

A family member of mine used to brew their own alcohol years ago.
He used a small still that could fit on a small table (but it was a pretty tall rig), rested on a heat source, with temperature gagues and glassware.
Just like there are hydro stores for weed growers, there are brewery stores for alcohol making. Depending on what you want to do, the owner will likely tell you the best rig for what you want to produce.
I guarentee you the owner of the store will be able to give you a heavily educated place to start and/or give you details on where to find the right info that is foolproof and works consistently.
Once you have the general basics I would suggest joining a brewery forum (you probably want an in person explanation from a store owner before educating yourself independently).
Its not hard, but it is a little complicated and requires your full attention whilst being made to ensure it doesnt go over a certain temperature.
Honestly though if I were you I would start on youtube. Especially now, there must be SO many videos being made over the past 2 months about making your own hand sanitizers.
Good luck dude!

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

Try this as a start. Rubbling alcohol is a must.

Right, but I at least want to be able to make my own sanitizing spray.
I can't use bleach on everything, and alcohol kills it the quickest anyway.
Plus alcohol evaporates while most others leave some kind of deposit behind.

 

[drfuzzyballs]

A couple years back I bought a stovetop still and made a few batches. It was $100 but there are more crude DIY ways to make it cheap with a pressure cooker and a cooler for a thumper.

The stills are shit but they work, you need to buy a rubber O ring, some vynil tubing and an electric water pump. Combined that's an extra $15. I used a stock pot to hold ice water and the water pump to circulate into the thumper.

You will need a carboy, a bung, and an airlock all readily available online or at a homebrewing store. Ferment your sugar water and you'll have to distill it twice at least to get high proof alcohol.

DO NOT leave the still unattended. No step on snek, tax evasion is cool

 

[Buster O'Keefe]

https://www.howtomoonshine.co/products/5-gallon-stainless-steel-stovetop-moonshine-still-kit

Something like this: I've never distilled though so I don't know. Making your alcohol base to run through it is ridiculously easy and can be done in a bucket. I will admit you made me sad when you said it wasn't for drinking.

 

[Rafal Gan Ganowicz]

Dear OP, DO NOT use such high proof alcohol to sanitise. 70% (140 proof) is optimal as it contains enough water to carry the booze across the cell membrane.

 

[MembersSchoolPizza]

Please don't build your still close to your house. That's all I ask. The above suggestions are generally good knowledge and input.

Mine is in my garage.

As long as you know what you're doing and watch it, it's safe. Stills exploding are from idjits who were either sloppy with an open flame, didn't clean their equipment, or didn't know how to build a still right and had no release in case of over-pressure.