Homemade alcohol production. Cooking it at home

Making vodka from alcohol at home, the recipe for which is quite simple, is an alternative to expensive factory-produced alcohol. In addition, a homemade product made from quality raw materials is even better.

But it is important to remember that excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to health, and homemade alcohol is prohibited for commercial sale.

There are many recipes for making vodka from alcohol, and they all use alcohol and water. The quality of the finished product will depend on the quality of these components. To make vodka from alcohol at home, you need to go through several preparation steps.

Water

The first step in preparing vodka from alcohol is choosing water and the alcohol itself. Many recipes recommend using pure spring water, but regular bottled water can also work. It is important to choose clear water with minimal salt content. Therefore, when purchasing water, you must carefully study the label. The composition should indicate how much salt the water contains. And softness can be determined visually: the clearer the water, the softer it is.

In order to make vodka, you cannot use distilled or boiled water, since such a liquid loses its beneficial properties and does not dissolve alcohol well.

Alcohol

The main component is alcohol; ethyl or medical grade vodka is suitable for homemade vodka. There is no particular difference between them. Medical alcohol is ethyl alcohol, diluted with a certain amount of water. It is necessary to choose alcohol of the highest degree of purification; the highest quality is considered to be a product obtained from wheat and rye.

In order to further calculate the correct proportions, it is necessary to accurately determine the alcohol strength. This can be done using a special device that measures the density of a liquid - a hydrometer. Or use our online calculator, which will accurately determine the strength of your drink.

The second step is to prepare and select other additional ingredients. In this case, it all depends on the recipe. For example, classic vodka is prepared with the addition of a glucose solution. To give the drink additional taste, various components are used, such as:

  • citrus juices,
  • nutmeg,
  • hot red pepper, etc.

It all depends on individual taste preferences.

Attention! According to current Russian legislation, it is absolutely legal to produce any alcoholic beverages for personal use. But selling a bottle of even the highest quality homemade product to a neighbor is an act punishable under the criminal code.

Mixing

The third stage is mixing the components. To get the best vodka, you need to measure everything accurately and combine it in the right proportions.

At this stage, it is necessary to decide on the strength of the finished alcoholic drink, and this depends on the amount of water.

  • Additional ingredients, as a rule, have almost no effect on the strength of the finished product.
  • Vodka is most often prepared at 40°.
  • To obtain such a strength, take alcohol and water in a ratio of 1: 1.3.
  • For 100 ml of 90° alcohol use 130.8 ml of water.
  • Note that vodka with a strength of 40° is considered the most optimal for consumption.

Many sources present a special table with proportions to make it easier to dilute alcohol, but it is worth remembering that there is an important rule that affects the quality of the drink regardless of the proportions taken.

How to properly dilute alcohol? An important rule in the connection is to add alcohol to water, and not vice versa. This technique allows you to get a clear rather than cloudy drink. After the alcohol has been added to the water, the resulting liquid must be mixed very well. Mix thoroughly in a container with a lid by shaking.

Filtration

The fourth stage is filtering. To get good quality vodka, it needs to be cleaned. To do this, use activated carbon (3-4 tablets). The product is added to the liquid and mixed, after which you need to leave the workpiece for a couple of hours, and then strain the liquid through dense cotton cloth.

In the final part of the preparation, filtered vodka is poured into clean bottles to the very edges of the neck. It is important that there is no air in the bottle.

Then the drink is tightly closed and left to brew for 2 days. The classic drink will be stored for a very long time, and the shelf life of vodka with additional ingredients will depend on the shelf life of these components.

As you can see, the creation process is simple, all ingredients can be found on sale. To obtain a glucose solution, you will need 1 kg of sugar and 1 liter of water. Mix water and sugar and cook over low heat. During the process, white foam will appear on the surface and must be skimmed off each time it appears. The solution is considered ready when the foam stops appearing.

Many people prefer the classic taste of the drink, but there are many interesting recipes with different flavors. Below are some of them.

Classic vodka recipe

The traditional drink is prepared from only 3 components:

  • concentrated alcohol (96%) - 1.25 l;
  • water - 2 l;
  • glucose (40% solution prepared in advance) - 40 ml.

Let's consider the process of preparing this vodka from alcohol. In a container (it is better to do everything in a container with a lid), mix glucose and water. Add alcohol to the resulting sweet liquid. Then shake well and place in the refrigerator for a while. The drink must be tasted chilled.

Homemade vodka is good in itself, but it also serves as an excellent base for preparing delicious liqueurs. Today, when store shelves are crowded with an assortment of alcohol of varying prices and degrees of “elitism,” it is difficult to surprise anyone with a purchased delicacy, and the quality does not always correspond to the price tag. But putting a natural, homemade drink on the table for guests is a completely different matter.

Berry liqueurs

Most often, liqueurs are infused with berries. For this purpose, almost any seasonal crops are used:

Please note that berry juice will dilute the vodka and reduce its strength. If you want to get exactly the classic version with 40% alcohol content, you should make the base a little stronger. Liqueurs that are too sweet are difficult to drink, and they also tend to produce heavy and sudden intoxication.

Citrus vodka

How to make lemon vodka from alcohol can be understood from the following recipe. For a citrus alcoholic drink you will need:

  • water - 0.6 l;
  • alcohol - 0.4 l;
  • lemon - 1 pc.

Cooking process:

  1. The lemon should be washed well and doused with boiling water, then the peel should be removed and thoroughly chopped.
  2. Place the chopped zest in a glass jar.
  3. Squeeze the juice from the lemon pulp into a separate glass jar.
  4. Next, mix water and alcohol in a separate bowl, put the resulting mixture in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
  5. Divide the alcohol tincture and pour in the zest and lemon juice separately.
  6. Close both containers with a lid and leave for 14 days.
  7. After this, strain the vodka and, if desired, add 1 tbsp. l. sugar for taste.
  8. It is better to cool the alcohol before tasting.

Hot pepper

Peppercorns are also very easy to prepare at home. The following components are required:

  • homemade vodka 40° - 0.5 l;
  • red chili pepper - 1 pc.;
  • black peppercorns - 4-6 pcs.;
  • cloves - 2 pcs.

Wash the pepper well, make a cut and remove the seeds from the inside. Place cloves and allspice in the peeled chili. Place the vegetable in a container, then pour homemade vodka over it, close the lid tightly and leave for 5 days. As a result, the pepper is no worse than store-bought.

Fragrant vodka

This is a popular recipe with pine nuts. You will need the following ingredients:

  • pine nuts (in shell) - 0.5 kg;
  • homemade pure vodka - 3 l;
  • plain water - 2 l.

Cooking process:

  1. First you need to pour 1 liter of water into the pine nuts and bring to a boil, boil for 5 minutes.
  2. After the time has passed, change the water and boil for another 5 minutes.
  3. Then the nuts need to drain; a colander is perfect for this.
  4. When all the water has drained, you can add nuts to the vodka.
  5. The drink is tightly sealed and infused in a dark, warm place for 2 weeks.

After this, the drink is ready to drink.

Cognac version

Popular cognac vodka contains slightly more ingredients and differs in taste parameters. To prepare it you need the following set of products:

  • sugar - 1 tsp;
  • bay leaf - 2 pcs.;
  • soda - ½ tsp;
  • cloves - 2 pcs.;
  • classic homemade vodka - 3 l;
  • vanillin - 2-3 drops liquid or on the tip of a knife in powder form;
  • oak bark finely chopped into powder - 1 tsp;
  • allspice black pepper - 3 pcs.;
  • black instant coffee - 1.5 tsp;
  • brewed strong black tea (not in bags) - 1 tsp.

Next, everything is done according to the classic moonshine recipe. Place all ingredients in a saucepan and place on low heat. Seal the container with bread mass. Before the vodka almost boils, it must be removed from the heat and cooled. Then the liquid must be strained well and bottled. Serve chilled.

Spices and herbs

Original drinks with a delicate aroma and exquisite taste can be obtained by infusing vodka with medicinal herbs and spices. Often such a product is not just an interesting accompaniment to a feast, but also has medicinal properties (of course, in reasonable doses).

Anise

A close relative of dill belongs to the same family - umbelliferae, but has a more subtle, delicate aroma and a slightly sweetish taste. With his participation, “Anisovka” is created. To prepare it you will need:

  • Anise seeds – 20 gr.
  • Cinnamon stick – 1 pc.
  • Fennel 5-10 gr.
  • Fresh ginger root – 10 gr.
  • Star anise -5 gr.

This amount of spices is enough to prepare 1.0 liters of anise from homemade vodka. All ingredients are poured into a clean, dry glass or ceramic container, poured with vodka and allowed to brew for 10-14 days in a dark place at room temperature, shaking occasionally to improve the diffusion process.

After the infusion period ends, the liquid is filtered, poured into storage containers and sent to the refrigerator for 2-3 days. There the drink “arrives”, maximizing its taste and aromatic qualities.

Horseradish

This popular spice is good not only for preservation or as a fiery addition to jellied meat. Spicy vodka is infused at the root of the plant, and honey is added to make its taste softer and to highlight the pungent properties of horseradish.

  • ½ liter of vodka.
  • 1 tablespoon of natural honey.
  • Horseradish root (medium thickness) – 10-12 cm.
  • Freshly squeezed lemon juice – 2 tablespoons.

The root is peeled, cut into small pieces, you can grate it on a coarse grater, but with this method the “horseradish soup” is more pungent, with a characteristic pronounced taste. For relief, honey can be melted first if it is sugared. Place all ingredients in a jar, pour in a small amount of vodka and stir or shake thoroughly until the honey is completely dissolved. Then add the rest of the base to the mixture, cover the container with a lid and send it to a dark place for 3-5 days.

If you infuse “crappy” vodka longer, it can become bitter. After the allotted time, strain and refrigerate until ready.

This recipe has been known to masters of making alcoholic beverages since the reign of Peter the Great, but to this day it does not lose its relevance. Horseradish is especially good in winter and for the treatment of colds, as it contains a large amount of phytoncides - natural germ killers.

Lemon-mint vodka

Pleasant-tasting, refreshing vodka is prepared from the following list of products:

  • homemade vodka - 1 l;
  • fresh mint leaves - 120 g;
  • medium-sized lemon - 3 pcs.;
  • sugar - 250 g.

Cooking process:

  1. Initially, you need to wash and dry the lemons with a paper towel, then remove the zest from them.
  2. Wash and cut mint leaves into small strips.
  3. Place the zest and mint in a separate container, then squeeze the juice from all the lemons into these ingredients and then pour into the vodka.
  4. Mix everything thoroughly.
  5. The container with the preparation must be hermetically sealed and left to infuse for 10 days in a dark, warm room.

A prerequisite for preparation is the need to shake the preparation once a day. After time, the mixture must be strained and sugar added to taste. Stir the mixture again and leave to infuse for one week.

This is an ancient recipe that allows you to use ordinary potatoes to make vodka soft and not so strong. To do this you need:

  • potatoes 1 kg;
  • water - 20 l;
  • rye flour - 1 kg;
  • rye straw - 50 g;
  • homemade vodka, diluted in advance - 1 liter.

Cooking steps:


Thus, you can independently prepare an alcoholic drink to suit every taste without much difficulty, but it is always worth remembering that alcohol causes great harm to health and it is not recommended to get carried away with its consumption.

First you need to understand how ethyl alcohol is produced. The production of alcohols occurs through the process of rectification. This is quite feasible at home if you follow our recommendations!

The first thing you need to know is that you can only make alcohol (at home, at least) from raw alcohol, that is, from distilled mash. From the original material - mash (alcohol is formed precisely during fermentation) - you will not get pure ethyl alcohol at home. You can learn how to get moonshine for making ethyl alcohol from another. Now you know what alcohol is made from!

Moonshine, as a rule, has an alcohol content of about 60-80% vol. It is preferable to dilute the raw material for alcohol to approximately 40-45% vol. Why is this done when making alcohol at home? The fact is that with such a strength of the product, a much better separation of the “heads” and “tails” is obtained, which, as with distillation, must be separated when rectifying moonshine at home.

So, we understand that the production of alcohol at home begins with the production of mash, and then with raw alcohol. Next, we proceed directly to the home rectification of alcohol. If you have already decided on, then you should know what kind of heating is considered effective for it. We would like to immediately note that in installations with a height of less than 1.5 m, large heating will be irrational. For example, in the case of the Shanghai device manufactured by Max Cuprum, the actual heating (without heat loss) should be about 350 kW, but taking into account heat loss, the heating power can be about 700 kW. Heat losses are calculated individually for each distillation unit.

The production of ethyl alcohol begins with the fact that you must pour raw alcohol into a distillation cube. Experienced moonshiners would also advise you to add one tsp for every 10 liters of raw moonshine. soda (baking soda). It is needed for saponification of esters, as well as neutralization of organic acids.

First, to make alcohol at home, you need to start heating the installation complete with filled moonshine. When the contents of the distillation cube reach a temperature of about 60 degrees, you should reduce the heating to the “working” temperature, which we indicated above. The product outlet will need to be shut off and the column “work for itself” for about half an hour (at least). It is important that for safety reasons you have an open atmospheric fitting (or have any other connection with the atmosphere, for example, in the case of the Shanghai, this is an unsealed removable cover). If raw alcohol begins to ooze from the place of connection with the atmosphere, you need to reduce the heating, because You are faced with a common phenomenon - choking.

It is important that in order to obtain high-quality alcohol, the temperature of the product must be quite high (considerably above room temperature). This is explained by the fact that the temperature difference between the steam entering the column and the reflux must be minimal for an effective heat and mass transfer process.

To produce food alcohol after the installation has “worked for itself”, it is necessary to establish an effective sampling rate. In the case of “Shanghai” it is 350 ml/h. But it is important to take into account that the “heads” for producing alcohol from food raw materials should be selected as slowly as possible, at a rate of about 30-40 ml/h. They will amount to about 2% of the raw alcohol you poured into the distillation cube and contain impurities that significantly worsen the quality of the product. Therefore, if you are wondering how to quickly make alcohol, we have to disappoint you: no way.

Let's return to the question - how to make good alcohol at home! After selecting the “heads” (which, by the way, smell like acetone, and their strength, if you do everything correctly, should be about 94-95% vol.), the selection of the next, intermediate, fraction will begin - recycled alcohol. As a rule, it makes up 10-30% of the distilled raw alcohol and is not an “alpha” alcohol, which is exactly what we want to make alcohol at home.

The amount of circulating alcohol is determined using the Lang test: add 200 mg of potassium permanganate to 1 liter of water, mix and leave for 2 days. After this time, the test solution is considered ready! Take 50 ml of rectified product, add 1 ml of solution and note the time. Then you need to take the same amount of water and add the same amount of solution - this will be a sample for comparing the rate of acquisition of the same color by rectified alcohol. If raw alcohol acquires this color in less than 10-20 minutes (everyone has different requirements for alcohol), then it is recycled alcohol. If it is more than this time, then it is a food fraction.

So, if you are thinking about how to prepare alcohol at home, know that you will definitely need to do a Lang test.

The food fraction, like the tail fraction, in our case should be taken at a rate of about 350 ml/h. It usually ends when the boiling point reaches 85 degrees. (but it may end a little earlier, for example, at 82 g, if the organoleptic properties of the rectified product are no longer satisfactory). Rectification, as a rule, continues until the bottom temperature reaches 98 degrees. Then the heating is turned off.

Both circulating alcohol and the tail fraction will be useful to you for subsequent rectifications, because they contain a large amount of ethyl alcohol. How to obtain ethyl alcohol from these fractions is the same as we described above.

Now you know how to make 96° alcohol!

Ethyl drinking alcohol has become widespread in households; various homemade alcoholic drinks are made from it: vodka, cognac, tinctures, liqueurs, liqueurs and cocktails. Edible wine alcohol is used for canning juices and berries. Using medicinal herbs and drinking alcohol, you can prepare useful tinctures for the treatment of various diseases. For home food purposes, only rectified alcohol made from sugar-containing or starch-containing raw materials is used; in no case should ethyl and methyl alcohol be confused. Methanol is a terrible poison obtained from wood products.

From a chemical point of view, drinking ethyl alcohol is a colorless liquid, completely transparent with a sharp characteristic odor and a burning taste. Easily dissolves in water. When set on fire, it burns with a blue flame. The chemical formula of drinking alcohol is C2H5OH. Boils at - 78.3 degrees.

Attention: Solutions with a high alcohol content are flammable and require careful handling, as well as compliance with fire safety regulations.

You can make ethyl alcohol yourself. Making alcohol at home is a very real task. Having special equipment for the production of alcohol, you can easily obtain a product of fairly high quality, in no way inferior to alcohol made in production.

Raw materials for alcohol. The main raw materials for the production of ethyl alcohol at factories are: grain, potatoes, sugar beets. At home, alcohol can be made from any product that contains sugar or starch. Wheat, corn, barley, sugar, jam, berries, fruits, the list is simply huge. The choice should be determined by the cost of raw materials and the yield of the finished product. The most common and easiest to prepare is, of course, sugar, and the cheapest raw materials include grains, beets, and potatoes.

Elite varieties of alcohol, as a rule, are produced on the basis of alcohol prepared from grain and fruit-berry raw materials. Below is how to make alcohol from wheat. Based on this recipe, you can similarly prepare alcohol from other available raw materials, the technology is almost the same.

Alcohol production process, preparation technology

The production of alcohol is a rather complex technological process that requires constant monitoring and compliance with all regimes at the rectification stage. The main stages of the process can be identified:

  1. Making mash,
  2. Obtaining raw alcohol
  3. Rectification of alcohol.

Making mash from wheat

Ingredients:

  • Wheat – 10 kg;
  • Water – 40 l;
  • Enzymes:
  • Amylosubtilin – 25 g;
  • Glucavamorin – 25 g;
  • Dry yeast – 50 gr.

How to prepare mash.

  1. Grind the wheat in a special crusher, or grind it in another accessible way. It is advisable to grind not into flour, but the fraction should be like cereal, but not critical!
  2. In a large 50-60 liter container, heat water to a boil, add wheat grits. When adding cereal, the mash must be stirred to prevent the formation of lumps. Leave the porridge to steam for 3-6 hours.
  3. At a mash temperature of 80C, add enzyme A-Amylosubtilin. Under the action of enzyme A, the thick porridge will become liquid and will be ready for saccharification.
  4. At a temperature of 63-65C, add the enzyme G-Glucavamorin, which saccharifies starch. This temperature must be maintained for 2-3 hours. After this time, you can do an iodine test to ensure that the wort is saccharified. In the absence of enzymes, malt can be used. Take ordinary ground brewing malt 2.5 kg and add it at 63-65C.
  5. Sweet wort must be cooled as quickly as possible to the yeast pitching temperature of 25-28C to avoid unnecessary microbes getting into it. This can be done using a special chiller for cooling, or placing the container with the wort in an ice bath.
  6. Pour the cooled wort into a fermentation container and add the prepared yeast. Yeast can be used compressed, the dosage in this case increases. A water seal is installed on the fermentation tank, and the mash ferments for 5-6 days at a temperature of 25-30 degrees.

Obtaining raw alcohol.

  1. If you have a regular moonshine still, then the thick mash must be filtered through a sieve or distilled in a special bag to avoid burning. If it is possible to distill the mash with steam or in a steam-water boiler, then filtration is not needed. Another advantage of steam distillation is an increase in raw material yield.
  2. The mash is poured into the cube of a moonshine still and driven to the water without selecting the head and tail fractions. As a result, 10 kg of wheat should yield 11-13 liters of raw alcohol, with a strength of 28-30 degrees. There is no need to purify moonshine before rectification.

Rectification of alcohol.

To obtain pure ethyl alcohol at home with a strength of 96.6%, a conventional moonshine still will not work. For its production, a distillation column made of stainless steel is required, in which complex processes of heat and mass transfer occur.

The structure of the column is in many ways similar to a moonshine still, but allows you to obtain pure ethyl drinking alcohol without impurities. Many people are interested in the question of how to purify alcohol at home, but alcohol does not need additional purification. Alcohol purification occurs in the column itself. You can make such a device for producing alcohol yourself, in more detail.

The column is installed on a distillation cube into which moonshine is poured. The device is connected to special automation, which controls the entire rectification process, both the temperature and pressure in the cube, and also selects the head fractions and selects the alcohol. After switching on, the column works for itself for some time, during which time the fractions are located along the column. Then the heads begin to be collected drop by drop, followed by drinking alcohol and then the tails. Everything is the same as during distillation, but in the column itself the processes are much more complex.

Alcohol production can also be controlled manually, but this is a long and difficult process. As a result, 2.5 liters of pure drinking alcohol are obtained from raw alcohol. How to check the quality of alcohol at home? To do this, a Lang test is performed, which is well described on the Internet. For Lang's test, you need distilled water, potassium permanganate and the alcohol being tested.

Edible alcohol is used to prepare various homemade drinks. The alcohol solution can be used to prepare vodka, and on its basis, prepare other high-quality alcohol. Drinking alcohol must be stored in a sealed container; the shelf life is unlimited. Keep away from children and fire!

Attention: the information is provided for informational purposes. Remember the dangers of alcohol!

Vodka is a multifaceted product; it is made at home using all kinds of raw materials - sweets, jam, potatoes, grapes, etc. Let's consider the traditional technology for preparing an alcoholic drink from sugar and yeast.

Feedstock: purified water, sugar, dry yeast

Equipment: container, moonshine still

The initial stage includes preparing sugar mash at the rate of 1 kg. sugar per 5 liters of water. Water is poured into a large container and sugar is added.

To speed up the process of dissolving sugar, it is recommended to heat the water to a temperature of 30°C (you can use a boiler). After thoroughly stirring the sugar in warm water, add dry yeast (about 100 grams).

After the specified time, the ripened sugar mash is poured into a distillation complex (moonshine still) to further produce raw alcohol. Next, a steam chamber and a so-called refrigerator are installed.

The device has thermoelectric heaters at the very bottom, so constant monitoring of the liquid will prevent them from burning out.

Connecting the tubes will determine the supply and exit of water and the finished product. In this case, the water outlet tube must be immersed in any container.

Modern distillation complexes provide for the connection of automation; temperature sensors are also connected directly to the apparatus. Thanks to this device, managing processes becomes much easier.

After starting the device, the mass heats up, and when the temperature reaches 98°C, the device will automatically turn off. You can periodically measure the alcohol content in the water leaving the machine. Most often, at the extreme temperature it will reach less than 5%.

In the end it worked out raw alcohol, and to produce pure alcohol you must go through a rectification process. To carry out rectification, it is necessary to replace the nozzle of the device; to do this, it must be disassembled. The raw spit is carefully drained, the sediment is removed, and the container is washed. Then the alcohol is placed back into the installation and the addition of additional elements begins - a stainless pipe, inside of which there is a spiral-prismatic nozzle.

It is also necessary to attach a start-stop system, as well as a silicone tube at the outlet of the reflux condenser (to discharge heated water).

The operating principle of a distillation column. The raw alcohol boils in the installation tank and the vapors begin to rise up the pipe. The vapor also contains harmful fractions that need to be gotten rid of. In the dephlegmator, the steam cools and begins to flow back into the pipe, ending up in a spiral-prismatic nozzle. When the nozzle is hot, the vapors begin to evaporate again and enter the reflux condenser.

Such repeated cooling and evaporation will contribute to the alignment of substances in the vapor state in the following sequence:

  • at the very top there are light ether-aldehyde fractions;
  • Below are the low-boiling fractions (pure alcohol).

To gradually remove the top layer, open the clamp of the “start-stop” system, as a result of which a slow selection of harmful alcohol fractions begins (no more than 120 milliliters per hour).

It’s easy to determine this speed; just set the amount of alcohol flowing out in 1 minute and multiply by 60.

Through this selection, the temperature of the installation is reduced or increased. Ultimately, 10% of harmful fractions should come out of the installation (for 5 liters of alcohol - 500 ml).

The total operating time should ideally be 8 hours, but it is generally practiced to operate the column for 3-4 hours. It should be noted that the lower the selection speed, the better the quality of the finished product.

Drinks made from ethanol have been popular for a long time. In Rus', moonshine was distilled in a variety of ways, some of which are still used today. There are more advanced methods, there is modern equipment.

Currently, the production and sale of alcoholic beverages is not prohibited by the state. They are available to anyone.

What is ethanol

Ethanol is a monohydric ethyl alcohol known to everyone from chemistry, having the formula C2H5OH.

In alcoholic beverages, it is a psychoactive substance that has a depressant effect on the human central nervous system.

Ethyl alcohol is also used in alcohol thermometers, as a solvent, as a disinfectant, and in the manufacture of cosmetics.

Ethyl alcohol is obtained as a result of fermentation of products containing carbohydrates under the influence of yeast and bacteria. The ethanol content in the resulting solution (mash) does not exceed 15%; at higher concentrations, the yeast dies.

To increase the concentration of ethanol and purify it, distillation is performed - evaporation of the alcohol liquid and cooling of the vapors for the purpose of their condensation.

The raw material for making mash can be any food product containing sugar or starch. The more sugar or starch a product contains, the denser the mash is, and the more alcohol can be obtained from it.

The highest yield of alcohol is obtained from sugar, then decreases:

  • wheat;
  • syrup;
  • sugar beet;
  • apples.




The raw materials are fermented using regular baker's yeast; enzymes are added to speed up the process.

The resulting mash contains a certain percentage of fusel oils and aldehyde alcohols. They are separated from pure alcohol during the rectification process. The least fusel oils and aldehydes are obtained when using wheat as a raw material.

Features of the production process

The process of making alcohol is not complicated, but you need to have an idea of ​​the technology of its production in order to know what equipment will be required at a particular stage of production.

The main equipment consists of the following elements.

Stainless steel container for preparing mash - mash tank. Raw materials are loaded into the tank. He has:

  • drain tap;
  • water seal

Distillation unit, which includes:

  • mash column in which mash is distilled;
  • alcohol distillation column in which alcohol is purified.

Auxiliary equipment includes:

  • separators for cleaning mash;
  • electric heaters;
  • industrial alcohol meters.




Certain requirements are imposed on the premises in which distillation units are located. These requirements are minimal.

The room must be heated, have forced ventilation, water supply and sewerage. The height of the room must correspond to the height of the equipment.

Most distilleries use mash rectification machines, which operate smoothly and immediately separate impurities from the raw alcohol. The output is finished purified ethyl alcohol.

The alcoholic liquid is distilled to separate the fractions. This takes advantage of the fact that liquids boil at different temperatures.

Alcohol is more volatile than water, it has a boiling point of 78 degrees, so its vapors formed when heated are more concentrated than alcohol liquid.

Equipment for alcohol production

Alcohol equipment is presented in two types:

  • With one column. In this installation, the mash and the reflux, which is supplied from the reflux condenser, are boiled down in one column. The column itself is divided into two sections: mash and alcohol.
  • With two columns installed separately. One of them is mash, the other is alcohol.

In this installation, reflux is supplied from the reflux condenser to the second column. The mash column is designed to generate water-alcohol vapor. The alcohol column collects these vapors in the upper part of the column, and in its lower part the process of digestion of phlegm (Luther) is completed.

By using two columns, the mash is more concentrated.

Alcohol equipment with one column contains:

  • column;
  • double-drum reflux condenser;
  • refrigerator for alcohol;
  • stillage regulator;
  • other equipment.

The column is the basis of this apparatus and serves to extract alcohol from the mash through complex distillation. Inside, the column is divided into sections by caps or sieve plates in the amount of 16–18 pieces. They serve to ensure close contact between the vapor and the liquid, which move towards each other.

The lower part of the column is called depleting (wine), and the upper part is called strengthening (alcohol).

In the lowest part of the column, called the boiling chamber, the process of boiling the alcohol from the mash is completed, and the residues (stillage) are removed from the column.

The purpose of the reflux condenser is to condense part of the passing steam mixture and direct the resulting condensate (reflux) back into the apparatus towards the steam.

Material for production

Raw materials for the production of ethyl alcohol must be selected taking into account the final product that needs to be obtained. For the production of Extra and Lux ​​class ethanol, grain crops are required; for the highest and first grades, it is possible to use any product containing starch.

The types of raw materials for processing are quite diverse. The most productive of them is sugar; from 10 kg of this raw material 5 or more kg of pure alcohol are obtained. However, sugar is an expensive product.

Grains can be used, including rice and corn. Up to three liters of alcohol are obtained from wheat.

Sugar beets, potatoes and fruits (grapes, plums, apples) are the least productive raw materials; they produce only one liter of alcohol.

You can use different raw materials, but you need to take into account that different types of mash cannot be mixed when making drinking alcohol.

Alcohol production technology

Preparatory operations include washing, cleaning, boiling raw materials, and preparing malt.

The first stage of alcohol production involves processing raw materials containing sugar or starch into mash, a liquid containing alcohol. The sugar contained in the mash is converted into alcohol by the action of yeast.

To carry out this process, fermentation tanks are used. They can be:

  • steel;
  • plastic;
  • wooden;
  • aluminum.

The best option is a stainless steel container.

The fermentation process lasts for a week.

Distillation and rectification of mash

The second stage involves the distillation and rectification of the mash. Alcohol is released from it during the heating process, which passes through a distillation column, where fusel oils and aldehydes are separated from it.

Distillation is the process of separating ethanol from the finished mash, and the resulting product is called raw alcohol. After this process, what remains is stillage.

Most distilleries have equipment that allows you to immediately separate all impurities from raw alcohol and obtain the finished product - pure ethanol.

Let's look at how an alcohol column functions:

Alcohol distillation apparatus - diagram

  • The mash is supplied to the reflux condenser pipes by a pump. Here it is heated to 75–90ºС due to the condensate of alcohol-water vapor formed in the inter-tube space of the reflux condenser;
  • the mixture approaches through the sight lantern to the upper plate of the mash column along with reflux from the upper alcohol column;
  • after passing through all the plates, the mash descends into the boiling chamber;
  • steam passing from bottom to top heats the mash to a boil upon contact with it, and is even more saturated with alcohol, while the mash loses it;
  • the remains of evaporated mash (stillage) contain only 0.015% alcohol;
  • From the mash part of the column, vapors enter the alcohol part. As a result of contact with the phlegm descending towards it, the vapors are further enriched with alcohol from the boiling phlegm;
  • in the reflux condenser, at the exit from the alcohol column, partial condensation of vapor occurs, then they enter the upper plate as reflux;
  • the remaining vapors are sent to the refrigerator, where they are condensed and cooled in coils. The resulting finished product is sent to the alcohol storage facility.

Raw alcohol must have a strength of at least 88%.

Features of the alcohol production business

To meet your own needs, you do not need any complex equipment or license. A small installation can be placed in a garage.

But to develop a business you need larger premises and more impressive equipment.

Before taking steps to organize your own production, you need to clarify the following questions:

  • sources of supply of raw materials;
  • sales opportunities for finished products;
  • opportunities to purchase equipment;
  • obtaining a license.

Only after analyzing all the issues can you begin to search for premises, purchase equipment, raw materials, and begin producing trial products.

The products are in wide demand. Alcohol is used not only to make alcoholic beverages. It is needed by pharmaceutical, chemical and other factories, perfume and cosmetics manufacturers.