# Distillation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465 "2002-10-23T02:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/21 "2002-10-24T14:24:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Huerta88 \* > **FYI, ethanol vaporizes at (around) 170 degrees F, whereas water does so at 212 F, thus allowing the fractional distillation (i.e., distillation of only the ethanol) by heating to, say, 180 F.** > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by red\_dragon60 \* > **Alcohol usually takes off at 80 degrees C. Rubbing alcohol evaporates at 83C, because I have distilled it as rocket fuel for my brother. Alcohol boils at a lower point than water, so you can boil it out of the mixture.** Sorry, but that’s wrong. At 1 bar of pressure ethanol and water form a so called ‘azeotrope’ consisting of 95.6% Ethanol (by wieght) and 4.4% Water (by weight), which boils at 173° F. No matter how much higher you heat that mixture up, you will only get this mixture. To find out how to make absolute ethanol, look [here](http://www.qvfps.com/ProcessProfiles/pp51-2.pdf). Another thing you have to worry about when distilling (the correct word chemically speaking would actually be ‘rectification’) any type of ‘mash’ or ‘beer’ to make drinkable alcohol, is the methanol that is inevitably contained in the ‘mash’ or ‘beer’. If you don’t discard the first and last few batches of distillate (called the ‘foreshots’ and ‘feints’, so you keep only the ‘middle cut’), you can end up with a pretty high concentration of methanol, which is a quick way to go blind or die. The LD50 (lethal dose in 50% of cases) of methanol is much lower than that of ethanol. Ah, all this brings me back to the joys of making our own ‘Calvados’ during Organic Chem Lab. But then again that was nothing compared to the fun of isolating a couple of milligrams of haemoglobin from three liters of fresh cow blood. You haven’t smelled anything really nasty until you’ve smelled three liters of cow blood mixed with five liters of concentrated acetic acid and then brought to a vigorous boil. Oh and by the way, the cow blood had to first be filtered through a cheesecloth to make sure no clotted blood was used. Eeeeeewwww indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/22 "2002-10-24T14:31:30Z")
From [http://homedistiller.org/theory.htm](http://homedistiller.org/theory.htm) : > [@](#): > > Note that only 96.5% ethanol can be obtained by regular distillation of alcohol & water. Absolute ethanol (100%) is made by distilling with benzene (poisonous) (an azeotropic mixture of benzene, alcohol & water distills at 65C and removes the last few percent of water), by vacuum distillation, or by chemical means (eg using drying agents like molecular seives - which with holes of 3 Angstrom (one Angstrom is one ten billionth of a meter) can seperate water (which has a diameter of 2.5 Angstroms) from ethanol (which has a diameter of 4.5 Angstroms)). I did a chemistry degree at university and one of my housemates acquired a 5-litre bottle of [HPLC](http://www.pharm.uky.edu/ASRG/HPLC/hplcmytry.html)-grade ethanol. This stuff is stupidly expensive (or would be, if you bought it rather than stealing it from the lab 😃 ) because it has to be _very_ pure. I think this stuff said “99.7% ethanol” on the label; the remaining 0.3% or so being almost entirely water. It gave a figure of something like “\<0.005% benzene”, so presumably they used the benzene-distillation figure. I can report from experience that you can (sort of) drink this stuff, but only in small sips! It kind of evaporates in your mouth before you can swallow much, though… We just used to add it to lemonade etc, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/23 "2002-10-24T14:32:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cyn \* > \*\* > > There are yeasts for meads and sake that can survive up to 21%-23%. > > Wicked stuff \*\* Agreed. After my post I looked further into it and discovered that fermentation can still happen at higher alcohol percentages. I guess the only absolutely accurate statement is that to get the kind of alcohol content in most brandies and liquors, just plain fermentation won’t do. Other methods are required and distilling is one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/24 "2002-10-25T01:00:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by r\_k \* > \*\*I did a chemistry degree at university and one of my housemates acquired a 5-litre bottle of [HPLC](http://www.pharm.uky.edu/ASRG/HPLC/hplcmytry.html)-grade ethanol. It kind of evaporates in your mouth before you can swallow much, though… > > We just used to add it to lemonade etc, mostly. \*\* What were the effects? Please describe in detail 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/25 "2002-10-25T05:13:43Z")
When I took o-chem, an aspiring ChemE student talked about nabbing one of the distillation sets, then using it to either a)distill beer into “vodka” b)buy some cheap vodka, and distill it into “Everclear.” The intended purchasers of said liquids was supposed to be freshman. He never went through with it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/26 "2002-10-25T10:44:18Z")
> [@](#): > > What were the effects? > > Please describe in detail 🙂 Well, like I said, the stuff is very volatile (and _very_ strong) so it’s not pleasant to drink neat. You take a (small!) sip, it burns your lips and evaporates in your mouth, and generally chokes you up a bit. The strongest “normal” spirit I’ve tried was some rum in the Dominican Republic that was about 75.5% alc by volume (151° proof, hence the name Ron 151). The neat stuff was a good bit harsher. Of course we had to try it once, but not many people wanted to repeat it. I really don’t recommend it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Doctordec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Doctordec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctordec)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/27 "2002-10-26T04:05:44Z")
I highly recommend this book… [http://www.brewcitysupplies.com/120/332.htm?440](http://www.brewcitysupplies.com/120/332.htm?440) It’s an excellent reference and explains distillation in plain language. Just remember…educational purposes only ! ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/28 "2002-10-26T05:04:15Z")
My father had a bottle that was labled 200 proof, pure unadulterated alcohol. It wound up at high school. As mentioned, a tiny sip would evaporate in the mouth - it is nasty! Mixed it was consumed with no ill effects Years ago I built a small still. Used plain sugar for the mash, with yeast and water. The book said sugar will only convert to ethanol. Of course CO2 as a by product. Had to run the mash through the still four times, each time at a lower temp. The book said to catch the first cup of of the last run because it contained fussile (sp?) oils. BTW, as cheap and available as grain alcohol is at liquor stores, it hardly seems worth it for the individual to make it. The book contained recipes for all types of liquor. Seems like most liquor can be made by starting out with grain. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/29 "2002-10-26T05:05:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by drachillix \* > \*\* > > FYI … BATF frowns on private manufacture of hard alcohol (ya little bootlegger :D). I don’t think they care how the concentration was achieved just that you did it. \*\* I think they would be much more concerned if I were selling it rather than drinking it. (Damn revenoors allus makin’ it hard fer us decent folk…) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465/30 "2002-10-26T06:26:20Z")
The question has been answered, so I’ll close this thread. Home distilling of alcohol (as opposed to fermentation) is illegal in the U.S. We don’t want this to turn into a how-to sort of thing. bibliophage moderator GQ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/distillation/133465.md?page=1)