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Last year I bought a distillation column to get my pure alcohol without any impurities. The distillation column works both in distillation mode to produce moonshine, and in rectification mode, when moonshine is distilled a second time, but ethyl alcohol is obtained almost absolutely pure.
With little effort and expense, by lengthening the drawers and scoring Panchenkov’s net tighter, I got pure alcohol of 96,5 degrees from sugar mash. I checked it in a special laboratory and got a result, for example, for methyl alcohol 10 times less than allowed by GOST.
Why I decided to test vodka
Until the day I bought the column, like most people, I bought vodka in the store, preferably more expensive, for various holidays and gatherings with friends.
And, like most people, in the morning there were infrequent headaches, weakness, drowsiness. Since I do not drink vodka in large quantities, it remains only to sin on the composition of this very vodka.
And I decided that since technologically I can cut off all impurities from ethyl alcohol, I can also check vodka for its composition in the context of liquid impurities. First of all, of course, methyl alcohol.
I bought one of the most expensive vodkas, Tsarskaja, and decided to check it out. For the correct operation of the distillation column, the distilled liquid needs at least 2 liters and its strength should be about 30 degrees for easier separation of alcohols during rectification. I had to buy 2 bottles per liter.
What tools and materials did you use
For the distillation of vodka, I used:
- distillation column – 24 rubles;
- tiles – 3 rubles;
- additional tsargu – 2 rubles;
- Panchenkov’s net – 2 rubles.
The distillation process uses water for cooling and electricity for heating the liquid. The estimated cost of electricity was less than 100 rubles, cold water – about 20 rubles.
Well, the cost of the Tsarskaya vodka itself, 2 liters, amounted to 1 rubles.
Filling Tsarskoy in the tank.
Distillation process
So, the main goal of vodka distillation was to find out the composition of vodka not for each component, but for the general composition of “heads”, “tails” and ethyl alcohol. The distillation column allows you to separate ethyl alcohol with high purity, and all other liquids will be additional.
Anything “over” ethyl alcohol is unlikely to benefit health, however, like ethyl alcohol itself. I remind you that its abuse is dangerous to health!
During the race I:
- I poured vodka and diluted it to 30 degrees (both for safety reasons and for better separation of the components). Water is used only filtered so that it does not introduce additional ingredients into the resulting product.
- He closed the tank with a lid with tsargs.
- Installed on the stove and turned on the heat.
distillation apparatus
- I set the column to automatic mode, when, despite heating, it maintains the same temperature in the refrigerator due to reflux cooling. This means that virtual “plates” have been established in the tsargs, that is, there has been a separation of various factions on the Panchenkov grid.
- At a temperature in the refrigerator of about 70 degrees, light alcohols begin to flow through the reflux condenser. Our task, first of all, is to drain methyl alcohol, the boiling point of which is 5 degrees lower than ethyl alcohol.
- Between 5 and 10% of the volume of the resulting product are these “heads”, and I stopped collecting the heads after the drops stopped smelling of acetone.
- Next, I selected the “body”, that is, the ethyl alcohol itself until the temperature on the refrigerator began to rise rapidly.
- The rest of the liquid I set aside for the next distillation, because it consists mainly of essential oils, but still contains degrees of alcohol.
What result did I get
Finally, the long-awaited moment came, until which I was almost sure that expensive vodka consisted only of ethyl alcohol. In fact, a completely terrible thing turned out – the resulting liquids were distributed as follows:
| distillation stage | Volume of liquid |
| Heads | 10% |
| Body | 70% |
| Tails | 20% |
| Water | — |
As you can see, real ethanol in terms of 40 degrees turned out to be only 70% of the original volume, that is, 1,4 liters from 2 liters of vodka. The worst thing is the heads, which are made up of methyl alcohol and a few other volatile alcohols, which are much more harmful than ethanol.
Fortunately, the smell of acetone in the heads, which is always present when distilling ordinary brews, was almost imperceptible in such vodka, however, the smell of technical rubber was very strong. Typically, this smell appears when alcohols are stored in plastic containers or when distilled using non-silicone pipelines.
The smells of essential oils in the tails can indicate not only harmful oils, but also all sorts of fragrances that the manufacturer adds to get the original taste of vodka.
As a result, for more than a year I have never drunk store-bought vodka and do not recommend it to anyone. I make cognac, whiskey, or just dilute alcohol, getting the same vodka, but without any additives. And how do you feel about the “kazenka”?
Dear readers, remember that alcohol abuse harms your body. Take care of yourself!