Alcohol distillation is a complex and expensive process that requires precision, skill, and expertise similar to winemaking or beerbrewing. Unfortunately, distilling liquor is illegal in the US, while large commercial producers only produce a fraction of total spirits consumed each year – which explains why most cocktail drinkers have never attempted their hand at making […]

Distillation is the second major step in spirit production after fermentation, and involves heating fermented liquid, known as wash, until only its alcohol molecules vaporize; all other molecules remain liquid. A distiller then separates water vapor from alcohol vapor and concentrates its presence within it to achieve alcohol distillation. Distillation requires heat, which depletes high-grade […]

An essential step in distilling spirits, balancing proofs is not something to be taken lightly. Ensuring the correct ratio between alcohol and water is crucial in meeting product quality standards as intended and for production processes to run as intended. In this chapter we’ll describe current analytical techniques employed within industry in achieving this goal, […]

Distillers employ multiple control and monitoring systems to keep their process under tight scrutiny and manage it effectively. When operating continuously, these systems must simultaneously and continuously regulate beer feed rate (for controlling column volume and temperature) beer discharge flow to control stripping/rectifying sections’ column pressure/temperature as well as reflux-to-product flow to manage distillate quality, […]

How are grains and produce harvested in the field transformed into spirits we pour into our glasses? Distillation is at the core of it all. Heating liquid mixtures to their boiling points generates vapour which can then be condensed and collected for later separation of desired compounds–in this instance alcohol. The type of still used […]