Uhhh I do this with homebrew, never had a problem. As far as reducing methanol you don't have to, but before bottling I heat it up to a point where it steams for a moment. First thing to come off will be mostly methanol.
I have "brewed" a batch of "beer" using raw brown sugar and lemons bittered with mugwort. Can't wait to try this out with that. Next batch I will use grapefruit instead.
Hi again.... there will be a negligible quantity of methanol in the wine --- certainly nothing to worry about. If you drank the entire box of wine all you would get is a hangover. Freeze distilling the wine cannot create something that is not there to begin with, it is simply a way of removing a portion of the water content from the wine, resulting in a higher ratio of alcohol to water. Thanks for watching!!!
Hypothetically would methanol be an issue in distilling apple jack if a cider was made using a commercial champagne yeast. Is there a simple way you can test for methanol?
Hi Larry --- no there would not be any problem. In the UK and the USA there are still a number of craft distillers manufacturing Apple Jack using champagne yeast to produce the cider, then freeze distilling to fortify. The quantity of methanol produced when fermenting grape juice is insignificant. Methanol is what they refer to as wood alcohol, and is far more predominant in grain fermentations. Thanks for your interest, and thanks for watching!!!
Whats4Chow Thanks for the quick reply. I've been doing some research today and have come to the same conclusions (I also saw your video on apple jack). I have a gallon fermenting as we speak with 1 1/2 cups of honey and will be jacking that up once it's done. Just looking for a taste of do it yourself history. Thanks again for good content.
Hi Larry -- just one more thing.... when fermenting the apple cider, remember to remove any stalks and pips / seeds -- this is "wood" material and can lead to the production of methanol in the wash, however this will be limited when compared to a wash or mash made from grain.
Hi, can you tell me how to calculate the % of my jacked wine? I had 2 liters at 16.% and was only able to remove about 400 mL of water from the batch. I'm not sure what the math is, i was wondering if you could help.
Hi Nathan --- if you start with 2000ml wine at 16% ABV, the total alcohol content of your starting batch is 320ml ---- take away 400ml and you end up with 1600ml total. Seeing that the alcohol does not freeze, almost all of the alcohol is recovered. This gives you 320ml/1600ml --- or close to 20% ABV ----- why do you say that you only managed to remove 400ml? If you can explain, I can help further..... Thanks for watching, and have a great New Year!!!
I say I only managed to remove 400mL because that's all that I could get out of the wine. I froze it and let it drain for about 30 minutes. At the end of the 30 minutes, there was approx. 400 mL of slushy white ice left in the bottom of the bottle. (I let it melt completely before measuring it) Thanks again man, I really appreciate the explanation of the maths, I definitely appreciate it!
So last night I stuck the whole thing back in the snow outside, let it freeze again. I live in Michigan, so freezing it outside at this time of year is no problem. Brought it in this morning, and have now removed close to another 400mL of water from the batch. So 800mL of water has now been removed from my 2 liters. I guess I just let it set too long and let too much water drain back into the mix.
Could you include "chocolate" wine in one of your future videos? I once mixed chocolate wine and regular wine together. It turned into chocolate pudding.
Hi Alexander --- this method is not suitable for distilling spirits. It is primarily used for distilling / jacking up the alcohol content of ciders and wines. Ciders and wines start at a much lower alcohol content, and this is normally doubled to around 15 to 25% ABV. Another reason it will not work for rum, is that any sugar, color and flavor in the wash will pass through to the product, whereas most of this is stripped during conventional pot distilling. Thanks for watching!!!
Whats4Chow Thank you for your answer! I'm new to this so I appreciate it mate! Great video regardless, and do you think you could make a video in the future pot distilling spirits? thanks!
Hi Alexander --- There already is a whole course on the channel covering almost everything you need to know about distilling, pot distilling and reflux distilling. Here is the link to the playlist --- th-cam.com/play/PL4Pxh4gXYSzigL6zyKBYPBungpsyjQu1q.html There are still 5 more episodes to come, so stay tuned --- Thanks for watching!!!!
Am i correct that after freeze destillation your spirit will be more sweet? I am looking for an easy method to remove sugar from a sweet 40° brandy. Any suggestions?
Hi -- there is a way, but it really is not practical. Add enough ethanol to the brandy in order to increase the alcohol content to about 80% ABV. Most of the sugar will crystalise and precipitate to the bottom of the brandy. Syphon off the brandy, leaving the precipitated sugar behind. Run the brandy through a pot still until you have recovered roughly the amount of ethanol you added --- what is left in the pot will be close to the original brandy, but with very much less sugar. Thanks for watching!!!
Uhhh I do this with homebrew, never had a problem. As far as reducing methanol you don't have to, but before bottling I heat it up to a point where it steams for a moment. First thing to come off will be mostly methanol.
I have "brewed" a batch of "beer" using raw brown sugar and lemons bittered with mugwort. Can't wait to try this out with that. Next batch I will use grapefruit instead.
Excellent detail and accurate information, including warnings about Methyl alcohol content, thank you
great video my friend many thanks for this other recipe .. have a great weekend.. Tom
Thanks Tom --- hope things are going good over there!!!
what about freezing home brewed fruit wine or mead?
Hi -- yes, both will work fine! Thanks for watching!!!
if I buy some cheap box wine and freeze it, will there be any methanol?
Hi again.... there will be a negligible quantity of methanol in the wine --- certainly nothing to worry about. If you drank the entire box of wine all you would get is a hangover. Freeze distilling the wine cannot create something that is not there to begin with, it is simply a way of removing a portion of the water content from the wine, resulting in a higher ratio of alcohol to water.
Thanks for watching!!!
could i use this method for my homemade peach wine made with wine yeast or is that too dangerous? thanks :)
Hi --- yes you can do this quite safely. Thanks for watching!!!
Hypothetically would methanol be an issue in distilling apple jack if a cider was made using a commercial champagne yeast. Is there a simple way you can test for methanol?
Hi Larry --- no there would not be any problem. In the UK and the USA there are still a number of craft distillers manufacturing Apple Jack using champagne yeast to produce the cider, then freeze distilling to fortify. The quantity of methanol produced when fermenting grape juice is insignificant. Methanol is what they refer to as wood alcohol, and is far more predominant in grain fermentations. Thanks for your interest, and thanks for watching!!!
Whats4Chow Thanks for the quick reply. I've been doing some research today and have come to the same conclusions (I also saw your video on apple jack). I have a gallon fermenting as we speak with 1 1/2 cups of honey and will be jacking that up once it's done. Just looking for a taste of do it yourself history. Thanks again for good content.
Hi Larry --- it's a pleasure... let us know how the Jack turned out. Thanks for your support!!!
Hi Larry -- just one more thing.... when fermenting the apple cider, remember to remove any stalks and pips / seeds -- this is "wood" material and can lead to the production of methanol in the wash, however this will be limited when compared to a wash or mash made from grain.
Isn't methanol produced from pectin, which certainly exists in grapes and apples?
Hi, can you tell me how to calculate the % of my jacked wine?
I had 2 liters at 16.% and was only able to remove about 400 mL of water from the batch. I'm not sure what the math is, i was wondering if you could help.
Hi Nathan --- if you start with 2000ml wine at 16% ABV, the total alcohol content of your starting batch is 320ml ---- take away 400ml and you end up with 1600ml total. Seeing that the alcohol does not freeze, almost all of the alcohol is recovered. This gives you 320ml/1600ml --- or close to 20% ABV ----- why do you say that you only managed to remove 400ml? If you can explain, I can help further..... Thanks for watching, and have a great New Year!!!
I say I only managed to remove 400mL because that's all that I could get out of the wine. I froze it and let it drain for about 30 minutes. At the end of the 30 minutes, there was approx. 400 mL of slushy white ice left in the bottom of the bottle. (I let it melt completely before measuring it)
Thanks again man, I really appreciate the explanation of the maths, I definitely appreciate it!
So last night I stuck the whole thing back in the snow outside, let it freeze again. I live in Michigan, so freezing it outside at this time of year is no problem. Brought it in this morning, and have now removed close to another 400mL of water from the batch. So 800mL of water has now been removed from my 2 liters.
I guess I just let it set too long and let too much water drain back into the mix.
Nathan Jennings sounds like you need a salad spinner and a hydrometer
I have a hydrometer, but it's not going to give you an accurate reading.
Could you include "chocolate" wine in one of your future videos? I once mixed chocolate wine and regular wine together. It turned into chocolate pudding.
Hi --- I will look into it.... sounds interesting too!!! Thanks for watching!!!
Can I distill rum this way? and if I did, would the methanol be at an negligible level?
Hi Alexander --- this method is not suitable for distilling spirits. It is primarily used for distilling / jacking up the alcohol content of ciders and wines. Ciders and wines start at a much lower alcohol content, and this is normally doubled to around 15 to 25% ABV. Another reason it will not work for rum, is that any sugar, color and flavor in the wash will pass through to the product, whereas most of this is stripped during conventional pot distilling.
Thanks for watching!!!
Whats4Chow
Thank you for your answer! I'm new to this so I appreciate it mate!
Great video regardless, and do you think you could make a video in the future pot distilling spirits?
thanks!
Hi Alexander --- There already is a whole course on the channel covering almost everything you need to know about distilling, pot distilling and reflux distilling. Here is the link to the playlist --- th-cam.com/play/PL4Pxh4gXYSzigL6zyKBYPBungpsyjQu1q.html
There are still 5 more episodes to come, so stay tuned --- Thanks for watching!!!!
Whats4Chow
Awesome! You're the man! thanks (:
It's a pleasure.... thanks for your support!!!
Am i correct that after freeze destillation your spirit will be more sweet? I am looking for an easy method to remove sugar from a sweet 40° brandy. Any suggestions?
Hi -- there is a way, but it really is not practical. Add enough ethanol to the brandy in order to increase the alcohol content to about 80% ABV. Most of the sugar will crystalise and precipitate to the bottom of the brandy. Syphon off the brandy, leaving the precipitated sugar behind. Run the brandy through a pot still until you have recovered roughly the amount of ethanol you added --- what is left in the pot will be close to the original brandy, but with very much less sugar.
Thanks for watching!!!