alcohol distillation

Distillation replicates Mother Nature’s hydrologic cycle and is one of the oldest means for purifying water. Distillation effectively removes inorganic compounds (e.g. lead and nitrate) as well as nuisance particles like iron and hardness from polluted water as well as some bacteria and viruses that might otherwise pollute it.

Household distillation units typically consist of a boiling chamber and condensing coil, from which steam rises through an outlet to be collected into an external container of clean water storage. Boiling kills bacteria, viruses and protozoan cysts before condensate containing pure water cools to become liquid again before flowing off through its outlet spigot as distilled water.

Distillation’s effectiveness at removing organic contaminants depends on their chemical properties. For instance, volatile organic chemicals with boiling points close or lower than that of water can recontaminate distilled water unless another process such as activated carbon filteration (G1489) can be employed prior to condensation. For more information about eliminating VOCs from water sources please see NebGuide Drinking Water Treatment: Activated Carbon Filtration (G1489).

Domestic distillation units should be regularly cleaned to prevent scale accumulation. On continuously running units, this involves inspecting the boiler chamber and heating element every week; for countertop units it should be checked after each distillation cycle. Furthermore, it’s crucial that solids from the boiling chamber be sent directly to waste in order to avoid recontaminating water supplies and decrease BOD rates in wastewater systems.

Botanicals used in making gin are instrumental to its flavor. Juniper berries, coriander seeds and caraway seeds used in London dry gin styles such as London Dry G&T can be steeped in neutral spirit prior to being combined with other ingredients for distillation, which allows their full potential flavors to come through. Other botanicals like fennel and black pepper require more delicate handling – for optimal extraction use an alternative method like steeping or boiling to bring out their full potential.

One popular approach is known as the ‘steep and boil” method, in which botanicals such as juniper are steeped into neutral spirit that has been diluted down to about 50 % alcohol by volume using spring or purified water, followed by repeated distillations (rectification) to strengthen and refine flavor before being further reduced with water to bottling strength.

Distillation occurs repeatedly with the same base, yet each iteration will produce something unique as oils extracted from botanicals will vaporise at different rates; citrus botanicals tend to come off first while wax residues leave their mark later – therefore distillers must sample to understand when to switch into the “heart” of their distillate (which eventually will form the basis for gin). Some producers like Hendrick’s employ a reflux column instead, slowing the speed of alcohol vapour flowing through their baskets so that botanicals can impart more subtle flavours into their products.