Still Head Temperature For Making Moonshine – When To Start And Finish Collecting – Knowing when to start collecting moonshine from your still and when to finish is very important. You will often start to see some product dripping from your still when the Head / Column temperature reaches 56 Celsius.
But generally the temperature range that you want to collect Moonshine within is between 78-82 °C and we generally stop collecting the distillate once we start getting fusels coming out. This is generally happens at a head temperature of 94 °C or higher. To Learn more about the process of Making Moonshine Head over to our page.
: Still Temperature Guide For Making Moonshine
Contents
At what temperature do you run a reflux still?
Temperature Principle (TP) – Under the normal atmospheric pressure, the water boiling point is 100°C / 212°F, and the anhydrous (no water) ethanol is 78.4°C / 173.1°F. Since ethanol is infinitely miscible with water, the mixture’s boiling point will be somewhere between 78.4°C / 173.1 and 100°C / 212°F. Why do we need to know the relationship between the vapor temperature at the top of the apparatus and the boiling point? Because this relationship can help the distiller to determine the remaining amount of alcohol in the kettle. This also helps the distiller understand when to increase the reflux ratio in order to ensure that the requisite ABV is being rendered.
If, for example, 90°C / 194°F is the optimal head temperature for your reflux still column to collect alcohol, if the temperature increases during the distillation, the distiller can increase the reflux ratio and thereby increase the amount of ABV being sent over to the product condenser. Without an increase in reflux ratio (RR) the concentration / ABV of the distillate will decrease.
On the other hand, when the head temperature drops below the ideal temperature to separate the ethanol and water, the concentration / ABV will be higher. To resolve this problem, the distiller can reduce the reflux ratio and thereby reduce the ABV of alcohol collected as finished distillate.
What temperature should moonshine ferment at?
WHAT IF I DON’T SEE ANY BUBBLES? – 
If you don’t see any bubbles in your airlock after 18-48 hours then check to make sure your bucket is airtight. If your bucket is airtight, swirl the contents to mix them well. Check for activity after 12 hours. If you still do not see any activity after 12 hours add a new yeast starter.
Also check to make sure your mash is warm enough. Bread yeast does best in temperatures of about 74-78°F or 23 to 25°C. Once you get this confirmation that the process is taking place, you can leave your mash for 14 days. After 14 days, check your airlock. Essentially, your airlock will show bubbles to let you know that the yeast is still working.
Remember that fermentation is turning the sugars into ethanol as well as carbon dioxide (which is producing those bubbles). A general rule of thumb is to watch for a cease in activity in your airlock, When you don’t see any bubbles for two days, you can check to see if your fermentation is complete.
What is a reflux moonshine still?
A more complex still with a chamber called the ‘reflux’ condenser, where steam is filtered and some of the unwanted elements are returned to the boiling vessel. This results in purer, stronger alcohol/higher percentage alcohol.
What temperature does ethanol reflux?
We show that a simple ethanol (EtOH) refluxing treatment at mild temperature ( 120 °C ) allows producing blue-colored and reduced titanium dioxide (TiO 2 – x ) exhibiting improved visible-light (VIS) photocatalytic properties.
What temperature should moonshine ferment at?
WHAT IF I DON’T SEE ANY BUBBLES? – If you don’t see any bubbles in your airlock after 18-48 hours then check to make sure your bucket is airtight. If your bucket is airtight, swirl the contents to mix them well. Check for activity after 12 hours. If you still do not see any activity after 12 hours add a new yeast starter.
- Also check to make sure your mash is warm enough.
- Bread yeast does best in temperatures of about 74-78°F or 23 to 25°C.
- Once you get this confirmation that the process is taking place, you can leave your mash for 14 days.
- After 14 days, check your airlock.
- Essentially, your airlock will show bubbles to let you know that the yeast is still working.
Remember that fermentation is turning the sugars into ethanol as well as carbon dioxide (which is producing those bubbles). A general rule of thumb is to watch for a cease in activity in your airlock, When you don’t see any bubbles for two days, you can check to see if your fermentation is complete.