Myth. Distillation makes a particularly strong and virulent type of alcohol so must be controlled.





Fact.

distillation doesn't make alcohol.

Myth.Distillation produces stronger alcohol (this is true), and the stronger the alcohol the more likely it is to affect your health and lead to drunkenness and unruly behaviour (this is the myth). Therefore it must be controlled.









Fact.

strength

quantity

quantity

Myth. Making it legal for amateurs to distill spirits would lead to a loss of sales by commercial distillers, the laying-off of employees, and loss of tax revenue to the government.







Fact.

There are two concerns: one is the possible danger to health while the other is the question of legality. In a separate menu item we discuss health matter quite thoroughly and show that there is not the slightest danger. In the present section we discuss the question of legality.......The first thing to appreciate is that the law on home distillation is based on a completely false premise, a false premise resulting from misinformation fed to politicians and civil servants. They are seldom chemists, biotechnicians or chemical engineers and cannot be expected to be knowledgeable on a technical subject, so they simply parrot what has been handed down to them by previous generations. However, the advent of the Internet enable you and millions of people like you worldwide to understand the subject of distillation so well that you can no longer be fobbed off with myth, folklore and childish superstition.......What is this mythology and folklore and what are the facts? We'll deal with them individually and in point order.1......Distillation doesn't make alcohol. It never has, never will, and is incapable of doing so. This .is worth repeating ----Alcohol is made by fermentation, a perfectly harmless pursuit as millions of beer- and wine-makers will testify.2......Alcoholis irrelevant. It is theof alcohol consumed which matters, witness the fact that 85% of people pulled over for drinking and driving have been drinking beer, not spirits. The same goes for the hooliganism at sporting events so common in Europe ---the fans drink can-after-can-after-can-after-can of 5% beer until theconsumed adds up to a large amount of alcohol. (This is not meant as a criticism of beer-drinkers, we love beer,-----it merely points to the irrelevancy of alcohol strength.3......To be cynical about it, a potential loss of tax revenue is a very powerful motivating force.with governments and the most likely reason for the ban on home distilling. The fact is that in.New Zealand, in the years leading up to the lifting of the ban (1996) sales of spirits had been steadily declining. The same is true of many other countries. But in New Zealand, as.soon as amateurs were free to distill their own spirits there was an immediate rise in.commercial sales. (And also a rise in tax revenues of course).The reason for this surprising turn of events is attributed to the upsurge in interest in spirits which occurred as soon as it became a hobby. It was no longer a remote commercial enterprise but something for fun-loving youth and hobbyists to get their teeth into.......The realization that hobby distilling poses no more problems than beer-making and wine-making, and should be afforded exactly the same rights and freedoms without fear of prosecution, has been slow to come about but is finally taking hold. New Zealand led the way in 1996 but other countries have not followed suit despite the dawning light.

The three major concerns of people who might be interested in setting up a still at home are;

1) the question of legality,

2) the possibility of getting poisoned, specifically of going blind, and

3) the danger of blowing oneself up. These are serious concerns and people take them very seriously. We have dealt with the legal question elsewhere so here we will concentrate on health matters.

Poisoning oneself. Distillation doesn't produce anything so there can be nothing in a distilled spirit which was not in the original fermented liquor. Moreover, the whole purpose of distillation is to remove noxious substances and this it does by separating from the ethanol the more harmful substances such as methanol and fusel oil and discarding them. This is easy to do because they have a very pungent smell, a bit like paint remover.

So, to poison oneself it would be necessary to separate out the noxious substances from the liquor, pour the sweet-smelling ethanol down the drain, and drink the paint remover. This is about as likely as plucking a chicken, throwing away the meat and eating the feathers. It's ridiculous.

Headaches & hangovers. Some of the well-known consequences of drinking too much are headaches, halitosis, fatigue, dizziness and diarrhea, to name the best known ---- a hangover in other words. These unfortunate consequences are discussed in the book "Making Gin & Vodka" and evidence provided, based on clinical trials, that the alcohol does not produce the effects per se. They are caused by the impurities, the congeners!

Many people find this hard to believe, but the congeners include methanol and amyl alcohol, both of which are quite poisonous. If a different poison were involved, e.g. arsenic, it wouldn't be a bit surprising to find that a 3% solution in water gave you an upset tummy. One conclusion to be drawn from this is that, if you wish to drink alcohol without any side-effects, the best thing to do is remove all the impurities with a fractionating still to produce pure alcohol and then dilute it with water to 40% to give vodka. Then add flavoring.

Explosions. Although a boiler is used for distilling fermented liquor to spirits, there is no pressure in it. The boiler is completely open to the atmosphere at all times so pressure build-up is impossible. It is no more dangerous, therefore, than a tea-kettle.