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Distillation (Object of distillation)

THE object of distillation is the preparation of alcohol or pure spirits, which is obtained from brandy, rum, arrack and whiskey, prepared from wine, sugar, rice and malt. It also includes compound spirits, or those which, in addition to alcohol, contain some volatile or pungent oil or essence, as gin, hollands, caraway and peppermint; the essential oils, as oil of cinnamon, oil of cloves, oil of peppermint, and otto of roses, and the simple distilled waters which retain the fragrant flavor of the particular herbs with which they have been distilled.

To manage Distillation.

Previous to distilling, the process of brewing and fermentation are necessary. The distiller, however, need not take the precautions of the brewer or wine-maker in moderating his fermentations so as to secure the good flavor and keeping qualities of the product. His object is to get as thorough a fermentation, and therefore as much alcohol, as possible. Hence large quantities of yeast are used, which is not skimmed off, but worked into the wort. He also mixes a quantity of raw grain with his malt in the mash, the diastase of the malt sufficing to convert all the starch of the raw grain into sugar. The quantity of raw grain may be twenty times that of the malt. All the saccharine matter cannot be converted into alcohol, the large quantity of alcohol formed towards the last of the process checking the fermentation.

About one-fifth of all the saccharine matter remains in the grains. These are fed to cattle. Utensils.

In a distillery are required a variety of utensils, such as still, worm-tub, pump, a water-cask, a strong press, hair-cloths, 3 or 4 iron-bound tubs capable of containing from a hogshead to a pipe of any liquor, 3 or 4 cans capable of holding from 2 to 6 galls. by measure, an iron-bound wooden | heating them, as they have seldom fire constantly funnel having a strong iron nosel or pipe, a pewter syphon about 6 feet long and 4 inches in circumference, flannel bags for refining the thick and feculent matter at the bottoms of the casks and other vessels.

Operation of the Still.

When the still is charged let the fire under it be lighted, and whilst it burns up the joints should be carefully luted.

By laying the hand on the still and capital, as the fire gains strength, the process of the operation will be ascertained; for whenever the head or capital feels hot, it is a proof that the volatile particles have arisen, and are about to enter the worm. When the still head is about to become hot, prepare a damp, made of the ashes under the grate, mixed with as much water as will properly wet them. This mixture is to be thrown upon the fire, to moderate its action, at the instant when distillation has commenced. Continue the heat as long as the distilled liquid is spirituous to the taste. When the distilled liquor carries with it any particular flavor, it should be re-distilled with essential oils, in order to convert it into a compound spirit, as gin, peppermint, and other cordials.

When all the spirituous fluid is drawn off, the still should be emptied by a cock in the side. The head, etc., should then be removed, and the several lutes taken clean off. The still may now be charged a second time, and luted. If the spirit or compound to be made is of a different nature or flavor from that procured by the last distillation, the still, capital and worm should be thoroughly cleaned by hot water, sand and a scrubbing brush, to remove the oily particles that adhere to their internal surfaces. The worm is best cleansed by passing hot water through it repeatedly, until the water flows out quite flavorless. Great care should be taken that no grease, tallow, soap, or any other unctuous matter, fall into the tubs, pieces, rundlets, or cans. Above all things, lighted candles, torches, or papers should not be brought near any vessel containing spirits.

The flue or chimney should be kept constantly clean.

To Use a Portable Furnace.

In the laboratories of experimental chemists, portable furnaces are employed. Charcoal is the only fuel that can be used in them, except the occasional use of the finer kinds of stone coal that yield a bright flame, and burn to a white ash without forming clinkers. When the fire is regulated by the admission of only the necessary quantity of air through the charcoal, and the whole heat of the fuel is directed upon the subject exposed to it, the expense is not so great as might be supposed, for no other fuel gives out so much heat. One lb. of charcoal will boil away 13 lbs. of water, whereas the same weight of Newcastle coal will boil away only 8 or 9 lbs. A pound of coke will only boil away 4 lbs. of water, and a pound of peat seldom more than 5 lbs., or, by a skilful mode of using it, at the utmost 10 lbs.

To Build Fixed Furnaces.

Fire bricks are generally used, as they may be cut as easily as chalk, and yet bear a violent heat without alteration; they must be set in clay of the same kind. The parts distant from the fire may be of common bricks set in mortar, but this mortar must be carefully removed before the other part is begun, as an accidental admixture of it with the clay would cause the latter to run into glass, and thus spoil the furnace. These furnaces are generally built as thin as possible, that they may take up the less room, and to save fuel in in them; in this case they should be surrounded with iron braces, to prevent the alternate contraction and expansion destroying them as soon as they otherwise would.

To make a Portable Sand-pot.

For a portable one the ash pit may be an iron cylinder 17 inches in diameter and 8 deep, closed at bottom. In the front is cut a hole 3 inches high and 4 wide, with sliders to shut close. Three pins are riveted on the inside about an inch below the upper edge; these are to support the fire-place.

The bottom of this ash pit is lined with clay, beat up with charcoal dust and formed into a kind of saucer. The fire-place is a small cylinder of nearly the same width, so as to fit easily into the top of the ash-pit, and rest on the three pins; its height is 15 inches, and it has a flat border at each end, leaving a circular opening of 10 inches in diameter. Around the lower border are riveted 3 screws, to which are fixed by nuts a grate. In the upper border, towards the circumference, and at equal distances from each other, are made 4 circular holes an inch over. The inside of the fire-place is lined with clay and charcoal, whose surface is adjusted to a core, made by drawing on a board an ellipsis, having its foci 15 inches asunder, and its semiordinates at the foci 5 inches, sawing off the board at each focus, and also down the greatest diameter, so that the internal cavity may represent an ellipsoid of those dimensions, cut off at the foci. A fire hole about 6 inches wide and 44 high, with the lower limit about 3 inches above the grate, is left in the front to be closed with a lined stopper, both the fire-hole and stopper having a border to retain the lining. When the lining is dry, 4 openings are cut sloping through it, corresponding to the openings in the upper border, to serve as vents for the burnt air, and to regulate the fire by sliding pieces of tile more or less over them. In the central opening at the top of the fire-place is hung a cast-iron pot, either hemispherical, or, which is most usual, cylindrical, about 6 inches deep at the edge, with a rounded bottom, so that the axis is about an inch deeper. The common pots have only a reflected border, by which they hang, but the best kind have also an upright edge that rises an inch higher, to which a stone-ware head is fitted, and thus the pot serves for many distillations that require a strong fire. It is usual to cut a notch on one side of the top of the fireplace, sloping upwards to the edge of the pot, about 3 inches wide and 2 deep, to admit a low retort to be sunk deeper into the pot, by allowing a passage to its neck.

To make a Sand-heat Furnace.

A furnace of this kind may be stationary, and built of bricks that will stand the fire, and in this case the ash-pit is built about 12 inches high, and has an ash-door opening into it about 6 inches square; a grate is then laid, and a fire-door 6 inches by 8 opens immediately into the fire-place, even with the grate. The fire-place is made cylindrical, 2 inches wider than the sand-pot, and about 8 inches deeper, the grate being a square whose side is about two-thirds the internal diameter of the sand-pot. This pot hangs by its border in an iron ring placed at the top of the furnace; we have not yet adopted Teichmeyer's method of sloping the pot. As stone coal is generally used in fixing furnaces, instead of the 4 register holes used as vents in the portable furnaces, only one opening, about as wide as the grate and 3 inches high, either in the back or on one side, is made to vent the burned air into the chimney.

This, however, has the inconvenience of heating the pot unequally, the side next the vent becoming much the hottest, in spite of the endeavor to equalize the heat by bringing the fire from under the centre of the pot as forward as possible, by raising the wall opposite to the vent perpendicularly, and enlarging it only on the other three sides; sometimes with the same view several small vents are made round the pot, leading into the chimney. A notch for the neck of the retort is generally made on one side. As much heat passes through the vent, it is usual to cause the heated air to pass under a large cast-iron plate, placed on a border of bricks surrounding a platform of the same materials, and leaving a cavity of about 2½ inches deep, at the farther end of which another opening leads into the chimney. On this iron plate sand is laid to form a sand heat, and thus several operations are carried on at the same time. If that in the sand-pot is finished, and it is desired to keep on those in the sand-heat without interruption, the vessel may be drawn out of the sand, some warm sand thrown on that remaining in the pot, and a fresh vessel with materials introduced. But if this new operation should require the heat to be more gradually exhibited, a pot of thin plate-iron, filled with cold sand, containing the vessel, may be partly slid into the heated sand-pot, and, being supported by pieces of brick placed under the edge or otherwise, kept there until it be necessary to increase the heat, when it may be slid down lower until at length it is permitted to reach the bottom of the sand-pot.

To make a Hot Still.

Portable hot stills should have an ash-pit and fire-place exactly similar in dimensions to those used with the sand-pot, or the same furnace may be used with a hot still, if economy and not convenience is the principal object. The copper or tin-plate cucurbite will, of course, be 10 inches wide and about 12 deep, and hang 7 inches within the fire-place. The mouth should be wide, that the water-bath to be occasionally hung within it so as to reach within 3 inches of the bottom, may be the larger. Between this wide neck and the circumference there should be a short pipe, through which the liquor left after distillation may be drawn off by a crane without unluting the vessels; fresh liquor added; or, in distilling with the water-bath, the steam may escape. This pipe has a ring round it, that the cork with which it is stop ped may be firmly tied down, and like the other joinings be luted, for which purpose slips of paper smeared with flour and water, or common paste, are usually esteemed sufficient; but the best material is bladders rotted in water until they smell extremely offensive and adhere to the fingers when touched, and then worked between the hands into rolls, which are to be applied to the joinings. These small stills have usually a Moor's head that fits both the cucurbite and the waterbath, their necks being of equal diameter, and is furnished with a groove round the lower part on the inside to direct the condensed vapor to the nose of the alembic, and this head is surrounded by a refrigerator containing cold water, which is not so cumbersome as and less expensive than a worm and tub. But the most advantageous way of cooling the vapors is to use a Moor's head without a surrounding refrigerator, or only a plain bent tube, which should be at least 18 inches long, that the small globules of the boiling liquor which are thrown up near a foot high should not pass over and render the distilled liquor unfit for keeping. To this is to be adapted a pewter pipe about 8 feet long, if spirits of wine is to be distilled, or shorter for watery liquors, and in both cases of an inch in diameter on the inside, inclosed in a tinned plate tube with a funnel. With an adopter of this kind, and the consumption of 1½ pints of water in a minute, or about 9 galls. in an hour, spirits of wine may be distilled at the rate of a gallon by the hour from one of these portable stills. Another convenience of these straight pipes is, that they may be cleansed in the same manner as a fowling piece.

To make a Large Still.

If this furnace is fixed, and made of bricks, it may be constructed with a sand heat, like that annexed to the sand-pot; but this is seldom practised, although it would be advantageous for digestions and evaporations with a gentle heat, because the fire is generally kept up at an even height. If the cucurbite is not wanted for distilling, it may be used as a boiler to keep water ready heated for use, and to be drawn off when wanted by a syphon or crane. usually furnished with a pipe and cock on a level with the bottom, by which they can be emptied, and have almost always a worm and tub to cool the vapors. The head is usually of that kind which is called a swan's neck.

But these fixed stills are Astier's Improved Still.

It has been proved that as soon as a common still is in operation, the steam from the capital in the first turn of the worm is at a temperature of about 212º Fahr. Here water only condenses, and the alcohol in vapor passes into the second turn, where it condenses by the lowered temperature.

If the condensed liquid is drawn off from the upper turn, it is mere phlegm, or water, while that from the second turn is alcohol or spirit. The mode of doing this is very simple, and can be applied to any old still; so that every advantage resulting from the most complicated and expensive stills can be obtained; that is to say, plain brandy, Dutch-proof, and even thirty-five and thirty-sixth proof. The alterations are effected as follows:

Each turn of the worm is to be furnished with a very slender lateral pipe, ending in a faucet and tap. A crescent-shaped valve, placed just before the opening of the pipe into the worm, obliges the condensed liquid to trickle into the pipe, and a slight elbow above and below the pipe prevents any of the steam from running in the same direction. Each of these pipes follows the main worm in all its convolutions, comes out of the condenser at the same opening, and is led thence to its own receiver. The pipe of the first turn has also a second branch with a faucet, which lets out the phlegm (which is worthless) as fast as it is condensed. A prover indicates the moment when the feints should be separated, as simple brandy or proof-spirit is wanted. These feints are either detained in the boiler, or set aside for rectification, in all cases necessary, for the last spirit that comes over, without which it is worthless.

Besides producing more spirit, and saving threefourths out of the feints, the worm prepared as above shortens the term of distillation by onehalf, and consequently reduces the expense of fuel. In addition to this, and what is of more consequence, a sour wine may be distilled as well as any other, and without the least taint being perceptible in the brandy. The spirit is, of course, less in quantity, but whatever is obtained is good, and all the acid separates and flows out by the first pipe, which gives an opportunity of profiting by the acetous portion.

Column or Continuous Distillation.

A copper boiler is set in masonry, with a fire beneath the mouth of the boiler is fitted with a tall copper cylinder, standing perpendicularly | tilled; or they may be all shut, or some may be over the boiler and fitting closely. About half way up the height of this cylinder, and in its axis, a slender tube enters it and discharges a continual but small stream of the wine or wash to be distilled. The wine is prevented from falling down directly into the boiler beneath by means of a number of diaphragms, through which the wine percolates in streams like rain, whereby it presents a large extent of surface to the vapor which passes it in a different direction. In some cases the ascending vapors have to force their way at each diaphragm through a thin stratum of liquid, and they thus undergo a certain amount of pressure. The wine, when it enters the cylinder, is almost boiling, and, while it falls in small showers through the pierced shelves, a copious issue of watery vapor ascends from the boiling copper below. The watery vapor, at the temperature of boiling, comes in contact with the wine almost boiling: the latter, therefore, receives heat from the former, and by so doing there is a change of state; the watery vapor, losing heat, falls back as water; and the wine, acquiring heat, boils, and its alcohol, in a state of vapor, rises higher up in the cylinder, where, meeting with wine, it is absorbed, and a wine richer in alcohol is produced. This more alcoholic wine readily parts with its alcohol, in the form of vapor, by the action of heat continually carried up the cylinder. This vapor of alcohol, ascending higher, meets with more wine, is absorbed, and again set free in larger quantity. At length the portions of wine high up in the cylinder become highly charged with alcohol, and the alcoholic vapors, meeting with no more wine, pass on to a worm, where they are condensed into very strong spirit. The worm-tub is filled with wine, which in cooling the worm becomes heated itself, and this heated wine flows through the slender tube into the cylinder, where it is distilled as already explained. As this worm is never perfectly cold, the alcoholic vapor which escapes condensation is passed through a second worm, also surrounded by wine, which condenses it completely.

Should the watery vapor which ascends from the boiler into the cylinder, and becoming condensed, falls back into the boiler, carry any alcohol with it, the latter is again volatilized; so that the boiler contains nothing but water, derived from the wine; for, although the boiler had been filled with wine, it soon becomes water by parting with its alcohol. left open, so as to return the whole or any part into the cylinder. In this way, by means of these cocks, alcohol of any required degree of condensation, within certain limits, can be obtained. To Extinguish Fires in Distilleries.

A woollen blanket or rug, hung over a roller in a water-butt, is the readiest and best extinguisher. To Dulcify Spirits.

In dulcifying, or sweetening the spirits, weigh the sugar, and dissolve it in one or more cans of the water with which the compound is to be made up; bruise the sugar, and stir it well till all is dissolved. Then empty it into the cask containing the spirits, mixing all together by drawing off several cans by the cock, and emptying them into the casks by the bung-holes. Now rummage all well together till they are perfectly compounded.

Spirits or compounds that are strong require no assistance in setting and becoming clear; but those that are weak must be refined by the addition of some other substance. To every hogshead of Geneva, or other spirituous compound, put 6 oz. of powdered alum, previously dissolved in 3 or 4 galls. of the compound: stir all well together. In the course of 24 hours the whole will be rendered completely clear. It is a good practice to leave the bung-holes of casks (containing spirits or compounds newly made) open for several days. This improves their flavor, and renders them clear sooner than they would otherwise be.

Table-salt thrown into the still, in the proportion of 6 oz. to 10 galls. of any liquid to be distilled, will greatly improve the flavor, taste, and strength of the spirit. The viscid matter will be fixed by the salt, whilst the volatile matter ascends in a state of great purity.

The flavor of malt spirits is highly improved by putting 34 oz. of finely-powdered charcoal, and 44 oz. of ground rice into a quart of spirits, and letting it stand during 15 days, frequently stirring it; then let the liquor be strained, and it will be found of nearly the same flavor as brandy.

To make Charcoal.

This is usually manufactured from coppice wood, cut every 16 years; the fagots are made into a large conical pile, covered up with clods of earth, leaving circular rows of holes from top to bottom.

The wood is then kindled, and as it becomes red the holes are regularly closed to stop the further As fast as the boiler fills with water, it is emptied combustion, and when the whole has been closed by a cock placed in the bottom. Two boilers are more efficient than one; and when arranged so that a tube proceeding from the head of one plunges to the bottom of the other, they act like two of the eggs in Adams's still.

The discharge of wine from the great reservoir is regulated by a ball-cock, and there is a constant supply of cold wine, first, to the two worms, for the purpose of cooling them (by which method of heating the wine fuel is economized); secondly, to the distillatory column. Having parted with its alcohol, the watery portion falls into the boilers, up, the pile is left to cool; when the black skeleton of the wood is left, which differs from the raw wood in burning without any smoke, and with little or no flame, yielding at the same time no soot, although some of the finer particles of the ashes are volatilized and adhere to the chimney.

The air which passes through the burning charcoal has its oxygen converted into carbonic acid gas.

The air being thus rendered unfit for respiration, kills whatever animals or plants are confined in it. Numerous accidents have happened of persons being suffocated by sleeping in close rooms with a charcoal fire.

The charcoal for medical purposes should, like that for gunpowder, be made of soft woods, as willow, heated in iron retorts until no volatile matter is given out. Small quantities may be made by burying wood under sand in a covered crucible, and exposing the whole to fire. whence it is let off entirely deprived of alcohol.

The flow of wine being thus perpetual, no time is lost by an interval of discharging and charging.

It must also be noticed, that when the alcoholic vapors enter the first worm they are condensed; but as the weakest or most watery alcohol condenses in the first rounds of the worm, it is so contrived that this watery portion shall run back by small tubes into the cylinder, where it is redistilled. The worm at all its rounds is provided with cocks and tubes, by which the portions con- Spirit of wine, as it is called, was formerly, and densed in any part may be let back to be redis- is still, in southern countries, obtained by distill. To make Spirit of Wine. ing wine for its yield of brandy, and then slowly abstracting the more volatile part of the brandy, by a small fire and the use of tall vessels. In England, spirit of wine is, in general, obtained from ground meal, either of wheat, rye or barley, with from one-tenth to one-third of the same, or another grain, malted and ground, and then called malt spirit; or from treacle, and then called molasses spirit; some is also made from apples or cider-wash. In the United States, Indian corn is largely employed. The fermentation is carried on quicker and farther than in brewing or making cider, in order that all the sugar in the wash may be converted into spirit and water. The infusion of the malt and meal is made so strong that its specific gravity is from 1.083 to 1.14 (whereas that for strong ale is generally 1.06, and for small beer 1.015 to 1.04), and is mixed with a large quantity of yeast, added by successive portions, until, in about 10 days, the specific gravity is reduced to 1.002, when it is fit for the still. In general, a third part is drawn off at the first stilling, under the name of low wines, the specific gravity being about 0.975. On re-distilling the low wines, a fiery spirit, of a milky cast, comes over first, and is returned into the still; then follows the clean spirit; when it begins to grow too watery, the remaining spirit that comes over, as long as it will take fire, is kept apart, under the name of feints, and mixed with the next parcel of low wines.

Instead of these trials the head of the still may have the bulb of a thermometer inserted into it, and by observing the temperature of the steam, an accurate judgment may be formed of the strength of the spirit that distills over. It is computed that 100 galls. of malt or corn wash will produce about 20 of spirit, containing about half its weight of water; molasses wash, 22 galls.; cider wash, 15 galls. The best French wines yield from 20 to 25 galls. The spirit thus obtained is for chemical and pharmaceutical purposes mixed with water, to separate the oil it contains, and redistilled several times in tall vessels, with a very gentle heat, until its specific gravity is reduced to 0.82; though that usually sold is only 0.837, at 60° Fahrenheit. By distilling spirit of wine with purified pearl ashes, salt of tartar, chloride of calcium, lime, or common salt, all previously heated to redness and cooled, its specific gravity may be reduced still lower, even as low as 0.792, at 68° Fahrenheit.

To make Ether.

The old chemists, after mixing spirit of wine with an equal weight of oil of vitriol, digested it for a long time, and then distilled the most volatile part, which was called the sweet oil of vitriol. At present the mixture, whose temperature is considerably increased, is placed in a heated sandbath and distilled, without being suffered to cool until one-half the quantity of the spirit is come over; meanwhile, an inflammable gas also passes over. If the distillation is continued, sulphurous acid passes over, and a light yellow sweet oil of wine; the black residuary sulphuric acid contains charcoal diffused through it, which may be separated by admixture with water and filtration. If fresh alcohol is poured on the residuum, more ether may be obtained by distillation. The unrectified ether, as the first product is called, contains both water and alcohol: dry salt of tartar separates the first, and then pouring off the upper liquid, and adding dry chloride of calcium in powder, this salt unites with the alcohol, and the ether swims on the solution.

The Continuous Ether Process. vessel of alcohol is provided with a tube furnished with a stopcock, which tube dips to the bottom of a second vessel which contains sulphuric acid, and is provided with a thermometer. From the top of the second vessel a tube passes through a worm or condenser to the receiver. The alcohol is allowed to mix with the sulphuric acid until the boiling point of the mixture is 300° Fahr.; more alcohol will lower it, less raise it. The mixture is now kept boiling at 300°, fresh alcohol being steadily supplied. Ether and water distill, ever forming two layers, the ether on top. The sulphuric acid is unchanged, and the same quantity will convert an indefinite amount of alcohol into ether. If the alcohol contains oils, however, they will be charred and render the acid black.

To Purify Ether.

Agitate it well in a closed vessel with double its bulk of water to remove any alcohol. Decant the ether from the water on which it floats. Add quicklime to remove any water that may be left, and after it has slaked distill. The first third will be pure ether.

To Imitate Foreign Spirits.

A great desideratum among distillers, in this country, is to imitate foreign spirits, such as brandy, rum, Geneva, etc., to a tolerable degree of perfection; but, notwithstanding the many attempts that are daily made for this purpose, the success, in general, has been indifferent. The general method of distilling brandies in France differs in nothing from that practised here, with malt-wash or molasses; nor are the French distillers in the least more cleanly in their operations. Still, though brandy is distilled from wine, experience tells us that there is a great difference in the grapes from which the wine is made. Every soil, every climate, every kind of grape, varies with regard to the quantity and quality of the spirit distilled from them. A large quantity of brandy is distilled in France during the time of the vintage; for the poor grapes that prove unfit for wine, are usually first gathered, pressed, their juice fermented, and instantly distilled. It is a general rule with them, not to distill wine that will fetch any price as wine; for, in this state, the profits obtained are much greater than when the wine is reduced to brandies.

For a long time, this liquor was distilled only from spoiled wine, and afterwards from the dregs of beer and wine; and when, instead of these, the distillers employed rye, wheat and barley, it was considered as a wicked and unpardonable misuse of grain.

To Improve British Brandy.

Take 30 galls. of fine English brandy, 3 oz. of tincture Japonica, and 9 oz. of sweet spirit of nitre. Incorporate these with some of the spirit, and then put it into the rest of the liquor, and stir it well about. This will make 30 galls. of brandy, and if it be a good clean spirit, it will much resemble French brandy.

To prepare Tincture Japonica.

Take of the best. English saffron, mace bruised, of each 1 oz.; infuse them in a pint of brandy till the whole tincture of the saffron is extracted, which will be in 7 or 8 days; then strain it through a linen cloth, and to the strained tincture add 2 oz. of terra Japonica powdered fine; let it infuse till the tincture is wholly impregnated.

To make Jamaica Rum.

This is obtained from the refuse of the raw sugar manufactories, by taking equal quantities of the skimmings of the sugar pans, of lees or re- This process is now generally followed. A turns as they are commonly called, and of water; so much more sparing of their consumption than our distillers. and to 100 galls. of this wash are added 10 galls. | have other reasons than mere cheapness for being of molasses. This affords from 10 to 17 galls. of proof rum, and twice as much low wines; it is sometimes rectified to a strength approaching to spirit of wine, and is then called double distilled rum.

To Obtain Rum from Molasses.

Mix 2 or 3 galls. of water with 1 gall. of molasses, and to every 200 galls. of this mixture add a gallon of yeast. Once or twice a day the head as it rises is stirred in, and in 3 or 4 days 2 galls. more of water is added to each gallon of molasses originally used, and the same quantity of yeast as at first. Four, 5 or 6 days after this, a portion of yeast is added as before, and about 1 oz. of jalaproot powdered (or in winter 1½ oz.), on which the fermentation proceeds with great violence, and in 3 or 4 days the wash is fit for the still; 100 galls. of this wash is computed to yield 22 galls. of spirit from 1 to 10 over-proof. If the molasses spirit, brought to the common proof strength, is found not to have sufficient vinosity, it will be proper to add some sweet spirits of nitre; and if the spirit has been properly distilled by a gentle heat, it may, by this addition only, be made to pass with ordinary judges as French brandy. Great quantities of this spirit are used in adulterating foreign brandy, rum, and arrack. Much of it is also used alone in making cherry brandy and other cordials by infusion; in all which many prefer it to foreign brandies. Molasses, like all other spirits, is entirely colorless when first extracted; but distillers give it, as nearly as possible, the color of foreign spirits.

To Prepare Gin as in Holland.

The grist is composed of 10 qrs. of malt, ground considerably finer than malt distillers' barley grist, and 3 qrs. of rye-meal; or, more frequently, of 10 qrs. of rye and 3 qrs. of malt-meal. The 10 qrs. are first mashed with the least quantity of cold water it is possible to blend it with, and when uniformily incorporated, as much boiling water is added as forms it into a thin batter; it is then put into 1, 2, or more casks, or gyle-tuns, with a much less quantity of yeast than is usually employed by our distillers. Generally, on the third day, the Dutch distillers add the malt or rye-meal, prepared in a similar manner, but not before it comes to the temperature of the fermenting wash; at the same time adding as much yeast as at first.

The principal secret is the management of the mashing part of the business, in first thoroughly mixing the malt with the cold water, and in subsequently adding the due proportion of boiling water, that it may still remain sufficiently diluted after the addition of the fine meal; also in well rousing all together in the back, that the wash may be diluted enough for distilling without endangering its burning to the bottom. Rectification into Holland Gin.

To every 20 galls. of spirit of the second extraction, about the strength of proof, take of juniperberries, 3 lbs.; oil of juniper, 2 oz.; and distil with a slow fire until the feints begin to rise, then change the receiving can; this produces the best Rotterdam gin. To make Malt Spirit.

Mix 60 quarters of barley grist, ground low, and 20 quarters of coarse ground pale malt, with 250 barrels of water, at about 170°. Take out 30 barrels of the wort, and add to this 10 stone of fresh porter yeast, and when the remaining wort is cooled down to 55°, add 10 quarters more malt, previously mixed with 30 barrels of warm water; stir the whole well together, and put it to ferment along with the reserved yeasted wort; this wash will be found to weigh, by the saccharometer, from 28 to 32 lbs. per barrel, more than water.

In the course of 12 or 14 days, the yeast head will fall quite flat, and the wash will have a vinous smell and taste, and not weigh more than from 2 to 4 lbs. per barrel more than water. Some now put 20 lbs. of common salt, and 30 lbs. of flour, and in 3 or 4 days put it into the still, previously stirring it well together. Every 6 galls. of this wash will produce 1 gall. of spirit, at from 1 to 10 over-proof; or 18 galls. of spirit from each quarter of grain. English Geneva.

The best English Geneva is made as follows:

Take of juniper-berries, 3 lbs.; proof spirit, 10 galls.; water, 4 galls. Draw off by a gentle fire, till the feint begins to rise, and make up the goods to the required strength with clear water.

To Distill Spirits from Carrots.

Take 1 ton and 8 stone of carrots, which, after being exposed a few days to dry, will weigh about 160 stone. The whole being cut, put one-third of the quantity into a copper, with 24 galls. of water, and after covering them up close, reduce the whole into a pulp. The other two-thirds are to be treated in the same manner, and as the pulp is taken from the copper, it is carried to the press, where the juice is extracted with great facility. The liquor obtained will amount to 200 galls., and will be of a rich sweet taste, resembling wort. It is then put into the copper with 1 lb. of hops, and suffered to boil about 5 hours, when it is put into the cooler, to remain till the heat comes down to 66°.

From the cooler it is discharged from the vat, manner. where 6 qts. of yeast are put to it, in the usual Let it work 48 hours, or to 58°, when the yeast begins to fall. Then heat 12 galls. of unfermented juice, and put it to the liquor, and the heat will be raised to 60°. Work afresh for 24 hours longer, the liquor gradually lowering, as before from 66° to 58°. Tun the whole into halfhogsheads, to work from the bung. After standing 3 days in the cask, 50 galls. may be drawn off, which is rectified the next day without any additional substance. Twelve galls. of spirit will be obtained.

To make Arrack.

Arrack is no other than a spirit produced by distillation from a vegetable juice called toddy, which flows out of the cocoanut tree. The operator provides himself with a parcel of earthen pots, climbs up the trunk of a cocoa-tree; and when he comes to the boughs, he cuts off one of the small knot or buttons, and applies the mouth of a bottle to the wound, fastening it to the bough with a bandage; in the same manner he cuts off others, and proceeds till the whole number is employed; this done, he leaves them until the next morning, when he takes off the bottles, which are mostly filled, and empties the juice into the proper receptacle. When a sufficient quantity is produced, the whole put together, is left to ferment. When the An inferior kind is made with a still less proportion of berries, sweet fennel seed, and Strasburg turpentine, with a drop of oil of juniper; and a better sort, but inferior to the Rotterdam, is made at Weesoppe. The distiller's wash at Schiedam and Rotterdam is lighter than at Weesoppe. Strasburg turpentine is of a yellowishbrown color, a very fragrant agreeable smell, yet the least acrid of the turpentine. The juniperberries are so cheap in Holland, that they must | fern entation is over, and the liquor is a little tart, it is put into the still, and fire being made, the still is suffered to work as long as that which comes off has any considerable taste of spirit. The liquor thus procured is the low wine of arrack; and is distilled again to separate some of its watery parts, and rectify it to that very weak kind of proof spirit in which state we find it.

Tungusian arrack is a spirituous liquor made by the Tartars of Tungusia, of mare's milk, left to sour, and afterwards distilled twice or thrice between two earthen pots closely stopped, whence the liquor runs through a small wooden pipe.

To Fine Spirits.

Mix a small quantity of wheat flour in water as if for making paste, and pour the same into the vessel. The whole is then to be well roused, and in a short time the contents will become bright.

To Extract Alcohol from Potatoes.

Take 100 lbs. of potatoes well washed, dress them by steam, and let them be bruised to powder with a roller, etc. In the meantime take 4 lbs. of ground malt, steep it in lukewarm water, and then pour into the fermenting back, and pour on it 12 qts. of boiling water; this water is stirred about, and the bruised potatoes thrown in, and well stirred about with wooden rakes, till every part of the potatoes is well saturated with the liquor.

Immediately 6 or 8 oz. of yeast is to be mixed with 28 galls. of water of a proper warmth to make the whole mass of the temperature of from 59° to 66°; there is to be added a pt. to 1 pt. of good brandy.

The fermenting back must be placed in a room, to be kept by means of a stove at a temperature from 66° to 72°. The mixture must be left to remain at rest. The back must be large enough to suffer the mass to rise 7 or 8 inches without running over.

If, notwithstanding this precaution, it does so, some must be taken out, and returned when it falls a little; the back is then covered again, and the fermentation is suffered to finish without touching it - which takes place generally in 5 or 6 days. This is known by its being perceived that the liquor is quite clear, and the potatoes fallen to the bottom of the back. The fluid is decanted, and the potatoes pressed dry.

When the fermentation has been favorable, from every 100 lbs. of potatoes, 6 qts. and upwards of brandy, of 20° of the areometer are obtained. It contains much fusel oil, and is colored and sold as Marc brandy.

One thousand lbs. of potatoes at twice, gives 60 to 70 qts. of brandy. The residue of the distillation is used as food for stock. Alcohol from Wood.

The wood is reduced to coarse saw-dust; in this state it is dried up to a temperature of 212°, so as to drive off the water which it contains, often amounting to one-half of its weight. The wood is then suffered to cool, and concentrated sulphuric acid is poured over it with great care, and very small quantities at a time, so as to prevent the materials from heating. The acid is mixed with the wood as it is poured, then for 12 hours the mixture is let alone; after that it is rubbed up with great care, until the mass, which is at first dry, becomes sufficiently liquid to run.

This liquid, diluted with water, is brought to the boiling point; the acid is saturated with lime, and the liquid, after filtration, is fermented, and the alcohol distilled in the ordinary way. In this experiment, the sulphuric acid must be at least 110 per cent. of the weight of the dry wood.

Kirsch Wasser.

Spirits of cherry. Ripe cherries are crushed by hand in an inclined wooden trough; the juice is collected, the stones added, the liquid left to ferment, and is then distilled. It is not necessary to crack the stones.

Apple Brandy Is distilled from cider. Generally the apples are crushed and allowed to ferment thoroughly, which takes from 6 to 10 days, and distilled. A better plan is to collect only the juice and ferment it.

The former gives a larger yield, but the quality is not so good.

Peach Brandy.

The peaches are mashed with pestles in a trough, the juice pressed out, collected, fermented, and distilled. The pomace still contains considerable juice, it is therefore covered with water, and after fermentation, distilled.

Raisin Spirit, Much used to give a vinous flavor to inferior spirits, is made by infusing the raisins in water, fermenting, and distilling with a quick fire. The quick fire is necessary in order to get all the flavor from the raisins.

Proof Spirit.

Contains half its weight of alcohol. Its specific gravity at 60° is .920. The strength, however, varies in different localities, and the idea is at best clumsy and antiquated.

To make Brandy from Beet-Root.

For the preparation of brandy, the water used in the first boiling of the roots, is boiled again, and poured out on the residuum from the first expression of the pounded roots; this must stand for a day or two, after which it is expressed, and the remaining dry pulp serves as a good food for cattle. The juice obtained in this way is mixed with the waste parts of the syrup and the mucilage which remains after the expression of the saccharine crystals, and all boiled together till half of it is evaporated. The liquor is then poured into a coop exposed to a temperature of 45°, and cooled to 65°. Having added a proportionate quantity of yeast, it is left to ferment, and in 3 or 4 days after the distillation may be undertaken.

To Obtain Sugar from Beet-Root.

The beet-roots best calculated for the extraction of sugar, are those which have a soft flesh, whitish towards the edges and not growing above ground.

After being cleaned, they are boiled, cut into pieces and pounded in a wooden trough with wooden stampers, and afterwards pressed. The juice thus obtained is immediately put into a polished copper kettle and simmered, during which time the scum must continually be taken off. To 100 quarts of this juice add 2 oz. or less of slackened lime, diluted so as to have the appearance of milk, and continue the boiling till the juice is thickened to the half of it. Having strained it through a woollen cloth, thicken it to the consistency of a syrup, which afterwards is put into glass, stone, or wooden vessels. These being placed near a moderate fire, saccharine crystals appear, which being freed by expression from the mucilaginous juice, a very good raw sugar is obtained.

Fusel Oil Is found in new whiskey, more especially from rye, corn, and potatoes. It is a nearly colorless liquid, of a powerful odor of new whiskey, causing irritation of the nostrils and fauces. It boils at 296° Fahr., and has a density of 0.818. In its solvent forms and chemical relation it resembles alcohol.

Swallowed, it acts as an instant poison. When liquors containing it are long kept, it changes into ethers, and becomes innoxious. There are probably several bodies compounded together under the general name of fusel oil. It may be detected by adding to the suspected liquor in a glass some fused chloride of calcium. The oil, if present, will be liberated, and may be recognized by its smell.

To Remove Fusel Oil.

It may be separated by careful distillation, especially if some soft wood charcoal be introduced into the still. 2d. By filtering the whiskey through bone-black; this is termed by the dealers "rectifying," which is incorrect. 3d. Oils are added to the whiskey and the whole shaken up, the oil unites with the fusel oil and rises to the surface, and may be skimmed off.