How to Achieve High Purity in Alcohol Distillation

Alcohol distillation involves extracting pure ethanol alcohol from volatile, less desirable and sometimes harmful congeners such as fusel oil, methanol and acetone. Distillers begin with an alcoholic liquid known as “The Wash,” usually composed of fermented grains or materials used depending on what spirit will be made; then heat this wash in their still and capture any alcohol vapors it generates for further concentration.

As alcohol vapor rises up the distillation column, it passes through a water condenser where it becomes liquid again, thus lowering temperature necessary for breaking azeotrope and continuing distillation until reaching 100% alcohol concentration – although energy requirements increase dramatically as concentration approaches 100%.

Keep in mind that any distillation process is only as successful as its purity, thus making achieving high purity levels in alcohol distillation an integral component of spirits producer system design.

Alcohol distillation offers multiple methods to achieve high purity, but one of the most efficient and economical approaches is vacuum distillation. Lower pressure allows the azeotrope to approach 100%, increasing reflux ratios for each condensed alcohol molecule condensed, thus decreasing energy costs per proof produced.