Alcohol distillation has long been used for medical and cosmetic uses since antiquity, first emerging somewhere between China, Egypt or Mesopotamia (around 2000 BC) and Babylonia for balm production (using cedarwood, cypress wood, ginger wood and myrrh). Distillation was then employed in creating flavors and aromas suitable for beverages, foodstuffs, perfumes and perfumes.
Fermentation and Distillation are the two processes necessary for producing all distilled spirits. Fermentation yields an alcoholic liquid known as a wash that will then be subjected to further processes – particularly distillation. Distillation exploits alcohol’s lower boiling point than water so by heating the wash and collecting its vapours you can concentrate the ethyl alcohol and separate it from any water remaining.
Distillation processes often produce volatile chemicals called congeners that contribute to the flavor profile of finished spirits, so controlling their level is vital to ensure their success in the market.
MeOH (short for methoxy-alcohol), is an extremely volatile and highly flammable liquid with a boiling point of 64.7@C that forms byproducts during distillation processes. To remove trace amounts that could potentially lead to blindness from spirit distillate, a distillation vessel can be connected via taps to a collection vessel which will be evacuated prior to collecting its new fraction.
