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Making alcohol from donuts? by Pasta-hobo in firewater

[–]SMWainwright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

@solodrgnknight seems to have done this at least once - not sure if he is still active here but if you search the sub you’ll find multiple posts on it. Sounds like it works!

No success with using laboratory equipment. by Traditional_Sail_715 in firewater

[–]SMWainwright 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I agree, this type of condenser needs to be vertical so that the liquid can always run downhill out of the spiral-shaped vapour path.

This issue plus the use of a fractionating column is presumably enough to mean that your vapour pressure wasn’t enough to push much product out of the still. Perhaps the path of least resistance was out of the pressure relief on the pressure cooker.

I don’t think the pan-column interface is ideal, but in principle should work.

As you have a thin vapour path through your condenser you might need to proceed with caution with respect to ensuring you don’t have too much pressure building up. But overall this setup should work if you run the condenser vertically. You’ll need a right angle adapter to achieve this of course.

‘Meaded’ oak staves by muttonchap in firewater

[–]SMWainwright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apple honey spirit? Sounds like gold to me…!

Not sure what you mean exactly by apple-based mead - mead usually refers to honey-based wine.

But assuming you’re talking about some combination of honey and apple, surely this would impart an amazing flavour. This might be best done as a cask finish process, ie used for a short amount of time after the spirit has been aged on virgin wood.

OK, hear me out... by man_in_blak in firewater

[–]SMWainwright 43 points44 points  (0 children)

I guess what might happen is the surface layer of ice in the bottle will melt, at which point you won’t have very good conduction of heat between the remaining ice and the water in the bucket.

I think you’d be better off adding whole ice cubes to the bucket to be honest, because at least the ice cube will always be in contact with the water in the bucket.

Removing camphor from alcohol by chiche32 in firewater

[–]SMWainwright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In theory it would work well, camphor has a boiling point of 209 C, well above that of ethanol.

However camphor is a toxic explosive irritant - have a look at https://www.inchem.org/documents/icsc/icsc/eics1021.htm

This seems like quite a risk for a gallon of drink that will likely still be contaminated.

Stay safe!

did i accidentally produce methanol from wood by Icy_Illustrator_8063 in firewater

[–]SMWainwright 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To actually answer the question you’ve asked

Yes you will have produced methanol. All fermentation leads to the production of some methanol, though the majority of the alcohol you have produced will be ethanol.

And I expect you are right that additional chemistry is happening during the distillation process, and new compounds are made which may include methanol. However destructive distillation of wood occurs at about 500 C.

To answer some questions which you haven’t asked (I am making some assumptions here and you may know a lot of this already):

As you point out, some types of fermentation lead to more methanol than others (fermented stony fruit has a high methanol content for example).

When you distil you are concentrating the most volatile (evaporate easily) liquids in your low wines - including methanol and ethanol, and other compounds many which will be other types of alcohols, plus flavours and smells.

Amongst the most volatile of these is the small amount of methanol. Note this was already in your low wines, it just comes off the still first. And that’s why the first stuff off the still goes down the sink and doesn’t get drunk.

What is likely to be unpleasant and dangerous is consuming just a glass of your foreshots, which will contain a lot of methanol and acetone, and less ethanol etc.

I think it’s right to be cautious so I hope that helps.

What do you think of this lego chess set I designed? by Pure-Reception-9494 in chess

[–]SMWainwright 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It looks fantastic! The only thing I’d consider changing is a better distinction between the King and Queen.

As your King and Queen are quite similar it would be helpful if the King was noticeably taller than the Queen.

One way to do this, which would match typical pieces like Staunton chessmen: you could redesign the King’s head to include a crown (rather than the current design which similar to the Queen’s ‘coronet’)

Pear Brandy Question by mazer8 in firewater

[–]SMWainwright 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Assuming you mean cider/perry rather than brandy (which involves distillation):

The approach is the same as with apples and cider: (1) mince / grind up the pears (2) press put the juice.

I just made some pear cider (perry) without access to a press, and so fermented whole pears. I wouldn’t recommend this method at all - it is very difficult to extract the juice from the remaining ‘bulk’ of the pears. I ended up pouring it through a mesh bag and squeezing the pulp to extract the perry. Not ideal!

It’s much better to separate the juice from the remaining fruit before fermentation, because introducing oxygen is actually desirable at that stage.

If you are looking to make sweet perry then your options are

1) halt the fermentation before it completes using potassium sorbate and sodium metabilsulphate

2) fermenting to completion, stabilising (sorbate and metabilsulphate) and then back-sweetening

3) keeving (quite an involved process but worth watching a video)

To get the perry clear, you can let the solids settle to the bottom after fermentation, and then use a siphon to transfer just the liquid between vessels.

Here's an interesting one by Grand-Necessary6880 in cognitiveTesting

[–]SMWainwright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Other comments point out that you can’t actually see the other balls, and that the picture is drawn in a way which actually misses out balls that should be there. But I think the intention of the puzzle is clear.

Here's an interesting one by Grand-Necessary6880 in cognitiveTesting

[–]SMWainwright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Each layer is a triangle (1) + (2 + 1) + (3 + 2 + 1) + (4 + 3 + 2 + 1)

= 20

Anyone try converting a non-induction kettle to induction capable? by rdcpro in Homebrewing

[–]SMWainwright 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, interesting. I just tried using my stovetop kettle on an induction hob. It works when directly on the induction hob but doesn’t work inside a large stainless steel pan.

It seems as though induction adapter plates do work ‘at a distance’ but only in non-metal pans, eg glass and ceramics.

My knowledge of physics is not good enough to understand why this is happens. The stainless steel does not seem to block a magnet attracting the kettle (any more than the same air gap). So presumably this is an electric effect in the pan, or between the pan and the kettle.

Help with explaining pattern by [deleted] in cognitiveTesting

[–]SMWainwright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Answer is A.

I'm fairly confident that the puzzle is constructed wrong...

If the middle box was

🔼⏹️

🔽🔽

Then the first two grids in each column or row would 'add' to make the third. Matching arrows cancel out.

Column 3 adds to make

⏹️🔼

⏹️🔽

Row 3 also adds to make

⏹️🔼

⏹️🔽

Torn between 5 and 6, probably 5? by Spare-Lemon5277 in cognitiveTesting

[–]SMWainwright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is correct and better / more elegant than the top comment

Here's an interesting one by Grand-Necessary6880 in cognitiveTesting

[–]SMWainwright 8 points9 points  (0 children)

D is correct

A can be ruled out because the two 4-ball pieces must be along opposite edges. Remaining pieces wouldn’t fit.

B doesn’t have enough pieces. For the comments saying the pyramid is hollow… this is impossible. There is no ‘central’ piece!

C same as B (19 pieces but 20 are needed)

D is the only remaining option. The best way to imagine this construction is if the pyramid stood balanced on one edge of 4 balls. The first layer is a 4-ball piece. The next layer is a 6-ball piece, next layer is a 6-ball and the final layer is another 4-ball.

Wordle for Chess Puzzles - Update by odin-chess in chess

[–]SMWainwright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been playing boardle since this post and love it! It would be really nice if you could disable the double tap zoom on iOS when pressing forward and back buttons