Pot still



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A pot still is a type of continuous distillation).

At sea level, water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit but alcohol boils at 188 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, in the distilling process, while there is still alcohol in the mash, the vapour is richer in alcohol than the liquid itself. When this vapour is condensed, the resulting liquid therefore contains more alcohol. In the pot still, the esters, alcohols that give the mash or wine its aroma, evaporate and flow from the still through the condensing coil. There they condense to the first distillation liquid, the so-called 'low wines', with a strength of about 25-35% alcohol by volume, which then flows into a second still below. It is then distilled a second time to produce the colourless spirit, collected at about 70% alcohol by volume. Maturation in an oak aging barrel typically causes the brown color to develop over time.

The modern pot still is a descendant of the alembic, a alchemy.

The largest pot still in the world is in the Old Midleton Distillery, Co. Cork Ireland. It has a capacity of 31,618 gallons (approximately 140,000 litres). It is no longer in use however.

See also

  • Pure pot still whiskey
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pot_still". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.