A Practical Handbook on the Distillation of Alcohol from Farm Products

This handbook walks readers through every step of turning everyday farm crops—grain, beets, potatoes, molasses—into usable alcohol. Starting with the basics of malting, mashing and fermentation, it explains how the sugary mash becomes a liquid that can be separated by distillation. Clear, concise language makes the chemistry approachable even for those without a scientific background.

The updated edition expands to the latest American and European distilling apparatus, complete with diagrams of vacuum mash cookers, steamers and rectifiers. It also covers the legal landscape after the early twentieth‑century Free Alcohol Act, offering practical denaturing formulas that meet government standards. Whether you are a farmer looking to add a new revenue stream or an engineer designing a small plant, the book provides enough theory and hands‑on advice to get a modest operation running safely and efficiently.