Pure Distilling Reflux Kit Instructions Manual page 13

Measure and Test Your Spirit
The spirit you have collected should be over 90% ABV, that's 180 proof, it cannot be consumed
at this strength, it will result in alcohol poisoning or even death! To bring the spirit to a
strength suitable for consumption (it must be below 55% ABV), we first need to find its
strength:
1. Test the spirit you have collected with the alcometer, the alcometer will only measure
alcohol/water mixes, it cannot be used to measure the alcohol content of your wash.
2. The alcometer is calibrated to be accurate at a temperature of 20 degrees, if your
collected spirit is warmer than 20 degrees (it generally will exit the condenser at +40
degrees), the reading will need to be adjusted. There are many websites where this can
be calculated; google "alcometer temperature correction table".
Once you have measured the ABV of the spirit, determine your final consumption strength,
generally 36 - 42% ABV. Add water to the spirit, as a general rule if 3 litres of spirit has been
measured at 90%, adding 3 litres of water will result in 6 litres at 45%. Keep adding water until
your alcometer reads the consumption strength you have picked.
Remember to adjust for temperature as the water you are adding will lower the mixed spirit
temperature.
The spirit is now ready to be filtered, the activated carbon filter cartridge will attract and trap
chlorine and volatile organic compounds like acetone, benzene, ethylene glycol,
formaldehyde, methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, toluene and xylene. These volatile
organic compounds are present in very minute quantities in the tails of the distillation run.
Rinse the premium Pure Distilling Filter Cartridge under clean running water to remove any
dust and loose particles, then soak the Filter Cartridge in diluted spirit or water until no
bubbles can be seen coming from the Filter Cartridge, it will take about 20 minutes. This
process removes any chance of creating an airlock in the filter process.
Dilute the Spirit
Filter the Spirit