Moonshine or Ethanol---All useful

A few months ago in a peak oil frenzy, I decided to make some ethanol, in part, just to see if I could and in part because Popcorn Sutton used to make it and then drink it. Rather like two birds with one stone or one fuel for moving some metaphorical stones and another for getting stoned. The operation was not real difficult, really. As a way of making it more utilitarian to my person , that is one for quality use, I chose malted barley, Indian corn, malted rye and some conventional corn---probably GMO.

Now, it is true one can make the stuff from plain old sugar ( made from many sources), or from any grain, or for that matter potatoes, fruits for sure. It is that easy. If you want some ethanol for your machines just ferment the grains or sugar, then distill it with some heat on a pot and as it goes up the copper coil as it is cooled it condenses. The first run through it was around 65% alcohol and the rest water. I suspect it will burn in that combination but for better fuels it would seem another distillation is necessary taking it up to 90%.

With this product one can run some motors, maybe a chainsaw, certainly my hit and miss motors, possibly an automobile (with a few adjustments). So, that is pretty cool. With a hundred pounds of corn a person might be able to cut a years worth of wood or drive a truck a few miles. The process is some work, mind you, but it could be done when the oil runs out. Of course, a person could not build a car with ethanol as that takes some 30 barrels of oil. I'll be damned if I'm going to use good ethanol to make anything other than a buzz---if you know what I mean.

Better yet, this ethanol can be "doctored" slightly and used as a food product for humans, maybe even has medical possibilities. So rather than using mine for the chain saw (the efforts for fuel production was more symbolic, maybe theoretical, a jesture) I added a few exciting items to my accumulated supply of product.

It is a secret that distillers add "things" to there product to get the desired flavor because ethanol is odorless, colorless and tasteless. Low and behold, I started out by adding a fist full of charred white oak to a couple of quarts of my ethanol, or chain saw fuel. In some cases it remained there for a few months, in others a few weeks. Oh ya, that was one of the magic tastes! To others I added fruit that was laying around in my freezer, let it sit for a few weeks and then extract the fuel, added some sugar and out comes this aperitif, liqueur, or whatever. To the charred spirits a touch of maple syrup brought things even farther along---better than Jack Daniels.

So what I have here is a multifaceted project that will always have value. You got your fuel, not a lot of it, and you have your age-old elixir that might be described as medicinal. All of it is aimed at a rich and full life no matter what. Pretty darn innovative if you ask me.