

One question we hear a lot is "Should I see alcohol coming out of my still once the temperature reaches 174 degrees F?" The answer to this question is "No, a commercial distiller should not." Why? As we mentioned, the boiling point of pure ethanol is 174 degrees F.


Should a Still Start Producing Alcohol At 174 Degrees Fahrenheit? In fact, in a 50/50 solution of ethanol and water, the boiling (liquid) temperature of ethanol will be about 180 degrees. However, if a commercial distiller has a solution that is 50% ethanol and 50% water, the boiling temperature will be significantly higher. Again, the boiling temperature of a solution that is 100% ethanol is 174 degrees. The more water there is in the solution, the higher the boiling temperature.Ĭommercial distillers that measure liquid temperature while distilling may have noticed that liquid temp can often be much higher than 174 before a still starts producing. The boiling temperature of ethanol in a wash, that is to say, ethanol mixed with water, is completely dependent on the ratio of ethanol to water. The boiling temperature of pure ethanol is 174 degrees F. There is a lot of information stating that the boiling temperature of ethanol is 174 degrees Fahrenheit. We get a lot of questions about distillation and temperature.
