How to Distill Pálinka!

I use the following and it works very well. If you do it this way, you should get approximately a
65% Alcohol by Volume (ABV):

1. 30 liter/8 gallon container for storing/fermenting fruit(s)

2. Alcoholmeter – A thermometer style that floats will work, like:
https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-com-TY-95MM-2SU8-Alcoholmeter-
Hydrometer-Cylinder/dp/B0034TIZME

3. One 2-3 liter glass jar: For collecting during 1st run
4. Two – 500ml glass jars: For collecting during 1st run
5. Six 250ml – 500ml glass jars: For collecting during the 2nd run

You’ll do TWO runs. The first you will run to get all the alcohol out of the fruit. The second will
be to get the RIGHT type of alcohol.

Fruit should sit in the container, without a lid, but covered with a decent cloth. If you don’t
cover it, you will have fruit flies EVERYWHERE. I would recommend keeping in the basement.
Don’t fill beyond ¾ full with fruit. Allow fruit to ferment for 4-5 weeks, or until you stop seeing
a lot of bubbles. I will mix mine with a potato masher once a day, and wait about 10 minutes
and check for bubbles. If you still have bubbles after 5 weeks, it is most likely ready so don’t be
worried about seeing them at this point.

First Run:
1. Clean the pot and rinse very well. Connect the cooling tube setup to a good supply of
cold water. You’ll want to put a valve on the inlet so that the pot won’t overflow.
a. I found that I barely had to crack the valve on mine or it would overflow. You
can definitely do this all outside and use a garden hose to connect.
b. You will want a good drain, which could be just your yard J
2. Use REAL butter and rub on the inside bottom and up the sides about 1” of the large
distilling pot. The most important part to worry about is the bottom inside corner of the
pot. If you don’t butter it, the fruit will burn and it is difficult to remove. Then, find
about four or five 2”-3” rocks (these are called boil stones and keep the fruit from
popping as it boils). Clean them and then place on the bottom of the pot.
3. Fill the pot between ½ and 2/3’s full of the fruit mix.
4. Connect the entire setup and ensure all connections are tight.
5. Start heating the pot on high heat. Place a 250ml jar under the outlet (where the
alcohol is going to come out).
6. Don’t worry about how fast it comes out, or how high the heat is. The saying
moonshiners use is ‘hot and fast’.
7. When the fluid starts coming out, it should have a blue tinge to it. This is called the
‘Foreshots’ and you do NOT want to drink it. Let it fill the 250ml jar about ¾ full and
then swap with a 500ml jar. (Dump this down the drain, or use it to clean the pot later).
 8. Let the 500ml jar fill mostly full, then replace with the alcoholmeter container. Fill this
about half full, then start the other 500ml jar. You’ll then want to measure the amount
of alcohol content by dropping the alcoholmeter into the container. This could be
anywhere between 10-90% depending on what fruit or fruits you are distilling. When I
ran a mixed fruit, it was around 80%, but when I ran apples, it was only around 10-15%.
9. Dump the first 500ml jar into your large 2-3 liter jar.
10. Keep an eye on the 500ml jar and if you start seeing ‘floaters’, then use your
alcoholmeter to take a measurement (you will most likely see these after the 2nd or 3rd
500ml jar filling). If at any time it drops below 8%, turn off the heat and this fruit is
done. You won’t be able to get anymore alcohol from it. These ‘floaters’ are your sign
that the alcohol is no longer pure, and are part of what will become the ‘Tails’.
11. Continue dumping 500ml jars into the large jar. I ‘filled a 500ml jar full, dumped into
large jar twice and then marked 1 liter on large jar to give me an indication of how much
I had.
12. Dump out the fruit (try to keep the boil stones). Fill the next fruit, and repeat steps 1-
11. You will most likely fill the pot with fruit 3 times total, maybe more/less. Dump the
fruit sludge into your compost pile, etc.
13. Once all the fruit has been used, clean the pot with clean water/foreshots. Don’t use
soap at this point. If you have to scrub, try using a clean scrub brush or abrasive scrub
pad (that doesn’t have soap in it). Rinse with clean water when done.

Second Run:

1. Set everything back up, and dump the contents of the large jar into your pot (don’t use
any butter or boil stones at this point…we want it clean as possible). Ensure all
connections are tight.
2. Fire up the heat, and place a 250ml jar under outlet. You will want to watch the outlet
very closely.
3. As soon as liquid starts dripping out, start adjusting your heat so that it is a steady drip.
Slower is better at this point. You’ll fill this first jar about ¼ full. If there is any blue
tinge to it, dump it. This will take a long time, as it is dripping from start to finish.
4. Start a new 250ml jar, and fill about half full, then fill your alcoholmeter container and
take a measurement.
5. Start a new 250ml jar, and dump the contents of the alcoholmeter into the previous jar.
This will be the average ABV content. As you fill the jars, line them up, and use a tape or
marker to note which number it was, and what the ABV is. I usually fill eight 250ml jars.
You will want to fill each of these jars about 2/3’s full and then take a ABV
measurement, then dump into the jar, and then start the next, and keep doing this until:
6. When your ABV measurement is less than 10% ABV, turn off the heat…you’re done.
7. Now, take all jars that have an ABV between 30-80% ABV, and dump together into the
large jar. If the lowest ABV jar has ‘floaters’ in it, use your discretion if you want to mix
into your final product. Most people will save this and mix with the very first jar, along
with any below 30% ABV. You will want to save this for the next time you make Pálinka!
 There is still good alcohol in this! When I run, I usually end up with over 500ml of
‘Heads/Tails’ mix
8. Use a good funnel to pour the final product into a nice bottle. You may want to pour
some into your alcoholmeter to gauge the final ABV, which should be between 40-70%.
My mixed fruit was 67% and apple that I just made was 55%.
9. The longer it sits in the bottle and ages, the better. Don’t be afraid to take a drink
though! We like ours in the fridge and cold.
10. Tear everything down once it can be handled, and clean/prep for next time!

Here’s a helpful ‘CUTS’ chart (Most distillers do NOT use the temperature as it’s not effective
for measuring):