Getting the alcohol above 140 proof (70%) is a difficult job, requiring some very sophisticated distillation equipment. It takes two runs through the still to get it up to that strength for aging when making Bourbon, or any of the other distilled spirits. The still we ran at Gallo Winery produced 99.5% pure alcohol for fortifying certain wines, but the still was 5 stories tall, 10 feet in diameter, and the alcohol went through about 4 stages of distillation before going to a water-chilled condenser. The production capacity was 2,000 gallons per hour. It was not exactly a backyard operation!
Jerry
