Toiletpaper moonshine

REAL ART!!!

Oh no

Tyler

This. This is art.

Only gotta be 18 or 19 in Canada anyway.

GayCoonie

Tollens is a qualitative test, not quantitative. It can be made semi-quantitative with some effort, but it's mostly not worth it. The same densimeter he used to estimate the concentration of alcohol can be used to estimate the glucose.

Silviu T

I'm surprised you didn't run something like a Tollen's test to the result of the enzymatic breakdown to get some idea of the concentration of glucose.

John Ioannidis

Amazing how the paper fibers just disappear over time. What is Canada's position on distilling spirits for personal use? I didn't think it was any more legal there than it is in the US. (Although perhaps they skip sending the SWAT team to your house and just send you a bill for the unpaid tax and a fine?)

Looking really good in HD!

John Ioannidis

You can donate those last five million trees now that you’ve discovered you are a billionaire ;)

The Gayest Person on Patreon

Still, Cellease can be very expensive it looks like you got a really good deal.

Daniel Blake Shoemaker

I guess youtube would not want you showing others how to make Organic moonshine from paper. Yes, you would not to get a strike.

Daniel Blake Shoemaker

I forgot to add earlier, but this would be a perfect case for applying an antifoam agent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defoamer Even something as simple as a few drops of silicone oil inside the distillation flask would have made a big difference.

Silviu T

He looks younger than he actually is. I have the same problem. Until the age of 45 I kept being asked for ID to purchase beer.

Silviu T

Or better yet, toasted wood chips. :D

Silviu T

Great work!! But one questionare you old enough to drink? 😉,

André Forcier

The acid is a catalyst, so it shouldnt be getting consumes. The enzyme is also a catalyst (bio-catalyst), so it also isnt consumed. You could in theory keep adding more cellulose and it would keep attacking it. However, you are right, the sugar that it makes will inhibit the enzyme and eventually itll reach an equilibrium. I believe youre right and its why the cellulase stopped, but was able to work again when the sugar started getting consumed. I dont think it would be worth boiling off the water, because you are basically just distilling to save time distilling. Id also worry about degrading the sugar a bit and youd also deactivate the cellulase. I wasnt sure what the brown stuff was, but it could be some residual lignin. Processed paper should have little to none of it, but maybe there was still a bit left.

Nile Red

Digging the lab ASMR 😛 Very cool video, and a genius concept! Looking forward to your Mid-December-Ish video!

Turning ants into alcohol

Nile Red

I chose to do it a bit longer because i wanted to show it all dissolving and becoming clear. I tried shortening it, but i didnt feel it changed very much, it was just a difference of a few seconds.

Nile Red

It will happen eventually!

Nile Red

I like how you included more audio from the experiment! Occasionally though it felt like the clips ran for a bit too long (like at 11:10). I'm not sure if it felt a bit awkward directly because of the audio or not, but I like that you're experimenting with the format!

Next up: Making moonshine from Bugs and shrimps using Chitinase.

Zeo

Pour it on activated carbon and let it sit over night. It will clean the nasty stuff out.

It looks like fucking mash potatoes lol I though you are doing potato experiment or simply pick the wrong cover xD

Chronostrophia

Incidentally I was recently thinking of a similar experiment, only starting with cotton balls and using acid digestion. Sulfuric acid is much cheaper than cellulase. It's weird to realize that we have so much glucose around only in a form that's very difficult to process chemically into fuel. There have been some recent developments with genetically modified bacteria that can digest cellulose and produce directly butanol or isobutanol which are more useful as fuel than ethanol (pretty much a direct replacement for gasoline).

Silviu T

Considering the cost of the cellulase, the new distillation setup, and the time you put in, that's a pretty expensive shot of moonshine you got. You could have probably cut the cost-per-sip in half by adding a second roll of paper in the initial digestion step, as it looks like it would have fit especially if thoroughly predigested with lye.

Silviu T

You can, in the US, easily (or less easily, depending on your location) obtain a home distillation license for fuel production. That does not allow you to distill alcohol for drinking purposes. But as long as you don't make videos of yourself and put then on the net, who's to know? *wink*

Silviu T

That looks like some good chemical mash potatoes

This is amazing and somehow that perfect interesting/funny mix that I love. Also, I so want to see "toilet paper moonshine" as a brand. Just for posterity.

Mark

Interesting idea, but so many questions to cram into this little postage stamp of a text box! If using acid to break down the cellulose, is the acid consumed in the process? In this process, is the enzyme consumed, or could you just keep adding cellulose to get more sugar? Does the sugar produced limit the enzymatic action (this would explain why the paper doesn't all disappear until the yeast has consumed some of the sugar)? Would it be worthwhile to boil off some of the water before fermentation so you get a stronger alcohol solution from the fermentation? My understanding is that alkali attacks mostly the ends of the cellulose; perhaps the brown you are getting is non-cellulose (e.g. residual lignin) being attacked by the alkali.

Kevin Martin

You passed 1M subs! What’s the special????

Stephanie Guttormson

Hardly a viable source of home made alcohol but this is definately my favourite video you've done. Keep up the great work!

I presume this is legal (or at least legal enough) in Canada. Don't think it would be in the US, though. :/

GayCoonie

That is cool to see Nile Red.

Daniel Blake Shoemaker

Thanks! Im glad you liked it :)

Nile Red

That actually made me laugh

Nile Red

I really enjoyed the casual feel and humor in this video. Would love to see more stuff like this!

Tristan Youngquist

"So what got you into chemistry?" *sips toilet paper moonshine* "...Nothing in particular."

Chrys A Lis