From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Aeneas Coffey
Aeneas Coffey
Coffey,
Aeneas Coffey inventor and distiller, 1780–1852. On his retirement from service, Coffey went into the
distilling business and for a short time ran the Dock Dis-
Biography tillery in Grand Canal Street, Dublin. The development of
the Coffey still made distillation for beverage and other
Coffey was born in Calais, France, where he spent his ear- purposes much more economical.
ly years. His family returned to Dublin (both his parents
were Irish), where he was educated at Trinity College,
Dublin. He entered the excise service around 1799–1800
Further reading
as a gauger. He married Susanna Logie in 1808, and they • Irish Whiskey - A 1000 Year Tradition: ISBN
had a son, also named Aeneas, who may have been their 0-86278-228-7
only child.
According to British customs and excise records, he
was appointed sub-commissioner of Inland Excise and
See also
Taxes for the district of Drogheda in 1813, and was even- • Ó Cobhthaigh family of poets
tually promoted to Inspector General of Excise in Ireland. • List of inventions named after people
He resigned from the service at his own request in 1824. • List of alumni of the University of Dublin
He enhanced the original design for the column still, Persondata
which had been invented by Robert Stein in 1826. He Name Coffey, Aeneas
patented his invention in 1831, and the column still be-
came widely known as the "Coffey still" or "Patent Still". Alternative names
Early Coffey stills produced spirits of about 60% or some- Short description
what higher alcohol by volume concentration. Modern Date of birth 1780
versions can achieve much higher alcohol concentra-
Place of birth
tions – approaching 95.6% alcohol. As alcohol forms an
azeotrope with water at this concentration, it is impossi- Date of death 1852
ble to achieve higher purity alcohol by distillation alone. Place of death
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aeneas_Coffey&oldid=432759423"
Categories:
• 1780 births
• 1852 deaths
• Irish engineers
• Irish inventors
• People from Calais
• People from County Dublin
• Engineer stubs
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