Brewing Master

Question:

I have tasted some homemade Whiskey that a Yugoslavian dude gave to me at work. That stuff was great! But It surely had flavor to it. Everclear has the taste and smell of rubbing alcohol.

There’s a big difference between Whisky and the 90% alcohol product the original poster was talking about.  Once you distill enough to get up to the 90%+ alcohol range, you’re only left with <10% "other" stuff, obviously.  It’s the other stuff that gives you the flavour.  Just about every 90%+ alcohol beverage will taste identical (depending on what types of alcohol are in them).  There just isn’t anything else in there to give you any other flavour.  Everclear was mentioned because it’s the only commercial example of an almost pure alcohol product that I can think of. Of course you can make some great tasting distilled whiskey’s (and other type stuff), but that’s not what the thread was about. John. —                            *** John P. Kolesar ***            *** Head Administrator, Monty Python’s Flying Talker ***

Response:

I have tasted some homemade Whiskey that a Yugoslavian dude gave to me at work. That stuff was great! But It surely had flavor to it. Everclear has the taste and smell of rubbing alcohol. But my Mother makes some wicked Cherry Liquor and Krupnik, a polish Honey Liquor, from Everclear. She just uses it as a base to dilute with flavorables. The Cherry Liqor is pretty simple to make. Take a huge Jar 3/4 filled with sour cherries add 3-4 Cups of sugar and the Everclear. Let the Cherries soak in the sugar and cherries for about 10 days. After the soaking pour off the Liqor and dilute with cooled boiled water to taste. Bottle in some empty bottles. This basically reminds me of Grand Marnier but its cherry flavored instead of Orange. She basically got a 1/2 gallon and a half of a fifth from one bottle of Everclear. And I would say it was still around 80 proof although its hard to tell the actual percentage of alcohol. And the cherries left over are finominal since they are soaked in alcohol. Eat them up afterwards. The honey Liquor I cannot say because I have not seen her do that one. But im sure its along the lines of mixing in honey and Everclear and water. Although it has a sort of "burnt" honey taste. It might be melted sugar. /shrug – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Maybe he’s in it for the hobby? Chip I certainly didn’t mean to be putting him down if he was, but personally I wouldn’t find much satisfaction in making something that tasted exactly like what I could buy off the shelf.  The wonderful thing about brewing beer is all the different types/styles/flavours you can make/invent.  Wouldn’t seem the same producing batch after batch of everclear.  Unless he just enjoys the process itself, and isn’t in it for the final product (other than the buzz). That’s mainly why I asked the question.  Just curious what his motivation was.  Not that I know anything about this person, but most times we see this type of post the motivation is usually 1) underage and can’t purchase their own or 2) needs a cheap way of making grain alcohol fruit punch for the frat party. If he is in it for the hobby, more power to him. John. —                            *** John P. Kolesar ***            *** Head Administrator, Monty Python’s Flying Talker ***

Response:

Maybe he’s in it for the hobby? Chip

I certainly didn’t mean to be putting him down if he was, but personally I wouldn’t find much satisfaction in making something that tasted exactly like what I could buy off the shelf.  The wonderful thing about brewing beer is all the different types/styles/flavours you can make/invent.  Wouldn’t seem the same producing batch after batch of everclear.  Unless he just enjoys the process itself, and isn’t in it for the final product (other than the buzz). That’s mainly why I asked the question.  Just curious what his motivation was.  Not that I know anything about this person, but most times we see this type of post the motivation is usually 1) underage and can’t purchase their own or 2) needs a cheap way of making grain alcohol fruit punch for the frat party. If he is in it for the hobby, more power to him. John. —                            *** John P. Kolesar ***            *** Head Administrator, Monty Python’s Flying Talker ***

Response:

It burns quite nicely. Two acquaintances were having a flaming shot drinking contest. One missed his mouth and the shot  went down his chin  onto his collar. He was severely burned on the neck and under the  chin. The skin regenerated and he never drank again in his life. Burning or not, it’s not a good idea to drink everclear straight up. It dehydrates the tissues that it contacts. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – *** post for FREE via your newsreader at post.newsfeed.com *** Hobby? Well, a few years back when I was playing first shirt to a dorm full of Air Force kids, I happened across a couple of them in a darkened room with a bottle of Everclear, matches and a camera.  Seems these clowns thought it would be cool to take pictures of each other in the dark with flaming hands. I guess the theory was that the alcohol would burn off fast enough that it wouldn’t burn their skin.  I put a stop to the experiment, but I always wondered…  just kidding. Mark Cronk Maybe he’s in it for the hobby? Chip Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My When your making pure alcohol It really dosent matter what you use for your "wart" be it potatoes, corn, rice, grains or sugar. When you disill the alcohol out of the fermented wart,3 to 5 times to get close to 100%, most of the flavor which would be separated from the alcohol. Which brings me to my question.  If you’re distilling down to 90% alcohol, and stripping out any flavour, what’s the point in doing it yourself?  Wouldn’t it be alot cheaper/easier to just buy grain alcohol from the liquor store? Once you get to that concentration level, any brand will pretty much taste the same, so it’s not like you’re gaining anything by making it yourself. John. —–= Posted via Newsfeed.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—– http://www.newsfeed.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–== 90,000 Groups! – 17 Servers! – Unlimited Download! =—–

Medford, NY swap net.optonline to reply via e-mail

Response:

It burns quite nicely. Two acquaintances were having a flaming shot drinking contest. One missed his mouth and the shot  went down his chin  onto his collar. He was severely burned on the neck and under the  chin. The skin regenerated and he never drank again in his life. Burning or not, it’s not a good idea to drink everclear straight up. It dehydrates the tissues that it contacts. Well, a few years back when I was playing first shirt to a dorm full of Air Force kids, I happened across a couple of them in a darkened room with a bottle of Everclear, matches and a camera.  Seems these clowns thought it would be cool to take pictures of each other in the dark with flaming hands. I guess the theory was that the alcohol would burn off fast enough that it wouldn’t burn their skin.  I put a stop to the experiment, but I always wondered…  just kidding.

Everclear’s bad for that.  BUT, I used to do much the same thing with some really bad aftershave I’d received as a present.  Not drinking flaming shots of it, of course, but burning it on my hand. Best to wet your hands with water, wipe it off, then add the aftershave.  Light, and as soon as it hurts you shake your hands wildly to put it out. Of course, I was young and foolish then.  It’s not so clever and big. — Joseph M. Bay                                Lamont Sanford Junior University            Putting the "harm" in molecular pharmacology since 1998              t3H quIc/< 6roWn Ph0×0r jUmP3D ovER T3h 14zY do9 Do you like         http://www.stanford.edu/~jmbay          gladiator movies?

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My question is this — if the sole purpose for my project is simple alcoholic content, is there any disadvantage to using sugar solution and yeast, over hops/corn/potatoes/etc? I will distill the alcohol later so would using sugar solution affect alcohol production negatively? Sorry if this is OT, I’m not sure if this is a purely beer-brewing newsgroup….but surely someone out there must know. Thanks very much, — TJ — "I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work"

<SNIP Another thing to be weary of is that the distillation process has to be controlled pretty closely. The temperature of the boiling/distilling process has to be acurate to extract the right alcohol. Im not sure about the proper temperatures to use but I know its crucial in order to extract the right alcohol. If your temps are off in the distilling process you can ectract bad alcohols which can lead to bad side effects such as headaches or even worse. You could be actually making poison rather than a drink.

What other alcohols other than ethanol would be in the wort mixture? I’ve never heard of this. Gig

Response:

Just go to http://moonshine.co.nz/spirit2.html They have all of the information you need. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My question is this — if the sole purpose for my project is simple alcoholic content, is there any disadvantage to using sugar solution and yeast, over hops/corn/potatoes/etc? I will distill the alcohol later so would using sugar solution affect alcohol production negatively? Sorry if this is OT, I’m not sure if this is a purely beer-brewing newsgroup….but surely someone out there must know. Thanks very much, — TJ — "I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work"

Response:

Isn’t Everclear available???

Oh man that reminds me of a very dumb thing I did when I was 16 or 17. Drank a 1/2 pint of that crap straight in like 20 minutes on a dare. I remember the initial buzz and then things are a bit fuzzy. A wonder it didn’t kill me but the worst hangover I ever had. As a matter of fact I think thats whats — Bill http://home.swbell.net/bufkin Alvin, TX

Response:

Maybe he’s in it for the hobby? Chip – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My When your making pure alcohol It really dosent matter what you use for your "wart" be it potatoes, corn, rice, grains or sugar. When you disill the alcohol out of the fermented wart,3 to 5 times to get close to 100%, most of the flavor which would be separated from the alcohol. Which brings me to my question.  If you’re distilling down to 90% alcohol, and stripping out any flavour, what’s the point in doing it yourself?  Wouldn’t it be alot cheaper/easier to just buy grain alcohol from the liquor store? Once you get to that concentration level, any brand will pretty much taste the same, so it’s not like you’re gaining anything by making it yourself. John.

Response:

*** post for FREE via your newsreader at post.newsfeed.com *** Hobby? Well, a few years back when I was playing first shirt to a dorm full of Air Force kids, I happened across a couple of them in a darkened room with a bottle of Everclear, matches and a camera.  Seems these clowns thought it would be cool to take pictures of each other in the dark with flaming hands. I guess the theory was that the alcohol would burn off fast enough that it wouldn’t burn their skin.  I put a stop to the experiment, but I always wondered…  just kidding. Mark Cronk

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Maybe he’s in it for the hobby? Chip Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My When your making pure alcohol It really dosent matter what you use for your "wart" be it potatoes, corn, rice, grains or sugar. When you disill the alcohol out of the fermented wart,3 to 5 times to get close to 100%, most of the flavor which would be separated from the alcohol. Which brings me to my question.  If you’re distilling down to 90% alcohol, and stripping out any flavour, what’s the point in doing it yourself?  Wouldn’t it be alot cheaper/easier to just buy grain alcohol from the liquor store? Once you get to that concentration level, any brand will pretty much taste the same, so it’s not like you’re gaining anything by making it yourself. John.

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Response:

I’ve never seen it in NY. Now that doesn’t mean that it’s not available. It just means that I haven’t seen it and I’ve visited many liquor stores in the state. Perhaps not the right ones. *** post for FREE via your newsreader at post.newsfeed.com *** Isn’t Everclear available???

Medford, NY swap net.optonline to reply via e-mail

Response:

The price is of no concern to us brewers. But you are right It would be expensive to make. You gotta figure If you make 5 gallons of 12% alcohol solution this would equate to roughly .6 gal of 100% alcohol. Not that much considering the work and danger involved. Anything more than 12-15% after fermentation is basically impossible. Unless you use some hardy ass yeast. In Indiana you can buy everclear (96% grain alcohol) for about $15 a fifth. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I think it (grain alcohol) would be cheaper in the short run but consider that it may not be available where he lives. I’ve never seen it available where I live. Or as we see frequently on this group, underage. Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My When your making pure alcohol It really dosent matter what you use for your "wart" be it potatoes, corn, rice, grains or sugar. When you disill the alcohol out of the fermented wart,3 to 5 times to get close to 100%, most of the flavor which would be separated from the alcohol. Which brings me to my question.  If you’re distilling down to 90% alcohol, and stripping out any flavour, what’s the point in doing it yourself?  Wouldn’t it be alot cheaper/easier to just buy grain alcohol from the liquor store? Once you get to that concentration level, any brand will pretty much taste the same, so it’s not like you’re gaining anything by making it yourself. John. Medford, NY swap net.optonline to reply via e-mail

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Another thing to be aware of is that its severely dangerous to distill. The more times you distill your alcohol the more concentrated and pure it gets and it can actually explode when nearing the 90% range. Therefore it is illegal to distill your own alcohol.

It’s taxation that makes it illegal in the US.  But you’re right about dangerous.  At 90% you’re basically boiling gasoline on the stove….. V II

Response:

I think it (grain alcohol) would be cheaper in the short run but consider that it may not be available where he lives. I’ve never seen it available where I live. Or as we see frequently on this group, underage. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My When your making pure alcohol It really dosent matter what you use for your "wart" be it potatoes, corn, rice, grains or sugar. When you disill the alcohol out of the fermented wart,3 to 5 times to get close to 100%, most of the flavor which would be separated from the alcohol. Which brings me to my question.  If you’re distilling down to 90% alcohol, and stripping out any flavour, what’s the point in doing it yourself?  Wouldn’t it be alot cheaper/easier to just buy grain alcohol from the liquor store? Once you get to that concentration level, any brand will pretty much taste the same, so it’s not like you’re gaining anything by making it yourself. John.

Medford, NY swap net.optonline to reply via e-mail

Response:

*** post for FREE via your newsreader at post.newsfeed.com *** Isn’t Everclear available???

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I think it (grain alcohol) would be cheaper in the short run but consider that it may not be available where he lives. I’ve never seen it available where I live. Or as we see frequently on this group, underage. Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My When your making pure alcohol It really dosent matter what you use for your "wart" be it potatoes, corn, rice, grains or sugar. When you disill the alcohol out of the fermented wart,3 to 5 times to get close to 100%, most of the flavor which would be separated from the alcohol. Which brings me to my question.  If you’re distilling down to 90% alcohol, and stripping out any flavour, what’s the point in doing it yourself?  Wouldn’t it be alot cheaper/easier to just buy grain alcohol from the liquor store? Once you get to that concentration level, any brand will pretty much taste the same, so it’s not like you’re gaining anything by making it yourself. John. Medford, NY swap net.optonline to reply via e-mail

 —–= Posted via Newsfeed.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—– http://www.newsfeed.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–== 90,000 Groups! – 17 Servers! – Unlimited Download! =—–

Response:

Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My When your making pure alcohol It really dosent matter what you use for your "wart" be it potatoes, corn, rice, grains or sugar. When you disill the alcohol out of the fermented wart,3 to 5 times to get close to 100%, most of the flavor which would be separated from the alcohol.

Which brings me to my question.  If you’re distilling down to 90% alcohol, and stripping out any flavour, what’s the point in doing it yourself?  Wouldn’t it be alot cheaper/easier to just buy grain alcohol from the liquor store? Once you get to that concentration level, any brand will pretty much taste the same, so it’s not like you’re gaining anything by making it yourself. John.

Response:

Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My question is this — if the sole purpose for my project is simple alcoholic content, is there any disadvantage to using sugar solution and yeast, over hops/corn/potatoes/etc? I will distill the alcohol later so would using sugar solution affect alcohol production negatively? Sorry if this is OT, I’m not sure if this is a purely beer-brewing newsgroup….but surely someone out there must know. Thanks very much, — TJ — "I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work"

Response:

I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation

The very best you can get with distillation is 95%. If you want to know why you can’t get 100%, do a web search on the word ‘azeotrope’. Tony V.

Response:

Which is why I said "or as close as I can get". My main question is the aforementioned one on mixture composition….? — TJ — "I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work"

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation The very best you can get with distillation is 95%. If you want to know why you can’t get 100%, do a web search on the word ‘azeotrope’. Tony V.

Response:

is there any disadvantage to using sugar solution and yeast, over hops/corn/potatoes/etc?

See "preparing the wash" at http://www.homedistiller.org/

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey, I’m not sure if this newsgroup also deals with distillation, but here goes: I’m trying to make 100% pure alcohol (or as close as I can get, ie 90% or something like that) through distillation, to add to other drinks. My question is this — if the sole purpose for my project is simple alcoholic content, is there any disadvantage to using sugar solution and yeast, over hops/corn/potatoes/etc? I will distill the alcohol later so would using sugar solution affect alcohol production negatively? Sorry if this is OT, I’m not sure if this is a purely beer-brewing newsgroup….but surely someone out there must know. Thanks very much, — TJ — "I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work"

When your making pure alcohol It really dosent matter what you use for your "wart" be it potatoes, corn, rice, grains or sugar. When you disill the alcohol out of the fermented wart,3 to 5 times to get close to 100%, most of the flavor which would be separated from the alcohol. The only thing to worry about is that the yeast has enough nutrients to survive in a pure sugar solution in order to complete fermentation. But additives are sold in brew shops which add nutrients to the wart that the yeast feeds on. This problem redily rears its head when brewing honey mead. Since honey does not have much stuff that the yeast feeds off of, it falls out of suspension and stops the fermentation process. Another thing to be weary of is that the distillation process has to be controlled pretty closely. The temperature of the boiling/distilling process has to be acurate to extract the right alcohol. Im not sure about the proper temperatures to use but I know its crucial in order to extract the right alcohol. If your temps are off in the distilling process you can ectract bad alcohols which can lead to bad side effects such as headaches or even worse. You could be actually making poison rather than a drink. Another thing to be aware of is that its severely dangerous to distill. The more times you distill your alcohol the more concentrated and pure it gets and it can actually explode when nearing the 90% range. Therefore it is illegal to distill your own alcohol.

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