i need Everclear! But, it is not legal in my state or in the states surrounding my state! Drat! This is for purposes of chemistry, not drinking. Can anyone suggest a reasonable alternative that is available in the highly regulated California market?
simplest solution is magnesium sulfate + unflavored vodka(the cheap shit would work fine). First dry the epsom salt in the oven at 350 for an hour. You will be left with a solid block. Break it up and add it to the vodka. Shake for a couple minutes and filter. Keep refilling the vodka with dry epsom salt until you are not pulling any more water with it. You are left with extremely pure ethanol
Fascinating tek. Couple questions: 1.) What type of filter? 2.) How do you know if you are pulling water with the ethanol or not? Do you get two distinct layers that you can then proceed to decant? Thanks so much!
#1 filter would work best but you could layer up 2 or 3 coffee filters. epsom salt abosrbs water and breaks down from the solid pieces when you add it. once it quits breaking down then the water is gone. couple notes: there will still be some water left that has formed an azeotrope with the ethanol. magnesium sulfate holds its weight in water. example: you have 1 liter of 40% unflavored vodka thats 400 ml vodka and 600 ml water. you will need 600 grams of magnesium sulfate to get rid of all water besides the azeotrope
Devil Springs Vodka, Absinthe, bacardi 151, sierra silver tequila, Everclear ranks number one. But those are the top five strongest alcoholic drinks *exluding everclear*
Dude I know this tek is real simple, but I'm very Caveman here. Without me looking up azeotrope, I'm right in imagining the filtration will only pull the undissolved epsom salts out? I mean, I'll grant salt may combine with its weight in water - but all we have now is salty vodka, no? 'breaking down' is not in my glossary... is this the step of dissolving salt into the water - or is there more magic in the alchemy? What step am I missing? What happens to one pounds of epsom salts added to a litre of vodka? Do I gotta do a mythbusters test here to see it myself? :mickey: Edit: Now this is why everyone needs a distiller of their own, fork the gubment revinooers - 'shine yer own up! Hell, this caveman can make a distiller out of a couple pots and pans, a cold source, and a heat source! :2thumbsup: Important knowledge when stranded on a desert island - right up there with shelter and food - (fire)water!
You forgot about Golden Grain. It's 190 proof, just like Everclear. I'm guessing it's probably not available in Cali either though:
lol the filter does exaclty that- filters the epsom salt from the vodka. Im not sure if coffee filters would work as well as qualative filter papers though.are you forgetting that the epsom salt is absorbing the water while leaving the ethanol as is? it is really as simple as it sounds.. 1000 ml 40% vodka + 600 grams dried epsom salt = 1200 grams wet epsom salt in filter & 400 ml high proof ethanol( + or - 10 or so ml to count for azeotrope) in flask. Im too broke and lack storage space to get a distillation setup but I would love to get set up one day. you should distill some ethanol from vodka and post a how to (poor mans style if you can!). Im sure plenty of people would use it
Ok, I'm not realizing the difference between 'wet' and 'dry' epsom salts somehow, as I have seen so many types of salts, crystals, sugars, etc dissolved into water with no way of recapturing the salt ... aside distilling off the water to leave the salt/sugar/etc as a dried residue in the heating chamber. Only 1% azeotrope? Sounds like a fine way to make everclear++ at home! Anyhow, gather round kids for the tale of how we got drunk as youngin's... We already stole the secrets of the elders that yeast properly cultured in a sugary mix will ferment a fine brew. It was quite a nerd of the class who showed me his secret closet mad scientist experiment. It looked like garbage scrap constructed crock pot slash beer cooler. And that is exactly what it was. This pile of scraps in his closet I can best only describe from memory as we didn't have cameraphones in those days... Well, He had a large-ish 5gallon pail, holding over a gallon of sugarwater prune-o. You see, we learned juices and extra nonsense was just flavoring to make the wine coolers more flavourful, like adding more sugar (which can make more alcohol... which for kids can equal panty dropper :devil: ) just for taste. Well, he laid an electric warming mat, something like an electric blanket, but not as large, just ass sized for sitting on, beneath the bucket, and turned the dial idly as his dr. feelgood notions bent. He gingerly tucked an old blanket around the walls of the bucket as if he had a sense of love for his creation. I said it was strange, but he was sure this increased the efficiency of the machinery. I noticed the walls of this cylindrical chamber of a bucket, had on top, an oversize stainless steel salad bowl used as its lid. Nothing thick or expensive, but adequate. He said he regularly, while tending his still on high for a quicker run, would put ice inside the bowl. Other times just a wet towel with a fan on it in a dry room worked. Science has shown leaving this apparatus on a porch in a cool climate will also work. Anyways, when he cracked open the lid I learned the magic inside. Anchored in the pool of capri sun fruit punch mash was a fashioned base made of food-grade material, only for the use of being a pedestal to elevate the receiving vessel above the tideline of the mash/brew so that it was not a swamped boat. This vessel was precisely placed in a central point of the gravity well so that it received its manna in raining drops of condensate from the salad bowl lid above it, as it was shaped with a bottom that lent itself well to drip in a regular point. Poor mans (kids) salvation! No more watering down dad liquor cabinet - just brew and distill your lunch juice - with a cup of borrowed sugar and a pinch of yeast. Add two weeks patience. Put bucket on heating mat, fill with gallon+ of brew. Cool/chill as needed/desired. Open and merrily sip from your first ever distilled spirit. The nerd would love to calc ratios of sugar=alc%, volume of brew = volume of distillation variations... We were just happy to never need fake ID or ask an adult to buy for us. :2thumbsup: But yea, there are places in the usa that sell stills, turbo yeast, everything... for the adult children who don't like to pay alcohol taxes for the commercial stuff.
You can buy ethanol for perfumery purposes but it is usually denatured. Pure absolute ethanol can be bought from lab suppliers but they might not sell to an individual.
