hist-brewing: Apple Cider

[Richard]

Gotcha.  Thanks for the in depth information.  A lot of this I wondered about.  I had consumed some Rubbing alcohol as a kid and knew of the intestinal distress.  As an adult I can't drink hard alcohol because I get the same distress and sometimes just as severe.  I wonder if that is because there is Propanol present in some forms of hard alcohol.  Could this possibly be the case with commercially sold liquors?  I knew that Methanol could be produced, but I didn't know that Propanol was also produced by the distilling process.  Is there an easy  way to get it out?

Richard

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wade Hutchison" <whutchis at bucknell.edu>
To: "Richard" <Richard at WowMe.com>; <PBLoomis at aol.com>
Cc: <hist-brewing at pbm.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 1999 10:42 Richard
Subject: Re: hist-brewing: Apple Cider


> Well, sort of.  Methanol (CH3OH) has a _lower_ boiling point than
> ethanol, so in distillation it will be the first component to vaporize.
> This is one reason that the very first spirits distilled in whiskey
> making are usually discarded - that would have the highest % of methanol,
> if there is any.  All other alcohols and related chemicals have
> lower boiling points than Methanol, which is the prime culprit in
> alcohol-related blindness.  Ethanol (C2H5OH) is (sort of) our friend, and only
> causes problems if over-imbibed.  Propanol (C3H7OH or rubbing alcohol) is next
> in line, and will cause severe intestinal distress if consumed.  It is
> concentrated in both forms of 'distillation', since both its boiling point
> is lower than water, and its freezing point is higher.  Btw, anti-freeze
> is usually ethylene glycol (closer to ethanol, and very toxic) or propylene
> glycol (closer to propanol,and is much _less_ toxic than the
> ethylene glycol!), neither of which are 'alcohols.'
> 
> The bottom line is that if you stick to fruit or grain sources of
> sugars (dextrose, maltose, sucrose, etc.) and use a brewing yeast
> (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae or his close relatives) you'll produce
> Ethanol to the exclusion of most other alcohols.  In this case
> you should definitely relax, don't worry and have a homebrew.
> 
>          -----Wade Hutchison
> 
> 
>   01:03 AM 12/7/1999 , Richard wrote:
> >GOOD POINT!!!  I hadn't thought about that when I answered that question!!!
> >
> >I'm gonna send this to the list so that people are aware of this.  All 
> >this talk about freeze distilling and I didn't even think to mention the 
> >dangers of methyl alcohol!
> >
> >BTW, they aren't always left behind in the normal distilling process.  If 
> >done improperly, you could end up just as blind.
> >
> >Richard
> >
> > > In a message dated 12/06/1999 0:43:46 AM EST, Richard at WowMe.com writes:
> > >
> > >  The really nasty higher alcohols that make you go
> > > blind, the kind they used to use in automobile anti-freeze, are left 
> > behind
> > > by the distilling process and do not carry over.  HOWEVER, they are 
> > retained
> > > in the product by partial freezing.
> > >     Kids, don't try this at home.
> >
> 
> 
> 


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