send me about half , and i will tell u in about 5 minutes ! and YES im GONNA DRINK IT !
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| Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=30390 |
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| Author: | YJ John [ Sun Dec 19, 2010 7:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
OK through a friend of a friend I was given some 190 (pro-ported to be) proof, local grape moonshine. How do I proof what I have? How do I test it to see if it will work to French Polish.......... Oh, you thought I was gonna drink it. Nope. Iwant to use it for French Polish. What do I need to do to make sure its compatible? |
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| Author: | WudWerkr [ Sun Dec 19, 2010 7:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
send me about half , and i will tell u in about 5 minutes ! and YES im GONNA DRINK IT !
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| Author: | Tom West [ Sun Dec 19, 2010 7:37 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Shine should never be wasted on FP. !90 proof is about 95% alcohol I think but I don't know how you do a test to prove that. Tom |
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| Author: | woody b [ Sun Dec 19, 2010 7:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
You're not going to get 190 proof out of grapes. |
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| Author: | Mark Fogleman [ Sun Dec 19, 2010 8:02 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
You'll need a hydrometer. Cheap at any Home Brewing/Winemaking shop. Check your Yellow Pages. There are also Moonshiner methods involving bubbles and gunpowder. Being from North Carolina I wouldn't know anything about that  .
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| Author: | Mark Fogleman [ Sun Dec 19, 2010 8:15 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
woody b wrote: You're not going to get 190 proof out of grapes. Wanna bet???  Got box wine, a pressure cooker and $10 of plumbing supplies? http://homedistiller.org/forum/index.php |
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| Author: | truckjohn [ Sun Dec 19, 2010 8:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
You will be time and money ahead buying everclear or denatured alcohol or specific french polish alcohol products..... The old fashioned "Proof" test was to douse black powder with the alcohol... It explodes above 55% - so if it explodes all you know is whether it is above 55% or not.... A proper distiller's hydrometer will let you know better - but that still costs $ ... and you gotta find a store that sells one.... Then, if it's say 75% - it's still not concentrated enough for FP..... A pressure cooker and copper tube won't do you any good if you are starting with 75%... Thanks John |
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| Author: | YJ John [ Sun Dec 19, 2010 10:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
This guy seems to know his stuff. Not me. I live in Pennsylvania. They "protect" me from Everclear. I have to use poison (Denatured Alcohol). What is the minimum proof on the booze to give me French Polish grade stuff? What happens if it falls below. BTW It smells stronger than any booze I have smelled! Off topic? Nope don't think so. |
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| Author: | Jim Watts [ Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Why not just try it and see how it works? |
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| Author: | YJ John [ Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:37 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Try it? I watched a guy black out from the stuff.....oh you mean French Polish.......  I'll ask the buddy of the buddy if he has a meter. This stuff is grown in basement of a Estate on the hill. Not the trailer in the valley. You should see the beautiful bottle it showed up in. I bet he said 190 cause it is. I will try it out. I have a Silvertone restoration on a table right now. The original finish was a thin coat of Shellac. Should be a good candidate. |
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| Author: | Gtrman13 [ Mon Dec 20, 2010 11:20 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
If you know the guy that gave it to you, could you just ask him? I may be wrong, but I believe when you distill a mash, you get pure alcohol and then you dilute it in water to make it drinkable. As far as testing yourself, you may be able to take a hydrometer reading if you happen to have one laying around. But first, try to light a bit of it on fire. If it burns, you'll know it's over 150 proof! |
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| Author: | SteveSmith [ Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:21 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Gtrman13 wrote: ... But first, try to light a bit of it on fire. If it burns, you'll know it's over 150 proof! Tequilla burns real well (DAMHIKT) and it's not even close to 150 proof. We use to think it was great fun when camping to throw a shot in the fire and watch everyone jump when it flared up. Or does that count as flammable enough 
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| Author: | David Newton [ Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:40 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Why don't you just cut to the chase and see if shellac will dissolve in it? If it does, it will work. If not, bottoms up! |
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| Author: | wbergman [ Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
I believe when you distill a mash, you get pure alcohol If you distill a mash completely, you transfer all of the various liquids and leave behind the solids. Generally, the fist drop to condense will have the highest concentration of alcohol, and the last drop will be mostly water. As the stills get fancier, the ability to concentrate the alcohol gets better, but if you force everything to evaporate from the mash and condense at the end of the still, you will transfer all of the liquid, which isn't a much different result than simply filtering. I think for beverages you want to transfer some of the liquid other than alcohol to get the unique flavor of the particular mash, so the still used is deliberately not the most efficient. Alcohol (ethanol) is in a kind of equilibrium with water at 95% (190 proof). You can get it to 100%, but it takes more effort and will absorb water back out to the air, the wood you are finishing, etc., so it isn't practical except for research purposes or certain cemical reactions. |
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| Author: | Darrel Friesen [ Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:32 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
SteveSmith wrote: Gtrman13 wrote: ... But first, try to light a bit of it on fire. If it burns, you'll know it's over 150 proof! Tequilla burns real well (DAMHIKT) and it's not even close to 150 proof. We use to think it was great fun when camping to throw a shot in the fire and watch everyone jump when it flared up. Or does that count as flammable enough Any 40% or 80 proof booze burns just fine. |
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| Author: | Eric Hoffer [ Wed Dec 22, 2010 12:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Hydrometers are actually not that expensive but they will not help because you need to know the original specific gravity (before fermentation) and compare it to the final specific gravity to arrive at your alcohol content. |
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| Author: | truckjohn [ Wed Dec 22, 2010 3:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Not so for distiller's hydrometers - they read off % alcohol.... but they don't work in a "Must" where the gravity is >1.0.... Brewing hydrometers are different from distilling hydrometers as the goal with brewing hydros is to read solutions with a gravity >1.00.... Really, I am with most here - just try melting some shellac flakes in an ounce of the stuff.... If it doesn't dissolve - you have your answer.... |
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| Author: | ChuckH [ Wed Dec 22, 2010 5:23 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
You'll need to get aholt of a vinometer to measure the % alcohol. A hydrometer is just going to help you measure the specific gravity of a liquid. |
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| Author: | Mark Fogleman [ Wed Dec 22, 2010 6:18 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Advice from my low tech distilling friends on how to proof shine: You smell it. You put it in a spoon and burn it. You drip it on a plate and burn it. You taste it. You rub it on your hands and smell it. You rub it on your hands and feel it. You put it in a little vial or bottle and shake it and look at the bubbles. As long as it lights easily in a spoon it's over 100 proof. When it won't light in a spoon but will light on a plate it's under 100 proof but over 75 or so. If it burns clear and blue and steady with a flame you can't see in sunlight it's very pure. If it burns with a yellow "beard" it's got some impurities... the bigger the beard the more off it is. See how much liquid is left in the spoon after the burning stops. What's left is mostly water. Rub it between and all over your hands. Move your hands from arms length toward your face, see how close you have to get to smell it. Feel how fast it evaporates. Feel when you rub it between your hands whether it feels oily or slippery (like soap) or scrunchy. Slicker is less alcohol. Put an half an ounce to an ounce in a small glass bottle or vial with a tight fitting cap and give it a vigorous shake. Look at the bubbles that form briefly along the edge of the liquid in a string like beads. The bigger more uniform bubbles happen at higher proof and it will stop "beading" altogether as you start to drop below 100 proof. I don't know about dissolving shellac quickly as a good way to tell the proof. I've had fresh denatured alcohol take days to dissolve shellac. |
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| Author: | Mike Lindstrom [ Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:10 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
I don't think a hydrometer is going to help you. You don't know how pure it is from other stuff too. If it was done well, a lot of that stuff should have been left behind in the distillation process, but something gets through, otherwise, all distilled booze would taste the same. I too have had shellac take days to dissolve in brand new Everclear. Why not pick up a scrap off the floor and spend an afternoon watching a movie and FPing the scrap. See how it goes? Mike |
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| Author: | YJ John [ Thu Dec 23, 2010 5:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Tonight it will be shaken, not stirred!
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| Author: | Tony_in_NYC [ Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
I dont know anything about proofing liquor, but I do know that each time I see this thread, I want to drink. And on that note...bottoms up! |
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| Author: | Tony_in_NYC [ Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Edited to delete duplicate post. |
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| Author: | goregantuan [ Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:05 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
I live in a house with three friends near our university, with a shed that I've slowly been converting into a workshop. A few weeks ago, one of the roommates bought a little pot-still. So far we've had two batches of neutral spirits (fermented sugar and turbo-yeast), but soon we're starting a batch of traditional Czech Plum Brandy (slivovice), and a fortified apple/pear wine. Just what I needed, another reason to spend a couple hours out in the cold shed! 
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| Author: | John Killin [ Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Figure you guys will know how to Proof Booze :) |
Here is a Proof/Tralle Alcooholmeter http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/b ... proof.html $6.99 You'll also need a test jar. http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/e ... t-jar.html This should tell you. I haven't used one before. I'm more on the homebrew side of things. Of course it might just be easier to disolve some schellac. |
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