Message 20711 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> At the risk of contributing to this dodgy thread, I'd advise 
> against Everclear as it displays some of the worst aspects of 
> alcohol. Cheap, gaseous nose, ridiculous strength, rough on the 
> system and quite hangover inducing.

Quick warning...as is my typical way, this post is a really long ramble of 
facts that result on conclusion...I think this is why all of my writing 
professors had a real love/hate relationship with me...now to the response...

This is a misconception that comes from the fact that very few companies make 
true and good everclear.  Correctly made everclear (approaching pure ethynol) 
is LESS likely to cause a hangover than even the best vodka.  Don't get me 
wrong, I tend to agree on the "Cheap" and rediculous strength aspects...the 
rest of those traits come from low quality everclear.

I'm sure I'm repeating mostly what Dan already knows, but it can't hurt to 
repeat this for the uninitiated.  Everclear (made correctly) is just ethynol 
and distilled water.  Everclear is produced by distilling something that is 
fermented.  Distillation is essentially a purifying method.  All of the 
spirits we are drinking include ethynol (duh), small traces of methynol 
(mostly in base spirits, lower amounts in most liqueres and everclear), flavor 
(except in everclear), and a few other impurities.

The common causes of hangovers include: Dehydration (assisted by ethynol & 
methynol), poisoning (caused by ethynol, methynol, and the various 
impurities), and how you treat your body while under the effects of alcohol.

Again, dipping into the world of chemistry, if the 3 things that are bad for 
your body include Ethynol, Methynol, and random impurities (usually the 
remains of fermentation)...Logically, if you reduce any one of these elements 
without increasing another, your hangovers should be reduced.  Since Everclear 
should be approaching zero impurities and zero Methynol, it's only enthynol 
that SHOULD be a factor.  If you dilute it down to the same strength (or 
quantity) that would be in a regular mixed drink, it should be less harmful 
and result in a drink with the same base taste, but a texture and feeling in 
your mouth matching that of alcohol.

Most companies that sell everclear don't filter or bother with a long 
distillation process.  I admit, in the interest of learning, I've actually 
made real everclear in a home-built reflux still (a friend decided he wanted 
to build it, I just joined once in an illegal midnight distilling session).  
The quality was noticably different, what I got had NO scent and wasn't really 
brutal on the pallete.  In short, correctly made everclear has no odor, is 
less poisonous (in correct quantities of course), and should be less likely to 
cause hangover.

The "base spirits" are expected to contain some methynol and impurities, this 
is simply a natural part of how they are distilled (of course, vodka is 
heavily filtered, kinda making it a happy exception).  For that reason, I 
exclude base spirits from blame :)  Now the brutal truth about the 
industry...The non-"base spirits" like the puckers or just about anything else 
are heavily flavored (duh) to hide the Gaseous, noxious, and rough flavor that 
is in most everclear...plus the companies that make it aren't interested in 
giving people high quality ethynol that would allow them to make their own 
creations...taking away from the profit made by selling custom made melon  :)

Anyway, if anybody has managed to read this whole thing, congrats...now slam 
back a shot and try to forget you ever read this long boring post! :)

-- 
Cody