NZBoka701 wrote:I've been having a read of that study and it's numbers, even though it takes FOREVER to load. The tests etc lead to what look like very scary figures when actually they aren't scary at all. The test figures aren't showing the true amount of methanol in the wash but comparing it to the alcohol output. Obviously the amount of methanol per 100 ml of pure alcohol will rise at the end because there is pretty much no alcohol being output. Its a comparative scale which is why they so perfectly mirror eachother. The graphs in the post and in the research isn't showing ml/100ml of alcohol in the still output compared to ml/100ml of ethanol in the still output. The graph shows the alcohol output in %abv and the mg of methanol per 100ml of pure alcohol. In other words if you have no alcohol being output and maybe 0.05ml of methanol being output then the ml of methanol per 100ml of alcohol is going to be off the chart high.
You get more methanol off the start of your run than at any other point but because they compare it to alcohol output in their measurements the table looks like you are getting less. You will always get a small amount of methanol in the output but the research shows it as mg of methanol per 100ml of pure alcohol so if you have a steady amount (all be it tiny) of methanol being produced throughout the run then the lower your abv goes the higher the mg/100ml P.A. You aren't getting more methanol at the end of the run, you are just getting more methanol for the amount of alcohol you get as the ABV drops off. Both the post and the research are misleading.
I don't 100% understand the study anyway. It says in the pretext the legislative maximum for Methanol in Eaux-de-vie is 1500g/hl which is 15g per litre of pure alcohol. That works out to 19.07ml of Methanol per litre of alcohol meaning that proofed down to 40% it would have 7.62ml of methanol per 1L? So you drink a bottle of the stuff and go blind?? Great...
I have been doing a little bit more research. Turns out eau-de-vie is generally full of Methanol anyway, that's why all the studies seem to be based on it. The United States legal limit of methanol for fruit brandy is 0.35% by volume or 280 mg/100mL of 40% ethanol. The Eau-de-vie contains upto, and in some case more than 400mg/100ml of 40% alcohol. So bottles of the stuff can contain over 5ml of methanol in a litre. At the end of the day, unless you are making crazy strong hard cider from over-ripe apples and pears and distilling it without throwing away some fore shots and then bottling from the start without mixing and proofing you will be fine.
Yah, that fellow sure lowered blood level in his alcohol after enjoying 2l of self crafted 80% beverage (Sark intended)
As per this site calculator a 100kg male after drinking 2l of 80% liqueur in one hour would have some 1.7% all in his blood. Fatal level is some .5%, aka dead man drinking.
Besides that never mind methanol but isn't a high level of dihydrogen monoxide in final distilled product much bigger concern of most home distillers?
