testing spirits for safety

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whiskymonster
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testing spirits for safety

Post by whiskymonster »

hey guys.

looking for a little advice here, and i figured a few of you who have gone legal may be able to help me out.

i work in a bar, and we have been offered large amounts of vodka at a price suspiciously little over the tax value.
Needless to say, my spidey sense is tingling!

The bosses are gonna go for the deal unless i have direct and incontrovertible evidence of foul play. This is a completely unknown quantity as far as i'm concerned, and i need some reassurance before i can sleep well over this one. Can anyone recommend a testing service, preferably in the UK who can perform their black magic and test the actual liquid in the bottle is what it should be? What with the horror stories of bootleg vodka landing people in hospital (or the morgue) I would like to know whether i should be looking for a new job posthaste.

Dont care about the quality, as the house rubbish is liquid hangover anyway. And you guys have ruined me to cheap spirits (Damn you all and your quality likker!) so i aint gonna be drinking it! i just want to know there arent medically harmful levels of lead, methanol, antifreeze etc, and that it conforms to the law.

Please help. I'm way too pretty for prison!

thanks in advance
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Beerbrewer
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Re: testing spirits for safety

Post by Beerbrewer »

Can you get a bottle of it? Got a list from the Mirror:

lace: Make sure you buy from a reputable supermarket, off licence or shop.

Price: If a deal looks too good to be true, it most probably is. (my underlining)

Packaging: Look out for:

Poor quality labelling, including things like spelling mistakes.

UK duty stamp—spirits in bottles 35cl or larger and 30% ABV or higher have to have a duty stamp, which indicates that tax has either been paid or is due to be paid on the contents of the bottle. They’re usually incorporated into the label or stuck on the glass. If it’s not there, it’s illegal

Properly sealed caps. If the seal is broken, don’t drink it. Even if it’s not illegal, it could have been tampered with.

Fake bar codes. If you have an app on your mobile that scans bar codes, scan it and see if it’s listed as the correct product.

Product: Look out for fake versions of well-known brands and be wary of unusual brand names you haven’t seen before. Vodka, the most commonly counterfeited spirit, shouldn’t have any white particles or sediment in the bottle.

If you see this, the vodka could have been diluted with tap water. If any alcohol tastes or smells bad, don't drink it. Particularly look out for the smell of nail varnish.

Anyone who thinks they have consumed fake alcohol should seek medical advice.
whiskymonster
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Re: testing spirits for safety

Post by whiskymonster »

thanks for the quick reply, but those are pretty much the things i would be looking for anyway.
i have been in the bar trade for must be 20 years now. and i have been making whisky rum and neutral for 7 or 8.
either ways, i would spot a cheap knockoff a mile off. ain't my first rodeo.

i haven't received a sample yet, but there is a case heading my way at the moment.
im sure it will look legit, and pass all the visual tests, but i have come across good fakes before.

years ago, when i was young and foolish i worked in a bar who sold vodka that i know for a fact was not entirely kosher. (and other things that weren't even close to above board and legal, but that's another story)
a few polish lads used to supply us, and i have to say they knew their stuff and the vodka was good with minimal hangover.
only man hurt there was the tax man, and i aint overly fussed about that. for sure him and the devil have the same street address.

i am a little older and wiser these days and i now know just what trouble this could lead to, and how lucky we were that it didn't. still dont care about the tax man, as it isnt my ass on the line for that one, but a few bones on a lab test would be money well spent.

i would like to send one of the samples to be tested and properly analysed. after a couple of orders, id like it tested again to make sure we aren't stung with the old bait and switch. cost isn't a problem, as one of the bosses is on my side and we can lose the money somewhere. i just want to know 100% that i have shown due diligence, and that my conscience is clear

what kind of testing do you legalized craft guys have to have done to make it to market?
where can i have that done?

answers on a postcard.

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steelmb
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Re: testing spirits for safety

Post by steelmb »

Give a bottle to the authorities and ask them if is kosher. I can't think of a better (or cheaper) way of covering your ass.
I believe MCH may have said it best. "It's your hooch, you get to choose."
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Re: testing spirits for safety

Post by Beerbrewer »

Have you thought about contacting a university that specialises in brewing and distilling, Heriot Watts maybe?
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bluefish_dist
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Re: testing spirits for safety

Post by bluefish_dist »

From talking to casinos they buy vodka for between $3.25 and $3.50 per 750. Yes, slightly above tax value.

If you do the math, $2.16 for federal excise tax, co tax is $.47, tax alone is $2.63. Now GNS is about $3/gallon or $.50/bottle, that makes it $3.13 for tax and alcohol. Plastic bottle and screw top maybe $.25. So it can be done.

There is a lab that tests alcohol in Fort Collins co. https://kathinkalabs.com/category/analytical-testing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow I have not used them, just met them at an event. Seem like a good group.
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HDNB
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Re: testing spirits for safety

Post by HDNB »

university should be able to help. for free

if there is any ethanol fuel plants near you, they can help (this is where i'd be concerned, that someone bought a tote of denatured fuel for .50 a litre and is reselling as beverage) prolly for free too

there are also some new tech mass spectromter gidgets, at a resonable price but buyer beware, there was some shipping problems with a kickstarter unit last year. i think youcan get a pretty kick ass unit for about 700 USD

gas chromatigraph makes a hand held but no word on affordability.

EDIT: my google-fu is off. I can't find links to the device i found a few weeks ago...i think it may have been in a whiskey mag or something like as the intended use (one of) was for bartenders or likker cops to be able to give an immediate answer as to the legitimacy of spirits...Is it really johnny black, or did they fill the bottle with red? i recall it being 700.
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MoonBreath
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Re: testing spirits for safety

Post by MoonBreath »

ADI..They can steer you to lab work..Or blacklist.
+1 Bluefish...The math hurts.
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seamusm53
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Re: testing spirits for safety

Post by seamusm53 »

A portable gas chromatograph/mass spec would only help if you had a baseline 'picture' of what was supposed to be in the bottle. I'm told our ATF people and European enforcement personnel have catalogs of output/tracings for every commercial prooduct and can instantly compare that against the contents of a given bottle. The chief concern is either diluted booze or counterfeit spirits that haven't been taxed. From your point of view I'd think the easiest method would be to bring a bottle to authorities and ask them to test it. From the perspective of the bar owner they probably don't want to look 'too' carefully iinto the provenance of what is bought but they sure as hell don't want you to serve poisonously adulterated spirits.
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