cutting your HOOCH to 40+%

[thelegion]

I have read many a post on cutting your distillate down and everything I read I hear mix your water with alcohol, key word being "water" . I read an article on another site on cutting your spirits down and the main reason for clouding seems to be adding water to your spirits, it was explained that there is some thermal dynamics going on here and the way avoid this is to "slowly" ad your "alcohol" to your desired water. A gradual introduction of the spirit (with stirring slowly) will stop the clouding effect, I believe it was also mentioned to have both materials at or close to the same temperature.

So,not knowing this I went to cut my first real bottle of spirits the other day and added the water to the alcohol and ended up with a cloudy product. After a bit of research I found the above information and low and behold no clouding occurred on the second attempt.

So what is the general consensus here among the seasoned veterans, water/alcohol or alcohol/water, or are there any other techniques to avoid this.


thanks, TL....

[Dnderhead]

Iv done both and never seen any noticeable diferance.this is supposed to happon because it "heats" the water
and drives off o2. first it does not git that hot.. second if it did the gas bubbles whould soon dissipate and whould clear. alcohol drives off gases anyway and once alcohol/water is mixed it soon becomes "flat"

[thelegion]

thank you,

I will try both again, maybe I had one of the fluids at a considerably higher or lower temperature when I mixed them.

cheers,TL...

[Dnderhead]

the most likely cause of "clouding" is oils these are usually in tales.these oils mix in higher proof alcohol but when diluted they on longer will mix.therefore become cloudy.
minerals can also can drop out these usually are seen as "UFOs" unidentified floating objects.i beleve this can also happon with tannins after aging on wood.these being very fine are hard to filter out.

[thelegion]

some real science going on here, what a great hobby, I'll take special note when cutting the next batch, I can see why generations of families keep and run vineyards and distilleries, there is much knowledge to be passed on.


TL...

[Bubba Q]

I know quality and type of water used affects the end result in different ways too. I've tried a couple of store bought waters one being a mineral water and they clouded right away. Best result I've had is using the Brita charcoal filter system. Keeps it crystal clear and quite presentable.

[Dnderhead]

one being a mineral water and they clouded right away"
yes the minerals can drop out,leaving it cloudy

[LWTCS]

The exothermic reaction is just tiny bubbles that will dissipate. I view it as a none issue.

Minerals or oils dropping out is another matter completely.