Electrolysis? Worth doing?

[Hybrid pot still]

I came across electrolysis, doesn't sound reasonable, you know, a arc and all in flammable distillate, especially if not tempered yet. Idk and is corrosivness a possibility even with a low dc charger going thru whatever conductive metal, copper from what I been reading, I would insulate with cork at least for safety. I have been reading but really prefer your guy's feedback as this forum has taught so much and kept me safe, doing the hobby as also consuming it. I really dont trust anything I read even cross referencing. You guys are the final call for me when reading but when I look electrolysis on here, I currently only come up with 3 results and really none of those really touch the topic. Thanks for the help before i ruin good whiskey trying this or possibly spark a fire, lol, not really, i would do this in a field with a 100' extension cord hook up, then plug in at the well house at the edge of my field and see what happens if I was on my own, if I'd didn't spark, the thought of something weird being in there I'm not sure if I would drink it lol, jk tho in all seriousness thanks in advance

[NZChris]

Hold my beer and watch this!!

Have you got any links that might explain what you are talking about?

[cob]

Chris my guess is that through electrolysis you can turn the water in a wash/mash

into hydrogen and oxygen thus removing the water only.

HPS is this what your thinking? if not elaborate If it is have

you ever seen H and O2 turned back into h20 ?

they launch rockets with it.

[still_stirrin]

Chris, you brought a smile to my face!

cob, most excellent “hypothesis”: H2 (fuel) + O2 (oxidizer) + fire (ignition source) —> BOOM!

[Yummyrum]

What colour paper would you like your “Darwins Award” printed on ?

Seriously though , thanks for asking first .

There really are some whack-jobs on the internet .

[TDick]

To be honest, when I saw the title, I thought you were looking for advice as to giving a gift certificate to Mrs. SWMBO as a Christmas present.

[Kareltje]

I do not know what you have seen and I certainly would not try electrolysing on my drinks. If alone for not wanting to waste my drinks.
But I have seen in the series Moonshiners that Tim Smith, the one of Climax Whisky, asked some guys to make a device for fast aging. They made a machine with some wood chips and electrodes, so I suppose they used some electric current to enhance the effect of wood.

They were careful not to expose the trick, though.

[cob]

I do not know what you have seen and I certainly would not try electrolysing on my drinks. If alone for not wanting to waste my drinks.
But I have seen in the series Moonshiners that Tim Smith, the one of Climax Whisky, asked some guys to make a device for fast aging. They made a machine with some wood chips and electrodes, so I suppose they used some electric current to enhance the effect of wood.
They were careful not to expose the trick, though.

electrolysis is the same process as electroplating in that a low voltage DC current is passed through

an electrolyte using a cathode (-) and an anode (+) metal ions migrate from one surface to another that

alone makes this a bad idea, metal ions in your booze! There was recently a post about electropolishing

which is the same thing (moving metal ions from point A to point B) through electrolysis. all of which

release hydrogen and oxygen. I did this as an 11-12 yo. and captured the gases in a large balloon all

the neighbors took notice upon ignition. (we don't have an O SHIT emogie)

[Hybrid pot still]

You guys confirmed my thought and worry lol, I like all above comments, thanks a ton. I will not be trying this, I'll just stick to my 1 gallon casks and keep aging my whiskey like so

[Hybrid pot still]

Oh and I saw this on master distillers and did some research on it but really dont trust anything I read except on here anymore, for safety and everything I've learnt from this forum has been very accurate, at least works out when I do it after reading and feedback from you guys. Thanks again

[Hybrid pot still]

To be honest, when I saw the title, I thought you were looking for advice as to giving a gift certificate to Mrs. SWMBO as a Christmas present.

electrolysis.jpg

Lmao

[Plumberjohn]

Oh and I saw this on master distillers and did some research on it but really dont trust anything I read except on here anymore, for safety and everything I've learnt from this forum has been very accurate, at least works out when I do it after reading and feedback from you guys. Thanks again

Master distiller Episode 3 season 3 "Nuts on the line"
and ill damn sure be trying electrolysis fast aging.
Drill your lid. . If it's metal you need insulators. Id use silicone grommets, then insert 2 pieces of copper pipe thru the grommets and dont let them touch. If its a 2 piece mason lid use a plastic disk instead of the metal one.
I dont see where anyone here has tried this so I say do more research, experiment and expand your horizions.
Its seems like a simple set up using positive and negative electrodes to deliver low voltage dc current to the whiskey and woodchips. Its not rocket science, its 6th grade science. Remember, it was probably a hillbilly kid who happened to be paying attention in science class one day who figured this out and passed this trick down to his kids.
When i do it ill be using a charred wooden barrel and a 110 vac 12 vdc 1 amp trickle charger.

[Hybrid pot still]

Oh and I saw this on master distillers and did some research on it but really dont trust anything I read except on here anymore, for safety and everything I've learnt from this forum has been very accurate, at least works out when I do it after reading and feedback from you guys. Thanks again

Master distiller Episode 3 season 3 "Nuts on the line"
and ill damn sure be trying electrolysis fast aging.
Drill your lid. . If it's metal you need insulators. Id use silicone grommets, then insert 2 pieces of copper pipe thru the grommets and dont let them touch. If its a 2 piece mason lid use a plastic disk instead of the metal one.
I dont see where anyone here has tried this so I say do more research, experiment and expand your horizions.
Its seems like a simple set up using positive and negative electrodes to deliver low voltage dc current to the whiskey and woodchips. Its not rocket science, its 6th grade science. Remember, it was probably a hillbilly kid who happened to be paying attention in science class one day who figured this out and passed this trick down to his kids.
When i do it ill be using a charred wooden barrel and a 110 vac 12 vdc 1 amp trickle charger.

Dont do it, I believe your pretty much electro plating in a vat then drinking the remidents. Doesn't sound appealing.

[Hybrid pot still]

Not to mention spark hazards

[Hybrid pot still]

Read above comments, all the way through

[Hybrid pot still]

Just rapid age with wood, hell alot better and probably better tasting than metal

[Metalking00]

Plus distilled alcohol/water are unlikely to be electrically conductive enough to work anyway- when doing electrolysis you have to have an electrolyte in solution for it to work, which is why when you do this experiment as a kid you add salt to the water. In order for it to do its thing youd have to add a salt, base or acid to your drink. Better to just...not.

[Plumberjohn]

Just rapid age with wood, hell alot better and probably better tasting than metal

You realize the only reason the guy didnt win master distiller is because he under proofed his jar right?
Lol, if I rub 2 braincells together i can build a no spark rig using some 12awg copper wire, solder and some shrink tube. Tell you what, im off the next 2 days and ill build a no spark electrolysis rig while im runnig this 10 gallons of sugar wash. My next run will be a corn mash which ill rapid age using the rig i built.
As far as metal, isnt your distillate ran thru 100% metal, namely copper and maybe stainless steel? Why would using copper or stainless electrodes add any more metal flavor than distilling thru it?
You're simply using current to rearrange the wood and distillate molecules to age faster.
I also seem to remember someone mentioning "electroplating". Electroplating is different process using electricity to bond liquefied metal to solid metal. If you have liquefied metals like chrome and nickel in your distillate you have much bigger problems than aging your whiskey.

[Metalking00]

Because when doing electrolysis the metal is actually being disolved off the anode into the liquid, then traveling through it to cathode. This is a bad idea for something that is to be consumed...

Re the electroplating comment, you should do a bit more reading about electrolysis and electroplating....

[Plumberjohn]

Plus distilled alcohol/water are unlikely to be electrically conductive enough to work anyway- when doing electrolysis you have to have an electrolyte in solution for it to work, which is why when you do this experiment as a kid you add salt to the water. In order for it to do its thing youd have to add a salt, base or acid to your drink. Better to just...not.

My question is have you or anyone else here experimented with this or is everyone just guessing?
A couple jars of whiskey and $20 worth of materials makes for a cheap experiment.

[cob]

its 6th grade science.

You must have got an "F" then, and you get an "F" now. This is not 6th grade science.

Enjoy your copper ion lnfused whisky.

[Saltbush Bill]

This is in the what not to do area of the forum for a reason.
Locked.