On Mon, 26 Jan 1998, Joe wrote:
> > That's ok, old warnings from the past are hard to get rid of. One
> >that I heard just tonight was "if you aren't careful when you make your
> >own booze you can go blind". This came from the era when alcohol was
> >prohibited, and some unsavory people would repackage denatured alcohol
> >(ethanol with a percentage of methanol in it to render it poisonous so if
> >you drink it you will either go blind, or die, thus prevent you from
> >getting pleasure from UNTAXED alcohol). After a while, they switched to
>
> FWIW It wasn't just denatured alcohol that made you go blind. It was
> the lead solder that some people used to solder the copper together to make
> stills from. The old time moon shiners put copper stills together without
> solder but during prohibition a lot of quickie stills were put together
> with gobs of solder and the lead would leach out. Anyone here ever study
> moon shining? Fasinating subject (except to Sam of course).
Actually, this isn't correct either. It wasn't the "joints"
soldered with lead based solder that was the problem. You see, there can
be lead anywhere the mash boils, or anywhere the steam exists, but WHERE
THE LIQUID CONDENSES, it needs to be pure copper, pure nickel, whatever.
What the moonshiners were doing was using OLD TRUCK RADIATORS as
condensers, and if you look inside a radiator, especially an old one, you
see that all the copper pieces are sweat-soldered together. About 25% of
the condensation surface in a radiator is solder. THAT was the problem.
FYI, lead doesn't cause you to go blind, but causes neurological damage,
insanity, the like. :) Keep your condensation surface pure copper and
you'll be ok. :) If you buy moonshine and want to make sure it is pure,
you can pass it through an aluminum salt (can't remember which one tho)
that will precipitate the lead out. However, best advice, make your own,
that way you know your product is pure, because you made your own
condenser. A side note, an all GLASS condensation device is best! Just
buy a laboratory grade liebig condenser and you're all set...........sq
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Received on Mon Jan 26 1998 - 14:02:18 GMT