I have for quite some time been reflecting on the prudence of buying several cases of EVERCLEAR grain alcohol. It will not freeze and break the bottle, that is handy. It could be scattered in the chest freezer to hold the cold, if power is down. Could start fires, run generators, disinfectant. Preserve fruitcake, drink it carefully. What else is it good for........??? Does anyone know if it can be purchased in 1/2 gallon jugs.........??? I am serious, tell me what you know about Everclear, please. I make my annual trip to town next month, and figure two or three cases.
Jokes and any comments welcome. I guess it could kill the bugs in unfiltered water, or maybe it would just make them drunk bugs.
I wonder if I cached the bottles with their "plastic" screw on caps. The caps would be the weak link. I have a lot of bees wax, maybe screw the cap on tight, and dip the cap several time in the bees wax.
I use Everclear for making herbal tinctures! (Also use cheap Vodka for the same purpose, depending on which herb I am using. Some things extract better with the higher proof alcohol; others work better with lower proof.) But to preserve meats? No, suh! That would taste nasty-bad! To me, anyway! .
I'm not familiar with the brand, however I used to keep around home brew 190 proof full grain, in that case also using it for cooking fuel (Trangia stove) along it as a mix for booze, cooking, etc
Expensive for use as a fuel or disinfectant, denatured or isopropyl alcohol are much cheaper. Largest I found it in was .75 liter (1/5 of a gallon) bottles. In the early 1900's alcohol was sometimes used in hospitals (intravenously) for pain, sedation, and even anesthesia. Studies from back then said it produced a "feeling of well-being and of loss of anxiety in the patient". My own experiments with oral alcohol consumption produced similar results. For survival it's best use might be as a food substitute, a shot of 190 proof (95%) Everclear has about 235 calories. Only 10 shots and you've met your calorie needs for the whole day!
well lots of medicinal uses as Grizzy said for making tinctures and extracts also cen be drank as a sedative as being 190 it hits fast, also for sterilizing or cleaning a wound (though not the preferred method). On the food front I know you can cut it and use it to make things like vanilla and other extracts for flavoring in cooking. Basically the same method as herbal extraction and tinctures. Preserving meat? I'd say no... I have had quite a bit of experience in my day with said beverage and "soaking" fruit in it; let me tell you, after a few peach slices, strawberries or watermellon or eating the orange chunks from the bottom of the bucket of Moose Juice the next morning... you'll be drunk as a skunk in about 10 minutes flat. I'm not sure if you can get it in handles (what we always called the 1/2 gal bottles) I think because of the proof many states might restrict bottle size. Be it the size or the tax implications. I know some states banned it all together years ago cause it was "evil" and their dumb ass college kids we're trying to guzzle the stuff, ending up with alcohol poisoning. As far as the caps go, so long as the plastic is out of sunlight it should last decades before it might become brittle. Your idea of wax dipping couldn't hurt, sort of like Maker's Mark does their bottles with the wax dipped necks.
Same as good moonshine which you can make with grain corn and white sugar if you have or make a still. In AK you could take excess berry fruit in the summer and make alcohol. There is lots of recipes. If your bees make plenty of honey you could also make mead for trade. Just a thought. Dale
Note that in the USA, states vary in the maximum proof allowed to be sold to the public. I'm currently living in a state wherein there exist far more regulations than in my home state -- my home state does not have an income tax and property taxes are minimal, i.e. America. When it hits the fan, I'll likely try to get back to my home state where more real Americans live and where you can purchase legal 190 proof ETOH products. Gotta son living there in America, praise God! All things illegal can be purchased, but black market prices get up there. Japan banned handguns, so the price of handguns went up for the organized criminal element (all major industries in Japan have mob ownership, same is true for the Japanese police). Immigrant gangs are selling hand-grenades in Sweden, so it goes, only the terminally naive are shocked. Can't believe that moonshine is now popular. Used to be the poor man's option. Now, critics are talking about the "quality" of moonshine. Obviously, I'm from a different time. Moonshine is good for taking the clear coat off your truck or one component in preserving some foods. An uncle of mine ran unstamped. When traveling through Kentucky, I used to pick up some Pappy Van Winkle for under $50/fifth -- knew a little hole-in-the-wall store that was a little bit off the beaten track. I was out'a town on some business trip a couple of years ago and this liquor store on the Left Coast had a bottle of Pappy in their "special section". I asked why it was there and what its price was. Twas o'r $300/fifth. I liked to have fainted. Looked online just now an saw prices at one grand a bottle. The world's gone mad. Makes me kinda sad.
Popcorn Sutton was from North Carolina but then moved operations into a Tennessee county with which I am very familiar. You've seen videos online showing his small / demo stills. Know that Sutton in his day ran dang-near industrial-sized operations. Sutton's culture was the culture in which my grandparents/parents were raised. My dad and his brothers got themselves and their families out'a that misery. That's all that Sutton was doing, trying to turn a buck. People like Sutton could actually turn out some better-than-decent whiskey. Some of the better runs got barreled and aged (I don't know much about that), however the lion's share went straight to consumers. True that more than a little bit of the whiskey got "rested" in hand-made charred barrels, but these were soon to market. Would you call this "reposado moonshine"?! I hope my family ran decent whiskey. My dad worked for a connected boss for a short while. Cuban rum and then the occasional Cuban person (escaping the slaughter-house prisons of the Castro regime) made their way even into Appalachia. A Cuban was way nice to me when I was a kid; he worked for the connected guy who saved his life by getting him out of that communist "paradise". Hope my family ran the Cuban rum or the Canadian rye more so than moonshine. I've tasted some fine moonshine, yet you gotta know exactly where and by whom that stuff was made. No joke, sister. Some bad runs, some runs of wood alcohol, came out'a the hills.
Really liked the part about " I wish I could live my life over, damned if I would not have done it bigger an better". Freedom State mind set.
Let me tell you this, Sutton didn't commit suicide. The times of such men had come to an end. Think he didn't know this? Oh, he well knew this and simply acted appropriately given the reality of his situation. And he had gotten oh so crippled with arthritis and osteoporosis. He was bent over terrible as a matter of fact. His beloved wife would not, could not, be there for him while in prison, therefore he'd a'died there anyway, away from her. The end of things had come. He lept from a mountain cliff and spread his wings.
When Popcorn got busted last time he had 1000 gallons of moonshine and a couple large stills. A 800 gallon and a 600 gallon. He didn't fire these on wood. He used a burner similar to a coleman white gas burner. He mixed kerosene and gas 50-50 and used a air compressor to pressurize it. A small still was called a piss pot.
I take back what I said about fifths only. I'm more a beer drinker, but this should have barter potential or to sweeten/secure a deal.
Well we certainly had plenty of people weigh in on this thread. Here is a link that might help. http://www.thumbinplum.com/2012/11/top-10-uses-for-everclear.html Disinfectant; Fire Starter; Fuel; Bug Repellant (if you wear that you will probably repel a lot more than bugs); Medicinal tinctures. The Canadians mix it with red wine, and call it Caribou. It will flat knock your hat in the creek. I guess you could use it like a sleeping aid. I have certainly seen it put a few people to sleep, although they weren't much use when they woke up.
I like Ever Clear. A half-pint of it is almost like having a fifth and it mixes really well as long as you don't go overboard. I will confess to using it a couple of times to "anesthetize" someone that was becoming a mean drunk at a party. Add Everclear to their mixed drinks and it will settle them down pretty fast. When I go camping it is nice to have a little snort as you sit around the campfire. I mix it with a lemonade mix and water. It knocks the rough edges off when I'm tired and hurting and helps me sleep. Arthritis is a bitch.
I will keep the Ever Clear in mind. The old joints are starting to hold debates with me now, why past just talking to me.
The recipe: Everclear ( I believe the Canadians call it Alcool) and red wine to taste. Usually a 50/50 mix. Chill it, and drink in a shot glass. As they say in the link: one is good; two is better; three and you won't know what planet you are on. Red wine can be your choice. Most of the drinks I had used a dry red wine. The blend is your choice as well stronger/ weaker. https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-02-14/quebecs-secret-recipe-beating-cold-its-caribou Enjoy!!
