Stilldistillin Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 I have an issue I'm hoping someone can help me with. I received some 200 proof to experiment with and ran into some clouding issues when diluting. It happens between 80 and 90 proof which might indicate essential oils falling out of suspension, etc. I was under the impression that 200 proof was pure ethyl alcohol. Is this not the case? I also tried diluting with both reverse osmosis water and distilled water. Same problem each time. Let it set for a couple of days and tried activated carbon as well as chill filtering. Looks like a batch of my Grandma's lemonade. I guess it could be marketed it as Grandmas lemonade but I wouldn't want to get into a lengthy trademark infringement battle with Mike's Hard Lemonade. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McKee Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 I have a few more questions that may help me assist you with an answer: Do you have the COA that came with the NGS? Can you confirm that the NGS was actually 200 proof? Usually that level of quality only comes from a fuel ethanol refinery, which has dehydrated the ethanol past the azeotrope obtained by distillation. What type of vessel did the NGS arrive in? Totes, drum, steel, plastic, HDPE, etc? Can you run a test by buying a bottle of Everclear from your liquor store and using the same procedure to proof down via RO and distilled water? If the same case occurs, you can put aside issues with the 200 proof and look to your water systems, cleaning procedures, etc. Cheers McKee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stilldistillin Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 I think I will try the Everclear approach. It came in a 55 gallon steel drum from a redistributor. Labeling refers to one of the large manufacturers and It measures 200 proof on hydrometer. Hopefully I just had two bad batches of water. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwhuff Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 is your hydrometer calibrated? Did you adjust for temp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stilldistillin Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 I have two hydrometers and they both read 198 at 70 degrees so that should be on par unless my math is wrong. I was always in the pass fail math class rather than the one where you're assigned an actual grade if that tells you anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedd Haas Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 198 proof at 70 degrees Fahrenheit is 195.99 proof, per AlcoDens. Are your hydrometers and thermometers calibrated? Or are you using a 0-200 hydrometer? You need the TTB specified sets, which are typically in ranges of 20 proof. Eg, 125-145. The highest one is 185-206. You also need a very accurate & calibrated thermometer; and the gauging tables or AlcoDens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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