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BS: What is first shot whiskey ?
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BS: What is first shot whiskey ? |
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Subject: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: GUEST Date: 25 Sep 15 - 03:39 PM I found an old bottle which was marked "Poison" a label on the back said "First shot whiskey" use only on horses. It smells like whiskey, but didn't try tasting it ! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: Megan L Date: 25 Sep 15 - 04:16 PM I wonder if this is what is referred to in modern distilling as foreshot the first part of the distillation,which is undrinkable. Makes me wonder if it was used as some kind of rubbing alcohol. Hope someone has a definitive answer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: GUEST,# Date: 25 Sep 15 - 05:01 PM Found this online: "My father said that there was always "first-shot" whiskey in the house for rubbing on chests of cold/flu sufferers... first-shot whisjkey is very strong and completely undrinkable, I believe." That is from http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=593282.9 |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: GUEST,# Date: 25 Sep 15 - 05:16 PM Also the following "When I was growing up in Clonmel, my parents would occasionally talk about families where a parent had died in "the great flu." My father had a theory (completely without medical foundation) that people who had managed to drink "first-shot whiskey" in the early onset of the disease, survived. That beverage was, as I understand, not only scarce but illegal." That is from http://www.nationalist.ie/news/the-best-of-times-the-worst-of-times-1-3373575 |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: Steve Shaw Date: 25 Sep 15 - 05:40 PM I have never come across the words "whisky" and "undrinkable" in the same sentence. I mean, how does that work? Huh? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: Jack Campin Date: 25 Sep 15 - 06:08 PM The first stuff to come off in distillation will be the lightest fractions. That means methanol, if there is any in the still. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: Rapparee Date: 25 Sep 15 - 09:20 PM Yup. Those who make their own whiskey discard the first (roughly) third of a pint (about 5 ounces) from the first gallon of the first run, and this of course varies by the size of your still. But that first run boils off the methanol and other things that, at the least, will make bad 'shine and massive hangovers. At the worst, it'll cause blindness. Methanol will boil off at about 148F, ethanol (the good stuff) at 174. Of course, you can get in trouble by distilling alcohol for consumption. In the US you can run into both State and Federal laws about it -- not to mention public health regs! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: Mr Red Date: 26 Sep 15 - 11:49 AM A properly made still will condense ethanol at a slightly higher temperature so the methanol will escape as a gas because it can't condense at the higher temperature. Presumably even in good stills it has to stabilise and the first run of condensate may have methanol as well. I do recall some farming types in the UK telling me they distilled cider in Herefordshire. They used milk churns and rubber hoses. Stuff that would not look out of place in a farm. They caught him by the smell, that permeates for miles. Presumably the methanol that is not condensing. He got a fine of £2000, just for distilling, not the sale which is harder to prove. I said "it must have been worth it". "Oh yea" says he. Curiously it is not illegal to sell a toy still in the UK, nor with instructions. Things have changed, when I were at school they had to licence the lab still and authorities even came and checked if it had been used for distilling alcohol. Well some kids (Eric Idle for one) fermented Elderberry wine so I reckon they would have had a go if it wasn't for the locked cupboard! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: Ebbie Date: 26 Sep 15 - 02:19 PM In my younger days I had a friend who made vodka from potatoes. Tasted a lot like that stuff in that big green jug of liquor- I've forgotten its name. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 26 Sep 15 - 06:10 PM I have brewed, and distilled for over 50 years. Lots of good information is on line through "ex-pats" forums. There is a "sweet spot" in distillation. Most will toss the head and the tails. I distill three fold ...producing 170/180 proof off a 07 to 12% mash. Dilute and finish/flavor to 80-100 proof. The first run produces some nasty/early stuff. It is best dumped down the sink. For a one gallon mash it will be the first one/three onces. The test is....burn the fluid in a teaspoon... The head . and tails will burn with a yellowish flame. The "good stuff" will burn with an almost imvisible blue flame. Triple run for purity, dilute/flavor for taste. I am referring to a "pot still" however, a column still is favored by Russians expats for mass production Sincerely, Gargoyle The "FoxFire" book series from the1970's includes some excellent interviews. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: Rapparee Date: 26 Sep 15 - 09:50 PM It is faintly possible that my brother might have perhaps retrieved my grandfather's "personal" still after grandpa died and my brother may have used it for the purpose for which it was built, i.e., distilling water. Moreover, I could have helped him with this if he had done so if I were less of an angelic person, which of course I am not. But the still is now in a museum and my brother would never ever have a pot still or any other thing which might conceivably be used to break the laws of the United States or the State of Illinois (where he now lives). Nope, not him. Sure, owning a still isn't illegal in the US. You don't even have to register it with the Feds or anyone if you don't use it to make The Devil's Drink. But my family hasn't broken any law at all since at least yesterday so I can freely admit the above now, if it were true. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What is first shot whiskey ? From: Mr Red Date: 27 Sep 15 - 01:24 PM Ethanol seems to burn without visible flame - Indycars used to run on ethanol and I have seen, on TV, frantic activity and buckets of water thrown over seemingly harmless scenes. But the commentators read the situation before the water came out. Do they still run on ethanol? Got the feeling it was changed because of the invisible flame thing. |
