190 Proof Everclear…The Nuclear Bomb of Liquor

[Hyperspace]

This isn’t in my daily pour by any means (I primarily drink bourbon/beer), but I do keep a big bottle on hand just as a “show of strength” when friends talk about liquors that pack a real punch.

It is illegal to purchase the 190 proof version (it’s available at concentrations of 95% and 75.5%) in certain states in the US, including California, Ohio, Minnesota, and Michigan. When I was younger I would shot Everclear straight. That is NOT a good idea.

Being one who could slam Everclear straight…it makes ALL bourbon, including George T. Stagg, smooth.



Do you agree with the states that have banned Everclear?

[gothbat]

Do you agree with the states that have banned Everclear?

Definitely not, it's just yet another frivolous law made in the name of generating revenue. Not that I think they are really actively looking for people who possess or sell this spirit in those states but I'm sure there is a fine of some sort involved if you are prosecuted for these offenses. Sure, it's dangerous in a few ways, but when you have a law like that you are just nitpicking; I wonder what the official reasoning for the law is.
If you want to kick it up a (slight) notch I think there is another GNS out there that is marketed under the name "Grain Neutral Spirit" that goes all the way to the azeotrope, 95.6%, or possibly done with Pressure Swing Distillation (if they even use that to make spirits) to reach a full 96%. I couldn't find it online but I know I saw it in the store a few times; I jokingly told my friend to buy it and water it down to save a few bucks when he was shopping for vodka to serve at his party.

[ILLfarmboy]

.............Do you agree with the states that have banned Everclear?

NO! absolotly not!

Here in Illinois we have the 190 proof version. I have never drank the stuff, mixed or straight, not even in my "experimental" youth faze.

I do keep a bottle in my medicine cabinet. I use it, diluted with plenty of water, to clean my dog's jowls. Food particles get trapped (in small skin folds) and take on a bad odor. left un-washed it can lead to an infection.

Every once and a while some moron, usually a collage kid, drinks himself to death (or into a coma) on the stuff. Then we have to listen to a bunch of ninnyhamers cry and wale about how it should be baned. Frankly, these are the same people who baned yard darts, three-wheelers, passed seatbelt, child restraint and helmet laws, aided of course, when it comes to alcohol issues, by the Carrie Nation types.

[gothbat]

these are the same people who baned yard darts,...

I loved them! I was shocked to find that they were illegal when I tried to find a new set online. All they sell now are these lame foam ones with huge rounded ends. Guess I'll have to stick to garage sales...

[Jazzhead]

Jarts! We used to play that all the time when we were kids. We all survived to adulthood, thank God, no thanks of course to the darn gummint, whose conscience back then had yet to be stirred by the safety police.

[Hyperspace]

Here in Illinois we have the 190 proof version.

Every once and a while some moron, usually a collage kid, drinks himself to death (or into a coma) on the stuff. Then we have to listen to a bunch of ninnyhamers cry and wale about how it should be baned.

Hello neighbor (Indiana here)…

Yep, there’s always some moron that gets hurt from something and then the “safety police” goes off the deep end and wants to ban whatever. I get sick of it.

With the Everclear…I always heard stories off someone trying to drink a “fireball” and ending up setting himself on fire. I don’t know if the stories are true or just urban legend.


…nonetheless, all the laws that are made in the name of public safety have gotten way out of hand.

[cowdery]

It's possible the posters don't know why sale of maximum Everclear was banned. It has nothing to do with drinking it. The process for making crack cocaine requires it or something like it, for fuel, not for drinking. I think it's used in meth manufacture too. That's why some jurisdictions banned it.

[Hyperspace]

It's possible the posters don't know why sale of maximum Everclear was banned. It has nothing to do with drinking it. The process for making crack cocaine requires it or something like it, for fuel, not for drinking. I think it's used in meth manufacture too. That's why some jurisdictions banned it.

Do you have a source for that? I never heard any such claim that Everclear was used, let alone banned, for manufacturing of controlled substances.


In my state, Indiana, the law is VERY aggressive against methamphetamine and all it’s components of manufacture. If Everclear was an important part of that, I would think Indiana would have banned it a long time ago. You can’t even buy certain cold medicines without signing and ID…which then goes to the State Police.

I would like a link or something…as I will always remain open-minded to learning.

[gothbat]

It's possible the posters don't know why sale of maximum Everclear was banned. It has nothing to do with drinking it. The process for making crack cocaine requires it or something like it, for fuel, not for drinking. I think it's used in meth manufacture too. That's why some jurisdictions banned it.

Interesting, I had no idea. imo the law still seems stupid though. I'm certaintly not advocating it but the law would make alot more sense at a federal level seeing as how rogue chemists could just wheel on over to another state and procure it for their clandestine labs there.

[ILLfarmboy]

I did a little searching and lo and behold I found several references to Everclear and meth manufacture. I also found the expected references to collage binge drinking and alcohol poisoning and the attendant maligning of Bacardi 151, Everclear and other grain alcohol (brands I've never heard of).

All the reading and internet searches doesn't sway my opinion one iota. Once you support banning one thing it becomes a slippery slope. "Incrementalism" is a very, and I mean very effective strategy. It has been employed, with great success, by just about every political pressure group.

First they came for the Everclear, I did not speak up.
Then they came for my Stagg, and there was no one left to speak up!!