Strong Vodka

tippguy

Just wondering if anyone knows whats the strongest vodka / overall spirit that you can buy in the Republic. is there a limit to how high the volume of alcohol can be?

Thomas_S_Hunterson

tippguy wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone knows whats the strongest vodka / overall spirit that you can buy in the Republic. is there a limit to how high the volume of alcohol can be?

I dont think there's a legal limit. You best bet is to go somewhere like they celtic whiskey store and pick up one of their poitins, I think there might be one up in the 90%+ region. It'll be expensive though. 60 quid according to the website.

JIZZLORD

i thought they more or less settled on 38%/40% as it'd be either too watery or too stong if it was weaker or stronger.

rubadub

37.5 and 40% are popular. Smirnoff blue is only 45% here now, it is 50% in most duty frees and other countries. Some pffies will have polish vodkas, the highest you can distil to is around 96%, the highest commericals I have seen are 95%.

I think it is also against the rules to bring vodka over a certain limit back on a plane, I think even in luggage in the hold, since it is a fire hazard. I think the limit is around 70-75%.

Most vodkas are distilled to over 90% and then diluted back down. When diluted the charcoal filtering process works better. The cheapskate commercial distillers leave all sorts of crap in their vodka which must be removed by charcoal filtering, then the bastards have the nerve to brag about this! if distilled and separated properly in the first place there is no need to treat the spirit to remove these smells & tastes and toxins.

A strange fact is that if you mix 1L of 90% alcohol with 1L of water you do not end up with 2L of 45%. Also the mixture heats up when added. Think of a litre bucket of golf balls and a litre bucket of sand, mix both and you do not fill a 2L bucket.

The difference is not too great to worry about though.

oblivious

There is also the option of Everclear (a neutral grain spirit) but it can be extremely hard to find

rubadub

Everclear is a popular US brand, it is not sold in many states since they have restrictions. I would have just called it a vodka, which is pretty much the same as saying a "neutral grain spirit", it is 95% AFAIK. I don't think everclear is rated to highly quality/taste wise. I got some lovely 60% stuff in norway, can't remember the name now (it was 60% after all!;))

Some chemists might possibly sell strong drinking alcohol, I read that years ago for the UK, you need high % to extract flavours from fruit or other ingredients, then you dilute to a normal drinking strength. Another good thing you can do is add fruit juice and it is the juice which acts as the dilutant.

Photi

rubadub wrote: »

I got some lovely 60% stuff in norway, can't remember the name now (it was 60% after all!;))

Was it Aquavit?

the beer revolu

Some American bought spirits have alcohol proof on the label.

This figure is approx twice the alcohol by volume.

So don't go thinking that a 90 proof bottle is 90% alcohol by volume - it's closer to 45%

BeerNut

The 90% ABV poitín available from Celtic Whiskey is here.

No, there's no legal limit on alcohol strength in Ireland, only a technical one, as rubadub says.

rubadub

Photi wrote: »

Was it Aquavit?

I don't think so, I got it in Norway but it could have been another Scandinavian country. Sort of new flash looking bottle, like an absolut sort of bottle.

the beer revolu wrote: »

Some American bought spirits have alcohol proof on the label.

This figure is approx twice the alcohol by volume.

So don't go thinking that a 90 proof bottle is 90% alcohol by volume - it's closer to 45%

There are 2 uses, one does just double it, the other is more complex. You used to get 100 degree proof vladivar on the boats years back, it was 57%. Most american branded stuff will have 100 proof as 50%.

The term is degrees proof, with the little "o" like degrees centrigrade. Many mistakenly say "50 percent proof". There is a wine sommelier from O'Briens who used to be on TV3 in the mornings and used to get it wrong every single time I saw him. It doesn't bother me much, until someone who is meant to know his stuff gets it wrong!, especially this git! very elitist at times. He would get it wrong in a new way, calling a 12% wine "ohh this beauty is 12 degrees proof", trying to sound all fancy.

The whole proofing thing dates back years, it was a way of testing spirits to see if they had been diulted, they would test it using gunpowder. I had a alcoholometer, just a hydrometer calibrated for pure spirits, a bit safer than the gunpowder method!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_proof

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

percent proof

It's one of those things, isn't it? Like "ATM machines", "protesting outside the Dáil" and "getting a Luas".

I think I don't have enough to worry about...

oblivious

rubadub wrote: »

The whole proofing thing dates back years, it was a way of testing spirits to see if they had been diulted, they would test it using gunpowder. I had a alcoholometer, just a hydrometer calibrated for pure spirits, a bit safer than the gunpowder method!

Ah but where is the fun:p

VODKA-MAN

iv bought 95% spirit in cork twice before!....couldnt tell you if its still available now...

el Bastardo

VODKA-MAN wrote: »

iv bought 95% spirit in cork twice before!....couldnt tell you if its still available now...

I just bought some in Abbotts, so it must be. Branded 'Royal Feinsprit' - 1L, 96% vol. - 55 euro

Molloys Clondalkin

We will wait and see if you post back tomorrow!