ALCOHOL
After the manuscript of this book was ready for the press, Congress passed the bill which has since become a law, whereby the prohibitive tax on industrial or denatured alcohol is removed. So important is this legislative measure that the Editor has deemed it wise to insert an article on the sources of alcohol and the manufacture of alcohol from farm products. Because the first portion of the book was in type when this step was decided upon, the Editor was compelled to relegate to a later page a monograph which should properly have appeared here. The reader will find the matter on alcohol referred to under the heading {45} “Spirit”; likewise methods of denaturing and a list of denaturants.
ALCOHOL, DILUTION OF: See Tables.
Alcohol, Tests For Absolute.
Absolute alcohol is a clear, colorless, volatile, readily imflammable liquid which burns with a faintly luminous flame. Absolute alcohol has a peculiar odor, a burning taste, and does not affect litmus paper. Boiling point, 78.50. Specific gravity, 0.795 to 0.797. One hundred parts contain 99.7 to 99.4 parts, by volume, or 99.6 to 99.0 parts, by weight, of alcohol.
Absolute alcohol should have no foreign smell and should mix with water without cloudiness.
After the admixture of 5 drops of silver-nitrate solution, 10 cubic centimeters of absolute alcohol should not become turbid or colored even on heating.
A mixture of 10 cubic centimeters of absolute alcohol and 0.2 cubic centimeter of potash lye evaporated down to 1 cubic centimeter should not exhibit an odor of fusel oil after supersaturation with dilute sulphuric acid.
Five cubic centimeters of sulphuric acid, carefully covered, in a test tube, with a stratum of 5 cubic centimeters of absolute alcohol, should not form a rose-colored zone at the surface of contact, even on standing for some time.
The red color of a mixture of 10 cubic centimeters of absolute alcohol and 1 cubic centimeter of potassium-permanganate solution should not pass into yellow before 20 minutes.
Absolute alcohol should not be dyed by hydrogen sulphide water or by aqueous ammonia.
Five cubic centimeters of absolute alcohol should not leave behind a weighable residue after evaporation on water bath.
Absolute Alcohol.
Perfumed Denaturized Alcohol.—
| East India lemon oil | 1,250 parts |
| Mirbane oil | 1,000 parts |
| Cassia oil | 50 parts |
| Clove oil | 75 parts |
| Lemon oil | 100 parts |
| Amyl acetate | 500 parts |
| Spirit (95 per cent) | 7,000 parts |
Dissolve the oils in the spirit and add the amyl acetate. The mixture serves for destroying the bad odor of denaturized spirit in distilling. Use 50 parts of the perfume per 1,000 parts of spirit.
Solid Alcohol.
II.—Smaragdine is a trade name for solidified alcohol. It consists of alcohol and gun cotton, colored with malachite green. It appears in the market in the form of small cubes.
Alcohol In Fermented Beers.
Alcohol Deodorizer.—
| Alcohol | 160 ounces |
| Powdered quicklime | 300 grains |
| Powdered alum | 150 grains |
| Spirit of nitrous ether | 1 1/4 drachms |
Mix the lime and alum intimately by trituration; add the alcohol and shake well; then add the spirit of nitrous ether; set aside for 7 days and filter through animal charcoal.
Denaturized Alcohol.
I.—Complete denaturization by the German system is accomplished by the addition to every 100 liters (equal to 26 1/2 gallons) of spirits:
(a) Two and one-half liters of the “standard” denaturizer, made of 4 parts of wood alcohol, 1 part of pyridine (a nitrogenous base obtained by distilling bone oil or coal tar), with the addition of 50 grams to each liter of oil of lavender or rosemary.
(b) One and one-fourth liters of the above “standard” and 2 liters of benzol with every 100 liters of alcohol.
II.—Incomplete denaturization—i. e., sufficient to prevent alcohol from being drunk, but not to disqualify it from use for various special purposes, for which the wholly denaturized spirits would be unavailable—is accomplished by several methods as follows, the quantity and nature of each substance given being the prescribed dose for each 100 liters (26 1/2 gallons) of spirits:
(c) Five liters of wood alcohol or 1/2 liter of pyridine.
(d) Twenty liters of solution of shellac, containing 1 part gum to 2 parts alcohol of 90-per-cent purity. Alcohol for the manufacture of celluloid and pegamoid is denaturized.
(e) By the addition of 1 kilogram of camphor or 2 liters oil of turpentine or 1/2 liter benzol to each 100 liters of spirits. Alcohol to be used in the manufacture of ethers, aldehyde, agaricin, white lead, bromo-silver gelatines, photographic papers and plates, electrode plates, collodion, salicylic acid and salts, aniline chemistry, and a great number of other purposes, is denaturized by the addition of—
(f) Ten liters sulphuric ether, or 1 part of benzol, or 1/2 part oil of turpentine, or 0.025 part of animal oil.
For the manufacture of varnishes and inks alcohol is denaturized by the addition of oil of turpentine or animal oil, and for the production of soda soaps by the addition of 1 kilogram of castor oil. Alcohol for the production of lanolin is prepared by adding 5 liters of benzine to each hectoliter of spirits.
Ale.
The ale of the modern brewer is manufactured in several varieties, which are determined by the wants of the consumer and the particular market for which it is intended. Thus, the finer kinds of Burton, East India, Bavarian, and other like ales, having undergone a thorough fermentation, contain only a small quantity of undecomposed sugar and gum, varying from 1 to 5 per cent. Some of these are highly “hopped” or “bittered,” the further to promote their preservation during transit and change of temperature. Mild or sweet ales, on the contrary, are less accentuated by lengthened fermentation, and abound in saccharine and gummy matter. They are, therefore, more nutritious, though less intoxicating, than those previously referred to.
In brewing the finer kinds of ales, pale malt and the best hops of the current season’s growth are always employed; and when it is desired to produce a liquor possessing little color, very great attention is paid to their selection. With the same object, the boiling is conducted with more than the usual precautions, and the fermentation is carried on at a somewhat lower temperature than that commonly allowed for other varieties of beer. For ordinary ale, intended for immediate use, the malt may be all pale; but, if the liquor be brewed for keeping, and in warm weather, when a slight color is not objectionable, one-fifth, or even one-fourth of amber malt may be advantageously employed. From 4 1/2 to 6 pounds of hops is the quantity commonly used to the one-fourth of malt, for ordinary ales; and 7 pounds to 10 pounds for “keeping” ales. The proportions, however, must greatly depend on the intended quality and description of the brewing and the period that will be allowed for its maturation.
The stronger varieties of ale usually contain from 6 to 8 per cent of “absolute alcohol”; ordinary strong ale, 4 1/2 to 6 per cent; mild ale, 3 to 4 percent; and table ale, 1 to 1 1/2 per cent (each by volume); together with some undecomposed saccharine, gummy, and extractive matter, the bitter and narcotic principles of the hop, some acetic acid formed by the oxidation of the alcohol, and very small and variable quantities of mineral and saline matter.
Ordinary ale-wort (preferably pale), sufficient to produce 1 barrel, is slowly boiled with about 3 handfuls of hops, and 12 to 14 pounds of crushed groats, until the whole of the soluble matter of the latter is extracted. The resulting liquor, after being run through a coarse strainer and become lukewarm, is fermented with 2 or 3 pints of yeast; and, as soon as the fermentation is at its height, is either closely bunged up for draft or is at once put into strong stoneware bottles, which are then well corked and wired.
White ale is said to be very nutritious, though apt to prove laxative to those {47} unaccustomed to its use. It is drunk in a state of effervescence or lively fermentation; the glass or cup containing it being kept in constant motion, when removed from the mouth, until the whole is consumed, in order that the thicker portion may not subside to the bottom.
ALE, GINGER: See Beverages.
ALFENIDE METAL: See Alloys.
ALKALI, HOW TO DETECT: See Soaps.
ALKALOIDS, ANTIDOTES TO: See Atropine.