Reply To: What shellac flakes to buy?
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If you think there is too much water in your alcohol, and can’t get any anhydrous ( there really isn’t anything like real anhydrous, since it will suck moisture from the air when you open the container) There are two relatively easy ways to take the water out of alcohol. The first is freezing it for a few days – the colder the better. The water will form as ice on top and the alcohol will stay liquid. Just skim the ice off.
This time tested method is called Jacking, and is where the term Apple Jack comes from. There…I told you how to make fortified cider. 😉
The second is by salting the alcohol, called azeotropic distillation. Fill a container with a lid about 1/4 full of non-iodized salt. Fill to the 3/4 mark and shake, then let the salt settle out for a half hour or more.
Without disturbing anything, siphon off the top, which will be dehydrated alcohol. Lower down, it won’t be as dry, and lower yet, it might be contaminated.
Neither method does anything for removing the denaturing agents that make the alcohol poisonous.