[Avodah] Chamets - Whiskey & Vinegar

[Arie Folger]

R' Meir Rabi posted an essay (I think from the OU, though I really don't
know, as no source was provided) regarding the question whether distilled
spirits and vinegar are really chametz and on what basis.

I have no beef with most of the article, except for a crucial factual
statement that is IMNSHO wrong. The article states:
> Bourbon and whiskey begin their life pretty much the same as beer,
> fermentation of wheat and or barley. However, the initial product is
> fermented to its maximum alcoholic value and then distilled which
> separates and concentrates the alcohol. After a couple of distillations,
> it is almost 100% pure, colourless and purified to the point that there
> is no discernible difference between alcohol derived from wine, potato
> or wheat.

That, my friends, is, I am afraid, incorrect or very imprecise.

The process of distillation allows for separating different molecules that
have different boiling points. As a mixed liquid is gradually heated, some
molecules will become excited sooner than others, and evaporate. However,
it would be very costly and counter productive to carry out such a precise
distillation that would result in the production or really pure ethanol, as
then there would indeed be no difference between wheat, barley, potato,
rice, plum, cherry, grape or petroleum derived alcohol. How would we get to
enjoy a whiskey tasting differently from a kirsch from a drandy or cognac,
from sake etc.?

While the distillation of crude petroleum is carried out in very tall
distillation columns with many many stages, resulting in the fractioning of
the crude oil into many different petrochemicals, the distillation of
spirits for drinking is done very differently. When distilling spirits, a
head fraction is discarded to waste (that is the part with a dangerously
high methanol content - methanol boils at atmospheric pressure at 64.7°C,
while ethanol boils at over 78°C), while the rest of the distillate,
containing a mixture of lots of ethanol but also a bunch of other fragrant,
tasty molecules is then turned into the high content mix from which the
whiskey, bourbon or whatever drink will be made, each one from its own
original and not-interchangeable distillate.

What is left in the sump contains no alcohol, is rich in water, and may or
may not be used in the production of certain extracts and other secondary
products.

So, no, post distillation the alcohols are not interchangeable, and whiskey
totally contains flavors from the fermented barley, sake from the fermented
rice, kirsch from the fermented cherries, slivovitz from the fermented
plums, cognac from the distilled wine, etc.

Kol tuv,
-- 
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Yours sincerely,

Arie Folger
Visit my blog at http://rabbifolger.net/

<http://rabbifolger.net/2016/01/28/wir-missionieren-nicht-aber-warum-nicht/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20220405/e3d9fb47/attachment-0001.htm>