What is methanol, and why do distillers worry about it so much? Methanol, like ethanol, is produced during the fermentation process. Fermenting grains such as corn, wheat, and barley will lead to only a small amount of methanol being produced, while raw materials that are high in pectin will lead to a higher production of methanol. Consuming as little as 10 mL of pure methanol can cause permanent blindness by destruction of the optic nerve, while 15mL of pure methanol can prove fatal. In this video, we are doing a deep dive into methanol and its relationship to alcohol and distilling #methanol #foreshots #methanolpoisoning
I’m Miss Brewbird, a Canadian girl training to be a distiller. I’m also tickled pink that you’ve found your way here. If you are interested in learning more about the drinks industry then this is the channel for you. Hit that subscribe button for more videos about distilling and brewing. Cheers!
Video Edited By: Keiran Arscott (arscottkeiran@gmail.com)
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41 Comments
Nice, I’m pleased to now know I will die from Ethan Allen poisoning first before methanol poisoning…well done miss brew bird ,I think it’s the Asian glow 😉
Awesome video for dispelling myths regarding methanol and awesome for everyone on every level of Distilling. 🥃
Hi Brewbird, and thanks for this video. I have long researched and read articles about methanol, it's source in fermentation and how does it behave in distillation. The new information for me in your video was that apricots are among the low pectin containing fruits. I have always assumed the opposite. And now I'm wondering about persimmon specialy the goue ones that you have to age before you can eat.
Any way back to your video, I was hoping that you discuss hydrogen bond with methanol, and is it true that in a pot still it changes methanol evaporation temperature?
Thanks a lot for all you do and the efforts you put into your channel.
Well done, Brewbird! You dispelled a number of long standing myths. Wine and beer contain methanol, be it small quantities. If you drink these fermented beverages you consume all the methanol produced. If the wine or beer it distilled some of the methanol can be discarded.
Oranges juice naturally contains measurable amounts of methanol, I never touch the stuff straight only mixed with the antidote.
Great video, thank you!
The highest % of cases of methanol poisoning come from inhalation in industrial settings, so don’t breathe the fumes coming out of your still before condensation starts, high % methanol.
If more pectin means more methanol, would adding pectinase enzyme reduce methanol production?
I was surprised they just added the forshots to the next batch with the heads and tails. I know people who don’t even keep the tails because they don’t want fussil oils building up. Interesting.
Cute as a button and discussing things about the industry others ignore. What's not to like? "Snaps"
2222+ thumbs up! Thank you for the explanation and clarity you gave. I will be posting it for my friends.
Thank you for clarifying such stigmas, I had to search for these myself before. It was very helpful to hear them again, and I also learned some new points, thanks again
Any idea how it could be cheaper to produce methanol than ethanol? I find it hard to understand considering methanol production via gaseous hydronation of CO2 is much more complex to produce and more expensive than a natural fermentation process at small scale.
Safety is a great reason to take the foreshots out , but the best reason is because most of us want the best spirit we can make and foreshots are disgusting .
My whiskey/white dog is so pure that even excessive amounts produce almost no hangover.
hobby distilled liquor is practically free , there is no reason to try to save a few pennies on wringing out an extra 50 Oz .
Hello, great video as always. I'm really glad you talked about the difficulty in 100% separating methanol because of hydrogen bonding but also explained why that's usually not something to worry about. I learned that methanol doesn't come out all in the fores from the Still Behind the Bench channel and I haven't seen anyone else mention this. So great job!!
Interesting video as usual. Informative and educational. Enjoying it. Thanks Miss Brewbird.
I question the concept that the "forces" acting on the alcohols are acting stronger on the methanol because of its lower pure boiling point, i feel this is more than offset by the significant difference in the relative polarity of methanol vs ethanol leading to stronger hydrogen bonds between methanol and water. This is shown in studies that show the concentration of methanol increasing through the distillation process and actually peaking in the tails cut. Even a good reflux still will see a tails peak and admittedly a heads peak too. In summary i feel the forces acting on the methanol are indeed stronger but those forces are hydrogen bonds preventing methanol from vaporizing. I welcome your feedback.
Hi Miss Brewbird, great video!! I am just dropping by to let you know I've sent you an e-mail about some questions I have in mind.. hope you have some time to read it!
I'm a chemist and once did a summer internship at a company that makes orange juice. I was surprised to see that MeOH is among the minor constituents of orange juice as well. There was a large problem at the beginning of the pandemic with unscrupulous vendors using methanol in hand sanitizers, too.
Thanks for the informative vid. I love this technical stuff. I was actually surprised that you can drink a whisky to treat methanol poisoning!
Could something like activated charcoal be used to lower methanol level in the final product?
HI, when malting barley to use straight away do you need to dry it or can you just blend/mill/wiz it wet and add it to the wort/mash. Cheers
Congratulations on 5k subscribers! Your test will go well.
Great info Brewbird!
Great informative video. You mentioned your experience at the scotch whisky distillery about ageing the whiskey also helped with the evaporation of the methanol. Does it evaporate more readily than ethanol? Another good reason to age your spirits.
I recently made some rum and took 1 litre of foreshots just to be sure I got all the methanol! Hi from Vancouver btw I really enjoy your videos. Maybe you can help me with doing a single malt one day!
Cheers,
Ian
Very nice and informative video. Thanks.
Thangs so much for this.. Is there no way or testing how pure the etanol is? If there is to much metanol. I made my alkohol from appels from now on i will get rid of more heads. Also i vent the still in the start up to 63degrees.. So most go out before maby… I cant smell the difference at least. LOL funny you say norway. Im form there … Been a long time since i did destill it's so ilegal here. And i do it for fun. Dont even drink LOL.. But love to make it.
Methanol boils at 148 IF it is pure, but when mixed with water and ethanol it is not 148 BUT evaporation takes place at room temperature (and lower). It is just that heat causes it to happen faster. It is volatile meaning the tendency to vaporize. Water will vaporize (evaporate) down to 33 degrees F but it takes a while. Add heat and it is faster.
When water hits 212 F all of it does not turn to steam, and the same with methanol when you hit 148.
Hate ur eyes try to read..
fascinating- I surprised that there may be ethanol in a well-controlled fermentation of apple juice- do I correctly assess that you advise the use of pectolase in musts prior to fermentation?
Is the way of measuring methanol in a run?
Yeah, at the distillery where I work the foreshots go back into the low wine and get redistilled. There is no real build-up of methanol, because the amount produced in fermentation of grain is so small, and methanol is also the quickest to evaporate off at ambient temperatures. Pretty much all the cases you hear of about methanol poisoning are due to very callous and heartless people mixing in industrial methanol into cheap, illegal spirits and thus getting greater profit.
where does the misinformation come from………thanks for setting the record straight
I love your video! Thank you for sharingg!!!
Thank Miss Brew Bird. Now I have to explain this all to my mum😔
Excellently explained, Thank you 🙏
I find it very surprising that bacteria too can produce methanol through fermentation. Till now I was under the impression that only yeast can do fermentation and only produce ethanol.
Also, I did not know that fruit skins can be useful in making alcohol.
When I think I'm methanol I think of super high octane race fuel
Very well explained the whole process…👌
and im at the opposite end, just bought an air still, now have 16 litres of spirits, half from whi9te sugar, the other with brown, really nice
6:17 The text is written by morons obedient to authority. It has nothing to do with the methanol being bootleg or not.
hello and thank you for your great explanation , a question came to me that is there a way to determine the level of methanol poisonous in a drink that leads to blindness? as I don't trust the distillation process.
I have heard that we can recognize a toxic methanol or ethanol drink by adding Boric Acid and watch burning flame of methanol is green and methanol is blue , I don't know that is true or not please help me 🙁 <3