Vodka, famous and already legendary drink, refers to strong alcohol. There is no need to say what kind of trouble regular abuse of this alcohol leads to. There has been a full-scale battle against alcoholism for a long time. Conversations are held, restrictions are introduced, large fines are imposed, and excise taxes are increased. Now the average cost of standard, even cheap and budget vodka starts from 200-250 rubles.
Everyone knows that the main ingredients that make up vodka alcohol are alcohol and water. So, it can be made at home? This is a completely doable task, you just need to know how to properly dilute the alcohol to make vodka. It is also necessary to take into account the mixing technology itself and the conditions for choosing components. And you can easily perform all the necessary actions yourself.
At home, you can dilute alcohol with water and get good homemade vodka
The strength of vodka is a rather mysterious thing. By the way, it has been established that a person does not feel the difference in alcohol strength in the range of 40-48%. For this reason, manufacturers stopped at 40%, so as not to waste unnecessary raw materials and effort. Mendeleev determined the standard strength, describing his research in his doctoral dissertation in 1864.
Receipt vodka drink using dilution with pure alcohol is called the “cold method”. This method is often used in many distilleries.
exists in the world great amount varieties of vodka, among them there are drinks of lower strength (for example, in the European Union countries the standard strength of vodka is equal to 37%). And in Russia there is an established standard of 40%. Manufacturers adhere to this level. It is believed that it is at this strength that alcohol is drunk well and smoothly.
If you consume pure alcohol (96%), it will be absorbed much later, when digestive juices dilute it to the required level. Consequently, intoxication will not occur immediately and will be more powerful. The world's most famous strong vodka. This is the brainchild of the Scottish company Pincer Shanghai-Strength. It is made from grain alcohol, which has undergone multi-stage thorough purification and flavored with thistle extract.
The main and important ingredient of any alcohol is ethanol
This vodka from Scotland has an ABV of 88.8%. This number was not chosen by chance, because the alcohol is intended for export to China, where the number 8 is considered lucky. By the way, despite such a high strength, this alcohol is drunk surprisingly delicately and pleasantly.
Homemade vodka production is practically no different from factory production. But this method It also has advantages - after all, all processes are done under personal control. This means there will be confidence that the output will be a good and high-quality product. TO homemade vodka Numerous additives can be added to improve taste and perception.
Preparing the ingredients
The cold method is a proven and proven technology for vodka production.. And quite economical. The result of all manipulations is food product excellent quality with its famous intoxicating effect.
The main and important step in making your own vodka from alcohol is the order in which all the ingredients are combined. As well as their preparation for the process.
Choosing alcohol
To make homemade vodka, special attention should be paid to the selection of the main component – ethanol. You can choose from the following categories of alcohols:
- Extra: 96.5%.
- Lux: 96.3%.
- Highest purity: 96.2%.
- First grade: 96%.
- Medical.
- Anhydrous.
Of course, the best and ideal option is Extra or Luxury alcohol. And the worst (it should be used only in the most as a last resort) – highly purified ethanol. Despite its name “highest purification”, this alcohol contains a fairly high level of fusel oils and toxic components.
Extra and Lux are ideal for vodka; Alpha alcohol is much more difficult to obtain, but it is considered the best
Choosing water
The choice of water should also be approached seriously, because these components will dilute the alcohol base. The water ingredient can be selected from two options:
- Filtered.
- Distilled.
If you use filtered plain water, then the final result may not please you. Here, much will depend on the hardness and the presence of various suspensions and mineral composition. But even when working with distillate, the results will not be the best. After all, such water does not contain minerals that will actively react with alcohol. What to do?
To make homemade vodka, you cannot use tap water that has not undergone any purification at all. The end result will be hopelessly flawed.
Boiled. In such water, by the way, as in distilled water, almost all bacteria are destroyed. There is also a big drawback in those components that help dissolve alcohol. Boiled water, like distilled, can be used in the preparation of vodka, but only as a last resort.
Useful tips for diluting alcohol with water
Tap. Water “from the local housing and communal services” is oversaturated with impurities and various suspensions. Plus, it can also be too tough. But it can be cleaned. It is better to do this according to the following instructions:
- Run through a good household filter. At the same time, salts, heavy metals and chlorine will be removed from the water.
- Pour filtered water into bottles and place in the freezer.
- When almost half the volume of liquid freezes, you should take it out and pour the water into the sink - it is not needed.
- The remaining ice thaws and melt water is formed, which can be used to dilute alcohol.
Bottled. This option is not bad, especially if you buy soft water with a minimum salt content. Therefore, when purchasing, pay attention to its sediment and transparency.
Additional Ingredients
This step is optional; various additives are needed only when you want to give homemade vodka a certain refined and interesting taste, a specific aroma. IN classical way preparing homemade vodka involves glucose (in addition to the main components). You can purchase it ready-made, or you can make it yourself using the following instructions:
- Mix water and sugar in equal proportions.
- To completely dissolve the sugar crystals, the liquid is slowly heated.
- Foam may form when heated; it must be removed carefully.
- Once the sugar has completely dissolved, the glucose is ready.
You can also use ingredients such as:
- sugar;
- milk;
- aromatic essences;
- natural good honey;
- lemon or acetic acid;
- citrus juice (preferably orange or lemon).
The use of such additives depends on purely individual preferences. If you want bitter and scalding vodka, the alcohol is diluted with water without including other ingredients.. Well, otherwise, you can safely experiment, choosing the taste of the final product for yourself.
In what proportion should alcohol be diluted with water for vodka?
More than a century ago, the optimal proportion of diluting alcohol with water to obtain vodka was discovered. Two parts alcohol base is diluted with three parts water. One unit of measurement was used mass fraction. That is, to obtain 1 kg of vodka product, 0.4 kg of alcohol base should be diluted with 0.6 kg of the selected water. The output will be about a liter of vodka, ready to drink.
One of the homemade vodka recipes
But there are some nuances here; you should know that alcohol is poured into water, and not vice versa. Moreover, the alcohol base must be added slowly and carefully. Strength control can be done using an alcohol meter.
When diluting alcohol with water, you need to know that you should only add alcohol to water, and not vice versa. Moreover ready mixture It can no longer be diluted with water.
When diluting with alcohol, you should remember that all basic ingredients must be heated to +20-22⁰C. If you skip this step, it will be difficult to “adjust” to the required strength. The final drink may differ in temperature by more than 1-2% (for each temperature unit).
Table for determining the strength level
To dilute and control the strength of the resulting drink, you can use already existing summary plates. See how to dilute alcohol with water to make vodka, the table below shows how much water should be used to obtain the optimal result:
| After | Ethanol level before dilution process | ||||||||
| 95% | 90% | 85% | 80% | 75% | 70% | 65% | 60% | 55% | |
| 90% | 6,40 | ||||||||
| 85% | 13,30 | 6,60 | |||||||
| 80% | 20,90 | 13,80 | 6,80 | ||||||
| 75% | 29,50 | 21,80 | 14,50 | 7,20 | |||||
| 70% | 39,10 | 31,00 | 23,10 | 15,40 | 7,60 | ||||
| 65% | 50,10 | 41,40 | 33,00 | 24,70 | 16,40 | 8,20 | |||
| 60% | 67,90 | 53,70 | 44,50 | 35,40 | 26,50 | 17,60 | 8,80 | ||
| 55% | 78,00 | 67,80 | 57,90 | 48,10 | 38,30 | 28,60 | 19,00 | 9,50 | |
| 50% | 96,00 | 84,70 | 73,90 | 63,00 | 52,40 | 41,70 | 31,30 | 20,50 | 10,40 |
| 45% | 117,20 | 105,30 | 93,30 | 81,20 | 69,50 | 57,80 | 46,00 | 34,50 | 22,90 |
| 40% | 144,40 | 130,80 | 117,30 | 104,00 | 90,80 | 77,60 | 64,50 | 51,40 | 38,50 |
| 35% | 178,70 | 163,30 | 148,00 | 132,90 | 117,80 | 102,80 | 87,90 | 73,10 | 58,30 |
| 30% | 221,10 | 206,20 | 188,60 | 171,10 | 153,60 | 136,00 | 118,90 | 101,70 | 84,50 |
| 25% | 278,10 | 266,10 | 245,20 | 224,30 | 203,50 | 182,80 | 162,20 | 141,70 | 121,20 |
| 20% | 382,00 | 355,80 | 329,80 | 304,00 | 278,30 | 252,60 | 227,00 | 201,40 | 176,00 |
| 15% | 540,00 | 505,30 | 471,00 | 436,90 | 402,80 | 368,80 | 334,90 | 301,10 | 267,30 |
Addition: the numbers indicated in the cells indicate the dose of water (in ml) per 100 ml of ethanol.
If this table is too difficult to understand, use another, simpler formula for dilution. It is as follows: one liter of alcohol must be poured into 1.4 liters of water. The output will be good and strong vodka with the usual 40%.
Following actions
As soon as the alcohol is diluted with water to the required strength, the finished vodka must be further purified and sent for settling. Filter it using a paper or fabric filter. To improve the quality of the finished alcohol, activated carbon is used.
It is added to ready drink in the amount of 4-5 tablets per 500 ml of vodka and leave for 3-4 hours. The liquid should be kept at a temperature of +22⁰С. Then the alcohol is filtered again (in this case it is better to use thick fabric).
Adding Additional Ingredients
After completing all the operations of diluting the alcohol and purifying it, it is time to give the finished vodka exquisite tastes. This is done by including additives. The number of additional inclusions will depend on the volume of vodka received and the selected ingredient. For example:
- 30-40 ml of aromatic additives is enough (per 1 liter of vodka);
- honey should be added in a proportion of 1x10, where 10 parts is vodka;
- Fewer additives with sourness should be included: 5-10 ml per 1 liter of product.
Final events
Now all that remains is to give the homemade vodka time to “catch up”. To do this, place the resulting liquid in a dark and cold place and leave it there for 8-10 days at a temperature of no more than +4⁰C. During this time, diluted alcohol will actively react with all additional ingredients and gradually become saturated with the expected taste.
As soon as the aging time is over, the alcoholic product is carefully poured into bottles and sealed very tightly. This must be done to prevent the evaporation of alcohol and the subsequent decrease in the degree of alcohol. By the way, the finished alcoholic drink will be noticeably reduced in volume. This will happen due to the active reaction of ethanol with additives, due to which new bonds are created, which reduce the volume of liquid.
Making alcohol at home has always been a sensitive topic, but every respectable person should know how to dilute alcohol with water to make vodka. You never know what life situation you will find yourself in and what exactly will be at hand, so it is better to acquire useful skills in advance. And the manufacturing process itself is quite interesting, a sort of “weekend hobby.”
Making alcohol from a legal point of view
It should be understood that from the point of view of the law, when manufacturing alcoholic drinks, you are not breaking anything. There is no longer an article for “moonshine making” in any of the codes. And here attempt to sell finished products- it's a completely different matter.
Therefore, if you want to start making liqueur and vodka, brew mash:
- Feel free to talk about this to anyone.
- Use the finished product only for personal purposes, not for sale.
- There is nothing criminal about treating someone with the result of your labors.
It just doesn’t hurt to take into account that:
- Alcohol addiction is one of the most terrible problems of the 21st century.
- Female alcoholism is even worse, because it cannot be treated.
- Nessesary to use only high quality raw materials.
- Methyl alcohol, even in small doses, can deprive vision and even kill.
You can devote a little free time to a new hobby, but it’s important “ don't go too far" A kind of indicator can be the reaction of others, sharp disapproval of any actions on their part.
How to properly dilute alcohol?
To do good vodka, two simple components are required:
|
Water |
Alcohol |
|
Only bottled ones from the nearest supermarket will do. |
You should take care in advance about high-quality raw materials. |
|
The lower its hardness, the better the taste of the finished product. |
First grade alcohol, ethyl and medical alcohol will do. |
|
Do not boil water under any circumstances, otherwise the whole meaning will be lost. |
It is best to use 95% or 95% alcohol. |
|
Make sure there are no salt impurities in the water. They will interfere with the normal dissolution of alcohol. |
Do not use methyl alcohol under any circumstances, it is toxic and even 50 grams can make a person disabled. |
Now it is important to remember one very simple rule that will help you not to spoil the entire simple process of making vodka. Should be added alcohol in water, no other way. If you accidentally mix up and dilute alcohol with water, the solution will immediately begin to turn white. Use this mixture internally Not recommended .
Dilution proportions: 2 parts alcohol/3 parts water.
If you don’t remember or aren’t sure how to do it correctly, try it on small volumes, although you don’t want to waste even 100 ml of high-quality alcohol.
How to dilute alcohol 95% to 40%
If you remember the mathematics course at school, you can try to calculate:
- In 1 liter of 95% alcohol there should be 950 ml of alcohol itself and 50 ml of water or other impurities.
- In the final product, 1 liter of vodka should contain only 400 ml of alcohol.
- Since the degree must be reduced by 2.4 times, it means that you need to add about one and a half liters of water.
- After spending a little time with the calculator, you can come to the conclusion that for every liter of 95% alcohol you will need 1400 ml of water.
And with the help of elementary mathematics, we calculated the required volume and can make sure that the calculations are absolutely correct. Chemistry is a complex science; it is also necessary to take into account the temperature of liquids and the rate of chemical reactions. That's why slight error may exist.
In order not to repeat a school or university chemistry course, covered to the brim with textbooks, you can use the most convenient tables. They were compiled for us by chemists of the past; in each such table there is a column in which the initial strength of the product is indicated and the top row in which the final strength is indicated.
It is enough to find the numbers that are indicated at the intersection of these indicators.
Do you have 95% alcohol, but do you need 40% vodka? We are looking for the number 95 on one side, and 40 on the other. We run our finger and find the treasured number - 1440 ml. As a result, the difference is 40 ml per thousand, something around 0.4%.
In this video, Stanislav Fotenko will tell and show how to dilute alcohol to get quality vodka, what products can be added there to improve the taste:
How to dilute alcohol with water for consumption?
When we have prepared bottled water and rubbing alcohol in the required proportions, we can proceed to the step by step process mixing:
- Any container will do, the main thing to remember is that you will have to use it later.
- Pour all the water into the prepared container at once.
- There is no need to let it settle, stir or perform other manipulations.
- Take out the alcohol, measure the required volume using a measuring cup and pour into the container.
- Slowly add 95% alcohol, stirring the mixture constantly.
- Stir it again.
Now the resulting liquid needs to be poured somewhere to be stored in the future. Bottles need to be filled fully and close them as tightly as possible. The fact is that upon contact with air:
- The alcohol evaporates.
- Acetic acid forms on the surface itself.
It’s not even clear what’s worse - losing some of the vodka or “enjoying” the taste of vinegar.
Now it’s better to move the vodka into the refrigerator and put it out temperature regime by 4 degrees Celsius. Opinions are divided regarding the terms of defense, on average they say about 3-4 days.
And a few words about filtering- you can put a couple of tablets at the bottom of the bottle activated carbon , acting as an absorbent, it will cope with various small impurities. Afterwards, it is enough to strain the entire volume through gauze or any other artificial filter.
How to improve the taste of vodka?
Some people like vodka with additives, so after settling you can give the drink a unique taste:
- Most often, glucose is used for these purposes; 10-15 ml per liter will be enough.
- Honey is ideal; you will need 2-2.5 times more of it than glucose.
- Milk is a more specific component; here you should focus on your taste and previous preparation experience.
- Adding spices will soften the taste of vodka, or rather the alcohol itself.
You can get much more pleasure from drinking a drink with such inclusions, especially if the process is more interesting final result. The drink will go faster and better.
As a result of chemical processes, contraction will occur, the volume of mixed water and alcohol will decrease, due to chemical reactions.
At the very beginning, we believed that 1400 ml of water was needed, according to all the rules of mathematics. But in fact, 1440. These same 40 ml are “compressed”, getting lost in the process. Not the biggest loss, but it’s better to know this at the beginning of your alcohol making journey.
Vodka preparation process
There is nothing easier than making high-quality vodka:
- Take 1440 ml of bottled water from a nearby store.
- Pour them into a large container.
- Find 1 liter of quality medical alcohol.
- Pour into prepared pan and stir.
- The vodka is ready, all that remains is to infuse, filter and add additives. But that's up to taste.
There is no need to cook anything, wait for months, or prepare ingredients in advance. The whole process will take a couple of minutes, except that you will have to tinker a little with filtering.
If you know what to do with alcohol to make vodka, you will not be lost in any situation. The main thing to remember is that everything should be in moderation and that alcohol will not make you happy, even if it seems otherwise at first.
Video lesson: making vodka, diluting alcohol
In this video, Vyacheslav Tronev will tell you how and in what proportions you need to dilute alcohol to get 40% vodka:
The alcohol is diluted with water and other ingredients to obtain vodka. Self-cooking The drink is practically no different from factory technologies. The advantage of this cooking procedure is that you control everything yourself. And therefore, you will be sure that you will prepare a normal product, with or without the use, according to your taste, of various additives and without the risk of getting poisoned by burnt vodka. How to properly dilute alcohol will be discussed in the article.
Preparing Ingredients
Alcohol
Technologists call the preparation of vodka from alcohol by diluting it in water the “cold method.” This operation is often used at distilleries. The technology is proven, proven, and economical. The dilution results in a high-quality food product with a known intoxicating effect.
In this process, the main thing is to follow the order of mixing all the ingredients step by step. But first we need to prepare them. Select alcohol from the list below:
- 96.5% - extra;
- 96.3% - luxury;
- 96.2% - highly purified;
- 96% - first grade;
- medical;
- anhydrous.
Alcohol best quality is a product labeled “Lux”. And the worst option (for lack of a better one) is highly purified alcohol. (Don’t be surprised - it’s true, a hundredth of a percent matters a lot!)
Water
After choosing the main raw material, you need to prepare water, in which you will then need to dilute the alcohol. This component can be filtered or distilled. With filtered water, the results may vary; they depend on the hardness of the water and its mineral composition. And with a “distillate” there are practically no options for failure (if it is truly a distilled product). You should never use tap (“Zhekovskaya”) water without purification - you will spoil both the final product and simply waste valuable alcohol.
There are recommendations to use spring water, clean bottled water, and clean melt water. With these options everything is very ambiguous. Spring water is often hard, purchased water from a supermarket is also not distinguished by its purity, and we do not recommend melt water (with our ecology) at all. (The last advice will be especially relevant not only for residents of cities, but also of suburbs, small towns and villages located next to industrial giants within 100 km.)
Supplements
How various additives V industrial production use various acids and additives. Vinegar and lemon acid- Most Popular. Vinegar in honor of its cheapness and cloying smell, and lemon - to soften hard water (even filtered water can be hard). As additives, sugar and aromatic essences are added to vodka, and added to small quantities milk and honey
The use of these ingredients depends only on your taste preferences. If you like “bitter”, real and scalding, “so that it warms” - do not use additives. If you like a product that is “soft, so it goes on its own,” experiment, adding a little at a time, and come up with your ideal recipe.
Alcohol dilution proportions and preparation procedure
It was established long ago (more than 140 years ago) that the optimal proportion for mixing vodka is 2 parts alcohol and 3 parts water. The unit of measurement is mass. That is, to get 1 kg of vodka, you need to take 0.4 kg of alcohol and 0.6 kg of water. Using these weight fractions, you will get the classic “40 degrees” with a volume of slightly less than 1 liter.
It is important to understand how to properly dilute alcohol. The mixing procedure is simple: pour alcohol into water. Not otherwise. Control is carried out with a hydrometer (alcohol meter). Depending on the readings of the device, add alcohol little by little. (At the same time, remember about water: you can’t pour it into the mixture.)
You can use scientific tools for dilution and control - special tables. For vodka with a classic strength of 40°, you need to take 100 ml of alcohol with a strength of 90° and pour it into a volume of water equal to 130.8 ml.
When it comes to industrial production, additives are subject to massive (volume) adjustments. For homemade, in small volumes, these volumes of additives can be ignored.
Table “How to dilute alcohol with water.” (The value in the cell is the amount of water in ml per 100 ml of ethyl alcohol)
| After | Alcohol content before dilution | |||||||||
| 95° | 90° | 85° | 80° | 75° | 70° | 65° | 60° | 55° | 50° | |
| 90° | 6,4 | |||||||||
| 85° | 13,3 | 6,6 | ||||||||
| 80° | 20,9 | 13,8 | 6,8 | |||||||
| 75° | 29,5 | 21,8 | 14,5 | 7,2 | ||||||
| 70° | 39,1 | 31,0 | 23,1 | 15,4 | 7,6 | |||||
| 65° | 50,1 | 41,4 | 33,0 | 24,7 | 16,4 | 8,2 | ||||
| 60° | 67,9 | 53,7 | 44,5 | 35,4 | 26,5 | 17,6 | 8,8 | |||
| 55° | 78,0 | 67,8 | 57,9 | 48,1 | 38,3 | 28,6 | 19,0 | 9,5 | ||
| 50° | 96,0 | 84,7 | 73,9 | 63,0 | 52,4 | 41,7 | 31,3 | 20,5 | 10,4 | |
| 45° | 117,2 | 105,3 | 93,3 | 81,2 | 69,5 | 57,8 | 46,0 | 34,5 | 22,9 | 11,4 |
| 40° | 144,4 | 130,8 | 117,3 | 104,0 | 90,8 | 77,6 | 64,5 | 51,4 | 38,5 | 25,6 |
| 35° | 178,7 | 163,3 | 148,0 | 132,9 | 117,8 | 102,8 | 87,9 | 73,1 | 58,3 | 43,6 |
| 30° | 224,1 | 206,2 | 188,6 | 171,1 | 153,6 | 136,0 | 118,9 | 101,7 | 84,5 | 67,5 |
| 25° | 278,1 | 266,1 | 245,2 | 224,3 | 203,5 | 182,8 | 162,2 | 141,7 | 121,2 | 100,7 |
| 20° | 382,0 | 355,8 | 329,8 | 304,0 | 278,3 | 252,6 | 227,0 | 201,4 | 176,0 | 150,6 |
| 15° | 540,0 | 505,3 | 471,0 | 436,9 | 402,8 | 368,8 | 334,9 | 301,1 | 267,3 | 233,6 |
Cleaning
After finished product let it settle a little and clean it. Cleaning can be done through a fabric or paper filter. Also, after mixing, you can pour a little activated carbon into the mixture itself, and strain after soaking.
To improve the quality of the finished vodka, several tablets of activated carbon are added to the product. Afterwards, the product is left in this state for 2-4 hours in a warm place. The mixture is then filtered through a cloth.
Adding Other Ingredients
After you have successfully diluted the alcohol, the next step is adding additives. To soften, add honey, glucose, and citrus juices. If you have no experience, then add in small portions. For 1 liter, 30-40 ml of the ingredient is enough, no more. Even less acid is added - 5-10 ml per 1 liter of finished product.
Next, you need to keep the entire composition in the dark and cold for about a week: diluted alcohol reacts with all the components, the mixture gains its final taste. When the aging is complete, the finished vodka needs to be bottled. It is important to seal the bottles tightly: if this is not done, some of the alcohol will evaporate, which will reduce the strength of the product.
It is difficult to give a definite answer to the question of how to dilute alcohol. The sequence of actions and proportions depend on individual preferences, the required strength of the final product and the components used. To prepare vodka and soften the taste, additional procedures will be required - filtration and infusion.
What kind of alcohol should it be?
Before diluting alcohol with water, you should consider the type of ingredients and purpose. If low-quality components are used, the taste of the drink will be spoiled, but the liquid can be used for disinfection. Traditionally, to prepare vodka, take food grade alcohol, but you can buy a medical one. The difference between them lies in the strength, which will need to be taken into account when creating a recipe and choosing proportions.
The answer to the question of how to dilute alcohol with water implies the use of purified liquid. A large number of impurities will cause rapid intoxication, intoxication and other side effects. The presence of additional substances will make the drink less soft. During the filtration process, you can get rid of some of the impurities, but it is recommended to remove them initially pure product. The best option is a product in the production of which rye, wheat or a mixture of cereals was used.
What water is best to use
To dilute ethyl or medical alcohol, only clean water is used. If there are salts, the liquid will be less homogeneous. The risk of rapid intoxication and hangover increases. The degree of contamination of a liquid can be determined by appearance. If the water is cloudy immediately after filling the container, it is recommended to choose another option.
Experienced craftsmen, sharing tips on how to properly dilute alcohol, recommend using spring or pharmacy distilled water. This liquid is suitable for any purpose, and makes the drink more delicate. If the final product will be used to disinfect surfaces or tools, it is permissible to purchase store-bought purified water. Boiled liquid cannot be used to prepare vodka.
If there is no spring water, you can dilute the alcohol with bottled water. However, you cannot use liquid that has been stored in a container for a long time. Depending on the labeling and quality of the materials, after the expiration date, the plastic begins to enter into chemical reactions with water. This may result in damage to the final product. Contact of the filled container with the sun's rays is not allowed, as heating can speed up reactions.
Use permitted in various ways water purification. For example, partial freezing or filtration using shungite.
Mixing proportions
It is impossible to definitively answer the question of how to properly dilute alcohol with water to obtain optimal strength. The proportions depend on the person's preferences.
The standard ratio is 2 parts alcohol and 3 parts water. When mixed, it turns out relatively soft. If a person likes more strong alcohol, you can take 1.3 liters of water per 1 liter of alcohol. Such proportions can be applied if a standard purified ethyl product is used. If taken medically, the alcohol dilution ratios may be changed.
To get more accurate data, you need to take into account the weight of liquids. The mass of the final product allows you to indirectly determine the strength of the drink. A hydrometer can be used to obtain an indication of the density of a liquid.
There are calculators that help determine the required proportions. To obtain the ratio, you need to enter the initial and desired strength, as well as the volume. Using a hydrometer is preferable because it shows accurate data. It is possible to dilute alcohol without additional equipment, but deviations from the desired strength are possible.
Dilution technology
To properly mix the components you need to use suitable container. The container should have a lid to make it convenient to bring the liquid to homogeneity. It is advisable to prefer containers whose volume corresponds to the amount of the final product. When substances interact with oxygen in the early stages, acetic acid may be released, which will negatively affect taste qualities drink It is recommended to choose glass containers, as the materials will react less with the ingredients.
To answer the question of how to properly dilute alcohol with water, you need to take into account the chemical characteristics of the components. If mixed incorrectly, the drink becomes cloudy and has an incorrect taste. This is due to the increased formation of monohydrates. They give alcohol its characteristic smell and taste. Vodka has different qualities, since the concentration of monohydrates in it is lower.
To prevent the formation of unwanted compounds, mixing alcohol with water is carried out in the prescribed manner. It is recommended to cool the last liquid to slow down chemical reactions. When mixing, you need to add alcohol to the water. The liquid is added in a thin stream. It is advisable to thoroughly mix the components at the same time in order to distribute the alcohol evenly. At the end, close the container and shake vigorously for 1-2 minutes.
How to properly prepare vodka from alcohol
When preparing vodka, it is important to take into account taste preferences. If a person likes soft drinks, you can infuse the water in advance. citrus zest, nuts, herbs or other additives. They will add a smell. Optimal time infusion - 8-24 hours. Later, the liquid may deteriorate. It is not recommended to use vodka to infuse before mixing, as the final product may be cloudy.
You can soften the smell in other ways. You can quickly infuse the drink by heating it in a water bath. Classic recipes imply that the process is carried out in the refrigerator for 5-15 days. To enhance the smell and taste, the additives are changed to fresh ones every day.
To obtain vodka, you can dilute alcohol in the same way as for other purposes. It is recommended to add a 40% glucose solution (40 g per 1 liter of final product) to soften the taste. The preferred option is pharmaceutical dextrose. Sometimes honey or lemon juice. Additives are introduced into the liquid before the alcohol.
Filtration is performed to remove impurities. It is advisable to use separate equipment, but if this is not possible, you can purify vodka using charcoal, dense natural fabric and other available materials.
The classic method of purification is using charcoal. For 1 liter of vodka take 1-3 tsp. crushed product and shake the closed container vigorously for 6-8 minutes. The liquid turns black and the smell changes. Coal absorbs oils, so the vodka must either be filtered immediately, or the sediment must be left to settle and the liquid drained later. In the second case, mixing is repeated twice: after 20 minutes and after an hour. The vodka is drained after 3-24 hours. Losses amount to 5% of the original volume.
It is recommended to filter vodka using special porous paper. If it is not available, use napkins, cotton wool or natural fabric. These cleaning methods help remove impurities from slightly contaminated materials. Filtration will not improve the taste if used tap water or alcohol of the first grade or highest purification.
The answer to the question of how to dilute alcohol with water to make vodka involves letting the drink sit in a dark, cool place for 5-15 days. During this time, chemical processes are completed. The liquid becomes more homogeneous and acquires a final taste.
Why do you need to dilute alcohol with water? This is mainly done due to the fact that for the preparation of most drinks, 96% is simply not needed. Such a strength may be needed only for certain tinctures, and not always. Yes, and drink such alcohol in pure form not a good idea.
Correct dilution of alcohol– the key to obtaining a high-quality product from it in the future. Therefore, this operation must be approached very seriously, although it is not anything complicated.
What is needed to dilute alcohol at home?
For this we need alcohol and clean water. Never use tap water in the kitchen, even if you have boiled it several times. Ideal option There will be soft spring or distilled water, but water from the store, which is sold in five-liter cans, is also quite suitable.
Remember the three main conditions for properly diluting alcohol with water:
- The water must be chilled
- Be sure to add alcohol to the water, and not vice versa
- The diluted alcohol must stand
Let's move on directly to the process. First, let's give a specific example, and then give the dilution formula.
In order not to bother your head with numbers and formulas, use ours. You only need to enter the volume of alcohol available, its strength and the strength you want to achieve. .
To get a drink with a strength of 40% (vodka) from a liter of alcohol with a strength of 96%, you need to pour this liter of alcohol into 1.4 liters of water.
This operation is performed based on the following formula:
X=P*(N/M-1)
X – this is the amount of water in milliliters that will be needed to obtain a solution of the required strength
P – this is the volume of alcohol we have in milliliters
N – this is the strength of the available alcohol that we dilute
M – this is the fortress we want to get
See how we used this formula to get the figure 1.4 liters (1400 milliliters) in the example above:
We multiplied 1000 (the volume of alcohol we have in ml) by the number obtained by subtracting one (1) from the result of dividing 96 (the strength of the alcohol available) by 40 (the strength we want to get):
1400=1000*(96/40-1)
Another example: in order to get a drink with a strength of 50% from a liter of alcohol with a strength of 96%, you need to pour this liter of alcohol into 920 milliliters of water:
920=1000*(96/50-1)
However, you may have alcohol with a strength of not 96%, but lower, then the above formula will not work. In this case it will help you alcohol dilution table - Fertman table, which is located below, or the already mentioned.
In this alcohol dilution table, the data is indicated in milliliters and is based on a dilution of 100 milliliters of alcohol.
Example: if we have alcohol with a strength of 80% and want to get a solution with a strength of 30%, then we must dilute 100 ml of 80% alcohol with 171.1 ml of water. Again, do not forget that we pour alcohol into water, but not vice versa.
By the way, using this table you can dilute not only alcohol, but also other alcoholic drinks if you need to reduce their strength.
The math is over. There is one last, but no less important, point left. We'll talk about settling of diluted alcohol.
After dilution, the finished solution should sit for about a week. This is the most optimal time. But if you need it very urgently, then it can be used at least two days later. The container should be in a dark place at a temperature of at least 5 degrees Celsius above zero.
In addition, pour the diluted solution into the container to the top - up to the neck. The smaller the area of contact between the liquid and oxygen, the less chance there is of an oxidation reaction, which can form acetic acid, which we do not need at all.
As you can see, it’s not at all difficult to dilute alcohol with water in your kitchen. If you found this article helpful, please share the link to it on social media.
