Everclear is the brand name of a colorless, unflavored, distilled beverage bottled at two different high strengths: 151-proof and 190-proof, meaning respectively 75.5% and 95% alcohol by volume. It is distilled by Luxco (formerly the David Sherman Company).[1]
Everclear is distilled from corn (maize) and is nearly identical in taste to fine-grade unflavored vodka, although it contains more alcohol. Both Everclear and fine-grade vodka are very low in congeners, which are agents that develop during fermentation or are added later and that lend flavor and color to whiskeys and other liquors.
Because of a legal regulatory definition in the United States, only the 190-proof version of Everclear can be designated as a neutral grain spirit. Other distilled beverages sold in the United States (such as vodka, whiskey, and brandy) are typically bottled at 80- to 120-proof, containing 40% to 60% ABV. However, some rums are sold in the United States at 151-proof (Bacardi 151 for instance).
Since 95.6% alcohol and 4.4% water form an azeotrope (meaning that simple distillation cannot remove any of the remaining water), 190-proof spirits are the strongest that are available from the distilled beverage industry.
Availability
Due to its high alcohol content, Everclear is illegal, unavailable, or difficult to find in many areas.
Canada
In Canada, Everclear is sold in the province of Alberta but not in most other provinces. In British Columbia, it is available for purchase only with a permit for medical use, research use, or industrial use.
United States
Some municipalities, such as Chicago, have banned Everclear even though the states in which they are located allow it to be sold.
Consumers may legally purchase Everclear in Pennsylvania but must first obtain a permit for it and agree that it shall not be consumed as beverage alcohol and shall not be furnished for any reason to another person.[2]
190-proof
In the United States, it is illegal to sell 190-proof Everclear in California, Florida,[3] Hawaii, Iowa,[4] Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada,[5] New Hampshire, North Carolina,[6] Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia
151-proof
It is legal to sell 151-proof Everclear in California, Florida, Iowa,[4] Michigan,[7] Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan, Kansas, and other states.
Uses
Everclear, as well as other brands of neutral grain spirit, is typically added to a variety of other drinks, such as soft drinks, energy drinks, fruit juice, and iced tea. It is sometimes added to cocktails in place of vodka or rum and is used in Jell-O shots.[8] It is also used to make homemade liqueurs, such as limoncello, and in cooking because its high concentration of alcohol acts as a solvent to extract flavors.[9]
190-proof Everclear is in regular use among fine woodworkers and luthiers as the preferred shellac solvent in French polish finishing.[10]
Everclear can be used as an antiseptic,[11] as a fuel in camping stoves,[12] and as a cleaner for the restoration of smoking pipes.[13]
Everclear 190 is considered an excellent, odor-free grade of ethanol for use in fine perfumery or tincturing. Manufactured to be of beverage grade, it is not denatured, i.e. it contains no chemical additives to render it undrinkable.[14]
In popular culture
Literature
- Everclear is featured in Minnesota humorist Garrison Keillor’s novel Lake Wobegon Days.[15] In one scene, a housewife throws her husband’s cup of coffee onto a kitchen fire to douse it, whereupon the coffee bursts into flame. She later finds a bottle of Everclear labeled “DON’T THROW OUT” under the kitchen sink, and correctly surmises that her husband had put a shot of it in his coffee.
- Tucker Max discusses the consumption of Everclear multiple times in his book, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.
Music
- The Jerrod Niemann song "For Everclear" and the Roger Creager song "The Everclear Song" both refer to it.[17]
- Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys tells in his song "Ever So Clear" how drinking Everclear resulted in his eye being shot out.[18]
Video games
- In Commander Keen episode 1, "Marooned on Mars," Commander Keen’s spaceship uses Everclear as fuel.
See also
References
External links
- Luxco official website
- Everclear information and recipes at Drinksmixer
Vorlage:Alcoholic beverages Vorlage:Alcohealth
- ↑ Donn Lux: President's Message. Luxco, 12. November 2010, abgerufen am 17. November 2010.
- ↑ Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board: Application for permit to purchase grain alcohol.
- ↑ 2009 Florida Statutes, Title XXXIV
- ↑ a b Wanek, Amy Lynn: After Drake Everclear Incident, New Rules for Highly Concentrated Alcohol in Iowa. In: Politics Daily. 8. März 2010, abgerufen am 12. Juli 2010.
- ↑ http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-202.html#NRS202Sec065
- ↑ http://watchdogs.blogs.starnewsonline.com/14287/abc-commission-to-end-sales-of-190-proof-booze/
- ↑ August 1, 2010 Price Book. In: Michigan Liquor Control Commission (Everclear is listed at the end of the document under "ALCOHOL".
- ↑ Drink Recipe Browser: Everclear drinks. In: Drinknation. 2010, abgerufen am 17. November 2010.
- ↑ Stuart Walton, Norma Miller: An Encyclopedia of Spirits & Liqueurs and How to Cook with Them. Hermes House, London 2000, ISBN 1-84215-154-1.
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsGTJlLACYg
- ↑ McDonnell G, Russell AD: Antiseptics and disinfectants: activity, action, and resistance. In: Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 12. Jahrgang, Nr. 1, 1999, S. 147, PMID 9880479, PMC 88911 (freier Volltext).
- ↑ ZenBackpackingStoves: Alcohol Stoves. ZenBackpackingStoves, abgerufen am 21. Oktober 2011.
- ↑ Thomas C. Wolfe: Pipe Restoration. Seattle Pipe Club, 1982, abgerufen am 30. November 2010.
- ↑ http://www.basenotes.net/threads/234204-Everclear-Why-and-why-not
- ↑ Garrison Keillor: Lake Wobegon Days. Viking Books, 1985, ISBN 978-5-551-14676-6.
- ↑ THE DISCOVERING ALCOHOLIC: Art Alexakis of Everclear at The Discovering Alcoholic. 30. April 2009, abgerufen am 10. September 2012.
- ↑ Niemann, Jarrod: For Everclear. Warner/Chappell Music, 13. Juli 2010, abgerufen am 19. September 2010.
- ↑ Staff writers: Bushwick Bill Of The Geto Boys Reacts To Houston's Loss Of An Eye In: SoundSlam, 3 February 2005. Abgerufen im 5 December 2010