Liquor Bartering? What Liquors Age Well?

[xRUSTYx]

So, I've just recently started prepping.

Currently looking in to bartering items, and I believe alcohol will be a pretty good one.

My question ... What liquors do the best when it comes to aging (or atleast staying good)? 5/10/20/30 years down the road?

Wines (I know most will turn to vinegar eventually)?

Spirits?

Vodka?

Scotch?

Straight Ethanol (195+ proof)

Everclear?

Absinthe?

Thanks!

[Raoul]

Some wines age well. But not the grocery store variety. Unopened liquors will keep for some years.

Instead of hording a lot of alcohol why don't you put together a way to make your own.

[Oh Shoot]

Cheapest plastic bottled vodka they make will barter as well as a thousand dollar bottle of Rothschild not long after there ain't nuttin no more.

I'd opine it would last forever. Wouldn't get any better with age, though, but wouldn't get any worse.

Been thinking I might stash a couple cases at some point soon as I get rid of some stuff to make room.

- OS

Edited March 14, 2012 by OhShoot

[xRUSTYx]

Some wines age well. But not the grocery store variety. Unopened liquors will keep for some years.

Instead of hording a lot of alcohol why don't you put together a way to make your own.

Don't plan to horde a numerous amount. A few cases at most! I like to drink here & there as well, so I'm not too concerned whether or not it will ever get used

Really have no desire to learn how to make my own.

Cheapest plastic bottled vodka they make will barter as well as a thousand dollar bottle of Rothschild not long after there ain't nuttin no more.

I'd opine it would last forever. Wouldn't get any better with age, though, but wouldn't get any worse.

Been thinking I might stash a couple cases at some point soon as I get rid of some stuff to make room.

- OS

This is exactly what I was thinking as well! Along with the super small bottles they sell at the checkout line.

Room is my downfall as well

Slowly trying to prep, stocking the necessities, and felt alcohol had quite a few uses

Thanks for the response OS!

Edited March 14, 2012 by xRUSTYx

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I haven't priced (or drank) PGA for awhile. Dunno if it is cheap or spensive nowadays. Would PGA have any more or less taste than vodka? Just thinking, if price is about the same, and 2 oz of vodka in a drink would taste and have about the same effect as 1 oz of PGA, then the PGA would store more compactly?

OTOH 151 rum and PGA are considered more a fire hazard than lower-octane booze, so maybe it could be a fire risk keeping a few cases of PGA in the house? Like keeping a lot of loaded ammo, powder or primers wouldn't be a risk anyway...

[Raoul]

I'm just thinking that the man that can cook up a batch of alcohol controls a valuable commodity if the SHTF.

We humans like a buzz.

[xRUSTYx]

I haven't priced (or drank) PGA for awhile. Dunno if it is cheap or spensive nowadays. Would PGA have any more or less taste than vodka? Just thinking, if price is about the same, and 2 oz of vodka in a drink would taste and have about the same effect as 1 oz of PGA, then the PGA would store more compactly?

OTOH 151 rum and PGA are considered more a fire hazard than lower-octane booze, so maybe it could be a fire risk keeping a few cases of PGA in the house? Like keeping a lot of loaded ammo, powder or primers wouldn't be a risk anyway...

Actually, I have fire safe cabinets, so PGA might not be a bad idea.

Edited March 14, 2012 by xRUSTYx

[xRUSTYx]

I'm just thinking that the man that can cook up a batch of alcohol controls a valuable commodity if the SHTF.

We humans like a buzz.

Very Very True ... You've peaked my interests!!! LOL ... Which isn't incredibly hard to do! I'll give it a bit of research!

[mikegideon]

Instead of hording a lot of alcohol why don't you put together a way to make your own.

The very minute there's not somebody keeping me from it!

[Oh Shoot]

OpSec wise, a still after The Fall might attract the same unwanted olfactory attention from citizen zombies as it does now from revenooers, at least till people stop eating each other and whatnot.

- OS

[mikegideon]

Defending the still will be half the fun. Making whiskey can get boring.

[peejman]

If contained in well sealed glass bottles kept somewhere cool and out of sunlight.... booze of reasonable potency will keep a long, long time. Besides, when it comes down to using it for it's intended purpose, people won't care how it tastes. I'd get the cheapest stuff I could find that's packaged adequately. It's useful for a lot more than just a buzz.

[Guest Scramasax]

PGA has mulitple uses as well. dissenfectant,cleaning solution, and the popular Molotov Cocktail. Along the lines of barter It is one of the best volume for return item I can think of. It can be traded for medicinal and partying.

As to drawing the wrong sort. It can help you identify,stupify, and nuetralize.

Cheers,

ts

[subsonic]

My father in law shared a bottle of very generic blended scotch that had been forgotten in his attic for 40 years. It had become world class. Buy a case of something like Clan MacGregor and forget about it for awhile.

[Mike.357]

Distilled spirits do not age in the bottle.

Properly packaged spirits will last for eternity with little to no ill effect on the contents.

If stockpiling for bartering in a shtf situation i would store the most economic liquor possible. If stashing for my own use i would stockpile what I like.

PGA is really no more of a fire hazard than any other liquor. I am in a warehouse full of liquor and fire is the least of my concerns. PGA does have quite a few uses aside from getting snockered too.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Mike.357

[mikegideon]

Yep. The aging process happens in wood barrels. Once it's in the bottle, it it what it is.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

PGA is really no more of a fire hazard than any other liquor. I am in a warehouse full of liquor and fire is the least of my concerns. PGA does have quite a few uses aside from getting snockered too.

Thanks Mike

Drank PGA one time at a college party. Punch bowl had PGA and Gatorade. A beverage only appreciated by connoisseurs of the most refined tastes. Rarely consumed vodka and dunno much about it. Would it be fair to describe PGA as "about the same as really strong vodka"? I don't know from experience.

Googling "pure grain alcohol" retrieves mixology sites listing hundreds of PGA drink recipes. Some recipes involve simple ingredients such as grape koolaid, PGA and water. After the end of the world, perhaps such simple drinks would work as good as any? Filter water out of the nearest mudhole then mix it up in a canteen?

There may be worse, but here are two online PGA drink recipes that sound deadly. The website has further detailed instructions on preparation of these abominations. Possibly these recipes are only legal for consumption by UT or UGA students--

http://alcohol-drink...l/grain-alcohol

I See Dead People

An I See Dead People starts with Everclear® alcohol, Bacardi® 151 rum, Grey Goose® vodka and Wild Turkey® 101 bourbon whiskey…

Flaming Delicious

A Flaming Delicious starts with Everclear® alcohol, Aristocrat® vodka, triple sec, tequila, heavy cream, salt, molasses, lemon and Worcestershire sauce.

====

Re fire hazard-- How high-proof does whiskey have to be, in order to readily burn if touched off by open flame? Dunno much about it. Bacardi 151 is often used for flaming bar drinks. Saw a couple of bars which forbade stocking 151 as a fire hazard, but dunno if the bar managers knew what they were doing.

Just guessing that ferinstance if there happened to be a lit cigarette or other open flame on a kitchen counter, and then a person clumsily managed to break or spill a quart of 151 all over the kitchen counter-- Good odds of a big ole kitchen counter fire. Most likely the same with PGA. OTOH maybe the same would happen spilling 80 proof whiskey? I never got dumb enough yet to accidently start a booze fire, but it would be easy enough to do with 151 or PGA.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[peejman]

Thanks Mike

Drank PGA one time at a college party. Punch bowl had PGA and Gatorade. A beverage only appreciated by connoisseurs of the most refined tastes. Rarely consumed vodka and dunno much about it. Would it be fair to describe PGA as "about the same as really strong vodka"? I don't know from experience.

I had a similar PGA experience in college.

I would say no, PGA is still much stronger than any vodka I've ever seen. That last 50-ish proof really makes a difference.

Just guessing that ferinstance if there happened to be a lit cigarette or other open flame on a kitchen counter, and then a person clumsily managed to break or spill a quart of 151 all over the kitchen counter-- Good odds of a big ole kitchen counter fire. Most likely the same with PGA. OTOH maybe the same would happen spilling 80 proof whiskey? I never got dumb enough yet to accidently start a booze fire, but it would be easy enough to do with 151 or PGA.

I can't say what the threshold is, but you're average 80 proof whatever will burn quite readily. So in that regard, PGA is no more flammable than anything else.

[Mike.357]

A cigarette wil not ignite PGA. Only open flame would do that.

I have not done many burn experiments with liquor. When you burn it the alcohol content will drop.

The PGA we stock is 190 proof. A lot of what we sell I believe is used by bootleggers to make Apple Pie moonshine. Making that will drop the proof by about half.

Most vodka is 80 proof. So pga is well over twice as potent.

If i was desperate enough to drink it I would use a table spoon full in place of a shot..

I have a leaker in the warehouse I use to clean drip marks on the floor left by the forklifts.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Thanks for the good ideas, Mike and Peejman. Didn't know that 80 proof would readily burn. Interesting.

What I meant by the question of PGA being "about the same thing" as really strong vodka-- Basing it on equal alcohol content--

For instance a Screwdriver or Bloody Mary made with 1.5 oz of 80 proof vodka-- Would a person of normal taste and alcohol sensitivity notice much or any difference in A/B comparison against the same amount of orange juice or mater juice, plus 0.87 oz water and 0.63 oz 190 proof PGA?

[Mike.357]

Can't answer any taste questions about PGA. I don't drink it. As far as getting drunk on it vs. Vodka your math looks right.

Be aware, that some labels of pga are lower in proof than others. All aren't 190.

[Mike.357]

Double tap

Edited March 15, 2012 by Mike.357

[Oh Shoot]

...The PGA we stock is 190 proof. ...

That's about the best distilling can do, any higher and it goes down to about that when it's opened even if it were theoretical pure 200 out of the lab, sucks water vapor out of the air basically. Just like 151 and higher sucks the moisture right out of your throat on the way down, if you ever try it neat.

Something about altitude too, seems you can get it to about 195 either at Death Valley or Mt. Everest, I forget which way it goes.

- OS

edit: have we asked, though, will plastic bottles survive "forever" with booze in them and/or not leach out and kill you (at least any quicker than the rotgut I'd likely stock that's in them)? Are they PET plastic without BHA?

Edited March 16, 2012 by OhShoot

[mav]

edit: have we asked, though, will plastic bottles survive "forever" with booze in them and/or not leach out and kill you (at least any quicker than the rotgut I'd likely stock that's in them)? Are they PET plastic without BHA?

I don't know if they would last forever, but it would be a pretty long time. Think about how long people keep rubbing alcohol, and that is 70% isopropanol.

While BHA is soluble in ethanol, I personally wouldn't be terribly concerned about it. The use level for most antioxidants is very small, and I believe you would have took take in copious amounts of BHA before worrying about the suspected or anticpated carciongenic effects.

I think you are correct that the bottles are made of polyester. They do have some that are made from high density polyethylene as well. The bottled water I have has a bottle code for polyester, and the bottle of IPA I have has a bottle code for HDPE.

Edited March 16, 2012 by mav

[Oh Shoot]

I don't know if they would last forever, but it would be a pretty long time. Think about how long people keep rubbing alcohol, and that is 70% isopropanol....

Thanks for that from a chemist.

Seems that plastic fantastic would be best way to go, what with perhaps having to move it around, overall weight, etc. I wouldn't be storing anything that would deserve glass, since I quit drinking years ago. Then again, maybe I should throw in a couple cases of various good bourbons -- if it all should go to a certain circle of hell, might just decide to drink my way on out!

- OS