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Old alcohol = less effective?

Discussion in 'Cannabis & Weed Edibles: Cooking & Recipes' started by KrazyKat, Nov 11, 2012.

  1. #1 KrazyKat, Nov 11, 2012
    So I have been making Green Dragon for about 2-3 years now, using the tried and true Master Wu recipe. And because I am in Canada, I use Bacardi 151 because we can't get really strong alcohol like Everclear here. Bacardi 151 is the strongest.

    Well the last two batches I tried did not work very well at all. One was a mini batch of 2 g which I had never tried before (always use 4 g of good bud). The next failure was with 4 g of good medical grade indica and was an utter failure, no potency at all. A poor, sleepy buzz with 2 ml when the normal dose from previous batches was 1 ml or even 0.75.

    Mystery! Later I noticed my bottle was almost empty, so I picked up another at the LCB store.

    I made a batch with the new bottle, 4 g of good homegrown, & total success!

    So did the alcohol evaporate or lose potency and effectiveness?

    Has anyone else experienced anything similar?
     
  2. #2 Dah, Nov 12, 2012
    Mine tends to evaporate no matter how I do it. I'm too lazy to research whether the actually ethanol evaporates or if it's the water in the 151 that is evaporating but you'll notice it evaporating over time.
     
  3. #3 Messor, Nov 12, 2012
    Alcohol evaporates over time if left unsealed. Its why you pay more for older whisky as 'the fairies' get their share.

    However, if the bottle is well sealed this shouldn't be an issue.
     
  4. #4 PsychedelicSam, Nov 13, 2012

    There's no such thing as "old" alcohol. Alcohol is alcohol. If it evaporates it's still alcohol, just stronger. If you use the same amount, it does the same thing. There is no shelf life expiration dates. That is not the reason the batch failed. I don't know why it did but it wasn't because the alcohol is "old". Those premium whiskys are more expensive because they have sat in the oak barrels a long time absorbing the flavors, not because some of the alcohol has evaporated.:)
     
  5. #5 KrazyKat, Nov 13, 2012
    It may not have evaporated, but I saw a change. Normally it would bubble (boil) in the water bath, but on those two failures I could not get it to boil, and the thermometer would not reach 170F despite turning the heat up on the burner. With the new bottle it bubbled nicely, reached temperature at the usual burner "power" setting. I have no explanation, just an observation.
     
  6. #6 PsychedelicSam, Nov 13, 2012

    Yeah, that's weird. Who knows? Nothing wrong with observation. I've observed a lot of things that have me scratching my head.:D
     
  7. #7 KrazyKat, Nov 14, 2012
    Well I guess this can move to a warning for others making tinctures: don't let your alcohol get too old!
     
  8. #8 Messor, Nov 17, 2012
    [quote name='"PsychedelicSam"']

    There's no such thing as "old" alcohol. Alcohol is alcohol. If it evaporates it's still alcohol, just stronger. If you use the same amount, it does the same thing. There is no shelf life expiration dates. That is not the reason the batch failed. I don't know why it did but it wasn't because the alcohol is "old". Those premium whiskys are more expensive because they have sat in the oak barrels a long time absorbing the flavors, not because some of the alcohol has evaporated.:)[/quote]

    Yeah it definitely evaporates reducing the volume of alcohol hence increasing the price go to a distillery and ask them. Obviously the price increase is also due to maturing. I was using this as anecdotal evidence for ethanol evaporating. Many forms of ethanol purchased have a water content the ethanol evaporates faster than the water reducing the % alcohol content which could be why. Although this effect would be minor and therefore doubtful, more likely a procedural issue.
     

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