Ethanol 95 %: Wine Distilled, Rectified and Dried over Potash

Strong alcohol is wine distilled again and again. Andrew Ure (1839): simple redistillation over a water bath takes it to a specific gravity of 0.825, still about 11 % water; to go further, distil it over dry carbonate of potash, which holds back water. Stop at 95 % by volume, a hydrometer reading of about 0.81 at 20 °C. The picture: a copper still over a brick fireplace in the distillery of the Westphalian Open-Air Museum, Hagen.