Dangers

You now have around 198 proof ethyl alcohol in that collecting cup. The stuff may now be safe to drink, but don't. One swig of 200 proof alcohol will probably kill you. 150 proof is only for experienced drinkers (derelicts). The highest proof I've ever had is 138, and it must have been the worst experience of my life, tasted like concentrated potato juice. To give you an idea, beer is around 6 proof, wine coolers are around 12, and wine is around 20. I wouldn't recommend more than 100 proof at all. Also, proof is roughly percentage times 2. 50% alcohol is 100 proof alcohol. 100% is way too high to drink. Never go above 75 percent alcohol (3 parts alcohol, 1 part something else), which is 150 proof. That stuff could kill you.

Wood alcohol is poisonous to drink but makes a great fuel. What you find in the hardware store is usually wood alcohol/rubbing alcohol. If the purity is low, you can distill it to get a higher alcohol content. Actually all alcohol is poison but since the molecule of ethyl alcohol is so close to sugar, your body can digest it. If some moonshiners put some rubbing alcohol or other additives in to increase volume, or failed to remove the impurities, at some point it would be dangerous enough to your health, like blindness or death. It usually takes 2-3 distillations to get a more pure and safer alcohol. The only way I know of is to distill it out, but even that would be difficult at best. Ethyl (drinking) alcohol boils at 173F/78C. Isopropyl alcohol boils at 180F/82C. Methyl alcohol boils at 149F/65C. Benzyl alcohol boils at 401F/205C.

Offered by Steve.

I agree 7 degrees is a bit close for fractional distillation of Isopropyl from Ethyl after a the pole shift. Not practical even before the pole shift.

Offered by Mike.