Glycerin from Wally World

[rbqricchi]

Can anyone confirm if this would be acceptable to use in wine? Says it's 100% pure vegetable-derived glycerin. I don't know why the link below says robot or human?. It's just takes you to the product I'm talking about on Walmart's website.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-N...mentIntent=In-store&athbdg=L1200&from=/search

 

[ratflinger]

Why, when Amazon has this at much bigger discount. Also food grade, the Wally World stuff is only cosmetic grade

https://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Gl...&sprefix=vegetable+glycerin,beauty,138&sr=1-5

 

[rbqricchi]

Because a gallon would last me for the next three lives? :^)
Thanks for the link, though.

 

[ChuckD]

Go with food grade

 

[rbqricchi]

I agree about food grade. What I wondered about this product is, even though it's advertised to be used for cosmetic reasons, if it is 100% glycerin, vegetable sourced and no fragrance, wouldn't that make it "food grade" acceptable for wine making?

 

[ratflinger]

Food grade can be used for cosmetics, but cosmetic grade can not be used for food. The difference is in the amounts of 'other' properties.

The Walmart stuff is 99.5%, the linked Amazon product is 100%. That .5% is what makes the difference.

How much wine do you make? I put 1/4 cup in every 6gal batch I make, so a gallon only lasts for 32 kits. So I'm running just over a year with 1 gallon, storage is no issue.

Now you can get food grade in smaller containers, but the price per oz goes up. Do what you want, but please choose food grade.

 

[rbqricchi]

Thanks for the advice. I get it now.

 

[bstnh1]

Why, when Amazon has this at much bigger discount. Also food grade, the Wally World stuff is only cosmetic grade

https://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Gl...&sprefix=vegetable+glycerin,beauty,138&sr=1-5

Read some of the 1 star reviews for this on Amazon. There are waaaay too man knock-offs on there for me to trust anything important. I gave up ordering from Amazon a long time ago.

 

[rbqricchi]

Well, today I picked up a bottle of the Walmart "Equate" brand stuff. It's stocked in the pharmacy area. When I saw USP on the label I thought to myself "Self, I think that means something good"

Got home and looked it up and it means it is pharmaceutical grade. At least, that's my interpretation of this explanation at USP.org:
https://qualitymatters.usp.org/what-letters-usp-mean-label-your-medicine

 

[rbqricchi]

That link that ratflinger posted is a great value, just might be a bit overwhelming for folks who are just starting out and can't fathom brewing enough to use that much glycerin. I see it's USP, also.

 

[rbqricchi]

Ratflinger, how much glycerin do you use per gallon? I suppose it depends on the wine in question?

 

[Raptor99]

Well, today I picked up a bottle of the Walmart "Equate" brand stuff. It's stocked in the pharmacy area. When I saw USP on the label I thought to myself "Self, I think that means something good"

Pharmaceutical grade is an even higher standard than food grade. You are good to go.

 

[ratflinger]

Read some of the 1 star reviews for this on Amazon. There are waaaay too man knock-offs on there for me to trust anything important. I gave up ordering from Amazon a long time ago.

I'll giver it a 5-star review. I've bought more than one and it shipped with no issues and has worked well. There are a lot on nimrods on Amazon.

 

[ratflinger]

Ratflinger, how much glycerin do you use per gallon? I suppose it depends on the wine in question?

I use 1/4 cup per 6 gallons (kit). So that would come out to 1/3 oz per gallon. I think @winemaker81 use closer to 1/2 cup, but I'll let him reply. You can get too much and it's not good. You want just a little mouth feel out of it.

 

[rbqricchi]

Thanks. So, 1/3 to maybe 2/3.... I'm starting to think 1/2 might be a good starting point for me to learn from (and easy to calculate).

 

[ratflinger]

https://www.makingcosmetics.com/Purity-Grades_ep_105.html​

​

Purity Grade​

Description​

Use​

ACS Grade
Highest purity; often equals or exceeds the latest purity standards set by the American Chemical Society (ACS). This is the only universally accepted standard. Chemicals are of the highest purity attainable.
Suitable for chemical procedures requiring stringent quality specifications such as analytical testing.


Reagent Grade
Purity is generally equal to ACS grade.
Suitable for use in many laboratory and analytical applications including life science applications (biotechnology and molecular biology).


Pharmacopoeia Grade
A grade of sufficient purity to meet or exceed requirements by the US Pharmacopoeia (USP) or the National Formulary (NF). Analogous standards are BP (British Pharmacopoeia), and Ph.Eur (European Pharmacopoeia).
Suitable for food, drug, or medicinal use. USP and NF are the official standards for all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, dietary supplements, excipients and other healthcare products manufactured and sold in the US.


Food / FCC Grade
Products meet the strength specifications and maximum impurity limit indicated in the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC) which is an internationally recognized purity and quality standard.
Suitable for food and cosmetics.


Lab Grade
A chemical grade of relatively high quality but does not meet official standards. Exact levels of impurities are unknown.
Suitable for cosmetics and educational applications. Not pure enough to be used for food, drug, or medicinal use of any kind.


Cosmetic Grade
Good quality chemical grade with at least 70% purity used for most cosmetic products that are not OTC products.
Suitable as raw materials for cosmetic production and other non-medical industrial applications. Not suitable for food and pharmaceutical applications.


Technical Grade
Good quality chemical grade used for many commercial and industrial purposes.
Suitable as raw materials for cosmetic production and other non-medical industrial applications. Not suitable for food and pharmaceutical applications.


Ungraded
Purity level has not been determined and a certificate of analysis may not be available. But based on the production and purification method a good quality grade is usually still anticipated.
Suitable as raw materials for cosmetic production and other non-medical industrial applications. Not suitable for food and pharmaceutical applications.

 

[Raptor99]

I use 1/4 cup per 6 gallons (kit). So that would come out to 1/3 oz per gallon. I think @winemaker81 use closer to 1/2 cup, but I'll let him reply. You can get too much and it's not good. You want just a little mouth feel out of it.

I use 2-3 tsp per gal., which is equivalent to 1/3 to 1/2 fl. oz. (US).

 

[Rice_Guy]

I agree about food grade. What I wondered about this product is, even though it's advertised to be used for cosmetic reasons, if it is 100% glycerin, vegetable sourced and no fragrance, wouldn't that make it "food grade" acceptable for wine making?

Glycerin is produced by breaking fatty acids off of a glycerol backbone as in the manufacture of soap stock. The normal contaminant would be partially reacted mono and diglycerides, ,,, but there could be sodium hydroxide and water. In the scheme of things I would expect the 100% glycerin to also have some alkali and water, as long as it is clean alkali without heavy metals it works. ,,,, The magic word is food grade.

 

[winemaker81]

I use 1/4 cup per 6 gallons (kit). So that would come out to 1/3 oz per gallon. I think @winemaker81 use closer to 1/2 cup, but I'll let him reply. You can get too much and it's not good. You want just a little mouth feel out of it.

I use 1/2 oz to 1 oz per gallon, depending on the wine. At this time, most wines get 1/2 to 2/3 oz per gallon. Wines that are thin, harsh, or tannic may get up to 1 oz per gallon.

My 2019 2nd run (Malbec, Merlot, Zinfandel) received 1 oz/ gallon. I bottled a couple of bottles without glycerin, and at the 2 year mark, they were undrinkably harsh, too much tannin. No one would believe the 2 wines were the same one, with that one difference.

I buy food grade glycerin from Amazon by the US gallon. In addition to wine, I use 1 oz per 1 liter when making liquors such as Limoncello and Apricot brandy.