Question 196 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 2

Source footnotes

Footnotes are kept separate from the main question and answer and preserve their source-record association.

↑ [309] This is because the criterion is intention. What is produced for a purpose other than intoxication is not impure, because alcohol prepared for intoxication generally differs in its method of preparation and the type of raw materials from alcohol prepared for purposes other than intoxication-for example, in the degree of purification, the quality of the fermented materials, and the vessels used during fermentation. There is therefore a distinction between alcohol manufactured for intoxication and alcohol manufactured for permissible uses. One cannot be analogized to the other, nor can the two be united under one ruling of impurity or purity. One who intends to manufacture alcohol for intoxication generally adopts a particular method that differs somewhat from the method used when intending to manufacture alcohol for a purpose other than intoxication. Regardless of all the details, the distinguishing factor is intention: what is manufactured with the intention that it be used for intoxication is impure, while what is manufactured for a permissible use is pure. (Commentator.)