# Could You Make Alcohol In Pill Form? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216 "2011-02-13T16:13:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/1 "2011-02-13T16:13:07Z")
People drink wines, whisky, rum, vodka, beer, etc and they get drunk OK, alcohol is a way of socializing and in the old days it was a way of getting something clean to drink. But I was thinking could simply “dehydrate” the vodka or whatever and produce a pill that would get you drunk without having to drink the actual drink. I am assuming you can but I thought I’d ask. If so, do they have a pill like this? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/2 "2011-02-13T16:17:33Z")
It is not a ‘could’ question. It can and is made although it is a fairly new product. > **[Alcohol powder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_powder)** > > Alcohol powder or powdered alcohol or dry alcohol is a product generally made using micro-encapsulation. When reconstituted with water, alcohol (specifically ethanol) in powder form becomes an alcoholic drink. In March 2015 four product labels for specific powdered alcohol products were approved by the United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) which opened the doors for legal product sales. However, as of 4 January 2016, the product is not yet available for sale and legaliza... ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/3 "2011-02-13T16:49:32Z")
OP, don’t forget the other reason people drink. I like good beer and will try something new each week from the expansive well stocked shelves of my local liquore store. I also like a good Scotch and a good bottle of claret. I drink them all not to get drunk but because it is enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/4 "2011-02-13T18:15:37Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It is not a ‘could’ question. It can and is made although it is a fairly new product. > > [Alcohol powder - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_powder) Finally, something I can add to my cereal in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/5 "2011-02-13T18:19:36Z")
Valium? I realize chemically, it ain’t alcohol, but one of my friends acts just like he is drunk after he takes a couple. I don’t know anyone else that (ab)uses it, so I don’t know if that reaction is peculiar to Scott. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/6 "2011-02-13T18:38:52Z")
Didn’t Shulgin come up with something along these lines about 30 years ago in between batches of phenethylamines? I’ll see if I can dig up a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/7 "2011-02-13T19:07:35Z")
It would have to be a pretty big pill. A bottle of beer is 355ml, 5% alcohol, by volume = 17.75 ml alcohol. Alcohol is 80% as dense as water, so the alcohol in that bottle weighs about 14 g. Now consider the weight and size of the pill you’d need for that amount of alcohol. Dehydrated alcohol is simply a volatile liquid, so you have two ways to go here: You can simply pour the alcohol into a capsule and keep it in its liquid form, or you can absorb it with another substance like the great humanitarians who invented alcohol powder seem to have done. Alcohol powder apparently involves a sugar derivative which will absorb 60% of its own weight in alcohol. So your 14g of alcohol will need to be combined with 23 g of stuff, giving you 37 g of dry alcohol powder. You might or might not have to add other stuff to make that stay in a coherent tablet form. By comparison, an extra strength Tums tablet weighs less than 2 g. So you’d have to take the equivalent of about 20 Tums to consume the alcohol in one bottle of beer. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/8 "2011-02-13T19:44:55Z")
Nyquil uses alcohol to help people sleep, and has been in gelcap form since 1960. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/9 "2011-02-13T20:07:47Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Nyquil uses alcohol to help people sleep, and has been in gelcap form since 1960. The primary drowsiness-inducing effect in NyQuil caps is from the [doxylamine antihistaminic.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxylamine_succinate). Not the alcohol. NyQuil liquid is about 25% alcohol (2X the concentration of wine), the recommended dosage is just one fluid ounce. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/10 "2011-02-13T22:53:34Z")
I seem to recall a powdered wine product in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Just add water and it had something like 10% alcohol. Never tried it, though. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/11 "2011-02-14T00:29:39Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > The primary drowsiness-inducing effect in NyQuil caps is from the [doxylamine antihistaminic.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxylamine_succinate). Not the alcohol. > > NyQuil liquid is about 25% alcohol (2X the concentration of wine), the recommended dosage is just one fluid ounce. Alcohol potentiates the sedative effects of antihistamines. I.e. antihistamines make you drowsy, but antihistamines with even a little bit of alcohol _knock you the fuck out_. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/12 "2011-02-14T00:41:12Z")
> [@Heyoka13](#): > > Valium? > > I realize chemically, it ain’t alcohol, but one of my friends acts just like he is drunk after he takes a couple. I don’t know anyone else that (ab)uses it, so I don’t know if that reaction is peculiar to Scott. Valium and the other benzodiazepines have a method of action similar to alcohol. They act on inhibitory GABA receptors in the brain to slow neuronal firing. Benzodiazepines are used to treat potentially fatal acute alcohol withdrawal in clinical detoxes to minimize withdrawal symptoms. Benzodiazepine addiction can be just as ugly as alcoholism itself however. There is a similar class of drugs called barbiturates that are even closer to alcohol in action. They aren’t commonly found on the street or used in clinical settings much either but they have been for things like fabled ‘truth serums’ that induce drunk talk. It is easy to earn your ticket to a one-way trip to the morgue by taking barbiturates on your own especially if you mix them with alcohol so it is not recommended. The 1970’s street drug, quaaludes in pill form, was also very similar in action to quaaludes and alcohol but is not around much these days. It turns out, if you just want the effects of alcohol, you are best off just buying vodka which is ideally just alcohol with the water premixed in for you. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/13 "2011-02-14T04:20:02Z")
Buy this [![](http://www.earthenexposure.com/kayaking/Images/stove&fuel.jpg) ](http://www.earthenexposure.com/kayaking/Images/stove&fuel.jpg) And these > **[Amazon.com: 200 Empty '000' Gelatin Capsules Triple 000 Gel Caps : Everything...](https://www.amazon.com/Empty-Gelatin-Capsules-Triple-Caps/dp/B0015URNJK)** > > Buy 200 Empty '000' Gelatin Capsules Triple 000 Gel Caps on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders I’m sure the reason it isn’t done is because you can easily get alcohol poisoning from doing that. Plus you need a lot of gel caps. An ounce of 190 proof everclear equals about 2.5oz of whiskey or about 2 beers. You’d need 20 or so caps just to get an ounce of everclear. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/14 "2011-02-14T04:37:11Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Buy this > > [http://www.earthenexposure.com/kayaking/Images/stove&fuel.jpg](http://www.earthenexposure.com/kayaking/Images/stove&fuel.jpg) > > And these > > [Amazon.com: 200 Empty '000' Gelatin Capsules Triple 000 Gel Caps : Everything Else](http://www.amazon.com/Empty-Gelatin-Capsules-Triple-Caps/dp/B0015URNJK) And then watch the gelcaps dissolve. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-alcohol-in-pill-form/571216/15 "2011-02-14T20:08:15Z")
Thanx Shagnasty! That’s why I come here. 😉