no

that foam you see is just air getting whipped into the liquid.
Distillers call that the bead and you can estimate the percentage
alcohol of the spirit by the size of the bead.

You cannot purify a spirit in that way.


John Public wrote:
> I use rum/vodka to fortify wine and make liqueurs, and I noticed
> something strange when I shook a bottle of plain white rum. (The same
> thing happened with vodka.) When I shook the bottle, the liquid's
> appearance changed in three quick stages:
>
> - cloudy all over (first 1-2 seconds)
> - started to clear, but a thin layer (< oz.) of white foamy/starchy
> substance surfaced (3-7 seconds)
> - everything cleared back to normal (8-10 seconds)
>
> I'm aware that cheap alcohol is usually not filtered as much as
> top-shelf brands, so I'm suspecting the shaking caused a temporary
> "centrifugal effect" that, for a short time, surfaced many of the
> impurities. If I poured out the little oz. or so of the foamy liquid,
> would the remaining liquor be cleaner?