Ethanol or grain alcohol is the good type of alcohol. It is typically made through the fermentation process using a bacteria (yeast) to consume the sugar and produce alcohol. One of the limitations of this method is that the upper limit of the beverage that is created is 20% alcohol.
Higher percentage drinks are possible by a further distillation process which will separate out the ethanol from the rest of the beverage.
Methanol, or wood alcohol is the bad alcohol which is poisonous. The body breaks methanol down into formaldehyde which affects the optic nerve and will cause blindness and eventually death. The two different alcohol’s are not interchangeable.
There was a small incident in the Czech Republic in September 2012 where a small Czech company that was intentionally selling ethanol beverages which have been diluted with methanol. This did perhaps help with the profits but didn’t help with public health. While the government was trying to get a handle on the source of the poisonous alcohol they instituted a ban. During this time, there was a sign outside of a local bar.
“Sorry no alcohol, only wine and beer”