An indirect polarimetric detection method for the determination of alcohols has been proposed in liquid chromatography (LC). Optically active mobile-phase additives, such as beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD), could be used to visualize optically inactive alcohols in reversed-phase LC. The visualization of alcohols is based on a perturbation of the partition of beta-CD caused by the alcohols. The detection limits of the present system at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 were 0.031, 0.019, 0.018, 0.013, 0.011, 0.008 and 0.008% (v/v) for ethanol, 2-propanol, 1-propanol, 2-methyl-2-propanol, 2-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol and 1-butanol, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the determination of ethanol present in food and beverage samples.