How to find out AC after bottling?

Is there anyway to figure out the alcohol content of my beer after its been bottled and carbonated?

I was thinking about just drinking a few and testing my BAC, then the next night drinking the same amount of a crappy beer.. testing my BAC and compare... haha not really...

If you can give me your OG and FG, I'll plug it into promash and give you ABV, ABW, Yeast Attenuation and Residual Extract.

You can still take a gravity reading of the finished beer. You may have to leave it out for a while to get the carbonation out of it because the bubbles will collect on the hydrometer and skew the reading.

I'd just drink untill you fall down, and see how many it takes. If it takes one you're looking at around 25%

aekdbbop said:

I was thinking about just drinking a few and testing my BAC,

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That method will definitly not work! But you may have a good buzz

Evan! said:

If you can give me your OG and FG, I'll plug it into promash and give you ABV, ABW, Yeast Attenuation and Residual Extract.

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yeah i failed to take either readings... so i was looking for a way to do it later.. ha...

so i should just leave it out over night and take it the next day? (what a waste of beer... )

I still like my idea best... haha

Taking the gravity now won't tell you much because you don't have the original gravity. So don't watse the beer, drink it!

haha.. that was my question i guess... if you could get the AC% without anyother readings..

Well, if you didn't take either reading, then there's no way to know your ABV. Well, I guess you could always punch your recipe into promash, et al, but the resulting OG is rarely exactly the same as the measured OG. Then you could, as Walker noted, let your beer de-carbonate and then take a hydro reading.

What's your interest in knowing the ABV?

Chairman Cheyco said:

Taking the gravity now won't tell you much because you don't have the original gravity. So don't watse the beer, drink it!

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As I said---he could always punch the recipe into promash and get a rough estimate of what the OG should have been. Not exact, but it's usually close.

eh, just wanted to know so when people ask i can tell them.. thats about it, as long as it tastes good i dont care..

Evan! said:

Then you could, as Walker noted, let your beer de-carbonate and then take a hydro reading.

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Been testing ABV a little yourself there?

:cross:

Walker, Cheyco...you know, one of those moderator guys with an avatar and 1000+ posts...

aekdbbop said:

haha.. that was my question i guess... if you could get the AC% without anyother readings..

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You can, but not easily in the home. You would needsome sensitive measuring devices.

(1) degas the beer
(2) weigh a sample (or measure the volume)
(3) heat the sample to 180ish (the alcohol will evaoprate)
(4) weight the sample again (or measure the volume again)

Drop in volume will lead you to ABV.
Drop in weight will lead you to ABW.

Or... just say **** it, and drink the beer. That's what I would do.

Or, if you can find a scientific type, ask him (or her) to use his (or her) refractometer (a device that measures the refraction of light through a solution).

Only way (besides doing what Walker says) that I know of to find the alcohol content of an unknown solution.

Chris

Actually the only hardware walker-san's method requires is a 100 ml graduate cylinder, which won't cost much.

Use a small pot as a water bath and keep the ale topped off until the water bath reaches 165F. Then proceed as posted. Remember to read the bottom of the meniscus.

A 100 ml cylinder is very useful around the brewery for doing things like determining how much lactose to add to a cider or stout to sweeten it. Or playing with ale blends.

There are gadgets for directly measuring ABV, but they are designed for wineries and work best in the 10-25% range.