hoppyhopman
Member
I've only been taking hydrometer readings on my last couple of batches, and a question has been nagging me: My understanding is that, in simple terms:
Alcohol = First Reading-Final Reading
(this is simplified; please don't get too wrapped up in the definitions)
So it seems to me that the OG effectively sets a maximum on the alcohol content. How can this be, when I can add more sugar at bottling, and create more alcohol?
For example, last night I brewed a batch of wheat beer, and took an OG reading of 1.05. So when I bottle, the lowest reading I can get is 1.00, meaning I'll have a max of .05. How can this be, when I can add a boatload of sugar? Does the sugar in the second stage get somehow limited by the original gravity?
Alcohol = First Reading-Final Reading
(this is simplified; please don't get too wrapped up in the definitions)
So it seems to me that the OG effectively sets a maximum on the alcohol content. How can this be, when I can add more sugar at bottling, and create more alcohol?
For example, last night I brewed a batch of wheat beer, and took an OG reading of 1.05. So when I bottle, the lowest reading I can get is 1.00, meaning I'll have a max of .05. How can this be, when I can add a boatload of sugar? Does the sugar in the second stage get somehow limited by the original gravity?