How do you calculate gravity (og/fg/sg)

So I forgot to take a beginning measurement because I was in a hurry. Also I have been reading a lot of gravities etc..... and one thing I can find is how the points for certain sugars, extracts, grains etc...... are discovered? Is their a chart I can get so I can have an easy refernce point and go from there until I can memorize them? example : I know that their are points for sugars and points for all the things you put into your beer etc...... but I can't seem to find (and maybe I overlooked it) how these "points" are decided. So the main question is this : I made a ginger ale that I have posted about on here in a different thread and I am trying to figure out what the OG should have been so i can have a reasonable guess at the alcohol content when I take the FG. The sugar I used was cane sugar (8lbs); and then 5 gallons of water 7 oz of ginger and 7 lemons and 3 limes.

Of the items you noted, only the sugar is fermentable. 1 lb of cane sugar has 45 gravity points, so 8 lbs = 360 points. You made 5 gallons, so divide by 5 = 72. Therefore your starting gravity will be around 1.072.

ok thanks, now can you tell me where I can find a chart or something that gives me the gravity point values of sugars/malts?

You could download Beersmith or Promash, and for malts, you could check out https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart
Beersmith and Promash disagree slightly, especially when it concerns sugars.
I use 42 ppg (points per lb per gallon) for dextrose, or 46 ppg with table sugar.

I think these are pretty accurate.

-a.

Dextrose is 36 points per lb. Cane sugar is 45 or 46. I use 45.

A good reference is Papazian, "The Home Brewers Companion".

Calder said:

Dextrose is 36 points per lb. Cane sugar is 45 or 46. I use 45.

A good reference is Papazian, "The Home Brewers Companion".

Click to expand...

Is beet sugar the same as cane sugar? Aren't they both succrose?

Yes, beet and cane sugar are effectively the same.

-a.