Account for priming sugar in ABV?

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petrolSpice

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So most equations I've seen use only OG and FG to determine ABV. But what about the priming sugar that is added before bottling? The yeast will convert it into alcohol increasing the ABV. So how is this accounted for? When creating the recipe would I just add the priming sugar in as a fermentable? Or is there a general rule of thumb?
 
You are correct in that when bottle carbing, the priming sugar will increase your abv. The amount of the increase will depend on how much you add and your batch volume. In most cases, the increase is around 0.1% bump in the abv, and for most of us, that is negligible and not worth adding into the recipe.

If you want to be absolutely accurate, you could add it into your fermentables and assume 100% fermentability, assuming you are using a simple sugar to prime with.
 
Thanks guys. For fun I messed with with the recipe calculator and found that 4-5oz of priming sugar will add another 0.2-0.3% to the ABV (for the random recipe I created), which is not an insignificant amount I think. 0.25% seems to be a good rule of thumb from what I've just read doing a google search.
 
Thanks guys. For fun I messed with with the recipe calculator and found that 4-5oz of priming sugar will add another 0.2-0.3% to the ABV (for the random recipe I created), which is not an insignificant amount I think. 0.25% seems to be a good rule of thumb from what I've just read doing a google search.

Remember to account for the increase in volume due to the water you dissolve the sugar in. I think that wil bring your number down quite a bit.

I just ignore it.
 
I often get higher numbers than the calculator figures and will use a little extra water when I boil my priming sugars to help offset anything. I will often use from a pint to a quart (pre boil) all depending.

I ran a 6 gal recipe through Brewtoad (1.052/1.010 5.5%) and added 4 oz of corn sugar and got 1.054/1.011 5.7%, but went back and added 0.1 gal for the solution it was boiled in which brought it down to 5.6%.
 
What is best to use for priming sugar? I been using organic cane sugar with good results

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