I've Always Wondered...

[bosox]

Why do we have the terms ABV and proof? Is there a reason for it? The proof is always just double the ABV, so why name it twice? What purpose does it serve if you know the proof rather than the ABV? I mean, it's not possible to have a 40% vodka be 100 proof, so why say 40%/80 proof? And why is the proof not on a 0-100 scale? Why 200? it doesn't make sense!

I have always wondered this, but been too lazy or forgetul to actually seriously find the answer out.

 

[rockfish42]

LMGTFY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_proof

 

[the_bird]

Wikipedia can be awesome.

In the 18th century and until 1 January 1980, the United Kingdom defined alcohol content in terms of “proof spirit”, which was defined as the most dilute spirit that would sustain combustion of gunpowder.[1] The term originated in the 18th century, when payments to British sailors included rations of rum. To ensure that the rum had not been watered down, it was “proofed” by dousing gunpowder in it, then tested to see if the gunpowder would ignite. If it did not, then the rum contained too much water and was considered to be “under proof”. It was found that gunpowder would not burn in rum that contained less than 57.15% abv. Therefore, rum that contained this percentage of alcohol was defined to have "100 degrees proof".

So, there's a historical meaning to the word "proof" as originally defined. Nowadays, yeah, it's redundant.

 

[cvstrat]

Google my friend... google.

On a side note I read the entire wikipedia article and it was pretty interesting. Learned something new today.

 

[bosox]

Thanks for the quick replies! Seems silly, and I never understood why we have percent and proof.

 

[martinworswick]

Google my friend... google.

On a side note I read the entire wikipedia article and it was pretty interesting. Learned something new today.

on the other hand,if he could have been bothered to find out himself you wouldn't have acquired this new knowledge