Abv

[Chrysee]

Will the alcohol content be higher after carbonating in the bottle than the final gravity reading taken prior to bottling?

 

[histo320]

I've often wondered the same thing. I'm sure it goes up a tad but not a significant amount. I would guess .015 at the most.

 

[ChshreCat]

I just peeked at a brew calculator and 5oz of corn sugar in a 5 gallon batch would raise ABV by .2%. So, it raises it but not enough to really think about.

 

[RCCOLA]

I just peeked at a brew calculator and 5oz of corn sugar in a 5 gallon batch would raise ABV by .2%. So, it raises it but not enough to really think about.

Did you change the beer volume to include the pint of water you will have boiled the sugar in?

 

[JuanKenobi]

I recently took a gravity reading of a primed batch and the SG was ~.002 higher than measured FG. Used 5.2oz dextrose. So, .2% ABV sounds about right.

 

[ChshreCat]

Did you change the beer volume to include the pint of water you will have boiled the sugar in?

No, I didn't. When I do, it gives me a .1% rise in ABV. Either way, it's not enough to worry about.

 

[Chrysee]

Thanks! My husband was concerned that after using a hydrometer for the first time it wouldn't even give an accurate ABV.

 

[Vuarra]

As a long time mead brewer, just tell your hubby that using a hydrometer is a bit of art, and a bit of science. Just look at the difference of the specific gravities to figure out your alcohol volume. Also, given that others have pointed out that there's only a 0.1% or so difference for adding priming sugars, that's actually below the threshold for figuring alcohol. Unless you're going to get your brew examined by a laboratory, just use the ABV to the nearest half percent as a measure of ethanol.