Alcohol percentage JUST prior to bottling?

[CWind]

Silly question I know, but I really need to know.

On average, what is a rough estimate as to the alcohol percentage in the beer, RIGHT before you bottle it.

 

[Walker]

that totally depends on the original and final gravity readings. there is no "on average" answer.

 

[CWind]

Okay, then lets put it this way, the last 5 beers you have made, what was the rough average of alcohol percentage as you were bottling?

 

[Walker]

well.... I don't know because I never check the final gravity.

If I had to wager a guess, I would put them somewhere around 5.5%

 

[sudsmcgee]

What exactly are you getting at? Beer can be anywhere from 2-3% ABV to as high as 18% ABV. My average beer is probably 5-6% though.

 

[CWind]

Thank you. The replies I was looking for. Thanks for being speedy with it too. Love this forum.


If you were curious, this was essentially to settle a bet of sorts.

 

[Walker]

What exactly are you getting at? Beer can be anywhere from 2-3% ABV to as high as 18% ABV. My average beer is probably 5-6% though.

Exactly. My 5.5% is an average (and a guess) based on the fact that I made an english bitter that was maybe 4%, and some pale that was probably 5%, and then a couple of higher gravity beers (6.5% or more.

So, average is 5.5, but the range was more like 4-7%.

 

[Yooper]

that totally depends on the original and final gravity readings. there is no "on average" answer.

I make mostly "session" beers- the kind I can sit down and drink all night without getting hammered.

Most of mine are in the 5% range. But not all- some are lower, and some are higher. That gives me an average of 5.5% or so. But watch out for the 9%ers- they can sneak up on you!

 

[shortyjacobs]

I'm trying to figure out why you specify "JUST before you bottle it". It's practically the same before and after bottling, (the itty bit of priming sugar you add makes VERY little extra alcohol).

 

[Walker]

I'm trying to figure out why you specify "JUST before you bottle it". It's practically the same before and after bottling, (the itty bit of priming sugar you add makes VERY little extra alcohol).

perhaps that was the bet: priming sugar has little effect on abv.

 

[day_trippr]

I seem to recall that the priming sugar for an average CO2 volume (say, 2.5) bumps the ABV by .5%.

That's not trivial - it'd be a full 10% on a 5% ABV brew...

Cheers!

 

[shortyjacobs]

I seem to recall that the priming sugar for an average CO2 volume (say, 2.5) bumps the ABV by .5%.

That's not trivial - it'd be a full 10% on a 5% ABV brew...

Cheers!

Hmmm, color me corrected. I just punched it into beersmith, and you're right, non-trivial.

Went from a 5.0% ABV beer to a 5.3%ABV beer when I added 4 oz of dextrose to a recipe...

 

[xjmox14x]

Hmmm, color me corrected. I just punched it into beersmith, and you're right, non-trivial.

Went from a 5.0% ABV beer to a 5.3%ABV beer when I added 4 oz of dextrose to a recipe...

Did you include the 2 cups of water you typically boil it in as well which increases the volume?

 

[shortyjacobs]

Did you include the 2 cups of water you typically boil it in as well which increases the volume?

Ah ha. Increasing batch size from 5 gallons to 5.125 gallons, (2 cups = 0.125 gallons), causes ABV to go to 5.2%. So 0.2% increase from the priming sugar.

 

[JeepDiver]

Okay, then lets put it this way, the last 5 beers you have made, what was the rough average of alcohol percentage as you were bottling?

Out of the last 5 I did, off the top of my head low was 4.5% high was 12%, no clue on the average, but I would say the other 3 were between 5-6%

 

[kh54s10]

I brew my beer to a style and flavor that I want. I do not really care about the ABV%. I always take my gravity readings so I can calculate it if I want. That being said, I do know what the beer is and I am careful not to drink my Belgian Dubbels like a session beer.

Hope you won the bet.