Any way to measure alcohol content?

[globell]

ok. So I'm new to bottle carbonating (and brewing too). Had some caramel apple cider that I up'd the ABV to 9.9% (weak fresh pressed - added 3 or 4 cans of FCAJ to the ferment).

It finished off at about .997 and I like a semi sweet cider. I didn't record the amount of priming sugar I added (my bad), but it bottle carbed in about two weeks (have that written down just not handy). Just opened a bottle and HOLY MAN...half a champagne glass and I'm beyond feeling it!! It's off dry. I made the cider quite sweet knowing that it would ferment down and I figured perfect sweetness at bottling time would equal dry after carbonation.

IF I was to take the gravity reading after adding priming sugar and after it's ready to drink (carbed up and after pasteurization) - could I then add difference in gravity to the alcohol content? or how is that calculated when you are boosting the sugar and then pasteurizing? Does the ABV change?

Trying to figure a way to ensure I have accurate labels for friends and family (and me!).

These bottles will have warnings like AMP energy or the like - Only ONE per day!

Best guess I think it's in the 12+% range? as it's not as strong as the 18% pappy's an had had one at 15% and it was vastly different than 18%.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi globell,
The priming sugar - IMO - won't significantly add to the alcohol content. One pound of sugar added to make one gallon of must will increase the gravity by 40 points and 40 points would have a potential ABV of about 5.25%. So, how much priming sugar would you have added to each gallon? An ounce? - ie 1/16 of 5.25 % or 0.3%? That is not really "significant". But what was the sugar content of the apple juice and how much - if any - additional sugar did you add? Did you concentrate the sugars (by freezing the must and then removing most of the water content by collecting only the first 1/3 or 1/2 of the runnings as you thawed the frozen must?

 

[Maylar]

Carbonation usually consumes about 2 gravity points, which I guess would be another 1/4% or so. 10% is gonna give you a buzz for sure.

 

[renrutle]

If you have an accurate scale and a 1 liter flask you can make a rough estimate of the ABV by weighing a sample.

At 77ºF ethanol has a density of 785 g/l and water has a density of 998 g/l.

This info plus a bit of math gives the following table for the weight of 1.00 liter of beer/cider/wine.

Weight
in
Grams - - - %ABV
998.2 - - - 0.00%
996.1 - - - 1.25%
993.9 - - - 2.50%
991.8 - - - 3.75%
989.7 - - - 5.00%
987.5 - - - 6.25%
985.4 - - - 7.50%
983.3 - - - 8.75%
981.1 - - - 10.00%
979.0 - - - 11.25%
976.9 - - - 12.50%
974.7 - - - 13.75%
972.6 - - - 15.00%
970.5 - - - 16.25%
968.4 - - - 17.50%
966.2 - - - 18.75%
964.1 - - - 20.00%
962.0 - - - 21.25%
959.8 - - - 22.50%
957.7 - - - 23.75%
955.6 - - - 25.00%


This table does not account for any other component of the finished product such as unfermented sugars, proteins, hops oils, esters, etc.

YMMV (a lot.)

 

[globell]

Hi globell,
The priming sugar - IMO - won't significantly add to the alcohol content. One pound of sugar added to make one gallon of must will increase the gravity by 40 points and 40 points would have a potential ABV of about 5.25%. So, how much priming sugar would you have added to each gallon? An ounce? - ie 1/16 of 5.25 % or 0.3%? That is not really "significant". But what was the sugar content of the apple juice and how much - if any - additional sugar did you add? Did you concentrate the sugars (by freezing the must and then removing most of the water content by collecting only the first 1/3 or 1/2 of the runnings as you thawed the frozen must?

It wasn't just priming sugar. It was to sweeten the brew. 5-6 cans of FCAJ and a pound of dextrose. Was at about .997. Perhaps it was me having a cold or because either the acidity/tannis but it never really lost its 'bite'. Didn't seem to get much sweeter either but it's considerably more dry now. Was looking to have a sweet brew closer to the mass commerical ciders for a gathering this december. Most non cider people don't know what real cider is like and turn near inside out when you pour then a glass. It's funny actually~

 

[bernardsmith]

ah.. But I guess I have a had time understanding how you can add sugar to both prime and add sweetness. Sure I understand that some brewers pasteurize but wine makers tend not to and for me, pasteurization is another name for Russian Roulette as you have no real control over how much sugar is used to prime and how much to sweeten. I guess I much prefer to be able to predict outcomes of any action I take...but to each their own.

 

[globell]

Fair

 

[Transamguy77]

If I read it right you added more sugar or a few cans of concentrate in the beginning to make it more semi sweet, if you added all that in the beginning the yeast will consume all that sugar making it higher abv and still bring your gravity very low.

If you are looking to sweeten it up you will need to kill the yeast then add more sugar, if you don't kill the yeast it will continue to ferment and you'll be right where you are now.

The last cider I made I fermented 4 gallons then added campdon tablets to kill the yeast and then after a day or so I added another gallon of juice to bring up the sweetness, I didn't take any gravity readings and I should have because it was delicious but I have another cider going now so I'll take a gravity reading before and after this time.

I also keg so I wasn't concerned with carbonating it so having viable yeast was not a concern to carbonate.