Carbonating and alcohol

[kmenard]

Just trying to wrap my head around what should be a pretty simple concept.

If I start at an SG of say 1.070 and get it down to 1.030, and then cap it for carbonation down to 1.015...is my alcohol reading from 1.070 to 1.030 or from 1.070 to 1.015?

 

[ThorGodOfThunder]

Your alcohol reading will be from 1.070 to 1.015.

Carbonating from 1.030 to 1.015 seems like a lot, perhaps someone who knows more can chime in. And how will you measure this?

 

[LeBreton]

1.030-1.015 is around 5 vols of pressure. Too much for beer bottles or swing-tops, too much for even champagne bottles if you plan to pasteurize them. Even if you don't get bombs, they will be gushers.

A good level of carbonation should drop the SG 0.003-0.004. For a very sparkling cider 0.005-0.006.

Carbonating to 0.015 poses a risk of injury or worse

 

[UpstateMike]

Ditto what LeBreton said.

 

[kmenard]

Sorry, I wasn't using real numbers, just throwing numbers out to ask the question.

 

[ThorGodOfThunder]

Ah, thats good

Even after you bottle condition, the yeast are still turning sugar into alcohol and co2, just in a sealed environment. Most homebrewers don't factor in the alcohol from carbonation because its generally such a minute amount.

 

[vespa2t]

Your final alc calc is from OG to FG (the final final number ).

And i second everyone else's comments on care when bottling. I do a lot of cider and its more dangerous to bottle than beer. went to kegging a long time ago. $100 investment in perfect carbonation an nothing exploding