Precision Hydrometer Range for low ABV

[nickefir]

I am trying to use a precision hydrometer for determining the ABV of what I expect to be a low alcohol drink. The target ABV should be between 0.5% and 2%.

Could anyone recommend what range of hydrometer I should be using for this? The drink itself is more kombucha like, not beer, but I would assume some similarities must exist in choosing this device.

Also, is sugar usually added to beer or how does one estimate the sugar to alcohol conversion ratio when producing beer? In other words, if my target is a 5% ABV drink how do I know how much of each ingredient should I include? Do you transform the amount of grains into sugary carbs and estimate the potential ABV based on that sugar? In wine production they assume 17 g / L will yield 1%. Is there some similar calculation in beer at the onset when crafting how much of each ingredient to include?

 

[ncbrewer]

Those are some pretty broad questions, involving a lot of "It depends" answers. You'll probably benefit from looking through howtobrew.com. As far as a precision low range hydrometer, I've been happy with one that Williams Brewing sells. The one in their catalog now is Brewer's Edge® Bottling Hydrometer

 

[bracconiere]

The drink itself is more kombucha like

as far as i know a "kombucha" like drink, will turn the ethanol to acetic acid, then make an ester with it of some sort? so i'm not sure if a hydrometer is going to help....

 

[Jtvann]

I consider dry beer, one with less residual fermented sugar in the range of 1.005 to .995 to be fairly dry. That wasnt really your question though.

A 1.060 beer that only ferments to 1.055 will be very low alcohol, but super sweet and not taste good.

The formula for calculating ABV is

ABV =(OG-FG) x 131.25

Low alcohol doeant mean much. Your numbers could start and end high. Your numbers could start and end low. Your range is anywhere in between. So it's hard to tell you what your range should be.

I'll take a stab and say that you dont want a super sweet low alcoholic drink amd assume you start low and end low. If that was the case, I'd want something from about 1.020 through .990

 

[Jtvann]

as far as i know a "kombucha" like drink, will turn the ethanol to acetic acid, then make an ester with it of some sort? so i'm not sure if a hydrometer is going to help....

I think that's correct. Kombucha is weird in that yeast does eat sugar and make alcohol, lowering the specific gravity, but the bacteria eat the alcohol and make it vinegary. my chemistry is probably off in there, but that's the ballpark thing happening. I basically never found a way to measure my wifes kombucha abv with a hydrometer.

 

[bracconiere]

I think that's correct. Kombucha is weird in that yeast does eat sugar and make alcohol, lowering the specific gravity, but the bacteria eat the alcohol and make it vinegary. my chemistry is probably off in there, but that's the ballpark thing happening. I basically never found a way to measure my wifes kombucha abv with a hydrometer.

my understanding too....and some of the bacteria turn the acetic acid into esters, which is why it doesn't taste like vinegar....

(@nickefir you wouldn't be trying to make a work drink would you? lol, i used to brew 10 gallon batches of buch, take a gallon to work with me! never figured out how to actually tell the ABV, but the bosses said the expensive bottles that said "trace amounts" were ok to drink...)

 

[bracconiere]

maybe something like this?

https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalo...49-p2L2Paeln9YY9YeitCPp4_V6_nwDwaAjWLEALw_wcB