Question about diluting spirits with liquid other than water.

[bernardsmith]

How do you calculate the change in proof or ABV of a spirit if you add say, honey and not water? Can I simply use an alcohol dilution calculator and treat the volume of honey as if it were water or does the mass of the honey make the calculations more complex?
Thanks.

 

[Broken Crow]

I once explained to a dear friend of mine who liked strong drink that a 50/50 mix of vodka (40%ABV) and tonic gave you a 20%ABV drink....Have enough for pleasure and you'll need a washroom in half the time it would take if you mixed it with Kahlua (40%ABV) becuase it's all about the 'V' in ABV....the mass is irrelevant. We spent a number of afternoons walking around town drinking our 40%ABV Black Russians in big paper cups.
So yeah; just deduct the non-alcohol volume.

 

[bernardsmith]

I once explained to a dear friend of mine who liked strong drink that a 50/50 mix of vodka (40%ABV) and tonic gave you a 20%ABV drink....Have enough for pleasure and you'll need a washroom in half the time it would take if you mixed it with Kahlua (40%ABV) becuase it's all about the 'V' in ABV....the mass is irrelevant. We spent a number of afternoons walking around town drinking our 40%ABV Black Russians in big paper cups.
So yeah; just deduct the non-alcohol volume.

Many thanks. Broken Crow. That's very helpful, So, I now know how much water to add to bring this liqueur down to about 35% ABV

 

[mac_1103]

There is something called the delta V of mixing, which can be positive, negative or zero. For ethanol and water, delta V is negative. If you add 25 mL of pure ethanol to 25 mL of pure water, the volume of the resulting mixture will be 49 mL.

 

[bernardsmith]

Thanks Mac_1103, My ethanol is only 69% pure, and so sadly (or not) I am not likely to witness this "delta V " phenomenon -

 

[mac_1103]

I am not likely to witness this "delta V " phenomenon

You can witness it if you have a method of measuring volume that is accurate and precise enough. But yeah, it's really not something you need to worry about unless you're blending very large volumes. You could calculate it if it meant that much to you to have the precise ABV of your mixture. Most of the time, simple division is more than adequate. But if you happen to have a recurring nightmare where this question comes up on a P-chem final, well then, you're good now right?

 

[bernardsmith]

You can witness it if you have a method of measuring volume that is accurate and precise enough. But yeah, it's really not something you need to worry about unless you're blending very large volumes. You could calculate it if it meant that much to you to have the precise ABV of your mixture. Most of the time, simple division is more than adequate. But if you happen to have a recurring nightmare where this question comes up on a P-chem final, well then, you're good now right?

Ha Ha. I like it, but as a recently retired sociologist I am unlikely to have any recurring nightmares over any chemistry faculty questions and as someone who simply makes wines, mead, and liqueurs for my own satisfaction, if I label a bottle 30% ABV and technically, it should be closer to 29% or 31% or even 25% I don't believe the alcohol police or the chemistry professorate will be banging on my door demanding to haul me off to some black ops gulag. Of course, I could be very wrong...

 

[fluketamer]

i use this:
https://www.distilling-spirits.com/tools/calculations/diluting-alcohol/

 

[bernardsmith]

I also use that or another very similar calculator, but these calculators always assume the dilutant is water, and my question was about honey, which is about 17% water, so while adding increases the volume, the actual increase in liquid is about 1/6 of the total volume of honey. But my question was answered convincingly.

 

[fluketamer]

when i use the diluter i am mostly adding simple syrup which is obviously not 100 percent water so i figured honey would also work in the calculator.