What's my ABV?

[Brewdog333]

I brewed 7 pounds of assorted grains in 5 gallons run-off from my mash-tun. Boiled down to about 4 gallons to ferment (I always bottle so I leave room for priming sugar water). Brewgr software says my ABV will be 4.2. Now imagine adding 6 pounds of apricot puree after 3 days fermenting. Asking all the geniuses out there--- Whats my ABV? Brewdog333

 

[AkTom]

A guess... 6% maybe a bit more. Take your hydrometer readings. Sounds like a good recipe.
Cheers

 

[chickypad]

It's likely not much of a change in your ABV as you also add volume when you add fruit - see below. If you know the brix of the puree you can figure it out.

https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2010/10/adding-fruit-to-beer-increases-alcohol.html

 

[Brewdog333]

I did not add volume to the finished beer. I always ferment 4 to 4.5 gallons and leave room for sugar water on bottling day bringing my TOTAL volume up to 5. If I made the same beer without fruit, the ABV would be 4.2 So what's the new ABV? Anyone? AKTom might be close.......

 

[Lefou]

Is this a test?
You need to know the total added sugars the puree contributed to the finished beer in order to calculate finished ABV. No one here could give a really precise answer unless the amount was a known quantity.

 

[chickypad]

I did not add volume to the finished beer. I always ferment 4 to 4.5 gallons and leave room for sugar water on bottling day bringing my TOTAL volume up to 5. If I made the same beer without fruit, the ABV would be 4.2 So what's the new ABV? Anyone? AKTom might be close.......

Did you not read the link that I included? You need the brix of your puree, and you did add volume with that puree. Now if it is not just made from whole fruit and was concentrated down then you might increase your ABV a bit. If it was just a puree of whole fruit then the change in your ABV will be minimal, as per the article I linked.

 

[Lefou]

A similar thread with the same question was posted in the Brew Science forum.

 

[kevin58]

... I always ferment 4 to 4.5 gallons and leave room for sugar water on bottling day bringing my TOTAL volume up to 5....

This is off topic from the question you asked but I just want to make sure I'm reading this right... you use a half gallon or more of priming solution on bottling day?

 

[chickypad]

This is off topic from the question you asked but I just want to make sure I'm reading this right... you use a half gallon or more of priming solution on bottling day?

Yeah, I saw that too - that will probably be a bigger effect on ABV than any fruit contribution. Link to other thread with some example calcuations on the fruit:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/whats-my-abv.650715/

 

[Brewdog333]

Sugar content of Oregon fruit products apricot puree says 9.24. And no I don't add that much sugar water. I added 5oz corn sugar with water to bring my total bottling volume to 5 gallons. This is not a test, I am just curious as to what the apricots added. I have read all links. I always boil down to 4 to 4.5 gallons to ferment 2 weeks, then add water at bottling day. I know damn well fruit will add sugars to my brew, volume displacement does not factor in. There are more fermentable sugars per batch.

 

[chickypad]

See my reply in your other thread. If the brix of the puree is 9.24 that's 1.037 or so, which sounds to be less than the OG of your beer. So you are lowering the ABV (but minimally).

It seems like you don't understand the concept of volume. You say you're not adding sugar water, yet you just said you add water to bring the volume up from 4-4.5 to 5 gals. You are adding a small amount of sugar in a relatively large volume and diluting your beer.

 

[divrack]

Sugar content of Oregon fruit products apricot puree says 9.24. And no I don't add that much sugar water. I added 5oz corn sugar with water to bring my total bottling volume to 5 gallons. This is not a test, I am just curious as to what the apricots added. I have read all links. I always boil down to 4 to 4.5 gallons to ferment 2 weeks, then add water at bottling day. I know damn well fruit will add sugars to my brew, volume displacement does not factor in. There are more fermentable sugars per batch.

why don't you read the quantity of sugars listed on the nutrition information and use that quantity in a calculator? assuming 7.5 percent sugar and 100 percent fermentability you would get 0.52 percent ABV from the fruit in a 5 gallon batch

 

[Brewdog333]

Thanks divrack. Sugar content is about 9%. So ABV would be at least half a percent more. Thanks for the help. I knew the beer was stronger, but I wasn't sure of hydrometer conversions after adding sugar water for bottling. Thanks everyone for the help. Brewdog333

 

[chickypad]

I'll just say it one more time then I'm out, you're still thinking of this wrong. You are calculating as if you are adding the straight sugar and sugar only from that 6 lbs of fruit to the batch, but you're not you're adding 2 large cans of volume of a solution that is lower in gravity than you're beer. You are not raising the ABV, you're very slightly lowering it. It doesn't seem like you're able to accept the numbers though, so happy brewing.

 

[Brewdog333]

I eliminate the volume displacement of the fruit by using LESS water in the initial brewing process. The fruit adds water back into the beer. therefore I get more sugars per volume. The sugar content of the fruit was the factor I needed to calculate my final ABV. Thanks everyone for your help. I made this beer for my 20th anniversary and my wife LOVES it. And I will be collecting extra sexual favors from my hubby....... Brewdog333