Alc % Measurement

c - 13

Hi guys very quick question can anyone tell me an accurate ish way to measure the alc content of your brews. Ive tried the formula that came with the coopers brewkits and the lookup tables that came with the hydrometer and im getting wildly varying results my beer is either super strong or super weak ! I have the OG and FG of each brew.

BeerNut

I use this.

c - 13

Thanks beernut they look a bit closer to what I expected I got 2.4 from the coopers formula and closer to 12 from the hydrometer table !

Had a bit of a panic - thought id ruined two brews

oblivious

Here is a handy formal is used, S.G.-F.G./7.46

stimpson

I have an iPhone app for that called Alcohol Calculator. It takes temperature into account too.

c - 13

oblivious wrote: »

Here is a handy formal is used, S.G.-F.G./7.46

That was the one that was supplied with the coopers kits except there was an additional *0.5 tacked onto thr end of it which was causing the crazy low values it would appear

death1234567

c - 13 wrote: »

That was the one that was supplied with the coopers kits except there was an additional *0.5 tacked onto thr end of it which was causing the crazy low values it would appear

I think its sg- fg/ 7.46 plus 0.5 (not multiplied by). The sugar added to the bottles to carbonate gives you the extra 0.5 % alcohol.

Your formula works out as 4.8 + 0.5 = 5.3% alcohol. Which sounds right for a coopers kit.

c - 13

That would make more sense alright !
Cheers for the help guys still trying to get the hang of all this

One last one - if my fg is greater than my og does that mean ive most likely made a botch of the og reading or could it be something else ?

BeerNut

c - 13 wrote: »

does that mean ive most likely made a botch of the og reading

Yes. Most likely you didn't mix the kit thoroughly enough so all the sugar was at the bottom and you took a reading of the water at the top. The alternative is that it means someone is sneakily adding sugar to your beer when you're not looking.

Rules of thumb: the last two digits of the OG will be something like the ABV: 1.050 will usually give you a beer in the 5.0% ABV ballpark. FGs should be max 1.017 for the vast majority of beers, and are unlikely to go below 1.004.

And remember to calibrate your hydrometer for temperature.

c - 13

And here was me thinking id created a beer that gets you un-drunk

Id say youve hit the nail on the head about the mixing alright, sounds like that might be it.

Unsure if my fgs are in that range though - i might post up my results when i get home just to make sure im not doing something wrong.

death1234567

Make sure you spin your hydrometer to get all the air bubbles off it before you take a reading too. the air bubbles that stick to it make it float giving a wrong reading.

Lugh Ildanach

I've seen two different forumlae, one to divide the difference in the gravity by 7.46 and another one which says divide by 8.07.

joeKel73

I use this: http://flavoursomedelights.com/Beer/Tips/alccalc.html

stimpson wrote: »

I have an iPhone app for that called Alcohol Calculator. It takes temperature into account too.

I'd started work on an Android App to do the same as the above, but got frustrated looking for the formulae, as everywhere I looked they seemed to be different. I must study the formulae in the source of the above page.

murt75

I use Brewzor Calculator app for android http://brewzor.com/ , the free version, very handy when brewing.