Alcohol content with out the OG?

[unifx26]

Hi there, I am New at this and found the Hydrometer very hard to understand, I am attempting the Birdwatchers Sugar wash cut down to around 25 lts so my ingredients were 6kg of sugar, 1 lemon juiced, around 230g of tomato paste and rest distilled water at a temp of 30 cel then i tried to take a reading with a hydrometer but i forgot it is suposed to be at like 60 fahrenheit correct? before checking the OG?

well i checked it at 30c and it was around the 8.2 mark and was in a rush so just thought screw it there must be a way to tell the alcohol content afterwards with out this hydrometer, (wish i didn't now...)

is there a way I can come back from this? (to be honest i still dont quite understand the whole hydrometer reasoning)

I realise how stupid I must sound..

Thanks for your help in advance.
Michael.

[Husker]

You do not sound stupid, just learning.

The reason for a OG reading, then a FG reading, is to be able to compute how much CHANGE there was from the start to the end. Since sugar water is heavier than water, and ethanol water is lighter than water, this 'change' shows that the sugar has 'turned into' ethanol, and that is what is used to compute how much estimated ethanol there is.

You can compute how much you can 'expect' to get, by knowing the amount of sugar (easy to compute, since you USED sugar, and not a grain converted mash), and the volume of the wash.

So, you list 6kg sugar, and 25 ltr total wash. Going to the calcs page on the parent site (http://homedistiller.org/calcs/sugar_sg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow), It shows 14.1% ABV expectation (on the high end of what a clean wash should be).

H.

[unifx26]

Oh wow thanks so much! and lets say it reaches 9-10% before yeast die,
then i run that into my still (Turbo Air Still) i've heard that its first run is around 40% would this be correct? Or is there a way to tell the alcohol content of the wash after i have ran it through a still.

[Husker]

To determine the ABV of a pure distilled output, you would use a different type of hydrometer (different scale). That is called an alcoholometer. You simply drop that into a distilled product (trying to get the temp as close to 20 C, since that is where the tool will properly read), and the tool lists the proof, or the ABV.

NOTE, this will only work on something that is ONLY water and ethanol (like the output of the still). If there is any solids, any sugar, or 'anything' in there, other than ethanol and water, then the reading will be erroneous.

H.

[rad14701]

Oh wow thanks so much! and lets say it reaches 9-10% before yeast die,
then i run that into my still (Turbo Air Still) i've heard that its first run is around 40% would this be correct? Or is there a way to tell the alcohol content of the wash after i have ran it through a still.

Don't be fooled into thinking that the yeast will simply die at 9% - 10% because I've accidentally had bakers yeast go well over the recommended high end of 14.1% without issues... But that doesn't mean you should intentionally try to go above the ~14% mark... Essentially, if the wash is still fermenting then just let it go until it stops bubbling...

Your hydrometer will still let you know if all of the sugar was fermented into alcohol even if you don't know the exact OG... You are merely shooting for 1.000 or below, but some rum washes never get that low due to suspended solids... As a ballpark figure, from the calculator, your OG should have been in the 1.092 range, give or take...

Keep us posted on your progress...

[unifx26]

Thanks for the replies guys, im looking online to get a cheap alco meter now, and as for the tubs, they are bubbling away 3 days later im hoping the cold weather that has hit does not affect them to much, trying to keep them in the 30c mark but really hard with out a heat lamp haha have them covered with a doona haha (ofc letting the co2 escape)

i still have 1 more question, say the yeast die on day 8 and there is still sugar left in the mix, is there a way to get that out or is it fine to run through the still

[Husker]

im looking online to get a cheap alco meter now

Get 2 (at least). I will assure you, it will be a very short time, before you break your first one. This statement is NOT an exaggeration.