What is my next move on proofing

[MeanGreen]

i went and got a temp gauge the temp is 50 ( its cold in oklahoma right now) and the pr. is 118, it wont let me calculate it... lol i had another mash i ran a while back and the temp was 50. and the pr. was 99 it came out on the calc. as 99.9..

got my hydro-sheet the 118+4(50f)=122
/2=61%abv so do i need to delute it, i read that you wanted it to be like 40ish% ?

(Take good care of your Alcometer as it's very fragile. Wash and sterilize with cold water only.
Prior to Carbon Purifying, the spirit should be watered down in strength to 38-40% by volume prior to drinking. It is very important not to make higher strength spirit. )does this mean my alcohol will be 40% or 70%

so you take the abv% being 61 and times it by 1.75 which comes out to roughly 106 proof, which if this is correct means i need to dilute it with water to 40% so now iv got to figure out how much to cut it with.

or better yet is anything iv done correct? lol

[Lynx_Gen]

I was lead to belive that carbon filtering was used to remove the last little bit of water in nearly pure spirits, (primarily for using as fuel to be mixed with gas, as you dont want water in it when mixing, but fine for running straight at around 95% kinda thing) and to remove the last little bit of impurities.

i run a reflux, and have never measured mine, I just know it comes out strong, and i compare it to a bottle of everclear. I basicaly just mix it 50/50 with water, and then I know it isnt any stronger than 45-50% max, and since I mix my drinks, I know by time i drink it, it cant be much more than 15-20% in the glass tops. (more likely 10-ish percent.)

Since my still makes so little, I toss the first collection of heads, and any tails that taste gross, into the recycle me container, and dump the rest together. and I can tell a good portion of the tails i do dump in are less than top notch percentage, also bringing it down. (Keep in mind this is after tossing an excessive amount at the start to be well clear of foreshots.)

but at any rate, if you have 61% etho, and you want 40% then you need right around 1/2 a L of water for each L of product. Basicaly you want to mix it 2-1.. 2cups product, 1cup water. that will get you realy close to 40% mark.

http://homedistiller.org/calcs/dilute" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[RumBrewer]

Carbon doesn't remove water. It removes off flavors.

Use the calcs here: http://homedistiller.org/calcs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
They make light work of heavy math.

***Edit***
Didn't see the link above. That works too.

Save yourself some confusion at this point. Think in terms of %ABV that's alcohol by volume. If you have 50% abv, for every ounce of likker, you'll have half an oz of water and half an oz of pure alcohol mixed in.

IF you MUST speak of proof, it's double the ABV, that is to say 50% = 100 Proof.

[Prairiepiss]

MeanGreen this is the second thread you have started about proofing?

It seams you are not understanding the difference between proof and ABV (alcohol by volume). And you are making it out to be way harder then it needs to be.

Your proof/tralles hydrometer or alcometer measures both proof and ABV. Like I posted in your the thread the pr scale is proof. The tr scale is %ABV.

ABV is the amount of alcohol by volume in your sample. Example. 1 gal with a 50% ABV has 1/2 gal of water and 1/2 gal of 100% alcohol in it. Or a 50/50 mixture of alcohol/water.

Proof is basically the ABV times 2. So the above example of 50% ABV would be 100 proof.

It is as simple as that. Yes there are temp corrections for when the sample is above or below the 60 deg calibration point. But if you are within 10 deg f of the 60 deg mark. Don't worry that much about it. This is a hobby. We really don't need to be this precise.

Diluting to 40% or 80 proof is an individuals decision. Some like it at 40% some like it as high as 60%. This will be something you need to find out for your self. Most store bought spirits are around 40% or 80 proof. There are many reasons why this is. That I won't go into because its more info than you really need at this point. I'm not real sure where you are getting info telling you you need to dilute to a certain amount 40%? Or why you need to? Other then 40% is the magic number anything over 40% is flammable. Anything under is not. So it may be a safety thing that someone is trying to convey. There are two recent threads about what others dilute to for drinking. Suggest you search them out and read them.

Now you were pointed to some good calculators in your other thread. One of them is a dilution calculator. You can use this to input the ABV and amount of the product you want to dilute. And put in what you want to dilute it to. It will calculator how much water to add to the original amount to make it the selected ABV.

Now if you can lay what you are trying to figure out on the table. Maybe we can help. Be specific don't leave anything out.

And as rumbrewer pointed out. Carbon filtering is to remove off flavors and or Impurities. It's not recommended by very many around here. Proper recipes and proper use of the still can prevent the need for carbon filtering. And there is no reason to dilute before filtering. Because if you do then you need to filter more liquid.

[MeanGreen]

got ya, i was just being cautious and over thinking everything, i didnt want to hurt my friends and my self by drinking something that was to high in the proof margins. thank you for your time and patients, lol ill stop posting proofing questions

[dakotasnake]

i think it is a safety thing, as PP said most store bought likker is 40% or 80 proof and most people mix drinks accordingly, if suddenly ya had 120 or 140 proof it could be a problem. personally i never let any likker out of my controll to freinds above 90 proof for that reason.

[MeanGreen]

also as for the auto calculate thing, it only goes up to 100 i have 2 quarts of stuff that is showing 120 so it wont calculate it. so that is why i am wanting to know if im doing the math properly., and about your proofing, thats exactly my thoughts, this is why i want to make sure that i dilute it properly.

[Prairiepiss]

If you have an Android phone. Get the stillmate app. It has a good dilution calculator in it. That's what I use.

[MeanGreen]

so basically if my hydrometer says the pr. is 120 the proof is 120 and the abv is 60, so i just need to dilute the abv to 40-45 or so (id like to have 80ish proof) and thats that? if its that simple and i made it out to be this big of a cluster mess im going to bounce my head off a wall.

went to the diluting calc i have 1.5 qt of likkr and the abv is 60% i want it to be 40% abv i entered all this in to the dil-calc and it says i need to put 3 cups of water in it and its good to go?

[RumBrewer]

so basically if my hydrometer says the pr. is 120 the proof is 120 and the abv is 60, so i just need to dilute the abv to 40-45 or so (id like to have 80ish proof) and thats that? if its that simple and i made it out to be this big of a cluster mess im going to bounce my head off a wall.

You Got it.
But go easy on the 'ol Head.... You'll need it when you start dealing with grain bills.

[astronomical]

Dilution can cause the temperature to rise and throw off your readings. Pouring alcohol into water should minimize the reaction. I just use dilution calculators and measure the water.

If I pour water into my booze I end up being 4% off.

[Prairiepiss]

Something to remember. The alcohol meter hydrometer will only give you a good reading in a mixture of ethanol and water. If anything else is added it will throw of the readings. Stuff like sugar, fruit, oak, and whatever else used for flavoring the spirits after distillation.

In the case of flavoring spirits. You will need to make good notes of quantities and ABV. So when you are done mixing and blending you can take the numbers and figure out what your final product is.

Generally what I do in this situation is start a masseration with a set amount. That I know if I add this much to it when its done infusing I can add this much to make it this ABV.