I have been going through the sugar washes in Tried and True Recipes, and thought it would be helfpful to post this table.
It shows the sugar required IN a gallon of wash to achieve a desired specific gravity, and what the potential alcohol is, assuming it ferments out entirely. Note, this is not sugar added TO a gallon, you dissolve the sugar in part of the water and then make it up to the total volume.
As you can see, to achieve a 12% wash, you need to have 2.0 lbs sugar in each gallon, which results in 1.090 original gravity. As far as I can see, none of the Tried and True sugar washes use that much sugar. There might be a reason, but it eludes me, as there is no reason I can think of why a sugar wash should not aim for 12% alcohol. That is easily achievable and does not stress any yeast I know of.
[tr][td]Sugar in One Gallon of Must[/td][td]Specific Gravity[/td][td]Potential Alcohol (%)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]0 lb.14 oz.[/td][td]1.040[/td][td]5.1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 lb. 0 oz.[/td][td].045[/td][td]5.8[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 lb. 2 oz.[/td][td]1.050[/td][td]6.5[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 lb. 3 oz.[/td][td]1.055[/td][td]7.2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 lb. 5 oz.[/td][td]1.060[/td][td]7.8[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 lb. 7 oz.[/td] [td]1.065[/td] [td]8.6[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 lb. 8 oz.[/td][td]1.070[/td][td]9.2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 lb. 10 oz.[/td][td]1.075[/td][td]9.9[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 lb. 11 oz.[/td][td]1.080[/td][td]10.6[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 lb. 14 oz.[/td][td]1.085[/td][td]11.4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2 lb. 0 oz.[/td][td]1.090[/td][td]12.2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2 lb. 1 oz.[/td][td]1.095[/td][td]12.7[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2 lb. 3 oz.[/td][td]1.100[/td][td]13.4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2 lb. 5 oz.[/td][td]1.105[/td][td]14.1[/td][/tr]
Source:
Grapestompers.com. I rearranged the columns and deleted the Brix column, because the focus here is on how much sugar you need to achieve a particular specific gravity.
BTW, formatting this table was a major PITA!
