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I decided to run a little deep into my 4th stripping run of sweet feed whiskey to fill my 5 gal. carboy. (I was running a little short).

I have no idea why I did it this way (maybe because at this point all my 2 gal jars were filled) But, I collected 1 gal @ 37% and 20 oz @ 8%. I am really wishing I had dumped them into ANYTHING and taken the total %, but I didn't and here I am.

So I know 1 gal is 16 cups, I know 20 oz gives me 2.5 cups for a total of 18.5 cups.

This is where I get lost...Do I then add the 37% and 8% together for a total of 45%

So do I have 18.5 cups (1.15 gal) at 45%? that doesn't seem right... I feel like I need to divide something by something...

So you see why I am here. I need help.

16.6 cups of 37% ish

No, you don't want to add them. If you think about it, doing that would suggest that you can RAISE the ABV by adding two lover proof things together.

I find it helpful to think about total volume, and total volume of pure alcohol. In your case, you have:
128 oz @ 37%, which means 128x0.37=47.4 oz of alcohol.
20 oz @ 8%, which means 20x0.08=1.6 oz of alcohol.
the total is 148 oz, of which 49 oz is alcohol.
49/148=0.33, or 33% ABV.

It's useful to think about the ballpark direction you want to end up. You don't even have to remember which way around the numbers or the math has to go. If you're trying to figure out the amount of pure alcohol, it obviously has to be less than the total volume, and you can get a rough estimate through logic. 50% ABV of 128 oz would mean that half of it is alcohol, so 64 oz. 25% would be a quarter of the total, or 32 oz. etc.. The reverse works the same way. if you have 49 oz of alcohol and 148 oz, then you need to combine those two numbers in some way that gives a sensible result. 49/148 gives us a number that's less than 1 (i.e. less than 100%), and falls somewhere between the starting values of 37% and 8%, and closer to the one which had the higher volume. Sanity check passed.

If you want the answer in cups, it's a simple unit conversion. 148 oz is 18.5 cups, 1.15 gallons, 4.39 liters, ....

I should say equal amount of alcohol as 16.6 cusp of 37ish.

Swedish Pride wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 11:35 am I should say equal amount of alcohol as 16.6 cusp of 37ish.

You're right, 16.6 cups (132.8 oz) of 36.9% has the same amount of alcohol as 18.5 cups of 33.1%. But since the question was what the final proof would be when the total final volume is 18.5 cups, I figured the answer i gave, and the method used to get there, would be more helpful to sadie and others in the future.

Of course, one could also simply use any of a number of alcohol blending and proofing apps and online calculators. But that doesn't help understand how to get the answer.

Yeah, you're right.
I was in the queue in the Chinese waiting for my takeaway, did just do the numbers didn't feel inclined to show my work. I suppose not the most helpful response

thank you! I am usually good at math, but there comes a point where it all hurts my brain. I just couldn't figure it out.

I find this calculator quite handy.
https://hobbybrennen.ch/Rechner/en/Mixi ... lator.html

SaltyStaves wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 5:19 pm I find this calculator quite handy.
https://hobbybrennen.ch/Rechner/en/Mixi ... lator.html

Thanks, but I don't understand what that does. I was trying to figure out the total % of my low wines from my 2 jars...I think these are 2 different things, not sure.

sadie33 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 7:20 pm

SaltyStaves wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 5:19 pm I find this calculator quite handy.
https://hobbybrennen.ch/Rechner/en/Mixi ... lator.html

Thanks, but I don't understand what that does. I was trying to figure out the total % of my low wines from my 2 jars...I think these are 2 different things, not sure.

I just put the numbers in, ignoring the units. Since all the units are the same, it just doesn’t matter. Liters, ounces, gallons, gills, doesn’t matter. The math will come out the same.

sadie33 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 11:12 am
This is where I get lost...Do I then add the 37% and 8% together for a total of 45%

So do I have 18.5 cups (1.15 gal) at 45%? that doesn't seem right... I feel like I need to divide something by something...

37% plus 8% isn't going to equal 45%
Depending on the volume of each, the percentage will be somewhere between 37 and 8.

sadie33 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 7:20 pm

SaltyStaves wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 5:19 pm I find this calculator quite handy.
https://hobbybrennen.ch/Rechner/en/Mixi ... lator.html

Thanks, but I don't understand what that does. I was trying to figure out the total % of my low wines from my 2 jars...I think these are 2 different things, not sure.

Its a mixture calculator. You enter different volumes of liquid and their various ABV % into the fields and it gives you the total in litres, or gallons or kgs/oz etc and their combined ABV.

Here is an example using your data edit: Beaten to it by Steve

shadylane wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 7:37 pm

sadie33 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 11:12 am
This is where I get lost...Do I then add the 37% and 8% together for a total of 45%

So do I have 18.5 cups (1.15 gal) at 45%? that doesn't seem right... I feel like I need to divide something by something...

37% plus 8% isn't going to equal 45%
Depending on the volume of each, the percentage will be somewhere between 37 and 8.

okay, maybe I'm not so good at math It's been way too long!

Steve Broady wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 7:25 pm

sadie33 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 7:20 pm

SaltyStaves wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 5:19 pm I find this calculator quite handy.
https://hobbybrennen.ch/Rechner/en/Mixi ... lator.html

Thanks, but I don't understand what that does. I was trying to figure out the total % of my low wines from my 2 jars...I think these are 2 different things, not sure.

IMG_4574.jpeg
I just put the numbers in, ignoring the units. Since all the units are the same, it just doesn’t matter. Liters, ounces, gallons, gills, doesn’t matter. The math will come out the same.

Ohhhhh, now I see. thanks. I couldn't figure that out. I think I go into things thinking they will be hard, when it's not. It's so simple I just can't see it.

It's also possible to calculate mixtures with different units. And even give out the result with another unit: You also could add the temperature when measuring the volume. When you measure 1gal at 25°C, it will be less gal at 20°C.
And contraction is taken into account. This means, if you mix for example 1gal of 80%abv with 1gal of water, you will get less than 2gal after mixing.