Pure or absolute alcohol is a theoretical unit that shows the maximum possible yield of distillate or rectified from mash or raw alcohol. Basically, pure alcohol is calculated for the correct selection of “heads”. Beginning moonshiners often have difficulties and misunderstandings, therefore, to simplify the process, consider the simplest formula for absolute alcohol and an online calculator for determining it.
It should be remembered that in practice it is possible to obtain pure alcohol only in a laboratory using copper sulfate or calcium oxide, and at home the maximum concentration of alcohol in a solution is about 96% vol. during rectification and up to 70-80% vol. during distillation.
Also, in practice, it is impossible to separate all alcohol from water and other impurities, therefore, depending on the distillation method, the real yield of alcohol will be 15-25% lower than the theoretical value.
Absolute alcohol formula
Sa = V * F / 100, where:
- Sa is absolute alcohol;
- V is the volume of mash in liters;
- F is the strength of the mash or raw alcohol as a percentage of the volume.
For example, if there is 5 liters of raw alcohol with a strength of 18% by volume, then this liquid contains 0,9 liters of pure alcohol (5 * 18 / 100 u0,9d XNUMX), from which you can then subtract the desired percentage of “heads” selected at second race.
Pure alcohol in Braga
To determine the amount of absolute alcohol in Braga, you need to know its strength and use the above formula. You can measure the fortress after the end of fermentation with a special device – a wine meter. However, most home vinometers operate in the range from 0 to 12% vol., which is more or less suitable for wine and beer, but not for mash, because its strength on alcohol yeast can even be higher than 16% vol. You also need to take into account the error of the vinometer – ± 2-3%.
The most accurate way is to measure the sugar content before the start of fermentation and at the end – when the mash wins back. This can be done with a saccharometer (hydrometer) or a refractometer. Then, from the difference in sugar concentration before and after fermentation, using a special table, get the exact strength value. How to use a sugar meter is described in a separate article.
If there is no hydrometer or refractometer, but the initial sugar content of the mash is known, then the strength can be calculated based on the rule that 1% of fermented sugar gives 0,6% alcohol. The method is not as accurate as the difference in sugar content, but it is also suitable.
Attention! An alcohol meter is used for solutions containing only alcohol and water, so it will not work to measure the strength of mash, beer, wine, tinctures and liquors using an alcohol meter.
Online absolute alcohol calculator
The calculator calculates not only the volume of pure alcohol, but also the number of “heads” that need to be selected during the second distillation.
Counting in progress…
Enter the initial data on the left
More useful services can be found in our moonshiner calculator.