Alcohol Calculation for GB

[geoffclifton]

Hi All.
A question about how much the priming sugar contributes to final alcohol please.

The ginger beer I bottled last week fermented down 1025 to 1005. Had I bulk primed like beer I would add 200g and using the formula 20/7.46 plus 0.5 fror the priming sugar get around 3.2%.

BUT I used 400g of bulk priming sugar and bottled 18.75 L (50 stubbies). How much does this change the 0.5 add on. Can I guess double the sugar, double the number to 1.0 ??

Cheers, Geoff.

[Cortez The Killer]

BUT I used 400g of bulk priming sugar and bottled 18.75 L (50 stubbies).

I would be careful that the bottles don't explode with that much priming sugar. Try and stick to 8 grams per litre max.

How much does this change the 0.5 add on. Can I guess double the sugar, double the number to 1.0 ??

Doubling the sugar will be pretty close. But however as 0.5% is based on about 180g in a 22-23 litre batch. I'd be inclined to guess a bit more than 1.0% based on a 18.75 litre batch.

Cheers

[Chris]

That is a lot of sugar!

[BierMeister]

My question to Geoff is, "Are you insane?" Your bottles WILL explode. Even if they're plastic I wouldn't trust that the tops won't fly off like shaken champagne bottles. If you want more alcohol then I would suggest that you put more in at the begining and use priming for just that.

[geoffclifton]

Just following recipes I googled and taking the bits I like from each one. The recipe I followed called for bulk prime 130g castor sugar plus 250ml ginger syrup plus one sugar cube of crystalised ginger in each bottle. No explosions yet, stay tuned

And the alcohol question ????

Cheers, Geoff.

[BierMeister]

Just following recipes I googled and taking the bits I like from each one. The recipe I followed called for bulk prime 130g castor sugar plus 250ml ginger syrup plus one sugar cube of crystalised ginger in each bottle. No explosions yet, stay tuned

And the alcohol question ????

Cheers, Geoff.

Did you follow the receipe or did you just add 400g of sugar like your earlier post suggested. The receipe sounds ok as ginger syrup won't be pure sugar and is probably only about 50% fermentable. This would still only leave you with 200 to 250g sugar for priming not 400g.

Keep us posted on your bottles though as it is definatly an interesting if not suicidal experiment

[geoffclifton]

Thanks BierMeister, that was a little more polite than questioning my sanity

Yes I did just go the sugar, 400gm of raw sugar. I put on the flak suit (clean thongs) and checked under the house this morning and .... all's well. Very cloudy, maybe 2cm of clear, which considering the extra spices in the ferment and raw sugear in the prime is to be expected. I am definately going to chill down a tester at 14 days (18th) and shall keep you posted. Frankly I don't care if it's black if it tastes good.

This is the second time I've made ginger beer, first was when I had long hair. I made an egg shell GB plant fed in the fridge for whatever and bottled with NFI. Opened a longie in the laundry tub (oh what foresight), the bottle turned white and the foam fountain almost touched the ceiling before it subsided and left a spoonful of residue in the bottle. Things can only improve

Cheers, Geoff.

[Cortez The Killer]

Geoff you aren't making too much sense... but just be careful when handling the bottles.

Please keep us posted when they start going off.

Cheers