Alcohol content

Give as detailed of a description of what went into your wine as you can. The important details are the volumes of liquids and the amount of sugar and fruit. From that we might give you some guidance.

Ray

Just did what the kits said to do. I don 't have the specifics here other than red kit is an Australian Shiraz and the white one is a Chardonnay.. they weren't even 'good kits'. Just one of the 4 week ones I bought from the local Safeway. I know they will come out between 10 and 12 % but I just wondered if there was a way to tell. At this point it's not really important to know. It's more of a curiosity.

thanks in advance

Frances

Chardonnay..

You will have 11.1275 % alcohol by volume.

Seriously, my guess is really as close as you will get, even with hydrometer readings. It's really is nothing more than an educated guess. IMO, the only reason to take an initial reading is to make sure there is enough sugar to hit a reasonable alcohol level. The reason for the end of fermentation readings is to make sure it finished and didn't get stuck.

Andy

Ahhh, there is an important piece of information. It was a kit and it was a shiraz kit, though you do not say which kit. If it was a good shiraz kit, say a BK or a Spagnols, something in the 65 to 85 range, then it will probably be in the 12% to 13% range. You probably would not get closer even if you had made the measurements. We do not all agree on how to interpret the measurements. For instance If you have a starting SG of 1.090 and an ending SG of 0.090 and using the same tables, there are those among use who would say you had an alcohol level of 12% and others who would say you had an alcohol level of 13.4%. Still others might use a calculation that might give somewhere between these numbers or even outside the range. I have done a lot of research on this and found NOTHING definitive to support one calculation over another. There are good arguments for each interpretation but I cannot find the data that will clearly support any of them. If you can't predict it any closer than that ...

Ray

"Frances" wrote in message news:BtX9e.1097331$8l.399818@pd7tw1no...

Ray is talking good sense here ( he frequently does!). Which ever method you use to calculate the abv of your wine, the result is only approximate. With my white kit wines I always check the SG after making the concentrate up to volume and after a long good stir/agitation to make sure that the concentrate has been completely diluted. If the SG of any white kit is then below 1.090 I add the requisite amount of sugar that will lift the SG to 1.090 ( Note I dissolve the sugar in a jug full of the must before adding it to that must). I reckon that my wine when finished should be about 12.5% abv and that is what I put on my wine labels. Doing this adjustment also means that if I have over diluted the grape concentrate, then I make up for my own errors!

With my red kit wines I rarely ( if ever these days) finish up with an original SG of less than 1.090 because I always use top of the range kits.

I has said this on the odd occasion previously, but I do advise that you always buy a kit at least one step more expensive than you feel that you need to if you are just starting out. Some of the less expensive kits give very indifferent results ( for indifferent read "awful" and that does mean full of awe! ) . This applies much more to red kits than to white. But if you really appreciate wine then you would only be disappointed with the results of the inexpensive kits. If you buy a red and a white kit at the same price range then the white will be far better!

As usual I have gone on a bit more than I intended!

Sorry