n00b question on alcahol content.

[Shn00dleS]

hi, i been reading the forums here for a few days reserching and have now ordered my first set-up and kit. 40 pint of pilsener,
my question is, if i add say 100g extra of sucrose to the 1k of glucose, would that be enogh to add 1% alcahol?

is this the right way or is it not even possable to add alcahol to kits?

also i read on this site that when bottling there should be a minimum of 2 weeks in the bottle, is this necissery? i saw on youtube its only a week.

many thanks.

[Shn00dleS]

just read a thread, i aiming for a pilsener around 5%, if instructions on tin does not say what it should end up as i will add 50g sacrose and go 36 pints rather than 40, just to give it a little edge as adding too much sugar can disrupt taste,
good idea??

[Totem]

Its hard to tell how much % will increase from certain amounts of sugar, its best to have a look at a hydrometer reading at the begining of the brew. To get a 5% beer your looking at 37 points of gravity difference between starting and finishing gravity so all you need to do is adust your starting graavity so this will be the case.

[sparky Paul]

To add 1%, you need to add around 7.5 points to the difference between the SG and the FG. To do it by adding sugar, you would need to add approximately 400g to a 5 gallon brew, as sugar has little effect on the FG. However, adding any sugar will have a detrimental effect on the resulting beer. If you want a good quality beer, you need to be looking at substituting spraymalt for the sugar.

Alternatively, and a much better idea than adding sugar, is to reduce the volume to say 4 gallons. As an example, a 5 gallon brew with a target SG of 1040 would be around 1050 SG as a 4 gallon brew, and should give you the extra 1% you are looking for, perhaps a little more.

[vacant]

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question532.htm

Approximate numbers:

Totally converting 100g of sugar results in 50g of alcohol.

Density of alcohol is 0.8 therefore 50g alcohol is 62 ml. If you add that to 23 litres (23,000 ml) then you increase the ABV by 0.3%.

[sparky Paul]

My guesstimate wasn't too far out!

[vacant]

Your 1% guesstimate is probably more real-life accurate. 400g adds 1.2% only if totally converted.

[Shn00dleS]

i have ordered the hydrometer but never used, how can you tell how much alcahol SHOULD be there when finished if you only have the SG, is the EG always the same or make an educated guess?