alcohol % question

[psyco]

first of a little background info(been hammered into my head ever since school, bastards!)

so this week, my mum was hoovering, shes a rather reclas(SP?) person... as a result she often breaks something at least once a week, and this week was no exception, she threw the hoover downstairs(bad judgement, i dont know... i was asleep)

so today, my parents went out to get a new one... they came back with a large one(not a hand held like the one we has) now it doesn't fit into the cupboard under the stairs(i think, not sure the reason for this though)

so, they had to make room, and they came across there old home brew wine(from '88, the year i was born \o/) for some reason the cork had dried up and fell in, so they've had to re bottle it

they has to enter the loft to look for some more bottles, they came across some brewing kit, and want to measure its alcohol content.

we have this water density measuring thing(i cant remember what their called) so we set it up, and record a measurement(there's more than 1, and the results are in between 1.5 or 1.05 and 1.6 or 1.06)

anyone able to provide me with a formulae? ive been searching on the net for a while, with no luck

PS. i asked my dad, but he looks permanently conduced and really hard to get a strait answer from him

 

[old.Tohtori]

I'm wondering what the question is...

 

[Solo]

Well theres more than just water and alcohol in it so I'm not sure how that can work if this piece of equipment can only measure the density. And why would you want to drink it has been corked. :S

 

[Jolo]

http://www.alkenmrs.com/beer/beer-alcohol-content.html

explanation and formula there

 

[psyco]

I'm wondering what the question is...

how to calculate the alcohol content(in %) with a hydrometer

Well theres more than just water and alcohol in it so I'm not sure how that can work if this piece of equipment can only measure the density. And why would you want to drink it has been corked. :S

i wasn't there when they made it, but i think its just fruit juice... with yeast and sugar

once again, not really any idea, but they calculated the % like 20 years ago with it

it has to be corked to ferment:-/ what do you meen?

explanation and formula there

ty. turns out its less strong, or at least that's what we calculated... tbh, that doesn't seem to make sence, any insight guys?

 

[DocWolfe]

reckless is the word I believe you are looking for.

 

[Calaen]

Tbh I have no idea what the question is but if you are thinking of drinking that shit I wouldnt

if the cork was intact then perhaps

 

[Corran]

it has to be corked to ferment:-/ what do you meen?

Corked doesnt mean that there was a cork on the bottle to begin with. The easy way to explain it is that the cork degraded and there are now cork particles throughout the alcohol. Even in a very expensive bottle of wine, if this happened then you just may as well throw it out. Had it with a £300 bottle of port a few years ago at my Uncles, god he was pissed as he had been saving that for many years.

 

[[NO]Subedai]

Corked doesnt mean that there was a cork on the bottle to begin with. The easy way to explain it is that the cork degraded and there are now cork particles throughout the alcohol. Even in a very expensive bottle of wine, if this happened then you just may as well throw it out. Had it with a £300 bottle of port a few years ago at my Uncles, god he was pissed as he had been saving that for many years.

pfft just drink it anyway!! cork is derived from trees or summin anyway!

 

[DocWolfe]

pfft just drink it anyway!! cork is derived from trees or summin anyway!

Surprisingly enough... from the cork tree.

 

[Ingafgrinn Macabre]

Corked doesnt mean that there was a cork on the bottle to begin with. The easy way to explain it is that the cork degraded and there are now cork particles throughout the alcohol. Even in a very expensive bottle of wine, if this happened then you just may as well throw it out. Had it with a £300 bottle of port a few years ago at my Uncles, god he was pissed as he had been saving that for many years.

that's why you always keep the bottles on their side. That way the cork won't dry out. (provided also that the outside moisture level is within reasonable levels)

 

[psyco]

whats wrong with ingesting cork? poisen?

i think the cork broke when they opend it, they filtered it though, does that change anything?

 

[old.Tohtori]

It's not the cork, it's the air/bacteria contamination that will give anyone drinking it atleast a bad tummy tumtum.

If it was clear booze, then it would be cool. But wine? Don't touch that sh*t.

It's like leaving a bag of grapes for three years into a warm bucket and then eating them.

 

[crispy]

Well theres prolly not any alcohol left in it.. Bacterias break down alcohol to vinegar in the presence of oxygen :>

But if your really bored and got some ethanol make your own experiment. Take 10 mL of ethanol and mix with 90mL of water (dont mind that the total volume will be lower than 100mL) and put it your meter. Then make a 20mL/80mL solution and make a new measurement with your meter. Then you got two points you can make a nice little graph (plot your measurements as a function of ethanol%). Then you can make a measurement of your wine and approximate the ethanol%.

To make it even more reliable you could fine a 14%vol wine and a 10%vol wine to make your graph instead.....

 

[Gamah]

Nice story!

 

[DavidH]

That was truly painful to read, and I didn't get any direct questions either.

 

[tris-]

i find it quite funny you went to the effort of telling us how you found the wine, priceless

 

[psyco]

i find it quite funny you went to the effort of telling us how you found the wine, priceless

i cant believe i did either>.<