Added bourbon to secondary, Am I correct at figuring out ABV? Options

[Thirsty]

Made a bourbon vanilla porter OG was 1.082, FG 1.022. Added 2 cups of jim beam black to the secondary. Will I be correct to assume this will now change the gravity to a lower FG, and calculate as normal? Or does the alcohol addition dilute differently?

[Pseudolus]

Will I be correct to assume this will now change the gravity to a lower FG, and calculate as normal?

No. The OG and FG to ABV calculation only works if no alcohol, sugar, or water is added to the beer between the taking of the OG and FG.

What you want to use is:

ABV_total = [(ABV1)(Volume1)*(ABV2)(Volume2)]/(Volume1 + Volume2)

Where the "1"s are for your beer before the booze addition, and the "2"s are for your bourbon.

This post has been edited by Pseudolus: Feb 28 2008, 09:39 AM

[sidney porter]

so the beer is at 7.935 abv
I assume the beam is 80 proof which would be 40%
I also assume that this is a 5 gallon batch

There are 80 cups in a 5 gallon batch since you added 2 cups of beam we are at 82 cups

7.935 x80= 634
40x2= 80
(634+80)/82 = 8.717

that seems like a lot of bourbon to me.

[Thirsty]

that seems like a lot of bourbon to me.

Recipe called for 10 ml to be added per bottle during bottling. I keg and figured the bourbon would be best in secondary, soaked my vanilla scrapings and bean husks for a couple days in it before adding.

Figured 10 ml x 50 bottles = 500 ml or approx 1 pint = 2 cups. I made the recipe before and it came out pretty tasty. I'll just add this to my list of imperials- seems like that is all I brew now.

[AUGIE91]

I think in past posts comments have been made that adding bourbon to the secondary is not perhaps the best method?! Many had noted that the risks may outweigh the benefits. A possible alternative would be just adding a little to your beer after the pour. Thought I'd mention b/c I recall that discussion taking place. I was considering something similar to what you've done.

This post has been edited by AUGIE91: Feb 28 2008, 11:30 AM

[jasonB]

It does seem like a lot of bourbon. I brewed Northern Brewers Bourbon Barrell Porter recipe a while back. It called for 16oz. I added 10oz and thought it was a little much. But i let it age for a few months and the flavors did melt quite nicely.

My thinking with adding bourbon - you can always add more, but you can't take it out. I'll add a little bit at a time next time i use bourbon.

[CRAZEBrain]

that seems like a lot of bourbon to me.

As others have said, that will be strong early on, but it will blend well with a little age.

I did the exact same thing - 2 cups of Jim Beam Black based on the 10 ml per bottle ratio - about a year ago. The first couple of bottles were way too strong and I figured I had killed it. I pulled the last half case from my "aging cellar" the other day and the bottles I took to the club meeting the other night were excellent.