Beer Making Process
Trouble with making beer and wine?
I’m having trouble understanding the process of making home-made beer and wine. what I am having trouble with is the sugar content in the mash before fermentation. I have a 15% sugar concentration in my mash, does that mean that when fermentation is complete, and all the sugars are eaten up by the yeast, there will be a 15 % alcohol content in the mash?
how do I figure out the alcohol content from the beginning sugar content in the mash? I have a triple scale beer & wine hydrometer and a proof hydrometer. the triple scale reads specific gravity, balling (sugar percent), and potential alcohol by volume. comparing the scales, at 15% sugar, the % of PAV is at 7.6%. I am guessing that means 15% sugar would yield 7.6% alcohol by vol.
also does anyone know how much cane sugar to use per gallon of water to get 15 %? or do I figure it trial by error?
my last question. using bakers yeast, what is the highest sugar % and alcohol % that bread yeast can yield?
The % sugar does not translate directly into % alcohol. 15% alcohol is a high goal. If you dumped in enough sugar in the beginning, that leads to problems. The high sugar concentration can actually interfere with fermentation. You’ll need to add extra sugar gradually during the fermentation process to boost alcohol that high.
Here’s an article that might be helpful: http://www.eckraus.com/wine-making-high-alcohol.html
Brewing Process