"Ben Rotter" > wrote in message
om...
> Lum wrote:
>> Perhaps some of the difference is due to the 6 to 8 milligrams per litter
>> of
>> titratable acid?
>
> That was essentially the point I was originally making - thus my
> comment "This may due to SS and/or dissolved substances in wine," e.g.
> acids.
>
> Frederick wrote:
>> No, I don't agree. Just to be on the safe side, I actually made up a 12%
>> alcohol solution using Everclear and water from the tap. I am sitting
>> here now, watching my hydrometer float in that solution. It reads
>> 0.990
>
> I just did it (not Everclear, but similar product) and got pretty
> close to 0.990. Perhaps the Everclear (or equivalent product) has
> dissolved substances that contribute just like those in wine might?
> Otherwise it simply doesn't make sense.
>
>> PS - what is "SS" ??
>
> Suspended solids.
>
> Ben

Hi all

Gone for a while hunting (got a nice 7 point). Now that I am back, I find
so many posts that I hardly know where to begin. I_would_like to answer
a few of the posts in this thread however, in the hope that someone
besides Bill will arrive at an understanding of this topic.

Everyone should understand that the numbers I am using here are_very_
generously rounded off in an effort to keep this simple. After all, the
only point I am trying to make is that there is NO _fixed_ relationship
between SG and PA. Sg measures _total_ solutes (both fermentable
AND non-fermentable), while alcohol is calculated using _only_ the
fermentable portion of that total. The exercise outlined above is just
the simplest way I could think of to demonstrate this in a way that
everyone here could do, even if they are "theory" challenged. ;o)
(nothing better than something you can see with your own eyes)

Ben

If your theories are so compelling that you can doubt the evidence of
your own eyes, there is little I can do to help you understand what is
going on with this stuff. My approach to winemaking is strictly
pragmatic and I use my own empirical data to make these kinds of
estimates. My own understanding of theory is imperfect so I can't
address the subject that way. Might I refer you to the UC Davis site
where, in the second to the last para on page 10, you will find an example
of the formula they use to calculate the PA numbers that are used on
our hydrometers. The pages leading up to that example contain a _very_
good explanation of how they arrive at those numbers. Hopefully this
will also explain why I have been saying that you can"t get more alcohol
in the wine than the original PA perdicts. HTH

Frederick