Sugar Wash Potential ABV Calculator
Estimate the potential ABV of a sugar wash by entering the amount of sugar, volume of water, and your yeast's fermentation efficiency.
Formulas Used
1. Total Solution Volume:
Vtotal = Vwater + (msugar / ρsucrose)
where ρsucrose = 1.587 kg/L
2. Original Gravity (OG):
OG = 1 + (Csugar × 0.3859) / 1000
where Csugar = sugar (g) / Vtotal (L)
and 0.3859 gravity points per g/L is derived from sucrose refractometric tables.
3. Final Gravity (FG):
FG = 1 + (Cresidual × 0.3859) / 1000
where Cresidual = sugar × (1 − efficiency) / Vtotal
4. Potential ABV:
ABV (%) = (OG − FG) × 131.25
(Standard homebrewing formula, derived from the simplified Balling equation)
5. Gay-Lussac Fermentation Equation:
C12H22O11 + H2O → 4 C2H5OH + 4 CO2
1 g sucrose → 0.5111 g ethanol + 0.4889 g CO₂
6. Water Density Correction:
ρwater(T) ≈ (999.842 + 0.06T − 0.0035T²) / 1000 kg/L
Assumptions & References
- Sugar is assumed to be pure sucrose (table sugar, C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁, MW = 342.30 g/mol).
- Sucrose density used: 1.587 kg/L (CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics).
- The gravity-per-g/L constant (0.3859 points) is derived from ASBC sucrose SG tables.
- ABV formula (OG − FG) × 131.25 is the standard simplified Balling/homebrewing formula (accurate to ±0.3% ABV for typical washes).
- Gay-Lussac stoichiometry: 1 g sucrose yields 0.5111 g ethanol and 0.4889 g CO₂ at 100% efficiency.
- Yeast efficiency represents the percentage of available sugar converted to ethanol; typical distiller's yeast: 80–90%.
- Water density correction is valid for 0–40°C; outside this range results may be less accurate.
- This calculator does not account for nutrients, pH, dissolved oxygen, or yeast health — all of which affect real-world efficiency.
- References: ASBC Methods of Analysis; Boulton & Quain, Brewing Yeast and Fermentation (2001); CRC Handbook, 97th Ed.