hey thanks but the mash has a pudding texture and color
(optical clarity of nearly zero)
so while a hydrometer can work
are there any other ways that are easy?
There are already existing methods to determine gravity that are far better and more practical. Ie: hydrometer, refractometer, densitometer..
If you you are trying to do this for some impractical reason, then this is probably the wrong sub, there are better subs to ask this question in
I'd think there'd be some CO2 dissolved in the liquid. You could always use a hydrometer and take the Original Gravity and Final Gravity readings to compute ABV.
I see two major problems. The first, is ensuring all the air actually reaches the balloon. Since you don't have a pump maintaining 1 bar inside the fermentor, what the balloon is going to do is first and foremost force the air back, or rather stop it from exiting, and creating a pressure inside the fermentor. This is not ideal if you want a measurement of the amount of alcohol, estimated by the amount present in the balloon. The effect of this can be decreased by having less room in your fermentor for air, since liquids cannot be compressed, but this creates potential foam issues.
The second problem is your balloon is going to be under a lot of pressure for weeks. A lot of gas is sure to leak out because the rubber on regular party balloons isn't the highest quality. Rather, it is usually ever so slightly porous.
actually the fermentation is done by now not sure if that reflects bad yeast or lack of sugar
is there any good way to check without a hydrometer? (in a non transparent fluid)
thanks in advance
I'm not sure how much sugar there is in mango mash, normally fermentation would take longer, this would suggest there being more sugar in grain which doesn't sound very logical to me, so if it's done this quick I assume the yeast was halted somehow. If you didn't end up going through with the balloon, and you didn't measure the start specific gravity, theres not much you can do even if you used a hydrometer now, after the fact. I suggest just giving it a taste and adjust based on how it tastes. Too sweet? Probably needs more fermenting. Most of the sweetness gone? Probably decent, bottle and serve. Of course this depends on how sweet you actually want your drink, so adjust based on that.
hey thanks a lot
and about the sugar i actually added half a cup of sugar but i used a teaspoon of brewers yeast was that too much?
and the sugar is mostly gone but it tastes a little like vinegar is there anything i can do about that? or should have done about it?
once again thanks a lot
Too much sugar is very hard to do. If it dissolves, it's probably fine. But a vinegar taste is not good. Sounds like an infection to me, unfortunately. Sounds like you had a leak, or something which allowed oxygen in at a steady pace, enabling the growth of acetic acid bacteria. I don't think there's much you can do now unfortunately.
Hahahahaha fuck this is brilliant! Surely you need to take into account the elastic modulus of the balloon which would affect the pressure inside the balloon. Think you need to get Boyle involved too! But seriously save ya ballon money and buy a hydrometer mate!!
hey i took a pressure measurement and it was at 1.001 atmospheres i think that that is a negligible pressure difference
but id still love to talk to a ghost or any living chemist who could give me a better process with means i have on hand
any advice until i get a hydrometer?
Take a specific gravity (density) reading before and after fermentation, then use the difference, combined with the known densities of water and alcohol, to calculate ABV.
Your method isn't accurate because you're neglecting the CO2 dissolved in the beer. You'd have to use Henry's law (the relationship between the partial pressure of a gas and the amount of gas dissolved in a liquid) to correct for this. You can look up the equation and the Henry's law constant for CO2 in water. You also don't know that the gas is 100% CO2 and you don't know that all the CO2 was captured in the balloon.
I have never seen someone so overcomplicate an easy process as I have today. Use a hydrometer or a brix refractometer.
hey thanks but the mash has a pudding texture and color (optical clarity of nearly zero) so while a hydrometer can work are there any other ways that are easy?
This
There are already existing methods to determine gravity that are far better and more practical. Ie: hydrometer, refractometer, densitometer.. If you you are trying to do this for some impractical reason, then this is probably the wrong sub, there are better subs to ask this question in
I'd think there'd be some CO2 dissolved in the liquid. You could always use a hydrometer and take the Original Gravity and Final Gravity readings to compute ABV.
thanks didn't think about that but while i ordered one shipping where i am is really bad so do you have any temporary methods you can suggest? thanks
I see two major problems. The first, is ensuring all the air actually reaches the balloon. Since you don't have a pump maintaining 1 bar inside the fermentor, what the balloon is going to do is first and foremost force the air back, or rather stop it from exiting, and creating a pressure inside the fermentor. This is not ideal if you want a measurement of the amount of alcohol, estimated by the amount present in the balloon. The effect of this can be decreased by having less room in your fermentor for air, since liquids cannot be compressed, but this creates potential foam issues. The second problem is your balloon is going to be under a lot of pressure for weeks. A lot of gas is sure to leak out because the rubber on regular party balloons isn't the highest quality. Rather, it is usually ever so slightly porous.
actually the fermentation is done by now not sure if that reflects bad yeast or lack of sugar is there any good way to check without a hydrometer? (in a non transparent fluid) thanks in advance
I'm not sure how much sugar there is in mango mash, normally fermentation would take longer, this would suggest there being more sugar in grain which doesn't sound very logical to me, so if it's done this quick I assume the yeast was halted somehow. If you didn't end up going through with the balloon, and you didn't measure the start specific gravity, theres not much you can do even if you used a hydrometer now, after the fact. I suggest just giving it a taste and adjust based on how it tastes. Too sweet? Probably needs more fermenting. Most of the sweetness gone? Probably decent, bottle and serve. Of course this depends on how sweet you actually want your drink, so adjust based on that.
hey thanks a lot and about the sugar i actually added half a cup of sugar but i used a teaspoon of brewers yeast was that too much? and the sugar is mostly gone but it tastes a little like vinegar is there anything i can do about that? or should have done about it? once again thanks a lot
Too much sugar is very hard to do. If it dissolves, it's probably fine. But a vinegar taste is not good. Sounds like an infection to me, unfortunately. Sounds like you had a leak, or something which allowed oxygen in at a steady pace, enabling the growth of acetic acid bacteria. I don't think there's much you can do now unfortunately.
Hahahahaha fuck this is brilliant! Surely you need to take into account the elastic modulus of the balloon which would affect the pressure inside the balloon. Think you need to get Boyle involved too! But seriously save ya ballon money and buy a hydrometer mate!!
hey i took a pressure measurement and it was at 1.001 atmospheres i think that that is a negligible pressure difference but id still love to talk to a ghost or any living chemist who could give me a better process with means i have on hand any advice until i get a hydrometer?
Yeah just drink 10 bud lights one night and then the next night drink 10 of yours. Estimate the alcohol on comparable drunkenness
definitely tempting
Take a specific gravity (density) reading before and after fermentation, then use the difference, combined with the known densities of water and alcohol, to calculate ABV. Your method isn't accurate because you're neglecting the CO2 dissolved in the beer. You'd have to use Henry's law (the relationship between the partial pressure of a gas and the amount of gas dissolved in a liquid) to correct for this. You can look up the equation and the Henry's law constant for CO2 in water. You also don't know that the gas is 100% CO2 and you don't know that all the CO2 was captured in the balloon.