Grain to Alcohol Ratio

[Deebee]

Hi all.

Some of the recipies here call for sugar in the boil. I understand that this is to make the brew taste more like the intended " clonee"

It naturally increases the alcohol level somewhat.

So after lots of searching and still not finding i though it would ask the question.

Is there a general rule of thumb for ration between kilos/lbs of grain against the amount of fermentable sugar.

For example, could it be said that 1kg grain is equal to say 1% abv?

The brew i just made came out with an OG of 1056, likely FG will be about 1014 so around 5.6-5.7%

This had 3550 g malt and 770 g sugar-

How much extra grain would i need in order to produce the same OG without the sugar?

Thanks
Dave

[Northern Brewer]

For example, could it be said that 1kg grain is equal to say 1% abv?

Yes. Whilst not 100 % accurate it's nevertheless a reasonable rule of thumb.

EDIT: I'm wrong. It will give you approx 10 points of gravity but that doesn't necessarily equate to 1% ABV because other factors are at play. Having said that, your your average 1035 - 1045 beers tend to come out around 3.5% - 4.5% ABV so the benchmark still largely applies.

[Deebee]

For example, could it be said that 1kg grain is equal to say 1% abv?

Yes. Whilst not 100 % accurate it's nevertheless a reasonable rule of thumb.

So in order to get the same result in a pure grain brew i would need for example 5.7 kilos pale malt ( as this is what i used this time) to hit the same OG roughly...

Dave

[Jim]

If you want to be more accurate, download Graham Wheeler's free 'Beer Engine' software. You could just enter your recipe without the sugar, and increase the amount of grain until the alcohol level is where you want it.

[Northern Brewer]

How much extra grain would i need in order to produce the same OG without the sugar?

I'm guessing here...

Sugar will give you 375 degrees of gravity per kilo per litre.

Malt will give you 296 degrees but with a brewhouse efficiency of around 80% you will only get about 235 degrees of that, which suggests you would need to multiply the sugar figure by around 1.6 if you were to replace it with malt.

Somebody will be along to shoot that theory down any minute

[trucker5774]

Having had the same thought/question myself, I agree with northern brewer. As stated, the sugar in the boil gives what it states (375) . The grain must be increased to match the sugar yield with the mash efficiency taken into account