Let's end the use of the terms Proof and Proof Gallons.

[Foreshot]

So after talking to some people about this subject I put this post together. This is early thinking but it can be used as a draft for something we support as an industry. Please post up your thoughts/revisions/etc. All input is welcome.

 

Let's end the use of the terms Proof and Proof Gallons.

Let's end the use of the term Proof. It might sound like a silly thing to do but it's also a very practical thing to do. Proof is an old term that has no real place in modern distilling. It does not have a worldwide standard of meaning. It confuses customers. It is an add on to a label that is unnecessary as ABV is required (Proof is not but still common).

Proof Gallons and Wine gallons are incredibly confusing to participants in the industry. Proof gallons, while not hard to calculate, they are very easy to miscalculate. It's also easy to confuse on various forms. Why would we care about a theoretical 50% alcohol spirit in wine gallons? Other than for tax prep NONE.

What should we use:

For everyone: We should convert everything to Metric. We use a mismash of Units of Measure (UOM). In our industry converting everything to metric would reduce conversion errors and rounding errors. This can be done in most software programs now but it needs to be converted to Imperial for reporting purposes. The more conversion the more likely there are errors.

For Consumers / Bottles: ABV - Alcohol by volume: This enables consumers to compare spirits equally. It's not a perfect solution as it still requires obfuscation proofing. The term ABV is universal. You can go anywhere in the world and it mean that a 40% ABV spirit is the same as a 40% spirit in the US. This a great advantage over the term Proof as it can vary in value across different nations.

For the Industry: ABW is much easier to understand and calculate for industry. It's what the vast majority of us use in our daily operations. There would be no real change required for this. If we can get the forms changed to reflect this it would make reporting slightly easier. The exception is obfuscated spirits, but that is a current exception anyhow.

For Taxation: LAA - Liters of Pure Alcohol. By using Proof Gallons we in effect use a very convoluted version of this already. But using LAA we would make tax calculations much easier. If our tax is $13.50/$2.70 per PG, that would make it ~$7.13 LAA. So to calculate tax on 200l of 40% ABV would be 200*0.4= 80LAA, 80LAA*7.13 = 570.62 for 100,000+ or 200*0.4= 80LAA, 80LAA*1.32 = 105.67. It is trivial to convert from ABW to ABV for tax and bottle filling purposes and we do it to convert to PG currently. Again the exception would be obfuscated spirits, the same as now.

What else would need to change:

TTB/IRS: These would be non-trivial changes. It would require significant push from industry and consumer groups to push them to change. It would require a significant change to forms and to online systems. And for them it will likely cost a fair amount of money. There would need to be a decision on what to do with archived data - convert, convert a certain time frame, or leave as is.

Industry partners/Large industrial producers: Software providers will need to change their software to account for the changes. It won't be trivial but shouldn't be huge either. Removing the endless conversions (Imperial to Metric and back) may help reduce rounding errors.

 

[Tom Lenerz]

I agree it would be nice to be using the global standard, but everything in our country is in freedom units, and I doubt that will change anytime soon. 

However I disagree that proof gallons are easy to miscalculate (WG * proof/100 or move the decimal of the proof to just after the 1), confuse (stating Wine Gallons vs. Proof Gallons adds to clarity in my opinion) or provide no use. Its very easy for me to figure out how many barrels of brandy I might get out of tank of wine, or estimate the acres of a grain my farmer may need to plant to fill my production volumes for the year, or even the number of cases I might produce of a given product, all using proof gallons as my anchoring unit. Would it be just as easy if I were used to metric, yes probably -- but I'm not, and none of the people I do business with on a daily basis are used to metric either.

Almost all of my equipment is American made (and therefore calibrated in freedom units), all of my employees are American (and are therefore familiar with freedom units) and we operate inside and are regulated by the US government (which requires most of the reporting in freedom units), so I don't really struggle with converting because there is almost never a need in my day-to-day operation to do so. 

[meerkat]

I have been supplying engineering software (including a units conversion program) to the US for 30 years, and alcohol blending software for 15 years. Over this period I have seen a gradual shift towards metric units in the US and the eventual total switch over is inevitable.  You have already switched to 750 ml bottles to match the rest of the world, and the other changes will not be much more difficult.  I think that being proactive about it is the right way to go.

Apart from the actual units, the basis of the ABV measurement will have to be changed from 60 °F to 20 °C as the reference temperature does change the ABV very slightly.

 

[Foreshot]

6 hours ago, meerkat said:

ABV measurement will have to be changed from 60 °F to 20 °C

Yup, that too. No reason for it anymore.

 

7 hours ago, Tom Lenerz said:

I don't really struggle with converting because there is almost never a need in my day-to-day operation to do so. 

 

7 hours ago, Tom Lenerz said:

Would it be just as easy if I were used to metric, yes probably -- but I'm not, and none of the people I do business with on a daily basis are used to metric either.

I get those points. It wouldn't be a groundbreaking change. But it would make things go faster and make things simpler. 100 liters (call it wine liters if you want) of a spirit at 40% ABV  100*0.4=40 LAA. There's no though required to understand the equation.  234 liters at 45%? Ok, a calculator would help there but still not hard to do: 234*0.45=105.3 LAA. There's no conversion to 50% ABV for Proof Gallons for no real reason other than what's we do. It's simple to training new people. You don't have to explain the story behind it. I know that mostly we use wine gallons for day to day stuff. But we still need to report proof gallons.

 

[JustAndy]

I just read a liquor manufacturing book from 1893 and the author's preface said "The formulas have been left in metric, or the decimal system, as this system is gaining ground rapidly and there is every hope of it's final adoption by manufacturers as a matter of convenience."      I wouldn't hold my breath about it.