750ml Bottle Fill Weight

[John D]

Does anyone have calculator or a simple table for for filling weights of a 750 ml bottles with different proofs. The TTB tables are giving me an headache.

Thanks

John

[PeteB]

Splash out and buy a copy of Alcodens, it will do any spirit calculations in any units or combination of units. About $190 last time I looked. One good hydrometer costs more than that. There is an online free copy but it expires after about 10 calculations

[TimeandTask]

Whiskey Systems also has a calculator for Proof Gallons per case and filling weights:

Proof Gallons Per Case / Bottle Fill Weight:

Bottle Proof - 90

BottleSizeID - 750ml

Bottles Per Case - 12

Cases Desired - 1

Grams Per Bottle

706.15

Grams Per Case

8473.84

PG Per Bottle

0.1783

PG Per Case

2.1398

WG Per Case

2.378

PG Needed for Batch

2.14

WG Needed for Batch

2.38

[meerkat]

Liquids expand and contract with temperature changes, so if we give the mass for a volume of liquid then it has to be associated with a particular temperature.

The mass of 706.15 grams for 750 ml of 90 Proof spirit is correct for a temperature of 60°F. Since everything else in the TTB Tables is based on 60°F it is only reasonable to calculate the fill mass at this temperature, but I was unable to find a definitive statement for the temperature on which fill volumes are based.

The change in the mass of 750 ml of 90 Proof spirit between 60°F and 68°F/20°C is only 2.4 grams or 0.33%. This small change is well within the usually allowed tolerance of 2% (or 15 ml) for 750 ml bottles so the distinction is a bit academic. However, it made me wonder why the tolerance on spirit strength is so tight while the tolerance on volume is relatively loose.

Being able to gauge a spirit to within 0.3 proof (or 0.33% of 90 proof) requires good quality instruments and a fair bit of skill and experience on the part of the operator. The tolerances on proof and volume both affect (as far as I understand) the tax payable and the quantity of alcohol received by the end purchaser so it surprises me that there is a 6x difference between these 2 tolerance specifications.

[PeteB]

In USA I am sure volume measurements need to be calculated at 60F but as you say I haven't seen a "definitive statement" either

In Australia and most of the rest of the world it is calculated at 20c = 68f

MEERKAT, I tried to download your free trial version of Alcodens onto my new Windows 8 , from the link at the bottom of your post but I can't get it to work!

I don't know if I didn't follow the instructions or if it won't run on 8.

Pete

[meerkat]

Pete, AlcoDens works fine on my Win 8 laptop and I have other customers using it that way. Please can you write to my katmar address with details of what is going wrong and I am sure we can solve it.

If anyone else is having trouble with AlcoDens on Win 8 or 8.1 (or any other problems) please let me know. We do a lot of testing before releasing our offspring into the wild, but there are so many possible setups available on a computer that there may be some problems that we do not catch.

[timmeh]

Pete, AlcoDens works fine on my Win 8 laptop and I have other customers using it that way. Please can you write to my katmar address with details of what is going wrong and I am sure we can solve it.

Hey meerkat, any plans to port AlcoDens to Mac, or as an online app so it works across platforms (or on mobile web browsers)? I can setup some Windows emulation to give it a try, but would rather run natively if I can and avoid the hassle.

[meerkat]

Hey meerkat, any plans to port AlcoDens to Mac, or as an online app so it works across platforms (or on mobile web browsers)? I can setup some Windows emulation to give it a try, but would rather run natively if I can and avoid the hassle.

It is unlikely that we will be able to produce a non-Windows version in the near future. We do have several users running AlcoDens on their Macs using the Parallels emulator. There are free trial versions of Parallels and AlcoDens available, so you can give it a try without costing anything beyond your time.

[dhdunbar]

Section 30.11, definitions - Proof spirits. That liquid which contains one-half its volume of ethyl alcohol of a specific gravity [weight/volume] of seven thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine ten-thousandths (0.7939) in vacuum at 60 degrees Fahrenheit referred to water at 60 degrees Fahrenheit as unity.

Why the differences in the tightness of the acceptable range of proof vs. volume? I cannot give a definitive answer. but the language of section 5.47a convinces me that the difference lies in the limits on the consistency of fill (vs. proof) that can be achieved by persons using good commercial practice. Consider the way the fill tolerance is described in part 5.

Tolerances. The following tolerances shall be allowed:

(1) Discrepancies due to errors in measuring which occur in filling conducted in compliance with good commercial practice.

(2) Discrepancies due to differences in the capacity of bottles, resulting solely from unavoidable difficulties in manufacturing such bottles to a uniform capacity: Provided, That no greater tolerance shall be allowed in case of bottles which, because of their design, cannot be made of approximately uniform capacity than is allowed in case of bottles which can be manufactured so as to be of approximately uniform capacity.

(3) Discrepancies in measure due to differences in atmospheric conditions in various places and which unavoidably result from the ordinary and customary exposure of alcoholic beverages in bottles to evaporation. The reasonableness of discrepancies under this paragraph shall be determined on the facts in each case.

Note that TTB's regulations assume that you can cut spirits to exactly bottling proof before bottling. You are not given any tolerance above bottling proof. You are allowed a drop in proof. Section 5.37( - "Tolerances. The following tolerances shall be allowed (without affecting the labeled statement of alcohol content) for losses of alcohol content occurring during bottling:" The regulation does not make reference to good commercial practice, but the drop in proof allowed is the result of losses of content during the bottling process, suggesting that TTB has found that the drops up to the tolerances stated will occur even with good commercial practice.

I think the regulations bow in the direction of what TTB has concluded are the to practical limits of accuracy.