Calculate how much pure alcohol and 40%, 60% or 96% distillate you get from sugar, how much water a wash of your chosen gravity needs and which fermenter size prevents overflow.
How much alcohol does 1 kg of sugar give?
Theoretically 1 kg of sugar (sucrose) can give 0.68 l of pure ethanol. In practice the yeast uses some sugar for growth and some alcohol stays in the spent wash and heads, so real efficiency is 80–90%, i.e. about 0.55–0.6 l of alcohol per kilogram.
What wash gravity should I choose?
Classic distiller's yeast works best at 18–22°Blg. Turbo yeast handles 25–30°Blg and gives a stronger wash but needs fermentation temperature control. Too high a gravity for the yeast leads to a stuck fermentation and wasted sugar.
How do I choose a fermenter?
The wash foams during vigorous fermentation, so a fermenter is filled to about 80% at most. The calculator shows the minimum container size straight away.
How we calculate
1 kg of sucrose hydrolyses into 1.053 kg of glucose, which theoretically gives 0.538 kg of ethanol, i.e. 0.68 l of pure alcohol. The result is multiplied by the efficiency. Water is calculated so that sugar makes up the chosen percentage of the wash mass (°Blg).
Frequently asked questions
How much moonshine from 1 kg of sugar?
Theoretically 0.68 l of pure alcohol, in practice about 0.55–0.6 l, i.e. about 1.4–1.5 l of 40% distillate.
How much water per 1 kg of sugar?
For a 20°Blg wash – about 4 litres of water per 1 kg of sugar. The calculator works it out for any gravity.
Which sugar is best for a wash?
Ordinary white beet or cane sugar is fine. Dextrose (glucose) ferments slightly faster but gives about 10% less alcohol per kilogram than sucrose.
How long does a sugar wash ferment?
With turbo yeast usually 5–7 days, with classic distiller's yeast 7–14 days. The wash is ready when the hydrometer shows a stable reading for 2–3 days.
How much sugar for 30 litres of wash?
For a 20°Blg wash about 6.5 kg of sugar and about 26 l of water. The boiler calculator gives exact proportions for any gravity.