Alcohol Content Determination Kit, Set for exact determination of alcohol content in vinegar, liqueur, mash etc.

Schmickl alcohol analysis kit

• For vinegar, mash, liqueur, beer, wine etc., the exact alcohol content can only be determined with the alcohol analysis kit. The simple measuring devices for determining the alcohol content in aqueous solutions, such as hydrometers, refractometers or vinometers, give incorrect results for vinegar, mash, liqueur, beer, wine etc., because the extract content or sugar content, and in vinegar also the acetic acid, interfere. The differences are often a multiple (!) of the actual measured value. Therefore the sample must be distilled before determining the alcohol content, and with vinegar it must first of all be neutralized by means of titration. At the same time, the sample quantity should be as small as possible, because otherwise small yeast starters will be completely consumed simply for the analysis. Unfortunately, the respective standard distillation equipment which is usually used for determining the alcohol content requires a sample size of at least 500 ml. For the distillation apparatus presented here on a semi-micro scale, the sample size is only 0.5 ml, which is one thousandth of the other common devices. In addition, this process has the advantage over other methods that no reference solutions are required for the analysis. This is the liquid to be analyzed with all the contents, i.e. the complete matrix, but without alcohol or alternatively with an alcohol content that is accurately known. However, for products that come from fermentation no reference solution can be made by mixing the respective ingredients, because the fermentation seriously changes not only the alcohol content or acetic acid content, but also the concentration of the other ingredients such as sugar, so these are therefore not known.
• The entire process of determining the alcohol content consists of three stages for vinegar and two stages for the other alcoholic solutions.
  1. Determining the acid content: Titrate 10 ml of the liquid to be analyzed (vinegar) with sodium hydroxide solution and phenolphthalein. To do this, you will need the Acetic acid analysis kit (not included in the scope of delivery). For alcoholic solutions without vinegar, this step is not needed.
  2. Distillation: Distil 0.5 ml of the solution that has been neutralized by titration or the alcoholic, acid-free solution (mash, liqueur, etc.).
  3. Determining the alcohol content: Measure the alcohol content of the distillate with the refractometer.
     

 

• The accuracy of the content determined is ± 0.1% ABV.
• The time required for determination without titration is approximately 8 – 10 min. and with titration approximately 15 min..
• You can Calculation of the alcohol content from the measurement results your measurement results directly on our website.
• Scope of delivery
• Tripod made of Plexiglas
• 1 aluminum bracket, large
• 1 aluminum bracket, small
• 3 screws with wingnuts
• 1 tea candle
• 4 test tubes
• Boiling chips, type B for analytical purposes (80 g)
• Anti-foam (50 ml)
• 1 silicon hose with reinforcement piece
• 4 Pasteur pipettes, glass
• 6 syringes with hollow needles
• 1 sealing cord
• 1 wash-bottle
• 1 handheld refractometer with automatic temperature correction (ATC) 0 – 80% ABV for ethanol including accessories (storage box, screwdriver, plastic pipette, small bottles with distilled water (5 ml), cleaning cloth, detailed instruction manual).
• 1 test tube brush
• 1 small brown glass bottle with screw top (10 ml)
• 1 Pasteur pipette, plastic
• Detailed instruction manual

Information on refractometer

For a refractometer, the measured variable is the refractive index. This is the angle of the light refraction on the surface of liquids. This deflection angle is dependent among other things on the content of the substance to be measured. As with the hydrometer, there are different types for different substances. The best-known refractometer is used for determining the sugar content, e.g. in grapes. However, since alcohol also influences the refractive index, refractometers are also available for alcohol measurement. Because both substances – alcohol and sugar – influence the refractive index, they can also only be measured separately from each other. Hence, a mixture of water, alcohol, dissolved sugar and possibly acetic acid creates serious measurement errors with both types The alcohol content can therefore only be determined meaningfully with pure distillates!
PLEASE NOTE: With many sugar refractometers, there is often a second scale showing % ABV as a unit. They are nevertheless NOT alcohol measurement devices! The second scale only indicates how high the alcohol content will be after fermentation of an appropriate sugar solution. There is no scale for sugar on real alcohol refractometers.