Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
after fortification. If you are wanting a sherry flor, you'll want
15%, but if you are making a sweet wine, you'll want 20%.
Then you need to calculate how much distilled spirit and how
much wine to add to make a gallon at the desired strength.
Though there are tables for this, algebra is the most flexible
tool, and the equation is easy enough.
A = Percentage of Final Wine as Alcohol expressed as a
decimal (e.g. 20% = .2)
B = Percentage Alcohol of Starting Wine expressed as a
decimal
C = Percentage Wine of Distilled Spirit expressed as a
decimal
D = Size of final batch in ounces
X = Ounces of Wine for the batch
X = D (A−C)/(B−C)
So, if I want a wine with 20% alcohol, my starting wine is
9.1% alcohol and I am fortifying with brandy that is 40%
alcohol to make a batch of one gallon (128 ounces):
X = 128(.20 - .40)/(.091 - .40) = 82.8 rounded to 83 ounces.
So now I know I will use 83 ounces of wine and 128−83 or 45
ounces of brandy to make a gallon of my sweet fortified wine.
