Vodka Tincture Question

[brewerTristan]

I'm wondering what the appropriate amount (in general) of vodka tincture is for 5 gallons? I brewed up an amber ale with sweet potatoes and made a spice tincture in 4 oz of vodka. How much of the vodka should I add to the keg? I think I've heard as little as 1/2 oz, but don't remember where. I drew a sample today and added about two drops to the glass and that seemed pleasant. No idea how to scale up from that!

[andy77]

There are several exact definitions of a "drop":

* the "metric" drop, 1/20 mL (50 μL).
* the medical drop, 1/12 mL (83⅓ μL).
* the Imperial drop, 1/36 of a fluidram (1/288 of an Imperial fluid ounce, or 1/1440 of a gill) (approximately 99 μL).
* an alternate, possibly apocryphal, definition of the drop is 1/1824 of a gill (approximately 78 μL).
* the U.S. drop, 1/60 of a US fluidram, 1/80 of a teaspoon or 1/480 of a U.S. fluid ounce (approximately 62 μL).
* an alternate definition of the U.S. drop is 1/96 of a teaspoon or 1/576 US fl oz (approximately 51 μL).

A drop can also be used less formally as a unit of volume in recipes. According to some older kitchen references, 24 drops = ¼ teaspoon. Using U.S. definitions, this makes the drop equal to about 0.051 mL, making it quite comparable to the pharmacist's drop.[3]

That probably doesn't help. If it were me, I'd start at 24 drops=1/4 tsp, and then add more to taste.

[brewinhard]

I'm wondering what the appropriate amount (in general) of vodka tincture is for 5 gallons? I brewed up an amber ale with sweet potatoes and made a spice tincture in 4 oz of vodka. How much of the vodka should I add to the keg? I think I've heard as little as 1/2 oz, but don't remember where. I drew a sample today and added about two drops to the glass and that seemed pleasant. No idea how to scale up from that!

Great question man! You always hear about scaling up using this method, but how the hell DO you do it? My guess is trial and error, as I suck at math and don't trust my calculations.

[animaldoc]

How big was your "sample"?

8oz = 1 cup. 2 cups = 1 pint (16 oz). 2 pints = 1 qt (32oz). 4 qts = 1 gallon (128oz). 5 gallons = 640oz.


So ...... if your 2 drops was in 8 oz, you need 640 oz / 8 oz = 80 "samples" which means you need 160 drops. At 20 drops / ml, you would need 4 ml.

Add 3 to your batch and taste it. Add more if you need to - you can't take it back if you add too much.

[brewerTristan]

Hmm, my sample was just from the hydrometer jar. I'm guessing it was about a cup. So I think I'll go with the taste and sample method, which raises a new question for me: what's the best method to do this? Should I add some to the keg, then taste without carbonating? And then add more until the taste is right and then go ahead and carbonate?