I grab a small amount out of the carboy and Im thinking, hmmm, if i donts stir it up, is there stronger alcohol at the top or at the bottom ?

Tags: alcohol rise fall water, is alcohol heavier than water?, is water heavier than alcohol?

I have been thinking about this. Back when I was a kid we used to use alcohol in our car radiators, mixed with water, to keep it from freezing. That stayed mixed. If you parked your car for a long period it didn't freeze. Of course if you drove it got agitated. It did lower the boiling point of the fluid. Considering it was pressurized etc. Just a humble thought. Nobody probably remembers alcohol in radiators because that was back in the 40s. wyo wino

ok good advice. I started getting superstitious about my samples. Its really just the vino meter messing with me. I made my Pinot Noir at 15.2% potential alcohol. SG then at .994 I racked, read vino meter at 15%, topped up then 10 days later vino meter at 15.5% (that reflects the metabisulphite,3 tsp pottassium sorbate, 3 oz american oak, acid, and superkleer)
now at day 21 it reads 14%. I was going to calculate and blend/dilute down to 13% but with the vinometer so weird I might just leave it as is, or go stricktly by taste. Its a shame, Ive been trying to 'become one' with the vinometer to make it a good reliable tool, but it is messing with me.

Alcohol and water do not separate at normal temperatures and pressures.

Alcohol and water readily mix together to form a homogeneous solution.

This fact can be used to quickly dry off something that is wet (e.g. glassware). If you simply swish a little alcohol around in the wet glassware the alcohol will bind to the water and alcohol-water solution will quickly evaporate thus drying the glassware.

Here is a nice explanation of how and why alcohol binds to water: http://www.school-for-champions.com/chemistry/solutions.htm

- Scott

Thanks, that information helps us all out. wyo wino

I guess it seems like it should float because it is lighter. However, once mixed there is no separation. Since water has an SG of 1 and alcohol an SG of approx .791 (depending on the type of alcohol) when the SG in the wine drops, as measured with the hydrometer, it drops below 1 as it measures alcohol in the mixture. Normally we get measurements of .996 SG when completely fermented. If in fact the alcohol were not to be completely mixed with the wine then we would see an SGs in the top layer of .791 and that just does not happen.

I believe it's a chemical change that happens when alcohol and water mix, isn't it? I know that if you pour a quart of alcohol and a quart of water into a half gallon container you have less than a half gallon of liquid.

Welcome to the forum

Sounds like an interesting chemistry experiment. I'm not a chemist but I know they mix, otherwise our wine and beer would be half alcohol and half alcohol like cream on top of milk.

Randy does a lot of experiments while making wine. In fact I think he gives most of his wine away so he can make more and try different things.