Understanding alcohol %

IwantanewPC

IwantanewPC

IwantanewPC

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i don't understand how alcohol % is measured.

for example, a can of carling has 4.1% in it. is that the WHOLE can or just a certain dose? if a vodka bottle claims to have 40% and you take a shot, does the shot have 40% in it or just the bottle as a whole?
 
If you pour a glass of vodka it is surly going to have the same percentage of alcohol in it as the bottle?

Its just as simple as the can of carling has 4.1% of alcohol in it surely.
 
If it was vodka, it's per shot isn't it?

If a 70cl bottle had 28 units in it, say, it would be 40% ABV. (4 units per 10cl, 40 per litre)
 
Oh dear.

It's 40%, no matter how much there is.

10% of women can drive, that means 1 in 10, or 10 in 100, etc etc...
 
in a shot glass or in the bottle, 40% vodka will be 40% vodka. Its not like the alcohol and non-alcohol components of vodka seperate and sudenly change percentages when you pour.

Yes there will less alcohol in a shot glass of vodka then in a bottle, but proportionaly there will be the same ratio of alcohol to non-alcohol.
 
hangon, didn't we have this EXACT thread a couple of days ago? even the replies?

if not, HUGE case of Déjà vu!!!
 
IwantanewPC said:
i don't understand how alcohol % is measured.

for example, a can of carling has 4.1% in it. is that the WHOLE can or just a certain dose? if a vodka bottle claims to have 40% and you take a shot, does the shot have 40% in it or just the bottle as a whole?
Click to expand...

A drink's strength is measured in ABV = Alcohol By Volume.

That means that in any given amount of fluid, a certain percentage (or concentration) of that is alcoholic. For example, a bottle of Smirnoff Red Label Vodka is 37.5% ABV. So 37.5% is alcoholic, no matter how much total fluid there is.

Rest of you lot, get off your high horses, must be nice to know everything :rolleyes:
 
the % refers to alcohol by volume, which means how many units there are in a litre.

So basically it neither refers to the can/bottle as a whole nor does it refer to the dose as 1 shot of carling / a bottle of carling / 100 bottles of carling is still 4.1%

if you are confused about the differences of % between beer and spirits than think about what would happen after a pint of beer and a pint of vodka, and the way they are meant to be consumed.

incidently once you dilute a drink eg. spirit & mixer, the %abv will lower, though of course the the drink will be the same strength whether it has a mixer in or not
 
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