How do I check the ABV % or proof %of my alchohol ?!
Answers: I just recently made and distilled my own rum but am unsure how to check the ABV or the proof percentage. I am a beginner at this and am not sure if there is a special device I use. Maybe it has to do with the cooking still. My still is homemade so there is no way of knowing. I have done tons of research and even searched on the internet and in no way found anything. Maybe I'm just looking in all the wrong places or maybe it's just a brewmasters secret ;-) Is there someone out there that can help me for future reference?
Number one: if you're living in the U.S., what you are doing is most likely illegal. Don't let it stop you...just don't let anyone find out. That means don't show your friends your shiny toy. :)
Secondly, what you need is a brewer's hydrometer. This measures the specific gravity (which is an indication of density) of a liquid; this works because water and ethanol have different densities, and finding the specific gravity will tell you what proportion of water to alcohol you have--IF that's all you have in solution!
However, you can't use a hydrometer to "read off" an alcohol percentage because in addition to alcohol and water, you've got sugar, grains, and whatever else you put in the mash. Sugar is what screws you up the most, because it affects the density of the liquids the most.
What you do with beer is you have to measure the specific gravity of the mix before and after fermentation. The reason for this is you know that the sugar is getting converted into alcohol by the yeast--so the difference between the two measurements will tell you the amount of alcohol in the beverage. You can do the exact same thing with the mash, and that will tell you how much alcohol you're starting with. It seems like you could do something similar with distilling.
You can always distill it a second time. Remember, your hooch isn't "wasted" or "ruined" until you drink it or dump it. Distilling doesn't create the alcohol; it purifies it.
There's a page I'll point you toward which has more information than I can provide. It's http://homedistiller.org/ Read that, and have fun!
Don't forget: ALWAYS throw away your heads! You don't wanna end up blind!
Firstly, proof is just ABV X 2...
The hydrometer is your best choice, but if you don't know the specific gravity pre-distillation, you won't know it after. Triple scale hydrometers are designed for homebrew (beer, wine, cider, etc.), but there are also proof hydrometers (sometimes called alcoholometers) that can be used for higher ABV fluids (like shine, or other distillates).
Depending on how distilled your finished product is, you could also try a Vinometer. We use them in winemaking to check the final ABV, but it only measures up to 25%. There may be a similar tool out there for distillation.