Proofing Down
Proofing down is the process of adding water to high-proof spirit to lower it to a target proof, whether for barrel entry or for bottling. It is calculated precisely to hit the intended proof without overshooting.
Spirit comes off the still and out of the barrel at high proof and must be brought down with water for barreling or bottling. Getting it exact matters: overshooting wastes spirit and undershooting fails the label. The math is a proof-and-volume balance, which our dilution calculator handles.
How do you calculate proofing down?
The proof gallons stay constant as you add water, so target volume equals current proof gallons times 100 divided by the target proof. The water to add is that target volume minus the current volume. Our dilution calculator does this directly.
Is there a loss when proofing down?
Blending spirit and water causes a slight volume contraction (and filtration can remove a little more), so the final volume is marginally less than simple addition predicts. Distilleries account for this small proofing or bottling loss in yield and costing.
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