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ABV calculator from sugar, honey and juice

Add up the dissolved sugar, find the gravity at which that sugar in your total volume matches its °Brix, then apply (OG − FG) × 131.25. 1.5 kg of honey made up to 4.5 L gives about 1.106 and 13.9% potential ABV if it ferments to 1.000.

BrewMyBeer Editorial Team · Sources checked 24 September 2026 · Calculated examples, not laboratory measurements. How we create content

Interactive tool

Calculate your batch

Change the example values. Inputs stay in your browser, and your last inputs are remembered here.

The final volume after every addition has dissolved.

Apple, grape or other juice. Enter 0 for a honey-and-water mead.

Measure the juice itself; labels rarely state it. Ignored when juice is 0 L.

Weigh it; honey volume is not a reliable measure.

100 minus moisture. 82.8 uses the National Honey Board average moisture of 17.2%.

White cane or beet sugar.

Around 1.000 or below for a dry finish; higher if fermentation will stop sweet.

How each addition is counted

Table sugar is counted as pure sucrose. Honey is counted by its solids: the National Honey Board lists average moisture as 17.2%, with a range of 13.4% to 22.9%, so the default treats 82.8% of the honey’s weight as sugar. Change it if your supplier states a moisture figure.

Juice is counted from its own measured gravity, converted to °Brix. Brix is grams of sugar per 100 g of solution, so the tool converts the total sugar to a gravity for your final volume using the SG–Brix cubic quoted on Wikipedia and the density of water at 20 °C (0.9982 g/mL).

As a cross-check, this method puts 1 lb of sucrose in 1 US gallon at about 1.046, which matches the 46-point figure brewers commonly use for sugar.

Potential is not a promise

Potential ABV assumes the yeast ferments down to the final gravity you enter. Yeast can stop earlier, especially in strong musts, and the simple 131.25 formula becomes less accurate above about 12% ABV.

Honey sugars and juice sugars are treated as if they behaved like sucrose in solution. That is an approximation, so take a hydrometer reading once everything has dissolved and record that measured value.

Before you use the result

  • Enter the total volume after every addition has dissolved.
  • Weigh honey and sugar rather than measuring by volume.
  • Confirm the starting gravity with a hydrometer before relying on the estimate.
  • For adults of legal drinking age. This tool describes a drink or batch, not its effect on a person.

A quick learning check

If you add the same honey but make the must up to a larger volume, what happens?

Try a craft decision game →

Sources & further reading

These references explain the methods and limitations. The worked examples and learning questions on this page are BrewMyBeer calculations, not claims of hands-on testing.