go to homedistillers.org they should have a temp chart on alcohol. to calculate the abv you need a alcometer. i recommend the taller one. it is easier to read.what kind of rig are you using? need to know more about your rig and cooling unit.

a hydrometer is for measuring your wash/mash sg .taking the gravity at the start and end will tell you when the ferment is over and how much alcohol you should get. a alcolmeter tells you abv. what you have described is a alcolmeter. is your column packed? i haven't ever gotten yellow fore shots. i have clipped this from a earlier post.



i have the same setup. leave your hot plate turned all the way up. control the temp through your water. i use a 30 gallon garbage can for my water source. to keep the water cool i use frozen 2 liter soda bottles. i have a digital thermometer. when it chimes 50c i turn on the water and reset the temp to 78c. when it chimes 78c i change the collection jar and then add a 2liter Popsicle and set a timer to 25 minutes. every 25 minutes i add another 2liter Popsicle and change the collection jar. with my rig i just leave the water full speed. i have a separate water pump for both of my lines. i hope this helps. you may want to try a stripping run and then add some baking soda (not baking powder) to your spirit run.
toss what you collect before 78c. when you add the fourth 2liter Popsicle the first will probably be ready to be removed.

hope this helps. happy easter.

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I cant control the temp with water, water only goes trough the coil in the head of mine not the colum and im using a gas cooker for heat. I do have a alcohmeter it read 70 does this mean I 70% abv? my intention was a stripping run, my colum was not packed and the reflux needle valve was closed ."