Gravity Question

Fritobandito · 10-13-2010, 11:55 PM

I recently planned on making 3 gallons of semi sweet mead. I wasn't thinking right and added 3 gallons of water, which once the honey was added, ended up being 4 gallons. So the 4 gallons of mead had an SG of 1.096. From what I've read this is in the dry mead range. I should have used 12 lbs for 4 gallons but used only 10.

Would adding the 2 extra lbs before fermentation sweeter? I figured I could just add 2 more lbs sometime soon, but then it would just get fermented out. If I did add it before fermentation, wouldn't it just ferment out also. I guess I'm confused on how the extra couple pounds of honey would make it sweeter if it would just get fermented anyway.

**biochemedic** · 10-14-2010, 01:25 AM

Whether or not you have a dry, semi-sweet, or sweet mead will depend on your final gravity, and thus, your residual sugar. So, it really depends on two main things: how much sugar you start with, and your yeast. If you have more sugar than the yeast strain can handle, it will 'poop out' and leave extra sugar behind. If not, it will ferment everything (as you suggested), and you have a dry mead. Learning to balance the starting gravity and yeast strain to end with a particular desired FG is a pretty advanced skill...

The BJCP style guidelines for mead are a good read, and explain generally what gravity readings correspond to which types of meads and residual sweetness levels...
Generally, for the FG (from the same link):

dry 0.990 - 1.010
semi-sweet 1.010 - 1.025
sweet 1.025 - 1.050

If you look at things this way, the level of sweetness is totally independent of the OG...you can have a dry sack mead or a sweet hydromel and vice versa

Now, if you want a semi sweet mead, and you don't plan on trying to have a bottle conditioned sparkling mead, you can just let it go (with or without the extra 2 lbs of honey) and later on stabilize the mead with potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfate (this will prevent the yeast from resuming activity) and then add back some honey prior to bottling...you actually get a lot more control this way, because you can add exactly as much as you need to get the desired level of sweetness to taste...

MedsenFey · 10-14-2010, 01:46 PM

Which yeast are you planning to use?
Even 12 pounds of honey in a 4 gallon batch will be taken dry by most wine yeast.

You'll be better off to ferment it dry, and then stabilize and backsweeten with the remaining 2 pounds of honey so that you can get it just right.

Medsen