Thunder_Chicken
Well-Known Member
I just put together a 1-gallon batch of simple mead with Montrachet yeast and I think I may have overdone the amount of honey.
The mixture is 3 lbs of clover honey with 3 qts. of water yielding a total volume of 1 gallon. I did not take a hydrometer reading but from the definition of gravity I have 9 lbs of must (3 lbs of honey and 6 lbs of water) occupying the volume normally occupied by 8 lbs of water, so my OG must be 9/8 = 1.125.
I used these amounts as I have read 3 lbs per gallon is a typical amount of honey, but I think this may mean 3 lbs per gallon of water, which would give a gravity of (3 lb + 8lb)/(2 lb + 8lb) more like 1.100.
From what I've heard Montrachet is good up to about 13% ABV and so this amount of honey would leave me with a sweet mead, but perhaps now it will be too sweet. If I had an OG of 1.100 it would finish up with an FG of about 1.010, but with an OG of 1.125 it will peter out at 1.040. That sounds pretty sweet to me as that would be a fair gravity for an ale wort.
This batch is for SWMBO and she likes sweet meads, but I am concerned that this is going to be like drinking honey syrup and perhaps might be overwhelmingly sticky sweet.
If the consensus is that this will be an OK sweet mead then I'll let it ride. Otherwise I'll need to think about what to do with this batch. Options would be to add 1 qt of boiled and cooled water to the must, but then I'll have 1.25 gallons and will need to figure out a new fermenter with appropriate headspace, or maybe repitching with a different yeast once the Montrachet runs its course, or even perhaps bottle-pasteurizing the current must and repitching new yeast. Any thoughts?
The mixture is 3 lbs of clover honey with 3 qts. of water yielding a total volume of 1 gallon. I did not take a hydrometer reading but from the definition of gravity I have 9 lbs of must (3 lbs of honey and 6 lbs of water) occupying the volume normally occupied by 8 lbs of water, so my OG must be 9/8 = 1.125.
I used these amounts as I have read 3 lbs per gallon is a typical amount of honey, but I think this may mean 3 lbs per gallon of water, which would give a gravity of (3 lb + 8lb)/(2 lb + 8lb) more like 1.100.
From what I've heard Montrachet is good up to about 13% ABV and so this amount of honey would leave me with a sweet mead, but perhaps now it will be too sweet. If I had an OG of 1.100 it would finish up with an FG of about 1.010, but with an OG of 1.125 it will peter out at 1.040. That sounds pretty sweet to me as that would be a fair gravity for an ale wort.
This batch is for SWMBO and she likes sweet meads, but I am concerned that this is going to be like drinking honey syrup and perhaps might be overwhelmingly sticky sweet.
If the consensus is that this will be an OK sweet mead then I'll let it ride. Otherwise I'll need to think about what to do with this batch. Options would be to add 1 qt of boiled and cooled water to the must, but then I'll have 1.25 gallons and will need to figure out a new fermenter with appropriate headspace, or maybe repitching with a different yeast once the Montrachet runs its course, or even perhaps bottle-pasteurizing the current must and repitching new yeast. Any thoughts?