fusa
Senior Member
What is a good OG for a sweet mead? I am about to start a sweet mead, using 3 quarts of honey and 7 quarts of water using White Labs sweet mead yeast. If I am correct the OG should be around 1.125.
OG for Sweet mead
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Thats a pretty high OG. Even if you stop it fermenting at 1.030, which is pretty heavy and sweet, it will still be about 12.5%abv. If you tone down the sweetness you can ferment to a lighter FG and your yeast will have a little less trouble starting as heavy as 1.125. If you start at say 1.08 and go to 1.015 you wont have the same abv but it will ferment faster.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
How many POUNDS of honey are you talking about?? That's how you typically enter honey amounts in, since volume is next to useless with honey...
Trying to figure it out for you, since 1 gallon of honey is 12# (normally), that would be about 9# of honey with 2.25 gallons of water... Are you looking to make a 3 gallon batch size here? Looks like it... Your OG should be about 1.108 with that concentration level. Only way to know, for certain, is to take an SG reading once it's mixed up...
Personally, I've never used yeast specifically claiming to be for mead... I've had excellent results using Lalvin strains (wine yeast, since mead IS honey WINE)... If you're looking for something in the ~14% ABV range, D47 and 71B-1122 are both solid choices.
I would suggest having an extra pound, or two, on hand for once fermentation is finished. You might need to add a touch more honey when it's finished. It's also far better to ferment drier and need to add some honey to it, than to try and go to a desired FG... I've tried it, it's not easy at all...
I would start with 8-9# of honey, for a 3 gallon total volume batch. If you want, mix it up, check the OG, if it's above 1.110 (or at 1.110) I would add a bit more water to get it just under 1.110 (1.104 would be better). You can pull off the extra inside the fermenter once it's diluted (if you need the space). You can use that to top off the batch as it ferments and you pull samples.
Keep in mind, the WL yeast lists it's tolerance at 15%, which means you'll need closer to 10# of honey in order to get it to ferment fully and not be dry...
Personally, I'd rather spend <$2 for a packet of Lalvin yeast, than at least $6 for the WL yeast... Gives you more money to spend on honey.
Trying to figure it out for you, since 1 gallon of honey is 12# (normally), that would be about 9# of honey with 2.25 gallons of water... Are you looking to make a 3 gallon batch size here? Looks like it... Your OG should be about 1.108 with that concentration level. Only way to know, for certain, is to take an SG reading once it's mixed up...
Personally, I've never used yeast specifically claiming to be for mead... I've had excellent results using Lalvin strains (wine yeast, since mead IS honey WINE)... If you're looking for something in the ~14% ABV range, D47 and 71B-1122 are both solid choices.
I would suggest having an extra pound, or two, on hand for once fermentation is finished. You might need to add a touch more honey when it's finished. It's also far better to ferment drier and need to add some honey to it, than to try and go to a desired FG... I've tried it, it's not easy at all...
I would start with 8-9# of honey, for a 3 gallon total volume batch. If you want, mix it up, check the OG, if it's above 1.110 (or at 1.110) I would add a bit more water to get it just under 1.110 (1.104 would be better). You can pull off the extra inside the fermenter once it's diluted (if you need the space). You can use that to top off the batch as it ferments and you pull samples.
Keep in mind, the WL yeast lists it's tolerance at 15%, which means you'll need closer to 10# of honey in order to get it to ferment fully and not be dry...
Personally, I'd rather spend <$2 for a packet of Lalvin yeast, than at least $6 for the WL yeast... Gives you more money to spend on honey.
OP
OP
fusa
Senior Member
Yes its about 9 lbs of honey, sorry I buy the honey by the quart locally. I was going to do about 2.5 gallons, that why I was using 7 quarts of water. But if 1.110 is better OG then I will reduce the honey some.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
I misread the water volume then... For some reason it interpreted it as being 9qts/2.25 gallons...
For a 2.5 gallon batch I would start with about 7# of honey... That should get the OG to 1.100. You might need to mix up more honey and waster to get the OG where it will work out well.
Personally, for my next batch of mead, I'll be making a ~3 gallon batch starting in my 5 gallon glass carboy. That will give me the head space I need, and also allow it to go as needed. I'll have a way to extract samples by then, that will be able to reach in that far. Or I'll just give it enough DAP at the start for the entire run and set it and forget it for a few months. Then start racking into 3 gallon carboys to get it to clear up before aging it for several months.
If this is your first mead rodeo, I would recommend reading up on the Got Mead? site for info... I would not heat the honey up (or the must) when making it. Read the forums there, to get even more info... Post up if you have questions there (that have not already been asked, and answered) and you'll get solid help... It's where I went before starting my initial batches.
For a 2.5 gallon batch I would start with about 7# of honey... That should get the OG to 1.100. You might need to mix up more honey and waster to get the OG where it will work out well.
Personally, for my next batch of mead, I'll be making a ~3 gallon batch starting in my 5 gallon glass carboy. That will give me the head space I need, and also allow it to go as needed. I'll have a way to extract samples by then, that will be able to reach in that far. Or I'll just give it enough DAP at the start for the entire run and set it and forget it for a few months. Then start racking into 3 gallon carboys to get it to clear up before aging it for several months.
If this is your first mead rodeo, I would recommend reading up on the Got Mead? site for info... I would not heat the honey up (or the must) when making it. Read the forums there, to get even more info... Post up if you have questions there (that have not already been asked, and answered) and you'll get solid help... It's where I went before starting my initial batches.
GinKings
Well-Known Member
I think 9 lbs of honey in a 2.5 gallon batch is fine. Honey varies, but the OG will be around 1.129. Wine yeast should be fine with that. A wine yeast, such as D47, should get you in the the ballpark and leave some residual sweetness.
Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
I see 9# in 2.5 gallons total volume as being too high as a starting point. Better to get the OG to under 1.100 for a ~14% ABV batch target, and be able to let it be sweet. Trying to get a batch to ferment to a FG goal is NOT an easy thing to do with mead. Especially if you just dump a bunch of honey in, thinking you'll hit a specific OG. For all you know, there could be more sugar in that batch of honey, and you'll be far over your OG goal. Meaning you'll have MUCH sweeter mead than you wanted.
IMO, starting off with a lower OG gives you more flexibility. For one thing, you can let it ferment to dry, then add honey until it stops fermenting, then add a little more at a time until you're close to your target. I would also let it be drier than you want it for drinking. When it ages (best to do this in bulk, so don't bottle too soon) you'll get more sweetness in the batch. Tasting it will reveal all.
I would also plan on having it in bulk form for at least 6-9 months before looking to bottle it up. This also allows you to make adjustments as you wish... Once it's in bottles, you're not going to be able to tweak the batch. At least not nearly as easily as when it's in bulk.
BTW, I would also plan on giving it a solid month, or two, fermentation time. You could need more time than that before it's actually hit the FG. If you go with the full 9# of honey, it might end up having a FG of ~1.025... That's above the 'sweet' range and into 'desert' range... IF that's your goal, fine... I just think it's smarter to go drier and add honey to get to where you want, than pray the yeast ferments fully, from a HIGH OG... You might not even get to 1.025, you could bottom out at 1.030. At that point, you're in a rough place.
Oh, and an OG of 1.129 could go to over 18% ABV since mead can very often finish in the .990-.998 range...
I can see starting low and then going high making more sense, as the yeast tends to get 'shocked' if you start high. thus you get a loweer ABV because it quits sooner.
jfulton, you are already on the right track because you are using the gravity as a target and not a specific volume OR weight of honey. For predictability and repeatability, using the hydrometer to guide your amounts is the best approach - so you are already ahead of the game. For the record, many recipes call for honey by volume, and 12 pounds per gallon is a useful estimate for weight that works quite well for making conversions so don't feel bad.
Most wine yeast are perfectly happy starting at a gravity of 1.125 - that isn't too high. I don't start worrying about extra measures for high-gravity fermentations unless the gravity is above 1.130. So there is no need to start a lot lower for the sake of the yeast.
Now the choice of yeast is open. I'm not a big fan of the white labs sweet mead yeast though it is better than the Wyeast version. You definitely don't need a "Mead Yeast." The wine yeast work better in my opinion. One of the easiest and best for a mead is 71B with an ABV tolerance of 14%. ICV-D47 (14%) is another good choice. I'm quite partial to K1V which has an ABV tolerance of 18%.
It usually is not too difficult to get most yeast to their ABV tolerance, though it can be unpredictable, and they can sometimes even go higher than expected. For this reason, picking a starting gravity, and choosing a yeast still leaves you with a lot of room for variability in the result. So if you start with a gravity of 1.125 and use a yeast that has 14% ABV tolerance you'd expect it to ferment around 105 point and it should leave you with a gravity of 1.020. However, it could be 1.015 or 1.025 quite easily and the difference would be quite dramatic.
If you know exactly where you want it, aiming for a target may be okay, but since each honey has a different balance that means you may find you like the sweetness at different levels. What's more, what tastes semi-sweet to me, may taste syrupy and cloying to you, so picking a number based on what someone else said tastes sweet may not work. The numbers also don't take into account the acid/tannins in a recipe, so while 1.020 might be dessert sweet for some things - I've had other recipes that didn't begin taste sweet until a gravity close to 1.045. The bottom line is you may not be able to tell in advance where it will taste best to you (I know I can't do it with a new recipe). That's where back-sweetening comes in.
I would strongly discourage you from following the suggestion above to keep adding honey a little at a time until the yeast poop-out. That is a process known as "step-feeding." It can push the yeast beyond their normal ABV tolerance, but in doing so, may create some harsh, fusel, and "off" odors/tastes. While honey will cover a multitude of fermentation sins, I find this approach less than satisfactory.
Instead, I like to stabilize and backsweeten. This means I will pick an ABV level that I want - for traditional meads, I prefer them around 12% which is a level that I find easier to balance. I find they tend to be too "hot" at 14%. So I will pick a starting gravity that will produce about 12% (say around 1.095) and I will allow it to ferment bone dry. Then I let it clear, and I'll add the combination of Sorbate and Sulfite to inhibit the yeast. After that I can add honey a little at at time while tasting it to get the level of sweetness to the exact point where I think it tastes best (though it is usually best to go a little below that point as meads tend to taste a little sweeter with aging). This approach really allows you to get it where it has the most balanced taste according to your taste buds, and your taste buds do know best. A lot of great, award-winning meads get made this way.
Good luck with yours.
Medsen
Edit - one other tidbit. A healthy, well-managed mead fermentation should be complete in 14-21 days in all but extreme cases.
Most wine yeast are perfectly happy starting at a gravity of 1.125 - that isn't too high. I don't start worrying about extra measures for high-gravity fermentations unless the gravity is above 1.130. So there is no need to start a lot lower for the sake of the yeast.
Now the choice of yeast is open. I'm not a big fan of the white labs sweet mead yeast though it is better than the Wyeast version. You definitely don't need a "Mead Yeast." The wine yeast work better in my opinion. One of the easiest and best for a mead is 71B with an ABV tolerance of 14%. ICV-D47 (14%) is another good choice. I'm quite partial to K1V which has an ABV tolerance of 18%.
It usually is not too difficult to get most yeast to their ABV tolerance, though it can be unpredictable, and they can sometimes even go higher than expected. For this reason, picking a starting gravity, and choosing a yeast still leaves you with a lot of room for variability in the result. So if you start with a gravity of 1.125 and use a yeast that has 14% ABV tolerance you'd expect it to ferment around 105 point and it should leave you with a gravity of 1.020. However, it could be 1.015 or 1.025 quite easily and the difference would be quite dramatic.
If you know exactly where you want it, aiming for a target may be okay, but since each honey has a different balance that means you may find you like the sweetness at different levels. What's more, what tastes semi-sweet to me, may taste syrupy and cloying to you, so picking a number based on what someone else said tastes sweet may not work. The numbers also don't take into account the acid/tannins in a recipe, so while 1.020 might be dessert sweet for some things - I've had other recipes that didn't begin taste sweet until a gravity close to 1.045. The bottom line is you may not be able to tell in advance where it will taste best to you (I know I can't do it with a new recipe). That's where back-sweetening comes in.
I would strongly discourage you from following the suggestion above to keep adding honey a little at a time until the yeast poop-out. That is a process known as "step-feeding." It can push the yeast beyond their normal ABV tolerance, but in doing so, may create some harsh, fusel, and "off" odors/tastes. While honey will cover a multitude of fermentation sins, I find this approach less than satisfactory.
Instead, I like to stabilize and backsweeten. This means I will pick an ABV level that I want - for traditional meads, I prefer them around 12% which is a level that I find easier to balance. I find they tend to be too "hot" at 14%. So I will pick a starting gravity that will produce about 12% (say around 1.095) and I will allow it to ferment bone dry. Then I let it clear, and I'll add the combination of Sorbate and Sulfite to inhibit the yeast. After that I can add honey a little at at time while tasting it to get the level of sweetness to the exact point where I think it tastes best (though it is usually best to go a little below that point as meads tend to taste a little sweeter with aging). This approach really allows you to get it where it has the most balanced taste according to your taste buds, and your taste buds do know best. A lot of great, award-winning meads get made this way.
Good luck with yours.
Medsen
Edit - one other tidbit. A healthy, well-managed mead fermentation should be complete in 14-21 days in all but extreme cases.
OP
OP
fusa
Senior Member
Just as a follow up, I bottled the mead I made following the advice in this thread. It already tastes great, very pleased with the outcome.
bcobbold
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Regarding high OG's, from personal experience, i have made (and am making another batch) of traditional style blossom honey sweet 'sackOmel' mead at high alc level. (extra honey and fruit)
My OG was 1.3 due to the 30lb of honey for 5 gallons. Usually this is far too much for most yeasts, but i use 8g of Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast which is a high alc tolerance and wide temp range tolerance brand. It does require a nice nutirent mix, which in my case is always a non chemical method using 1/2 a cup of molasses, orange juice and peel, unrefined cane sugar raisins and pitted dates. The yeast is a slow starter, but it is bubbling away nicely now.
My OG was 1.3 due to the 30lb of honey for 5 gallons. Usually this is far too much for most yeasts, but i use 8g of Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast which is a high alc tolerance and wide temp range tolerance brand. It does require a nice nutirent mix, which in my case is always a non chemical method using 1/2 a cup of molasses, orange juice and peel, unrefined cane sugar raisins and pitted dates. The yeast is a slow starter, but it is bubbling away nicely now.
I made my first mead about six months ago, bottled it and drank some yesterday.
I didn't measure the gravity at all, can you guys help me in calculating an approximation of what the ABV is, or point me to some tool I could use to get the numbers?
I used 7.5 lbs of honey, fermented in my LBK holding 2.25 gallons, with Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast.
I didn't measure the gravity at all, can you guys help me in calculating an approximation of what the ABV is, or point me to some tool I could use to get the numbers?
I used 7.5 lbs of honey, fermented in my LBK holding 2.25 gallons, with Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast.
No, not really. It really depends on the sugar content in your honey and how much (low) it fermented.
We can guess. If it's a 2 gallon batch (?) then the OG might have been around 1.110. But without knowing what it is now means that it could be done at .990 or at 1.040 if it finished (stalled) early. If it's not cloyingly sweet, it is probably lower than 1.020. That means somewhere between about 17% ABV and 12% ABV, maybe.
If you take a reading now, it would still be a guess (since we don't know where it started), but it would be a closer guess.
Thanks.
I know it would be an approximation. I mostly want an estimate of what the OG was, and I found the sticky with a calculator for that, just a minute ago.
Then I was going to use the average attenuation % of the yeast I used to make an estimate.
I might take a FG reading too.
Thanks a lot.
I know it would be an approximation. I mostly want an estimate of what the OG was, and I found the sticky with a calculator for that, just a minute ago.
Then I was going to use the average attenuation % of the yeast I used to make an estimate.
I might take a FG reading too.
Thanks a lot.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
Wine yeasts attenuate 100 percent because glucose and fructose are completely fermentable and honey is essentially comprised of those simple sugars. Wine yeasts are classified (amongst other things) by tolerance for alcohol concentrations. I believe 71B has a published tolerance of 14% ABV, which means that it can completely ferment a mead (ie produce a final gravity of below 1.000 - perhaps as low as 0.996) that has a starting gravity of about 1.110 but at significantly higher sugar concentrations it is likely to croak before the density of the mead approaches 1.000.
Cool, thanks. Can I describe my method and if you have further comments, share them please? Thanks!
I read Schramm's book and basically did what he says to do for the first, simplest recipe, but scaled down to fit in a Mr Beer LBK and using honey in weights my LHBS sells.
So I heated bottled water and dissolved 7.5 lbs of honey in it on the stove. I dumped that into the LBK with yeast nutrient and energizer (don't remember amounts but whatever the common BSG product says to do on the label), stirred it a bunch to aerate as much as possible, poured more cold bottled spring water in to fill it up to about 2.125 gal (using an LBK, remember - holds roughly 8.5 quarts with some headspace), stirred some more, pitched the rehydrated yeast pack.
I let it sit for about 6 months. Didn't do anything else to it. Watched the same fermentation cycle as a carboy of beer, basically, but on a slower time scale. After a month or two the yeast had dropped out a lot, and the mead was very clear.
I've never made mead and only drank it a few times (just some samples on the last night of the NHC, left over from the judging, a couple months ago, I bet you had some too, Yooper!). So I don't know how dry it is compared to other meads, but it seems fully attenuated, to me. I'm not a mead pro, but I am a recognized BJCP and I feel like I have a decent palate for recognizing these characteristics, at least in beer...
It tastes great, nice body, sweet but not super sweet, tastes about the same as the meads I had that night at NHC, as far as residual sugar/sweetness.
Formula in the sticky here in the mead forum gives me 1.12 OG, so I'm estimating it got down to at least 13%, maybe pushed the limit of the yeast to 14%. I'm gonna call it 13% if my buddies ask. That's reasonably accurate, probably, right?
Thanks again!
I read Schramm's book and basically did what he says to do for the first, simplest recipe, but scaled down to fit in a Mr Beer LBK and using honey in weights my LHBS sells.
So I heated bottled water and dissolved 7.5 lbs of honey in it on the stove. I dumped that into the LBK with yeast nutrient and energizer (don't remember amounts but whatever the common BSG product says to do on the label), stirred it a bunch to aerate as much as possible, poured more cold bottled spring water in to fill it up to about 2.125 gal (using an LBK, remember - holds roughly 8.5 quarts with some headspace), stirred some more, pitched the rehydrated yeast pack.
I let it sit for about 6 months. Didn't do anything else to it. Watched the same fermentation cycle as a carboy of beer, basically, but on a slower time scale. After a month or two the yeast had dropped out a lot, and the mead was very clear.
I've never made mead and only drank it a few times (just some samples on the last night of the NHC, left over from the judging, a couple months ago, I bet you had some too, Yooper!). So I don't know how dry it is compared to other meads, but it seems fully attenuated, to me. I'm not a mead pro, but I am a recognized BJCP and I feel like I have a decent palate for recognizing these characteristics, at least in beer...
It tastes great, nice body, sweet but not super sweet, tastes about the same as the meads I had that night at NHC, as far as residual sugar/sweetness.
Formula in the sticky here in the mead forum gives me 1.12 OG, so I'm estimating it got down to at least 13%, maybe pushed the limit of the yeast to 14%. I'm gonna call it 13% if my buddies ask. That's reasonably accurate, probably, right?
Thanks again!
13% ABV is as good a guess as any. I've seen champagne yeast go to 18% + in a happy fermentation, and I've seen it stall at 11% so it's hard to say. Your yeast strain generally goes to 14% or so, but I"ve seen it stall early and I've also seen it push 16%.
If you like it, that's a great thing so it doesn't really matter. If you really want to know, you could take an SG now and that would give you a very good guess.
I don't drink too many meads, but Meridian Hive from Texas is a great one. It was founded by Saccharomyces on this forum, and on club night I spent quite a bit of time in the Zealots' booth, drinking his private stash behind the booth. If you saw Martin Brungard and me sucking down mead, that is where we were!
If you like it, that's a great thing so it doesn't really matter. If you really want to know, you could take an SG now and that would give you a very good guess.
I don't drink too many meads, but Meridian Hive from Texas is a great one. It was founded by Saccharomyces on this forum, and on club night I spent quite a bit of time in the Zealots' booth, drinking his private stash behind the booth. If you saw Martin Brungard and me sucking down mead, that is where we were!
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
Honey will mix very well in cold water so you don't need/want to heat the honey unless you want to blow off the volatile flavor molecules. You can warm the honey in the jars to help make the honey flow better but I think the idea of heating the water was from a time when the water carried all kinds of life threatening organisms. Cannot imagine that in South California , today, that drinking water needs to be routinely boiled.
That said, I would think that a starting gravity of 1.120 will give you about 15 or 16 % ABV ( SG * 131 = potential ABV).
You mentioned that you allowed the mead to age in the LBK for 6 months with significant headroom... I believe that mead is less susceptible to oxidation but it is still susceptible. You may want to rack the mead into a carboys with less headroom than the LBK after a few weeks of fermentation. I tend to ferment in large buckets and when the gravity drops to around 1.005 I rack to an appropriately sized carboy and then rack every 60 -90 days to remove the mead from the lees - which, depending on the yeast, can result in off flavors and aromas... But your experience may be quite different.
That said, I would think that a starting gravity of 1.120 will give you about 15 or 16 % ABV ( SG * 131 = potential ABV).
You mentioned that you allowed the mead to age in the LBK for 6 months with significant headroom... I believe that mead is less susceptible to oxidation but it is still susceptible. You may want to rack the mead into a carboys with less headroom than the LBK after a few weeks of fermentation. I tend to ferment in large buckets and when the gravity drops to around 1.005 I rack to an appropriately sized carboy and then rack every 60 -90 days to remove the mead from the lees - which, depending on the yeast, can result in off flavors and aromas... But your experience may be quite different.
In addition to headspace, try to rack off of the lees after about 60 days (or earlier if there are a lot) to avoid some off-flavors. Some of the best meads I've had have pretty quick (but rigorous) fermentation schedules. They still need to be moved off of the lees, but things like degassing and nutrients make a big difference.
I'm gonna go home and take a FG reading. At first I didn't want to use a hydrometer but I remembered I have a refractometer (silly me!) and it isn't like wasting wort in a flask/hydrometer anyway, since I can just drink it up right away at a pretty good serving temp anyway.
Also, this was my first batch, all my carboys were full six months ago when I brewed it and I partly just wanted to use all my fermenting space, which had just enough volume left to fit an LBK. I know it isn't the best fermentor (possibly even the plastic walls are somewhat permeable to oxygen, so I've heard, but who really knows?) but it was just a quick, first, 'learning' batch so I wasn't too worried about it. Yes, I like it, so I'm happy.
Thanks for all the comments!
Also, this was my first batch, all my carboys were full six months ago when I brewed it and I partly just wanted to use all my fermenting space, which had just enough volume left to fit an LBK. I know it isn't the best fermentor (possibly even the plastic walls are somewhat permeable to oxygen, so I've heard, but who really knows?) but it was just a quick, first, 'learning' batch so I wasn't too worried about it. Yes, I like it, so I'm happy.
Thanks for all the comments!
I wouldn't bother with a refractometer reading- the reading is useless without a good OG reading and correction formulas for alcohol- so you could take a hydrometer reading and then drink the sample. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with a refractometer reading that won't tell you anything.
bzwyatt, what you do is pour yourself a glass and float the hydrometer in that. (ok, test vessel and pour that into a glass).
Given you said it was sweet, and given that a typical number from honey is about 37 or 38 ppg, you probably started with an og around that 1.120 and finished in then 1.010 to 1.020 range. and have that 13 to 14%.
but as already said, your mileage may very. And welcome to the mead insanity.
Given you said it was sweet, and given that a typical number from honey is about 37 or 38 ppg, you probably started with an og around that 1.120 and finished in then 1.010 to 1.020 range. and have that 13 to 14%.
but as already said, your mileage may very. And welcome to the mead insanity.
WOW! I'm confused about the scale on a "Refractometer"
Using the Refractometer-Calculator on the Northern Brewer website- in comparison to a Refractometer Scale,
I see that a Pre-fermentation measured Brix of '26' is a gravity of '1.11
(matches the scale)
Then on the next part of the calculator-
Original Brix of '26' to Current Brix of '12' provides a current gravity of '1.01'
BUT ON THE SCALE a Brix of 12 is more like '1.05' gravity and
ON THE SCALE...a '1.01' gravity is about a '3' Brix
I do understand that SG is not accurate on the Refractometer scale after fermentation begins so I guess my question is...
Can I use the Brix reading on the scale of a refractometer after fermentation has begun,
IS THE BRIX READING FROM THE SCALE ON THE REFRACTOMETER ACCURATE (using the calculator to determine SG) DURING AND AFTER FERMENTATION?
Thanks, TK
After much research on this site I have found the answer to my question.
There are various spreadsheet's and calculators that will help determine gravity during and after fermentation (when using a refractometer).
Many have used the More Beer calculator with good comparison, and I have found another (with a lot of research and other information) that may be of interest.
The website is http://seanterrill.com/2011/04/07/refractometer-fg-results/
The two sites do not provide identical results but similar...
On More Beer-
Original Brix of 23
Apparent Brix of 12
Actual SG 1.019
On Seans calculator- (also provided with Wort correction factor, etc.)
Original Brix of 23
Final Brix of 12
Refractometer FG Correlations
Old Cubit 1.072
New Cubit 1.0204 > ABV 9.2%
New Linear 1.0214
He goes into great detail about his research and findings that is very compelling.
A quote from the site...
Interestingly, the linear correlation is more accurate than the cubic, albeit slightly less precise.
Any thoughts on this would be great!
I will also try to post some comparative results of my own when I get to final SG's from my first batch.
I will also start a new thread with this info for those specifically looking for this information.
Cheers, TK
There are various spreadsheet's and calculators that will help determine gravity during and after fermentation (when using a refractometer).
Many have used the More Beer calculator with good comparison, and I have found another (with a lot of research and other information) that may be of interest.
The website is http://seanterrill.com/2011/04/07/refractometer-fg-results/
The two sites do not provide identical results but similar...
On More Beer-
Original Brix of 23
Apparent Brix of 12
Actual SG 1.019
On Seans calculator- (also provided with Wort correction factor, etc.)
Original Brix of 23
Final Brix of 12
Refractometer FG Correlations
Old Cubit 1.072
New Cubit 1.0204 > ABV 9.2%
New Linear 1.0214
He goes into great detail about his research and findings that is very compelling.
A quote from the site...
Interestingly, the linear correlation is more accurate than the cubic, albeit slightly less precise.
Any thoughts on this would be great!
I will also try to post some comparative results of my own when I get to final SG's from my first batch.
I will also start a new thread with this info for those specifically looking for this information.
Cheers, TK
MICHAEL GENTILE
Cruiserg
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- Feb 15, 2018
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Your og should be 1.126. Using 14% ABV tolerant yeast, fg should be 1.019. This will be sweet. 14%÷131=107 gravity points . Be aware. Your yeast may consume more than the prophesized gravity points. My latest melomel , using lalvin 71b-1122 has gone through 124 points in a week!
JDWebb
Well-Known Member
Just food for thought... I'm in the aging stage of a port mead I started at 1.170+, was a pain coaxing it to start but now it's just shy of 20%ABV and it's not overly sweet, more like a nice port.
