SG for meads?

Hi all,
I can't seem to find much of a guide for what the starting specific gravity should be for a moderate mead.

Mine is 1.07 after yeast addition ... seems like that might be a tad low?

Thanks,
Keegan

That's a respectable OG.

What's your recipe?

Don't forget, that unlike ales, a mead will attenuate 100% and end up at 1.000 or lower. That's an ABV of 9%

My peach melomel is now at 0.996!

I just blended up 6 lbs of mangos for a future mead. Instructions I found said to mix it with a honey blend/syrup.

I just added about 1 lb of honey and processed it. Now it's all bagged, measured and in the freezer.

9% ... so pretty mild for a wine... ah well... if I really want I spose I can add some more honey when I move to the secondary...

The recipe... well... you guys will laugh, but we just did this as a "mead making party" ... so 6 of us in my tiny bsmt suite kitchen... 3 pots going... we didn't strictly stick to a recipe. However, we kept it fairly traditional... somewhere over a gallon of honey, some cinnamin sticks, some cloves and a bit of allspice in a hop sock, some black tea, and at the end, the juice of a few lemmons and limes. Then this morning a starter from a Zinfandel yeast smack pak.

Thanks,
Keegan

Will mead in the primary foam up like beer does? It's 12hrs since pitching the starter... it looks like something is settling into the bottom 1-2 inches.. and there is just a teeny bit of scum on the top ..... ?

mrkeeg said:

Hi all,
I can't seem to find much of a guide for what the starting specific gravity should be for a moderate mead.

Mine is 1.07 after yeast addition ... seems like that might be a tad low?

Thanks,
Keegan

Click to expand...

according to the November issues of Brew Your Own, some of the recipes listed have an OG of 1.110, 1.120, 1.095, 1.111, and 1.093.

With a wine yeast you could definately go more honey and it'll still finish below 1000. It'll be dryer, higher in alcohol but harsh - it'll take a lot longer to age out than an ale/cider yeast etc working at a lower OG. Both ways make great meads but it depends how long you want to wait!

Well... the activity has slowed and it's been racked a second time and is finally starting to clear (2.5 months or so have passed). When I tasted it on racking, it is still seems rather sweet. I wonder if this is something that will mellow and balance with time, or... should I add some nutrient and a drier yeast (zinfandel yeast? what was I thinking?), shake it up, warm it up a bit, and see if I can dry it out a bit?

Thanks for your thoughts,
Keegan

in fact, I just measured from the theif, and it's only 1.020. unless the residual peroxide from sanitizing my thief had an effect.

... but there seems to be no more activity... and actuall it tastes alright... for something that sweet...

clarifying very well now.

So... call it done and bottle a sweet mead? Maybe I don't need new yeast... I looked up the zinfandel yeast and it's supposed to tolerate up to 18% abv... but add some nutrient, shake it up, warm it up, and try to push it lower?

Keegan

mrkeeg said:

... but there seems to be no more activity... and actuall it tastes alright... for something that sweet...
clarifying very well now.
So... call it done and bottle a sweet mead?

Click to expand...

Why not if it's clearing well and tastes good! I'd leave it be, clear and bottle it.

Look on the bright side, if something goes wrong and it tastes good... go with it. It could have gone wrong and been horrible.

Well... I still think it would taste better less-sweet. Also... I'd hate to see it re-start the ferment once we bottled it...