Newbie OG Error

Hi everyone,

I am new to homebrewing and have been making mead for about 3 months now. So far I have a JOAM about 3 months in...a strawberry melomel (learned something about the crazy fermentation 3.5lbs of berries will create...oops!) and 2 nights ago I started a "basic" mead...tried to use my hydrometer for the first time and the reading didn't make sense...I know I must have screwed it up, but nonetheless I would like to know what you all think my OG would have been so I can track the progress and calculate my final ABV...here is the recipe I tried:

Just a hair under 3lb of honey...46oz to be exact
zest of half a lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup brewed earl grey tea
water to 1 gal

I had not measured the OG of my first 2 meads and was going to try for the first time on this one...BUT...I forgot to check before I pitched the yeast...well, I remember only about 5 min. later so I assumed it would be about the same as if I had checked before adding the yeast...it read 1.070 which seemed to be very very low for a 3lb to 1 gal basic mead recipe...so two things:

a) based on my recipe what should my OG/potential ABV be? (used lalvin d47 yeast)
b) any ideas on why I would get that reading other than my own ignorance with using the hydrometer? the hydrometer doesnt seem to float either, just sort of stick into the honey bottom like a stick in a muddy stream


Thanks everyone!

greg

I think you just answered your own question...lol.

If the hydrometer got "stuck" to honey on the bottom, that's why the reading is so low. Basically, unless you dissolved all of the honey in, you're not going to get an accurate reading.

Based on the numbers you provided, your "corrected" OG should be around 1.100-1.105, a potential of around 14% ABV. If you haven't already, carefully stir that honey into solution. That should fix your "problem". Just be careful, as violent degassing could cause a nice little foam eruption.

Also, if you just leave the honey on bottom, that's fine too. Just know that the gravity reading won't be accurate.