Not sure what I made!

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Ordcorpdw

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Long time Beer Brewer until I discovered celiac was what was making life so hard....I gave up on the brewing for awhile. Wanted to jump back in. So I started a batch of Joes Ancient orange. It's almost at the two month mark. Had 2 1/2 lbs of honey left. I cooked it to a darker Amber "bochet" and used another pouch of bread yeast...bubbling stopped in about 3 weeks. Slightly sweet and has a strong orange blossom flavor. Zero alcohol burn. Based on a guess I'm betting 3-4% abv. No hydrometer. But doesn't taste bad for just messing around. Feel very welcome here! Cheers!
 
One pound of honey is about 1 lb of sugar and 1 lb of sugar dissolve din a gallon of water raises the gravity by 40 points. Assuming (and I have no idea as you do not say) that you dissolved the 2.5 lbs of honey in a gallon of water then your starting gravity would have been about 1.090 1.100 or about 12 or 13 % ABV - Bread yeast can ferment 12 % but may have stopped sooner - at say, 9 or 10% ABV... But if you diluted the honey to make 5 or 6 gallons then you need to divide the potential ABV by that same amount... My suggestion is to get yourself an hydrometer - mead makers and wine makers treat that as the essential tool. (and we have no neuroses about returning samples back to the fermenter just as long as our sanitizing protocols are solid (with K-meta we sleep like babies... Brewers seem to shudder and quake at the idea of returning samples but then they use Star -san)
 
Completely agree on the hydrometer...its boxed up somewhere. It was a one gallon batch. Amazed at making something that honestly didn't taste too bad and had some complexity with honey and bread yeast....Joes ancient orange is about ready to transfer off the yeast. Enjoying myself. Thank you for your in depth reply!!
 
Oh and I am guilty....starsan fan and never return the sample! Gotta taste the progress...
 
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