How do i increase the stating gravity for mead....

[jasmar]

Hi,

First post and total newbie to Mead making. I recently made two batches of mead

First batch, 15L water, 6kg of honey, tsp of DAP, 20g of Mangrove Jacks mead yeast. From memory starting gravity was 1.062 if i end up at 1.0 or less. By my calculation it should be about 8.1% acl is that about normal or should it be higher ?

2nd batch, 10L water, 4kg of honey, tsp of DAP, 5g of Lalvin EC-1118. I dint get a gravity reading hence it'll be a surprise.


How do i increase the stating gravity for mead.... more honey and less water ?

 

[VikeMan]

How do i increase the stating gravity for mead.... more honey and less water ?

Precisely. Or you could add sugar as an adjunct, but "more honey less water" is the standard way.

ETA: Looking at your numbers, with a typical honey I would have expected an OG of about 1.093 and about 19 liters of must. I suspect your honey and water were not fully mixed when you took your OG sample. Either that or you had some very dilute honey to start with.

 

[MightyMosin]

How is it with the Mangrove Jack?

Every mead I have tried with it has been a problem with off flavors. Once I had a fermentation that finished short. I have, for now, given up on that yeast.

I'd like to hear about some good results with that particular yeast.