I just brewed my first mead. I have only made beer in the past, so my experience using fruit has been limited.
For this wine, I followed the recipe found on page 121 of the Joy of Home Winemaking. This was a recipe for 1 gallon of strawberry mead. I used/8 2 gallons of clove honey, and 4 pounds of ripe strawberries.
I cleaned and destemmed the strawberries, then put then into a nylon bag and thoroughly mashed them by hand in the bottom of the fermentor. I boiled the honey into about 7/8 gallons of water, then poured the still hot water over top of the strawberries. I stirred everything up very thoroughly with a spoon. After adding the chemicals, I let everything sit for about 36 hours before pitching the yeast.
Right before pitching the yeast, I took a gravity reading at 66 degrees F. I was really surprised to find what I would consider a ridiculously low SG of 1.060.
I am trying to figure out how I could have ended up with such a low SG. The honey alone, according to Palmer's How to Brew, should have added 38 ppg per pound, for a total closer to 1.080.
Any ideas? I had a couple of thoughts, but none of them seem like a full explanation:
First, the mashed strawberries added a lot of liquid volume so the total was closer to 1.25 gallons. However, I would assume all the sugar in the stawberries would, if nothing else, at least prevent any total decrease in the SG.
Second, I didn't stir immediately before taking SG reading. However, I stirred vigorously at least 3 times in the previous 36 hours and am positive the honey was fully dissolved.
Third, could the floating bits of fruit have had some effect?
Honestly, I was expecting a SG closer to 1.100-120. I am baffled by my low reading. What gives?
For this wine, I followed the recipe found on page 121 of the Joy of Home Winemaking. This was a recipe for 1 gallon of strawberry mead. I used/8 2 gallons of clove honey, and 4 pounds of ripe strawberries.
I cleaned and destemmed the strawberries, then put then into a nylon bag and thoroughly mashed them by hand in the bottom of the fermentor. I boiled the honey into about 7/8 gallons of water, then poured the still hot water over top of the strawberries. I stirred everything up very thoroughly with a spoon. After adding the chemicals, I let everything sit for about 36 hours before pitching the yeast.
Right before pitching the yeast, I took a gravity reading at 66 degrees F. I was really surprised to find what I would consider a ridiculously low SG of 1.060.
I am trying to figure out how I could have ended up with such a low SG. The honey alone, according to Palmer's How to Brew, should have added 38 ppg per pound, for a total closer to 1.080.
Any ideas? I had a couple of thoughts, but none of them seem like a full explanation:
First, the mashed strawberries added a lot of liquid volume so the total was closer to 1.25 gallons. However, I would assume all the sugar in the stawberries would, if nothing else, at least prevent any total decrease in the SG.
Second, I didn't stir immediately before taking SG reading. However, I stirred vigorously at least 3 times in the previous 36 hours and am positive the honey was fully dissolved.
Third, could the floating bits of fruit have had some effect?
Honestly, I was expecting a SG closer to 1.100-120. I am baffled by my low reading. What gives?
