Background on me: About 2-3 years ago I did 2 batches of mead an never brewed anything until now.
I started using Refractometer since this brix thingy does not use up as much mead as that OG thingy..
So I have been recording everything to Brix. Based on this, my latest mead which is celebrating it's 8 day birthday (after pitching) . it was 24 Brix at pitching and now it's 8-9 brix.
Today I started to use my Refractometer to test my other 2 meads and they were 8-9 brix So I freaked and measured Sam Admas Winter Lager I was drinking and it also said 8 brix. (for some strange reason I thought my final gravity should be under 6, so I was freaking out, since everything measures about 8 brix I was pooping brix, wondering if my Refractometer was broken
So I took out my Hydrometers, and I have 2. Sam's G was 1.019 and both of my aged meads had the same reading as cold tap water. zero zilch nada. about 1.000 (+-1 division line).
I have also discovered that those plastic pippets that come with Refractometer, one can order em, they are like a gazzion for a greenback on Amazon.
The new mead, we tasted virgin, it's tart and dry with no off flavors. It needs to clear up a little bit. I remember that 8 day mead tasted good and 2 week old mead needed aging. Anyway, I had to use my beer brewing kettle for fermentation and now I can move it into primary and use my brewing pot for the next batch. I am thinking if I should of adding some black cherry to the mix. I have about 15% alcohol where 18% is the tolerance of the Champagne yeast. Should I order that yeast murdering chemical from amazon and then add add black cherry to sweeten it ?
But Anyways,
This site did a good job confusing me in my computations:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/brix-converter/
This site proved more useful..
http://www.northernbrewer.com/learn/resources/refractometer-calculator/
I started using Refractometer since this brix thingy does not use up as much mead as that OG thingy..
So I have been recording everything to Brix. Based on this, my latest mead which is celebrating it's 8 day birthday (after pitching) . it was 24 Brix at pitching and now it's 8-9 brix.
Today I started to use my Refractometer to test my other 2 meads and they were 8-9 brix So I freaked and measured Sam Admas Winter Lager I was drinking and it also said 8 brix. (for some strange reason I thought my final gravity should be under 6, so I was freaking out, since everything measures about 8 brix I was pooping brix, wondering if my Refractometer was broken
So I took out my Hydrometers, and I have 2. Sam's G was 1.019 and both of my aged meads had the same reading as cold tap water. zero zilch nada. about 1.000 (+-1 division line).
I have also discovered that those plastic pippets that come with Refractometer, one can order em, they are like a gazzion for a greenback on Amazon.
The new mead, we tasted virgin, it's tart and dry with no off flavors. It needs to clear up a little bit. I remember that 8 day mead tasted good and 2 week old mead needed aging. Anyway, I had to use my beer brewing kettle for fermentation and now I can move it into primary and use my brewing pot for the next batch. I am thinking if I should of adding some black cherry to the mix. I have about 15% alcohol where 18% is the tolerance of the Champagne yeast. Should I order that yeast murdering chemical from amazon and then add add black cherry to sweeten it ?
But Anyways,
This site did a good job confusing me in my computations:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/brix-converter/
This site proved more useful..
http://www.northernbrewer.com/learn/resources/refractometer-calculator/
