But what's the point if it don't sink till u pitch the yeast? I'm a noob I still got so much to learn.
So you'd mix the must up, then before you add anything that might affect the measurement of original gravity (fruit pulp or any other type of particulates etc) you'd take a gravity reading so you know where it's starting at.
Most hydrometers are marked from 0.980 to about 1.150. If you dumped they device into the must and it's sitting at 1.150, then you're sure as hell informed that the must is gonna struggle to start fermenting.
Remember that wine yeast is likely to max out at about the 18% ABV mark (there's some that go above that and some can be "forced" stronger - generally with just fermentation 18% is generally the upper limit with a few exceptions).
18% ABV equates to 133 points gravity drop, whereas 1.000 up to 1.150 equates to 20.38% ABV and the logical extreme (seeing as a hydrometer marked from 1.150 down to 0.980) is 23.09% ABV, which is 170 points drop.
The stronger the brew (or the greedier the brewer or more weird their fantasy land
) the harder it is too achieve with just regular techniques of fermentation.
So you need to take a measurement before pitch......
It also means that once you've pitched the yeast you can monitor it's progress and know where it's at for some of the stages of fermentation management (staggered nutrient addition etc).
One of the quickest ways of lowering your learning curve is research. One of the best places to learn is the
Gotmead NewBee guide. Sure it's a bit of a read but it answers the vast majority of new mead maker questions - others you might think of ? well that's what the forums are for.........
