Sugar vs honey

[odorf]

what are their advantages for using honey over sugar in making wine?

i would like to experiment on the next batch of fig/fruit wine

by using honey. will the taste be different?

how is it measured ? is a cup of sugar a cup of honey ?

 

[bernardsmith]

The use of honey makes the wine a mead and a fruit mead is called a melomel. Honey does change the flavor and not always for the best. I often make an elderflower wine and last summer made an elderflower mead (a metheglin) - the flavor of the elderflowers was somewhat masked by the honey.
Easiest way to measure honey for meadmaking is to measure by weight. One pound of honey when dissolved to make 1 gallon of mead will have a gravity of about 1.040. However, another way of "measuring" out the honey:water mix is to use ratios - so many meads are based on 1 part honey to 4 parts water, or 1 part honey to 3 parts water or 1 part honey to 5 parts water... 1 pt of honey weighs 1.5 lbs so a 1: 3 ratio might be 3 lbs of honey in 6 pints of water (tot = 1 gallon) which will give you a gravity of about 1.120 or about 16% ABV... My personal preference is closer to 1.090 (about 12% ABV)

 

[odorf]

The use of honey makes the wine a mead and a fruit mead is called a melomel. Honey does change the flavor and not always for the best. I often make an elderflower wine and last summer made an elderflower mead (a metheglin) - the flavor of the elderflowers was somewhat masked by the honey.
Easiest way to measure honey for meadmaking is to measure by weight. One pound of honey when dissolved to make 1 gallon of mead will have a gravity of about 1.040. However, another way of "measuring" out the honey:water mix is to use ratios - so many meads are based on 1 part honey to 4 parts water, or 1 part honey to 3 parts water or 1 part honey to 5 parts water... 1 pt of honey weighs 1.5 lbs so a 1: 3 ratio might be 3 lbs of honey in 6 pints of water (tot = 1 gallon) which will give you a gravity of about 1.120 or about 16% ABV... My personal preference is closer to 1.090 (about 12% ABV)

I am starting to figure that out. i made some cider at 16abv..thinking,,oh hell yeah.more is better. I think the alochol over powers the taste. hmmm, need to rethink. and go for taste instead of rocket fuel
the fig wine I just made. granted it has not been long enough to develop its own flavor. seems to be weak in the fig flavor. very suddle
so, maybe making another batch with honey might help.

also am wondering if i used enough figs, i used 6 pounds to 2 1/2 gallons water

 

[bernardsmith]

Not everyone on this forum agrees but in my opinion grape wine makers have the right idea. They do not add water to dilute flavor which is what happens - typically - when you add water rather than express or extract juice. I think you may want to use 6 lbs of fruit per gallon rather than about 2.4 lbs of fruit per gallon. When I made strawberry wine I used 10 lbs of fruit per gallon.
Here's my test - if the must (the juice prior to pitching yeast) tastes too fruit poor to enjoy then the wine won't make it taste any better... simply adding sugar to boost the alcohol does not a thing for the flavor...

 

[odorf]

Not everyone on this forum agrees but in my opinion grape wine makers have the right idea. They do not add water to dilute flavor which is what happens - typically - when you add water rather than express or extract juice. I think you may want to use 6 lbs of fruit per gallon rather than about 2.4 lbs of fruit per gallon. When I made strawberry wine I used 10 lbs of fruit per gallon.
Here's my test - if the must (the juice prior to pitching yeast) tastes too fruit poor to enjoy then the wine won't make it taste any better... simply adding sugar to boost the alcohol does not a thing for the flavor...

i have approx 9 pounds of fruit left, i will try it with 2 gallons water and see what happens