Weird "Negative" Gravity

[LouisianaMead]

Hello all. I have a question about a strange gravity reading. Just for kicks and giggles, I decided to make a super fast mead--I racked it 3 days afer I started it.

OG = 1.032
Gravity at racking = 1.048

Is it possible for gravity readings to move backwards? I did use honey that was crystalizing. Could this be a factor (Maybe it re-gelatinized)?

Thanks!

 

[Seamonkey84]

If your reading is accurate, then your honey didn’t dissolve completely when you did your first reading.

 

[bernardsmith]

That and two other possibilities - the first is that the temperature on day 3 may have been lower than when you took the earlier gravity reading - the cooler the liquid the more dense it will be (and so the gravity will be higher). The other possibility is that you misread the first reading. What was the total volume and how much honey had you added to the water (?) to create that volume. While it is true that honey varies in the amount of sugars it contains - the variation is not great and so we can perhaps estimate what the actual SG should have been if we know precisely how much honey was involved and what the total volume of must was..

 

[bracconiere]

i doubt a variation in room temp would make a 16 point difference....i'd guess didn't stir enough for first reading....

 

[bracconiere]

Maybe it re-gelatinized)?

i don't think honey 'gel's' like starch....it's just simple sugars with not enough water to dissolve in, not starch that needs to uncoil in hot water....

 

[FunkyMunk]

How much honey and water did you use? You can get a ballpark estimate of what your original gravity should have been at the Meadmakr website. I'm also guessing the honey wasn't completely dissolved initially.