Second time mazering. I would appreciate it if someone (knowlegable;D) could check these numbers for me -- I'm fairly sure I have it right, but, shall we just say I ain't a number man.
I would like to make three meads: a whomping alchohol dry, and two mid-range alcohols, medium and sweet. I have a pack of Lalvin 71b-1122 and RedStar Pasteur Champagne. And some honey.
Here's where I need the number check:
Recipe 1: The Whomping Dry. RS Champagne Yeast goes to 18% alcohol, I have 4# of Mesquite which I was going to use. If I plug in 1 gallon and 4# into the Mead Making Calculator (MMC), it gives a final alcohol as 18.25%. Since the yeast only goes to 18%, I take the "leftover" .25% and go to the NewBee guide Appendix 6, and, extrapolating from the ABV% column, I see that .25% would give a gravity of about 1.002, which would mean I have a dry mead. I that basically correct?
For the next two recipes I was going to make a starter and propagate the yeast, so I will be using Lalvin 71b-1122 for both which is listed as 14% alcohol tolerance.
Recipe 2: Middle of the Road Squared. According to the "sweetness table," a good final gravity for a medium mead would be 1.010. Checking the Appendix 6 table I see that the alcohol by volume for that would be 1.3%. Since the yeast will quit at 14%, then I add the 1.3% to get 15.3%. Plugging into the MMC 1 Gallon and 15.3% it gives me a starting gravity of 1.118, or about 3.3# of honey. Since I'm not about to weigh out .3 lb of honey, I can just shoot for the gravity. Is all this correct?
Recipe 3: Sweeeet! Same style of calculation as Recipe 2. A finish of around 1.020 is 2.6% alcohol added to the 14% for the yeast gives me 16.6%, plugged into the MMC gives me starting gravity of 1.129 or about 3.6# of honey.
Is I got the concept? :confused2: I understand that the final results will be dependent upon many other factors but you get the idea.
My final question, er, penultimate question: can I really trust the yeast to go to its listed attenuation (given its a "normal" fermention, e.g., not stuck, or messed up, or...), or should I give it a couple percent "wiggle room?" If that is the case, my "dry" could easily end up "medium." Of course I would still drink it. ;D
Final question, I promise: in the Mead Making Calculator, if I add, say, blueberry JUICE, can I just put in the number of ounces, and it will "know" that I'm using juice? Or is it designed to use weight for fruit?
Thanks in advance -- I really did do all the searching, and indeed did find answers, but I'm easily confused!
I would like to make three meads: a whomping alchohol dry, and two mid-range alcohols, medium and sweet. I have a pack of Lalvin 71b-1122 and RedStar Pasteur Champagne. And some honey.
Here's where I need the number check:
Recipe 1: The Whomping Dry. RS Champagne Yeast goes to 18% alcohol, I have 4# of Mesquite which I was going to use. If I plug in 1 gallon and 4# into the Mead Making Calculator (MMC), it gives a final alcohol as 18.25%. Since the yeast only goes to 18%, I take the "leftover" .25% and go to the NewBee guide Appendix 6, and, extrapolating from the ABV% column, I see that .25% would give a gravity of about 1.002, which would mean I have a dry mead. I that basically correct?
For the next two recipes I was going to make a starter and propagate the yeast, so I will be using Lalvin 71b-1122 for both which is listed as 14% alcohol tolerance.
Recipe 2: Middle of the Road Squared. According to the "sweetness table," a good final gravity for a medium mead would be 1.010. Checking the Appendix 6 table I see that the alcohol by volume for that would be 1.3%. Since the yeast will quit at 14%, then I add the 1.3% to get 15.3%. Plugging into the MMC 1 Gallon and 15.3% it gives me a starting gravity of 1.118, or about 3.3# of honey. Since I'm not about to weigh out .3 lb of honey, I can just shoot for the gravity. Is all this correct?
Recipe 3: Sweeeet! Same style of calculation as Recipe 2. A finish of around 1.020 is 2.6% alcohol added to the 14% for the yeast gives me 16.6%, plugged into the MMC gives me starting gravity of 1.129 or about 3.6# of honey.
Is I got the concept? :confused2: I understand that the final results will be dependent upon many other factors but you get the idea.
My final question, er, penultimate question: can I really trust the yeast to go to its listed attenuation (given its a "normal" fermention, e.g., not stuck, or messed up, or...), or should I give it a couple percent "wiggle room?" If that is the case, my "dry" could easily end up "medium." Of course I would still drink it. ;D
Final question, I promise: in the Mead Making Calculator, if I add, say, blueberry JUICE, can I just put in the number of ounces, and it will "know" that I'm using juice? Or is it designed to use weight for fruit?
Thanks in advance -- I really did do all the searching, and indeed did find answers, but I'm easily confused!