Hey all,
I've got my 2nd batch of mead going right now. It's a standard JAOM in a 6.5 gallon carboy. I've left plenty of room for expansion (It's sitting at about 5 gallons right now) but my plan is to add water to get it to 6 gallons once I'm confident there won't be any more major expansion. I followed the recipe almost exactly - multiplied everything by 5 except the yeast (I used 2 packets) and instead of 17.5 pounds of honey, I used a full 20 pounds because I had the extra honey and knew I'd be adding water to the mix later...
So with that in mind, two questions:
When I add my water (in maybe a week or two?) should I also add the extra pound of honey to get it to a full 21 pounds or should I just top it off with water and let it be? My concern is whether I'm risking that the Fleishman's yeast kicks back into high gear (and over-flows) when the additional honey is added.
I'm guessing that adding water and/or honey midway through will mess with my ABV calculations, but out of curiosity my gravity meter when I pitched read two hash-marks above 1.150. So it sat directly between "1.150" and "40". What is that reading?
Thanks for your help!
Bob
I've got my 2nd batch of mead going right now. It's a standard JAOM in a 6.5 gallon carboy. I've left plenty of room for expansion (It's sitting at about 5 gallons right now) but my plan is to add water to get it to 6 gallons once I'm confident there won't be any more major expansion. I followed the recipe almost exactly - multiplied everything by 5 except the yeast (I used 2 packets) and instead of 17.5 pounds of honey, I used a full 20 pounds because I had the extra honey and knew I'd be adding water to the mix later...
So with that in mind, two questions:
When I add my water (in maybe a week or two?) should I also add the extra pound of honey to get it to a full 21 pounds or should I just top it off with water and let it be? My concern is whether I'm risking that the Fleishman's yeast kicks back into high gear (and over-flows) when the additional honey is added.
I'm guessing that adding water and/or honey midway through will mess with my ABV calculations, but out of curiosity my gravity meter when I pitched read two hash-marks above 1.150. So it sat directly between "1.150" and "40". What is that reading?
Thanks for your help!
Bob