I was just taking a gravity reading on a batch of mead, which I think is around about the 10% mark at the moment (its my first mead and i think i substituted an imperial gallon for metric, or vice versa, and i didnt have a hydrometer when i started so its all approximate, unfortunatly)
anyways, just after i sealed up the bucket and handed the sample glass to my girlfreind, she promptly leant on the bucket, and the airlock refluxed a couple of drops into the mead.
there is a small cloudy mass in the airlock, though the bulk of that was too far the other way to have refluxed, and i told her i think itl (probably) be ok.
she is a little distressed that she may have 'ruined the mead made for [her]'. i understand its not a good thing, but im hoping the chances of it affecting the mead are slim, and she has said shed feel better if i asked on here.
as a second question, its been quite a slow ferment, and im currently getting a reading of 1.03 which has come down from 1.036 a week or so ago, so it does look like its almost finishing. i put ~1.5 kg of honey in 4.5 litres of water (i calculated it based on 3.5, because im an absent minded imbecile *sigh*) with a teaspoon of youngs yeast nurtient and lalvin rc-212
from what i can get out of the calculator i should have had an estimated sg of 1.1, and an fg of 1.03 would indicate an abv of 9.5% - now, obviously, because i didnt take the reading to begin with, i can only guess, but im now not sure if its finishing at a higher percentage than im estimating (i would have believed someone if theyd told me it was around 12/13% based on taste, i think - i know thats not much to go on) or whether its starting to stall, or just being really slow. it does taste delicious, and frankly, id be more than happy with the taste were it to have either finished or stalled, though presumably if it has stalled id need to stabalise it before bottling to be on the safe side, yes?
i have promised myself to do a proper log next time, so hopefully i wont run into that issue again, lol
anyways, just after i sealed up the bucket and handed the sample glass to my girlfreind, she promptly leant on the bucket, and the airlock refluxed a couple of drops into the mead.
there is a small cloudy mass in the airlock, though the bulk of that was too far the other way to have refluxed, and i told her i think itl (probably) be ok.
she is a little distressed that she may have 'ruined the mead made for [her]'. i understand its not a good thing, but im hoping the chances of it affecting the mead are slim, and she has said shed feel better if i asked on here.
as a second question, its been quite a slow ferment, and im currently getting a reading of 1.03 which has come down from 1.036 a week or so ago, so it does look like its almost finishing. i put ~1.5 kg of honey in 4.5 litres of water (i calculated it based on 3.5, because im an absent minded imbecile *sigh*) with a teaspoon of youngs yeast nurtient and lalvin rc-212
from what i can get out of the calculator i should have had an estimated sg of 1.1, and an fg of 1.03 would indicate an abv of 9.5% - now, obviously, because i didnt take the reading to begin with, i can only guess, but im now not sure if its finishing at a higher percentage than im estimating (i would have believed someone if theyd told me it was around 12/13% based on taste, i think - i know thats not much to go on) or whether its starting to stall, or just being really slow. it does taste delicious, and frankly, id be more than happy with the taste were it to have either finished or stalled, though presumably if it has stalled id need to stabalise it before bottling to be on the safe side, yes?
i have promised myself to do a proper log next time, so hopefully i wont run into that issue again, lol