fermentable sugar content of honey?

[BernardSmith]

I just bought about a gallon of tupelo honey to make some mead. The jar weighs just over 12 lbs (12lbs 2 oz) or 194 ozs. I see that EC Kraus uses a rule of thumb that 3 ozs of honey will produce 1 percent alcohol per 1 gallon (or 18 oz will produce 1 percent in 6 gallons) Dividing 194 by 18 to determine the percentage of alcohol 6 gallons might produce, I get just under 11 or about 10.8 % ABV, so if I am looking for about 12% I should go for 5 gallons (using about 180 ozs: (5 (gals) X 3 (oz) X 12 (percent)) of the honey and holding back about 14 oz to back sweeten ). Does that sound right? Or is this 3 oz = 1 percent rule of thumb not really a rule of thumb I should be using (With table sugar (sucrose) I assume that 2 oz produces 1 percent alcohol per gallon). Thoughts?

 

[Deezil]

I enjoy playing with the numbers, as it seems like you do.. But it comes down to practical application & that leans heavily on the hydrometer, so in the interest of keeping things simple & easy...

Every honey is different - different moisture levels, etc

You'd want to dissolve the 12lbs of honey in a gallon or two of water, then take an SG reading and dillute until you hit your mark - presumably in the 1.085 - 1.090 region, if you're hunting for 12%

 

[BobF]

IIRC, honey *generally* varies between 78 and 82% sugar. I usually just *assume* 80% and go with it.

 

[saramc]

A gallon of tupelo.....my dream!! You could easily stir one cup into 1 gallon of water and take a reading. Let us know what your find out with your tupelo. The last time I tupelo. 1 cup increased the S.G. of 1 gallon water by 0.020...used a different brand and it was 0.018. So I always use my hydrometer.

 

[fatbloke]

It's one of the reasons too just work out a rough quantity by weight, mix to the target quantity and then measure the gravity.

You may need to mix it in a bucket if using a fixed quantity fermenter, like a 1 gallon carboy/demi-john, but you can then just retain the unused must in a pop/soda bottle in the fridge and use it for topping up or back sweetening later on.

It's handy to know some of the rough numbers of course, but it also depends on the strength level you're looking to attain. Some do like to mix a must to the level that they want from the start, but I find this method can cause ferment problems the higher the gravity of the initial must.

I like to start mine somewhere from the 1.090 to 1.110 mark, then if the yeast is one that will ferment to a high(ish) level, say K1-V1116 (18% ABV tolerance) then I can add more honey later to steep feed it.

Knowing the total drop in gravity, as it translates straight into alcoholic strength is a useful method, yet it should be remembered that if the must is too high in sugars it can cause the yeast stress, to the point that it won't even start to ferment......

A total drop of 133 points, equates to 18% ABV, so if you want a strong one, start lower, as (presuming a gravity of 1.000 is finished) starting point of 1.133 would need careful management to prevent problems.

 

[BernardSmith]

As always, I appreciate your responses.I like saramc's post although it may be easier for me to test by weight rather than by volume given the viscosity of the honey.