Honey for Sugar

[Gowers Choice]

If I wanted to use honey rather than sugar for a batch, is it an ounce for ounce ratio or would I need to add more or less honey?

 

[keena]

Very interested in this answer, I would like to try it as well!

 

[Teaser]

I have 2 jars a neighbour has given me,Im interested too. And can you use half honey half sugar?

 

[seth8530]

As a general rule most people like to say that honey is 80% sugar.. ( The max amount of water in honey to be considered grade A is 20%)

So what you would do is take the amount of sugar you would normally want and divide that by .8

The dimensional analysis is as follows.

1lb honey/(is .8 sugar)*( I want 5 lb sugar equiv)

The sugar in the denominator of honey cancels with the sugar in the numerator on the amount you want to leave you with units of honey.

 

[tonyandkory]

This is a link to another forum site HERE but it is a Mead making site... the calculator on this page is a very good one that I use often not just for mead but to caculate back sweetening, initial ammounts of sugar needed for SG ect.

check it out... if you are looking to use honey I would visit www.homebrewtalkcom they have a good mead section and some of the same people from here are on there.

 

[Gowers Choice]

Thanks for the info. I have a couple gallons of blackberries left over and thought about making a one gallon batch using half sugar and half honey. (2 cups sugar and 20 oz of honey evidently).

 

[mmadmikes1]

I just use the hydrometer and set the SG, 20% is a good rule to get started but do the final set with hydrometer

 

[bob1]

it has been a few years but I think if you use honey to backsweeten with or ferment with it is like beer wort it is not all fermentable and gives a little sweetness in the finish. The above is a question not a fact. Trying to jog memories.

 

[keena]

Also, there is no special honey you have to use is there? Honey from the grocery store will work right?

 

[seth8530]

Honey from a grocery store will ferment. However, depending on the quality of the honey you purchase it could be similar to using "grapes" to make wine.

 

[tonyandkory]

totally ... the quality of the honey has a big impact on the finished product... I read some where that some "Cheap" honeys have added corn syrup or other things to them.

 

[seth8530]

If you read some of the mead making forums you will hear about these "honeys". However, most mazers recommend buying honey from a local source if at all possible.

 

[keena]

I just picked up 8lbs of honey from a local place here in Wisconsin. How much wine would you guess that will make if I'm going for an abv of about 11%?

 

[tonyandkory]

Three and a half ... or you could do three and have some left to back sweeten if you wanted ... but shoot for SG 1.082 .... I used 17 pounds for a 6 gallon batch that had fruit (12lb blackberry) in it also this gave me 14%

 

[keena]

Three and a half ... or you could do three and have some left to back sweeten if you wanted ... but shoot for SG 1.082 .... I used 17 pounds for a 6 gallon batch that had fruit (12lb blackberry) in it also this gave me 14%

3 gal would be perfect, I have 3 gal carboys and I will def want to back sweeten it. Thanks!

 

[mmadmikes1]

If you want less expensive but good quality honey go to Costco. Store honey is usually way more than Costco and local honey here is same price as store honey but better quality. Crappy honey makes crappy mead

 

[keena]

I bought my 8 pound of 100% pure honey made locally for 14$, is that a good price or no? I'm not sure on the quality of the honey but the label makes it sound good, lol

 

[mmadmikes1]

Ya that is a good price. I pay $22 for 8 pounds. but now that I have a new girl friend and she has hives(bee). Its a match made in a fermenter

 

[seth8530]

Their are some online suppliers where you can get honey for a really good price if you are willing to buy in the 5 gallon bucket. Plus many of them have the varitiel (sp) honeys such as meadow foam.

 

[seth8530]

I bought my 8 pound of 100% pure honey made locally for 14$, is that a good price or no? I'm not sure on the quality of the honey but the label makes it sound good, lol

That sounds like a really good price to me. You should ask the for the moister content of the honey though.