Planning purposes: Assumptions about specific gravity

  • PATRONS: Did you know we've a chat function for you now? Look to the bottom of the screen, you can chat, set up rooms, talk to each other individually or in groups! Click 'Chat' at the right side of the chat window to open the chat up.
  • Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
  • We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.

dr9

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 12, 2009
386
2
0
athens ga
Although there are variations, what is a general rule-of-thumb on what someone could expect in specific gravity with a pound of honey for a gallon of water, and what would the volume generally be?
 
Have you seen the mead calculator yet?

The calculator help file is here and should help explain how it works.

You work with the final batch volume rather than water volume plus honey weight, but it should give you a ballpark idea of what your looking for, especially since your final batch size is probably more important to you than the amount of water you put into it.

For the second part of your question, you can basically add the volumes of honey and water and come out about right. One gallon of honey is about 12 pounds if I remember correctly, so for your example, 1 pound of honey and one gallon of water would be about 13/12 of a gallon or one gallon and 1 and 1/3 cups if my math is right.
 
I just checked both the mead calculator and the blending utility and they are working fine. Did you read the help file? If so, what are you trying to do and where do you get stuck?

The blending utility is used for determining what amount of must or finished mead needs to be mixed to reach a desired SG, ABV, etc., so it wouldn't be useful for your original question.
 
If 1 gallon of honey is combined with 1 gallon of water, what is the total volume?

2 gallons?

That doesn't seem right, as if the honey would dissolve into the water to some degree with stirring and/or heating, resulting in more density, or the density of the water and honey, but not necessarily the same sum of volume.
 
It should be noted that the blend calculator only works if you put the lower value in value 1 and the higher value in #2, otherwise it doesn't work. If that were written in the instructions, it would have saved me about 2 hours. Not complaining... just saying for anyone else who might run across this thread in the future.
 
If 1 gallon of honey is combined with 1 gallon of water, what is the total volume?

2 gallons?

That doesn't seem right, as if the honey would dissolve into the water to some degree with stirring and/or heating, resulting in more density, or the density of the water and honey, but not necessarily the same sum of volume.

Since honey is already a supersaturated solution of sugar in water (about 75% sugars, 25% water with some trace compounds responsible for characteristic differences between honey types), adding the volumes is correct (at least to within a couple of percent). If the honey were truly 100% solute dissolving into the water, then the net volume would be less than that of honey and water separately added together.