# Too High Starting SG?



## roadwarriorsvt (Apr 10, 2011)

I've closely followed the below recipe that I got from the Recipe Forum on here. It says the starting SG should be around 1.120 but when I measured mine, it was all the way up to 1.154. I've already added the yeast (Sat. evening). Should I add some more apple juice until the SG comes down near the 1.120 where it is supposed to be? I don't know why the SG is so high as I followed these directions.




*Recipe*
4 Gallons apple juice
2 lbs DME
3 lbs 60L Crystal malt
7 lbs Orange blossom honey
2 lbs clover honey
2 lbs buckwheat honey

Lalvin K1v1116 

*Original Gravity: 1.120* 
Final Gravity: 1.010 

2 vanilla beans

Steep grains in 1.5 gallons of apple juice at 155F for 45 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in the DME and honey. Rinse grain sack with 1/2 gallon apple juice. Add the remainder of the apple juice. Aerate by vigorous stirring for at least five minutes. Aerate some more. I now use oxygen with a diffuser stone to aerate (better). Pitch yeast starter (hydrated with Go Ferm per container instructions) directly into the primary (plastic pail fitted with an air lock).

At about 1.075 add 5g Fermaid K 
At about 1.035 add 5g Fermaid K
(Dissolve your nutrients in water before adding them to your must. This helps to minimize foam.)

Within about two weeks this should ferment out to 1.012 or so. Rack to secondary and add vanilla beans. Allow to remain in the secondary for about a month.

Rack again onto 1 lb of buckwheat honey and 1/4t potassium metabisuphite or 5 campden tabs and 2 1/2t potassium sorbate to stabilize. Add Super Kleer to clarify. Bulk age for six months to a year before bottling.


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## Wade E (Apr 10, 2011)

You could do that. *Never ever* follow a recipe word for word without using a hydrometer and acid test as these 2 things will change quite a bit even between the same manufacturer but especially if you arent using the exact brand of juice and or honey. Also there are different kinds of sugar and they have different weights so one will end up with a higher sg then another. Always start low and adjust up if needed!


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## roadwarriorsvt (Apr 10, 2011)

That would have been good to know before I started!  I'll slowly add some apple juice until the SG comes down to a more reasonable level. I don't to kill the yeast or put my guests on their butts either! Thanks for the speeedy response.


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## roadwarriorsvt (Apr 11, 2011)

I had room in my primary to add 1.5 gallons of apple juice. It brought the SG down to 1.132. I'm wondering if I should split the primary in to two and add more juice to bring the SG down or just hope the 1.132 will be ok? The must is bubling away after one day!


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## mmadmikes1 (Apr 11, 2011)

If it is fermenting and you think your final ABV levels will be higher than you like and some white grape juice. Its sugars are lower than apple and will add less taste. You could also add a little more water.


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## roadwarriorsvt (Apr 11, 2011)

As of now, the end ABV will be about 17%. I've run out of room in my primary to add any more fluids. I'd have to split the fermentation into two smaller ones to dilute it down anymore. I'm inclined to just leave it as is unless a mead with 17% ABV will be too harsh (relative I know)


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## mmadmikes1 (Apr 11, 2011)

17% mead is ok if you allow it to age. Good chance it will not ferment dry all the way to 17% if not cocex. A little back sweeting also helps with high AVB.


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## roadwarriorsvt (Apr 11, 2011)

Sounds good to me. Thanks.


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## grapeman (Apr 11, 2011)

roadwarriorsvt said:


> I don't know why the SG is so high as I followed these directions.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Let me take a shot at why it is so high:

Sugar in the juice
Sugar in DME
Sugar in Crystal Malt
Lots of sugar in the blossom honey
More sugar in the clover honey and
even more sugar in the buckwheat honey.


Add them up and you have tons of sugar and a sky high SG!

I agree with the use of the hydrometer.


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## roadwarriorsvt (Apr 11, 2011)

Its true. The hydrometer don't lie. Since I got this recipe from this very website, I gave it a certain amount of blind credibility so when it said the starting SG would be 1.120 I "assumed" that it would at least be in that ball park. Wade made a good point that different ingredients contain different amounts of sugars. Apparently they vary quite a bit. I didn't even research several different mead recipes either. Perhaps 10#s of honey is too much!


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