Degrees Brix are a measure of the amount of sugar in a fruit juice. The US Government provides a table of the amount of sugar in 100% fruit juices for various types of fruits in 21 CFR 101.30‹h›‹1› which I reproduce here.
This is handy if you're trying to guess how much fermentable sugar there will be in a must based on the ingredients, but the most accurate result will come from actually measuring with a hydrometer.
| Juice |
Brix |
| Acerola |
6.0 |
| Apple |
11.5 |
| Apricot |
11.7 |
| Banana |
22.0 |
| Blackberry |
10.0 |
| Blueberry |
10.0 |
| Boysenberry |
10.0 |
| Cantaloupe Melon |
9.6 |
| Carambola |
7.8 |
| Carrot |
8.0 |
| Casaba Melon |
7.5 |
| Cashew (Caju) |
12.0 |
| Celery |
3.1 |
| Cherry, dark, sweet |
20.0 |
| Cherry, red, sour |
14.0 |
| Crabapple |
15.4 |
| Cranberry |
7.5 |
| Currant (Black) |
11.0 |
| Currant (Red) |
10.5 |
| Date |
18.5 |
| Dewberry |
10.0 |
| Elderberry |
11.0 |
| Fig |
18.2 |
| Gooseberry |
8.3 |
| Grape |
16.0 |
| Grapefruit |
10.0 |
| Guanabana (soursop) |
16.0 |
| Guava |
7.7 |
| Honeydew melon |
9.6 |
| Kiwi |
15.4 |
| Lemon |
4.5 |
| Lime |
4.5 |
| Loganberry |
10.5 |
| Mango |
13.0 |
| Nectarine |
11.8 |
| Orange |
11.8 |
| Papaya |
11.5 |
| Passion Fruit |
14.0 |
| Peach |
10.5 |
| Pear |
12.0 |
| Pineapple |
12.8 |
| Plum |
14.3 |
| Pomegranate |
16.0 |
| Prune |
18.5 |
| Quince |
13.3 |
| Raspberry (Black) |
11.1 |
| Raspberry (Red) |
9.2 |
| Rhubarb |
5.7 |
| Strawberry |
8.0 |
| Tangerine |
11.8 |
| Tomato |
5.0 |
| Watermelon |
7.8 |
| Youngberry |
10.0 |
#appendix
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#appendix
There are four basic bottle types used for bottling mead and other fermented beverages. They are: screw-top bottles, reusable cappable bottles, corkable bottles, and grolsch-style bottles with a rubber washer.
Screw-top bottles are becoming much more common in the wine world. You can buy screw-caps of your own, but make sure you know which size you need (28mm and 38mm are both common) and also that you know how to use them correctly. I don't, so I avoid them.
Plastic screw-top bottles (such as carbonated beverages are commonly sold in) are fine for short-term storage, but I won't keep mead in one for more than a day or two. When I do use them, it's to take a bottle to a party, and I generally fill it the night before.
Reusable, cappable bottles were typically beer bottles sold as returnables. They were sturdy and my first choice for bottling mead for long-term storage. Capping is relatively simple, and bottle cappers can be easily bought. But returnable bottles are a thing of the past. You can buy similar bottles at homebrewing stores.
Corkable bottles are standard wine bottles. They may have a lip which can also be capped, but most don't. Corking is another time-proven method, but corking requires a bottle-corker and you need to soak the corks so they can be compressed enough to get them into the bottle. I tried corking bottles once, and found it frustrating, but that was before “agglomerated” or “composite” corks. If you're going to cork bottles, I strongly suggest a floor-model corker which will give you the leverage and controllability you need to make corking bottles easy.
Grolsch-style bottles (also known as swing-top bottles) have a ceramic stopper with a rubber washer. They're simple and as long as the washer is good, they provide a good seal. They can also be re-sealed partway through, if you can't finish a bottle. The main drawback to them is they're more expensive than the other types of bottles.
#appendix #equipment
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#appendix