I backsweetened the raspberry pomegranate melomel (Mead No. 6) with1 cup of honey. The taste is perfect and the gravity was raised from 1.000 to 1.024, just above my target of 1.020. The reason for the overshot is the back sweetening calculator determining how much honey to add to raise the gravity.
According to the calculator, with the mead at 1.000 and my target at 1.020, I needed 0.59 lbs of honey, which equates to 0.74 c, just shy of 3/4 c. Since I have my digital scale, I figured I'd weigh the honey out to make it precise.
Turning to the internet, I calculated 0.59 lbs as the equivalent of 9.44 oz. So I tared out my 1-cup measuring cup and began filling it with honey. I got to 9.4 oz and that was almost a full cup. So when I added it all in, it raised it slightly above my target gravity. So the measurement portion of my calculator seems correct; the weight appears off.
Using generally accepted weight for honey off the internet shows 1 cup of honey weighs 0.80 lbs, which my real-world example suggests is slightly too high. Obviously there are many factors that go into that, but I may adjust my calculator since the honey I'm using seems to be "lighter."
Regardless, this mead tastes awesome! I'm going to let it sit for a week and then bottle.
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