Because of Brian and Derica, I have started making my own mead, and have had so much fun and fulfillment already! And because of my new interest in mead, I have become fascinated with honey and honey bees! I am hoping to keep a beehive in the backyard one day soon, and make mead from my own honey bee colony! Thanks, City Steading!
I’ve learned more about bees and honey then I ever thought I would. Mead of course, naturally made me interested in bees, where I live in alaska, it wouldn’t be reasonable for me to have a little apiary.
Started binge watching your videos about 2 weeks ago and I already have 2 gallons of mead and 4 gallons of wine brewing. I have made beer, cider, and even wine before so I have a bit of foundational experience. My meads are both based on lemon balm (from my garden), elderberries, and orange peel. To one I added ginger and the other, cardamom pods, juniper berries, and star anise. My wines are local u-pick Hood Strawberries, one with basil and one with mint. I've learned some lessons - 6lbs strawberries and 2.25lbs sugar in one gallon was too much with the cut strawberries to be able to read a gravity reliably so I split them in half and diluted. That's why I have 4 gallons instead of 2! After diluting the gravity was around 1.060 so I think the issue with the previous gravity reading was that I was measuring in the skinny tube that the hydrometer came in because my grad cylinder hadn't arrived yet. On the positive note, this gives me an opportunity to learn how to step feed since I want a higher abv and am using EC1118 yeast. Everything is bubbling away and looks perfectly healthy. It's been about a week and a half on the meads and not quite a week on the wines. Planning on rough racking the wines this weekend as the basil and mint smell quite strong already and the strawberries have lost most of their color. Not sure yet if I want to rough rack the meads, the botanical smells were strong earlier but seem to be melding in well and I like it. I think I will just the a reading and a sip and go from there. Thank you guys for all of your information, your methods inspire confidence to try brewing without worry of the process!
Ooh, this is awesome! Hibiscus is my new favorite flavor for brewing. My hibiscus IPA came out awesome and I want to make a cider, too. I've learned to love hibiscus tea, too.
I live in oregon and have a really good local place to get some blackberry blossom and phacelia honey. If you guys would like to try some i would be more than happy to send you a quart jar of each.
One of the things I miss about growing up in Oregon was the woods and the wild berries we picked for jellies, jams and pie. There was never a shortage of BlackBerry's. I wish I knew about herbs back then, the Oregon woods are a pharmaceutical store house of herbs and editable plants.
Hibiscus Mead was the second mead I ever made, and it was sooo good. I'll have to try making it again so I can make it sparkling! For anyone wondering about the flavor, hibiscus tastes almost exactly like Cran-Grape juice. Also, you will probably be able to find dried hibiscus petals in a hispanic or asian grocery store if you want to buy it locally.
Hey, Brian and Derica! I just started pasteurization on a Christmas Sorrel (Hibiscus) mead, and it's delicious! In primary, I started with a strong brewed Hibiscus tea (wanted lots of color), added cinnamon sticks, allspice, cloves, and peppercorns. Racked it, added cardamom pods, star anise, more cinnamon, allspice and clove. I figured it would be nice to have a couple Christmas brews, so I made that and a spiced plum for the holidays
Basic First Mead 5-28-21 Day 1: 18lbs cheap honey 4.5ish gal spring water 1cup chopped raisins Zest 1 grapefruit 2cup black tea 5g D47 yeast 4g fermaid o Blend well. Day 4: 4g fermaid o. Slow stir to degas Day 15: Slow stir to degas Specific Gravity checks: IG: 1.112 4d: 1.094 15d: 1.046 1mo: FG:
I've been using Lalvin BM 4x4 lately and it's become my favorite. 16% tolerance, great mouthfeel and seems to produce a lot of great flavors. I've used it mostly on reds - a Cabernet, and then Aronia berry wine, Elderberry mead...all dark fruits but I did use it on a Sauvignon Blanc kit and it did a spectacular job. Can't usually find it at homebrew stores so I get it online but man...good stuff.
love watching you guys. recently started my own mead making ( started with your recipe for my first mead, worked really well), and have just started a blackberry mead to see how that one goes. love hibiscus flavors and will probably look into it for the next mead i start :)
Personal experience with wild blackberries, don’t use heat to assist getting them juiced. This makes the pectin more active and can end up cloudy/hazy. Absolutely Delicious tho :)
I just started one small batch of this and about to recommend it to you not knowing it's the same main ingredient, in Mexico we call hibiscus "flor de jamaica" and make flavored water out of it, if you haven't tried you should, it's almost the same process, hibiscus tea mixed with water a bit of sugar and ice. Greetings from Mexico and keep the good work, I've learned a lot from you, my first meads have come out good and this one is my first flavored mead
The first Hibiscus Mead I made turned out like a dry Rose and this time I'll make a tea instead of adding the dried flowers into the most too for more flavor and maybe some more honey to make it a sweet Mead. Great vid again folks, also enjoying the cooking and gardening vids!!
Lol, a while back my wife had hung some roses to dry and ended up in my saw shop🤔. I just started making mead and suggested to make a rose mead. My wife said No and my daughter said it might taste like cigarettes, sawgas fumes and exhausts. They're just being cigarette-sawgas fume-exhaust haters🥱.... we enjoy watching your channel. Thanks 😊
I just did a Hibiscus/Rose mead and it came out BEAUTIFULLY. 2.5 lbs honey, .5 oz of hibiscus and .5 oz of rose pedals. Half pack of 71B and water to fill. It came out to be about 11.8% and was crystal clear and so light and floral and clean tasting. My fiancee and sister love it so much it all disappeared in 1 night
Good as always. I wanted to report on my V8 mixed berry that I started last week. It went from 1.112 to 1.006 in 6 days. I have not investigated why yet. It has been warm here lately, but I have an elderberry tea wine ( with nutrient) that is a week older and still going. The V8 had slowed so much I decided to check the gravity, just in case something was wrong. Maybe it was the vegetable juice. I don't know, but the 71B yeast loved something in the mixture.
Hey guys! Jamaica (ha-mike-ah) is the tasty juice you get at Mexican restaurants and stores, it’s exactly what you’re making but, no alcohol. My Mexican sister has been asking me to make jamaica (ha-mike-ah) wine , you guys are doing this at the perfect time! I already had the flowers that I bought at the Mexican tienda a few weeks ago. I also bought a couple bags of tamarinds because, that’s my next lil’ project. I think with the tamarinds though, honey might be a competitor with the tamarinds so that will be wine and not mead. Thank you so much! Cheers! Skäl! ¡Salud!
Started my cyser this past weekend and woke up the next day to a nice surprise all over my kitchen counter lol. Let’s just say the yeast was quite active
So I just ordered an auto siphon and a hydrometer after a few months of eyeballing everything lol. Been buying everything little by little started with 2 1 gallon jars, and now I have 6, 18 16oz bottles, and now the stuff that arrives this week besides the siphon and hydrometer I'm getting some 71beast and a 2 gallon bucket.
I've got a hibiscus mead aging in secondary right now actually. 3lbs honey, 80 grams of hibiscus (steeped separately like you did), and some Red Star yeast I got in a sampler pack (Premier Cote Des Blancs I think). It's got an interesting flavor. Still young - couple months old - so it'll only get better
Thank you for keeping up with the great content! Hibiscus has been on my wishlist for a long time but I wasn’t sure about how much to use. This brew will be an extra-interesting one for me. On another note: I’ll be racking and bottling my passionfruit mead this weekend. Can’t wait for a careful taster of my young brew! First stab at passionfruit… excited!
EC1118 has noticably smaller bubbles almost in the millions during fermentation compared to D47. I have 2 brews exactly the same except the yeast next to each other and the difference in bubble size is crazy.
I wound up buying a pound of hibiscus. Upon arrival, the smell was so pungent, it was ridiculous lol so naturally I had to taste it. I made a tea with a heaping teaspoon in 10 oz of water, steeped for 4 minutes, and ive gotta say....that first sip was uh....enlightening lol subsequent sips made it clear this was am acquired flavor but apparently I liked it enough to finish the cup. Im really excited to make this mead!
I love making Hibiscus tea and was thinking making a hibiscus wine would be great this is a great way to (mead) in the middle :) I wanna give this a try. This is being added to the must do list.
I just ordered some dried hibiscus flowers and dried tart cherries, and bought some frozen sweet cherries and honey, to make a cherry hibiscus mead. This will be my first ever mead. I've made PLENTY of beer and cider over the years, but never mead. I'm considering adding a pinch of ginger, cinnamon, and allspice, but not sure if that's a good idea or not.
@@georgecolby7488, I thought so too, but the wife thinks we should go large or go home. Lol. I'm on-board with the cherry and hibiscus, just not sure about the spices.
I'm pretty sure I put dried cherries in my hibiscus mead and it was Divine! Really not all that extra complicated. I would suggest making 2 gallons one plain cherry hibiscus and spice the other.
@@HungLikeScrat - Cinnamon works great with cherries but can inhibit fermentation. To keep control on how prevalent the cinnamon is, I’d add it in secondary and taste it a couple of times. As you’ve already built up experience in brewing I don’t think you’re over reaching by making a more complex recipe. I’d simply advise you to keep a close eye on that cinnamon. Depending on how much you make without the spices you can always experiment: some with the cinnamon and some without. You can even do this in bottles provided you don’t carbonate your brew: tie i flavoured dental floss around a small piece of cinnamon, hang it inside a swing top bottle of mead, and leave part of the floss hanging out the neck. The rubber seal will work just fine over the floss. Leave in for a couple of days and taste. If you don’t like the result it’ll be only one bottle. If you’re making a bigger batch you can divide it over 1-gallon fermenters and make some with cinnamon and some without. Your experience probably means you’ve also got experience tasting young brews and have an idea what age can do. Because time heals (almost) all brews. In meads, the honey character comes forward with age: it can be very to right at first and come in after 2-3 months but in ly experience really blossoms after six months or more. Enjoy your brewing!
I making a 2 gallon batch of blackberry mead and I'm using lalvin 71 B yeast and it's been a few days and it hasn't started yet my starting gravity was 1.114
Just FYI; most of the Mexican grocery stores like Fiesta carry hibiscus way cheaper than amazon, ask for Flor de Jamaica or Cayenas. It’s usually in the produce section near the dried peppers
This brew is very similar to an experiment I started a few months ago. We made a Hibiscus and rose petal tea, used 2 pounds of mixed berries and 2 pounds of honey, mixed with enough water to make a gallon and a half in primary.
@@CitySteadingBrews yes I've watched that one along with almost all your others. Was watching this one right after picking the berries up so figured I'd ask. I'll pull your juniper mead video back up, thanks
Hi there ^.^ Thanks for all the awesome videos and inspiration. I now have my first batch of mead in a 1 gallon fermenting bottle and had a question about second fermentation. I dont have a 3 liter bottle and with all the fruits in my brew I think it will be around 3 liters when i rack it for the first time. I do have a 2 liter bottle and a 1 liter boter. Is it fine to split the mead for the second fermentation? or should i keep looking for the right bottle or vessel? Thanks and keep up the awesome stuff :)
Me and my wife can't drink carbonated drinks but i still want to make this amazing looking mead, what changes would you do to the recipe for a non carbonated version of this? do all just the same but skip the carbonation step?
@@CitySteadingBrews I know what happened. I got busy and watched at multiple times. I guess YT restarted and made me skip that lol it’s definitely in there! I went back lol
Have we any vids on yeast temperatures? I found the other day that d47 prefers to be cooler lest ye brew fusels into your brew. I'm experimenting now with blueberry mead using d47.
Brian, I have a question, I started a Hibiscus Mead on Saturday og was 1.112, Fleischmann yeast was all I had it will probably finish between 1.036 to 1.040 could I add 71b or d47 to go drier.
You can try but it’s not as likely to. Once a colony takes hold, introducing new yeast is less likely to work as yeast are cannibals and will starve out the new colony most times.
Grew my own hibiscus last year, also started beekeeping last year... Now, I'm obviously going to make mead and wanted to do regular and hibiscus... Noticed you said to get the flowers, not the leaves... What you want is the calyx not the flowers... The calyx is what gets harvested for teas and such... Just thought it was important to clarify for your audience... Flowers give the bees nectar, the dry up and fall off, the calyxs get plump at that time as the seed pods mature, then you harvest and dry the calyx, removing the seed pod to be dried and opened for next seasons hibiscus...
I purchased a couple of those screw on lids with the hole for the Airlock but the fit doesn't seem tight enough around the base of the airlock, have you found any issues with them?
do they make any kind of reusable clamps to keep the bung (w/air-lock) down? I was stupid enough to buy silicon bungs and want to be able to use them; I dry the bung and mouth of the jar completely, push the bung down to the limit, and still it will pop out. The only thing that helps is to push the silicon bung down at a crocked angle.
Big fan! Thanks for all the videos. QUESTION. If you did want it to be a lower ABV like you said, how would you go about doing that? I know I see some back sweeten and add a stabilizer in the secondary. Is that the only way? What about changing the water to honey ratio in the beginning ? Looking to make something for my buddies that’s easy sipping and able to drink a lot of. Thanks! Cheers!
What is the flavor of the Hibiscus. I have some and it smells a lot like cranberry. I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with it and what should appear on my recommended videos you guessed it this video.
I really need to get a hold of some hibiscus for a brew or 2...or 10. Side question, I know its not relevant for this brew specificly but have you used lactose in a brew since you did the Porter? I've got it in my current 2 brews, planning on carbonating both (a brown sugar and apple cider, and an apple and bramble wine). Just wondering if there was any reason in particular or if its just the brews your posting havent called for it
I've put on 3 gallons worth of basic mead to flavour up in secondary carboys. Can you add and why not? Add fruit and or hibiscus in secondary to flavour rather than ferment them off
Adding my 2 cents to the "once you add yeast, it's mead" or "once you add yeast, it's beer". I have a tendancy of calling it the middle state for them ("must" and "wort" respecively). Helps other people who know the vocabulary know if something is ready to be drank yet.
@@CitySteadingBrews turns out I have been using the terms wrong. I thought it was must and wort during fermentation. I learned something. I thought honey water -> add yeast (must) -> fermenting done (mead). Thanks
My mother recently discovered hibiscus tea and loved it, so i wanted to make a hibiscus mead for her but she likes her alcohol a bit on the sweet side and less alcoholic at 10% or so should i just use the same method and use a lower ABV tolerant yeast like a cider yeast or does the recipe need more adjusting? Like stopping the brew after a week or 2.
I want to try and make this hibiscus mean but with raspberries so i have some questions: 1) how much raspberries would you add to this for 1gal 2) would you add the raspberries to the primary or secondary i dont see you guys add much to the secondary 3) do you think Red Star Premier Classique would it be better since its more red style or would you stick to the ec-1118
Brian, I have a question: I, for the time being, have no access to hibiscus flowers, but only hibiscus tea. How many bags of hibiscus tea and/or how long should I steep the tea to get a useable concentration for a gallon of hibiscus mead? Any help whatsoever is greatly appreciated.
Is this any different than the hibiscus mead you made half way through the Viking blod recipe? When you were making that recipe, you stopped midway and indicated that after the taste, you wanted to bottle it then. Btw….I did stop and it was very tasty, very good. I’m still waiting to see if you make a blueberry hibiscus mead! Great video as always.
@CitySteadingBrews thanks, am trying to make a wine instead of a mead, so I am going to use 2 cups of sugar. You and your wife are awesome. You work well together ❤️ and you guys are also funny, lol
I am currently making one, but it has been going so slow I think it might have stalled. Started on around 1.130 with a mix of hibiscus tea (one cup of flowers for a 5 liter batch) and added half a packet of Lalvin 71B. This started on june 14th and currently it is on around 1.068 and dropping with a point per week or something. Any tips to boost it up a bit? I already repitched some more yeast and added some water.
@@DonSchinkel different brews work at different speeds. I usually find hibiscus is a fast fermenter, but depending on where you got it, it might have something in it that retards fermentation?
Because of Brian and Derica, I have started making my own mead, and have had so much fun and fulfillment already! And because of my new interest in mead, I have become fascinated with honey and honey bees! I am hoping to keep a beehive in the backyard one day soon, and make mead from my own honey bee colony! Thanks, City Steading!
I’ve learned more about bees and honey then I ever thought I would. Mead of course, naturally made me interested in bees, where I live in alaska, it wouldn’t be reasonable for me to have a little apiary.
Started binge watching your videos about 2 weeks ago and I already have 2 gallons of mead and 4 gallons of wine brewing. I have made beer, cider, and even wine before so I have a bit of foundational experience. My meads are both based on lemon balm (from my garden), elderberries, and orange peel. To one I added ginger and the other, cardamom pods, juniper berries, and star anise. My wines are local u-pick Hood Strawberries, one with basil and one with mint.
I've learned some lessons - 6lbs strawberries and 2.25lbs sugar in one gallon was too much with the cut strawberries to be able to read a gravity reliably so I split them in half and diluted. That's why I have 4 gallons instead of 2! After diluting the gravity was around 1.060 so I think the issue with the previous gravity reading was that I was measuring in the skinny tube that the hydrometer came in because my grad cylinder hadn't arrived yet. On the positive note, this gives me an opportunity to learn how to step feed since I want a higher abv and am using EC1118 yeast. Everything is bubbling away and looks perfectly healthy. It's been about a week and a half on the meads and not quite a week on the wines. Planning on rough racking the wines this weekend as the basil and mint smell quite strong already and the strawberries have lost most of their color. Not sure yet if I want to rough rack the meads, the botanical smells were strong earlier but seem to be melding in well and I like it. I think I will just the a reading and a sip and go from there. Thank you guys for all of your information, your methods inspire confidence to try brewing without worry of the process!
Ooh, this is awesome! Hibiscus is my new favorite flavor for brewing. My hibiscus IPA came out awesome and I want to make a cider, too. I've learned to love hibiscus tea, too.
A Mexican agua-fresca known as Jamaica is made from hibiscus flowers as well... very nice, if you haven’t tried it.
I used the 1118 yeast in my try at your Spiced Metheglin. Its amazing.
Nice Brian keep working hard bratha
Always
Love hibiscus tea, can't wait to try this one. Thanks for the recipe
If you don't have a rubber band, hair ties work great too for keeping the bung in place.
You are correct
That’s why I save asparagus rubber bands. They are...robust.
It's not the word moist the comment section reacts to. It's the "keep your bung dry so nothing pushes out" that got me.
wow hibiscus mead nice
Awesome wondering on the dry flower meads. You are reading my mind
I live in oregon and have a really good local place to get some blackberry blossom and phacelia honey. If you guys would like to try some i would be more than happy to send you a quart jar of each.
One of the things I miss about growing up in Oregon was the woods and the wild berries we picked for jellies, jams and pie. There was never a shortage of BlackBerry's. I wish I knew about herbs back then, the Oregon woods are a pharmaceutical store house of herbs and editable plants.
They have a P.O. Box if you're interested in sending them some. City Steading
6822 22nd Ave North #109
St Petersburg, FL 33710
@@connissia thank you!
She beat me to it!
@@CitySteadingBrews they'll be in the mail in the next couple days!
You started it on my birthday! And the same time i started a ginger lemon hibiscus mead!
Hibiscus Mead was the second mead I ever made, and it was sooo good. I'll have to try making it again so I can make it sparkling!
For anyone wondering about the flavor, hibiscus tastes almost exactly like Cran-Grape juice.
Also, you will probably be able to find dried hibiscus petals in a hispanic or asian grocery store if you want to buy it locally.
Hey, Brian and Derica! I just started pasteurization on a Christmas Sorrel (Hibiscus) mead, and it's delicious! In primary, I started with a strong brewed Hibiscus tea (wanted lots of color), added cinnamon sticks, allspice, cloves, and peppercorns. Racked it, added cardamom pods, star anise, more cinnamon, allspice and clove. I figured it would be nice to have a couple Christmas brews, so I made that and a spiced plum for the holidays
It's a very nice colour, pretty
I made my first mead using your basic mead recipe this week. Thanks for all the info!!
i love ec1118, leaves a clean flavor, easy to use and get things dry
Love your videos. Thanks to you two I've got 5gal brewing in my kitchen floor!
Basic First Mead 5-28-21
Day 1:
18lbs cheap honey
4.5ish gal spring water
1cup chopped raisins
Zest 1 grapefruit
2cup black tea
5g D47 yeast
4g fermaid o
Blend well.
Day 4:
4g fermaid o. Slow stir to degas
Day 15:
Slow stir to degas
Specific Gravity checks:
IG: 1.112
4d: 1.094
15d: 1.046
1mo:
FG:
I've been using Lalvin BM 4x4 lately and it's become my favorite. 16% tolerance, great mouthfeel and seems to produce a lot of great flavors. I've used it mostly on reds - a Cabernet, and then Aronia berry wine, Elderberry mead...all dark fruits but I did use it on a Sauvignon Blanc kit and it did a spectacular job. Can't usually find it at homebrew stores so I get it online but man...good stuff.
love watching you guys. recently started my own mead making ( started with your recipe for my first mead, worked really well), and have just started a blackberry mead to see how that one goes.
love hibiscus flavors and will probably look into it for the next mead i start :)
Personal experience with wild blackberries, don’t use heat to assist getting them juiced. This makes the pectin more active and can end up cloudy/hazy. Absolutely Delicious tho :)
You folks are great. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
I'm a big fan of using the silicone wristbands you get for every event/ fundraiser/ specialty group. To keep the "moist" bung in place.
I just started one small batch of this and about to recommend it to you not knowing it's the same main ingredient, in Mexico we call hibiscus "flor de jamaica" and make flavored water out of it, if you haven't tried you should, it's almost the same process, hibiscus tea mixed with water a bit of sugar and ice. Greetings from Mexico and keep the good work, I've learned a lot from you, my first meads have come out good and this one is my first flavored mead
The first Hibiscus Mead I made turned out like a dry Rose and this time I'll make a tea instead of adding the dried flowers into the most too for more flavor and maybe some more honey to make it a sweet Mead. Great vid again folks, also enjoying the cooking and gardening vids!!
I have been e-mailing myself my recipe and measurements, new folder for that ^_^
Jazz hands ain't the same without the sound effects and animation lol.
You're darn right 😁
Agreed
Lol, a while back my wife had hung some roses to dry and ended up in my saw shop🤔. I just started making mead and suggested to make a rose mead. My wife said No and my daughter said it might taste like cigarettes, sawgas fumes and exhausts. They're just being cigarette-sawgas fume-exhaust haters🥱.... we enjoy watching your channel. Thanks 😊
I just did a Hibiscus/Rose mead and it came out BEAUTIFULLY. 2.5 lbs honey, .5 oz of hibiscus and .5 oz of rose pedals. Half pack of 71B and water to fill. It came out to be about 11.8% and was crystal clear and so light and floral and clean tasting. My fiancee and sister love it so much it all disappeared in 1 night
Damn it I can’t keep up! I just got the gear together for beer 😂🤣
Great thing about these videos though, can always come back later 😆😆
I like using ec1118 for several things but on cysers I use nottingham.
Good as always.
I wanted to report on my V8 mixed berry that I started last week. It went from 1.112 to 1.006 in 6 days. I have not investigated why yet. It has been warm here lately, but I have an elderberry tea wine ( with nutrient) that is a week older and still going. The V8 had slowed so much I decided to check the gravity, just in case something was wrong. Maybe it was the vegetable juice. I don't know, but the 71B yeast loved something in the mixture.
Made this Today although since i don't have a scale i just eye balled the Honey , used about 2 1/2 lb. of Honey. Love the Channel.
Can't help myself... Moist and pushing it out(said as pushing it in)! ROTFLMFAO Dirty mind this morning... Wink, wink, nudge, nudge
Hey guys! Jamaica (ha-mike-ah) is the tasty juice you get at Mexican restaurants and stores, it’s exactly what you’re making but, no alcohol. My Mexican sister has been asking me to make jamaica (ha-mike-ah) wine , you guys are doing this at the perfect time! I already had the flowers that I bought at the Mexican tienda a few weeks ago. I also bought a couple bags of tamarinds because, that’s my next lil’ project. I think with the tamarinds though, honey might be a competitor with the tamarinds so that will be wine and not mead. Thank you so much! Cheers! Skäl! ¡Salud!
Picked up some honey today. Already have the dried hibiscus. Gonna give this one a try this weekend.
This is my second mead. I just turned my Jamaica super strong tea into a mead!
Started my cyser this past weekend and woke up the next day to a nice surprise all over my kitchen counter lol. Let’s just say the yeast was quite active
That’s happened to me with EVERY cyser. I don’t bather with an airlock anymore, I just go straight to the blow off tube for primary.
I’ll have to remember that for next time lol. Thank you
So I just ordered an auto siphon and a hydrometer after a few months of eyeballing everything lol. Been buying everything little by little started with 2 1 gallon jars, and now I have 6, 18 16oz bottles, and now the stuff that arrives this week besides the siphon and hydrometer I'm getting some 71beast and a 2 gallon bucket.
I've got a hibiscus mead aging in secondary right now actually. 3lbs honey, 80 grams of hibiscus (steeped separately like you did), and some Red Star yeast I got in a sampler pack (Premier Cote Des Blancs I think).
It's got an interesting flavor. Still young - couple months old - so it'll only get better
Thank you for keeping up with the great content! Hibiscus has been on my wishlist for a long time but I wasn’t sure about how much to use. This brew will be an extra-interesting one for me.
On another note: I’ll be racking and bottling my passionfruit mead this weekend. Can’t wait for a careful taster of my young brew! First stab at passionfruit… excited!
EC1118 has noticably smaller bubbles almost in the millions during fermentation compared to D47. I have 2 brews exactly the same except the yeast next to each other and the difference in bubble size is crazy.
I have never tried hibiscus flavored anything. I might need a trip to the store to look for some tea if they have it.
You should!
You must!
Its realllllllly good!
@@hakanasd1 very punny lol
Definitely a delicious mead.... Try your own now!! LoL Promise you won't regret!
I wound up buying a pound of hibiscus. Upon arrival, the smell was so pungent, it was ridiculous lol so naturally I had to taste it. I made a tea with a heaping teaspoon in 10 oz of water, steeped for 4 minutes, and ive gotta say....that first sip was uh....enlightening lol subsequent sips made it clear this was am acquired flavor but apparently I liked it enough to finish the cup.
Im really excited to make this mead!
I love making Hibiscus tea and was thinking making a hibiscus wine would be great this is a great way to (mead) in the middle :) I wanna give this a try. This is being added to the must do list.
cold liquids can hold far more oxygen than hot. So try shaking the bejesus once you added your yeast ;)
Thanks for the tip!
I just ordered some dried hibiscus flowers and dried tart cherries, and bought some frozen sweet cherries and honey, to make a cherry hibiscus mead. This will be my first ever mead. I've made PLENTY of beer and cider over the years, but never mead.
I'm considering adding a pinch of ginger, cinnamon, and allspice, but not sure if that's a good idea or not.
I would start simpler if it's your first mead. That is a lot of potential variance.
@@georgecolby7488, I thought so too, but the wife thinks we should go large or go home. Lol. I'm on-board with the cherry and hibiscus, just not sure about the spices.
I'm pretty sure I put dried cherries in my hibiscus mead and it was Divine! Really not all that extra complicated. I would suggest making 2 gallons one plain cherry hibiscus and spice the other.
@@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582, that's not a bad idea. I'll do that.
@@HungLikeScrat - Cinnamon works great with cherries but can inhibit fermentation. To keep control on how prevalent the cinnamon is, I’d add it in secondary and taste it a couple of times. As you’ve already built up experience in brewing I don’t think you’re over reaching by making a more complex recipe. I’d simply advise you to keep a close eye on that cinnamon. Depending on how much you make without the spices you can always experiment: some with the cinnamon and some without. You can even do this in bottles provided you don’t carbonate your brew: tie i flavoured dental floss around a small piece of cinnamon, hang it inside a swing top bottle of mead, and leave part of the floss hanging out the neck. The rubber seal will work just fine over the floss. Leave in for a couple of days and taste. If you don’t like the result it’ll be only one bottle. If you’re making a bigger batch you can divide it over 1-gallon fermenters and make some with cinnamon and some without. Your experience probably means you’ve also got experience tasting young brews and have an idea what age can do. Because time heals (almost) all brews. In meads, the honey character comes forward with age: it can be very to right at first and come in after 2-3 months but in ly experience really blossoms after six months or more. Enjoy your brewing!
I making a 2 gallon batch of blackberry mead and I'm using lalvin 71 B yeast and it's been a few days and it hasn't started yet my starting gravity was 1.114
If you are using a bucket, it is likely working, but the seal is allowing gas to escape so you don't see airlock activity.
Made this exact thing last year, lol. Going to try it in October be 1 year in bottles.
Just FYI; most of the Mexican grocery stores like Fiesta carry hibiscus way cheaper than amazon, ask for Flor de Jamaica or Cayenas. It’s usually in the produce section near the dried peppers
Thanks for the tip!
This brew is very similar to an experiment I started a few months ago. We made a Hibiscus and rose petal tea, used 2 pounds of mixed berries and 2 pounds of honey, mixed with enough water to make a gallon and a half in primary.
Can you give a recommendation for how much dried juniper berry to use in 1 gal of mead during secondary? Thanks
We did a juniper mead!
@@CitySteadingBrews yes I've watched that one along with almost all your others. Was watching this one right after picking the berries up so figured I'd ask.
I'll pull your juniper mead video back up, thanks
I have a hibiscus blackberry mead going right now. I’m letting it sit for two more weeks the bottle it
Hi there ^.^ Thanks for all the awesome videos and inspiration. I now have my first batch of mead in a 1 gallon fermenting bottle and had a question about second fermentation. I dont have a 3 liter bottle and with all the fruits in my brew I think it will be around 3 liters when i rack it for the first time. I do have a 2 liter bottle and a 1 liter boter. Is it fine to split the mead for the second fermentation? or should i keep looking for the right bottle or vessel? Thanks and keep up the awesome stuff :)
Yup, you can split it, no worries.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks, now I don't have to worry about that anymore ^.^
Me and my wife can't drink carbonated drinks but i still want to make this amazing looking mead, what changes would you do to the recipe for a non carbonated version of this?
do all just the same but skip the carbonation step?
Exactly. Carbonation is optional.
We ended up not carbonating it ourselves:)
@@CitySteadingBrews nice! Can't wait for the next video🤘🏻
the look on Brian's face at the mention of moist
Wait. Where was the original hydrometer reading???
I don't recall, it's not in the video?
@@CitySteadingBrews I know what happened. I got busy and watched at multiple times. I guess YT restarted and made me skip that lol it’s definitely in there! I went back lol
Have we any vids on yeast temperatures? I found the other day that d47 prefers to be cooler lest ye brew fusels into your brew. I'm experimenting now with blueberry mead using d47.
We do not. Essentially, each yeast has it's own preferred temp range, and that does affect my yeast choices based on what environment we brew in.
Yep. Always good to keep your bung dry. What other flavors would be a compliment to mix in with this?
A rose hip mead would be tasty too.
I live in a sunflower state and was wondering about sunflower mead?
I have no experience with something like that... but if you are attempting actual sunflower seeds, they have oils that can go rancid...
Brian, I have a question, I started a Hibiscus Mead on Saturday og was 1.112, Fleischmann yeast was all I had it will probably finish between 1.036 to 1.040 could I add 71b or d47 to go drier.
You can try but it’s not as likely to. Once a colony takes hold, introducing new yeast is less likely to work as yeast are cannibals and will starve out the new colony most times.
Let it go, see where it ends up.
I got dehydrated hibiscus flower from my local health food shop aswell
At the 9:31 mark I zoomed in on the carboy and saw there was one last bejeezus in there. Hopefully it doesn’t cause an issue.
Grew my own hibiscus last year, also started beekeeping last year... Now, I'm obviously going to make mead and wanted to do regular and hibiscus...
Noticed you said to get the flowers, not the leaves... What you want is the calyx not the flowers... The calyx is what gets harvested for teas and such... Just thought it was important to clarify for your audience...
Flowers give the bees nectar, the dry up and fall off, the calyxs get plump at that time as the seed pods mature, then you harvest and dry the calyx, removing the seed pod to be dried and opened for next seasons hibiscus...
if i use a 2 gal fermenter do i double the honey and the tea
Yes.
@@CitySteadingBrews thanks
This is great. I just got alot of hibiscus in. How long did you let hibiscus site in the water for. I'm so making this on Sunday.
So do you still add the black tea? Or just the hibiscus tea
Do as we did in the video.
Do you have a recipe card for this mead? Especially for the hibiscus tea mixture. Do you use any nutritional supplements to this recipe? Thank you
Everything is in the video and there should be recipe info in the description.
I purchased a couple of those screw on lids with the hole for the Airlock but the fit doesn't seem tight enough around the base of the airlock, have you found any issues with them?
do they make any kind of reusable clamps to keep the bung (w/air-lock) down?
I was stupid enough to buy silicon bungs and want to be able to use them; I dry the bung and mouth of the jar completely, push the bung down to the limit, and still it will pop out.
The only thing that helps is to push the silicon bung down at a crocked angle.
Big fan! Thanks for all the videos. QUESTION. If you did want it to be a lower ABV like you said, how would you go about doing that? I know I see some back sweeten and add a stabilizer in the secondary. Is that the only way? What about changing the water to honey ratio in the beginning ? Looking to make something for my buddies that’s easy sipping and able to drink a lot of. Thanks! Cheers!
I don't ever use stabilizers, but pasteurizing works quite well. We have a few videos on that.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you! And thank you for the response. Does the water to honey ratio effect the ABV to an extent?
Absolutely. It can only ferment what is there to ferment. You can also just use a lot less honey and it will be lower abv too.
If it's not from the Champagne region, it's just the Sparkling Process.
@Zealadinn yes, but since this isn't from the Champagne region, it's just a sparkling comment.
Have you ever tried to put the funnel in the oven to warm it up?
Bourbon is also technically Bourbon once it hits the charred barrel. Not that I'd drink it...yet. 😉
Yup, very true.
Have you guys ever used kveik yeast? I heard it's really good for beginners though I've never used it
Is the hibiscus the flower in the pic or Jamaican hibiscus aka sorrel aka roselle?
It’s a stock photo. The hibiscus was dried so it’s hard to say.
Can you explain why and when to use the black tea, and it's benefits?
It's for tannins. Tannins add mouthfeel. It's a personal choice often times, but we find nearly any brew can benefit by the addition of tannins.
Just started watching. But if you're going to do what I did you're going to like it.
What is the flavor of the Hibiscus. I have some and it smells a lot like cranberry. I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with it and what should appear on my recommended videos you guessed it this video.
Sort of fruity, cranberry, tart, citrusy.
I really need to get a hold of some hibiscus for a brew or 2...or 10. Side question, I know its not relevant for this brew specificly but have you used lactose in a brew since you did the Porter? I've got it in my current 2 brews, planning on carbonating both (a brown sugar and apple cider, and an apple and bramble wine). Just wondering if there was any reason in particular or if its just the brews your posting havent called for it
I've put on 3 gallons worth of basic mead to flavour up in secondary carboys. Can you add and why not? Add fruit and or hibiscus in secondary to flavour rather than ferment them off
Of course you can.
♥ ☺ ♥
Would it taste good if I added some blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and cranberries to the hibiscus mead?
So would you still use 1 cup of flowers per gallon if making a wine rather than a mead?
Adding my 2 cents to the "once you add yeast, it's mead" or "once you add yeast, it's beer". I have a tendancy of calling it the middle state for them ("must" and "wort" respecively). Helps other people who know the vocabulary know if something is ready to be drank yet.
Technically it’s must or wort up until yeast is added. What’s the middle term?
@@CitySteadingBrews turns out I have been using the terms wrong. I thought it was must and wort during fermentation. I learned something. I thought honey water -> add yeast (must) -> fermenting done (mead). Thanks
My mother recently discovered hibiscus tea and loved it, so i wanted to make a hibiscus mead for her but she likes her alcohol a bit on the sweet side and less alcoholic at 10% or so should i just use the same method and use a lower ABV tolerant yeast like a cider yeast or does the recipe need more adjusting? Like stopping the brew after a week or 2.
I thought this was rather sweet already.
Just about every Latino grocery store will have hibiscus by the the ones local to me in Kentucky I'll have it at 4.99 a pound
I want to try and make this hibiscus mean but with raspberries so i have some questions:
1) how much raspberries would you add to this for 1gal
2) would you add the raspberries to the primary or secondary i dont see you guys add much to the secondary
3) do you think Red Star Premier Classique would it be better since its more red style or would you stick to the ec-1118
They are very different ingredients and we don’t have a recipe for that but any of our berry based meads would be a fine starting point.
Ha, this just answered the question I asked not long ago on another video. Doh😁
Brian, I have a question: I, for the time being, have no access to hibiscus flowers, but only hibiscus tea. How many bags of hibiscus tea and/or how long should I steep the tea to get a useable concentration for a gallon of hibiscus mead? Any help whatsoever is greatly appreciated.
For a gallon, I would say 6-8 bags and steep for the recommended time on them.
Made this about 10 days ago (2nd batch ever) I just found out about yeast nutrients. Is it too late to add any to my carboy? Any help is appreciated.
I didn’t use any.
Hello! My fiancé has Hibiscus tea bags in her tea collection. Would I be able to brew a cup and possibly be similar to your method?
It should be similar, sure.
@@CitySteadingBrews I’ve got an extra jug sitting around doing nothing. Looks like I know what my next mead is, thank you!
Is this any different than the hibiscus mead you made half way through the Viking blod recipe? When you were making that recipe, you stopped midway and indicated that after the taste, you wanted to bottle it then. Btw….I did stop and it was very tasty, very good. I’m still waiting to see if you make a blueberry hibiscus mead! Great video as always.
Hi guys how much cup of sugar would i need? If i don't want to used honey. Thanks
First.. honey and sugar taste totally different. But… 3/4 of the amount of honey as sugar will sort of replicate the abv.
@CitySteadingBrews thanks, am trying to make a wine instead of a mead, so I am going to use 2 cups of sugar. You and your wife are awesome. You work well together ❤️ and you guys are also funny, lol
Missed opportunity when talking about a loose bung there, when you don't have an airlock. I want my money back. ;)
How much water did you use for the hibiscus tea?
Doesn't really matter as it gets diluted into the whole batch anyway.
Ok makes sense. Thanks!@@CitySteadingBrews
I am currently making one, but it has been going so slow I think it might have stalled. Started on around 1.130 with a mix of hibiscus tea (one cup of flowers for a 5 liter batch) and added half a packet of Lalvin 71B. This started on june 14th and currently it is on around 1.068 and dropping with a point per week or something.
Any tips to boost it up a bit? I already repitched some more yeast and added some water.
Temp could be a factor... below 70f and 71B gets sluggish.
@@CitySteadingBrews could be! But the traditional next to it had same temp and yeast.
@@DonSchinkel different brews work at different speeds. I usually find hibiscus is a fast fermenter, but depending on where you got it, it might have something in it that retards fermentation?
@@CitySteadingBrews good point! That might be the case, bit hard to figure out. I guess time will tell how it all works out. Thanks for the replies!!
I miss the sound clip for turbos :'(
I was wondering if what you call hibiscus flower is rhe sane thing we call sorrel in Jamaica 🇯🇲 and other parts of the Caribbean
It's the same as our roselle hibiscus, yep.