City steading fail compilation?!?! I'll be binge watching that one. Makes me feel a little better about forgetting to close the valve on my siphon before I took it out of the secondary fermenter.
I would say maybe the score of how well the process worked would be CSBS (CIty Stead Brewing Score) and the score of how well you guys liked it would be CSTS (City Stead Tasting Score). Loved this video, I think this one would be right down my alley as far as flavors.
The list of flavors in Tazo make my taste buds tingle, but Tazo no here o. So I will brew a batch of tea with dried hibiscus flowers, cinnamon, passion fruit powder, dried orange peel etc. and see what happens. I'll add a little more honey, possibly to compensate for less sugar. Brilliant inspirational video, guys!
you need to mix up 2 gallons of mead must into a 2 gallon something or other but then split it into two different 1 gallon containers and add fermaid-o to just one of them and that way you will know if it affects flavor :) performance success score?
Good on the new rating scales. I personally have never had a stuck fermentation using a yeast starter. A ridiculous cell count helps, but I make 5 gallon batches. You can also see if your yeast is kicking.
Well, I gotta say, that was probably one of the busiest fermentation videos I've seen in a while 😁. I really enjoyed listening to the possibilities of how to "fix" a brew. This is just one of the many reasons I like watching your videos. I've ran into this scenario with 71B also and fixed it by adding Red Star premier classique yeast. I was yelling at you during the video to do this but you just kept going 😅😂. Great job on figuring out a different way to finish the Brew. You're experiences always gives me hope that my brews will come out great and I haven't been let down yet. Thank you once again 😁👍🙏❤️
fun fact-when yeast divide, they get a "Belly button" scar on them-you can tell how many times they divided by counting their belly buttons..but you have to use a shrink ray on yourself in order to see them up close.
I’m new to the channel but wanted to thank you guys for the great content. I’ve watched so many of your videos. I’m loving this new hobby and have learned so much. Keep up the great work!
Love your vids and have enjoyed a few of your recipes. In a few of your older vids you talked about your beer making and I was wondering could you bring a few back. I know there is a lot mire steps and more mess but just curious. Thank you.
Been watching you guys for years love what you do still will fallow until my end. It’s almost huckleberry season in my area can’t wait to make another mead with them so what is the happy zone for ph levels
I love your latest vids. It's like walking into the market and going what can I use to make wine today. I love the tazo's ice teas and probably wouldn't think of this even though I am two week in on a lemon "ice tea" wine now. I'm just loving the content guys thank you!
I typically use red stars primer de Blanc (the yellow packet) it works well where I live, I bought a brick of it 2years ago I keep it frozen and it's still hitting around the 15 percent mark on majority of brews
My teacher also always said: you will not always have a calculator with you. To bad the yeast can’t finished the fermentation. Insure if that’s happen to me I add other yeast. Like an champagne yeast or a 18% tolerance mead yeast
I made this on Sept 24,22 with a start gravity of 1.112 and on oct16,22 was .996. Just saying your stall wasn't probably the product might be the yeast like you were talking about. I used d47 yeast.
Hey Brian jave thought about using invert (inverted?) sugar in a wine recipe? Just wondering if it is worth the extra effort for better fermentation and what it does for flavor.
I have looked into it. Apparently it doesn’t make a better fermentation. Yeast literally evolved to break down sugar. It does however change the flavor and is preferred in some beer styles.
Any recommendations for a red star or white labs yeast variety to use instead of the 71B? Im looking to make a large batch of this for Christmas gifts and dont want to run into the stall issues.
@@CitySteadingBrews I just don't want to take a chance on a 30 gallon batch. Have you used any white labs varieties? I have a commercial account with them for beer and cider but have never tried the wine strains. They have a wlp720 sweet mead/wine strains as well as a steinberg-geisenheim variety that clams to produce strong fruity esters.
I do not think you are taking any more risk on 71b than any other yeast. Every yeast has a chance for failure, since they are all living things. I have not used White Labs at all.
thank you guys for making such informative videos. Thanks to your videos my wife and i have started making our first mead. Really enjoy your videos and humour, please keep it up.
Took the plunge to make me some of that Tasion Pea Mead. Making a 1/2 gallon. I only had D47 on hand and 1.5 lbs of local honey. OG 1.142.seems a little high so I shook and took a couple more readings but that’s what I kept getting. I don’t think the D47 will get to dry so we will see.
Looks like a great recipe, hope to find the tazo passion tea mix near me. Redstar premier cuvee is a low foaming yeast saved a few brews where i got greedy. Great video you guys thanks.
So I had a stall last year with the same yeast and oddly it stalled at 1.052 and it started around 1.120 ish it got to like 6% ish from what I remember. But I remember the FG cuz my buddy loved how sweet it was It was a pomegranate wine by the way
I have some bulk aging as we speak! I used Bai Coconut drink as the base. Long story about Bai drink. Anyway, I had it so I used it. Last tasted 3 months and it’s coming along quite nice.
I'm surprised to hear about people having stall issues with 71B; I thought it was just me. I primarily use it and my past 5 gal brewed I had it stall almost exactly in the middle of brewing (~8%). Shake starting fixed the issue for me, though it is annoying taking the extra samples to confirm. That last couple of brews I shake started off gassed so quick, it was like a machine gun out the air lock. The starsan I keep in the airlock would start to bubble out the top. Knock on wood, I haven't had to salvage a brew because of it. Y'all keep up the good work. As for scoring, I think the og taste score is the way to go. There are so many variables in the process that copying exactly is unlikely; therefore the difficulty would vary widely as well. I think the taste score would be a good recommendation that the effort was worth it despite any difficulties in the process. At any rate, thanks for the videos as always.
From my calculator, I'd be using about 7 grams of Feemaid O for that volume and yeast selection. Ideally in a Tosna style, but I'm lazy so normally front load.
Hi folks, over the years I have had a stall or two. Now I know your thoughts on what I am going to suggest, but I have found that aeration has been quite successful (fish tank air pump with stone), have not had any problem with vinegar.
Hey guys, followed your ancient vikings blood recipe and it turned out terrible! Not because of the recipe or anything you did but because a ran into it half assed knowing basically nothing. Now years later Ive decided to reattempt making mead, after watching many of your videos and learning infinitely more than i did before I am confident it will go well. Thank you guys for making such helpful and detailed videos, your effort and dedication is much appreciated.
@CitySteadingBrews Many things, I don't think I even sanitised correctly the first time. I took no readings to check whether it was done fermenting, it just waited a week or two and racked it. I used a pillow I believe to strain the cherries from the brew and it may not have been pure honey that I used. It worked alcohol wise but man was it hard to drink
FYI Costco online seasonally has local 1 gallon pales of honey. I got a gallon (12#) of PNW blackberry honey for a very reasonable price. They are out now but it should be back this fall/winter
But the Costco wildflower honey is quite good too. The only downside is it's flavor varies quite a bit with the seasons. Not a huge deal, just an unknown variable
Thanks for yet another excellent video! I can’t get TAZO tea but this is giving me great ideas! About the stall: I’m thinking it’s either a pH thing or it’s 71B having an iffy batch. This happened a few years ago as well. I also got a few packets that stalled on me. About the dual scoring system: should you decide to go through the laborious undertaking of adapting the scoring paperwork (good luck Derica!) you could go with Proof Of Concept Score (POCS) and Personal Opinion Score (POS). I tried other acronyms but my dirty little mind kept coming up with stuff that was NSFW. 🙈 Edit: I’d love a blooper reel video!
I agree, another great video! Great idea to start doing the PH readings more often when that information may be helpful and especially when you have stalls. It could well be a helpful data point in figuring out problems with brews. Thanks a lot for the great video.
Followed by an 80's movie style montage of you two going through the brewing process , with catchy soundtrack dubbed over it.... or alternatively just all Derica's numerous iterations of "The Red Bucket of Sanitation " which make so many of us happy.
Hey guys! If I was going to add spices into secondary, how long should I let them sit in there? I know the alcohol will pull the flavors out faster and I just don't want to leave them in there for too long! Thanks for everything and keep those videos coming! Mead making has become a bright and shiny passion for me since I started watching your videos!
Awesome! I am making your spiced metheglin for this Christmas and I'm pretty much copying your recipe to a T except I'm going to add the spices into secondary. Thanks for the response!
I had you guys pop up in my feed yesterday. I think I've watched 10 videos since. My daughter loves the Tazo passion and wondered if using just the straight hot tea version would have been better and in what way.
If you suspect the stall may be due to a bad batch of yeast, couldn't you put in another brand of yeast to get things moving again, even bread yeast? It would be below the tolerance of the added yeast presumably and the necessary sugars would still be there. Just wondering why this wasn't considered as an option.
This seems like a good time to ask about this since you started talking about yeast environments. I’ve been wanting to start brewing for a while, but whenever I do research into yeast, I run into the problem of my condo not being super temperature stable unless I were to have my AC unit on 24/7, or off 24/7. Do you have a recommendation of where I can do more research to find a yeast that can work? (For reference, I woke up late morning and I’m at 81F in places that weren’t my bedroom w/ my fan. My AC will hopefully drop it to like 73-75 in the next hour.)
@@CitySteadingBrews I brew in our basement, which is a constant 65F all year. The biggest thing I see is that when I replicate your brews, if yours is done fermenting in a week, I am normally finishing at 4 weeks. It takes me about 4 times longer to get to a final product.
So you mentioned right at the end that you’re bottling as is. Due to the lower ABV, are you also pasteurizing to prevent any potential re-fermentation in the bottle?
To help combat the scale turning off, i cycle trough the units. Just an idea to try. Also as for kviek yeast, you can use a sous vide machine in a crock pot to keep the brew at the temperatures to take advantage of that yeast. It helps to cover it with foil for insulation and moisture retention.
@@CitySteadingBrews Perhaps. I have some left and might try that method to see what happens. Possibly with a split batch and the other at room temperature.
What in tea helps clear meads? I added 4 bags of bigelow prefect peach tea to 1 gallon of cloudy mead in an experiment/attempt to flavor it. It went from cloudy to see through clear within a day.
Most likely it was just the reaction of new compounds that made it finally drop out of suspension. I have seen that happen and people report hazy brews that suddenly clear when bottled too.
I’ve heard that Mountain Dew was originally a brew. Have you considered doing an Mountain Dew brew without the high fructose corn syrup and make it as a carbonated brew?
I have seen Mountain Dew throwback in the can that is made with real sugar. I’m not sure if that is available nationwide. It’s a thought I had. The other thought I had was to see about finding a recipe that would come close. Just curious if you all had thought of something similar. The only drawback is I don’t have experience brewing, and I wasn’t sure if that would be a feasible idea to try. I’m not sure if high fructose corn syrup would do something weird to the taste versus regular sugar. I respect your knowledge of brewing and figured you’d have a good direction on how to go about it.
Thanks for another great informative and entertaining video. My suggestion for the “performance score” would be to call it. “U-PASS” Unbiased performance and success score. But what if it fails? 🤔🤣
How about operational score and preference score? Cuz that sounds "OP" to me... ok, really corny... As far as stalls go, is there a way to test your yeast? If the yeast is the issue are you planning on doing any remakes? Because I am really interested to see that kool-aid succeed! XD once again, amazing content guys! I love it!
Enjoy the show! Realized when making the wine from juice and adding the pectin, that my scale was jumping between 0, 2, and 4 grams, so it lacks accuracy. Was hoping to use a link from your channel to Amazon for a new scale, but only see links per show, and on that show, no link to a scale. Would like to suggest that you provide a list of all equipment that we can reference easily, that would allow us to provide you with a little bit on income when we use the links, without our having to search through each show. Keeping it updated of course!
I always check PH levels, as it will drastically drop below 3 in a week or two, I try to keep the PH levels between 5-6. Never had a stuck fermentation since.
Shame i cant make the same type of brews here in the UK, we dont have the same ingredients unfortunately, and if i bought honey for brewing, i would need a mortgage to pay for it. Would love however to see a talk on kegging and forced carbonation though for wine or cider or lager.
I looked everywhere for an answer. Could DADY be used to brew the mead (or wine and/or beer) and what would be the results? I know that the yeast will eat mostly all of the sugars in the mead, but to what effect and how would it affect the flavor profile of just a basic mead, wine, or beer?
It's really only meant for mashes meant for distilling. While it will "work", it likely won't taste as good as if you used a wine yeast. It's likely to be harsher, have more alcohol flavor, etc.
So making this with just the tea and not the concentrate would cut down on the sediment and maybe prevent the stall? Or would you do it the same with fresh yeast?
Have you tried checking the pH? Its called a "cold brew" which traditionally is smoother; smoother because its low in acidity - one of those natural components may have been something to neutralize overall acidity, which may be why they have 2 Citric Acids. Citric Acid isnt very strong, but it is quite sharp on the palate.
Hey im back with another question :D. my basic cider is foaming a lot. is it something to bother about? i already cleaned up the airlock twice and in already starts again to foam out of the airlock. keep it up great work
To understand what you are talking about, in regards to the yeast hulls, it is better to add hulls vs a package of yeast due to the nitrogen? Or is there a different reason to add yeast hulls vs a package of yeast?
A package of yeast is just the living version of yeast hulls. You don't always need more yeast, but the hulls can work as a food for the yeast already there.
@@CitySteadingBrews So I have a mead that was fermenting and seems to have stalled. I tested it last night and it had only dropped 3 points before it stalled would adding another package of yeast be better or yeast hulls? It has been stalled for several weeks and I had only had time to test it last night.
@@CitySteadingBrews I have gone from a 1.13 OG to a 1.02 gravity. Ingredients are D-47 yeast from last year, 6 pounds of honey, 5 pounds of peaches, 5 tablespoons of yeast nutrient, and good ol well water. The D-47 yeast is from Lavin.
hydrometer will be here in two days lol. i used pawpaws method for batchs 1 and 2. while i love those videos, this method is much more preferred by me. plus, i have a bunch of higher quality juices just waiting on it to get here. found a nice deal on a two pack and graduated cylinder on amazon for like 14 bucks. easy decision.
So with the stall issue and being overly sweet to start ejth with. I was thinking of just buying the passion tea bags. How much tea to water would you think would work? Im leaning 3 parts tea 1 part water with the 3lbs of honey.
I suspect the culprit is the citric acid, which could also be the case in the Kool Aid. Perhaps testing the acid level is in order, and then adding baking soda to balance if needed.
Good morning Brian and Derica! Can yall please let me know how to tell how to judge abv if I have to dilute my mead must with water? I have a few sluggish musts that dont want to finish. My blueberry OG was 1.14 on 5/7/23. But now its moving extremely slowly after adding yeast hulls. Its at 1.08 still. And dosent want to move really. But i dont want to dilute because I wont know how much abv. Im using a 16% yeast Thank yall so much.
And if I have alot of head space. Could I make a must that's the same og and ad it in to decrease heaad space? Because after day 3 there allways seems to be much more headspace. would I want to match the OG or the sg that it is right then?
It was started at a very high gravity. Seems like it stalled. 1.14 can make almost 19% alcohol theoretically. You should dilute it with water to help and maybe your yeast will start up again. If not, add more yeast.
I think the first score should be called the production score. The definition is the action of making or manufacturing from components or raw materials, or the process of being so manufactured.
do you have neutral spirit's with abv 96%? or just up to drinable (you can drink 96%but heh ..same as you can eat everything once) it could fortify it with less fluids or you can make strong extracts or clean wounds or ... well you get it ;)
An idea for a factor to take into account for the "technical" score could be replicability, meaning how easy is it to make again. So this brew as an example, it could be difficult to get it to the same stop off points as it were
*DING DING DING*...it's my 2-week "HELP!!" comment/question. I am making a mead that is currently on week 3 of fermentation that has Strawberries currently floating in it. The mead is cloudy and while I"m hoping that Racketing it into another gallon jug to let it sit will help, I've also been looking into other things just in case things don't work out. I read about Clarifying & Fining, but wasn't sure if it was safe, or if I literally put the Racketed mead INTO my water filter would do any good. But what is you guys opinions on how to clear Cloudy Mead...or if it's really necessary.
Did my comment about 71B making a lot of glycerol because of osmotic stress, and leading to a syrupy sweet product? I provided links to what I was referencing, it that why it's gone now?
Hello, Brian and Derika! Thanks a million for your content! Would you kindly help me resolve the situation with mead brewing? I wanted to ask it in the base video, but you mentioned in one of the videos that we can write at any one of them, but the topic must be clear. So, here it goes. I'm currently in the tiny country of Montenegro in Balkans, and they don't have much equipment wise here. I managed to get my hands on 5L flask, 2 kg of honey and some yeast. Yeast is it's separate story, the ones they have here is literally translated to "Wine yeast". No known alcohol tolerance, not much info on the company that makes them, all around -- not a very good product, I think. The mead made with it tasted sour and I didn't like it. Also, they have problems with hydrometers and alcoholometers, but that's another story. Anyhow, through some pain and tears I've got my hands on pack of Bulldog Mead Yeast + Nutrient 28g/25L. They say it's alcohol tolerance is ~18%. Also, I've managed to get a Hydrometer for juices with it's scale cut off at 1.050, and another thing with "Babo" scale. So, I made a must, consisting of 2 kg of honey + around 3.5 L of water. The starting gravity of that solution was 22 Babo, or, according to calculator -- 1.110 specific gravity. I added 5 grams of that yeast/nutrients powder from the package, added the airlock and put it into a dark place for 10 days. Reaction started ~5 hours later. It bubbled for a week, than the pressure normalized. I waited a couple of days and opened it up to take a sample. Unfortunately, my Babo-meter broke, and I was left with a cut hydrometer. It popped out of the solution! Well, not popped out, but the must wasn't even reaching the scale. So, it's at least 1.060 I'd say from the looks of it. I've closed it up the day before yesterday and put it back to the dark place. Then I remembered you suggested adding more yeast if we think it stalled, so I did that yesterday. After adding 4 more grams of it, a brief bubbling happened, but pressure normalized again quickly. No signs of activity as of one day later (now). Any advice from you guys would be greatly appreciated! P.S. I don't have access to Fermade-O or any other stuff like that. There's a thing here in packets called "Food for Yeast", but I'm not sure I want to add that :D
@@sethgecko2603 - May I be rude and step in? I know you asked Brian and Derica but felt I could reassure you in case they’re busy and it takes a while for them to respond. Just leave your brew as is until you get your babometer. It won’t hurt your mead as you’ve got the airlock on there. Take a new measurement once you’ve got the babometer, do your calculations, then get back to Brian & Derica with feedback on the measurement. I don’t have direct access to Fermaid-O either and had to reach out to fellow home brewers or when someone from work is coming over from the USA they bring me some. Last year a colleague from Germany got me an unknown German equivalent. Of you can teach out to a German home brewing webshop, they might be able to help you out if you ask for completely organic yeast nutrient. Unfortunately I have no idea what my German colleague brought me as he simply asked his father-in-law who makes fruit wines and has a large stash. He got me a scoop in exchange for a couple of bottles of my aged mead. The zipper bag was unmarked but it looked exactly like Fermaid O and probably is exactly the same stuff. Hope this helps!
You can get a power cord for the scale you are using. If you use the power cord, the scale won't turn off. Of course that means you have to have somewhere to plug it in!
Im only on my second batch of brewing mead so im basically a cave man im even still using bread yeast lol as far as the tasting names just call them the objective tasting vs the subjective tasting
i make my 2nd batches... 1st & 2nd batch that i make, didnt have foam like yours. my mead almost no foam at all, even when i aerate with cake hand mixer for 15 minutes, the water + honey didnt produce foam at all
We made this recipe with tazo tea we brewed at home vs store bought premixed.(edit. Using tazo chai teabags) Looks to have stalled at about the same place 1.120 ig - 1.060fg = 8% Currently trying to restart using yeast hulls.
My only complaint with (and I know this is like out nowhere lol) being in the brew tube community is getting recommended certain channels that I keep telling TH-cam not to recommend like doing the most who the channel and their subs seem to have major issues with CS and the reasons they give are acutely false and by god it’s frustrating arguing with morons.
@@CitySteadingBrews you’d think but I woke up today saw your video followed by like 10 of theirs which isn’t your problem I know but my god I just cant fathom why people feel the need to be so rude now the last video I watched was like 2 years ago but those kinds of people just don’t stop ya know? Anyways I also want to say thank you for so much but mostly for inspiring me to get healthy I weigh over 400 pounds and after seeing your health journey I’ve been slowly gaining the confidence to get myself healthy and break my addiction to sugars. That’s thanks to the candid info and upbeat advice you guys provide. So to me the rest can go suck lees.
@GodBroly "Go suck lees!" I love that insult and, by your leave, will steal it! It's one of those not-terribly-rude but if you know, you know kind of insults!
@@GodBroly - I’m stealing the “go suck lees” insult too. Well done starting on your journey towards getting healthy. Ignore the channels you don’t like. Happy brewing and greetings from Belgium!
You know, honestly... My favorite part of these videos is how you constantly bash teachers for saying you'd never have a calculator. 😂
LOL
Lol it's funny because I remember my teacher's telling me the same thing
City steading fail compilation?!?! I'll be binge watching that one. Makes me feel a little better about forgetting to close the valve on my siphon before I took it out of the secondary fermenter.
I would say maybe the score of how well the process worked would be CSBS (CIty Stead Brewing Score) and the score of how well you guys liked it would be CSTS (City Stead Tasting Score). Loved this video, I think this one would be right down my alley as far as flavors.
Adapt and overcome. Welcome to humanity. Glad to see your difficulties (only because its a great learning experience) and reactions.
Wow! The CitySteading Brew School was in session this morning. Thank you for offering remote classes.
Lol
The list of flavors in Tazo make my taste buds tingle, but Tazo no here o. So I will brew a batch of tea with dried hibiscus flowers, cinnamon, passion fruit powder, dried orange peel etc. and see what happens. I'll add a little more honey, possibly to compensate for less sugar. Brilliant inspirational video, guys!
you need to mix up 2 gallons of mead must into a 2 gallon something or other but then split it into two different 1 gallon containers and add fermaid-o to just one of them and that way you will know if it affects flavor :)
performance success score?
Good on the new rating scales.
I personally have never had a stuck fermentation using a yeast starter. A ridiculous cell count helps, but I make 5 gallon batches. You can also see if your yeast is kicking.
Well, I gotta say, that was probably one of the busiest fermentation videos I've seen in a while 😁.
I really enjoyed listening to the possibilities of how to "fix" a brew. This is just one of the many reasons I like watching your videos.
I've ran into this scenario with 71B also and fixed it by adding Red Star premier classique yeast. I was yelling at you during the video to do this but you just kept going 😅😂.
Great job on figuring out a different way to finish the Brew. You're experiences always gives me hope that my brews will come out great and I haven't been let down yet. Thank you once again 😁👍🙏❤️
A few years back a I made a mead with the water having a box of Celestial Seasonings Mango Zinger tea.....it was pretty awesome.
Lol I used the country peach. Broke two hydrometers trying to get a reading and decided it doesn't want me to know. Now it is called Project Peach X.
I'm excited for this! I made this yesterday. I'm using Lalvin ec-1118. It's my first mead ever! Y'all are the best to learn from, in my opinion.
fun fact-when yeast divide, they get a "Belly button" scar on them-you can tell how many times they divided by counting their belly buttons..but you have to use a shrink ray on yourself in order to see them up close.
Lol
Never Google yeast belly buttons 🤢
Thanks
Your videos keep getting better and better!
Wow, thank YOU!
I’m new to the channel but wanted to thank you guys for the great content. I’ve watched so many of your videos. I’m loving this new hobby and have learned so much. Keep up the great work!
Happy to help!
I agree! The Kirkland wildflower honey is great in meads!
Love your vids and have enjoyed a few of your recipes. In a few of your older vids you talked about your beer making and I was wondering could you bring a few back. I know there is a lot mire steps and more mess but just curious. Thank you.
We have several beer videos already on the channel :)
Been watching you guys for years love what you do still will fallow until my end. It’s almost huckleberry season in my area can’t wait to make another mead with them so what is the happy zone for ph levels
Each yeast has it’s own. Usually 3.5-5 ish.
I finally used black tea in my Meads and boom mind blown thank you for enlightening me!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
You are welcome :)
I love your latest vids. It's like walking into the market and going what can I use to make wine today. I love the tazo's ice teas and probably wouldn't think of this even though I am two week in on a lemon "ice tea" wine now. I'm just loving the content guys thank you!
Glad you enjoy it!
Any dissolved solids will increase SG, but most besides sugar aren't dissolved in quantities that change it significantly.
I think I’ll try this out, I’ll probably use EC-118 though as I’ve had good results with it for making my experiments. Great video you two. 🤙🏻
I typically use red stars primer de Blanc (the yellow packet) it works well where I live, I bought a brick of it 2years ago I keep it frozen and it's still hitting around the 15 percent mark on majority of brews
I use that too after trying other yeasts. I think it could have finished this mead off.
If you have a stall like this one where it’s only a 9 percent abv could you try another yeast to get it up to say 15 percent that’s the range I prefer
It might work sometimes. Depends on why it stalled.
Herbaglyn, Spiceaglyn, Floraglyn. And a broken Derica. 😅 well done guys.
Thankya!
My teacher also always said: you will not always have a calculator with you.
To bad the yeast can’t finished the fermentation.
Insure if that’s happen to me I add other yeast. Like an champagne yeast or a 18% tolerance mead yeast
That won’t always make it ferment.
Process Score, PS and Taste Score, TS. Simpel and clear.😊
With the myweigh scale I occasionally press it with my finger while I wait.
If the weight changes it won't time out and switch off
Good idea!
@@CitySteadingBrews can't wait for "finger the scale" t-shirts 😂
@@CitySteadingBrews - I do the finger-on-scale thing too. Works with every pair of digital scales I ever had.
I made this on Sept 24,22 with a start gravity of 1.112 and on oct16,22 was .996. Just saying your stall wasn't probably the product might be the yeast like you were talking about. I used d47 yeast.
Hey Brian jave thought about using invert (inverted?) sugar in a wine recipe? Just wondering if it is worth the extra effort for better fermentation and what it does for flavor.
I have looked into it. Apparently it doesn’t make a better fermentation. Yeast literally evolved to break down sugar. It does however change the flavor and is preferred in some beer styles.
Any recommendations for a red star or white labs yeast variety to use instead of the 71B? Im looking to make a large batch of this for Christmas gifts and dont want to run into the stall issues.
Any wine yeast is fine. I don’t think 71b is a bad yeast. We may and I stress may have gotten a bad batch is all.
@@CitySteadingBrews I just don't want to take a chance on a 30 gallon batch. Have you used any white labs varieties? I have a commercial account with them for beer and cider but have never tried the wine strains. They have a wlp720 sweet mead/wine strains as well as a steinberg-geisenheim variety that clams to produce strong fruity esters.
I do not think you are taking any more risk on 71b than any other yeast. Every yeast has a chance for failure, since they are all living things. I have not used White Labs at all.
thank you guys for making such informative videos. Thanks to your videos my wife and i have started making our first mead. Really enjoy your videos and humour, please keep it up.
Thanks :)
Didn’t the Chia mead have a similar stall? I tried the chia and turned out great this is one I may have to try.
Took the plunge to make me some of that Tasion Pea Mead. Making a 1/2 gallon. I only had D47 on hand and 1.5 lbs of local honey. OG 1.142.seems a little high so I shook and took a couple more readings but that’s what I kept getting. I don’t think the D47 will get to dry so we will see.
Looks like a great recipe, hope to find the tazo passion tea mix near me. Redstar premier cuvee is a low foaming yeast saved a few brews where i got greedy. Great video you guys thanks.
So I had a stall last year with the same yeast and oddly it stalled at 1.052 and it started around 1.120 ish it got to like 6% ish from what I remember. But I remember the FG cuz my buddy loved how sweet it was
It was a pomegranate wine by the way
I have some bulk aging as we speak! I used Bai Coconut drink as the base. Long story about Bai drink. Anyway, I had it so I used it. Last tasted 3 months and it’s coming along quite nice.
Sounds great!
I'm surprised to hear about people having stall issues with 71B; I thought it was just me. I primarily use it and my past 5 gal brewed I had it stall almost exactly in the middle of brewing (~8%). Shake starting fixed the issue for me, though it is annoying taking the extra samples to confirm. That last couple of brews I shake started off gassed so quick, it was like a machine gun out the air lock. The starsan I keep in the airlock would start to bubble out the top. Knock on wood, I haven't had to salvage a brew because of it. Y'all keep up the good work. As for scoring, I think the og taste score is the way to go. There are so many variables in the process that copying exactly is unlikely; therefore the difficulty would vary widely as well. I think the taste score would be a good recommendation that the effort was worth it despite any difficulties in the process. At any rate, thanks for the videos as always.
From my calculator, I'd be using about 7 grams of Feemaid O for that volume and yeast selection. Ideally in a Tosna style, but I'm lazy so normally front load.
Hi folks, over the years I have had a stall or two. Now I know your thoughts on what I am going to suggest, but I have found that aeration has been quite successful (fish tank air pump with stone), have not had any problem with vinegar.
Intriguing!
An "oops" compilation would be great 😂
Hey guys, followed your ancient vikings blood recipe and it turned out terrible! Not because of the recipe or anything you did but because a ran into it half assed knowing basically nothing. Now years later Ive decided to reattempt making mead, after watching many of your videos and learning infinitely more than i did before I am confident it will go well. Thank you guys for making such helpful and detailed videos, your effort and dedication is much appreciated.
What did you do wrong do you think?
@CitySteadingBrews Many things, I don't think I even sanitised correctly the first time. I took no readings to check whether it was done fermenting, it just waited a week or two and racked it. I used a pillow I believe to strain the cherries from the brew and it may not have been pure honey that I used. It worked alcohol wise but man was it hard to drink
Ahh… gotcha… wow.
@CitySteadingBrews Haha yeah young and dumb but thankyou for helping me grow and learn and helping me get into this hobby
FYI Costco online seasonally has local 1 gallon pales of honey. I got a gallon (12#) of PNW blackberry honey for a very reasonable price. They are out now but it should be back this fall/winter
But the Costco wildflower honey is quite good too. The only downside is it's flavor varies quite a bit with the seasons. Not a huge deal, just an unknown variable
Thanks!
Thanks for yet another excellent video! I can’t get TAZO tea but this is giving me great ideas!
About the stall: I’m thinking it’s either a pH thing or it’s 71B having an iffy batch. This happened a few years ago as well. I also got a few packets that stalled on me.
About the dual scoring system: should you decide to go through the laborious undertaking of adapting the scoring paperwork (good luck Derica!) you could go with Proof Of Concept Score (POCS) and Personal Opinion Score (POS). I tried other acronyms but my dirty little mind kept coming up with stuff that was NSFW. 🙈
Edit: I’d love a blooper reel video!
I agree, another great video! Great idea to start doing the PH readings more often when that information may be helpful and especially when you have stalls. It could well be a helpful data point in figuring out problems with brews. Thanks a lot for the great video.
@peterbassel6888 we are doing more pH readings. This is not that recent of a video :)
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks a lot. You guys are amazing! I've learned so much from your videos.
Thanks also for the mead ratings chart on your website.
City Steading blooper reel? Add in some adorable kitty cameos from Tigger and the gang.....yes please!
Followed by an 80's movie style montage of you two going through the brewing process , with catchy soundtrack dubbed over it.... or alternatively just all Derica's numerous iterations of "The Red Bucket of Sanitation " which make so many of us happy.
Today I am drinking Newcastle Brown Ale and robinsons Old Tom strong ale. 8.5% 🍺
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Could the ph on the brew be out of yeast tolerance causing the stall?
It's possible.
Hey guys! If I was going to add spices into secondary, how long should I let them sit in there? I know the alcohol will pull the flavors out faster and I just don't want to leave them in there for too long! Thanks for everything and keep those videos coming! Mead making has become a bright and shiny passion for me since I started watching your videos!
Usually a week or two but the spices themselves make a difference too.
Awesome! I am making your spiced metheglin for this Christmas and I'm pretty much copying your recipe to a T except I'm going to add the spices into secondary. Thanks for the response!
Perhaps a fermentability score and a taste score
YES!! ... bloopers ... call it the Compendium of Ooops
I had you guys pop up in my feed yesterday. I think I've watched 10 videos since.
My daughter loves the Tazo passion and wondered if using just the straight hot tea version would have been better and in what way.
It’s just a different tea blend. Can’t sY it would be better or not.
We may have to try it out. After we do the easy version of basic.
To keep a scale “active” push the platen down to change the weight from time to time. Most scales time out when it hasn’t changed for a set time.
This one seems to no matter what.
@@CitySteadingBrews Wellll POOPAGE!
Oops, did I type that out loud?
Lol
If you suspect the stall may be due to a bad batch of yeast, couldn't you put in another brand of yeast to get things moving again, even bread yeast? It would be below the tolerance of the added yeast presumably and the necessary sugars would still be there. Just wondering why this wasn't considered as an option.
If we really wanted it to ferment more, maybe. But after adding the tea it tasted good!
This seems like a good time to ask about this since you started talking about yeast environments. I’ve been wanting to start brewing for a while, but whenever I do research into yeast, I run into the problem of my condo not being super temperature stable unless I were to have my AC unit on 24/7, or off 24/7. Do you have a recommendation of where I can do more research to find a yeast that can work? (For reference, I woke up late morning and I’m at 81F in places that weren’t my bedroom w/ my fan. My AC will hopefully drop it to like 73-75 in the next hour.)
I don’t think 71-81 is too worrisome. Past 85 I wouldn’t think too good and below 60ish might be bad.
@@CitySteadingBrews I brew in our basement, which is a constant 65F all year. The biggest thing I see is that when I replicate your brews, if yours is done fermenting in a week, I am normally finishing at 4 weeks. It takes me about 4 times longer to get to a final product.
@@browncw Yup, yeast work more slowly in colder environments. However, sometimes a little slower is better for less off flavor chances.
So you mentioned right at the end that you’re bottling as is. Due to the lower ABV, are you also pasteurizing to prevent any potential re-fermentation in the bottle?
Yes, we forgot to mention that in the video!
To help combat the scale turning off, i cycle trough the units. Just an idea to try.
Also as for kviek yeast, you can use a sous vide machine in a crock pot to keep the brew at the temperatures to take advantage of that yeast. It helps to cover it with foil for insulation and moisture retention.
I actually set it to not turn off. Still not convinced kveik is worth that much trouble, lol.
@@CitySteadingBrews Perhaps. I have some left and might try that method to see what happens. Possibly with a split batch and the other at room temperature.
What in tea helps clear meads? I added 4 bags of bigelow prefect peach tea to 1 gallon of cloudy mead in an experiment/attempt to flavor it. It went from cloudy to see through clear within a day.
Most likely it was just the reaction of new compounds that made it finally drop out of suspension. I have seen that happen and people report hazy brews that suddenly clear when bottled too.
I’ve heard that Mountain Dew was originally a brew. Have you considered doing an Mountain Dew brew without the high fructose corn syrup and make it as a carbonated brew?
Not sure how we get Mtn Dew without it…
I have seen Mountain Dew throwback in the can that is made with real sugar. I’m not sure if that is available nationwide. It’s a thought I had. The other thought I had was to see about finding a recipe that would come close. Just curious if you all had thought of something similar. The only drawback is I don’t have experience brewing, and I wasn’t sure if that would be a feasible idea to try. I’m not sure if high fructose corn syrup would do something weird to the taste versus regular sugar. I respect your knowledge of brewing and figured you’d have a good direction on how to go about it.
Thanks for another great informative and entertaining video. My suggestion for the “performance score” would be to call it. “U-PASS” Unbiased performance and success score. But what if it fails? 🤔🤣
Lol
How about operational score and preference score? Cuz that sounds "OP" to me... ok, really corny... As far as stalls go, is there a way to test your yeast? If the yeast is the issue are you planning on doing any remakes? Because I am really interested to see that kool-aid succeed! XD once again, amazing content guys! I love it!
Enjoy the show! Realized when making the wine from juice and adding the pectin, that my scale was jumping between 0, 2, and 4 grams, so it lacks accuracy. Was hoping to use a link from your channel to Amazon for a new scale, but only see links per show, and on that show, no link to a scale. Would like to suggest that you provide a list of all equipment that we can reference easily, that would allow us to provide you with a little bit on income when we use the links, without our having to search through each show. Keeping it updated of course!
We do on our website: city-steading.com
I always check PH levels, as it will drastically drop below 3 in a week or two, I try to keep the PH levels between 5-6. Never had a stuck fermentation since.
Each yeast has a range… 5-6 seems really high… but hey, if t works.
Shame i cant make the same type of brews here in the UK, we dont have the same ingredients unfortunately, and if i bought honey for brewing, i would need a mortgage to pay for it.
Would love however to see a talk on kegging and forced carbonation though for wine or cider or lager.
I looked everywhere for an answer. Could DADY be used to brew the mead (or wine and/or beer) and what would be the results? I know that the yeast will eat mostly all of the sugars in the mead, but to what effect and how would it affect the flavor profile of just a basic mead, wine, or beer?
It's really only meant for mashes meant for distilling. While it will "work", it likely won't taste as good as if you used a wine yeast. It's likely to be harsher, have more alcohol flavor, etc.
So making this with just the tea and not the concentrate would cut down on the sediment and maybe prevent the stall? Or would you do it the same with fresh yeast?
It was all tea.
Have you tried checking the pH? Its called a "cold brew" which traditionally is smoother; smoother because its low in acidity - one of those natural components may have been something to neutralize overall acidity, which may be why they have 2 Citric Acids. Citric Acid isnt very strong, but it is quite sharp on the palate.
As we said in the tasting part of this video, we are checking PH all the time now. Just not in this particular brew yet.
if you press the units button and cycle back to whichever unit of measurement you're using it will reset the timer for the scale timing out.
Hey im back with another question :D. my basic cider is foaming a lot. is it something to bother about? i already cleaned up the airlock twice and in already starts again to foam out of the airlock.
keep it up great work
It can happen with a healthy fermentation. You might want to use a blowoff tube for a few days. th-cam.com/video/nIHRaBpplLA/w-d-xo.html
@@CitySteadingBrews thank u again for the quick awnser :)
To understand what you are talking about, in regards to the yeast hulls, it is better to add hulls vs a package of yeast due to the nitrogen? Or is there a different reason to add yeast hulls vs a package of yeast?
A package of yeast is just the living version of yeast hulls. You don't always need more yeast, but the hulls can work as a food for the yeast already there.
@@CitySteadingBrews So I have a mead that was fermenting and seems to have stalled. I tested it last night and it had only dropped 3 points before it stalled would adding another package of yeast be better or yeast hulls? It has been stalled for several weeks and I had only had time to test it last night.
What are the readings on it? What is the recipe? What yeast? These details help us to help you :)
@@CitySteadingBrews I have gone from a 1.13 OG to a 1.02 gravity. Ingredients are D-47 yeast from last year, 6 pounds of honey, 5 pounds of peaches, 5 tablespoons of yeast nutrient, and good ol well water. The D-47 yeast is from Lavin.
hydrometer will be here in two days lol. i used pawpaws method for batchs 1 and 2. while i love those videos, this method is much more preferred by me. plus, i have a bunch of higher quality juices just waiting on it to get here. found a nice deal on a two pack and graduated cylinder on amazon for like 14 bucks. easy decision.
Do you risk your yeast going bad during shipment cus it wont be cooled during the trip?
Yes. That may be the issue.
Have you made, or are you willing to make a video on aging a mead on oak? They make charred blocks of oak you can add for small batch liquor.
We have done it in many videos.
So with the stall issue and being overly sweet to start ejth with. I was thinking of just buying the passion tea bags.
How much tea to water would you think would work?
Im leaning 3 parts tea 1 part water with the 3lbs of honey.
I have not tested, so I could not tell you how much to use.
@@CitySteadingBrews guess I'll start the experiments and see how it goes
I'm having the same issue with 71b stalling
My guess is the heat. If the yeast were ever stored in a warehouse or a hot truck…
I bought 71B I live in Michigan and my yeast didn't take off either. Bought it the same time as you.
It's possible there was a bad batch? Maybe.
Couple months ago I believe
So did I miss it, did you fortify with vodka to bring the numbers up?
Nope. We felt it was fine as it was.
I suspect the culprit is the citric acid, which could also be the case in the Kool Aid. Perhaps testing the acid level is in order, and then adding baking soda to balance if needed.
But I think you also used 71B for that, if I remember correctly.
We have begun testing pH for everything, and yup, 71b might have had a bad batch. Can’t be sure.
Good morning Brian and Derica! Can yall please let me know how to tell how to judge abv if I have to dilute my mead must with water? I have a few sluggish musts that dont want to finish. My blueberry OG was 1.14 on 5/7/23. But now its moving extremely slowly after adding yeast hulls. Its at 1.08 still. And dosent want to move really. But i dont want to dilute because I wont know how much abv. Im using a 16% yeast
Thank yall so much.
And if I have alot of head space. Could I make a must that's the same og and ad it in to decrease heaad space? Because after day 3 there allways seems to be much more headspace. would I want to match the OG or the sg that it is right then?
We showed how to calculate it in this video actually. The tea would do the same to abv as water would as far as dilution goes.
In primary headpsace does not matter.
@CitySteadingBrews it's actually more so I would be able to get the most mead from my fermentation. It's pretty sad seeing the bottle 2/3 full.
It was started at a very high gravity. Seems like it stalled. 1.14 can make almost 19% alcohol theoretically. You should dilute it with water to help and maybe your yeast will start up again. If not, add more yeast.
To stop the scale from going into power preservation mode just pick up the funnel with the spout in the demijohn then just sit back in as it funnels
I actually found out how to make it not time out, lol.
I think the first score should be called the production score. The definition is the action of making or manufacturing from components or raw materials, or the process of being so manufactured.
do you have neutral spirit's with abv 96%?
or just up to drinable (you can drink 96%but heh ..same as you can eat everything once)
it could fortify it with less fluids or you can make strong extracts or clean wounds or ... well you get it ;)
Nope. Not even close to that here in FL
And how will you call herbs/spices + fruit? Methomel?
It's just a methyglyn.
An idea for a factor to take into account for the "technical" score could be replicability, meaning how easy is it to make again. So this brew as an example, it could be difficult to get it to the same stop off points as it were
Oh, that's an excellent idea.
You should do this again with the hot tea you used to augment this brew
It's pretty much the same thing :)
@@CitySteadingBrews well, on the theory that there might have been something in the concentrate, you could use the hot tea to rule that out
Ahh gotcha. I think it was pH personally. We're checking that from now on.
oh no I just bought some 71B and now I'm scared to use it haha
Don't be. It's very likely just fine.
My brew was hibiscus wine. And it didn't go good with 71B
*DING DING DING*...it's my 2-week "HELP!!" comment/question. I am making a mead that is currently on week 3 of fermentation that has Strawberries currently floating in it. The mead is cloudy and while I"m hoping that Racketing it into another gallon jug to let it sit will help, I've also been looking into other things just in case things don't work out.
I read about Clarifying & Fining, but wasn't sure if it was safe, or if I literally put the Racketed mead INTO my water filter would do any good. But what is you guys opinions on how to clear Cloudy Mead...or if it's really necessary.
It will likely clear on it’s own. Just give it time.
Did my comment about 71B making a lot of glycerol because of osmotic stress, and leading to a syrupy sweet product? I provided links to what I was referencing, it that why it's gone now?
If there were links in your comment, that’s why.
Hello, Brian and Derika! Thanks a million for your content!
Would you kindly help me resolve the situation with mead brewing? I wanted to ask it in the base video, but you mentioned in one of the videos that we can write at any one of them, but the topic must be clear. So, here it goes.
I'm currently in the tiny country of Montenegro in Balkans, and they don't have much equipment wise here. I managed to get my hands on 5L flask, 2 kg of honey and some yeast.
Yeast is it's separate story, the ones they have here is literally translated to "Wine yeast". No known alcohol tolerance, not much info on the company that makes them, all around -- not a very good product, I think. The mead made with it tasted sour and I didn't like it. Also, they have problems with hydrometers and alcoholometers, but that's another story.
Anyhow, through some pain and tears I've got my hands on pack of Bulldog Mead Yeast + Nutrient 28g/25L. They say it's alcohol tolerance is ~18%. Also, I've managed to get a Hydrometer for juices with it's scale cut off at 1.050, and another thing with "Babo" scale.
So, I made a must, consisting of 2 kg of honey + around 3.5 L of water. The starting gravity of that solution was 22 Babo, or, according to calculator -- 1.110 specific gravity.
I added 5 grams of that yeast/nutrients powder from the package, added the airlock and put it into a dark place for 10 days.
Reaction started ~5 hours later. It bubbled for a week, than the pressure normalized. I waited a couple of days and opened it up to take a sample.
Unfortunately, my Babo-meter broke, and I was left with a cut hydrometer.
It popped out of the solution!
Well, not popped out, but the must wasn't even reaching the scale.
So, it's at least 1.060 I'd say from the looks of it.
I've closed it up the day before yesterday and put it back to the dark place.
Then I remembered you suggested adding more yeast if we think it stalled, so I did that yesterday. After adding 4 more grams of it, a brief bubbling happened, but pressure normalized again quickly. No signs of activity as of one day later (now).
Any advice from you guys would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. I don't have access to Fermade-O or any other stuff like that. There's a thing here in packets called "Food for Yeast", but I'm not sure I want to add that :D
Food for Yeast consists of "Ammonium Sulphate and Thiamine" according to the packaging
You would need a real reading to know if it stalled or is still working.
@@CitySteadingBrews Okay, I can get a hydrometer/babometer on Friday, anything I should do to the brew until then?
@@sethgecko2603 - May I be rude and step in? I know you asked Brian and Derica but felt I could reassure you in case they’re busy and it takes a while for them to respond. Just leave your brew as is until you get your babometer. It won’t hurt your mead as you’ve got the airlock on there. Take a new measurement once you’ve got the babometer, do your calculations, then get back to Brian & Derica with feedback on the measurement.
I don’t have direct access to Fermaid-O either and had to reach out to fellow home brewers or when someone from work is coming over from the USA they bring me some. Last year a colleague from Germany got me an unknown German equivalent. Of you can teach out to a German home brewing webshop, they might be able to help you out if you ask for completely organic yeast nutrient. Unfortunately I have no idea what my German colleague brought me as he simply asked his father-in-law who makes fruit wines and has a large stash. He got me a scoop in exchange for a couple of bottles of my aged mead. The zipper bag was unmarked but it looked exactly like Fermaid O and probably is exactly the same stuff. Hope this helps!
Nothing to do until you know what is happening :)
You can get a power cord for the scale you are using. If you use the power cord, the scale won't turn off. Of course that means you have to have somewhere to plug it in!
I found the setting that doesn't make it time out, finally!
wouldn't the tannens in the tea cause complications to the process?..
Wasn’t black tea was an herbal tea. Tannins don’t really cause issues for fermentation.
Im only on my second batch of brewing mead so im basically a cave man im even still using bread yeast lol as far as the tasting names just call them the objective tasting vs the subjective tasting
i make my 2nd batches... 1st & 2nd batch that i make, didnt have foam like yours. my mead almost no foam at all, even when i aerate with cake hand mixer for 15 minutes, the water + honey didnt produce foam at all
It's ok. They don't always foam up, that's not a problem.
Still shocked THE BEAST stalled...again...dogs and cats living together...lol
Yeah… pretty strange really.
Love the video's, pretty sure the scale will stay on if you use the plug
We made this recipe with tazo tea we brewed at home vs store bought premixed.(edit. Using tazo chai teabags)
Looks to have stalled at about the same place
1.120 ig - 1.060fg = 8%
Currently trying to restart using yeast hulls.
My only complaint with (and I know this is like out nowhere lol) being in the brew tube community is getting recommended certain channels that I keep telling TH-cam not to recommend like doing the most who the channel and their subs seem to have major issues with CS and the reasons they give are acutely false and by god it’s frustrating arguing with morons.
I'm sorry you have problems that way, but... if you don't click on their videos or watch them, it tells the algorithm you're not interested.
@@CitySteadingBrews you’d think but I woke up today saw your video followed by like 10 of theirs which isn’t your problem I know but my god I just cant fathom why people feel the need to be so rude now the last video I watched was like 2 years ago but those kinds of people just don’t stop ya know? Anyways I also want to say thank you for so much but mostly for inspiring me to get healthy I weigh over 400 pounds and after seeing your health journey I’ve been slowly gaining the confidence to get myself healthy and break my addiction to sugars. That’s thanks to the candid info and upbeat advice you guys provide. So to me the rest can go suck lees.
@GodBroly "Go suck lees!" I love that insult and, by your leave, will steal it! It's one of those not-terribly-rude but if you know, you know kind of insults!
@@Timri3681 why thank you
@@GodBroly - I’m stealing the “go suck lees” insult too. Well done starting on your journey towards getting healthy. Ignore the channels you don’t like. Happy brewing and greetings from Belgium!
Might want to check the pH. Yeast won’t just grow at any pH. Maybe the tea was too acidic.
Quite possible, turned out great anyway.
Technical score is what it should be called.
🥇 good morning