I was clearing out my cellar Saturday and well well well what do you think I found? A 5 gallon cast of mead I made in '11. cleaned the exterior, cracked the top and the smell was divine. the taste was high alcohol and smooth taste and finish. procrastination and neglect is a mead's best friends.
I love the synergy between your reactions to the brews. You're always in agreement to some extent but also have your unique perspectives. Best brewing couple on the internet.
Brian: they are identical; if you told me they were same, i'd believe you. Derica: they are identical. Brian: well, they are not identical; i can tell. Derica: {looks at audience...and we all know what she's thinking} LOLOLOLOL...love you two!
This was a comparison video I really wanted to see. Thank you! The more of your videos I watch, the more I learn, the more I want to brew, and the more I want to learn. All thanks to the way you go about it.
I would suggest that you add about half the amount of the original recipe back into the batch of mead, let it sit for at least 6 months to a year then try it again. Works every time for me. To me, a mead under a year old is like trying to ride a colt. I have a bottle that is going on 25 years old. We drank it's brother 5 years ago and it was fantastic. We will probably crack it at 30 year. It's going to be amazing!
Just pour two spoons of honey in the mead bottle, mix if quickly and watch the complete change of all that you talked about. (Then drink all of it, surely.) I had to do that with a capsicumel and was impressed how a little honey completely changed the flavor.
Oh is that a problem before during and after work? Working from home has its benefits :) With that said I think I have only once ever had a single beer during the work day and that was with a ridiculously good burger for lunch.
@@CoyoteRoseCreations seriously?! That's kinda funny/awesome. Also shows how laws and rules get overlooked. Kinda like that law that says if a girl's skirt is higher than a certain length, she can get arrested. However, a beer/Mead/wine ect with lunch sounds like a nice treat on an arduous day.!
For those who like a drink over lunch: Move to Belgium. Apply for a job in a family business, preferably one that involves business lunches, either with the boss/management or with clients. A glass or two over lunch on a business related meeting is pretty much the norm here. Drinking within reason is perfectly acceptable in this country. Even the church choir has a bar in its practice room. A lot of businesses conclude the week with their employees gathering over drinks, often on the office premises. A visit to your pastor or vicar will often include him offering you a glassof wine or port unless he has a lot of meetings or he’ll be schnockered by the end of the day and he’ll apologise for not offering you a drink or offer you coffee. Most clubs or societies where people go soend their free time include a bar and it’s pretty much expected to have at least one drink after the club activities (alcohol is never mandatory though and most people will agree on a designated driver. The rule pretty much is: know your own limits and the limits of the Law. Stick to those and above all, enjoy your life.
Funny you mention D&D. That is how I got started in home brewing. I am not trying to plug another channel or endorse; but more than three years ago I was watching Penny Arcade's D&D channel Acquisitions Incorporated C team regularly. Then they started a Acquisitions Intoxicated channel where they made artifact beers based on the characters, places, and events in the game. They made a banana bread tasting beer and never added banana's. I was hooked, I tried to find someplace locally that brewed something similar. nope. Well the show is teaching me and encouraging me, the provide the recipe. So I bought my first kit early October of 2017. Then after 4 initial beers I tried the banana beer. Nope, no banana bread taste to me. It was not bad. But by now I realized how easy and how deep, as well as, how many different beer styles there are. Between you that show and a few others I have brewed now, maybe 40 brews, Beer, Cider, mead and wines. Oh, and I have been playing\ collecting D&D since 1983. Still do every Sunday and was once a month on a Saturday running a campaign. Have fun I do, Keith
I can't wait now until September 2021 now to try my elderberry wine. I know when I bottled it I wanted to drink it all and give it away to all my friends but I remembered what you two said about giving it a year so now i can't wait.
In perfume shops they have coffee beans for people to smell between the testing of different fragrances. I might suggest you try that to clear your "smell receptors" as you would take a sip of water to clear you palete.
I love to cook. It’s been my number 1 hobby for years. I just started making mead after watching your wonderful channel. I just made my first cyser which was my first mead. I used 118 because that’s what the kit came with. I like what I have so far. I’m hoping aging will mellow it a bit. But I have already started buying lower abv yeast. What I think is that abv is like a tool or ingredient in a way. There’s a time and a place unless that’s just what you like. I think some stuff is way better lower abv and I think some stuff is much better suited for a higher abv. Depends on what your making and why. Maybe that’s the cook in me. I like to think about the end product in my mind and then build something that taste like that. Take it for what it’s worth I’ve finished 1 gallon but I’ve been cooking for 19 years. It’s just the way I think.
I strive for a dynamic such as yours. I would definitely be the Derica of the relationship. The only person Brian reminds me of is my first boyfriend. We're still friends and he's a wonderful person - total hopeless romantic. I love the dude. I love you guys. Keep up these awesome videos, and I hope you had a blast at D&D!
Just started seriously watching your videos and really enjoying them. Can't say enough about how impressive the two of you are,,,, and then, "Playing D&D tonight!" Whoh,, Mead and D&D, what could be any better?
I'm excited to have my brew day! I recently started doing two of the same brew wine/Mead.... A couple are up for bottling & a few time to get off lees and into conditioning. Can't wait to try them!
HI, Thank you both for introducing my mind to Mead making. I would like to thank whoever taught me how to make coffee too, its that big of a deal. I make ( or allow the yeast to make) , Elderberry Mead and it is wonderful. Careful notes help me set the yeast up with the same ingredients each time, but the notes do not help them make the Mead, really, they do it from some kind of memory or something... : ) I too get somewhere around 17 percent ABV. I am enjoying a glass of Elderberry Mead as I watch this video... Thank you, and a resounding "Right On" . Smiling, George.
Just catching up with your channel. I've found that blending two different mead of the same base recipe but different OG (i.e more liquid to honey) can get the livelier bouquet for the higher abv. The rabbit hole are the proportions. My personal phase at the moment is turning mead to fizz, champagne style, traditional method including degorging. The very high carbonation adds another dimension to trying to get a particular taste profile.
The *I'm not buying it* look, priceless! On a side note, my inner DM forced a better version of the 71b apple comment from the last one. Its a bit long, but much more cinematic. On short notice and first revision id say its not bad. Hope you enjoy the new one :)
@@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582 I added a reply to my original post. The original post was a D&D reference about barbarian rage. The reply is more of a story of the 71b's exploits during that brew. I DM a lot so I will sometimes script out a dialog or cinematic for when the players enter an area for the first time. At the beginning of a campaign I like to give a bit of a story that is kind of like an opening scene or the preface of a book. It lets me give a bit of background, potential precursor of things going on, and sets the players up for the first session.
Just so you know, i just got done watching the previous video on this, you 2 liked the wine better then the mead, because the Wine was sweeter and the mead had more alcohol in it. either way love the series
I've noticed that both the lalvin d47 and 71 Beast both consistently get up to 17, 18 even 19% on my meads which as you say in the video totaly changes the flavor profile. I am trying a couple lower ABV beer yeasts
I love elderberry everything. Going to back sweeten and flavor a gallon when my mead has completed its primary fermentation. Elderberry’s are expensive, dang, but worth it 😉😂. Love the vid.
@@jasoncolahan6399 I didn't even think about jam! I just bought 2 jars of Smucker's Natural in Raspberry today I plan on making jelly wine with (clearance $1.15/ea) I'm excited to use. Sorry small ramble I haven't been able to touch any of mine for the past couple weeks 😭, so excited to get to moving and making!
@@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582 HI, I use dried elderberries. Organic, Monterey bay organic on Amazon. A pound for around $32... I use a cup full in a 6 gallon batch. I steep them in boiling water first to kill any wild yeast... I am no expert, but I feel safe sharing this part of what I do. I hope this agrees with your Meadmaking senses. Smiling, George.
@@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582 And be careful ... the elderberries will float to the top, swell up and try to block the airlock tube, causing a mess on your counter... I have learned to not fill the carboy up past the shoulder. Keep an eye on it for a week or so at first, then it should settle a bit and just bubble along nicely. ok...I will step away from the keyboard now, I do not want to trespass on the Citysteaders wonderful site here. I bow...George.
Even if you don’t care too much for the mead flavor (compared to the wine), you could definitely use the elderberry mead as a reduction sauce for a dessert like to pour over a flakey pastry with cream sauce and fresh elderberries as a garnish.
I've paused at 1min 44sec to pour a single malt whisky 🏴 🥃😊. All I've got in at the moment. Cheers, I'm back. Interesting, I've subscribed and I'll have a look at back videos.
if you like them both make both LOL keep it up Love to watch and learn have not had a chance to brew for some time plan to next year when the berries are ripe again i procrastinated for to long and it all when bad on the brambles.
Hello You're the experts, no question.. but Ive been noticing that your meads often have a high alc.percentage. I've been in elsass(also written Alsace) a very popular wine-region in france(next to Germany) and was with an wine "farmer" and he's told me, that its important not to let the wine on the wine"tree"(I don't know the term) for too long time, because the sugarcontent will become too high and the wine will contain to much alcohol.. In this region they do a lot of white wine and, other than redwine, that can have 14+% alc, because the tanins balance it out, white doesn't, so it becomes too harsh with 14+%. That I did find really interesting, because I knew farmer cut of parts of the wine plant (flowers, young berrys..) to increase sugar and flavour. So I though alcohol% was proportional to quality a long time, because farmers how wanted large quantities ceap didn't cut back their vines. But apparently they sacrefice their sacrefice in yield(made by cutting back), because too much alcohol would ruin it. Do you understand, so too much alc% seems to be something they really don't want. I want to know what you say about this because mead is in my view closer to white that to red wine, and your meads often have high alc% Thanks for reading :) Im planning on doing a sloe mead in fall.. :)
I have a Mead Question! Well I have two Questions. So I just had taken my First Cyser from Primary to Secondary, I am inexperienced and very unsure of myself when it comes to some of these things but I believe I smell a Vinegar like odor coming from my Cyser. It was 1.145 Original, the other one is 1.100 and they both smell like hints of Vinegar. Is that just the Alcohol and youth or should I have concerns? Second Question. I had way too many Blackberries in my Melomel and now my headspace is the width of the largest part of my 1 gallon fermenter. Should I be concerned? I have an airlock on it, a bung in it and tap around it. Thanks again for all the information you two put out there and the time you take to answer questions!
I believe you're just smelling fermentation. If you're still in primary you're fine with headspace, after that... try to keep it to a minimum. One trick I do is I don't degas, that way there's a blanket of Co2.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thank you. That's what I have been doing but I'm kinda a confirmation dude. Considering smaller vessels for secondary after a large amount of fruits or those glass marbles.
I am curious. Have you tried blending them? How does it change it? I would think it makes a decent balance. Also, I would really lime to see you do a few blending videos.
Hey Brian & Donica I love your videos and have recently become interested in mead and it’s history where mead was traditionally used for health and medicine. In your experience with the spiced Metheglin do you really notice the benefits of the ingredients or is the flavor just infused into the mead? Would something like a vanilla lavender mead make someone sleepy? Thanks for all the content you put out.
Hey guys, love the channel. I have a little, unusual question: My future father in-law is all alone at home during the second lockdown here in Germany, and I though starting him on making wine or mead could be a new hobby for him and something to do, rather than just sitting around. My question is whether there is a recipe you can recommend that he could make and drink rather young as he might otherwise lose interest if he has to wait a year for his brew (maybe for the second one he would have more patience to wait for it age a bit and mellow out)
We have sooo many that are good in far less than a year. Too many to list here. But our simple red wine is possibly the quickes: th-cam.com/video/vXmrBmAEcvg/w-d-xo.html
Hi guys, long time subscriber. Been brewing just about two years now with 50 some batches underneath my belt. Most of them turned out pretty good and all of them were inspired by your videos. I do have a quick question. My family requested me to make more ginger beer so I reviewed the two ginger beer videos and jumped right in. I made a 5 gallon batch but now I’m ready to rack and pasteurize when I realize that I had planned to share it with my family in plastic jugs so my question is how can I pasteurize and carbonate using plastic bottles.? Any suggestions?
Hey CS. I am a very new sub but not new to home brew. I have been very intrested in your informational videos on brewing and clarifying wine ect. I really do agree with the keeping it natural and not adding things that are questionable to our bodies, that being said I was hopeful you could answer a question. I started a kit brew (Celler Masters wine kit) and I am not going to add any of the other questionable ingredients, just the concentrate, water and yeast provided. Is this ok for stabilizing and clearing. If so how do I store the wine properly after clearing it with time and do I need to do anything else to make it safe. All equipment sanitized with IODIFORE. Long story "Short" is this how you might do it. Any way keep up the great content.
We have dozens of videos showing bottling procedures... it's a bit much to write out here honestly. But we never use stabilizers of any kind and have had exactly ZERO bottle bombs or bottles go bad.
So just because it's the newest. Thank you for all the tips, advice, and inspiration. I literally just washed my rice for rice wine. This'll be the first thing I ever make. I'm just wondering what do you think of using the same type of yeast for mead next.
It's all in the videos where we showed making this but it was from a concentrate this time, for consistency and simplicity. Links to the other videos right in the description.
I was given 2 5 gal. carboys and am thinking about making some mead. I understand(hopefully) the amount of honey to use but how do i know how much Yeast to use. Thanks for the informative videos
I've been watching new videos while trying to catch up on our current stuff so apologizes if I haven't gotten to it yet but did you ever make the video about adding fruit to primary, secondary, and half in both?
I brought some mead at the packie to try to see if I like it, well I do. The problem is the medicine aftertaste. I put star anise and a cinnamon stick to try and mellow out that taste. I am planning on making my own. Just wondering what you use or recommend to get that cough medicine taste out?
Ok so this is my first mead I put it in a one gallon water bottle (milk jug) 14 days ago. It was very active at first, But I don't have positive pressure anymore and I think there may be a small leak around the bung. My question is should I more it to a Carboy or just leave it be?
Well you could do a basic mead with the full recipe of honey and what I call honey wine that is 50/50 honey and sugar. That would be and interesting taste test.
On an unrelated question: How often should I measure my mead's specific gravity? I'm now about 3 and a half weeks into making my first week and it's still dropping 10 points or so in a week's time. I should wait until it stops dropping for two weeks before racking, right?
I tend to take a reading at a month, then another a week later if it seems like it's nearing completion. Here's a video talking about this: th-cam.com/video/hsOd9rWRcSU/w-d-xo.html
#1: D&D is awesome 😁 started it last year after being curious to play it for several years. #2: It’s probably already been asked, but so y’all sell any of the mead or wine you make? 🤔
Brian. I love your videos. I just wish Google would get their act together and stop making it a PAIN to watch TH-cam videos! Ive tried to watch this four times and about 1:30 the first %}^* ad your video won’t start again and can’t watch the rest of the video
Hi how are uall today do you ever do a live chat I am new to your channel. I have wanted make wine I have made moonshine many years go it was kind of fun. Lately i have had wine that was sweet it was good I wood like to make it I got all of what I well need. I just started the easy one apply cider I have soon questions I wood like to ask you all
Ik you guys don't care to much about clarity in your brews, time solves all... most the time. Was just wondering if y'all ever heard of the eggshell method... is it worth it, just curious about it seen only a few things on it one seemed to work and the other I seen seemed like it wasn't really working.. And ik you guys like natural things so figured be the best to ask.
Thanks for the feedback. Also have you ever made a wine or mead from a sodapop recipe? Like take the syrup and use it... I wish I could remember mines but I just got a wild hair one day and decided to try young it was fantastic and very unique. Currently waiting for my bday to finish the last remaining bottle to see how it has done with some age. Ps keep doing what you guys do! Love it. Thanks.
@@CitySteadingBrews I actually just ordered some stuff on Amazon to attempt to make my first bottle of wine. Maybe if I ever get good at it and have a wine and mead that sound like they are each lacking what the other contains, I will try mixing them to see if it makes the perfect beverage. You did say that one smelled sweet but wasn’t as sweet and the other didn’t have much of a smell but tasted sweeter so it just sounded like they would have been good mixed.
Nvm, I commented too early (drunk lol) I like that Derica gets her chance too. You guys work well as like a double barrel shotgun, one then the other. Still waiting to see how the Kilju comes out.
You could compare a mead to a honey wine which would be honey and sugar water. I found the minimum palatable mix is 1/3 honey 2/3 sugar. Any lower on the honey and unless you put something else in it to make it taste like alcohol it'll taste like nail polish remover. Besides I would love to see a good recipe for a good honey wine, especially if it is one that is good enough to allow the honey to be lower than 1/3 and still make the wine taste good.
Just to be clear: Mead is honey wine. Adding honey to white wine is still just white wine. What you're talking about is essentially a sugar wine or kilju with various amounts of honey. Ehh, not sure it's ever going to be as good as a true mead or honey wine if you use sugar. I'd rather do one or the other really.
I found an app for my pho0ne that calculates ABV. It has two different ways to calculate, but each has totally different results. There is the simple (og-fg)*131.25 and the advanced one (76.08*(1.775-og))*(fg/0.794) My OG was high at 1.130 and FG was 1.028. using those formulas above the first is 13.39% and the advanced one is 15.58%... I am totally confused at this point.
Yup, there are several ways to calculate ABV. I tend to use (OG-FG)X135. It's closer to the "accurate" one in most cases. Here's the truth: Homebrew is approximation.
I was clearing out my cellar Saturday and well well well what do you think I found? A 5 gallon cast of mead I made in '11. cleaned the exterior, cracked the top and the smell was divine. the taste was high alcohol and smooth taste and finish. procrastination and neglect is a mead's best friends.
I love the synergy between your reactions to the brews. You're always in agreement to some extent but also have your unique perspectives. Best brewing couple on the internet.
Brian: they are identical; if you told me they were same, i'd believe you. Derica: they are identical. Brian: well, they are not identical; i can tell. Derica: {looks at audience...and we all know what she's thinking} LOLOLOLOL...love you two!
I couldn’t tell the difference in the taste, smelled my phone and still no difference thanks guys
This was a comparison video I really wanted to see. Thank you!
The more of your videos I watch, the more I learn, the more I want to brew, and the more I want to learn. All thanks to the way you go about it.
I would suggest that you add about half the amount of the original recipe back into the batch of mead, let it sit for at least 6 months to a year then try it again. Works every time for me. To me, a mead under a year old is like trying to ride a colt. I have a bottle that is going on 25 years old. We drank it's brother 5 years ago and it was fantastic. We will probably crack it at 30 year. It's going to be amazing!
Love how Brian sniffs his arm to neutralize the scents in between 😵
I'm not the best sniffer and I am new to all this. I literally though of this today when I was testing my Meads as I transferred them today.
It helps neutralize the receptors. Being that I wasn't using a mug conducive to aroma testing, I had to get every trick out!
Just pour two spoons of honey in the mead bottle, mix if quickly and watch the complete change of all that you talked about. (Then drink all of it, surely.) I had to do that with a capsicumel and was impressed how a little honey completely changed the flavor.
I need to stop watching tasting videos before work, now i want a mug of mead
Oh is that a problem before during and after work? Working from home has its benefits :)
With that said I think I have only once ever had a single beer during the work day and that was with a ridiculously good burger for lunch.
I believe I'm allowed 2 drinks during my lunch break (holdover that still lives on in my union contract from back when that was acceptable and such.)
@@CoyoteRoseCreations seriously?! That's kinda funny/awesome.
Also shows how laws and rules get overlooked.
Kinda like that law that says if a girl's skirt is higher than a certain length, she can get arrested.
However, a beer/Mead/wine ect with lunch sounds like a nice treat on an arduous day.!
For those who like a drink over lunch:
Move to Belgium.
Apply for a job in a family business, preferably one that involves business lunches, either with the boss/management or with clients.
A glass or two over lunch on a business related meeting is pretty much the norm here. Drinking within reason is perfectly acceptable in this country. Even the church choir has a bar in its practice room. A lot of businesses conclude the week with their employees gathering over drinks, often on the office premises. A visit to your pastor or vicar will often include him offering you a glassof wine or port unless he has a lot of meetings or he’ll be schnockered by the end of the day and he’ll apologise for not offering you a drink or offer you coffee. Most clubs or societies where people go soend their free time include a bar and it’s pretty much expected to have at least one drink after the club activities (alcohol is never mandatory though and most people will agree on a designated driver.
The rule pretty much is: know your own limits and the limits of the Law. Stick to those and above all, enjoy your life.
Elderberry always reminds me of a good port with a scary amount of fruit added in. Great stuff.
It’s all about the taste.. thank you
Funny you mention D&D. That is how I got started in home brewing. I am not trying to plug another channel or endorse; but more than three years ago I was watching Penny Arcade's D&D channel Acquisitions Incorporated C team regularly. Then they started a Acquisitions Intoxicated channel where they made artifact beers based on the characters, places, and events in the game.
They made a banana bread tasting beer and never added banana's. I was hooked, I tried to find someplace locally that brewed something similar. nope. Well the show is teaching me and encouraging me, the provide the recipe. So I bought my first kit early October of 2017. Then after 4 initial beers I tried the banana beer. Nope, no banana bread taste to me. It was not bad. But by now I realized how easy and how deep, as well as, how many different beer styles there are.
Between you that show and a few others I have brewed now, maybe 40 brews, Beer, Cider, mead and wines.
Oh, and I have been playing\ collecting D&D since 1983. Still do every Sunday and was once a month on a Saturday running a campaign.
Have fun I do, Keith
I can't wait now until September 2021 now to try my elderberry wine. I know when I bottled it I wanted to drink it all and give it away to all my friends but I remembered what you two said about giving it a year so now i can't wait.
Great Analysis and comments, also you two are so much fun to watch. Love the playful back and forth.
Glad you enjoyed it!
In perfume shops they have coffee beans for people to smell between the testing of different fragrances. I might suggest you try that to clear your "smell receptors" as you would take a sip of water to clear you palete.
I love to cook. It’s been my number 1 hobby for years. I just started making mead after watching your wonderful channel. I just made my first cyser which was my first mead. I used 118 because that’s what the kit came with. I like what I have so far. I’m hoping aging will mellow it a bit. But I have already started buying lower abv yeast. What I think is that abv is like a tool or ingredient in a way. There’s a time and a place unless that’s just what you like. I think some stuff is way better lower abv and I think some stuff is much better suited for a higher abv. Depends on what your making and why. Maybe that’s the cook in me. I like to think about the end product in my mind and then build something that taste like that. Take it for what it’s worth I’ve finished 1 gallon but I’ve been cooking for 19 years. It’s just the way I think.
I strive for a dynamic such as yours. I would definitely be the Derica of the relationship. The only person Brian reminds me of is my first boyfriend. We're still friends and he's a wonderful person - total hopeless romantic. I love the dude. I love you guys. Keep up these awesome videos, and I hope you had a blast at D&D!
Thank you!
Lol you guys are epic I love dnd it’s always cool how hip people all like the similar stuff
Just started seriously watching your videos and really enjoying them. Can't say enough about how impressive the two of you are,,,, and then, "Playing D&D tonight!" Whoh,, Mead and D&D, what could be any better?
Thank you Ray!
Very interesting video i didnt know i needed until now. I will always be privy to mead, but youve convinced me to make more wine
I'm excited to have my brew day! I recently started doing two of the same brew wine/Mead.... A couple are up for bottling & a few time to get off lees and into conditioning. Can't wait to try them!
I love this concept.
Love your videos, just racked(and tasted) my first mead and bottled two ciders!
Congratulations!!! How did they come out?
My parents loved the black currant cider. I was really proud of the mead(even though it was young)
Gah DND should be recorded and shared hehe. But honestly learned so much from you too and will be trying my first need shortly.
HI, Thank you both for introducing my mind to Mead making. I would like to thank whoever taught me how to make coffee too, its that big of a deal. I make ( or allow the yeast to make) , Elderberry Mead and it is wonderful. Careful notes help me set the yeast up with the same ingredients each time, but the notes do not help them make the Mead, really, they do it from some kind of memory or something... : ) I too get somewhere around 17 percent ABV. I am enjoying a glass of Elderberry Mead as I watch this video... Thank you, and a resounding "Right On" . Smiling, George.
You guys play D&D?!! You're full of surprises XD
Enjoy!
Thanks for the video, y’all. 🤘💪
Awesome video guys!
I like them as a couple.
Just catching up with your channel. I've found that blending two different mead of the same base recipe but different OG (i.e more liquid to honey) can get the livelier bouquet for the higher abv. The rabbit hole are the proportions. My personal phase at the moment is turning mead to fizz, champagne style, traditional method including degorging. The very high carbonation adds another dimension to trying to get a particular taste profile.
5 ads on a sub 12min video? 🤦♂️ apparently TH-cam intends to capitalize on your 85k subscriber mark. Congratulations all the same. Love the videos!
Whaaa? We did not add any more. That’s a bit much.
I did notice the increase today, my video got interrupted 3x today. Definitely skipped the last one that was 3 some odd min long.
Lol, my hubs does the same thing to me, so funny how they patronize, then let you! So endearing. ☺️
The *I'm not buying it* look, priceless!
On a side note, my inner DM forced a better version of the 71b apple comment from the last one. Its a bit long, but much more cinematic. On short notice and first revision id say its not bad. Hope you enjoy the new one :)
Hmmmmm.... Curious about how you revised version of 71B apple.
@@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582 I added a reply to my original post. The original post was a D&D reference about barbarian rage. The reply is more of a story of the 71b's exploits during that brew.
I DM a lot so I will sometimes script out a dialog or cinematic for when the players enter an area for the first time. At the beginning of a campaign I like to give a bit of a story that is kind of like an opening scene or the preface of a book. It lets me give a bit of background, potential precursor of things going on, and sets the players up for the first session.
Just so you know, i just got done watching the previous video on this, you 2 liked the wine better then the mead, because the Wine was sweeter and the mead had more alcohol in it. either way love the series
Heh... thanks!
D&D!!! OMG! I love you guys!
I've noticed that both the lalvin d47 and 71 Beast both consistently get up to 17, 18 even 19% on my meads which as you say in the video totaly changes the flavor profile.
I am trying a couple lower ABV beer yeasts
Dilute the mead to the same ABV as the wine, then compare them. Alcohol is volatile, and MAY carry some extra aromas along with it.
Love the colours
I love elderberry everything. Going to back sweeten and flavor a gallon when my mead has completed its primary fermentation. Elderberry’s are expensive, dang, but worth it 😉😂. Love the vid.
I would like to try an elderberry! Where do you even find the juice from them?
Amazon is where I ordered 2 18oz jars of jam. But you can also order dehydrated berries.
@@jasoncolahan6399 I didn't even think about jam! I just bought 2 jars of Smucker's Natural in Raspberry today I plan on making jelly wine with (clearance $1.15/ea) I'm excited to use.
Sorry small ramble I haven't been able to touch any of mine for the past couple weeks 😭, so excited to get to moving and making!
@@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582 HI, I use dried elderberries. Organic, Monterey bay organic on Amazon. A pound for around $32... I use a cup full in a 6 gallon batch. I steep them in boiling water first to kill any wild yeast... I am no expert, but I feel safe sharing this part of what I do. I hope this agrees with your Meadmaking senses. Smiling, George.
@@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582 And be careful ... the elderberries will float to the top, swell up and try to block the airlock tube, causing a mess on your counter... I have learned to not fill the carboy up past the shoulder. Keep an eye on it for a week or so at first, then it should settle a bit and just bubble along nicely. ok...I will step away from the keyboard now, I do not want to trespass on the Citysteaders wonderful site here. I bow...George.
Even if you don’t care too much for the mead flavor (compared to the wine), you could definitely use the elderberry mead as a reduction sauce for a dessert like to pour over a flakey pastry with cream sauce and fresh elderberries as a garnish.
I've been drinking it. Never said we didn't like it... just the wine came out better.
I've paused at 1min 44sec to pour a single malt whisky 🏴 🥃😊. All I've got in at the moment.
Cheers, I'm back. Interesting, I've subscribed and I'll have a look at back videos.
you should make elderflower champagne, that would be a great video
if you like them both make both LOL keep it up Love to watch and learn have not had a chance to brew for some time plan to next year when the berries are ripe again i procrastinated for to long and it all when bad on the brambles.
Hello
You're the experts, no question.. but Ive been noticing that your meads often have a high alc.percentage. I've been in elsass(also written Alsace) a very popular wine-region in france(next to Germany) and was with an wine "farmer" and he's told me, that its important not to let the wine on the wine"tree"(I don't know the term) for too long time, because the sugarcontent will become too high and the wine will contain to much alcohol.. In this region they do a lot of white wine and, other than redwine, that can have 14+% alc, because the tanins balance it out, white doesn't, so it becomes too harsh with 14+%. That I did find really interesting, because I knew farmer cut of parts of the wine plant (flowers, young berrys..) to increase sugar and flavour. So I though alcohol% was proportional to quality a long time, because farmers how wanted large quantities ceap didn't cut back their vines. But apparently they sacrefice their sacrefice in yield(made by cutting back), because too much alcohol would ruin it. Do you understand, so too much alc% seems to be something they really don't want.
I want to know what you say about this because mead is in my view closer to white that to red wine, and your meads often have high alc%
Thanks for reading :)
Im planning on doing a sloe mead in fall.. :)
I have a Mead Question! Well I have two Questions. So I just had taken my First Cyser from Primary to Secondary, I am inexperienced and very unsure of myself when it comes to some of these things but I believe I smell a Vinegar like odor coming from my Cyser. It was 1.145 Original, the other one is 1.100 and they both smell like hints of Vinegar. Is that just the Alcohol and youth or should I have concerns? Second Question. I had way too many Blackberries in my Melomel and now my headspace is the width of the largest part of my 1 gallon fermenter. Should I be concerned? I have an airlock on it, a bung in it and tap around it. Thanks again for all the information you two put out there and the time you take to answer questions!
I believe you're just smelling fermentation.
If you're still in primary you're fine with headspace, after that... try to keep it to a minimum. One trick I do is I don't degas, that way there's a blanket of Co2.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thank you. That's what I have been doing but I'm kinda a confirmation dude. Considering smaller vessels for secondary after a large amount of fruits or those glass marbles.
Good video.
You guys have great videos and information for a newbie. But, you get extra experience points for mentioning that you are playing D&D that night.
Lol, thanks!
I am curious. Have you tried blending them? How does it change it? I would think it makes a decent balance. Also, I would really lime to see you do a few blending videos.
Might be good. Each is great on it's own.
What might a blend of the two taste like?
Mix them together 👍 best of both ?
I would love to see something on freeze concentration of wine and their processe, if they do that.
That would be considered illegal where we live, so we don't do that.
@@CitySteadingBrews good to know thanks for replying! :)
Hey Brian & Donica I love your videos and have recently become interested in mead and it’s history where mead was traditionally used for health and medicine. In your experience with the spiced Metheglin do you really notice the benefits of the ingredients or is the flavor just infused into the mead? Would something like a vanilla lavender mead make someone sleepy? Thanks for all the content you put out.
I can't say I've noticed any health benefits, no... it's a mead still.
Hey guys, love the channel. I have a little, unusual question: My future father in-law is all alone at home during the second lockdown here in Germany, and I though starting him on making wine or mead could be a new hobby for him and something to do, rather than just sitting around. My question is whether there is a recipe you can recommend that he could make and drink rather young as he might otherwise lose interest if he has to wait a year for his brew (maybe for the second one he would have more patience to wait for it age a bit and mellow out)
We have sooo many that are good in far less than a year. Too many to list here. But our simple red wine is possibly the quickes: th-cam.com/video/vXmrBmAEcvg/w-d-xo.html
@@CitySteadingBrews Thank you!
Hi guys, long time subscriber. Been brewing just about two years now with 50 some batches underneath my belt. Most of them turned out pretty good and all of them were inspired by your videos. I do have a quick question. My family requested me to make more ginger beer so I reviewed the two ginger beer videos and jumped right in. I made a 5 gallon batch but now I’m ready to rack and pasteurize when I realize that I had planned to share it with my family in plastic jugs so my question is how can I pasteurize and carbonate using plastic bottles.? Any suggestions?
Eesh... you really can't pasteurize in plastic. But... you can fridge it and drink it within a week?
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks! That’s what I ended up going for. Maybe a little better planning next time.
Hey CS. I am a very new sub but not new to home brew. I have been very intrested in your informational videos on brewing and clarifying wine ect. I really do agree with the keeping it natural and not adding things that are questionable to our bodies, that being said I was hopeful you could answer a question. I started a kit brew (Celler Masters wine kit) and I am not going to add any of the other questionable ingredients, just the concentrate, water and yeast provided. Is this ok for stabilizing and clearing. If so how do I store the wine properly after clearing it with time and do I need to do anything else to make it safe. All equipment sanitized with IODIFORE. Long story "Short" is this how you might do it. Any way keep up the great content.
We have dozens of videos showing bottling procedures... it's a bit much to write out here honestly. But we never use stabilizers of any kind and have had exactly ZERO bottle bombs or bottles go bad.
So just because it's the newest. Thank you for all the tips, advice, and inspiration. I literally just washed my rice for rice wine. This'll be the first thing I ever make. I'm just wondering what do you think of using the same type of yeast for mead next.
You are so welcome!
Did you use proper elderberries or elderberry juice when making these?
It's all in the videos where we showed making this but it was from a concentrate this time, for consistency and simplicity. Links to the other videos right in the description.
@@CitySteadingBrews great thanks I’ll go watch them now 👍🏻👍🏻
I was given 2 5 gal. carboys and am thinking about making some mead. I understand(hopefully) the amount of honey to use but how do i know how much Yeast to use. Thanks for the informative videos
I've been watching new videos while trying to catch up on our current stuff so apologizes if I haven't gotten to it yet but did you ever make the video about adding fruit to primary, secondary, and half in both?
Nope. Have yet to do that one. Not sure there will be much difference to be honest!
Can i age my wine? Does it matter on percentage, i believe mine sat at 12ish %. Is it hard to bottle?
Of course you can. Generally anything over 8% or so properly sealed up can age safely.
We have tons of bottling videos.
Damn good video. I'm trying to get in to playing DnD but have never gotten to it... Sadlife 😔
I brought some mead at the packie to try to see if I like it, well I do. The problem is the medicine aftertaste. I put star anise and a cinnamon stick to try and mellow out that taste. I am planning on making my own. Just wondering what you use or recommend to get that cough medicine taste out?
Ok so this is my first mead I put it in a one gallon water bottle (milk jug) 14 days ago. It was very active at first, But I don't have positive pressure anymore and I think there may be a small leak around the bung. My question is should I more it to a Carboy or just leave it be?
I would move it to glass. Shake it all up and move everything. That plastic jug is not meant for alcohol.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks, switched it over. It's half way there started at 1.105 now at 1.050. Tastes like yeast.
How about LOWALANDS Scotch, like Auchentoshan. That's soft and wonderful.
But... this was about mead and wine....
@@CitySteadingBrews I was referring to the comparison of highlands and Islay. ;)
@@Vykk_Draygo ahh right.
Where did you buy your mead bottle + bar-top?! I need it!
We either reuse bottles or get them from Amazon. Check the links to our store in the description.
Well you could do a basic mead with the full recipe of honey and what I call honey wine that is 50/50 honey and sugar. That would be and interesting taste test.
I can tell you right now the pure honey will be far superior. Sugar is great for making alcohol, but not so much for flavor.
Would you try a glass of both mixed together?
Sure? I mean they're both great alone.
Congratulations on your 85,000 from Bahamas
Thank you!!
Have you tried mixing the wine and mead together? If so, how did it change the flavor?
Is it posible the Mead has more alkohol and thats what makes the sent more potent?
That is possible, yes.
On an unrelated question: How often should I measure my mead's specific gravity?
I'm now about 3 and a half weeks into making my first week and it's still dropping 10 points or so in a week's time.
I should wait until it stops dropping for two weeks before racking, right?
I tend to take a reading at a month, then another a week later if it seems like it's nearing completion. Here's a video talking about this: th-cam.com/video/hsOd9rWRcSU/w-d-xo.html
#1: D&D is awesome 😁 started it last year after being curious to play it for several years.
#2: It’s probably already been asked, but so y’all sell any of the mead or wine you make? 🤔
That woukd be illegal so... sorry no we do not.
Mr. Brian The mead is on our right
My left.
@@CitySteadingBrewsit caught me off guard. Made me chuckle.
Why don't you boil the water and honey to mix them? I saw a lot of recipies say boil it. Thanks :)
Boiling kills off subtle flavors that make good honey good!
Brian.
I love your videos.
I just wish Google would get their act together and stop making it a PAIN to watch TH-cam videos!
Ive tried to watch this four times and about 1:30 the first %}^* ad your video won’t start again and can’t watch the rest of the video
I have never heard of this issue before!
Ok. 2:58 mark. Why is Brian smelling his elbow pit?
Clears the nose.
New to the channel is it even possible to use syrup to make mead instead of honey?
I assume you mean maple syrup? While you can ferment it, it will be wine, not mead. Mead is made with honey.
Thanks that makes sense it would be wine love the channel keep up the good work
Have you considered using dragon fruit in a mead?
It's on "The List!"
Where can I find recipe for elderberry mead?
Wine vs mead... we used concentrate, but you can use whole berries. th-cam.com/video/W_tHGEJmBxg/w-d-xo.html
I wonder what it would taste like if you mixed the two.
Probably a bit like each mixed together :)
JK... very good I would imagine.
Hi how are uall today do you ever do a live chat I am new to your channel. I have wanted make wine I have made moonshine many years go it was kind of fun. Lately i have had wine that was sweet it was good I wood like to make it I got all of what I well need. I just started the easy one apply cider I have soon questions I wood like to ask you all
We do live shows for our VIP Club right now, but not publicly. I can't imagine the chaos that would be, lol.
Ik you guys don't care to much about clarity in your brews, time solves all... most the time. Was just wondering if y'all ever heard of the eggshell method... is it worth it, just curious about it seen only a few things on it one seemed to work and the other I seen seemed like it wasn't really working.. And ik you guys like natural things so figured be the best to ask.
We actually say clarity isn't that important....
The eggshell thing.... some love it others say it did nothing. We never bothered.
Thanks for the feedback. Also have you ever made a wine or mead from a sodapop recipe? Like take the syrup and use it... I wish I could remember mines but I just got a wild hair one day and decided to try young it was fantastic and very unique. Currently waiting for my bday to finish the last remaining bottle to see how it has done with some age. Ps keep doing what you guys do! Love it. Thanks.
Try mixing the wine with the mead
You can. We were making a simple test.
@@CitySteadingBrews I actually just ordered some stuff on Amazon to attempt to make my first bottle of wine. Maybe if I ever get good at it and have a wine and mead that sound like they are each lacking what the other contains, I will try mixing them to see if it makes the perfect beverage. You did say that one smelled sweet but wasn’t as sweet and the other didn’t have much of a smell but tasted sweeter so it just sounded like they would have been good mixed.
DnD - fandabbydoozey. Not played that in decades!!! Envious :)
Nvm, I commented too early (drunk lol) I like that Derica gets her chance too. You guys work well as like a double barrel shotgun, one then the other. Still waiting to see how the Kilju comes out.
My left or your left?
The important question has yet to be asked, what class and race is your dnd character?
Half elf swashbuckler rogue / college of swords bard.
You could compare a mead to a honey wine which would be honey and sugar water. I found the minimum palatable mix is 1/3 honey 2/3 sugar. Any lower on the honey and unless you put something else in it to make it taste like alcohol it'll taste like nail polish remover. Besides I would love to see a good recipe for a good honey wine, especially if it is one that is good enough to allow the honey to be lower than 1/3 and still make the wine taste good.
Just to be clear: Mead is honey wine. Adding honey to white wine is still just white wine. What you're talking about is essentially a sugar wine or kilju with various amounts of honey. Ehh, not sure it's ever going to be as good as a true mead or honey wine if you use sugar. I'd rather do one or the other really.
I’m a level eight cooper.
A YEAR?!?!?! What the FRICK is happening to the space-time continuum?!?!?!
I see the wine is a deeper color ever so slightly.
We checked again after... it's all in the lighting. They are effectively identical really.
Next time, Derica brings a spectrophotometer to prove Brian wrong about the color difference.
I found an app for my pho0ne that calculates ABV. It has two different ways to calculate, but each has totally different results. There is the simple (og-fg)*131.25 and the advanced one (76.08*(1.775-og))*(fg/0.794)
My OG was high at 1.130 and FG was 1.028. using those formulas above the first is 13.39% and the advanced one is 15.58%... I am totally confused at this point.
Yup, there are several ways to calculate ABV. I tend to use (OG-FG)X135. It's closer to the "accurate" one in most cases. Here's the truth: Homebrew is approximation.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you