The reason for the 5000' foam over is likely due to the atmospheric pressure being lower. Same issue happens when baking bread. Essentially the carbon dioxide leaving the must or the bread has less static resistance in the form of air pressure so it expands more rapidly.
I agree. Another example would be filling up a balloon at sea level and taking it up 5000 feet it will become bigger because there is less atmosphere pushing in on it. Sodas fizz after we open the bottle because the bottles are under pressure until we open them, keeping their carbonation; and exposing them to lower pressure allows the gas to escape. Water boils at a lower temperature at high altitude for the same reason. I don't think the issue is that the yeast is actually inherently more active, but rather the gasses are escaping faster; although perhaps as a side effect maybe it does create more active yeast, in a chain reaction sort of way, since there is less carbon dioxide in the liquid and the yeast aren't as stifled...
I would argue that the cause of the foam over is higher sugar content. Yes, lower atmospheric pressure allows the CO2 to come out easier, but CO2 doesn't cause foam, high surface tension does. (Consider the difference between hard pouring a soda vs. sparkling water.) If the goal is really sweet brew, but the brew foams over to that extent, then I would have suggested she step feed rather than putting all the sugars in at once.
Aleithia, I disagree, to an extent. Yes the sugars make for enough surface tension to have bubbles, but bubbles last longer with lower atmospheric pressure. Additionally, lower AP means less of the CO2 stays in suspension (along with other gasses), making it so those bubbles are formed more rapidly and last longer. Someone living near the top of a sky-rise apartment could make a must, split it into two fermenters, let one go in the basement, and one in the penthouse, and should see an appreciable difference.
Ok you guys win. I joined the VIP club today. I just really like your take on how you make your brews and that you guys answer my questions. Looking forward to the club! ;)
Hi Brian and Derica, The part about maths made me chuckle. Maths is not my strong suit and I can get hopelessly confused by it. When that happens I call in the help of my maths and science geek daughter. She sweeps in, asks a couple of questions, scribbles around and tap-tap-taps away on a calculator... and gets it right. When I feel brave I ask her to explain. We’ve agreed on a 15-minute window for that, for the sake of both pur sanities. Works so far. Thanks for yet another great video!
Love the video! As a wise man once said; "People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan." Honestly I think recipe planning is my favourite part of homebrewing. Getting into the science behind it all and running all of the calculations, blows people away when they see how much prep work can go into a good beer or mead recipe.
My favorite part about this video is I started watching it yesterday made it to around 4 mins and went nope not ready for this at least not today... now i turned it back on like I'll take and write this numbers down as they say them. Just before I had time to start the video over Derica asked if you lost me yet. I lost it, cuz yeah you did. But i came back planning on write everything I could down in hope seeing it would help then BOOM graphic. This is why I love you two. Thank you for making things so enjoyable while I learn.
Hi Brian and Derica. I watch most of your brew videos and appreciate ever tip! I don't dislike your new back drop but I do miss your wall O' whiskey from the older videos. No complaints, you guys are great and keep the videos coming!!!
Long time fan first time commenter, im 34 and have been making my own mead for about ten years now and your channel is useful ive made most of the usual mead types and experimented lots some good and some nasty's but its all about the experimenting and pushing the realms of mead, I have a deal with a local bee keeper I get half price honey from them I give them a gallon of mead
Hey happy couple, I've made 3 gallon brews of mead so far, in no small part due to your teachings. The first I drank immediately after 1st racking and boy was it rough, good but rough. The second was a crapple rosemary mead that was very good at 11.55 that I let sit a week to clear a little bit. The 3rd was a chamomile orange Mead that I just let sit and sit for a month before racking( it was done fermentation at about 3 weeks) and was almost completely clear 2 days after racking, and was damn smooth and 13.8ish abv. I was very impressed with this brew, the floral after tastes and the bitter, also from the chamomile, was a pleasant contrast to the sweet. Thanks again, as usual.
Also, I've only used cheap Kroger brand dry active yeast for the 1st 2, then I switched to the ever faithful Fleischmans active dry, and the results were beyond my expectations. It also makes great bread....who woulda thought 🤔🤔🤔🤔😜😜😜
I live at 5K altitude and I usually only need blowovers when I make beer in one-gallon carboys. I switched to two-gallon buckets to avoid this. My meads and wines are rarely violent.
I agree - I live at 6000ft in Colorado - I do use blow off tunes for all my beers for the first couple of days - for fruit wines/meads I start in a larger capacity bucket to avoid any problems. With straight meads/hydromels i rarely have a problem. I would suggest using a larger capacity fermenter/bucket for initial fermentation to overcome the explosive quality !
This was so helpful. I started a SourSop (guanábana) wine a week ago. Working out the sugar balance etc was a real pain. Some great hints and tips for my next one. If the wine turns out half as good as it smells it will be a winner.
A part of the reason you get so many questions is that it is very difficult to find any books that are clear in instruction are very few and far between.....I have looked on Amazon and two of the major booksellers I buy from....bought two books out of the few offered and found a lot of rhetoric and little specific substance. 😳. Your site is the best and clearest I have found after much scouting around. I have some banana mead I will take the sp.gr. of, rack and taste. If not for you two, I would be totally in the weeds....I feel confused but not suicidal.....in other words, thanks.....I will muddle on.
We love the questions actually. They give us ideas for videos like this. It's not a complaint so much as a "Hey, this has come up a few hundred times lately and we want to address it.". Thank you though. We try to be as transparent as possible and truthful, while giving the best information we have available. Oh, I'm writing a book, soon to be on Amazon...
High alt fermentation not necessarily more active but boils law takes effect. Similar to divers ascending from depth as pressure decreases bubbles get bigger. Ergo small co2 bubbles at sea level get bigger under lower barometric pressure. Best guess
I'm about 3,000 ft above sea level and I occasionally get foam overs or what I call The Angry Volcano Brew. The worst one I had lasted 3 days and I found it happened, at least for me, with my Apricot Mead. Today, the Apricot Mead is now aging and looks the most beautiful of gem colors and is so crystal clear you can see straight through it.
Where did you get the new fermenter? It looks very interesting, and I am looking at starting home brews. Also thank you for all of your videos. It has given me an interest in brewing. Edited: I saw that it was from Northern brew on the Caramel Apple Bochet video.
Brian a few years ago I lived in Clovis, NM. 4,200 feet elevation, and had no problem with over exuberant fermentation. I’m at2,900 feet elevation here in Tucson, and having a blast brewing here.
Hey guys thanks for the info just getting into mead (day 2 of thinking about it). I especially like the 1gal. Recipes and the greenlight on experiments! Thanks again.
I'm out here in Colorado Springs (6000 feet) and I haven't really had any issues with fermentation. In fact I have not had a single foam over, but I do get some vigorous fast ferments. This all with normally filling my vessels higher then you guys do. The vast majority kick off really fast and finish fairly quickly, but I have had a few that took a lot longer. I have them ferment in a cool area and mostly with 71b and have for a few years now.
Adding my two cents on the high altitude and brewing. I’m new at this,moved to a high altitude place. Tried brewing again and lost two batches for a variety of reasons but I can pinpoint relevancy to altitude bc at the time I did not think of it. 1) I did my primary in a car boy vs a wide mouth container, left headspace but clearly not enough 2) I would clean my containers due to overflowing of an active brew, and sanitize the outside to include cleaning and sanitizing my airlock system. The brew kept overflowing. BUT I did not think to rack into another container bc it was less than two weeks old. Sooo…. When it did settle down I left it to finish fermenting. At the one month mark I checked both my batches and the leavings from the overflowing phase was all over the inside of the neck and had started to mold and ruined the batches ( I was attempting a bochet batch and a maple batch where I put in a lot more honey than I needed to start bc I wanted a rich flavor). So needless to say I had to dump both. Summary, leave more headspace in high altitude and don’t be afraid to rack early on in order to prevent mold. The too much honey part was me free lancing and not something everyone does. Hope this helps someone. Would like to add I wasn’t watching your channel at the time and was reading out of brewing books and quick internet searches. Since watching your channel I’m able to discover some errors I made. It has been over a year and I’m working up the courage to brew again but while I watch you. Lol you are my tutors.
Glad we were of assistance! Seems the foaming of an active ferm is more pronounced at higher altitude. I think we are at like... 30 feet above sea level or something close.
Another great video! Learning a lot from all that I have watched from you two. Just rough racked a basic mead based off of your basic mead video. Had to add some yeast, went from IG 1.112 at start to 1.10 at racking and didn't seem very active. Now it seems to have taken off. We'll see what it does over the next couple weeks. Can't wait 🥃
For the lady who is getting the wild amount of foam over I'd advise giving her brews a much more generous head space or use a larger than necessary fermentation vessel.
About the High Altitude fermentation - I don't know if the fermentation is any more active, but as a Master Scuba Instructor I can tell you that at altitude gasses come out of solution far easier, that's why you can't fly after diving. The CO2 will be coming out of solution almost as soon as it is produced
The altitude thing probably has to do with the ambient air pressure. Since the pressure on the brew from the outside isn't as high, it's easier for gas to bubble out of it. I'm told that water boils more quickly and at lower temperatures when the altitude is higher, and it's supposed to be for that reason, so I'd guess that it has a similar impact on fermentation.
With quarantine I’ve been looking for new stuff to do, I found your channel a couple months ago, and I just bottled my first cider (made from Aldi apple juice). It’s so good, and I look forward to learning more about brewing from y’all. I started a mead with raisins and another with tangerine bits. I hope they turn out.
Another tip idea... Don't get hung up on what it's called. Make different simple brews to figure out which tastes you like. Then combine good recipes for the taste you are seeking and figure out the name after you make what you like. Case in point, I'm about to start experimenting with oak now that I know I love straight mead and Cyser.
High altitude fermentation is more aggressive due to lower atmospheric pressure. For example, if your lifting weights, its easier to lift the 5lbs dumbells than the 100lbs.
Great channel, great advice. I have a problem with one of my brews. I didnt really plan it :( I now know i should have. I used a new yeast too. I bought some Lalvin D47, first time I used (I'm based in the UK, the yeast was made in Canada, but well within date). Started with just a 'cheapish' honey i have used many times before with a S.G.=1.092. And I pitched about half the pack as per your advice. After more than 4 weeks it went down to 1.070. I decided to add some lemon zest and some chopped up raisins hoping to give the yeast some nutrient. Another 4 weeks went past and the gravity went to 1.067. I then decided to use the other half pack of yeast, but am not seeing much activity. I haven't yet taken a reading since, but I think I might have got a bad batch of D47 yeast??? I have since started another brew using EC-118 yeast (again first time I've used this yeast). This one i added some dried elderflower (from my local brew store) and used the whole pack of (EC-118) yeast. (I was concerned it also would stall). I'm now thinking, once I'm done with the EC-118 yeast I might throw the cake and remainders in the stalled D47 brew, to start that back up? Is this advisable? Any better advice?
You can certainly try adding the yeast from one brew to another as long as the flavors are similar enough or compatible. I’m thinking there may be something else going on with the D47 brew, but I like how you are willing to try different things to problem solve. What temp are you keeping your brew?
@@CitySteadingBrews I'm just keeping it in the bedroom corner room temp. which at the moment is between 15-25degC. At this point anything will make the brew better, last time I tasted, it was sickly sweet, and going nowhere.
I’m in the process of my first mead, I’ve thought of a recipe for my second and wanted to see what you thought of it, Primary fermentation, 3.5 lbs orange blossom honey, 1 gallon spring water, .5 pack red star premier blanc (because that’s what I have) 1 cup of black tea. Conditioning, 1 cinnamon stick (whole) 1 vanilla bean (cut into 1 inch pieces) 1 tsp lemon juice. And maybe 1 clove. I’m not sure. I feel like it’s missing something to pull it all together. I haven’t started anything in this yet and definitely looking for advice or pointers to make this culinary delight. Hoping for moderately sweet.
Ever try Mangrove Jack Mead yeast M05? I tossed half a pack in my latest 1gal strawberry mead and it blew off the airlock. I've had beers do that, but my meads usually ferment pretty slowly. I'm looking forward to trying it....
I can't say 100%0for certain that altitude has a definite effect on brewing as I'm new to it and have only done about ten so far, but... I'm at 4200 ft and half of my brews so far have gone nuts requiring blow off tubes. This is also with two different yeasts as well ( Fleischmans and 71B). They also all started showing activity in about 30 minutes or less as well
This is another great, informative video guys. Entertaining too! I think I'm pretty familiarized to the majority of the process at this point, just lacking experience. although I do have to convert the sugar/gal to sugar/liter for localizing to vessels I have available. What I would like to know more about at this point is spices, when to add them and the difference between adding in primary vs. secondary. For instance, I'm trying to come up with a good way to incorporate Nutmeg into a mead. I think it would be nice but I'm not sure how much to use, or when to use it.
How about putting in a pinch into primary, and trying, if you like it, before going into secondary. Don't forget to note how much you through in there. I put a whole nutmeg into my apple pie moonshine but that's quite sweet,tart and quite acidic. Probably a whole one is too much for a mead. Maybe try ¼ in secondary and another ¼in secondary of the first ¼ is not enough.
As a person that lives in a high altitude i've found that fermantation can react quite differently. I just made a kiwi banana or should say just racked it. During the process i had to set up a blow out airlock because of the high yeast reaction.
@@TheDemascus I believe, may be wrong, the air pressure differential allows more co2 to be released quicker causing foamier fermentation, I'm at sea level and rarely need blow-offs.
Thank you for this great video and all the educational work that you do for the community! So far I have tried to follow your recipes, and they turned out great. With this video you inspired me to try something by myself. I found some dried figs in the supermarket the other day and I decided that I would like to brew with them. this is the draft of my spiced fig-mead recipe: 3 pounds of honey (105p of Spgr) + the figs (around 25 p of Spgr) some spice (Maybe cinnamon and allspice?) and a yeast with a tolerance of around 15-16%. So in total we would have a gravity of 1.130. I like my mead rather on the sweat side like the both of you between 1.020-1.030. Do you have suggestions of which spice to pair with figs and do you think my planing is fine like this? If it would ferment all the sugars to the 16% tolerance (so around a spgr of 1.010) I could back-sweeten it to my taste. Thanks for your advice :)
I got a few free 1 gallon wine jugs(the nasty Rossi wine) and some airlocks, and a free hydrometer from my brother. EBT(cause of no work available) paid for honey, water, yeast and jalapenos. So food stamps paid for my first mead!!!
Would you either point to to one of your videos or clear up acidic vs tannic mead? Characteristics of each. How to deliberately make one vs the other. Is "straight up Honey+water+yeast only" going to give a high acid or high tanic mead? Love the videos! Just joined a few days ago. Planning on becoming a VIP member. (Also.....holy crap, you are a wedding photographer which I have been as well in my past. Currently an advanced amateur with a Canon R5. Just found that channel and will spend time there as well.) Still a very novice mead student though.
Hi , I just joined your vip group and can’t tell you how much fun this really is. But ok yes I’m also feeling a little dumb about some of the math. I am making a red raspberry chocolate mead. Lol not to hard Right ! I had planed on using raspberry purée the gravity is 1.040 ish per Oregon fruit website. I’m using the Same fermentation jar your using. Hoping for semi sweet finish. Using 3 pounds orange blossom honey. If I have this kind of figured out the gravity on my honey for 3 pounds is 0.105. Total so far would be 1.145 ish ? I will use 1/4 tsp orange zest 1/2 stick cinnamon a 1/2 black tea a few yeast hulls and now ??? I have two types of yeast one I use for my breads. but one is DV10 which one is best for semi sweet. Also how much purée would you use. Better yet do you have a recipe. I forgot I’m looking for flavor not so much for high alcohol .
Yeast is best described by it's alcohol tolerance for what you're looking for. 1.145 is a bit high. I try to not go past 1.120. We have TONS of recipes, and some will be similar. You can also ask this in the VIP group on Facebook and get input from the entire VIP community. :)
@@CitySteadingBrews ok, I’ll go to 2 pounds honey that brings it to 1.110 don’t laugh but was afraid someone like me would answer it. I’m almost 70 so time isn’t on my side.
The higer you go, the thinner the air, therefore the gas is expanding faster/filling more space. That makes bigger bubbles/more bubbles in the must, and that would probably be the reason why there is more foam.
I'm loving going threw your videos. I'm planing an apricot mead and was wondering what you would do. I have 3lb honey available and 1kilo of DRIED apricots
This is a great video. It helps explain some of the science. Do you have a reference source for the different fruits? I’ve been trying to find a chart from which I might find the SpGrs for several varieties. Is there an appreciable difference between fresh or frozen? Thanks for another wonderful video. Cheers!
I live at the foot of Pike's Peak, 6,000 ft of altitude, and the only issue I've had so far was making a piña colada wine. I don't know when it started going crazy, but when I checked on it 24 hours later, there was a huge mess. I figured it was the pineapple juice that was making everything crazy. Next time I'll leave a lot more head space.
This is also my question. What difference does altitude make on brewing. My house is at 7012 ft. I have not experienced foam-overs, however, things do seem to brew faster. My raspberry cider started @ 1.050 and finished @ 1.000 in 2 days. And, I used the video as I made it to make sure I did not miss anything. Still turned out great.
Hi Derica and Brian. Thanks for your awesome videos. I have a question about the honey I’m going to use.. I got a good deal for 22 pounds of new honey from a local. My question Is about bacteria and other grose stuff that “could” be in the honey. Will this infect my mead. I do not want to boil it, if not necessary. I don’t think it’s infected of any kind, but just to be sure. Isn’t the honey you use, “cleaned”/pasteurized. The honey I got is light and taste delicious 😋 Hope you understand my question and sorry for my bad English. Best regards. Esben, the Viking from Denmark. ;)
First, honey doesn't go bad, ever. There could be bacteria in there, but... fermentation will take care of that. Also... you WANT all those impurities to make the best mead. You're fine.
Great information, thank you! In your example of doing a blueberry mead (great idea btw), would you add the blueberries during primary fermentation or ferment the honey first and add blueberries during secondary as a flavor enhancer? Does it make a difference in the taste profile?
I would do both. In primary you ferment the fruit and get the essence of it’s flavor and in conditioning you get more fruity flavor. Doing both adds depth and complexity.
Hey, I recently started watching you guys and it got me back into brewing. my first sweet meed is ageing and a apple cyser is fermenting. im working on a new recipe and i wanted to run it by you guys to to see what you think, since its my first own concoction. i work in 5L(1.32 Gallon) batches ill give both measurements. Honey 1.7kg/ 3.74 lbs berry mix (frozen blackcurant, blue berry, redcurant, strawberry, black berry and raspberry) 1kg/ 2.2lbs cup of black tea water to fill lalvin 71.beast might add some lemon zest in conditioning. im aiming for a Original gravity of 1.110 - 1.120 hoping for it to be a sweet melomel im curious what you think of it, especially the measurements, im kind of afraid that the fruit will add too much suggar. With kind regards form The Netherlands. Melanor
It will not be sweet with that yeast with those gravities. You need a lower tolerance yeast. The tea wine may get you close but the the other will be dry.
I made a kilju/wine i guess? I cooked 2 lg freezer bags full of blackberries, cooked. I used a 5 gallon container 2 tbsps of bread makers yeast and 1 tbsp yeast that i killed by putting in very hot water with 10lbs of sugar. Its not sweet or dry...in the middle but potent. You said maybe 12%, it seems so much stronger than that, i dont have a meter but its a KICKER ! How could that be? It tastes great. It started fermenting slowly and never developed a scum, just a slow and constant churning in approx. 75°
You did a totally different recipe than I did, mine should be 12%. Yours... well let's do the math. I'm assuming gallon bags of blackberries. They are roughly a 1/2 pound of sugar. So we have 10..5 lbs of sugar in 5 gallons, so that's 2.1 lbs of sugar in a gallon. That gives us an OG of 1.096 ish. If that went dry, you'd have 13%. So that's the maximum ABV that brew can be. If you say it's semi-sweet, that means it's more like 12% most likely which is where I find most of my bread yeast ferments end.
Are there any books or reading materials you guys would recommend? I've done a few batches and they turned out well but I'd like to know more about what I'm doing
Dear Brian and Derricka, i have a trend question for you. So I decided to make a wine. using a mix of white grape juice, cranberry juice, and apple juice. (premixed store bought without chemicals) sweetened with sugar and a small bit of honey. the bubbler is still going crazy almost a month later. and by crazy i mean that even at rest i could count a couple of bubbles a second or if swirled a full boil that almost needs a blow off tube. getting to the question. when you have a very active primary for this long, have you noticed any trends in how they turn out. trying to get a prediction of how it might go.
I know that fermenting under pressure reduces krausen level, so the inverse would be true as well. I don't know if pressure level alone would cause more excitable fermentation at altitude, but it probably plays some role. Edit: (I'd be more inclined to think this is due to more than one variable. Pressure, temperature, health of the yeast colony, etc).
Vykk Draygo well pressure and temp are directly correlated. PV=nRT and transitively P=nRT/V so an increase in either Temp or Pressure directly increases the other.
Have you noticed a difference between back sweetening before pasturization or after? I imagine that sweetening before would add to the melding of flavor? As opposed to stabilizing and then making variations?
*Warning, a slightly longer post ahead * Not a scientist, but I also do live and brew at 4700 feet. I’ve noticed nucleation to be a bigger issue at higher elevations. When I add FermaidO I have to be extra careful as it will foam over (and I’ve developed the practice of pulling a sample, degassing, taking a gravity reading, then adding the FermO to the sample and finally reintroducing the sample to the vessel). My arm-chair science hypothesis is that due to the lower pressure at higher higher elevations there is less of a barrier for the gasses to escape solution and more likely to cause foam-overs. I believe it’s not necessarily more active yeast at higher elevations, just less pressure to overcome and form bubbles at nucleation sites.
I would be curios to see a comparison brew using (The Beast)Lalvin 71B vs. Lalvin D47 from the same must. I've had good results from both. It would be interesting, and I think a good test, to see what impact the yeast actually has on the flavor of your brew. I know in beer, the yeast (can) have a distinct impact on flavor, and curious to see how pronounced this might be in wines/meads.
Hi guys! I’m trying to put together a sweet/semi-sweet blueberry mead with some subtle lavender in it. For a three gallon batch I’m thinking 7.5 lb local wildflower honey, 3 lb thawed blueberries, Lalvin 71B, and a “tea” ill make from some culinary lavender buds I got locally as well (all in primary). I did a one gallon batch of this already minus the lavender, and I really like it, but I think the lavender would improve it. What do you guys think?
Higher altitudes= lower pressure =greater volumes of gas (boyles law of gasses) so even if she has the same gas production, the gas occupies a greater volume and thus causes more to “spill over”
Thanks for this video!! I would like to know what kind of yeast brewers are using at higger altitudes. Especially those not having foam overs. Pehaps that type of yeast is better for a higger altitude environment (slower at releasing carbon dioxide?). I would like to try some different ones and and compare them.. This science is so interesting! 🤔
What I've found about the higher altitude thing is that most people don't notice a difference, so it might be your water, or some other ingredient. What yeast is immaterial as they all produce equal CO2 and ethanol. What's happening is there's less pressure on the liquid so the gasses can escape more easily. Maybe try keeping it cooler?
At 5000 feet, you're looking at about 2 psi less air pressure pushing down on the surface of the liquid. This should make it easier for bubbles to form on the surface.
Have you ever specifically explained Dry, Simi-dry, and Sweet in terms of specific gravity? I thought this video would include a piece on it because it seems like an important part of planning but it doesn’t, i guess dry is 1.00 and it’s better to be too dry then too sweet.
We have a few times but it’s really personal taste. 1.000 is considered dry though and anything above gets sweeter. As for better? That’s personal preference
Hi Brian and Derica I'm from south Africa and am fairly new to brewing. I've a question on clarification because no matter how long I let my brews sit in secondary fermentation, it remains cloudy I've done some research and people use stuff like egg shells, egg white and even milk What are your thoughts ?
th-cam.com/video/eSwXBpq7-ZA/w-d-xo.html as we say in this video, it's not that big a deal, but there's information on all the types of clearing in there.
My initial instinct on the foam over at altitudes issue was that maybe lower atmospheric pressure was just causing the gases to more aggressively bubble up out of solution. I looked it up though, and 5000ft of elevation above sea level would cause about 1psi drop in ambient pressure. I'm not sure if that's enough to cause such a violent difference in the fermentation process. Maybe she's got some really great water, and the minerals in it are helping charge the yeast? I dunno.
According to the random internet calculator I used, I got a drop of 2.5 psi. If we go by atm, we get 1 at sea level, and 0.83 at 5k feet (at 15 C, yes I am mixing units). That means there is 17% less air pressure at altitude, which is pretty significant. It may not be a factor, or at least the only factor, but it isn't unreasonable to assume it has an effect.
@@wtfpwnz0red I have never heard of a unit-conversion mistake having a real world impact :) I was going to use kPa, but using atm meant no math needed to find the percentage difference.
@@CitySteadingBrews yep it is. blackberry with spices though i cant find what kind from the recipes ive looked at. Its called wolf moon i guess lol ones with names are always fun
I would say the altitude is the same as carbonated beverages... They loses their fizziness fast do to reduced pressure allowing the CO2 to escape faster. Fermentation likely the same rate, just the CO2 escaping faster
Hey Guys. Anybody remember the coefficient Brian uses for his lower ABV brews? I have been trying to drill down through the videos to find where he talks about it, but to no a avail.
Whats the difference in your final result if you backsweeten with a fruit. Like for example; if your making a Capsicumel and you decide to backsweeten with blueberries(I know weird sounding flavors)
Speaking of recipes, out of curiosity, is it possible to make a liqueur without needing to add distilled distilled spirits? Or would such a thing be better classified as a dessert wine?
The definition of a liqueur is adding flavoring to a distilled spirit, so, technically no, but you can flavor a sweet wine or mead to be sort of the same.
So if I boil half the honey going into my mead, only half the sugars will be ferment able and the other half will not be. The half that will not be will that keep my mead sweet? Will it give me a final sweet taste of honey in it?
Okay, we used half as an estimate. It could be nearly none, to half or more of what was cooked. Yes, it will help sweeten the mead. No, it won't necessarily taste like honey as it's been caramelized.
Hi! I'm trying to plan a ferment called "Fire Hard Cider" or "Cidre de feu" in french, it was created in the 90's in Quebec and I found no clear recipe online. Its basically the same Idea of a Bochet, but uses cooked apple juice instead of cooked honey. I'm aiming for ~14-16 ABV and it should be sweet like Ice Wine... I'm not sure what yeast I should use, I have some EC-1118 but I think it'll go to far... Also not sure if the cooked apple juice will ferment well and not sure what gravity I should be aiming for... Any ideas or tips you could think of? Thanks in advance!
Is there some kind of Spreadsheet with an estimated sugar content of different ingredients somewhere around? I have a really hard time estimating the OG beforehand. To make it more interesting following your brews, I´m in a Liter Country so there's always another conversion Step. My approach of throwing things in a Jar, take a reading, add more of this, take a reading, add more of that, take a reading is a bit frustrating. Seems like i can´t figure out how much sugar i need to add for one unit of SpGr.
I use BeerSmith. It does a decent job. I know some books have the information graphed for some fruits as well, like the Complete Guide to Making Mead by Steve Piatz. Edit: For BeerSmith, you have to import the fruit "add on" (it's free, just not part of the default database). Easy enough to do. You can also add any fermentables you like, so you only have to look them up one, and the data is saved.
Part of the issue I'm having is trying to determine my end SpGr. I know the taste I want but there is no scale (that I have found) that can help me estimate sweetness and work backward from that. My idea is to find a wine that I really like, take a reading and base my calculations from there. I know there are a TON of variables, but i need a starting point. Thoughts???
I have a question that partially fits into this topic. When using something like tea to add tannins to make a wine or mead, does it need to be added during fermentation, or could you add it in during conditioning? For example if I was using a yeast that had tolerance of 18%, gave it honey til it went to tolerance and died, racked to conditioning and diluted to say 15% with a tea, would I still get the same complexity as if I had added in primary? I know this is a bit off the wall, but I was without tea during making day the last time I made mead. I would hate to spoil the brew I have, so I thought I could ask the experts first. Thank you kindly.
Good question. I don't think it would make much difference, if any. Just remember you are diluting it that way so it 'could' kick up fermentation. Yeast don't die when they hit tolerance, they just go dormant. So, if you're at 18%, add more honey and it stops fermenting, but then you dilute with tea to 15% ABV, the yeast will probably start fermenting that sugar again to 18%.
@@CitySteadingBrews thanks a lot. I assumed it didn't really make a difference, but I don't know tons about the science of the yeast during fermentation. I'll go ahead and try it when it's ready and report back here.
I think my mead is bad? One batch is a melomel (peach) and has been racked but now has sediment on the bottom that doesn’t look like regular lees, it almost looks... slimy? My other batch is just a regular honey mead that has been racked and has a ring around the sides of the bottle. Is that just lees that stayed?
Like the great and wise Adam Savage once said: "The only difference between science and screwing around ... is writing it down."
The reason for the 5000' foam over is likely due to the atmospheric pressure being lower. Same issue happens when baking bread. Essentially the carbon dioxide leaving the must or the bread has less static resistance in the form of air pressure so it expands more rapidly.
I agree. Another example would be filling up a balloon at sea level and taking it up 5000 feet it will become bigger because there is less atmosphere pushing in on it. Sodas fizz after we open the bottle because the bottles are under pressure until we open them, keeping their carbonation; and exposing them to lower pressure allows the gas to escape. Water boils at a lower temperature at high altitude for the same reason. I don't think the issue is that the yeast is actually inherently more active, but rather the gasses are escaping faster; although perhaps as a side effect maybe it does create more active yeast, in a chain reaction sort of way, since there is less carbon dioxide in the liquid and the yeast aren't as stifled...
I would argue that the cause of the foam over is higher sugar content. Yes, lower atmospheric pressure allows the CO2 to come out easier, but CO2 doesn't cause foam, high surface tension does. (Consider the difference between hard pouring a soda vs. sparkling water.) If the goal is really sweet brew, but the brew foams over to that extent, then I would have suggested she step feed rather than putting all the sugars in at once.
Aleithia, I disagree, to an extent.
Yes the sugars make for enough surface tension to have bubbles, but bubbles last longer with lower atmospheric pressure. Additionally, lower AP means less of the CO2 stays in suspension (along with other gasses), making it so those bubbles are formed more rapidly and last longer.
Someone living near the top of a sky-rise apartment could make a must, split it into two fermenters, let one go in the basement, and one in the penthouse, and should see an appreciable difference.
im just getting into brewing, and your channel is amazingly helpful. im so glad you do these brew talks vids. stay safe and stay happy :)
Welcome aboard!
Ok you guys win. I joined the VIP club today. I just really like your take on how you make your brews and that you guys answer my questions. Looking forward to the club! ;)
Awesome! Thank you! But... I like to think we all win here :)
Hi Brian and Derica,
The part about maths made me chuckle. Maths is not my strong suit and I can get hopelessly confused by it. When that happens I call in the help of my maths and science geek daughter. She sweeps in, asks a couple of questions, scribbles around and tap-tap-taps away on a calculator... and gets it right.
When I feel brave I ask her to explain. We’ve agreed on a 15-minute window for that, for the sake of both pur sanities. Works so far.
Thanks for yet another great video!
Love the video! As a wise man once said; "People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan." Honestly I think recipe planning is my favourite part of homebrewing. Getting into the science behind it all and running all of the calculations, blows people away when they see how much prep work can go into a good beer or mead recipe.
So true!
My kingdom for a dry hopped cider video!
My favorite part about this video is I started watching it yesterday made it to around 4 mins and went nope not ready for this at least not today... now i turned it back on like I'll take and write this numbers down as they say them. Just before I had time to start the video over Derica asked if you lost me yet. I lost it, cuz yeah you did. But i came back planning on write everything I could down in hope seeing it would help then BOOM graphic. This is why I love you two. Thank you for making things so enjoyable while I learn.
Most welcome!
Hi Brian and Derica. I watch most of your brew videos and appreciate ever tip! I don't dislike your new back drop but I do miss your wall O' whiskey from the older videos. No complaints, you guys are great and keep the videos coming!!!
Most? :P
@@CitySteadingBrews well I finally caught on the banana wine ;)
You guys are so educational thank you for all your videos
Long time fan first time commenter, im 34 and have been making my own mead for about ten years now and your channel is useful ive made most of the usual mead types and experimented lots some good and some nasty's but its all about the experimenting and pushing the realms of mead, I have a deal with a local bee keeper I get half price honey from them I give them a gallon of mead
Nice! Thanks for watching!
This is the video I've been looking for! Ive been needing this answered.
Started my first mead can't wait until it's done.
Hey happy couple, I've made 3 gallon brews of mead so far, in no small part due to your teachings. The first I drank immediately after 1st racking and boy was it rough, good but rough. The second was a crapple rosemary mead that was very good at 11.55 that I let sit a week to clear a little bit. The 3rd was a chamomile orange Mead that I just let sit and sit for a month before racking( it was done fermentation at about 3 weeks) and was almost completely clear 2 days after racking, and was damn smooth and 13.8ish abv. I was very impressed with this brew, the floral after tastes and the bitter, also from the chamomile, was a pleasant contrast to the sweet. Thanks again, as usual.
Also, I've only used cheap Kroger brand dry active yeast for the 1st 2, then I switched to the ever faithful Fleischmans active dry, and the results were beyond my expectations. It also makes great bread....who woulda thought 🤔🤔🤔🤔😜😜😜
Just wanted to say thank you, I’ve made about a dozen of my own recipes from watching your videos. Keep it real 👍
You are so welcome!
This is awesome imma have to watch this quite a few times. Love the channel I'm a bee keeper so I'm always experimenting with mead.
Great video guys keep them coming!
Thanks! Will do!
I live at 5K altitude and I usually only need blowovers when I make beer in one-gallon carboys. I switched to two-gallon buckets to avoid this. My meads and wines are rarely violent.
I'd be willing to bet it has more to do with the water she uses.
I agree - I live at 6000ft in Colorado - I do use blow off tunes for all my beers for the first couple of days - for fruit wines/meads I start in a larger capacity bucket to avoid any problems. With straight meads/hydromels i rarely have a problem. I would suggest using a larger capacity fermenter/bucket for initial fermentation to overcome the explosive quality !
This was so helpful. I started a SourSop (guanábana) wine a week ago. Working out the sugar balance etc was a real pain. Some great hints and tips for my next one. If the wine turns out half as good as it smells it will be a winner.
Again brilliant.
A part of the reason you get so many questions is that it is very difficult to find any books that are clear in instruction are very few and far between.....I have looked on Amazon and two of the major booksellers I buy from....bought two books out of the few offered and found a lot of rhetoric and little specific substance. 😳. Your site is the best and clearest I have found after much scouting around. I have some banana mead I will take the sp.gr. of, rack and taste. If not for you two, I would be totally in the weeds....I feel confused but not suicidal.....in other words, thanks.....I will muddle on.
We love the questions actually. They give us ideas for videos like this. It's not a complaint so much as a "Hey, this has come up a few hundred times lately and we want to address it.".
Thank you though. We try to be as transparent as possible and truthful, while giving the best information we have available.
Oh, I'm writing a book, soon to be on Amazon...
High alt fermentation not necessarily more active but boils law takes effect. Similar to divers ascending from depth as pressure decreases bubbles get bigger. Ergo small co2 bubbles at sea level get bigger under lower barometric pressure. Best guess
THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME HOW TO FISH!!!
I'm about 3,000 ft above sea level and I occasionally get foam overs or what I call The Angry Volcano Brew. The worst one I had lasted 3 days and I found it happened, at least for me, with my Apricot Mead. Today, the Apricot Mead is now aging and looks the most beautiful of gem colors and is so crystal clear you can see straight through it.
All your videos are amazing full of information for everyone to enjoy and you help people that makes it better
Where did you get the new fermenter? It looks very interesting, and I am looking at starting home brews. Also thank you for all of your videos. It has given me an interest in brewing.
Edited: I saw that it was from Northern brew on the Caramel Apple Bochet video.
My bilbemel (and pretty much everything I've made) is amazing and I thank you for the knowledge that aided me in making it!
How long do you usually let a brew sit until drinking it as a final product?
Brian a few years ago I lived in Clovis, NM. 4,200 feet elevation, and had no problem with over exuberant fermentation. I’m at2,900 feet elevation here in Tucson, and having a blast brewing here.
Good to know, thanks.
I didn’t realize you guys were so much lower in elevation than here in SV. Though I live in the foothills of the Huachucas
Hey guys thanks for the info just getting into mead (day 2 of thinking about it). I especially like the 1gal. Recipes and the greenlight on experiments! Thanks again.
Thank you for another informative video.
Our pleasure!
so much useful information. Thank you guys... keep it up and I may just learn me something.
Our pleasure!
The bragget turned out great started at 1.070 went to 1.002 took 3 weeks thanks for the info
G'day from Australia
I'm out here in Colorado Springs (6000 feet) and I haven't really had any issues with fermentation. In fact I have not had a single foam over, but I do get some vigorous fast ferments. This all with normally filling my vessels higher then you guys do. The vast majority kick off really fast and finish fairly quickly, but I have had a few that took a lot longer. I have them ferment in a cool area and mostly with 71b and have for a few years now.
Thanks. This is good info.
Adding my two cents on the high altitude and brewing. I’m new at this,moved to a high altitude place. Tried brewing again and lost two batches for a variety of reasons but I can pinpoint relevancy to altitude bc at the time I did not think of it. 1) I did my primary in a car boy vs a wide mouth container, left headspace but clearly not enough 2) I would clean my containers due to overflowing of an active brew, and sanitize the outside to include cleaning and sanitizing my airlock system. The brew kept overflowing. BUT I did not think to rack into another container bc it was less than two weeks old. Sooo…. When it did settle down I left it to finish fermenting. At the one month mark I checked both my batches and the leavings from the overflowing phase was all over the inside of the neck and had started to mold and ruined the batches ( I was attempting a bochet batch and a maple batch where I put in a lot more honey than I needed to start bc I wanted a rich flavor). So needless to say I had to dump both. Summary, leave more headspace in high altitude and don’t be afraid to rack early on in order to prevent mold. The too much honey part was me free lancing and not something everyone does. Hope this helps someone. Would like to add I wasn’t watching your channel at the time and was reading out of brewing books and quick internet searches. Since watching your channel I’m able to discover some errors I made. It has been over a year and I’m working up the courage to brew again but while I watch you. Lol you are my tutors.
Glad we were of assistance! Seems the foaming of an active ferm is more pronounced at higher altitude. I think we are at like... 30 feet above sea level or something close.
Another great video! Learning a lot from all that I have watched from you two. Just rough racked a basic mead based off of your basic mead video. Had to add some yeast, went from IG 1.112 at start to 1.10 at racking and didn't seem very active. Now it seems to have taken off. We'll see what it does over the next couple weeks. Can't wait 🥃
For the lady who is getting the wild amount of foam over I'd advise giving her brews a much more generous head space or use a larger than necessary fermentation vessel.
About the High Altitude fermentation - I don't know if the fermentation is any more active, but as a Master Scuba Instructor I can tell you that at altitude gasses come out of solution far easier, that's why you can't fly after diving. The CO2 will be coming out of solution almost as soon as it is produced
Seems to be the general consensus of thinking, yup.
I’ve found water creates a large difference in brews from region to region. Even from town to town. Great info again D&B!
Very true. Water is possibly the most overlooked ingredient.
The altitude thing probably has to do with the ambient air pressure. Since the pressure on the brew from the outside isn't as high, it's easier for gas to bubble out of it. I'm told that water boils more quickly and at lower temperatures when the altitude is higher, and it's supposed to be for that reason, so I'd guess that it has a similar impact on fermentation.
Yes, higher altitude= lower pressure=lower boiling point=lower vapor pressure
With quarantine I’ve been looking for new stuff to do, I found your channel a couple months ago, and I just bottled my first cider (made from Aldi apple juice). It’s so good, and I look forward to learning more about brewing from y’all. I started a mead with raisins and another with tangerine bits. I hope they turn out.
That is awesome!
Another tip idea... Don't get hung up on what it's called. Make different simple brews to figure out which tastes you like. Then combine good recipes for the taste you are seeking and figure out the name after you make what you like. Case in point, I'm about to start experimenting with oak now that I know I love straight mead and Cyser.
That's what I said.
High altitude fermentation is more aggressive due to lower atmospheric pressure. For example, if your lifting weights, its easier to lift the 5lbs dumbells than the 100lbs.
I love your videos! Crossed fingers.....I will make a drinkable mead! 😋
Good luck!
Great channel, great advice. I have a problem with one of my brews. I didnt really plan it :( I now know i should have. I used a new yeast too. I bought some Lalvin D47, first time I used (I'm based in the UK, the yeast was made in Canada, but well within date).
Started with just a 'cheapish' honey i have used many times before with a S.G.=1.092. And I pitched about half the pack as per your advice. After more than 4 weeks it went down to 1.070. I decided to add some lemon zest and some chopped up raisins hoping to give the yeast some nutrient. Another 4 weeks went past and the gravity went to 1.067. I then decided to use the other half pack of yeast, but am not seeing much activity. I haven't yet taken a reading since, but I think I might have got a bad batch of D47 yeast???
I have since started another brew using EC-118 yeast (again first time I've used this yeast). This one i added some dried elderflower (from my local brew store) and used the whole pack of (EC-118) yeast. (I was concerned it also would stall). I'm now thinking, once I'm done with the EC-118 yeast I might throw the cake and remainders in the stalled D47 brew, to start that back up? Is this advisable? Any better advice?
You can certainly try adding the yeast from one brew to another as long as the flavors are similar enough or compatible. I’m thinking there may be something else going on with the D47 brew, but I like how you are willing to try different things to problem solve. What temp are you keeping your brew?
@@CitySteadingBrews I'm just keeping it in the bedroom corner room temp. which at the moment is between 15-25degC. At this point anything will make the brew better, last time I tasted, it was sickly sweet, and going nowhere.
I’m in the process of my first mead, I’ve thought of a recipe for my second and wanted to see what you thought of it,
Primary fermentation, 3.5 lbs orange blossom honey, 1 gallon spring water, .5 pack red star premier blanc (because that’s what I have) 1 cup of black tea.
Conditioning, 1 cinnamon stick (whole) 1 vanilla bean (cut into 1 inch pieces) 1 tsp lemon juice. And maybe 1 clove. I’m not sure. I feel like it’s missing something to pull it all together. I haven’t started anything in this yet and definitely looking for advice or pointers to make this culinary delight. Hoping for moderately sweet.
Ever try Mangrove Jack Mead yeast M05? I tossed half a pack in my latest 1gal strawberry mead and it blew off the airlock. I've had beers do that, but my meads usually ferment pretty slowly. I'm looking forward to trying it....
Btw, Oregon 350ft alt, low 70s F. 3lb honey+1lb local strawberries macerated in 1/2 cup sugar.
Never used it but I have heard good reviews.
you had me at edification ... as long as you drink to your sanctification :-)
lol
I can't say 100%0for certain that altitude has a definite effect on brewing as I'm new to it and have only done about ten so far, but... I'm at 4200 ft and half of my brews so far have gone nuts requiring blow off tubes. This is also with two different yeasts as well ( Fleischmans and 71B). They also all started showing activity in about 30 minutes or less as well
This is another great, informative video guys. Entertaining too! I think I'm pretty familiarized to the majority of the process at this point, just lacking experience. although I do have to convert the sugar/gal to sugar/liter for localizing to vessels I have available. What I would like to know more about at this point is spices, when to add them and the difference between adding in primary vs. secondary. For instance, I'm trying to come up with a good way to incorporate Nutmeg into a mead. I think it would be nice but I'm not sure how much to use, or when to use it.
How about putting in a pinch into primary, and trying, if you like it, before going into secondary. Don't forget to note how much you through in there.
I put a whole nutmeg into my apple pie moonshine but that's quite sweet,tart and quite acidic. Probably a whole one is too much for a mead.
Maybe try ¼ in secondary and another ¼in secondary of the first ¼ is not enough.
As a person that lives in a high altitude i've found that fermantation can react quite differently. I just made a kiwi banana or should say just racked it. During the process i had to set up a blow out airlock because of the high yeast reaction.
Interesting. I did a really short search and came up empty. When I have time, I'll dig some more.
@@TheDemascus I believe, may be wrong, the air pressure differential allows more co2 to be released quicker causing foamier fermentation, I'm at sea level and rarely need blow-offs.
Thank you for this great video and all the educational work that you do for the community!
So far I have tried to follow your recipes, and they turned out great.
With this video you inspired me to try something by myself.
I found some dried figs in the supermarket the other day and I decided that I would like to brew with them.
this is the draft of my spiced fig-mead recipe:
3 pounds of honey (105p of Spgr) + the figs (around 25 p of Spgr) some spice (Maybe cinnamon and allspice?) and a yeast with a tolerance of around 15-16%.
So in total we would have a gravity of 1.130.
I like my mead rather on the sweat side like the both of you between 1.020-1.030.
Do you have suggestions of which spice to pair with figs and do you think my planing is fine like this? If it would ferment all the sugars to the 16% tolerance (so around a spgr of 1.010) I could back-sweeten it to my taste.
Thanks for your advice :)
Its a one gallon fermenter and I would fill it with water ofc.
Spgr = SGrav.?
If you, rather then OG is original gravity and SP is specific gravity.
I got a few free 1 gallon wine jugs(the nasty Rossi wine) and some airlocks, and a free hydrometer from my brother. EBT(cause of no work available) paid for honey, water, yeast and jalapenos. So food stamps paid for my first mead!!!
Would you either point to to one of your videos or clear up acidic vs tannic mead? Characteristics of each. How to deliberately make one vs the other. Is "straight up Honey+water+yeast only" going to give a high acid or high tanic mead? Love the videos! Just joined a few days ago. Planning on becoming a VIP member. (Also.....holy crap, you are a wedding photographer which I have been as well in my past. Currently an advanced amateur with a Canon R5. Just found that channel and will spend time there as well.) Still a very novice mead student though.
Oops, beat you to it. I found Tannins, Acids and Brews, Oh My! On to watch it now. thanks again.
Hi , I just joined your vip group and can’t tell you how much fun this really is. But ok yes I’m also feeling a little dumb about some of the math.
I am making a red raspberry chocolate mead. Lol not to hard Right ! I had planed on using raspberry purée the gravity is 1.040 ish per Oregon fruit website.
I’m using the Same fermentation jar your using. Hoping for semi sweet finish. Using 3 pounds orange blossom honey. If I have this kind of figured out the gravity on my honey for 3 pounds is 0.105. Total so far would be 1.145 ish ? I will use 1/4 tsp orange zest 1/2 stick cinnamon a 1/2 black tea a few yeast hulls and now ??? I have two types of yeast one I use for my breads. but one is DV10 which one is best for semi sweet. Also how much purée would you use. Better yet do you have a recipe. I forgot I’m looking for flavor not so much for high alcohol .
Yeast is best described by it's alcohol tolerance for what you're looking for. 1.145 is a bit high. I try to not go past 1.120. We have TONS of recipes, and some will be similar. You can also ask this in the VIP group on Facebook and get input from the entire VIP community. :)
@@CitySteadingBrews ok, I’ll go to 2 pounds honey that brings it to 1.110 don’t laugh but was afraid someone like me would answer it. I’m almost 70 so time isn’t on my side.
The higer you go, the thinner the air, therefore the gas is expanding faster/filling more space. That makes bigger bubbles/more bubbles in the must, and that would probably be the reason why there is more foam.
I'm loving going threw your videos. I'm planing an apricot mead and was wondering what you would do.
I have 3lb honey available and 1kilo of DRIED apricots
I have no recipe for this… you will have to experiment. We have many recipes with dried fruit though.
This is a great video. It helps explain some of the science. Do you have a reference source for the different fruits? I’ve been trying to find a chart from which I might find the SpGrs for several varieties. Is there an appreciable difference between fresh or frozen? Thanks for another wonderful video. Cheers!
I use google... best I can come up with. Sugars stay the same whether fresh or frozen, so long as nothing is added.
I live at the foot of Pike's Peak, 6,000 ft of altitude, and the only issue I've had so far was making a piña colada wine. I don't know when it started going crazy, but when I checked on it 24 hours later, there was a huge mess. I figured it was the pineapple juice that was making everything crazy. Next time I'll leave a lot more head space.
This is also my question. What difference does altitude make on brewing. My house is at 7012 ft. I have not experienced foam-overs, however, things do seem to brew faster. My raspberry cider started @ 1.050 and finished @ 1.000 in 2 days. And, I used the video as I made it to make sure I did not miss anything. Still turned out great.
All I can figure out is that the reduced air pressure allows gasses to escape easier so maybe less degassing and/or reduced aging times.
Hi Derica and Brian.
Thanks for your awesome videos.
I have a question about the honey I’m going to use.. I got a good deal for 22 pounds of new honey from a local. My question Is about bacteria and other grose stuff that “could” be in the honey. Will this infect my mead. I do not want to boil it, if not necessary. I don’t think it’s infected of any kind, but just to be sure. Isn’t the honey you use, “cleaned”/pasteurized. The honey I got is light and taste delicious 😋
Hope you understand my question and sorry for my bad English.
Best regards. Esben, the Viking from Denmark. ;)
First, honey doesn't go bad, ever. There could be bacteria in there, but... fermentation will take care of that. Also... you WANT all those impurities to make the best mead. You're fine.
CS Mead and More thanks a lot
Great information, thank you! In your example of doing a blueberry mead (great idea btw), would you add the blueberries during primary fermentation or ferment the honey first and add blueberries during secondary as a flavor enhancer? Does it make a difference in the taste profile?
I would do both. In primary you ferment the fruit and get the essence of it’s flavor and in conditioning you get more fruity flavor. Doing both adds depth and complexity.
Hmmm, crust flavor. Would mashing some wheat malt have added the bready crust flavor to round out your apple pie mead? It's a thought.
It would taste more like beer, but good thinking.
Hey, I recently started watching you guys and it got me back into brewing. my first sweet meed is ageing and a apple cyser is fermenting. im working on a new recipe and i wanted to run it by you guys to to see what you think, since its my first own concoction. i work in 5L(1.32 Gallon) batches ill give both measurements.
Honey 1.7kg/ 3.74 lbs
berry mix (frozen blackcurant, blue berry, redcurant, strawberry, black berry and raspberry) 1kg/ 2.2lbs
cup of black tea
water to fill
lalvin 71.beast
might add some lemon zest in conditioning.
im aiming for a Original gravity of 1.110 - 1.120
hoping for it to be a sweet melomel
im curious what you think of it, especially the measurements, im kind of afraid that the fruit will add too much suggar.
With kind regards form The Netherlands.
Melanor
Why don't you try your recipe scaled down quite a bit with the same proportion(e.g. 1/20), to figure out if the gravity is not to high
Just wanted to say thanks just started my first two a tea wine and a apple pie wine make with apple juice and apple pie filling
Starting gravity of the tea wine 1.145 am using lavin ec-1118 apple was 1.125
I want it to be on the sweet side
It will not be sweet with that yeast with those gravities. You need a lower tolerance yeast. The tea wine may get you close but the the other will be dry.
Could I back sweatin on my first rack
You can but it may ferment again. You can keep adding and letting it ferment until it can’t ferment any more and then it will get sweeter.
I made a kilju/wine i guess? I cooked 2 lg freezer bags full of blackberries, cooked. I used a 5 gallon container 2 tbsps of bread makers yeast and 1 tbsp yeast that i killed by putting in very hot water with 10lbs of sugar. Its not sweet or dry...in the middle but potent. You said maybe 12%, it seems so much stronger than that, i dont have a meter but its a KICKER ! How could that be? It tastes great. It started fermenting slowly and never developed a scum, just a slow and constant churning in approx. 75°
You did a totally different recipe than I did, mine should be 12%. Yours... well let's do the math.
I'm assuming gallon bags of blackberries. They are roughly a 1/2 pound of sugar.
So we have 10..5 lbs of sugar in 5 gallons, so that's 2.1 lbs of sugar in a gallon. That gives us an OG of 1.096 ish. If that went dry, you'd have 13%. So that's the maximum ABV that brew can be. If you say it's semi-sweet, that means it's more like 12% most likely which is where I find most of my bread yeast ferments end.
Are there any books or reading materials you guys would recommend? I've done a few batches and they turned out well but I'd like to know more about what I'm doing
Dear Brian and Derricka,
i have a trend question for you. So I decided to make a wine. using a mix of white grape juice, cranberry juice, and apple juice. (premixed store bought without chemicals) sweetened with sugar and a small bit of honey. the bubbler is still going crazy almost a month later. and by crazy i mean that even at rest i could count a couple of bubbles a second or if swirled a full boil that almost needs a blow off tube.
getting to the question. when you have a very active primary for this long, have you noticed any trends in how they turn out. trying to get a prediction of how it might go.
The only way to know is to wait it out. Take a reading though, it could just be offgassing.
I know that fermenting under pressure reduces krausen level, so the inverse would be true as well. I don't know if pressure level alone would cause more excitable fermentation at altitude, but it probably plays some role. Edit: (I'd be more inclined to think this is due to more than one variable. Pressure, temperature, health of the yeast colony, etc).
Vykk Draygo well pressure and temp are directly correlated. PV=nRT and transitively P=nRT/V so an increase in either Temp or Pressure directly increases the other.
How do you know that fermenting under pressure reduces kreusen levels? Did you home brew in a submarine? If so, that’s awesome!
Have you noticed a difference between back sweetening before pasturization or after? I imagine that sweetening before would add to the melding of flavor? As opposed to stabilizing and then making variations?
Sweetening before also helps it to clear.
*Warning, a slightly longer post ahead *
Not a scientist, but I also do live and brew at 4700 feet. I’ve noticed nucleation to be a bigger issue at higher elevations. When I add FermaidO I have to be extra careful as it will foam over (and I’ve developed the practice of pulling a sample, degassing, taking a gravity reading, then adding the FermO to the sample and finally reintroducing the sample to the vessel).
My arm-chair science hypothesis is that due to the lower pressure at higher higher elevations there is less of a barrier for the gasses to escape solution and more likely to cause foam-overs. I believe it’s not necessarily more active yeast at higher elevations, just less pressure to overcome and form bubbles at nucleation sites.
I agree with this theory.
CS Mead and More see high school and college chemistry isn’t just setting things on fire and making titrations :D
#STAYSAFE
I would be curios to see a comparison brew using (The Beast)Lalvin 71B vs. Lalvin D47 from the same must. I've had good results from both. It would be interesting, and I think a good test, to see what impact the yeast actually has on the flavor of your brew. I know in beer, the yeast (can) have a distinct impact on flavor, and curious to see how pronounced this might be in wines/meads.
Could do that. We've had much better results from 71B, mostly based on lack of stalls, etc.
Great video, how different is this process with beer?
Same in concept but there are a few more variables.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thank you very much, I'll take a look into it
Hi guys! I’m trying to put together a sweet/semi-sweet blueberry mead with some subtle lavender in it. For a three gallon batch I’m thinking 7.5 lb local wildflower honey, 3 lb thawed blueberries, Lalvin 71B, and a “tea” ill make from some culinary lavender buds I got locally as well (all in primary). I did a one gallon batch of this already minus the lavender, and I really like it, but I think the lavender would improve it. What do you guys think?
Lavender can either be great or make it taste like soap. It’s also personal bias on that one.
@@CitySteadingBrews hopefully the soap taste stays away. I originally had wanted to use jasmine but I cant find any.
Higher altitudes= lower pressure =greater volumes of gas (boyles law of gasses) so even if she has the same gas production, the gas occupies a greater volume and thus causes more to “spill over”
Thanks for this video!! I would like to know what kind of yeast brewers are using at higger altitudes. Especially those not having foam overs. Pehaps that type of yeast is better for a higger altitude environment (slower at releasing carbon dioxide?). I would like to try some different ones and and compare them.. This science is so interesting! 🤔
What I've found about the higher altitude thing is that most people don't notice a difference, so it might be your water, or some other ingredient. What yeast is immaterial as they all produce equal CO2 and ethanol. What's happening is there's less pressure on the liquid so the gasses can escape more easily. Maybe try keeping it cooler?
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks, I will give it a try! Also, in what way would water effect a brew other than whether it is filtered or not?
@@susanjimenez6629 various dissolved minerals and other things can have an effect on fermentation.
At 5000 feet, you're looking at about 2 psi less air pressure pushing down on the surface of the liquid. This should make it easier for bubbles to form on the surface.
I agree, but I'm hearing varying reports of a change or not.
Have you ever specifically explained Dry, Simi-dry, and Sweet in terms of specific gravity?
I thought this video would include a piece on it because it seems like an important part of planning but it doesn’t, i guess dry is 1.00 and it’s better to be too dry then too sweet.
We have a few times but it’s really personal taste. 1.000 is considered dry though and anything above gets sweeter. As for better? That’s personal preference
Hi Brian and Derica
I'm from south Africa and am fairly new to brewing.
I've a question on clarification because no matter how long I let my brews sit in secondary fermentation, it remains cloudy
I've done some research and people use stuff like egg shells, egg white and even milk
What are your thoughts ?
th-cam.com/video/eSwXBpq7-ZA/w-d-xo.html as we say in this video, it's not that big a deal, but there's information on all the types of clearing in there.
My initial instinct on the foam over at altitudes issue was that maybe lower atmospheric pressure was just causing the gases to more aggressively bubble up out of solution.
I looked it up though, and 5000ft of elevation above sea level would cause about 1psi drop in ambient pressure. I'm not sure if that's enough to cause such a violent difference in the fermentation process.
Maybe she's got some really great water, and the minerals in it are helping charge the yeast? I dunno.
According to the random internet calculator I used, I got a drop of 2.5 psi. If we go by atm, we get 1 at sea level, and 0.83 at 5k feet (at 15 C, yes I am mixing units). That means there is 17% less air pressure at altitude, which is pretty significant.
It may not be a factor, or at least the only factor, but it isn't unreasonable to assume it has an effect.
Would make more sense to be 2.5 because just 1 seemed a bit low. The source I used listed everything in kPa and maybe I mixed up in converting to psi
@@wtfpwnz0red I have never heard of a unit-conversion mistake having a real world impact :)
I was going to use kPa, but using atm meant no math needed to find the percentage difference.
Have you ever tried making wolf moon mead it seems intresting but i cant find a no additive recipe would love to see your take on it in a video
Honestly, I'd never heard of it until you asked... Seems like a blackberry mead?
@@CitySteadingBrews yep it is. blackberry with spices though i cant find what kind from the recipes ive looked at. Its called wolf moon i guess lol ones with names are always fun
I would say the altitude is the same as carbonated beverages... They loses their fizziness fast do to reduced pressure allowing the CO2 to escape faster. Fermentation likely the same rate, just the CO2 escaping faster
Yeah, this seems to be it.
My cyser started bubbling in about 20 minutes using bread yeast. Crazy.
I wanted to buy the grape juice without the kit. Most of the stuff in Amazon and online is concord. But I want to try other types.
Not sure what you're asking me... look for other types of juice, they are out there. Here's one: amzn.to/2ELmbbS
Was thinking about using watermelon in a mead and couldn't find a video using watermelon on your channel is there a reason
Hey Guys. Anybody remember the coefficient Brian uses for his lower ABV brews? I have been trying to drill down through the videos to find where he talks about it, but to no a avail.
135 for all.
It’s what I used in our latest beer and it’s like within .1-.2% of the same as any other method.
@@CitySteadingBrews Okay. Thanks. 135 was what I was thinking, but I could not remember the video in which you first mentioned that.
Derica mentioned time of day. Does that really make a difference?
Almost 300 videos!
Whats the difference in your final result if you backsweeten with a fruit. Like for example; if your making a Capsicumel and you decide to backsweeten with blueberries(I know weird sounding flavors)
It would take on the fruit flavor.
Speaking of recipes, out of curiosity, is it possible to make a liqueur without needing to add distilled distilled spirits? Or would such a thing be better classified as a dessert wine?
The definition of a liqueur is adding flavoring to a distilled spirit, so, technically no, but you can flavor a sweet wine or mead to be sort of the same.
@@CitySteadingBrews Ah, well, if it tastes good that's ultimately the point. Thanks.
So if I boil half the honey going into my mead, only half the sugars will be ferment able and the other half will not be. The half that will not be will that keep my mead sweet? Will it give me a final sweet taste of honey in it?
Okay, we used half as an estimate. It could be nearly none, to half or more of what was cooked. Yes, it will help sweeten the mead. No, it won't necessarily taste like honey as it's been caramelized.
Hi! I'm trying to plan a ferment called "Fire Hard Cider" or "Cidre de feu" in french, it was created in the 90's in Quebec and I found no clear recipe online. Its basically the same Idea of a Bochet, but uses cooked apple juice instead of cooked honey. I'm aiming for ~14-16 ABV and it should be sweet like Ice Wine... I'm not sure what yeast I should use, I have some EC-1118 but I think it'll go to far... Also not sure if the cooked apple juice will ferment well and not sure what gravity I should be aiming for... Any ideas or tips you could think of? Thanks in advance!
It will only go as far as there is sugar to ferment.
Is there some kind of Spreadsheet with an estimated sugar content of different ingredients somewhere around?
I have a really hard time estimating the OG beforehand. To make it more interesting following your brews, I´m in a Liter Country so there's always another conversion Step.
My approach of throwing things in a Jar, take a reading, add more of this, take a reading, add more of that, take a reading is a bit frustrating.
Seems like i can´t figure out how much sugar i need to add for one unit of SpGr.
Nope, I use Google a LOT, and Alexa.
I use BeerSmith. It does a decent job. I know some books have the information graphed for some fruits as well, like the Complete Guide to Making Mead by Steve Piatz. Edit: For BeerSmith, you have to import the fruit "add on" (it's free, just not part of the default database). Easy enough to do. You can also add any fermentables you like, so you only have to look them up one, and the data is saved.
@@Vykk_Draygo 15usd/year doesn´t sound too bad. i might give it a try. thanks.
Part of the issue I'm having is trying to determine my end SpGr. I know the taste I want but there is no scale (that I have found) that can help me estimate sweetness and work backward from that. My idea is to find a wine that I really like, take a reading and base my calculations from there. I know there are a TON of variables, but i need a starting point. Thoughts???
Experience. That's the best way. But, let's say you like 1.010 on this brew, that doesn't mean the next won't be different for you.
@@CitySteadingBrews good point.
I have a question that partially fits into this topic. When using something like tea to add tannins to make a wine or mead, does it need to be added during fermentation, or could you add it in during conditioning? For example if I was using a yeast that had tolerance of 18%, gave it honey til it went to tolerance and died, racked to conditioning and diluted to say 15% with a tea, would I still get the same complexity as if I had added in primary? I know this is a bit off the wall, but I was without tea during making day the last time I made mead. I would hate to spoil the brew I have, so I thought I could ask the experts first. Thank you kindly.
Good question. I don't think it would make much difference, if any. Just remember you are diluting it that way so it 'could' kick up fermentation. Yeast don't die when they hit tolerance, they just go dormant. So, if you're at 18%, add more honey and it stops fermenting, but then you dilute with tea to 15% ABV, the yeast will probably start fermenting that sugar again to 18%.
@@CitySteadingBrews thanks a lot. I assumed it didn't really make a difference, but I don't know tons about the science of the yeast during fermentation. I'll go ahead and try it when it's ready and report back here.
Just to clarify(depending on your yeast) more sugar = stronger alcohol? Am I correct?
To a point, yes. Here''s a video explaining it: th-cam.com/video/6aLlJUMBEN0/w-d-xo.html
I think my mead is bad?
One batch is a melomel (peach) and has been racked but now has sediment on the bottom that doesn’t look like regular lees, it almost looks... slimy?
My other batch is just a regular honey mead that has been racked and has a ring around the sides of the bottle. Is that just lees that stayed?
Lees can do that. The ring could just be kreusen and is normal.
How do they smell? Taste? It's nearly impossible to be harmed by it if it fermented.
CS Mead and More They smell like alcohol and they taste the part as well, just very dry.
Best elevator music I've ever heard
When are you going to publish the next Kilju video?
We only recently tested it and it's nowhere near finished. so it will be some time. You will see it being racked and bottled in the next video.
@@CitySteadingBrews I imagined, mine as well. Should come out great though