I made this as my 3rd mead, followed your recipe, and my mind is blown!!! Mine came out at 11.7% abv and pretty sweet, but the flavor.... Holy crap!! And beautifully clear and golden. Thank you for being my intro to mead making 🙏🏼
I made an herbal mead with rosemary, thyme and bay and had a difficult time getting it to start...never thought of the antibacterial properties of the herbs! Duh!!!! Now I know how to fix it! Thanks!
From a guy who actually lives in Yorkshire in the U.K. this warms my heart that this tea is in your brew. Best tea ever made. Only tea worth drinking. Maybe a tiny bit biased……love this recipe guys.
I started a batch of this yesterday evening, my first ever ferment. It's already bubbling very well. I just wanted to say thanks for the channel and all the recipes, information etc that you two share. I've been wanting to try this for at least a year now and your channel finally pushed me into trying it. Can't wait to see how it goes.
The spiced metheglin sounds amazing! I think you should come out with a recipe book. I will definitely buy it if you do. I'm trying this recipe now but with a few changed. 3 lbs. of orange blossom honey instead of 3.5 lbs. and I used 2 slices of freeze dried apples because I don't have yeast hulls. Thought it might help feed the yeast. I only used 1/2 pk. of Lalvin 71b and it started bubbling within 1 hour. OG gravity 1.124 Can't wait to try this one.
I just finished up 2 separate batches following this recipe. One at 1.130 og the other at 1.120 og to see the difference. Now the hard part... THE WAIT! I appreciate everything the two of you do here. These are batch numbers 2 and 3 for me. Started my first in late October. Staying patient waiting for it to age some more. My first was a gallon of your traditional mead. Tasted the other day and it was GREAT. Just looking to let it age out a bit more. Thanks again guys! Keep the great info coming.
Just found y’all’s channel. This is awesome! So much more in depth and informative than other videos. I have subscribed and look forward to trying it myself and other brews.
This recipe honestly sounds yummy I’d give it a shot once I’m given a chance As for your yeast activity- I got the same foamy yeast action too with the weird yeast that I used I’m glad my experiment is behaving well
Made this using lalvin k1- v1116 yeast because i had it and temps are coooler here in N.Y. active, steady, and stable fermentation start to finish. EXCELLENT recipe, thanks folks!
Very interesting. This is close to my apple pie recipe but I did not know that cinnamon sticks and cloves were antibiotics or that the yeast would have a hard time with it. I have never personally had a problem with it, but that is really good to know. Thanks!
Love the content. Watching your videos is what got me into making Ciders and Meads a few months ago. Last month I got the idea for a spiced mead, similar to what you did here, and it seems to have stalled. 3 gallon batch 2/3 packet of Lavlin 71B 10 lbs of honey 2 lbs of fresh cherries (chopped and de-seeded) 1 lb of frozen cranberries (thawed and chopped) Ginger 3 cinnamon sticks Cardamom Allspice Cloves Orange peel 3 black tea bags I boiled the spices, orange peel, and tea bags. I let them cool before adding them to the mead. The mead started bubbling within a few hours, and stopped after about 2 weeks. At 3 weeks, I racked it off the fruit. Starting gravity was 1.072, estimated to be at 1.122 because of the fruit. When I racked it, the gravity was 1.080. 10 days later (today), it's still at 1.080 The flavor is surprisingly good, but way too sweat, and the alcohol content seems pretty low. Any ideas on how to get this going again? Thanks
Try a teaspoon and a half of yeast hulls or boiled bread yeast. It's also possible the spices stalled it. You didn't say how much ginger, cardamom, allspice and cloves, as all of those have antibiotic properties.
@@CitySteadingBrews I used about a thumb sized piece of ginger, sliced thin, which went directly into the mead. 1 tsp of ground cloves, 1.5 tsp of ground AllSpice, and 1 tsp of ground Cardamom. I didn't think about the antibacterial properties due to boiling, but I'll give the yeast hulls a shot. Thanks again
I put off making this one because i didnt think i would like it. I finally gave in and made it several months ago. And Brian, let me tell ya. Its probably my favorite mead i have made to date. So good. Very impressed.
@A i found it to be very good after just a couple months from primary fermentation. It did continue to get better for a couple months, then pretty much stabilized.
Metheglin is the idea that got me fired up about meade in the first place. I tried something very similar to this two years ago, when I first started. But, I also used cardamom and saffron. it turns out I don't really like cardamom, and I've had no luck with saffron. I either cannot taste the saffron, or I get too much and it ruins the brew. So, thank you for a recipe that works. I was surprised by your surprise at fermentation starting within the hour, but I regularly use Go-Ferm and Fermaid-k. I usually start seeing bubbles within three hours. Seeing bubbles in less than an hour, while not an every time occurrence, is very satisfying.
After researching and compiling information for making mead, I had decided to do a seasonal spiced mead. Then, I stumbled across this. Thank you. Now I don't have to guess and figure it out. This is exactly what I was thinking. (just hadn't figured out quantities). You guys rock. can't wait to get it started!
I found this video earlier this year and started a batch in august I just bottled it last night and tried it slightly sweetened to 1.015 and oh my is it ever good im gonna open the first bottle on Christmas
Hi Brian and Danica: just wanted to tell you that I made your metheglin mead . My family is in love with it , so I’ve got 6 more gallons of it going . Thank you so much for the recipe. I’m also trying your ginger mead . Love you guys and your information you, you two take the time to give .thank you ! Thank you ! Keep your videos coming .💞🙏
I've got a 1kg bag of bread yeast that I use as "yeast hulls" by boiling some in a tiny bit of water before brewing. Kill off the yeast and it becomes basically the same thing as this nutrient being used in the video
Derica and Brian, wish I had found this channel last year when I started my first attempts. You guys are the most informative people I have come across. I just started a 1gal’ batch of this mead. I didn’t have orange blossom honey, dehydrated orange zest or the same yeast. I substituted for wild mountain honey, fresh orange zest and used the premier blanc I had on hand. I ended up with a starting OG of 1.138, I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
Hi guys! First I want to say how much I enjoy your videos. I last made mead over 25 years ago and have learned how many things we did wrong (only had one drinkable brew in four tries). My wife has started keeping bees and my first thought was "Hmmm, what would I do with extra honey?" well... I've scaled down to 1-gallon batches and have been using 25-year-old honey (which takes a VERY long time to de-crystallize). ANYway - this is the second batch I'm making in all these years. The difference in what I've done compared to your recipe is that the honey is clover vs orange blossom, I'm using Fleishman yeast, and instead of yeast hulls, I made my own nutrient by boiling a packet of generic store-brand bread yeast. My original gravity was 1.144. I had no more room in the jar to dilute any further. Now, doing the math with the final ABV being approx 13% I come up with a final gravity of 1.045 which from what I've absorbed so far means it is going to be very sweet. I'm sure you've answered this in some of your videos that I have not yet seen, but how do I reduce the sweetness? Can I simply dilute in secondary? I do not think I mind a higher ABV, but if the yeast stops at 13% or thereabout, how do I "use" more of the sugar? I'll keep digging through your videos! Keep up the good work!
Diluting is the answer to too much sweetness. Yes. Or a higher tolerance yeast. Honestly though 1.144 is SUPER high to start with. That's gonna stall most yeasts. I'd dilute it.
@@CitySteadingBrews hopefully this makes sense and is correct... I first measured one of the fermenter jars and at the level of the current brew is 108oz (.84 gallons) so that explains some of the sweetness. I thought about how to do the math to determine how much water to add, and even though my brain kept saying it should be easy I gave up and did the following. OG was 1.144. let's say I was aiming for 1.030. so I was .014 too high. The reading today was 1.104. so assuming the same rate of fermentation I'd be looking for 1.090 today. I started mixing (this is only 4 days old, so not worried about adding O2) with water until I got this target. This did two things... Brought the level up to 1gal in the original jar (up to the neck...bottom of the screw at the top not really comfortable there but...) And I had about 4 oz left over... it was tasty. Is this reasonable or did I mess up somewhere? Thanks again!
I bought 2 bottles of Holiday Wassail juice from Aldi and just mixed it up yesterday. I bought it because it reminded me of this recipe. Only I added sugar but will step feed and final sweeten with honey.
Just racked this off the raisins, they started to break up after 10 days. Glad I did as it'd gone from 1.122 down to 1.008 (15.4%), left the yeast in to finish any potential fermentation because Mangrove Jack's M05 can go 18% By the Gods, does it smell awesome! The M05 really brought out the aroma and it's like a warm blanket on a cold winter day. Can't wait for it to finish out and age a little before I bottle and sink into the couch with a mug.
Started a batch of this as my first mead ever. 3.5 weeks in, I'm racking and it's down to 1.005, making it 16.8%!!! It's so warming, and quite tasty even a bit drier.
Followed this recipe to the letter and got the same results! Imagine that! With a FG of 1.054, it is very sweet but SO delicious. So much so that I just started another 2 gallons. Since 3.5 lbs of Sweet Squeeze orange blossom honey gave us an OG of 1.138, I cut back to 3 lbs of honey which brought the OG to 1.122. For my latest batch I also substituted Fermaid-O for the yeast hulls and added bentonite for fining. Now the hard part... waiting!
I just racked the new batch that used 3 lbs of honey. FG was 1.028 so ABV is 12.7%. Same delicious taste but a bit less sweet! The bentonite did not result in a clear finish so I added some sparkalloid which works like magic! Within a couple of days it was crystal clear.
I started this exact recipe yesterday. The only change I made was I added 2 tsp of candied ginger to get a bit of taste of your ginger mead added in. Rather excited for this one!
Follow up: Racked it to secondary and tasted it. It’s so good and, like yours, I can’t believe it’s only been three weeks. I can’t wait for this one to get to at least six months.
@@valiant545 Freakish timing! I was bottling this as you commented. ~7.5 weeks to bottling. OG 1.138, FG 1.035, 15.5 ABV. It is really good right now. I’m going to try to wait 6+ months before opening the first bottle. I have half a mason jar in the fridge to enjoy for now.
@@valiant545 Sorry, I failed to give brew dates. Started on 3/8/21. Racked to secondary 4/3/21 (slightly over 3.5 weeks). Bottling 4/28/21 (7.5 weeks total).
This metheglin was one of your favorites, and I love the comment on how they were used for health and medicine, going to extract some medicinal mushrooms and add it in at secondary.
I’m such a novice. I don’t know if I’m making mead or starring in a hidden camera comedy show. I followed the recipe EXACTLY. 1.5 liters honey and so on. I don’t have yeast hulls, but I have bakers yeast, so I tossed half a teaspoon in with the steeping tea for 10 minutes. That was boiling, so I’m sure I killed it, just like I did my houseplants. Finally added as much water as I possibly could and got a reading, you’re going to love this: 1.171. It was off the chart before I added as much water as I could. I used a wine yeast and I’m hoping it really goes to town. Time will tell if I have something good or a mead version of Frankenstein’s Monster. All the love to you guys. Thanks for the adventure! ❤️
Haha same here man! I got 1.50 and 1.56 respectively, after adding as much water as I felt comfortable with. Using 71B, recalling hoping I can get the full 14% from it. Should still have some good sweetness, but not too much. If it stalls like theirs did, I think it’s going to be too sweet. Here’s hoping! Let me know how yours turns out!
Your fab vids are helping me try out brewing new Mead flavors! Best drink ever!! You are my Mork&MIndy of brewing, fun, geeky sunshine and Mead in a bizzaro year! StaySteading!!
Hi Brian and Derica, I am happy to report that my first three Meads (Basic Mead, Coffee Mead and Metheglin Mead) are put together and happily fermenting. All started between the 23rd and the 28th (today). This past week has been a blast! Thanks for all of the amazing videos and good cheer! It has been a major uplift around here! I also just watched your Melomel Cherry chocolate Mead video last night with the Montana honey and the Tart Cherry Juice, both award winning products, and I am likely going to replicate that one (with vanilla bean) either soon or next (very soon.) I have been using tart cherry juice for medicinal values (as needed) for a few years now. Glad to see you bring that information to your viewers! Cheers!
Hello from Alaska! I have been watching a lot of Your videos, and I have been learning a lot. I'm new to wine and soon to be mead making. I started my first wine without a hydrometer, because I was told I could. After watching countless videos, I realize that is wrong. I am going to do this spiced one, but after I get a hydrometer. I Love to learn new things, keep putting the videos out, I'm enjoying learning from You both! Thanks!!
Just racked this after 1 month being in primary. And its already amazing. It went up to 20%, and I might have added a bit too much honey.... looking forward to taste it during Christmas diner next year!
Soylent green! lol. I love it when you guys throw in nerd references. Already starting to collect your t-shirts. You guys are great! I’m watching like 2 or 3 of your videos every morning at the gym.
Hi, Brian and Derica! Thanks so much for your content! You guys are the reason I started brewing. I watched probably 30+ of your videos before starting with your "First Mead" recipe on 11.11.20 which seems to be coming along well in secondary. I checked out some other creators and we like your minimalist approach better. Plus you guys are adorable and we love your nerdy energy! I also started a metheglin which I may need some assistance with. Starting spgr was 1.138 on 11.16.20. I racked it on 12.24.20. It still appeared to be brewing but you suggested separating it from the spices after four weeks or so. Spgr at racking was 1.068 = 9.45%. Since then it has not appeared to be active. The pressure became slightly positive but no bubbling in airlock. Tested again today, 1.2.21: 1.066 = 9.72%. 2 pts. in a week. Should I be worried about stalling? Should I let it sit for a while and see if it picks back up? Should I give it a boost? If so, how? TIA. Always love it when my bell lights up with your new vids! Matt and Natalya in Wisconsin
@@CitySteadingBrews Hi again. I added a packet of yeast on 1.5.21. It degassed a little but zero activity since. Wondering if my yeast died. Kept it in the fridge. The house is about 68 - not quite Florida weather.
Thank you both for this mead. I made this about a month ago and rack (2 rack rule) and bottled it. The abv was 11.07% using the Lalvin 71B yeast. It’s tastes amazing. I ended up getting (4) 750ml bottles out of this recipe. You two are the best when making mead, wine, & beer. Thanks again, cheers and bottoms up! I’m also currently making Bourbon Bouchet. I’m dying to taste this one when it’s done. Thanks again.
Just started my own batch of this in a narrow-mouth gallon carboy; SpG came out to 1.146. It was already bubbling away within an hour, so I'm super excited to see how it gets on.
Just finished putting together my attempt at this mead! It is in my closet in the dark, waiting, now. Here's hoping it starts bubbling soon, I'll keep you updated! Hoping to share this with my family at christmas this year, it'll be my second-ever mead. So excited to see how it goes!!
Aaaand the airlock's bubbling already! judging by the foam I think it really is already started! I did put fermaid-o in instead of yeast hulls since that seems to be more what you guys are using lately and it's less bulky for me to store - I'm in a pretty titchy apartment. So excited to see how it progresses!
@@deadkuma Just racked it and tasted it yesterday!! It taste amazing already, I would drink the whole gallon now if I didn't promise it for family christmas. On tasting I could detect a bit of carbonation-y fizz in it so I'm not sure if the yeast are fully done (forgive my sins, I haven't gotten a gravity reader yet), so I put it back in an airlock container just in case, but at just over 5 weeks it was definitely time to take it off the spices - some might find it too spiced at this level, I can absolutely feel the cinnamon in my throat after a drink, like you might with something like fireball, but I think it's perfect. So glad I went with this recipe!! exactly the kind of mead i like
Sounds exactly what I have been searching for, after how long did it have that fireball feel? thanks for the update anyways and I'd love to hear more! :) As a apiculture carer, I feel I'd definitely use this as the core recipe for a festivemead for family, friends and to warm people up at the Christmasmarkets 2024 as it will still need it's time. @@amberbydreamsart5467
Your channel is super informative and very useful! Great presenting and production all round - you should be very proud! Thank you for all of your help with my mead!
Hey Brian and Derica, I hope this message finds you well. I love watching yall on TH-cam! I made a yeast starter for a mead that I'm making in thinking it didn't start but just so happens it did start after all. Now I have a yeast starter, so I made good use of it using your spiced metheglyn recipe. I hope it turns out well, and I'll keep yall updated! I'm looking forward to more videos and possibly meeting in the future! Cheers!🍻
This sounds delicious! And I really like your new in-video banner ads that you’re doing for your channel promotional advertising. Their fantastic, fun, and they don’t take away from your information in the moment. Great choice. Oh, and I think your magic trick with the Spoon of Unusual Size was brilliant 😊
follow up with a question: With how rapidly the mead is fermenting, have you ever done a sour mead, using the active yeast from one batch to ferment the next?
I made this last summer so it would be ready for Thanksgiving, but of course I had to drink some. It was AWESOME!!! I have two bottles left and am very excited to drink another one with Thanksgiving dinner. AND, I have another 5 gallon batch in primary at the writing of this comment. 😊
Started mine last night and it was bubbling away at hour 2. EC1118. Had a feeing before going to bed that I needed a blow off tube but chose to simply set inside a bucket. Easier mess to clean up this morning for sure. Airlock almost plugged with orange zest. Cleaned up and bubbling away. Can’t wait!
Just ordered the couple of things I needed to try this. ( Had most on hand already.) Sounds too good to pass up! Keep up the amazing job you do of making videos like this one.
Ok, started a batch of this today and dang does it smell good even before anything ferments. Slight alterations, used wildflower honey, a little more orange zest and K1-V1116 yeast since I had that on hand. Really looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.
Hey y'all, I'm putting this one together soon...so excited! Just wanted to let you know though your playlist for the Spiced Metheglin is out of order. The 1 and 2 are switched. Thanks for all you do. The quality and content of these recent episodes are much improved over the early ones...keep up the great work, and the forward progression.
One thing I learned that doesn't get mentioned to often but I learned through doing a bunch of different fermentation projects try to avoid stirring any active yeast projects with a metal spoon or basically don't let metal touch it yeast doesn't like metal and might react weird or even die in contact with metal this includes with sour dough starters kombuchas and your brew base after you have added the yeast this is why wood plastic and glass is used in brewing. Distilling and cooking before you add yeast is fine if your worried about using a metal pot just add the yeast directly into your bucket or carboy
Some metals are nonreactive with yeast like stainless steel but a lot of the stuff we use especially utensils are made of mixed metals so I wouldn't risk it.
Yes, you added more antibacterial stuff, agreed. Honey is a strong antibacterial. I've gone to making 3 gallons of mead at a time. I know, making a gallon when trying different types of mead is what you are doing. And I've seen you with larger containers. I could also see this being added to an ale. This sounds good.
This'll be the third mead I make, having just started it today. I used wine tannin and Fermaid-O in place of black tea and yeast hulls, but other than that I did my best to follow the recipe to the letter. I had a brain fart and added WAY too much honey initially, to the point I had to dump a little must down the drain so I had enough room to add water. The hydrometer was floating and the must wasn't even up to the point where the big bulb chokes down to the stem with the scale on it. I didn't think to pour it into a different container and save it until I'd already dumped it. Oh well, home brew is all about learning from mistakes haha.
Hey, Brian and Derica! I'm on a mission to get everyone to pronounce it correctly. People (wrongly!) use the voiceless "th", as in "thin" or "thick", vice the correct "th" (welsh = dd), as in "breathe" or "the". Metheglin is an anglisization of the Welsh word Meddyglyn. From another website: "The Welsh for mead is medd [pronounced "methe"] and meddyglyn came from a combination of meddyg (healing/medicine) and llyn (liquor)." Half of my family are Welsh, and I'm a proud Welsh speaker. :-) Pob hwyl!
You guys are awesome! I'm going to start a mead using this recipe this weekend. I already have a simple ginger mead brewing, but I wanted to try the spiced metheglin now so it'll have time to age a bit before the holidays.
Me a couple months ago: "hmm, black tea... I must have some somewhere...ah, 'chai spice' that’s black tea, right?....(a little time goes by...)Just tried it and holy kick in the face, Batman, maybe the tea didn’t add much flavor, but the chai spices are STROOONG! LoL! No complaints, I’m a newbie and I’m enjoying making weird sh*t! Maybe this OC spray can split up between some blander brews and age for a looooong time. Love your channel 👍👍👍
Good video. I'm glad to see that other mad scientist besides myself exist. I usually add the zest to the secondary. Zest from 1/2 a grapefruit per 5 gallons of wine is a good measure.
Just started my batch yesterday minus the yeast hulls and wildflower honey and comes out to about 1.130 I find it really interesting that following the recipe it comes out at such a different gravity. It’s bubblin good though and I’m excited for this one! Gunna take a bottle of the “my first mead” up to my brother-in-laws for thanksgiving
My husband has started wanting to give this mead as gifts we have one bottle left of 4. Soo we are going to make round two and probably double the batch. Thanks again for making straight forward easy to follow videos!
Hi from Australia, you guys are doing a great job, really love watching..I'm just about to start this spiced mead. just wanted to ask if it would be better to put the spices in secondary or is primary fine? I also have your traditional mead going strong for about 3 weeks now. Cheers
I am so excited....just made this recipe ....OG 1.130 on the dot! can't wait to try.....hoping for Thanksgiving...but if not maybe we can have it at Christmas!! Thanks for the recipe!!!
I mostly brew beer. And I get 3lb blocks of Red Star yeast from Costco. Which gives me a fair amount of extra yeast to play with. So, on advice from a more experienced brewer I tried boiling yeast as yeast nutrient. I do equal amounts of yeast vs nutrient. I had originally gone asking for help because I had a beer that, although did brew, took quite a bit longer than all my other brews. After using yeast nutrient, BAM! Right in line with all my other brews, better maybe. So I can confirm that in most instances, yeast nutrient is a good thing!
Metheglyns are honestly the brews I'm most interested. I don't actually drink cuz chronic inflammatory health issues, but your channel has really helped me understand my water kefir and combucha brewing a lot. Now maybe I'll try a Metheglyn finished with Licorice, white horehound, and maybe ecinacia for some homemade cough medicine and maybe one finished with lots of ginger and fennel for a digestive aid/nausea cure. And don't worry, I'm not dumb enough to try to replace actually important medicines or certified doctors, just NyQuil and Pepto, because they're gross.
Never made mead before so i started a batch on the 24/10/21 only time will tell. when I get round to bottling stage around xmas time, going to test a bottle every 3 mth after to get my preferred taste as every one has different taste, wish me luck :)
I made a couple of batches of this this summer and recently tasted one of them. Spices were quite mild. I started another batch today and threw in a habañero for good measure.
Hey Brian and Derica! I love your channel and have started brewing mead myself, thanks to y’all. I’ve started with the spiced metheglin and done my very best to follow your steps to the letter. But I think I’ve messed up lol I created two batches in 1gallon wide mouth glass fermenters. I used 3.5 lbs of orange blossom honey for both, 1 whole packet of 71-B yeast each, same quantity of all other ingredients for each batch except for the yeast hulls. I put a full tablespoon(oops) of hulls in the first batch, and about a gram in the second. SPGR of both batches came out to 1.148 but only the first batch (spoonful of hulls) is noticeably fermenting. The second batch actually had negative pressure on it this morning when I woke up. They are stored next to each other, on the floor in a dark, 72 degree room. I sloshed them both before I left for work, but it’s been almost 24 hours and the pressure of the second batch is barely positive. What could be wrong other than my impatience
Awesome thank you sir! The description for ingredients says 3.5 lbs so that’s what I did. I also think I could’ve fried the yeast with hot tea… I realized this shortly after I sent the earlier message. Yesterday I had forgotten to put the tea in until after I put in the yeast and hulls.
Is there anyway to save this if I get no activity in the next few days? Like, new yeast for the second batch or is it too late for that? The first batch is going fermentation crazy and has been since I airlocked it.
Welp, used this for my first attempt, just put the dishes away. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Don't slap your forehead to hard but I broke the first rule, got impatient and used what I had available, subbing raisins for dried cherries. We'll see if I made a huge mistake :) OG =1.130 and like yours was very active within the hour. Thanks!!❤
i have just recently had fermentation and the airlock bubbling 15 minutes after pitching my yeast. i made a 1 gallon batch of mixed berry mead. 2 weeks ago. it was crazy i had never seen nor had any brew ferment and bubble the airlock that fast. i also just started a lemon ginger mead last week and with in the hour it was bubbling the airlock. and i was using a 5 year old pack of red star Montrachet yeast. it was nice to see that it can happen elsewhere and its not just with me hahahah. yeah with in about 15 minutes in i had a krausen ring forming and had to actually nock it down a bout the 3rd hour in. i would have definitely had a blow out.
There is multiple research on alcool ingestion before bed and some recent one seems to indicate that you might fall a sleep faster but your deep sleep curve will be impacted, making you more sleepy the next day. An other research can prove that it is wrong but it still nice to know.
Awesome video. You guys really kicked my brewing interest up a notch. Made a batch of mead this year and it was not what I expected. But I'm really looking forward to trying some spiced Mead's. Thank you for all the information you're sharing!
I am so much in love with your videos! Thank you for all the hard work and creativity! I do have a question, how much orange came through in the end? My husband is not a fan of the orange flavor so was wondering about leaving out that ingredient when I give this a go.
This looks like a really great recipe. I will definitely put one of those together. Derica even brought back a real blast from the past.....Soylent Green!!!!!!!
Great video! As I have an abundance of baker’s yeast (it’s useful in the garden, too), I’m going to start making yeast nutrient for my simple brews. It really seems worth it!
for me, it get my half gallons of cider starting within the hour. I have to go back and check every fifteen minutes to swirl so that the foam doesn't make it into the airlock. sometimes i don't make it in time. i mean the air lock is still doing its purpose it just looks pretty gross with all the yeast in it. i typically remove the air lock and wash it out then after about a day or so the fermentation settles into what i like to call regular fermentation which i don't have to watch. good drinkable half gallons of cider every 5 or so days, using a method similar to your 'brew it in the container you bought it in' apple cider. im happy with the result after 3 days of cold crashing after primary fermentation finishes after like 5 days.
Awesome guys. Brian, nice shirt. Danica, love the braids. On to the funny. The fairys visiting and leaving yeast packets. In my gaming group. We made a mercenary company named "EPIC Inc." Why we named ourselves Epic you ask? Because Were F'in Epic! The symbol for our group is 5 Waterdeep gold coins encircling a dwarven beer stine. (The group was founded in Waterdeep) Later on with different characters we got into the Epic Inc. Merc group and made our own "battalion" The "Drunkin' Fairy Brigade" motto : "we get the job done, cause we need drinkin' money" Symbol: a pint stine of beer with 2 fairys on the lip puking into the brew. Lmao yea we have had some fun with these 2 merc groups. Lol
This is very similar to a recipe I found online a couple years ago on Gavin Webbers TH-cam channel that he got from some Australian bee keeper website. It's a bloody brilliant recipe. He uses 1 whole orange and I did as well, but I think I'm going to try this variation. Thanks for posting.
Super green beginner here.....I made an "Acerglyn" and a "Metheglyn" combo mead the other day. 2 Lbs clove honey, 16 oz of pure vermont maple syrup, one cinnamon stick, 3 (whole) cloves and 5 allspice berries. Filled to the neck with purified water in a 1 gallon carboy (like the one you guys use). I added a half packet of Lalvin 1116... Starting gravity is 1.112...... My questions are: What do you call an Acerglyn/Metheglyn combo, and how do you think it will come out? LOL By the way, thank you guys for your channel. I've watched a lot of your videos in a short time.. lol... It has motivated me to take on another hobby and it is SUPER fun so far.
i tried to make a mead similar to yoursefew months ago but didnt have cloves so used Star anise instead. was really suprised as it came out really nice .so nice that my fiance drank most of it lol going to try making Mojito Kilju as thats one of her favorite drinks so she dont keep taping into my mead lol exsited in trying viking blood mead next ,specialy as my partner dont like the sound of that :)
OK, I'm following this one closely, I have watched this video and the other related videos more times than I care to think of. Biggest difference is I'm going to go for 5 gallons. Why so much? If it is good it wont last long between myself and my dad. and even more fun, it's my first mead. and me being the not quit sane person that I am I'm already planning on trying to make a mead that comes close to pecan pie.
Found your channel after i found some forgotten bottles of my first experiments with brewing meads 10 years ago. You get it I guess, was not very impressive back then, but I am back to make some more after this 10 year old showmead had matured and made for a VERY nice surprise!!! Eventhough it was just a first mead style with cheapo supermarket honey. And having viewed quite a few of your recepys I am most drawn to metheglins and capsicumels. Love the way you tell us why you are doing it the way you think is working best for you. I did learn quite a bit and am better prepared for part 2 in this hobby. Atleast I hope😁. Your methods and recepys are meticulous and describe the flavour of honey used, which limes you use (or thought to have used). Which flavour/brand of tea and with your kilju even the type of sugar. But in all your metheglin recepy with cinnamon i have not found whether you use cassia or ceylon cinnamon. And they are quite different. The cassia is the stronger hot spicy cinnamon challenge stuff while the ceylon is the richer flavoured one, And one thing I noticed is you always use fresh ginger. When backpacking in India I learned from chai wallah's they used fresh ginger for fresh ginger decreases body temperature. Dried ginger increases the body temperature and is used for the "cold" winter chai masala. So my thought would be to use fresh ginger for a refreshing (sparkling)summer lemon/ginger mead. And use dried ginger for the more ellobarate metheglins more suited for a fall/winters evening to warm up with at the fireplace. I will definitely be trying to make a chai masala metheglin recepy of my own, but a problem is, there are as many chai masala recepys as there are mead ones. But as you stated, doing your research on the next recepy is finding about other people trials so.... when are you going to make a chai masala metheglin?😉
We did a Chai Gruit and I'm sure will eventually do a Chai Mead. You are very right in the different flavors of the different types of cinnamon and fresh vs dried ingredients. The cinnamon we used in our Metheglin I believe was Cassia as that is what is most available to us in the U.S. We try to indicate in our more recent recipes, more specifically what kind of cinnamon we are using.
Did watch the chai gruit, but you found the strength of the spices quite low and you'd probably do double or even quadruple the amount. So thinking chai masala is a slap in the face with an aromatic blend of very strong spices. So in my mead recipe I'd be not too carefull with them spices. I think I'll just make a normal chai masala infusion and add a small volume of water to make up for lack of adding milk. Just one problem with this idea. I did see anotherchannel advising on using most spices in 1st ferment and some in 1st bulk conditioning stage. For he found some spices gain a soapy tasty when added in with primary ferment. And this can be avoided by putting it in when it is no longer fermenting. But I cannot find it back anymore for now. But first remake some of your proven recipy before I start finding a couple of ways how not to make chai masala mead😉. But I might be lucky and find/alter/create a recipe that makes for a nice flashback of my backpacking adventures. If so I'll let you know
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As a Welsh person I think it's pretty cool to see something my ancestors would make all the time still being made half way around the world.
Your ancestors, my ancestors :)
Our ancestors
Yeah friend, they're ours too.
I made this as my 3rd mead, followed your recipe, and my mind is blown!!! Mine came out at 11.7% abv and pretty sweet, but the flavor.... Holy crap!! And beautifully clear and golden. Thank you for being my intro to mead making 🙏🏼
I made an herbal mead with rosemary, thyme and bay and had a difficult time getting it to start...never thought of the antibacterial properties of the herbs! Duh!!!! Now I know how to fix it! Thanks!
From a guy who actually lives in Yorkshire in the U.K. this warms my heart that this tea is in your brew. Best tea ever made. Only tea worth drinking. Maybe a tiny bit biased……love this recipe guys.
Yorkshire tea. Best tea in the known universe and probably beyond that.
The spiffing brit?
I'm glad someone said this I'm an absolute slut for tea and Yorkshire is by far my favourite 😂👌👌
@@therealreasons9141 that was my first reaction as well
Propper strong 😊
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot. Not sure if I used the right Grey or if it should be Gray but you should know what I mean.
I started a batch of this yesterday evening, my first ever ferment. It's already bubbling very well. I just wanted to say thanks for the channel and all the recipes, information etc that you two share. I've been wanting to try this for at least a year now and your channel finally pushed me into trying it. Can't wait to see how it goes.
Great to hear!
The spiced metheglin sounds amazing! I think you should come out with a recipe book. I will definitely buy it if you do.
I'm trying this recipe now but with a few changed. 3 lbs. of orange blossom honey instead of 3.5 lbs. and I used 2 slices of freeze dried apples because I don't have yeast hulls. Thought it might help feed the yeast. I only used 1/2 pk. of Lalvin 71b and it started bubbling within 1 hour. OG gravity 1.124
Can't wait to try this one.
So how did this turn out?
yeah, how did it turn out?
I just finished up 2 separate batches following this recipe. One at 1.130 og the other at 1.120 og to see the difference. Now the hard part... THE WAIT! I appreciate everything the two of you do here. These are batch numbers 2 and 3 for me. Started my first in late October. Staying patient waiting for it to age some more. My first was a gallon of your traditional mead. Tasted the other day and it was GREAT. Just looking to let it age out a bit more. Thanks again guys! Keep the great info coming.
Just found y’all’s channel. This is awesome! So much more in depth and informative than other videos. I have subscribed and look forward to trying it myself and other brews.
Awesome! Thank you!
I made this with my grandfather 6 months ago, and I finally got to drink this, and it was amazing. Thank you!!!!
You are welcome!
This recipe honestly sounds yummy
I’d give it a shot once I’m given a chance
As for your yeast activity- I got the same foamy yeast action too with the weird yeast that I used
I’m glad my experiment is behaving well
Made this using lalvin k1- v1116 yeast because i had it and temps are coooler here in N.Y. active, steady, and stable fermentation start to finish. EXCELLENT recipe, thanks folks!
Very interesting. This is close to my apple pie recipe but I did not know that cinnamon sticks and cloves were antibiotics or that the yeast would have a hard time with it. I have never personally had a problem with it, but that is really good to know. Thanks!
Love the content. Watching your videos is what got me into making Ciders and Meads a few months ago.
Last month I got the idea for a spiced mead, similar to what you did here, and it seems to have stalled.
3 gallon batch
2/3 packet of Lavlin 71B
10 lbs of honey
2 lbs of fresh cherries (chopped and de-seeded)
1 lb of frozen cranberries (thawed and chopped)
Ginger
3 cinnamon sticks
Cardamom
Allspice
Cloves
Orange peel
3 black tea bags
I boiled the spices, orange peel, and tea bags. I let them cool before adding them to the mead.
The mead started bubbling within a few hours, and stopped after about 2 weeks. At 3 weeks, I racked it off the fruit.
Starting gravity was 1.072, estimated to be at 1.122 because of the fruit. When I racked it, the gravity was 1.080. 10 days later (today), it's still at 1.080
The flavor is surprisingly good, but way too sweat, and the alcohol content seems pretty low.
Any ideas on how to get this going again?
Thanks
Try a teaspoon and a half of yeast hulls or boiled bread yeast. It's also possible the spices stalled it. You didn't say how much ginger, cardamom, allspice and cloves, as all of those have antibiotic properties.
@@CitySteadingBrews I used about a thumb sized piece of ginger, sliced thin, which went directly into the mead. 1 tsp of ground cloves, 1.5 tsp of ground AllSpice, and 1 tsp of ground Cardamom.
I didn't think about the antibacterial properties due to boiling, but I'll give the yeast hulls a shot.
Thanks again
That’s a LOT of those spices. Try the hulls but likely they killed your yeast. If that still doesn’t work, pitch more yeast.
I'm excited for the probability of experimentation!
I put off making this one because i didnt think i would like it. I finally gave in and made it several months ago. And Brian, let me tell ya. Its probably my favorite mead i have made to date. So good. Very impressed.
Does it get better with age?
@A i found it to be very good after just a couple months from primary fermentation. It did continue to get better for a couple months, then pretty much stabilized.
when brian poured in the tea I lost it hahahahahah. Derica just talking about balences and brian messing around as usual. Great stuff!!!
Glad you enjoyed it
Clove, all spice, orange, cinnamon... That sounds like mulling spices. I love it.
...I've been begging you all to explore some Metheglins since I've been watching!!!
Metheglin is the idea that got me fired up about meade in the first place. I tried something very similar to this two years ago, when I first started. But, I also used cardamom and saffron. it turns out I don't really like cardamom, and I've had no luck with saffron. I either cannot taste the saffron, or I get too much and it ruins the brew. So, thank you for a recipe that works.
I was surprised by your surprise at fermentation starting within the hour, but I regularly use Go-Ferm and Fermaid-k. I usually start seeing bubbles within three hours. Seeing bubbles in less than an hour, while not an every time occurrence, is very satisfying.
Anytime Ray!
If i wanted to scale this mead to 5 gal, can i scale up the spices proportionally and keep the same balance of flavors?
Yup, everything scales.
Thanks for asking this! Did you end up making a 5 gal batch? How did it turn out?
After researching and compiling information for making mead, I had decided to do a seasonal spiced mead. Then, I stumbled across this. Thank you. Now I don't have to guess and figure it out. This is exactly what I was thinking. (just hadn't figured out quantities). You guys rock. can't wait to get it started!
I found this video earlier this year and started a batch in august I just bottled it last night and tried it slightly sweetened to 1.015 and oh my is it ever good im gonna open the first bottle on Christmas
I got the same reaction when I dropped a whole pack of yeast and In a one gallon jug. You might want to think about putting on an overflow valve.
Was close! But it stayed constant without overflowing.
Hi Brian and Danica: just wanted to tell you that I made your metheglin mead . My family is in love with it , so I’ve got 6 more gallons of it going . Thank you so much for the recipe. I’m also trying your ginger mead . Love you guys and your information you, you two take the time to give .thank you ! Thank you ! Keep your videos coming .💞🙏
Oregon
I've got a 1kg bag of bread yeast that I use as "yeast hulls" by boiling some in a tiny bit of water before brewing. Kill off the yeast and it becomes basically the same thing as this nutrient being used in the video
Yup, that's what I said in the video :)
Derica and Brian, wish I had found this channel last year when I started my first attempts. You guys are the most informative people I have come across. I just started a 1gal’ batch of this mead. I didn’t have orange blossom honey, dehydrated orange zest or the same yeast. I substituted for wild mountain honey, fresh orange zest and used the premier blanc I had on hand. I ended up with a starting OG of 1.138, I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
How is it going?
"I fell asleep easier."
A lot of people will take that as alcoholism, for the wrongest reasons 😄
I have two or three drinks a week… hardly alcoholism! But yep, people think we are drunk all the time.
Hi guys! First I want to say how much I enjoy your videos. I last made mead over 25 years ago and have learned how many things we did wrong (only had one drinkable brew in four tries). My wife has started keeping bees and my first thought was "Hmmm, what would I do with extra honey?" well... I've scaled down to 1-gallon batches and have been using 25-year-old honey (which takes a VERY long time to de-crystallize).
ANYway - this is the second batch I'm making in all these years. The difference in what I've done compared to your recipe is that the honey is clover vs orange blossom, I'm using Fleishman yeast, and instead of yeast hulls, I made my own nutrient by boiling a packet of generic store-brand bread yeast. My original gravity was 1.144. I had no more room in the jar to dilute any further. Now, doing the math with the final ABV being approx 13% I come up with a final gravity of 1.045 which from what I've absorbed so far means it is going to be very sweet.
I'm sure you've answered this in some of your videos that I have not yet seen, but how do I reduce the sweetness? Can I simply dilute in secondary? I do not think I mind a higher ABV, but if the yeast stops at 13% or thereabout, how do I "use" more of the sugar?
I'll keep digging through your videos! Keep up the good work!
Diluting is the answer to too much sweetness. Yes. Or a higher tolerance yeast. Honestly though 1.144 is SUPER high to start with. That's gonna stall most yeasts. I'd dilute it.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you!
@@CitySteadingBrews hopefully this makes sense and is correct...
I first measured one of the fermenter jars and at the level of the current brew is 108oz (.84 gallons) so that explains some of the sweetness.
I thought about how to do the math to determine how much water to add, and even though my brain kept saying it should be easy I gave up and did the following.
OG was 1.144. let's say I was aiming for 1.030. so I was .014 too high.
The reading today was 1.104. so assuming the same rate of fermentation I'd be looking for 1.090 today.
I started mixing (this is only 4 days old, so not worried about adding O2) with water until I got this target.
This did two things... Brought the level up to 1gal in the original jar (up to the neck...bottom of the screw at the top not really comfortable there but...) And I had about 4 oz left over... it was tasty.
Is this reasonable or did I mess up somewhere?
Thanks again!
I bought 2 bottles of Holiday Wassail juice from Aldi and just mixed it up yesterday. I bought it because it reminded me of this recipe. Only I added sugar but will step feed and final sweeten with honey.
I love the TRBOS interludes, never gets old for me.
Just racked this off the raisins, they started to break up after 10 days. Glad I did as it'd gone from 1.122 down to 1.008 (15.4%), left the yeast in to finish any potential fermentation because Mangrove Jack's M05 can go 18%
By the Gods, does it smell awesome! The M05 really brought out the aroma and it's like a warm blanket on a cold winter day. Can't wait for it to finish out and age a little before I bottle and sink into the couch with a mug.
Really you should let it totally finish before racking, but you were close.
I love the fact that I subbed not to long ago and now I have years of content to watch
I just watched your 1year tasting of this mead and can’t wait to brew a batch😀
Started a batch of this as my first mead ever. 3.5 weeks in, I'm racking and it's down to 1.005, making it 16.8%!!! It's so warming, and quite tasty even a bit drier.
Followed this recipe to the letter and got the same results! Imagine that! With a FG of 1.054, it is very sweet but SO delicious. So much so that I just started another 2 gallons. Since 3.5 lbs of Sweet Squeeze orange blossom honey gave us an OG of 1.138, I cut back to 3 lbs of honey which brought the OG to 1.122. For my latest batch I also substituted Fermaid-O for the yeast hulls and added bentonite for fining. Now the hard part... waiting!
I just racked the new batch that used 3 lbs of honey. FG was 1.028 so ABV is 12.7%. Same delicious taste but a bit less sweet! The bentonite did not result in a clear finish so I added some sparkalloid which works like magic! Within a couple of days it was crystal clear.
I started this exact recipe yesterday. The only change I made was I added 2 tsp of candied ginger to get a bit of taste of your ginger mead added in. Rather excited for this one!
Follow up: Racked it to secondary and tasted it. It’s so good and, like yours, I can’t believe it’s only been three weeks. I can’t wait for this one to get to at least six months.
@@Thomas-cc1lj Sounds awesome! How long was it in primary for, and what did the ABV come out to?
@@valiant545 Freakish timing! I was bottling this as you commented. ~7.5 weeks to bottling. OG 1.138, FG 1.035, 15.5 ABV. It is really good right now. I’m going to try to wait 6+ months before opening the first bottle. I have half a mason jar in the fridge to enjoy for now.
@@valiant545 Sorry, I failed to give brew dates. Started on 3/8/21. Racked to secondary 4/3/21 (slightly over 3.5 weeks). Bottling 4/28/21 (7.5 weeks total).
@@Thomas-cc1lj Nice! Sounds like it all went pretty quick!
This metheglin was one of your favorites, and I love the comment on how they were used for health and medicine, going to extract some medicinal mushrooms and add it in at secondary.
I’m such a novice. I don’t know if I’m making mead or starring in a hidden camera comedy show.
I followed the recipe EXACTLY.
1.5 liters honey and so on.
I don’t have yeast hulls, but I have bakers yeast, so I tossed half a teaspoon in with the steeping tea for 10 minutes. That was boiling, so I’m sure I killed it, just like I did my houseplants.
Finally added as much water as I possibly could and got a reading, you’re going to love this: 1.171. It was off the chart before I added as much water as I could. I used a wine yeast and I’m hoping it really goes to town. Time will tell if I have something good or a mead version of Frankenstein’s Monster.
All the love to you guys. Thanks for the adventure! ❤️
Haha same here man! I got 1.50 and 1.56 respectively, after adding as much water as I felt comfortable with. Using 71B, recalling hoping I can get the full 14% from it. Should still have some good sweetness, but not too much. If it stalls like theirs did, I think it’s going to be too sweet. Here’s hoping! Let me know how yours turns out!
Your fab vids are helping me try out brewing new Mead flavors! Best drink ever!! You are my Mork&MIndy of brewing, fun, geeky sunshine and Mead in a bizzaro year! StaySteading!!
Hi Brian and Derica, I am happy to report that my first three Meads (Basic Mead, Coffee Mead and Metheglin Mead) are put together and happily fermenting. All started between the 23rd and the 28th (today). This past week has been a blast! Thanks for all of the amazing videos and good cheer! It has been a major uplift around here! I also just watched your Melomel Cherry chocolate Mead video last night with the Montana honey and the Tart Cherry Juice, both award winning products, and I am likely going to replicate that one (with vanilla bean) either soon or next (very soon.) I have been using tart cherry juice for medicinal values (as needed) for a few years now. Glad to see you bring that information to your viewers! Cheers!
Hello from Alaska!
I have been watching a lot of Your videos, and I have been learning a lot.
I'm new to wine and soon to be mead making. I started my first wine without a hydrometer, because I was told I could. After watching countless videos, I realize that is wrong.
I am going to do this spiced one, but after I get a hydrometer.
I Love to learn new things, keep putting the videos out, I'm enjoying learning from You both! Thanks!!
Just racked this after 1 month being in primary. And its already amazing. It went up to 20%, and I might have added a bit too much honey.... looking forward to taste it during Christmas diner next year!
Soylent green! lol. I love it when you guys throw in nerd references. Already starting to collect your t-shirts. You guys are great! I’m watching like 2 or 3 of your videos every morning at the gym.
Hi, Brian and Derica! Thanks so much for your content! You guys are the reason I started brewing. I watched probably 30+ of your videos before starting with your "First Mead" recipe on 11.11.20 which seems to be coming along well in secondary. I checked out some other creators and we like your minimalist approach better. Plus you guys are adorable and we love your nerdy energy!
I also started a metheglin which I may need some assistance with. Starting spgr was 1.138 on 11.16.20. I racked it on 12.24.20. It still appeared to be brewing but you suggested separating it from the spices after four weeks or so. Spgr at racking was 1.068 = 9.45%. Since then it has not appeared to be active. The pressure became slightly positive but no bubbling in airlock. Tested again today, 1.2.21: 1.066 = 9.72%. 2 pts. in a week. Should I be worried about stalling? Should I let it sit for a while and see if it picks back up? Should I give it a boost? If so, how?
TIA. Always love it when my bell lights up with your new vids!
Matt and Natalya in Wisconsin
Matt, it's stalled. Sorry dude. But, you should be able to revive it with more yeast.
@@CitySteadingBrews Hi again. I added a packet of yeast on 1.5.21. It degassed a little but zero activity since. Wondering if my yeast died. Kept it in the fridge. The house is about 68 - not quite Florida weather.
I’m just getting into home brewing and have been binge watching your videos. Really enjoying you two!
Thank you both for this mead. I made this about a month ago and rack (2 rack rule) and bottled it. The abv was 11.07% using the Lalvin 71B yeast. It’s tastes amazing. I ended up getting (4) 750ml bottles out of this recipe. You two are the best when making mead, wine, & beer. Thanks again, cheers and bottoms up! I’m also currently making Bourbon Bouchet. I’m dying to taste this one when it’s done. Thanks again.
You're very welcome Anthony!
Just started my own batch of this in a narrow-mouth gallon carboy; SpG came out to 1.146. It was already bubbling away within an hour, so I'm super excited to see how it gets on.
Love your videos, keep them coming. You are my primary reference.
Just finished putting together my attempt at this mead! It is in my closet in the dark, waiting, now. Here's hoping it starts bubbling soon, I'll keep you updated! Hoping to share this with my family at christmas this year, it'll be my second-ever mead. So excited to see how it goes!!
Aaaand the airlock's bubbling already! judging by the foam I think it really is already started! I did put fermaid-o in instead of yeast hulls since that seems to be more what you guys are using lately and it's less bulky for me to store - I'm in a pretty titchy apartment. So excited to see how it progresses!
And any update?
@@deadkuma Just racked it and tasted it yesterday!! It taste amazing already, I would drink the whole gallon now if I didn't promise it for family christmas. On tasting I could detect a bit of carbonation-y fizz in it so I'm not sure if the yeast are fully done (forgive my sins, I haven't gotten a gravity reader yet), so I put it back in an airlock container just in case, but at just over 5 weeks it was definitely time to take it off the spices - some might find it too spiced at this level, I can absolutely feel the cinnamon in my throat after a drink, like you might with something like fireball, but I think it's perfect. So glad I went with this recipe!! exactly the kind of mead i like
Sounds exactly what I have been searching for, after how long did it have that fireball feel? thanks for the update anyways and I'd love to hear more! :) As a apiculture carer, I feel I'd definitely use this as the core recipe for a festivemead for family, friends and to warm people up at the Christmasmarkets 2024 as it will still need it's time. @@amberbydreamsart5467
I am going to bottle this tomorrow and have to say, it is so good.
Your channel is super informative and very useful! Great presenting and production all round - you should be very proud!
Thank you for all of your help with my mead!
Thank you and you are welcome!
Hey Brian and Derica, I hope this message finds you well. I love watching yall on TH-cam! I made a yeast starter for a mead that I'm making in thinking it didn't start but just so happens it did start after all. Now I have a yeast starter, so I made good use of it using your spiced metheglyn recipe. I hope it turns out well, and I'll keep yall updated! I'm looking forward to more videos and possibly meeting in the future! Cheers!🍻
This sounds delicious! And I really like your new in-video banner ads that you’re doing for your channel promotional advertising. Their fantastic, fun, and they don’t take away from your information in the moment. Great choice. Oh, and I think your magic trick with the Spoon of Unusual Size was brilliant 😊
Yay, thank you!
giving this recipe a try... ferment started just as quickly and w/o the yeast hulls. I look forward to how this tastes
follow up with a question: With how rapidly the mead is fermenting, have you ever done a sour mead, using the active yeast from one batch to ferment the next?
Currently making this for my trip to the witches festival in northern Michigan!
Thank you for demystifying Fermaid O i just bought some after watching!
I made this last summer so it would be ready for Thanksgiving, but of course I had to drink some. It was AWESOME!!! I have two bottles left and am very excited to drink another one with Thanksgiving dinner. AND, I have another 5 gallon batch in primary at the writing of this comment. 😊
how did the 5 gallon batch turn out. I am wanting to do a 5. did u change anything or just x5
Started mine last night and it was bubbling away at hour 2. EC1118. Had a feeing before going to bed that I needed a blow off tube but chose to simply set inside a bucket. Easier mess to clean up this morning for sure. Airlock almost plugged with orange zest. Cleaned up and bubbling away. Can’t wait!
Had myself a little taste before bottling today after starting this 4 months ago. it is so good and i know it'll only get better
Just ordered the couple of things I needed to try this. ( Had most on hand already.) Sounds too good to pass up! Keep up the amazing job you do of making videos like this one.
Ok, started a batch of this today and dang does it smell good even before anything ferments. Slight alterations, used wildflower honey, a little more orange zest and K1-V1116 yeast since I had that on hand. Really looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.
Hey y'all, I'm putting this one together soon...so excited! Just wanted to let you know though your playlist for the Spiced Metheglin is out of order. The 1 and 2 are switched. Thanks for all you do. The quality and content of these recent episodes are much improved over the early ones...keep up the great work, and the forward progression.
One thing I learned that doesn't get mentioned to often but I learned through doing a bunch of different fermentation projects try to avoid stirring any active yeast projects with a metal spoon or basically don't let metal touch it yeast doesn't like metal and might react weird or even die in contact with metal this includes with sour dough starters kombuchas and your brew base after you have added the yeast this is why wood plastic and glass is used in brewing. Distilling and cooking before you add yeast is fine if your worried about using a metal pot just add the yeast directly into your bucket or carboy
Some metals are nonreactive with yeast like stainless steel but a lot of the stuff we use especially utensils are made of mixed metals so I wouldn't risk it.
I just brewed this recipe, 4 gallon batch but with Thai wildflower honey and Voss kveik yeast. I hope it's almost as good.
Yes, you added more antibacterial stuff, agreed. Honey is a strong antibacterial.
I've gone to making 3 gallons of mead at a time. I know, making a gallon when trying different types of mead is what you are doing. And I've seen you with larger containers.
I could also see this being added to an ale. This sounds good.
"Brian's new favourite" literally gets scored a ten
This'll be the third mead I make, having just started it today. I used wine tannin and Fermaid-O in place of black tea and yeast hulls, but other than that I did my best to follow the recipe to the letter. I had a brain fart and added WAY too much honey initially, to the point I had to dump a little must down the drain so I had enough room to add water. The hydrometer was floating and the must wasn't even up to the point where the big bulb chokes down to the stem with the scale on it. I didn't think to pour it into a different container and save it until I'd already dumped it. Oh well, home brew is all about learning from mistakes haha.
Hey, Brian and Derica! I'm on a mission to get everyone to pronounce it correctly. People (wrongly!) use the voiceless "th", as in "thin" or "thick", vice the correct "th" (welsh = dd), as in "breathe" or "the". Metheglin is an anglisization of the Welsh word Meddyglyn. From another website: "The Welsh for mead is medd [pronounced "methe"] and meddyglyn came from a combination of meddyg (healing/medicine) and llyn (liquor)." Half of my family are Welsh, and I'm a proud Welsh speaker. :-)
Pob hwyl!
You guys are awesome! I'm going to start a mead using this recipe this weekend. I already have a simple ginger mead brewing, but I wanted to try the spiced metheglin now so it'll have time to age a bit before the holidays.
Me a couple months ago: "hmm, black tea... I must have some somewhere...ah, 'chai spice' that’s black tea, right?....(a little time goes by...)Just tried it and holy kick in the face, Batman, maybe the tea didn’t add much flavor, but the chai spices are STROOONG! LoL! No complaints, I’m a newbie and I’m enjoying making weird sh*t! Maybe this OC spray can split up between some blander brews and age for a looooong time. Love your channel 👍👍👍
Good video. I'm glad to see that other mad scientist besides myself exist. I usually add the zest to the secondary. Zest from 1/2 a grapefruit per 5 gallons of wine is a good measure.
I've used this one in primary a lot. Seems to work well.
Cant wait to start this one thank you so much for showing us step by step
I love you guys! My wife and i are going to try this
Just started my batch yesterday minus the yeast hulls and wildflower honey and comes out to about 1.130 I find it really interesting that following the recipe it comes out at such a different gravity. It’s bubblin good though and I’m excited for this one! Gunna take a bottle of the “my first mead” up to my brother-in-laws for thanksgiving
My husband has started wanting to give this mead as gifts we have one bottle left of 4. Soo we are going to make round two and probably double the batch.
Thanks again for making straight forward easy to follow videos!
Hi from Australia, you guys are doing a great job, really love watching..I'm just about to start this spiced mead. just wanted to ask if it would be better to put the spices in secondary or is primary fine? I also have your traditional mead going strong for about 3 weeks now.
Cheers
I am so excited....just made this recipe ....OG 1.130 on the dot! can't wait to try.....hoping for Thanksgiving...but if not maybe we can have it at Christmas!! Thanks for the recipe!!!
It is a lovely Holiday Mead. Thank you for watching!
I mostly brew beer. And I get 3lb blocks of Red Star yeast from Costco. Which gives me a fair amount of extra yeast to play with. So, on advice from a more experienced brewer I tried boiling yeast as yeast nutrient. I do equal amounts of yeast vs nutrient. I had originally gone asking for help because I had a beer that, although did brew, took quite a bit longer than all my other brews. After using yeast nutrient, BAM! Right in line with all my other brews, better maybe. So I can confirm that in most instances, yeast nutrient is a good thing!
Metheglyns are honestly the brews I'm most interested. I don't actually drink cuz chronic inflammatory health issues, but your channel has really helped me understand my water kefir and combucha brewing a lot. Now maybe I'll try a Metheglyn finished with Licorice, white horehound, and maybe ecinacia for some homemade cough medicine and maybe one finished with lots of ginger and fennel for a digestive aid/nausea cure.
And don't worry, I'm not dumb enough to try to replace actually important medicines or certified doctors, just NyQuil and Pepto, because they're gross.
I’m with you!
Never made mead before so i started a batch on the 24/10/21 only time will tell. when I get round to bottling stage around xmas time, going to test a bottle every 3 mth after to get my preferred taste as every one has different taste, wish me luck :)
I made a couple of batches of this this summer and recently tasted one of them. Spices were quite mild. I started another batch today and threw in a habañero for good measure.
Love this recipe made it a few times, i only make it around 1.090 sg but it turned out great.
Hey Brian and Derica! I love your channel and have started brewing mead myself, thanks to y’all. I’ve started with the spiced metheglin and done my very best to follow your steps to the letter. But I think I’ve messed up lol
I created two batches in 1gallon wide mouth glass fermenters. I used 3.5 lbs of orange blossom honey for both, 1 whole packet of 71-B yeast each, same quantity of all other ingredients for each batch except for the yeast hulls. I put a full tablespoon(oops) of hulls in the first batch, and about a gram in the second. SPGR of both batches came out to 1.148 but only the first batch (spoonful of hulls) is noticeably fermenting. The second batch actually had negative pressure on it this morning when I woke up. They are stored next to each other, on the floor in a dark, 72 degree room. I sloshed them both before I left for work, but it’s been almost 24 hours and the pressure of the second batch is barely positive. What could be wrong other than my impatience
Answered on your other account.
Awesome thank you sir! The description for ingredients says 3.5 lbs so that’s what I did. I also think I could’ve fried the yeast with hot tea… I realized this shortly after I sent the earlier message. Yesterday I had forgotten to put the tea in until after I put in the yeast and hulls.
Is there anyway to save this if I get no activity in the next few days? Like, new yeast for the second batch or is it too late for that? The first batch is going fermentation crazy and has been since I airlocked it.
Nee yeast should work :)
Gotcha. However, since this video I tend to aim a bit lower on the og scale :)
I SO INJOY YOUR VLOG GOING TO TRY TO MAKE SOME MEAD THIS WEEK END
Welp, used this for my first attempt, just put the dishes away. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Don't slap your forehead to hard but I broke the first rule, got impatient and used what I had available, subbing raisins for dried cherries. We'll see if I made a huge mistake :) OG =1.130 and like yours was very active within the hour. Thanks!!❤
I mixed up my batch today, I told my husband we should have great spiced metheglin in a year😀
Seriously thinking of adapting your recipe to make a spiced acerglyn ! Keep up the good work guys
i have just recently had fermentation and the airlock bubbling 15 minutes after pitching my yeast. i made a 1 gallon batch of mixed berry mead. 2 weeks ago. it was crazy i had never seen nor had any brew ferment and bubble the airlock that fast. i also just started a lemon ginger mead last week and with in the hour it was bubbling the airlock. and i was using a 5 year old pack of red star Montrachet yeast. it was nice to see that it can happen elsewhere and its not just with me hahahah. yeah with in about 15 minutes in i had a krausen ring forming and had to actually nock it down a bout the 3rd hour in. i would have definitely had a blow out.
There is multiple research on alcool ingestion before bed and some recent one seems to indicate that you might fall a sleep faster but your deep sleep curve will be impacted, making you more sleepy the next day. An other research can prove that it is wrong but it still nice to know.
Awesome video. You guys really kicked my brewing interest up a notch. Made a batch of mead this year and it was not what I expected. But I'm really looking forward to trying some spiced Mead's. Thank you for all the information you're sharing!
Sounds great!
I am so much in love with your videos! Thank you for all the hard work and creativity!
I do have a question, how much orange came through in the end? My husband is not a fan of the orange flavor so was wondering about leaving out that ingredient when I give this a go.
I used it for a hint of brightness really so not a lot came through.
First attempt of making mead and I picked this. 5 gal SP GR is at 1130. I hope this goes great for the renaissance fair.
This looks like a really great recipe. I will definitely put one of those together. Derica even brought back a real blast from the past.....Soylent Green!!!!!!!
Hope you enjoy
Great video!
As I have an abundance of baker’s yeast (it’s useful in the garden, too), I’m going to start making yeast nutrient for my simple brews. It really seems worth it!
for me, it get my half gallons of cider starting within the hour. I have to go back and check every fifteen minutes to swirl so that the foam doesn't make it into the airlock. sometimes i don't make it in time. i mean the air lock is still doing its purpose it just looks pretty gross with all the yeast in it. i typically remove the air lock and wash it out then after about a day or so the fermentation settles into what i like to call regular fermentation which i don't have to watch. good drinkable half gallons of cider every 5 or so days, using a method similar to your 'brew it in the container you bought it in' apple cider. im happy with the result after 3 days of cold crashing after primary fermentation finishes after like 5 days.
Awesome guys. Brian, nice shirt. Danica, love the braids.
On to the funny.
The fairys visiting and leaving yeast packets.
In my gaming group. We made a mercenary company named "EPIC Inc." Why we named ourselves Epic you ask? Because Were F'in Epic! The symbol for our group is 5 Waterdeep gold coins encircling a dwarven beer stine. (The group was founded in Waterdeep)
Later on with different characters we got into the Epic Inc. Merc group and made our own "battalion"
The "Drunkin' Fairy Brigade" motto : "we get the job done, cause we need drinkin' money"
Symbol: a pint stine of beer with 2 fairys on the lip puking into the brew.
Lmao yea we have had some fun with these 2 merc groups. Lol
This is very similar to a recipe I found online a couple years ago on Gavin Webbers TH-cam channel that he got from some Australian bee keeper website. It's a bloody brilliant recipe. He uses 1 whole orange and I did as well, but I think I'm going to try this variation. Thanks for posting.
This is my own recipe. Not copied from anyone.
Love your vids!
Happy brewing from the Netherlands.
Thank you kindly!
Super green beginner here.....I made an "Acerglyn" and a "Metheglyn" combo mead the other day. 2 Lbs clove honey, 16 oz of pure vermont maple syrup, one cinnamon stick, 3 (whole) cloves and 5 allspice berries. Filled to the neck with purified water in a 1 gallon carboy (like the one you guys use). I added a half packet of Lalvin 1116... Starting gravity is 1.112...... My questions are: What do you call an Acerglyn/Metheglyn combo, and how do you think it will come out? LOL
By the way, thank you guys for your channel. I've watched a lot of your videos in a short time.. lol... It has motivated me to take on another hobby and it is SUPER fun so far.
i tried to make a mead similar to yoursefew months ago but didnt have cloves so used Star anise instead. was really suprised as it came out really nice .so nice that my fiance drank most of it lol
going to try making Mojito Kilju as thats one of her favorite drinks so she dont keep taping into my mead lol
exsited in trying viking blood mead next ,specialy as my partner dont like the sound of that :)
OK, I'm following this one closely, I have watched this video and the other related videos more times than I care to think of. Biggest difference is I'm going to go for 5 gallons. Why so much? If it is good it wont last long between myself and my dad. and even more fun, it's my first mead. and me being the not quit sane person that I am I'm already planning on trying to make a mead that comes close to pecan pie.
Found your channel after i found some forgotten bottles of my first experiments with brewing meads 10 years ago.
You get it I guess, was not very impressive back then, but I am back to make some more after this 10 year old showmead had matured and made for a VERY nice surprise!!! Eventhough it was just a first mead style with cheapo supermarket honey.
And having viewed quite a few of your recepys I am most drawn to metheglins and capsicumels.
Love the way you tell us why you are doing it the way you think is working best for you.
I did learn quite a bit and am better prepared for part 2 in this hobby. Atleast I hope😁.
Your methods and recepys are meticulous and describe the flavour of honey used, which limes you use (or thought to have used). Which flavour/brand of tea and with your kilju even the type of sugar.
But in all your metheglin recepy with cinnamon i have not found whether you use cassia or ceylon cinnamon. And they are quite different. The cassia is the stronger hot spicy cinnamon challenge stuff while the ceylon is the richer flavoured one,
And one thing I noticed is you always use fresh ginger. When backpacking in India I learned from chai wallah's they used fresh ginger for fresh ginger decreases body temperature.
Dried ginger increases the body temperature and is used for the "cold" winter chai masala.
So my thought would be to use fresh ginger for a refreshing (sparkling)summer lemon/ginger mead. And use dried ginger for the more ellobarate metheglins more suited for a fall/winters evening to warm up with at the fireplace.
I will definitely be trying to make a chai masala metheglin recepy of my own, but a problem is, there are as many chai masala recepys as there are mead ones.
But as you stated, doing your research on the next recepy is finding about other people trials so.... when are you going to make a chai masala metheglin?😉
We did a Chai Gruit and I'm sure will eventually do a Chai Mead. You are very right in the different flavors of the different types of cinnamon and fresh vs dried ingredients. The cinnamon we used in our Metheglin I believe was Cassia as that is what is most available to us in the U.S. We try to indicate in our more recent recipes, more specifically what kind of cinnamon we are using.
Did watch the chai gruit, but you found the strength of the spices quite low and you'd probably do double or even quadruple the amount. So thinking chai masala is a slap in the face with an aromatic blend of very strong spices.
So in my mead recipe I'd be not too carefull with them spices. I think I'll just make a normal chai masala infusion and add a small volume of water to make up for lack of adding milk.
Just one problem with this idea.
I did see anotherchannel advising on using most spices in 1st ferment and some in 1st bulk conditioning stage. For he found some spices gain a soapy tasty when added in with primary ferment. And this can be avoided by putting it in when it is no longer fermenting. But I cannot find it back anymore for now.
But first remake some of your proven recipy before I start finding a couple of ways how not to make chai masala mead😉.
But I might be lucky and find/alter/create a recipe that makes for a nice flashback of my backpacking adventures.
If so I'll let you know