its what got me to subscribe in the first place, i have their "first mead" in secondary for a while now and waiting for my starsan to arrive so i can bottle it.
@@ilovepudding7873 yes StarSan does take awhile to arrive it seems like (or I'm just antsy) but I boiled my equipment for primary and Starsan for secondary, etc. They're "easy" recipes and great people to listen.
So far I have made 4 gallons of mead using the recipe from his basic mead video and after a month it was drinkable and it just keeps getting better my wife and friends were blown away on how good it tastes . I can’t imagine how good it will taste in a year
I started with meads last year and found that they get really good after about the time that they clear, which is ~3 months for me. So, I don't touch bottle them before that now. Enjoy your brews!
Hey, just wanna say thx to this channel I made my first mead. I used Red Star Premier Blanc active dry yeast, Jamies Hive to table wildflower honey raw honey and comb (2lbs) and spring water making a one gallon batch. What I then did was cook it on an open fire because i do not have a kitchen because reasons.. i had to cook it on an open fire in a wrought iron pot using white birch wood. I simmered the water added the honey scraped off the scum from the honey comb that came to the top and put the must in a fermentation bucket to cool, and when the temperature came down i added the yeast. I did put it into secondary fermentation later( I've been playing around with the times in primary and secondary fermentation, so maybe you can improve on it, but i did it in a couple of months) This made a dry almost whisky like mead with the smoke from the fire showing its prominence...very strong though
You guys are great! My wife and I started making mead as a hobby we could do together. We started in mid January and are on our 12th batch now. I think the first week we discovered your channel we watched you for four hours straight! We have a need for mead! Thanks again!
Just rewatched this and found the 1,2 factor for UK gallon. We’re South African so all our measurements are based on UK. I’ve been using this factor since I started and it’s so gratifying that you guys did this for us non imperial system users
This weekend (May 1st) I made a Hibiscus and Black Cherry mead. The proteins and other "sediment" formed a cake on the foam clogged the Air Lock and carbonation blew off the Bung in about 24 hours. Love this hobby.
Love the video. I made 2 bottles of the basic bread yeast mead my first go. And, this past weekend, we went to Scarborough Faire here in Texas and we had their mead and the mead I made, using your recipe, was so much better. I have another gallon container approaching racking as I age the 2 bottles from the first batch and I think it's time to branch out and try out some of your other recipes. Thank you so much, Briand and Derica. This has made quarantine days so much more interesting. Incidentally, I am also on my 3rd batch of kombucha.
I'm from Canada and I love watching your work and style. It definitely makes me want to try to make mead. I've been a fan of Mead for some time but haven't always been able to buy it locally. Best solution is to make it for myself. Thanks for sharing.
Hello Sir & Madam, I hope you're doing well. My name is Jad: Being a honey-lover and as I cannot do beekeeping in my area, I started my mead-making journey 3 weeks ago after seeing your videos. Till today, I have run 3 experiments: a 1-gallon basic mead recipe, another 1-gallon traditional mead recipe, and 1 half-gallon coffeemel recipe, all in the making with different starting dates :-) Yesterday night, after no yeast activity for a couple of days prior, I started cold-crashing the 1-gallon basic mead: I started the process on Tue, Aug 15, 2023, with an OG of 1.103, and yesterday the FG was 1.003, which led to an ABV of 13.13% as per the formula (Final gravity - Original gravity) x 131.25. Today I was checking the gallon, and I saw a lot of sediment. The mead is not clear yet, but I thought of asking if this is a normal amount of sediment. I can share the recipe with you by email if it might help. I appreciate your feedback :-) Cheers, Jad
So I had a check of the gravity of the traditional I made following this recipe and the blackberry, cherry and raspberry melomel. This included the necessary taste test and oh my goodness... they both taste amazing, literally better than any mead I've tried. The melomel did need a little stir to get rid of a bit of gas that made it smell a bit but after that, wow. They are both bubbling away nicely although the melomel seems to be nearly finished. I can't wait to bottle these and see what a bit of age does to them. Thank you Brian and Derica.
You guys are so wholesome thanks for going over every single step and explaining it well! When you're just starting, all of the little details are so important so I appreciate it
868 Views and only 125 likes... come on guys, these guys deserve better. Their Videos are very "Consumer Friendly" and easy to follow. Give'em a like ;)
Hi CSB, I made my first batch of mead ever, yesterday. I did three pounds of a local Tennessee Honey. The label says, “only what the bees put in.” I used store bought spring water. I used a whole pack of lalvin d-47. And that’s it. I wanted my first experience to be only the most basic of ingredients. Specific Gravity was 1.115.
Nice video, I watched a few videos of you and decided to make a mead. Of course I decided to go big or go home, so I made three (almost, the basic one, the hydromel one and the mojito kilju one), it's going great but slow as hell which is probably related to that I used only 1 pack of Nottingham yeast divided into 3x5 liter of brew (I thought it will be enough since it's a bigger pack but actually it has a higher dosage recommendation too). Slow means the basic mead went from 1.102 to 1.068 in three weeks. All of them are in a relatively dark place in 72F. Currently I see the following options: - Let it sit and it will finish in a few month - Source an other pack of Nottingham and throw in the mix - Same but with regular instant baking yeast - Or give them the baking yeast as yeast hulls (I'm leaning toward this option)
No point in messing with them. Let it ferment. Adding more yeast at this point won't necessarily make it faster. Yeast take a while in honey. Also, you used plenty of yeast already!
Love your videos and love watching them since i wanna learn how to start this and if i like how the finished product turns out I'm gonna do like 5 gallons lmao or more
The screw on cap looks cool, I was looking for something like that. The rubber bungs work well but avoid silicone, they slip out. I have some silicone baking dishes, nothing sticks to them. So if you use a silicone bung, don't expect it to stay put without tying the down.
One quick tip I found out to dissolve the honey faster and to pour it much easier to the carboy: Put the honey first into a pot and pour some water on it Then you use a blender and blend the honey into the water. It's perfectly dissolved within a few minutes.
@@DukeTrout yes a immersionblender I got my honey from a local beekeeper and he recommends to not use hot water It destroys all the good enzymes and other beneficial stuff What you put first in the pot does not matter. Water is room temp How much: as much as you need to dissolve. For e 5L bat h i use 1,5 to 2kg if honey. 2l of water is always fine for blending, If there is any headpace just fill it out with normal water
It can be stirred, shaken, mixed, blended, or otherwise all while hot or cold, and in the end, it will be fine as long as yeast is active. people ask but seek echoes of what they want to hear instead of what will work, which is nearly anything...
Hey Brian and Derica! You two are great and your videos are without a doubt my favorite of all the mead / wine making channels I am subscribed to. I believe my mead is stalled. 3lb local clover, red star Cote des Blancs ~3g, and a 1 gallon fermenter. I forgot to add the black tea. The og was high 1.130 so I am wondering if that was an issue. After 3.5 weeks it's at 1.100 and it has been steady bubbling the whole time. Very strong nose burning gases today. Not footy or gross smells just strong off gasses I think. I'm considering adding the black tea now since I pulled 250ml to check gravity. I can just add back tea instead. And pitch more yeast. I also have a 2 or 3 apples I am considering slow juicing and adding to add something else for the yeast to chew on. But before doing any of that I thought I would get you's guy's opinion. Taste is good honey flavor and no off taste except the off gasses. I did just degas it thinking perhaps there was just too much in there and the occasional swirling was not enough. Thanks in advance for any input, and I look forward to more videos.
Okay, if it's stalled, don't add more sugars, fruits or tea. They can only possibly make it worse. Try degassing it? If none of that works, add more yeast.
Thank you for the kudos! For the question on selling my honey, I follow the Florida cottage food law, which means I can only sell face to face. For CS, it is my honor and joy to gift it to you because I have learned so much from you two and I love your videos! Ok, so now I have a question. You have talked about yeast fermenting temps and now that I have a few brews under my belt (18) I am beginning to question my choice of yeast. For most I have used lalvin 71b. My concern is that I keep my house pretty warm. In summer, when I leave the house thermostat is at 80, when I'm home it's 77-78. I keep brewing mead in the coolest room of my house, so it probably doesn't go above 80. Should I switch to a different yeast? Try to keep it in a cooling bath? You guys are great, love all the videos! Beverly
71b works great in those conditions but so do many many yeasts. You’re really only a few degrees warmer than us really. Also, thanks for the honey! It is soooo good.
I’m still very new to this and haven’t hydrated any of my first dozen brews. Some of them are beginning to finish secondary and they’re all real nice, all around 15abv using lalvin D47
Yeast grows wild in honey and on many if not most plants and herbs so it simply grew in the must to create colonies. Meadowsweet was used for flavoring.
How concerned do you have to be with artificial light (a normal light bulb) hitting mead in it's final bottle when aging? I'm doin spring cleaning and would like to setup a zone in my basement.
Just a general tip on citrus zest. For baking I store lemon, citroen and orange peel in sugar. It adds great flavor to cakes and you can store for almost forever. Perhaps it's an idea to use it in brews as well?
@CS Mead and More Today I made the mash for my first mead based on your basic mead recipe. I'm a bit scared I screwed it up. I'm using raw honey and because of that I've added +- 0.75 gr kaliummetabisulfateon on 5 liters of liquid (+- 1 imperial gallon). Three hours later I pitched the yeast, I'm using a liquid yeast (smack pack). I'm now 6 hours after pitching but I don't see any bubbles. Did I kill my yeast with the sulfate or do I just need to be patience? If I killed my yeast can I add new yeast to it, or is the mash now spoiled? Help!
Yup you don’t use preservatives and pitch yeast. Wait a day or two and try again. Raw honey is awesome no need for sulfites at all. I NEVER add those things, ever. I assume you mean potassium metabisulfate.
@@CitySteadingBrews Well it's the first and last time I'm using a sulfate. I'm happy to inform you that in this case the fermentation has started and it's now going like a rocket. It was my patience after all ! Thanks for your good advice!
It would cut the ABV in half but it could restart fermentation, make sure you take a reading then let it sit a week, take another reading and make sure it hasn't changed before you bottle. You could dilute by the glass/mug to be on the safe side. For some reason it didn't show Brian had already answered.
Hi guys! I just wanted to say thank you for the inspiration, ideas, and recipes for mead. Your videos are great and I really enjoy watching you guys make some of the "different" meads as well. I am currently picking up supplies here and there to prepare for my first batch which I will start in the spring. I have to keep the sugars and carbs pretty low due to dietary restrictions so if you have any recommendations or guidelines aside from this video, it would be really appreciated.
I did this as an experiment after yall did the original beginners mead while using red star champagne yeast (premier blanc) heads up dont use half an orange peel unless u like a sour seltzer like mead using a quarter of an orange gives an almost light seltzer taste with that yeast i personally dont like it but a few other people wife included loved both versions of it.
I'm trying to make wine with as little a 5 to 6 abv, how's the best way to achieve that? Use less sugar, or use something to stop fermentation? Thanks!!
Probably an answered question already, however I picked up a 19 L carboy, if I wanted to do a single gallon size would the size of the carboy effect the brew?
A little bit curious as to the science about the temperature effecting what the yeast does. I have used 71-Beast and Fleischmann's bread yeast when I brew in my cool basement which is between 62 & 68 F depending on open windows. The brews are always bubbling by the next morning and the ABV has always come out higher than 15%... usually between 16.5 and 17%. The brew has always finished below 1.000 as well... from 0.992 to 0.998. Does the lower temp keep the yeast working longer? You specific videos and many others out there seem to have brews stop at 1.000 or slightly higher. Why are my brews consistently ending SO dry?
Cooler temps generally have the opposite effect, however, you're within 10 degrees of what we do and likely very much within the ideal range for the yeasts anyway.
Hi ! I have made this mead whit bluebaery added but just realized then I'm not sure how often i need to submerge the top layer of fruit. Thanks in advance for the help !
First, thank you for all your information. I’ve been enjoying this hobby now for about five months. It’s a blast. You’ve helped me a lot. Question or idea since we lose so much going from Primary to secondary and sometimes on the second rack I have been doing my black tea concentrated usually 6 ounces, disposing the teabag and using 6 to 8 ounces go into my secondary or second rack when I’m just a little bit off from the neck are you been using it this way to take up the space if I have too much headspace because we lose a little each time we do you think this is OK or should we really be doing it Primary, and letting it sit longer
We tend to lose only a few ounces when racking. That's not much really. As for adding concentrated tea to make up headspace... sure? It's diluting the brew and in some cases could restart fermentation if there's still sugars in there. As long as you're controlling the amount you add, I guess it could be just fine.
Im trying a tweak of this recipe(going with 3lbs instead of 2.5) and a full pack of 71-beast. I think i messed up my og reading because it came in at 1.130. But following your strategy of shaking the bejeezus out of it then an additional 2 minutes seemed to really work. This batch was active in less than one hour maybe within the first 30 minutes it was rolling. Can't wait to try this blackberry honey out. Oh yeah this is my first ever batch
Sanitize: After taking a hydrometer reading, do you put the items straight back in the sterilizer, or do you wash them first? How do you know when to change the sanitizer solution? Is paper towel safe to use as a wipe or will it contaminate?
We don't really wipe things off after dipping in the sanitizer. We DO just put them right back in, without washing, unless it's gloopy or something like that, but liquids, we just don't bother. We only use the sanitizer liquid for one session, so we make up 4 gallons or so, then dump it when we finish filming for the day.
I have another question.... How do I know it’s time to bottle? I have 4 1 gallon batches that just completed their second week in secondary. The plan was to bottle at the end of week 3 or 4. Some say I’ll have too much sediment in the bottles. Some say it won’t be cleared out. Is there a good rule of thumb to this. “When in doubt, do (____)”? (2 are traditionals, 2 are spiced)
Just speaking from my own experience with a few years of home brewing under my belt: there are no hard and fast rules. Two identical brews (honey, water, yeast and batch size) made at different points in time might take different lengths of time to clear and be ready to rack. First reason: a different temperature in the brewing space Second reason: minute variations in the honey. It’s a natural product, even when using supermarket honey one batch might be slightly different from the other Third reason: atmospheric pressure. Yeast is a living thing. Weather conditions might cause it to behave differently Fourth reason: even when using the same brand/type of yeast, one batch might be more active than the other Fifth reason: individual handling. You might aerate one brew just a tad better than another. Yes, you can have an indication of when you might be able to rack... but it would just be a ballpark figure. If and Hen working from a known recipe you can take the original maker’s fermenting time as an indication of how long it MIGHT take, but don’t be surprised if yours takes way longer or shorter. My rule of thumb is that a mead will take at least 6-8 weeks to start clearing but that’s in my home. Before I moved to where I live now it was longer (8 weeks minimum) and the place where I lived before that things went faster. Just let your brew do its thing and see... some brews can even take months, even years to clear. Others are fast like lightening. Had a brew go totally clear within five weeks of pitching the yeast and it was a 13% brew. Surprised the heck out of me!
Working on a mead with Marian Plum (a.k.a. Gandaria, a native fruit here that was in season) and very rough/raw brown sugar, off of a brick of sugar cane sugar, and lychee honey from a local company. (Still more sugars from honey in it so going to call that a mead.) The brown sugar did color it way dark brown, which is interesting. I'm hoping it'll end up sort of dark rum color when cleared.
I began the most basic of meads prior to discovering your channel and am wishing I would have used tea and orange peel. Are there negative consequences to adding tea during the secondary (conditioning) phase or after racking?
I'm so glad I found in subscribe to this channel is there a way to make honey meed that doesn't have a strong dry alcohol taste I like sweet fruity drinks
I started a Cider with the lees of my last batch, using honey instead of sugar, so Cyser I think? Anyway its day two and the yeast is more active than I've ever had it been, granted I've only done two to completion so far, with three more on the way, but it's bubbling almost like if you shook up a soda. I checked it today and a good thing too because some of the foam and even the mix itself was in the airlock. I was wondering if that super activity was maybe caused by the honey and using the lees from the last batch or if it was both, or if it was something else entirely. I would love to get your advice since really the only reason I started brewing with some semblance of confidence is because of your videos. Thank you for being so nicely instructive, informative and just plain awesome, and please stay safe happy and healthy or at the very least, two out of those three because two out of three ain't half bad😊🙏
I'm going back and going over your recipes and was curious why the "Simple Beginner Mead" from 2020 had raisins and this one did not. Does it have to do with going for a drier flavor or did you find that the raisins don't really do anything of note?
Respectfully, I've heard it is possible to keep the Sanitization liquid in a bucket for a month. I did this and it smelled musty and a white film was on the bottom of the bucket. How long will the sanitization liquid "keep" if it's sealed in a 5 gallon bucket? How long can we keep the stuff to reuse?
Hello! I'm a 2nd year beekeeper and have a 20+ lbs of crystalized honey. The water/sugar ratio is right on, it just crystalized. I want to make Mead with it. Can I make a 5 gallon batch of this recipe multiplying the honey, tea, orange peel, water and Yeast by 5? So it'd be 5 packets of Yeast? ALSO, why don't you use Campden tablets? And no Yeast nutrient? Any advise would be much appreciated.
Star san is effective mostly in part due to it's PH level being 4.2 (I believe). Due to my various interests I had the thought that distilled white vinegar also has a PH that is below that, so I have been using vinegar to sanitize my equipment for a while now and am proud to report it has worked very well (no contaminations since I started).
You've been very lucky. Vinegar is literally the one thing you're trying to avoid in brewing so.... using it to clean is just asking for trouble at some point.
I may be a bit late to the party, but I've just purchased my own demijohn to get started. I did buy a 'jar' type though - it's pretty small, but shaking it might prove an issue. Can I just use a handmixer to aerate, or do you suggest another method to get that initial aeration done?
@@CitySteadingBrews - didn't expect that quick of an answer! Thanks for confirming that. Assumed as much, but wanted to check anyway. Love your channel!
I used the same red star yeast and just put it in dry like you did but it didn't dissolve into the must at all, so there's just yeast pellets floating around. There is airlock activity but is this anything to be worried about? It's -40 in montana right now where i live and about 67 - 69 F in the house so maybe it was just too cold for the yeast to dissolve?
I attempted to make your spiced metheglin, racked it yesterday after 4 weeks to remove the spices, but the gravity only dropped by 0.04 (from 1.09 to 1.05) my measurements were a bit off when I converted from US to U.K. measurements. I’ve ordered another packet of yeast because I think it’s stalled. Should I wait a week to check the gravity again before adding it?
I like how y'all treat every episode as if it's someone's first time viewing.
@@Nova_Needle that’s the idea :)
its what got me to subscribe in the first place, i have their "first mead" in secondary for a while now and waiting for my starsan to arrive so i can bottle it.
@@ilovepudding7873 yes StarSan does take awhile to arrive it seems like (or I'm just antsy) but I boiled my equipment for primary and Starsan for secondary, etc. They're "easy" recipes and great people to listen.
well said!
Me too.
The repetition is useful for my learning process.
So far I have made 4 gallons of mead using the recipe from his basic mead video and after a month it was drinkable and it just keeps getting better my wife and friends were blown away on how good it tastes . I can’t imagine how good it will taste in a year
I started with meads last year and found that they get really good after about the time that they clear, which is ~3 months for me. So, I don't touch bottle them before that now. Enjoy your brews!
Love that labelling. It's all about the bees
Bev is a sweetheart and really good to her bees!
Yes yes! Take care of the bees! They are one of natures ultimate animals! Also honey across the world should only be poured to rock music from now on.
Hey, just wanna say thx to this channel I made my first mead. I used Red Star Premier Blanc active dry yeast, Jamies Hive to table wildflower honey raw honey and comb (2lbs) and spring water making a one gallon batch. What I then did was cook it on an open fire because i do not have a kitchen because reasons.. i had to cook it on an open fire in a wrought iron pot using white birch wood. I simmered the water added the honey scraped off the scum from the honey comb that came to the top and put the must in a fermentation bucket to cool, and when the temperature came down i added the yeast. I did put it into secondary fermentation later( I've been playing around with the times in primary and secondary fermentation, so maybe you can improve on it, but i did it in a couple of months) This made a dry almost whisky like mead with the smoke from the fire showing its prominence...very strong though
Honestly tested very good
bet i dont own a hydrometer...sooo all i can say it was strong
You guys are great! My wife and I started making mead as a hobby we could do together. We started in mid January and are on our 12th batch now. I think the first week we discovered your channel we watched you for four hours straight! We have a need for mead! Thanks again!
Wow, thanks for watching! Glad you can do it together!
Just rewatched this and found the 1,2 factor for UK gallon. We’re South African so all our measurements are based on UK. I’ve been using this factor since I started and it’s so gratifying that you guys did this for us non imperial system users
This weekend (May 1st) I made a Hibiscus and Black Cherry mead. The proteins and other "sediment" formed a cake on the foam clogged the Air Lock and carbonation blew off the Bung in about 24 hours. Love this hobby.
Yeah, that happens, but the bright side is your brew is working :)
I have always said, "Know the basics and do them well". Good job. :-)
Very true!
I've been making wine now for about 5 years. I've never hydrated the yeast and it works every time
We stopped a few years ago, yep.
Love the video. I made 2 bottles of the basic bread yeast mead my first go. And, this past weekend, we went to Scarborough Faire here in Texas and we had their mead and the mead I made, using your recipe, was so much better. I have another gallon container approaching racking as I age the 2 bottles from the first batch and I think it's time to branch out and try out some of your other recipes. Thank you so much, Briand and Derica. This has made quarantine days so much more interesting. Incidentally, I am also on my 3rd batch of kombucha.
Always good to go back and refresh to get subtle details on process or of methods. Thanks again...
I made this meade using your previous recipe and I have to say it came out incredibly well.
Awesome! Love CS recipes!!
Mine did to the only change I made was boiling bread yeast and using it as a nutrient
You guys are the best at this , cheers
Thank you!
sweet people, good product, great relationship, wonderful delivery. thanks so much for being in the you tube food and drink universe.
Our pleasure!
I'm from Canada and I love watching your work and style. It definitely makes me want to try to make mead. I've been a fan of Mead for some time but haven't always been able to buy it locally. Best solution is to make it for myself. Thanks for sharing.
Hello Sir & Madam,
I hope you're doing well.
My name is Jad: Being a honey-lover and as I cannot do beekeeping in my area, I started my mead-making journey 3 weeks ago after seeing your videos.
Till today, I have run 3 experiments: a 1-gallon basic mead recipe, another 1-gallon traditional mead recipe, and 1 half-gallon coffeemel recipe, all in the making with different starting dates :-)
Yesterday night, after no yeast activity for a couple of days prior, I started cold-crashing the 1-gallon basic mead: I started the process on Tue, Aug 15, 2023, with an OG of 1.103, and yesterday the FG was 1.003, which led to an ABV of 13.13% as per the formula (Final gravity - Original gravity) x 131.25.
Today I was checking the gallon, and I saw a lot of sediment. The mead is not clear yet, but I thought of asking if this is a normal amount of sediment.
I can share the recipe with you by email if it might help.
I appreciate your feedback :-)
Cheers,
Jad
I am sure it’s fine. You will get a lot of sediment. We show this in every recipe video.
So I had a check of the gravity of the traditional I made following this recipe and the blackberry, cherry and raspberry melomel. This included the necessary taste test and oh my goodness... they both taste amazing, literally better than any mead I've tried. The melomel did need a little stir to get rid of a bit of gas that made it smell a bit but after that, wow.
They are both bubbling away nicely although the melomel seems to be nearly finished. I can't wait to bottle these and see what a bit of age does to them.
Thank you Brian and Derica.
You are welcome John!
You guys are so wholesome thanks for going over every single step and explaining it well! When you're just starting, all of the little details are so important so I appreciate it
Our pleasure!
868 Views and only 125 likes... come on guys, these guys deserve better. Their Videos are very "Consumer Friendly" and easy to follow. Give'em a like ;)
Probably because no TRBOS jingle. That's usually the moment I click Like.
I enjoy your channel a lot, thanks for the awesome entertainment. Cheers from Northern California!
Thanks for watching!
@@CitySteadingBrews pleasure is all mine. It is always nice to see what other fellow brewers are up to!
I’m going to try this style for my next brew.
I just discovered your channel! I love it. Totally gunna try making some mead and other stuff soon. Only seen a few videos but awesome content :)
I knew I’ve heard the 2 min rule before!!! I told my friend that rule with his first 1/2 gal mead😂 thank you for the fantastic wisdom.
You guy's are great enjoyed the video.
I haven't try mead my whole life, I made this recipe its incredible I liked it. Thank you so much ❤️
Glad you liked it!!
@@CitySteadingBrews much appreciation🌹
Hi CSB, I made my first batch of mead ever, yesterday. I did three pounds of a local Tennessee Honey. The label says, “only what the bees put in.” I used store bought spring water. I used a whole pack of lalvin d-47. And that’s it. I wanted my first experience to be only the most basic of ingredients. Specific Gravity was 1.115.
Love the channel. please put all in Celsius and metrics for THE rest of US. Please, pretty please.
Y'all are comical, natural comedians :)
Nice video, I watched a few videos of you and decided to make a mead.
Of course I decided to go big or go home, so I made three (almost, the basic one, the hydromel one and the mojito kilju one), it's going great but slow as hell which is probably related to that I used only 1 pack of Nottingham yeast divided into 3x5 liter of brew (I thought it will be enough since it's a bigger pack but actually it has a higher dosage recommendation too). Slow means the basic mead went from 1.102 to 1.068 in three weeks. All of them are in a relatively dark place in 72F.
Currently I see the following options:
- Let it sit and it will finish in a few month
- Source an other pack of Nottingham and throw in the mix
- Same but with regular instant baking yeast
- Or give them the baking yeast as yeast hulls (I'm leaning toward this option)
No point in messing with them. Let it ferment. Adding more yeast at this point won't necessarily make it faster. Yeast take a while in honey. Also, you used plenty of yeast already!
Wow you guys make it look so easy
It really is that easy :)
Double everything to include the honey to 5lbs for a 2gal vessel? Correct?
Yup!
Love your videos and love watching them since i wanna learn how to start this and if i like how the finished product turns out I'm gonna do like 5 gallons lmao or more
Wow. It really is their kitchen. You can see it during the honey cam!
Did you think we were making it up? lol
@@CitySteadingBrews no, but it was turning into something like a myth in my head 😁
@@HolyPineCone lol
Watch some of the older videos....pretty much a full tour of the CS kitchen in those.
I so want to make this! Need to rack a couple of brews first though!
The screw on cap looks cool, I was looking for something like that. The rubber bungs work well but avoid silicone, they slip out. I have some silicone baking dishes, nothing sticks to them. So if you use a silicone bung, don't expect it to stay put without tying the down.
Great video guys.
Thanks so much!
I use an Imperial gallon for my primary fermenter so I can leave lots of headspace and then rack into a US gallon carboy for aging.
One quick tip I found out to dissolve the honey faster and to pour it much easier to the carboy:
Put the honey first into a pot and pour some water on it
Then you use a blender and blend the honey into the water.
It's perfectly dissolved within a few minutes.
Do you mean an immersion blender? Do you heat the honey at all, or just do it at room temp? What kind of ratio of honey:water?
@@DukeTrout yes a immersionblender
I got my honey from a local beekeeper and he recommends to not use hot water
It destroys all the good enzymes and other beneficial stuff
What you put first in the pot does not matter. Water is room temp
How much: as much as you need to dissolve.
For e 5L bat h i use 1,5 to 2kg if honey. 2l of water is always fine for blending,
If there is any headpace just fill it out with normal water
@@Kewinowicz Thanks!!
I use a Vitamix blender to get my honey and water mixed up.
It can be stirred, shaken, mixed, blended, or otherwise all while hot or cold, and in the end, it will be fine as long as yeast is active.
people ask but seek echoes of what they want to hear instead of what will work, which is nearly anything...
Hey. Really enjoy your mead recipes!! Can I substitute the 1/2 fresh orange peel for the dried that you use in this recipe? Thank you!!!
Horray! Back to brewing 😃
going to make my first batch in a few days....I'll let you know
I spotted Derica jazz hands 😍
Hey Brian and Derica! You two are great and your videos are without a doubt my favorite of all the mead / wine making channels I am subscribed to. I believe my mead is stalled. 3lb local clover, red star Cote des Blancs ~3g, and a 1 gallon fermenter. I forgot to add the black tea. The og was high 1.130 so I am wondering if that was an issue. After 3.5 weeks it's at 1.100 and it has been steady bubbling the whole time. Very strong nose burning gases today. Not footy or gross smells just strong off gasses I think. I'm considering adding the black tea now since I pulled 250ml to check gravity. I can just add back tea instead. And pitch more yeast. I also have a 2 or 3 apples I am considering slow juicing and adding to add something else for the yeast to chew on. But before doing any of that I thought I would get you's guy's opinion. Taste is good honey flavor and no off taste except the off gasses. I did just degas it thinking perhaps there was just too much in there and the occasional swirling was not enough. Thanks in advance for any input, and I look forward to more videos.
Okay, if it's stalled, don't add more sugars, fruits or tea. They can only possibly make it worse. Try degassing it? If none of that works, add more yeast.
@@CitySteadingBrews okey dokey, will do. And thanks for the quick response and advice!
Thank you for the kudos! For the question on selling my honey, I follow the Florida cottage food law, which means I can only sell face to face. For CS, it is my honor and joy to gift it to you because I have learned so much from you two and I love your videos!
Ok, so now I have a question. You have talked about yeast fermenting temps and now that I have a few brews under my belt (18) I am beginning to question my choice of yeast. For most I have used lalvin 71b.
My concern is that I keep my house pretty warm. In summer, when I leave the house thermostat is at 80, when I'm home it's 77-78. I keep brewing mead in the coolest room of my house, so it probably doesn't go above 80.
Should I switch to a different yeast? Try to keep it in a cooling bath?
You guys are great, love all the videos!
Beverly
71b works great in those conditions but so do many many yeasts. You’re really only a few degrees warmer than us really. Also, thanks for the honey! It is soooo good.
My favorite aspect of this channel is the interaction between you two. #relationshipgoals
Yay! Thank you!
Can you explain the difference between a wine and a sherry have you ever tried making a sherry thanks
Sherry is just a fortified wine. Meaning distilled spirits added to a wine.
I see the St. Catherine's Passage in the Old Town of Tallinn behind you. I live near that place. Very cozy place indeed. : D
I’m still very new to this and haven’t hydrated any of my first dozen brews. Some of them are beginning to finish secondary and they’re all real nice, all around 15abv using lalvin D47
any idea why they used meadowsweet? so I can use cheap vodka in my bubbler? what did the Vikings use for yeast?
Yeast grows wild in honey and on many if not most plants and herbs so it simply grew in the must to create colonies. Meadowsweet was used for flavoring.
Will you be doing a video on the super simple cyster 3 years on?
Can't, there's none left. But... we are planning a redo of the cyser.
How concerned do you have to be with artificial light (a normal light bulb) hitting mead in it's final bottle when aging? I'm doin spring cleaning and would like to setup a zone in my basement.
Just a general tip on citrus zest. For baking I store lemon, citroen and orange peel in sugar. It adds great flavor to cakes and you can store for almost forever. Perhaps it's an idea to use it in brews as well?
@CS Mead and More Today I made the mash for my first mead based on your basic mead recipe. I'm a bit scared I screwed it up. I'm using raw honey and because of that I've added +- 0.75 gr kaliummetabisulfateon on 5 liters of liquid (+- 1 imperial gallon). Three hours later I pitched the yeast, I'm using a liquid yeast (smack pack). I'm now 6 hours after pitching but I don't see any bubbles. Did I kill my yeast with the sulfate or do I just need to be patience? If I killed my yeast can I add new yeast to it, or is the mash now spoiled? Help!
Yup you don’t use preservatives and pitch yeast. Wait a day or two and try again. Raw honey is awesome no need for sulfites at all. I NEVER add those things, ever. I assume you mean potassium metabisulfate.
@@CitySteadingBrews Well it's the first and last time I'm using a sulfate. I'm happy to inform you that in this case the fermentation has started and it's now going like a rocket. It was my patience after all ! Thanks for your good advice!
Excellent!
I have a half gallon brew that went to 11% but I wanted it at 5-6%, if I add another half gallon of water would that cut the ABV in half?
Yes. In theory. However if it’s still got any sugars or honey left it may ferment it further.
@@CitySteadingBrews Awesome! It went to .990 so I'm thinking it's not going any further. Thank you so much! I love watching your video!
It would cut the ABV in half but it could restart fermentation, make sure you take a reading then let it sit a week, take another reading and make sure it hasn't changed before you bottle. You could dilute by the glass/mug to be on the safe side. For some reason it didn't show Brian had already answered.
I'm okay with it still fermenting I want to carbonate this when I bottle it
Cool. I never make sweet. Dry is the bomb
can I split a brew into two appropriate sized fermenters for conditioning using two air locks?
Of course!
Hi guys! I just wanted to say thank you for the inspiration, ideas, and recipes for mead. Your videos are great and I really enjoy watching you guys make some of the "different" meads as well. I am currently picking up supplies here and there to prepare for my first batch which I will start in the spring. I have to keep the sugars and carbs pretty low due to dietary restrictions so if you have any recommendations or guidelines aside from this video, it would be really appreciated.
I did this as an experiment after yall did the original beginners mead while using red star champagne yeast (premier blanc) heads up dont use half an orange peel unless u like a sour seltzer like mead using a quarter of an orange gives an almost light seltzer taste with that yeast i personally dont like it but a few other people wife included loved both versions of it.
Can u add the orange peal and tea after on in the 2nd stage
Great channel!
I'm trying to make wine with as little a 5 to 6 abv, how's the best way to achieve that? Use less sugar, or use something to stop fermentation? Thanks!!
Probably an answered question already, however I picked up a 19 L carboy, if I wanted to do a single gallon size would the size of the carboy effect the brew?
Just scale it up to your size, no worries.
Glad you said "master baister" correctly! 🤣🤣🤣
So is it air you are putting in it or is it oxygen when you are shaking it?
Air but that includes oxygen.
A little bit curious as to the science about the temperature effecting what the yeast does. I have used 71-Beast and Fleischmann's bread yeast when I brew in my cool basement which is between 62 & 68 F depending on open windows. The brews are always bubbling by the next morning and the ABV has always come out higher than 15%... usually between 16.5 and 17%. The brew has always finished below 1.000 as well... from 0.992 to 0.998. Does the lower temp keep the yeast working longer? You specific videos and many others out there seem to have brews stop at 1.000 or slightly higher. Why are my brews consistently ending SO dry?
Cooler temps generally have the opposite effect, however, you're within 10 degrees of what we do and likely very much within the ideal range for the yeasts anyway.
Hi ! I have made this mead whit bluebaery added but just realized then I'm not sure how often i need to submerge the top layer of fruit.
Thanks in advance for the help !
Once a day at least. You want to keep it wet.
@@CitySteadingBrews and how long do you think is the best to wait before removing the solid fruit ?
Thanks ! :)
2:48 that's the honey shot !
First, thank you for all your information. I’ve been enjoying this hobby now for about five months. It’s a blast. You’ve helped me a lot. Question or idea since we lose so much going from Primary to secondary and sometimes on the second rack I have been doing my black tea concentrated usually 6 ounces, disposing the teabag and using 6 to 8 ounces go into my secondary or second rack when I’m just a little bit off from the neck are you been using it this way to take up the space if I have too much headspace because we lose a little each time we do you think this is OK or should we really be doing it Primary, and letting it sit longer
We tend to lose only a few ounces when racking. That's not much really. As for adding concentrated tea to make up headspace... sure? It's diluting the brew and in some cases could restart fermentation if there's still sugars in there. As long as you're controlling the amount you add, I guess it could be just fine.
How long do you let primary fermentation run for a dry mead?
Until the specific gravity doesn’t change over a period of 5-7 days. In other words, when it’s finished fermenting. :)
Im trying a tweak of this recipe(going with 3lbs instead of 2.5) and a full pack of 71-beast. I think i messed up my og reading because it came in at 1.130. But following your strategy of shaking the bejeezus out of it then an additional 2 minutes seemed to really work. This batch was active in less than one hour maybe within the first 30 minutes it was rolling. Can't wait to try this blackberry honey out. Oh yeah this is my first ever batch
I would have kept to the recipe for my first mead but it should be alright.
Sanitize: After taking a hydrometer reading, do you put the items straight back in the sterilizer, or do you wash them first?
How do you know when to change the sanitizer solution?
Is paper towel safe to use as a wipe or will it contaminate?
We don't really wipe things off after dipping in the sanitizer. We DO just put them right back in, without washing, unless it's gloopy or something like that, but liquids, we just don't bother. We only use the sanitizer liquid for one session, so we make up 4 gallons or so, then dump it when we finish filming for the day.
I have another question....
How do I know it’s time to bottle? I have 4 1 gallon batches that just completed their second week in secondary. The plan was to bottle at the end of week 3 or 4. Some say I’ll have too much sediment in the bottles. Some say it won’t be cleared out. Is there a good rule of thumb to this. “When in doubt, do (____)”?
(2 are traditionals, 2 are spiced)
I tend to bottle when it clears.
Just speaking from my own experience with a few years of home brewing under my belt: there are no hard and fast rules. Two identical brews (honey, water, yeast and batch size) made at different points in time might take different lengths of time to clear and be ready to rack.
First reason: a different temperature in the brewing space
Second reason: minute variations in the honey. It’s a natural product, even when using supermarket honey one batch might be slightly different from the other
Third reason: atmospheric pressure. Yeast is a living thing. Weather conditions might cause it to behave differently
Fourth reason: even when using the same brand/type of yeast, one batch might be more active than the other
Fifth reason: individual handling. You might aerate one brew just a tad better than another.
Yes, you can have an indication of when you might be able to rack... but it would just be a ballpark figure. If and Hen working from a known recipe you can take the original maker’s fermenting time as an indication of how long it MIGHT take, but don’t be surprised if yours takes way longer or shorter.
My rule of thumb is that a mead will take at least 6-8 weeks to start clearing but that’s in my home. Before I moved to where I live now it was longer (8 weeks minimum) and the place where I lived before that things went faster.
Just let your brew do its thing and see... some brews can even take months, even years to clear. Others are fast like lightening. Had a brew go totally clear within five weeks of pitching the yeast and it was a 13% brew. Surprised the heck out of me!
I've watched a few videos so far. I'm curious about the grains, and how the beer brewery makes beer also. Compared to mead.
Totally different procedures. We have several beer videos too.
How important is temperature after bottling? Refrigerator vs household ambient? Thank you!
We just keep it at household ambient, which is like 75-78F for us.
I may have missed it. Do you have a link for your honey source?
Love this video! I have been home brewing for years, and I'm wondering if I can substitute grape tannins to this mix instead of the tea?
Probably but I never use them.
Working on a mead with Marian Plum (a.k.a. Gandaria, a native fruit here that was in season) and very rough/raw brown sugar, off of a brick of sugar cane sugar, and lychee honey from a local company. (Still more sugars from honey in it so going to call that a mead.) The brown sugar did color it way dark brown, which is interesting. I'm hoping it'll end up sort of dark rum color when cleared.
How did this come out?
If you only had one type of fermenter container to choose from, what would it be?
There’s no reason to have to choose.
You look younger without the “serial killer “ cap
What liquid do you put inside the airlock? Is just water fine?
We tend to use sanitizer fluid or cheap spirits.
I began the most basic of meads prior to discovering your channel and am wishing I would have used tea and orange peel. Are there negative consequences to adding tea during the secondary (conditioning) phase or after racking?
Nope, should be just fine.
I'm so glad I found in subscribe to this channel is there a way to make honey meed that doesn't have a strong dry alcohol taste I like sweet fruity drinks
Our beginner mead video should help. th-cam.com/video/UdqRhDXKLjA/w-d-xo.html
I started a Cider with the lees of my last batch, using honey instead of sugar, so Cyser I think? Anyway its day two and the yeast is more active than I've ever had it been, granted I've only done two to completion so far, with three more on the way, but it's bubbling almost like if you shook up a soda. I checked it today and a good thing too because some of the foam and even the mix itself was in the airlock. I was wondering if that super activity was maybe caused by the honey and using the lees from the last batch or if it was both, or if it was something else entirely. I would love to get your advice since really the only reason I started brewing with some semblance of confidence is because of your videos. Thank you for being so nicely instructive, informative and just plain awesome, and please stay safe happy and healthy or at the very least, two out of those three because two out of three ain't half bad😊🙏
It’s still cider. :). The yeast are just active is all. We see it sometimes after pitching dry yeast.
I'm going back and going over your recipes and was curious why the "Simple Beginner Mead" from 2020 had raisins and this one did not. Does it have to do with going for a drier flavor or did you find that the raisins don't really do anything of note?
We just wanted something simpler and the added sugars from raisins may have thrown off the dry aspect of this mead.
Respectfully,
I've heard it is possible to keep the Sanitization liquid in a bucket for a month. I did this and it smelled musty and a white film was on the bottom of the bucket. How long will the sanitization liquid "keep" if it's sealed in a 5 gallon bucket? How long can we keep the stuff to reuse?
I never keep it. It’s an acid, it will eat through plastic. Just make what you need and dump when finished. It takes 20 seconds to mix more!
Say, how long do you keep your sanitizing solution before you mix a new batch?
One session. We tend to make a few videos at ince so we just dump when we finish.
Can you use molasses to make mead?
You can use it in addition to honey yes but molasses is known for being harsh until long aging.
Hello! I'm a 2nd year beekeeper and have a 20+ lbs of crystalized honey. The water/sugar ratio is right on, it just crystalized. I want to make Mead with it. Can I make a 5 gallon batch of this recipe multiplying the honey, tea, orange peel, water and Yeast by 5? So it'd be 5 packets of Yeast? ALSO, why don't you use Campden tablets? And no Yeast nutrient? Any advise would be much appreciated.
Star san is effective mostly in part due to it's PH level being 4.2 (I believe). Due to my various interests I had the thought that distilled white vinegar also has a PH that is below that, so I have been using vinegar to sanitize my equipment for a while now and am proud to report it has worked very well (no contaminations since I started).
You've been very lucky. Vinegar is literally the one thing you're trying to avoid in brewing so.... using it to clean is just asking for trouble at some point.
I calculated the ABV to 12.075 which is awesome. I have decided to go with the Lavlin EC1118 fr my brews. Cheers my friends.
I got way more yeast packets than I'll be needing right away....how long will it last? Should I refrigerate it?
Fridge it. Lasts for years.
@@CitySteadingBrews thanks for all your input
I may be a bit late to the party, but I've just purchased my own demijohn to get started. I did buy a 'jar' type though - it's pretty small, but shaking it might prove an issue. Can I just use a handmixer to aerate, or do you suggest another method to get that initial aeration done?
Any way you get air in is fine.
@@CitySteadingBrews - didn't expect that quick of an answer! Thanks for confirming that. Assumed as much, but wanted to check anyway. Love your channel!
so.. the original shake weight?
Lol
What yeast has the lowest alcohol tolerance?
Some ales get down to 8-10, like s-04.
I use S-04 and it comes to 10.5-7 consistently, but really just depends on how much sugar you use. If you want a low ABV, then just use less sugar.
Would you use the 71b in this recipe to make it sweet enstead of dry
I don’t think 71b would make this sweet… you can just sweeten to taste then pasteurize for a sweeter mead.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you for the tip
As a beekeeper and brewer for some reason I only make dry brews. I need to branch out to semi to sweet meads and ciders.
I used the same red star yeast and just put it in dry like you did but it didn't dissolve into the must at all, so there's just yeast pellets floating around. There is airlock activity but is this anything to be worried about? It's -40 in montana right now where i live and about 67 - 69 F in the house so maybe it was just too cold for the yeast to dissolve?
It's fine. Should dissolve over time.
@@CitySteadingBrews Awesome thanks immensely for helping!
So I forgot to add tea and in about a week into fermentation cause i go head and add it or is it to late
It’s fine :)
I attempted to make your spiced metheglin, racked it yesterday after 4 weeks to remove the spices, but the gravity only dropped by 0.04 (from 1.09 to 1.05) my measurements were a bit off when I converted from US to U.K. measurements. I’ve ordered another packet of yeast because I think it’s stalled. Should I wait a week to check the gravity again before adding it?
If it’s stalled dont wait, add the yeast.