Simple Traditional Mead - How to Make a Basic Dry Mead
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- Simple traditional mead. How to make a Basic Dry Mead Recipe. Traditional Mead is honey wine, made with honey, water and yeast. There are thousands of ways to make it and thousands of additions you can make. Our goal is to keep it simple, keep it safe and make good tasting mead and show you how simple mead can really be. Look around the internet for a while on mead and you will find LOTS of information on how to make mead. If you're new to making mead, don't be discouraged. When starting out, learn how to make a simple mead, learn the basics of meadmaking and you can expand from there.
Ingredients:
2.5 lbs Honey (Thank you Bev's Bees!)
1 cup steeped Black Tea (We used Assam. Thanks Adam!): amzn.to/3e1NnBX
Orange Peel
Water to Fill to 1 Gallon (We used 88 ounces)
Red Star Premier Classique Wine Yeast: amzn.to/3vsrp0M
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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.
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.
The inside of a Florida beehive reaches very warm temps. Its okay to warm it up a bit to make it pour easily without compromising its quality. I'll be using my honey to make mead for the first time in August. Thanks for the video
Thanks for watching!
I have always said, "Know the basics and do them well". Good job. :-)
Very true!
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 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🌹
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.
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.
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.
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 calculated the ABV to 12.075 which is awesome. I have decided to go with the Lavlin EC1118 fr my brews. Cheers my friends.
Dun dun dun happened in my head when Derrica said TURBOS.
Great video guys.
Thanks so much!
I so want to make this! Need to rack a couple of brews first though!
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 :)
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.
Great channel!
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.
So I've lurked for a while and made my first mead off of this video! It came out the day I had decided to make my first mead, which I specifically wanted to be dry, so it was fortuitous! I'm a week into the process and I didn't get too much foam initially and the degassing process slowed down a lot even for day 2. I used fresh tangerine zest, bread yeast (less than a year old for sure), and black tea. Is it usually quite slow? I did the "swirl" and it would really push air out, but it's usually quite slow. Any insight would be appreciated!
Without knowing your recipe, temp, and readings, it's hard to say, but it's possible you either have a leaky fermenter (buckets do this often) or it's just slowing down.
@@CitySteadingBrews I appreciate the insight! I'm sorry for the delay. I am racking tomorrow, I let it sit and it has reached equilibrium for a day or two now. I will take a gravity reading before I rack it. I can't imagine that it was leaky - I used the glass carboy and airlock that you guys use (bought off of your links, I believe), and I also marked the original low point of the stopper with a marker and tape sealed the stopper with the lip of the carboy AND did a rubber band wrap and the level hasn't moved. If it has, it's not noticeable.
17:02 that’s Dericka using her psychic powers to make the viewer say TRBOS in their own head
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 ! :)
Technically, at least in wine making, yeast acclimation, in water first and then in diluted must, ensures a better yeast vitality and especially glycerol production, which is quite nice for rounding out the flavor profile, but probably for mead it does not have the same effect.
Mead and wine are the same for fermentation really. I've yet to see yeast change the flavor depending on hydration or not in anything I've brewed. It may start slightly quicker, but, the yeast still have to build a colony once in the must. I don't think it would affect flavor in any meaningful way.
@@CitySteadingBrews you are probably right, all the studies I've read on this topic where talking about industrial production so volumes, even in research trials, are much higher than homebrewing, and this could play a role probably
I totally screwed up my first gallon of mead, well not completely, it is drinkable just not clear at all. But I can honestly say I have learned a dozen or more things for my next brew. Thanks for all you guys do.
Doesn't have to be clear for you to enjoy it. Like Bri says if you have friends that don't like a "cloudy" beverage don't let them drink your mead.
I just bottled my first batch of need a couple days ago. It was started October the eighth, so it's quite clear now. Looking forward to not having to go to work. So I can try it because i'm responsible
I'm in the process of making a Fairy/pixie style mead ( using violets etc.) Maybe dry would be the way to go with this. Thanks!
th-cam.com/video/vTFTWGkf3AQ/w-d-xo.html
What about the nutrients?
Hey Brian and Derica! I have a question about the sweet spiced sparkling cider. I'm at the stage of sparkling but so far (2 days in the bottle) it doesn't look like there is any extra pressure in the plastic bottle. Is this normal? Thanks in advance!
It can take a week or two.
@@CitySteadingBrews Aha! Don't know why I was thinking it was 2 or 3 days. Thanks for the help 😄
Doesn't swirling it make it oxygenated?
Not really. Oxygen is helpful in the beginning of fermentation and if you degas later on there's so much co2 coming out it's unlikely yo get oxygen in.
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 :)
Does mead taste the way you'd expect or is it super wine like?
Mead tastes a bit like wine… especially when dry rather than sweet.
Can you up this recipe to 3gals i.e.. multiple all ingredients by 3?
Yup, everything scales. Just use a whole packet of yeast though.
@@CitySteadingBrews thanks 😊!
If all I have is bread yeast can I use it? It’s my first time trying to brew anything.
Try this recipe, we use bread yeast: th-cam.com/video/UdqRhDXKLjA/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=CitySteadingBrews
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you
After watching for the 1000th time i just realized I used 3.5 lbs of honey and full packet of lalvin 1118 yeast with 18% alcohol tolerance. My OG was 1.130. Do you think this will go dry?
Maybe... it's right on the edge. If all goes perfectly it could.
I am very surprised you didn't use EC-1118 if you were trying for dry. :P
There are many ways to let it go dry.
@@CitySteadingBrews Oh, I know... Just making a little funny.
I'm fixing to try and do 2 different honeysuckle meads, one with wild blueberries if I can find them and one more plain, possibly with golden raisins. Do you have any advice?
What are you having trouble with? Happy to answer questions, but.. advice on making mead.... we have 300+ videos you can watch :) I know you've seen most if not all though, so what questions did you have?
@@CitySteadingBrews I'm just curious if you have any advice. I can't find any recipes for a honeysuckle mead. Would it need to be approached similar to the hybiscus you did or, would the flavor of the honeysuckle be too much like honey and need something additional? From what I gather, there is a honeysuckle wine that tastes similar to a mead. So I'd need a way to preserve the floral notes while adding a little something extra.
Basically, I'm chasing a unicorn by finessing the floral notes to get the most flavor. 🦄
@@mandolinman2006 oh I assumed honeysuckle honey...
@@mandolinman2006 I would treat it like hibiscus yeah.
@@CitySteadingBrews yeah. I'm trying to be different. There's people in a mead group that have been asking, but nobody has made mead from honeysuckle. Thank you for your help!
99% of the time I make dry mead!
Why no raisins in this one?
Just a choice. Wanted to keep it simpler.
I say brewing wine is STUPID SIMPLE.
For temperature fluctuations here in Desert southwest o store my brews I’m a 40 quart Coleman cooler. It keeps the brews at 75-80 degrees F
You guys make sweet cause its sweeter 🤣🤣🤣
l cannot understand why people insist on hydrating the yeast. You're putting yeast in liquid for 5 minutes only to add it to more liquid? You literally gave the yeast a 5 minute head start. Woo hoo...
Yup.
Also... I challenge you to put a spoon into that jug 😆.
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!
I've been watching this channel too long. I could still hear "THE RED BUCKET OF SANITIZATION!"
The name that shall not be spoken!
Wut?
@@CitySteadingBrews I love and hate that schtick, it has become a Voldemort with a smile for me. I would imagine you two are at about max on it and I unintentionally spoke on your behalf.
Oh no!
Love that labelling. It's all about the bees
Bev is a sweetheart and really good to her bees!
"I'm making sure to spread it all over the place, so that I have an even greater chance of making a huge mess."
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!
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.
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
Glad you said "master baister" correctly! 🤣🤣🤣
2:48 that's the honey shot !
You look younger without the “serial killer “ cap
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.
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!!!
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 have a question related to this and 'My First Mead'. What are the exact factors that determine whether the mead will turn out sweet or dry? It is still very confusing, even after reading many blog posts and watching your videos. Is it the amount of sugar (honey), is it the type of yeast, is it the amount of yeast, is it the amount of water maybe? Does it have to do with time? Thanks in advance! Love your content! :)
th-cam.com/video/6aLlJUMBEN0/w-d-xo.html It's amount of fermentables and tolerance of alcohol of the yeast chosen. This video helps explain it.
@@CitySteadingBrews Aww, thank you, you truly reply, and fast too! Have a great day!
I spotted Derica jazz hands 😍
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.
Feels bad. Can't drink tea of any kind. Gives me kidney stones if I drink even trace amounts in vitamin water.
going to make my first batch in a few days....I'll let you know
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.
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.
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
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.
Double everything to include the honey to 5lbs for a 2gal vessel? Correct?
Yup!
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
btw the scale is a good way to measure water too.
1kg = 1L
1g = 1mL
Here to ask the pressing questions of national importance: Why are you going to the Sweet Spot on a Dry Mead?
Yes, I know such Astringent jokes about mead can leave a Bitter taste in one's mouth and Sour them on the comment section, but the Sparkling hosts are enough to overwhelm the puny, punny, pitiful blather.
...
...
{cough}
...
I'll see myself out.
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 :)
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.
Y'all are comical, natural comedians :)
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.
You guys are the best at this , cheers
Thank you!
So is it air you are putting in it or is it oxygen when you are shaking it?
Air but that includes oxygen.
How many black tea bags? I'm thinking 2? 4?....hmmmm
I think I used 1 normally.
Hello guys, I just started this recipe using quite cheap supermarket honey (it was my first time brewing a mead so I didn'd want to spend much money on the honey) in which I added fresh orange peels, 2gr of FermaidO and a whole packet of Mangrove Jacks's CR51 wine yeast (it was the only one I had). The yeast has 14% alcohol tolerance. The specific gravity is 1.102 (probably the honey was much sweeter that it said on the label and I had to add more water to lower the reading) and I have a total of 4.3lt (1.13 gal) of must.
I also added a steeped packet of black tea but after tasting the must I didn't get that tannic flavour. Is that ok? Are you supposed to taste the tannins before the end of fermentation? Also, can I add another small amount of tea after the primary fermentation, if that was not enough? I dont mind if that will dilute it a bit.
Your videos are so so so helpful for begginers, fair to say the best I've seen on TH-cam! Cheers!
You can add more, but tannins are supposed to be an additional component, shouldn't stand out as tannic.
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?
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 wouldn't recommend using a threaded cap when shaking. At least for my gallon jugs and the caps, I have a little bit of pressure makes the cap hard to get off and it will aerosol anything in the threads. I assume it's the warm air expanding in the bottle causing the pressure.
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!
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, Assam is our neighbor state and they produce a really good one. I wonder if you have have had Darjeeling tea before (they also refer this as champagne of teas) ? And this may be my personal opinion, but it's aroma (not odor XD ) and over all flavor would any day beat Assam team.
Now I am also curious about the difference in flavor profile it would create. So, you know, can try another batch with Darjeeling Tea some time maybe. Don't have to make a video, just for your own experiment. :)
The subtleties of tea aren't needed for this brew. It doesn't taste of tea at all, as we said in the video. I used Assam since it was the first one I grabbed. Putting the two side by side in this brew I HIGHLY doubt there would be any detectable difference.
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!
what does A STALLED BREW mean?
It means the yeast stopped fermentation even with significant fermentabkes remaining in the must.
What about "honey shot?" :P
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.
Better quality honey but red star yeast I'm sure you were not impressed by in one of your previous vids by redstart yeast but it'll still work love making meads
We really haven't used much red star yeast tbh.
My best fiends are beekeepers
But my favorite tea is purple tea...
Doesn't matter, use black tea anyway. It's for the tannins. Purple tea is milder than black so it won't do the same job. It's not about the flavor of the tea, like we said in the video, it's there for tannins only. You won't even taste it.
You always take an SG reading and since you have that as well as the tare of the container, you can use that to get your volume.
Volume = mass / SG
All you have to do is subtract the weight of the container from the total mass and divide that by your SG to get your volume.
Ex:Starting SG= 1.010
Total weight = 9 lbs 8 oz = 9.5 lbs
Container tare = 12 oz / 16 oz per pound = 0.75 lbs
Liquid weight = 9.5 - 0.75 = 8.75 lbs
Water density = 62.3 lbs/cu.ft x 1.010 = 62.923 lbs/cu.ft
Volume = 8.75 / 62.923 = 0.139 cu. ft
There is 7.48 gal / cu.ft, therefore 0.139 x 7.48 = 1.04 gallons
I know that's a lot of conversions which is why I like to work in metric (@SG = 1.000 = 1 kg/cu m = 1000 liters) but I also brew in imperial units because 'Murica
Making a mead from black forest honey and yellow apples. Inspired by iðunn and her golden apples.
Hope it turns out good.
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
My local brew shop sells the 1gallon fermenter bottles with swingtop lids, absolutely perfect and handy for shaking the bejeesus out. LOL
sweet people, good product, great relationship, wonderful delivery. thanks so much for being in the you tube food and drink universe.
Our pleasure!
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!
I’m a beekeeper and this year I’m making mead I have maple honey and I just got wild raspberry honey this weekend gunna do that one next for the mead but I’m trying to find the best recipe
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
Beverly gave you guys the dandelion pedals too right?
Nope. That was a VIP member named Fawn in Virginia
@@CitySteadingBrews I really missed that one! 🤣
But I want it now... LoL
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.
I got 5 gallons of honey from my brothers’ hives. Completely unfiltered. And I had to prune my mint plant, so gonna make mint mead.
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!!
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!