My wife made the joke of WalHeim Tasty Mead because, other than the yeast, I bought everything at the one big box store. Using the Frozen Whole Berry Medley (rasp, blue, black, & strawberries), measured to 1.5 lb. An issue with this is that the flavor with change from batch to batch, depending on how much of which fruits make it into the batch. But we haven't had a bad batch yet. My wife likes it without the carbonation (flat), I enjoy the fizzy bubbly though.
All three ate absolute winners. My preference goes to meads and fruit wines with 12% ABV or more, which more often than not ends with me not bottle carbing them but these are really excellent beginner choices. It often makes me smile when a beginner tells me they’d like to start with a ‘simple’ traditional, believing that making a good traditional is easy. IMHO a traditional isn’t that easy just because it.s just that: so simple. Just honey, water, and yeast doesn’t cut it as you have to know your honey and the effect the yeast you’re using is going to yield… and because nutrition is so important in a traditional. There’s no room to hide. Yes, you can make a good traditional the first time around if you follow a trusted recipe to the letter and if you can get your questions answered along the way about where it’s at when you’re wondering about something… but you’ll need to be very patient as well. I tend to advise a trusted recipe like your three or tell them to use juice instead of water to add that fruity flavour that makes the young mead more accessible in flavour. Some, however, insist… and a significant portion of those end up disappointed and quitting. Telling them their product needs more time to shine unfortunately doesn’t always work. These three recipes work, work reasonably fast, and are crowd pleasers. Thanks for making this video!
Thank you for the kind words! I agree that making a traditional mead at a standard strength is a very difficult challenge. But I love when people start with that, because honing those skills makes everything transferable to more adventurous brews.
@@DointheMost - Agree. When someone insists on a standard strength traditional I do py best to help them every step of the way. It is, after all, the base of all meads. When that mead is done, I try to help them with any further questions they might have. I do warn them at the start though: “This one might need more time than you think… are you sure?” And then I cross fingers and toes that they do indeed have the patience. Some don’t and that’s sad.
For easy beginner beer. You could do an extract beer. I do all grain but I've started playing with extract kit's from northern brewer. Super easy and surprisingly good.
I have brewed the tasty mead 3 times, highly recommend. I did the first one with the Redstar yeast, second with EC 1118 and third with Lutra (and a metric ton of Fermaid O). My favorite was with EC1118. Very clean and crisp. I used pectic enzyme too. It is my friend's favorite and they always ask for more!
I've made maybe twenty meads, with differing results and different friends and relatives liking and disliking the one or the other better. But the Valheim tasty mead is everyones favorite. Only good comments on that one!
I have no brew store of any kind near me my closest is 150 miles away so everything for me comes from the internet when it comes to brew equipment and supplies. And of course the grocery store
I have made both the simple and the valhiem meads, and I need to make the apple cider. Every time I have made these recipes they turned out great, all of my friends and family crushed them. I love that all the recipes you chose are quick to drink recipes. As a new brewer it was really hard to be patient for my higher abv meads to be done. I started brewing session meads (using your recipes) as a way to keep me occupied while my bigger meads aged. I feel like that is one of the "mistakes" I see new brewers make is not giving the time needed for clarifying and aging before they bottle/consume them. Thanks for being a great mentor to so many! Eta: session meads are now my favorite thing to brew and drink!
I agree, session needs all day long! I’m glad you pointed that out, all of these recipes can be clear and bottled and carbonated in about six weeks, which is incredibly encouraging when you see some of the timelines in bigger richer recipes.
For sessionable drinks like these at low ABV, it usually takes about two weeks to ferment, a few days to cold crash, and then 3 to 4 weeks to bottle condition properly. So usually six or seven weeks from start to finish.
Thabks for sharing. The Valheim mead is going on my list. I Do have access to acids and nutrients. In that case what nutrient protocol would you recommend and would you make any acid additions if you weren’t trying to simplify the recipe for beginners?
The Valheim mead is self balancing with acids from the fruit. But a lot of folks prefer it sweeter than I do. I would frontload Fermaid O or DAP. So, run it through a nutrient calculator for your specific yeast, add up the total, and frontload 70-80% of that total some time after yeast pitch within the first 24h.
@@DointheMost Thanks for the info. I'm more of a wine strength kinda guy as opposed to a session mead so I've thought of doing a 5 gallon batch with 10lbs honey. I understand this would probably mean a staggered nutrient regime but would I also want to double the fruit?
@@kylek7523 you would definitely want to increase the fruit load if you’re increasing the ABV, just so you have a better opportunity to balance those flavors out and have it not end up tasting winey rather than like a mead.
My biggest problem with alot of people's recipes is everyone uses raspberry most of the time and I'm allergic to raspberry so what could I swap them with without screwing up the recipe?
I've never used erythritol, and I don't use any chemicals besides yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme. So, let me ask you BC, in all honesty can YOU tell the difference between mead sweetened with erythritol and mead sweetened with honey? I have yet to make any session meads or hydromel, or any mead below the yeast's alcohol tolerance at all because I back sweeten with honey only. You see, I'm kinda stuck doing my high ABV sack meads because of my particular preferences and biases, though I'm always trying to think of ways to expand my repertoire. Let me explain. I will not pasteurize (heat damage) because I use raw, unfiltered and organic honeys, and I do so to preserve as many health benefits from the honey as possible (one of the reasons I make mead). Next, I will not use preservatives, I've done this once and it definitely altered the flavor (I thought potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate were supposed to be tasteless), and on top of altering flavor, these chemicals have adverse effects on gut bacteria, opening up a health can of worms I personally don't want to open. Then, lastly, are these non-fermentable sweeteners comparable to honey or sucrose (I'm thinking, no)? Lactose is one I plan on using, but not for sweetening and the others have me sketched out based on what I know regarding health and or flavor. Erythritol is probably the only nonfermentable sweetener I think I'd try because of its health safety and its potential relative sweetness to honey/sucrose. The taste is now my only concern. What do you think?
In a side-by-side test I can tell the difference between honey and erythritol based on the viscosity of the mead. Honey adds that extra mouthfeel that you’ll never get with a non-fermentable sweetener or sugar. I always prefer the one back sweetened with honey, but as you know, it makes bottle conditioning impossible to do safely for the beginner. I am a big proponent of erythritol for beginners and I am excited to see that it’s gaining popularity around the world.
@@DointheMost Thanks for the honest reply BC. I think I'll stick with my sack meads for now as it's what I prefer (high abv 14% -22%, sweet 1.020+). Unless I decide to make dry mead, I think I'll be in this wheelhouse for a while. It takes a lot longer to make sack mead, but there is no end to what you can do. The first mead I ever had was a traditional sack mead and this has always framed my idea of what a mead should be; strong, sweet, and viscous. One more question BC. What are your thoughts on degassing, and how and when do you degas? I personally use a vacuum pump and degas after complete clarification and racking (then I'm ready to bottle).
@@littlebones88 Generally the only degassing I do is when I rack from primary to secondary. No stirring, just the gentle degassing of the siphoning process. Sometimes I’ll do some degassing if I think the carbon dioxide is having an impact on fermentation speed/health. But it’s not often.
My wife made the joke of WalHeim Tasty Mead because, other than the yeast, I bought everything at the one big box store.
Using the Frozen Whole Berry Medley (rasp, blue, black, & strawberries), measured to 1.5 lb.
An issue with this is that the flavor with change from batch to batch, depending on how much of which fruits make it into the batch.
But we haven't had a bad batch yet.
My wife likes it without the carbonation (flat), I enjoy the fizzy bubbly though.
The bubbles make it for me! Cheers! 🍻
Cwispy session mead is a classic! I have made it plain, with fruit, and dry hopped. Always comes out excellent.
How long do you let yours age after bottling? Mine fermented for 3 weeks but has a very young mead taste to it at bottling.
These are great recipes to start out with, I've made all three and can personally verify that they're tested and work great.
I think I told you this, but your batch of Valheim mead turned out better than my own!
All three ate absolute winners. My preference goes to meads and fruit wines with 12% ABV or more, which more often than not ends with me not bottle carbing them but these are really excellent beginner choices.
It often makes me smile when a beginner tells me they’d like to start with a ‘simple’ traditional, believing that making a good traditional is easy. IMHO a traditional isn’t that easy just because it.s just that: so simple. Just honey, water, and yeast doesn’t cut it as you have to know your honey and the effect the yeast you’re using is going to yield… and because nutrition is so important in a traditional. There’s no room to hide. Yes, you can make a good traditional the first time around if you follow a trusted recipe to the letter and if you can get your questions answered along the way about where it’s at when you’re wondering about something… but you’ll need to be very patient as well.
I tend to advise a trusted recipe like your three or tell them to use juice instead of water to add that fruity flavour that makes the young mead more accessible in flavour. Some, however, insist… and a significant portion of those end up disappointed and quitting. Telling them their product needs more time to shine unfortunately doesn’t always work.
These three recipes work, work reasonably fast, and are crowd pleasers. Thanks for making this video!
Thank you for the kind words! I agree that making a traditional mead at a standard strength is a very difficult challenge. But I love when people start with that, because honing those skills makes everything transferable to more adventurous brews.
@@DointheMost - Agree. When someone insists on a standard strength traditional I do py best to help them every step of the way. It is, after all, the base of all meads. When that mead is done, I try to help them with any further questions they might have. I do warn them at the start though: “This one might need more time than you think… are you sure?” And then I cross fingers and toes that they do indeed have the patience. Some don’t and that’s sad.
For easy beginner beer. You could do an extract beer. I do all grain but I've started playing with extract kit's from northern brewer. Super easy and surprisingly good.
That valheim mead sounds like it would be really good with a fruity dry hopping addition
I have brewed the tasty mead 3 times, highly recommend. I did the first one with the Redstar yeast, second with EC 1118 and third with Lutra (and a metric ton of Fermaid O). My favorite was with EC1118. Very clean and crisp. I used pectic enzyme too. It is my friend's favorite and they always ask for more!
I just got a kegerator and as someone who likes making mead and ciders, I'm going to scale these up and give them a try.
I am about to move, but after that I need to jump on a few of these.
I know, the Cwispy Hydromel isn't "simple" because you have acid and tannin additions, but it's my favorite recipe from you and pretty easy.
That’s actually where we adopted the simple session mead recipe from. Using lemon and apple juice to bulk up the acid profile!
@@DointheMost duh, totally forgot that. I've made both the simple cider and session mead and they are both great.
I've made maybe twenty meads, with differing results and different friends and relatives liking and disliking the one or the other better.
But the Valheim tasty mead is everyones favorite. Only good comments on that one!
Keep on brewin’!
What an awesome video! I love these recipes and really want to try both the cider and the fruited mead. Thank you!
Great video, thanks BC 👌
Got my Mr Beer on the go at the moment and prepping for the cider to come. More excited about the cider than the ale but it's a learning experience.
I keep saying I need to break out my Mr. Beer kit again. It’s such a fun little fermenter.
I have no brew store of any kind near me my closest is 150 miles away so everything for me comes from the internet when it comes to brew equipment and supplies. And of course the grocery store
I have made both the simple and the valhiem meads, and I need to make the apple cider. Every time I have made these recipes they turned out great, all of my friends and family crushed them. I love that all the recipes you chose are quick to drink recipes. As a new brewer it was really hard to be patient for my higher abv meads to be done. I started brewing session meads (using your recipes) as a way to keep me occupied while my bigger meads aged. I feel like that is one of the "mistakes" I see new brewers make is not giving the time needed for clarifying and aging before they bottle/consume them. Thanks for being a great mentor to so many!
Eta: session meads are now my favorite thing to brew and drink!
I agree, session needs all day long! I’m glad you pointed that out, all of these recipes can be clear and bottled and carbonated in about six weeks, which is incredibly encouraging when you see some of the timelines in bigger richer recipes.
Lovely recipes!
Thanks!
Love you videos super informative main reason I'm commenting is to say go Sooners
Boomer Sooner, baby!!!
BOOMER
ROLL TIDE , ROLL !
Really Enjoyed your Video , Thanks My Friend 🍷🥃🍺🍻🥂🍾 . 🐯🤠
🍻🍻🍻
How much fermaid O did you put in the valheim mead? 2 grams?
Where did you find the octopus shirt?
Question what does the lemon juice do in the cider
Any recommendation on how long to bottle condition and age these before drinking?
For sessionable drinks like these at low ABV, it usually takes about two weeks to ferment, a few days to cold crash, and then 3 to 4 weeks to bottle condition properly. So usually six or seven weeks from start to finish.
@@DointheMost Thanks! I know with my higher ABV meads they are better after waiting for 6+ months, but these lower ABV drinks I wasn't sure of.
Thabks for sharing. The Valheim mead is going on my list. I Do have access to acids and nutrients. In that case what nutrient protocol would you recommend and would you make any acid additions if you weren’t trying to simplify the recipe for beginners?
The Valheim mead is self balancing with acids from the fruit. But a lot of folks prefer it sweeter than I do. I would frontload Fermaid O or DAP. So, run it through a nutrient calculator for your specific yeast, add up the total, and frontload 70-80% of that total some time after yeast pitch within the first 24h.
@@DointheMost Thanks for the info. I'm more of a wine strength kinda guy as opposed to a session mead so I've thought of doing a 5 gallon batch with 10lbs honey. I understand this would probably mean a staggered nutrient regime but would I also want to double the fruit?
@@kylek7523 you would definitely want to increase the fruit load if you’re increasing the ABV, just so you have a better opportunity to balance those flavors out and have it not end up tasting winey rather than like a mead.
@@DointheMost thanks, looking forward to it. This will be my first attempt incorporating whole fruit.
Silly question: When you use gallon, is it a US gallon? Thanks.
My biggest problem with alot of people's recipes is everyone uses raspberry most of the time and I'm allergic to raspberry so what could I swap them with without screwing up the recipe?
Blackberries would probably work.
I want that carboy shirt but its all sold out
When you say "per bottle", is that 500ml? 330?
Right at the beginning of the vid you mention complicated brews - got me thinking whatever happened to BrewsLab? I miss those wacky vids....
Hmmm, maybe compile the beginner friendly one in a beginner friendly playlist? That's going to take some serious spelunking xD
I've never used erythritol, and I don't use any chemicals besides yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme. So, let me ask you BC, in all honesty can YOU tell the difference between mead sweetened with erythritol and mead sweetened with honey? I have yet to make any session meads or hydromel, or any mead below the yeast's alcohol tolerance at all because I back sweeten with honey only. You see, I'm kinda stuck doing my high ABV sack meads because of my particular preferences and biases, though I'm always trying to think of ways to expand my repertoire. Let me explain. I will not pasteurize (heat damage) because I use raw, unfiltered and organic honeys, and I do so to preserve as many health benefits from the honey as possible (one of the reasons I make mead). Next, I will not use preservatives, I've done this once and it definitely altered the flavor (I thought potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate were supposed to be tasteless), and on top of altering flavor, these chemicals have adverse effects on gut bacteria, opening up a health can of worms I personally don't want to open. Then, lastly, are these non-fermentable sweeteners comparable to honey or sucrose (I'm thinking, no)? Lactose is one I plan on using, but not for sweetening and the others have me sketched out based on what I know regarding health and or flavor. Erythritol is probably the only nonfermentable sweetener I think I'd try because of its health safety and its potential relative sweetness to honey/sucrose. The taste is now my only concern. What do you think?
In a side-by-side test I can tell the difference between honey and erythritol based on the viscosity of the mead. Honey adds that extra mouthfeel that you’ll never get with a non-fermentable sweetener or sugar. I always prefer the one back sweetened with honey, but as you know, it makes bottle conditioning impossible to do safely for the beginner. I am a big proponent of erythritol for beginners and I am excited to see that it’s gaining popularity around the world.
@@DointheMost Thanks for the honest reply BC. I think I'll stick with my sack meads for now as it's what I prefer (high abv 14% -22%, sweet 1.020+). Unless I decide to make dry mead, I think I'll be in this wheelhouse for a while. It takes a lot longer to make sack mead, but there is no end to what you can do. The first mead I ever had was a traditional sack mead and this has always framed my idea of what a mead should be; strong, sweet, and viscous. One more question BC. What are your thoughts on degassing, and how and when do you degas? I personally use a vacuum pump and degas after complete clarification and racking (then I'm ready to bottle).
@@littlebones88 Generally the only degassing I do is when I rack from primary to secondary. No stirring, just the gentle degassing of the siphoning process. Sometimes I’ll do some degassing if I think the carbon dioxide is having an impact on fermentation speed/health. But it’s not often.
🦝
Very funny intro😆😅
Cheers 😁