Raisin Mead - How to Make Mead at Home
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- Опубликовано: 16 сен 2024
- How to Make a Mead with Raisins as a main ingredient. Mead is honey wine, or fermented honey and water, but can be flavored with many things. We chose raisins this time, not due to their mythical nutrient properties (which they don't really have) but for their sweet taste and depth of flavor. Raisin mead and raisin wine were popular 'country wines' made at home until just recently in many places and we aim to bring that concept back. Sometimes a simple method and a straightforward execution are all you need to make good mead at home. Our recipe for raisin mead is just that. You can make it easily with things found at your local grocery store.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb Sun-Maid Raisins (we soaked ours in some warm water to rehydrate): amzn.to/37WDBwF
3 lbs Sweet Squeeze Orange Blossom Honey: amzn.to/343DQov
Zest of Half an Orange
Add water to fill to the one gallon mark (warm water helps to loosen the honey)
1/2 packet of Lalvin 71B: amzn.to/2IHZJSG
Some items used in the making of this video (We are Amazon Affiliates and as such do receive a small commission if you purchase anything after using one of our links. There is no cost to you for this, but it does help the channel and enables us to keep bringing you content. Thank you!)
1 Gallon Wide Mouth Fermenter with Airlock: amzn.to/37cp1lm
Scale: amzn.to/3a3XNiM
Zester: amzn.to/2JTbwym
Silicone Spoon: amzn.to/2IKnN7D
"Master Baster": amzn.to/3oNlXSS
Hydrometer: amzn.to/3a5QuXL
Graduated Cylinder: amzn.to/3gGzgkY
Red Bucket of Sanitization: amzn.to/3ajP9gn
Star San: amzn.to/2KivbHR
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#raisinmead #meadwithraisins #howtomakemead #mead #meadmaking
#mead
This recipe will be replicated in my kitchen tomorrow!!! Skål!!!
"Did you sanitize your hat? Did you sanitize that cat?" lol I still laugh on a daily basis when I think about that in one of your other videos :-D The rant in here about sanitization just reminded me of it hehe
I’ve got my first two batches of mead to move to a secondary today. I did my best to follow y’all’s instructions from previous videos. If it comes out infected I’m blaming it on my cats breathing on the air locks. LOL
According to some, that's a real thing that can happen.... (I don't believe this, just repeating some of the insanity I have heard along the way!)
You guys are great. I’ve been making wines and meads for two years and you guys have inspired me on several occasions. After surgery my life did a 180 but I can still make meads. Thanks for the personality and info
Well, you are welcome. Glad you're doing well after surgery!
@10:55 yeaaaaa.... apparently that viewer didnt know that people have made wine by stepping on grapes with their feet or that there are certain groups in South America that get fermentation started by spitting into it
Lots of crazy ways to get drunk, lol.
Looks great and simple --- thanks for the videos, simple recipes and common sense hygiene rant ... and the fact that you actually show the whole process, talking about what might be improved, what worked, tasting notes, everything.
Thanks Dan, there's more to come soon on this too. We will be doing a racking/bottling video and another full tasting video.
I’ve home brewed beer for 10 years but never Mead. This is my first batch. I got 10 packs of wine yeast from Amazon so it certainly won’t be my last! Thanks for the recipe.
can you do a video where you go through *_all_* your home-brews that are either in the making or ageing and also maybe explain a bit about them as well
But we show all of them in their own videos..... I rarely make something of camera anymore that we haven't made on camera.
@@CitySteadingBrews no I mean just like to show your big shelf of drinks, since I imagine you have drinks that are years old
Thanks for your vidioes. I've learn everything about making mead from you 2. Keep going💪👌👌
You know, a touch of cinnamon to go with the raisins sounds awesome.
love raisins. love mead. gotta try this.
While watching this I had to stop and wonder how many fermenters and glass bottles you guys have because as many as I have at home, which most are in use, I couldn't imagine the number you have. My wife made me put everything up stairs in my man cave because the kitchen was getting full. So now its a man cave/gaming room/cigar lounge/full bar (in the making)/mini meadery with glassware everywhere.
In total? Probably about 25 or so.
Just today I was working myself into convincing my wife to accept some new cabinets in the kitchen just for the carboys! Luckily, my eldest son joined the works, sadly, we haven't convinced her... yet!
I'm just starting my first batch of mead from your "make your first mead" video (Just been waiting on my star san for 2 days now >:( ), you guys keep pumping so much cool stuff. I'm excited to see what this turns out like
Hope you enjoy
Hi guys. First I want to say that I love your channel. You have inspired me to make my first mead. It is a raisin and black tea mead. I have asked a question once before and you answered me which I thought was great. It just shows how much you care about your followers and what you are doing. Oh and I love the rants. They are always placed in the right spot. OK so I have made some mistakes my first attempt but I think I am overcoming them, but I do still have some questions. l am making a gallon in a rossi wine bottle. The first mistake I made was not getting the correct size bung. Didn't know they made more than one size. So I had to put it on my grinding wheel and grind it down to fit. Then I see your video that it takes a number 6 bung. So I got those. It has been fermenting for over 6 weeks and is still producing a bubble about every 20 seconds. I purchased a variety pack of wine yeasts but I don't know what type I am actually using since they are not labeled. I accidentally poured the whole packet in. Is that a problem? Will it make the fermentation process take longer? I know you said there is no set time for the fermentation process to end but do you think the process is coming close to ending? I am anxious to taste it. I am using water in my air lock. You use alcohol in yours. Is water ok to use? First mistake I made is I started the process before I got my hydrometer so I don't have a beginning weight but I guess that's ok right? The raisins are still floating, will they sink after the fermentation process ends? I do have some dead yeast at the bottom of the bottle so it looks as though it is still ok. No strange colors on the top of the liquid. My goal for my first mead is to possibly mimic a port wine with it being sweet with raisin overtones and tannin from the tea. Do you think I have a chance at that? Sorry for the long post, just so many questions.
As soon as you aerated with the baster i was happy I'm not the only one.
May not be the best way, but it was fun.
@@CitySteadingBrews I did it on accident and then kept going for like 10 minutes just watching the bubbles. I may need more hobbies. LoL
i miss that red bucket animation
Same
My Girl friend and I also Missed it!
Know what I'm doing next. Just finished my Cranberry Meade. It was great. You guys are so my inspiration. Next one, Raisin Mead
Awesome!
Just an idea, you should try making wine with Molasses/treacle like you’d use honey in mead.
It's known to taste horrible just so you're aware. It takes a long time to age.
I just bottled my first mead using your basic mead recipe and it's SO GOOD!!
Thank you Brian and Derica for the great recipes, lessons, and advice.
Fantastic!
really great vid. I use your ABV calculator all the time. Very encouraging. Thanks ever so.
I think some people really take the sanitization too far. Be clean of course but the over emphasis can be more off putting to people new to this. You guys are doing great.
Thanks Everett.
Well made.
Thanks, glad you liked it.
Thank you for sharing!! Trying this one next! You guys are amazing!!
Ikr jeez
Starting this one today. Just no oranges in the house and I'm not walking the two miles to the store in the snow (no car) so the orange blossom honey will have to do, so much for steppin' it up... LOL!
Awesome video! This channel helped me so much to start homebrewing that I almost couldn't do without you. I'm curious to know how much brews do you have going on at a time.
Awesome! I remember you asking many questions and seeing the progression in your knowledge. It's pretty cool to see that happen from our side :)
How many? Right now.... only about 8?
@@CitySteadingBrews lol. Only 8, your slipping Brian 😁
I always thought some people had to much fear of bacteria, etc. I read and interesting article a few years back. The expert being interviewed, at the interviewers home, actually became agitated when he saw the antimicrobial paint on the walls, amongst other things. Because trying to eliminate all bacteria is in a home is actually a bad thing to do. They moved the interview to the patio so he could relax without the distraction.
As you might have guessed by now, I don't worry to much about this. I keep things as clean as they need to be, but don't get carried away with it.
P.S. I do use star San.
I started an apple cranberry wine 4 days ago I cant wait to give it a taste lol
Sometimes you actually want a little bit of bacteria and wild yeast. Especially if you are going to be distilling your mead. Love the video and the tutorial on meads .
We don't distill, so I wouldn't know about that. However, bacteria can make a brew go south, so it's still something to avoid since don't you need a fermented product to make a distilled product? I would think a spoiled ferment wouldn't make a great distillate. Wild yeast can sometimes give a little extra flavor complexity but usually get starved out by commercial yeasts, does that really make a difference in a distilled spirit? In whiskey, my understanding is that most distillers aren't too fussy about what yeast they use and all that. They just need the alcohol.
@@CitySteadingBrews , but you do need a fermitted product for distilling. Our grains or wines have to go through a couple conversations. We need to convert starches into usable sugars and we usually allow for them to clarify just as you do in meads. The old timers didn't have much access to commercial yeasts so they relied on cultivating their own strains. Keeping it in the spring house and keeping it cool. The esters were amazing and probably can't be duplicated today. We still try to find the magic. Some of the distillates actually are purposely "infected " as we search.
I always love the videos and I've made wine for fun a few years now (25L per year) and I always wondered; Would a magnetic stirrer be functional to use constantly for aeration during wine and mead making?
I would love to make some mead, however the cost of honey here is to high for the volume I'd need. Basically it's about 1,5 eurocent per gram for the cheap honeys and about double or triple for anything non generic.
I think I may have finally figured out the whole sanitization thing. So think about when you're cooking food and you wash your dishes. The dishes don't need to be sterilized they just need to be clean in order to be safe for their purpose. Making Mead and Wine is closer to cooking food than it is to trying to grow and isolated culture in a jar of grain in a lab where everything has to be 100% sterile and 1 single foreign contamination/mold/bacteria/fungal spore will require you to throw it away and start over. The reason this is so different is because in that situation you are creating environment that is perfect for all pretty much most microscopic life forms, whereas when making Mead and Wine, there are a lot less favorable conditions, including alcohol and no oxygen, which will kill a lot of things.
This. Yes.
I work in a laboratory with these conditions you describe. Everything is true and correct. In the fridge where the blood bags for patients are stored, we use about the same level of cleanliness as cs mead and more uses in their videos. That's worth thinking about.
Would be interesting to see an orange mead
It's been done to death with Jaom, but... I'll think about it :) I like oranges.
@@CitySteadingBrews wouldn't you get that same harsh effect like orange wine???
Yup.
Followed your first mead recipe and actually made my first batch! Thank you for educating us and making all these quality videos! _"Now we're gonna let it sit!"_
You are so welcome!
Another great video! I now have 4 demijohns fermenting mead with your recipes. I've read a lot of people use campden tablets for stabilization during racking or bottling ( 1 tablet per gallon). Do you use campden tablets and what do you advise?
Camden tabs don’t actually stabilize on their own and... we have never needed them.
@@CitySteadingBrews thanks for the advice!😊
As are as I know raisins are dried grapes, sultanas are washed in acid then dipped in oil before drying
Some are, yes.
This is one I definitely want to make. There aren’t any raisins available in my area that haven’t neen coated in oil but thanks to your video revisiting the Viking’s Blood, I might have a go at rinsing the raisins in hot water. Ordering raisins through Amazon US is prohibitive because they’d have to be sent all the way from the US to Europe. The shipping costs would go through the roof compared to the cost of the raisins. It’s also the only reason I haven’t ordered anything via your affiliate links. Now, if it.s possible for you to have affiliate status for Amazon.de, Amazon.nl or Amazon.fr (respectively the German, Dutch or French Amazon stores) I’d be ordering in a flash... which makes me wonder if you have statistics on your European viewers. If it’s worth it or if it’s possible to go to those Amazon stores via your links and give you your commission, that would have me order stuff through you...
Regarding aeration: if you don’t want to use a drill, a possibility is to use a whisk but to twirl the handle by rubbing your palms together as if it were a stick and you were making fire by friction... only less hard. Works for me and I’m a klutz like you wouldn’t believe.
Hi Brian and Derica. You have been my teachers for over a year, and I have made "Your First Mead," "Dry Mead," "Wine from Grape Juice," "Viking Blood Mead (the new recipe)," and wine from grapes from the arbor behind my house without any problems. A few days ago, I put together the Raisin Mead, following your procedure to the letter. So far, the must has not produced any carbon dioxide. I used a drill with a paint stirring attachment to stir it, and I bubbled some air into it with a 300 ML syringe and a piece of tubing. So far, no joy. Usually, when I make mead, the bubbles start almost at once. Help! What should I do now?
Might be dead yeast, too cold, too high a starting gravity…
What size graduated cylinder do you use for your readings? That's the last item I need before I start my first brew.
Mmmmm raisin mead, I'm imagining such deliciousness....also I had a little accident, wouldn't you know glass when wet is slippery so after 3 years I broke my hydrometer right as I was about to take a reading. So I am now in the predicament where I have no idea what the gravity was then and me being a bit daft put dried cherries in and now having got a new hydrometer took a reading and it is a solid 30points higher than it was last time. Lesson here folks dont add stuff when you cant take a reading
Is it helpful, or worthwhile, to chop up the raisins? Or how about running them thru blender?
Not really. The cells are pretty broken up already so the yeast can get to it. Blending up is more mess than it's worth.
I bought that exact same turkey baster this week! ha
Be an interesting to see progress for sure. I'm still letting my peach nectar Honey mead work some more.
Still chuckling over the "breathing" causing an infection. Obviously, due to the current situation, I get it, but watch the Japanese make Sake or me make beer for over 30 years without an infection. Relax and brew.
Yup. The pandemic has made people hyper aware of breathing and particles, which is good to be aware of, but... the likelihood of infection from breathing on it is very low.
@@CitySteadingBrews My degree was in Biology and this is a serious concern but yeast are miraculous little fungi. Just work clean. Glad your out there spreading the truth. Thanks guys.
Hello! Just got in to this incredible hobby! And im going to make my first mead with fruit. I do want to ask a quick question: whats your opinion on adding the fruit in the secundary or primary fermentation? I have been thinking of doing it in the secondary. Any ideas?
P.D. Love your channel! Its so helpful and fun
Hi Brian and Derica. I'm still trying to make a success out of the raisin mead I started on March 8, 2023. Today it is April 1, 2023 and I took a specific gravity reading to see if the mead had been fermenting, but the carbon dioxide was escaping from the (Northern Brewer Wide Mouth) fermenter without making bubbles in the air lock. The initial specific gravity on March 8, before I put in my first (Lalvin 71B) yeast was 1.110. The specific gravity I got today is 1.30, which gives an ABV number of something like negative 24%. So I guess nothing has fermented yet. I re-hydrated another envelope of Lalvin 71B yeast, added it to the must, and now I an waiting to see what happens. Have you had this problem before, and if so, how did you fix your mead? I'm running out of ideas myself, and I do not want to throw out this batch of mead, because as you have said, Honey Ain't Cheap.
You may be reading the hydrometer incorrectly… ruclips.net/video/Y0KP0WYreic/видео.html
Would chopping the raisins stop them from being soo absorbent? Might solve your bloated raisins from clogging up your airlock. Maybe?
We didn't say we had a problem in this video. Soaking them in hot water worked perfectly. If you want to chop them, go for it, but it won't change the outcome much if at all.
Hi both..Carnt believe your doing this as I'm about to start my very first mead... honey and raisins is what I want too do...If I cut my raisins up would this help to release there sugars....Graham.
Yes cutting up should
Not really. I mean, if it were better, we'd do it :)
Raisins cell walls are pretty damaged by drying already so, yeast being microscopic, and having several weeks... will get to it.
Many thanks for your time in commenting...
You forgot nutes! 🤣 I'm kidding! Awesome video, I'll have to try this one day!
Love the videos! Is there going to be a part 2 for the raisin wine experiment?
Yes, it's coming.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks 😁
Just distilled some of my mead yesterday (legal here) and the spirit came out bitter. I realise now it's because of the pith of the orange peel i added to the still.
Ended up tasting like toilet cleaner. Will use orange zest tomorrow.
Anyone interested in the full explanation of the different types of currants? :P
A lot of dried fruits also are treated with sulfates (or sulfites .... Sorry can't remember exactly) to preserve colour and not just look dark/oxidized. And that kills fermentation. Always check if dried fruits are sulfered or sulfate/sulfite free
Sunmaid raisins are not sulfited. That’s why we use them.
@@CitySteadingBrews true enough, but not every product is the same in every country or available everywhere, heck there are lots of times where I am that I don't see any sunmaid raisins.
Also it applies for any dried fruits not just raisins.
Thanks for the videos, finding them informative and interesting. 😁
This is true. You also want to look out for oils as some dried fruit add oil as well which is also not good for fermentation. If you have a dehydrator (or even an oven), then making your own dried fruit is always the safest option.
Hi Brian and Derica. Thanks so much for answering my questions. I watched the video about how to read the hydrometer, and took yet another specific gravity measurement. This time, it came out 1.008. With a starting specific gravity of 1.110, this gives an answer of 13.77 ABV. Given that my second specific gravity reading was so off, I am disinclined to trust the initial specific gravity reading of 1.110. The air lock never did show any activity, and I am wondering if it would be a good idea to rack what I have into another fermenter and try to ferment it again with a different yeast. The Lalven 71B I have been using has not shown any reactivity, so I'm wondering if I ought to take 1.008 as a new starting specific gravity, and try with Premier Classique or bread yeast, the other yeasts I have at hand. Thanks again for your help, and let me know what you think.
If you're at 1.008, just let it sit a week or two and check again. It's probably done. Rack, bottle and enjoy!
My history is in distilling with a occasional cider, wine, and saki. Now thanks to yall soon some mead. 😊🥂 I bought 40 1 gallon apple juice glass jugs for a buck a piece I know score! I want to use them mostly for storage can you point me to a aftermarket caps that will fit them?
I don't use them for storage.... but, didn't the apple juice jugs come with caps?
@@CitySteadingBrews unfortunately no but thank you. I'll search around and fine something.
You can actually easily get the #6.5 bungs/stoppers without a hole, they would work. I bought screw caps for my 1ga carboys at my local wine store for $1 each.
@@theastronomer5800 I found some of the right caps on Amazon I think I got 20 caps for 10 dollars. Thank you very much for the thought 😊
Im wondering If you ever tried making mead with meadosweet....as it is seen as THE ancient mead-incredient
It's only important to certain areas really, but no, we haven't used it. I plan to.
AWESOME collaboration guys!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi, have you ever tried making mead using mulled wine/glogg. Is that even possible ?
Would chopping up the raisins and adding pectic enzyme help with breaking them down
Maybe slightly...
in regards oxygenation ... now follow my train of thought ... Aquarium air pump a length of tube and a bubbler stone ... makes the bubbles much smaller and airates faster ...
Sure, if you want to you can totally do that. Many brewers do something like that.
Hi. Have you ever made sangria? Is it a special wine? Do you bottle it? Thank you for taking the time to answer this.
It's wine with fruit added. Kind of a punch.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you for the info. I’m learning😀
you should make a colap with CS guitars. that would be really funny.
Mead and guitars? 'shrug' sure? Though in our case CS stands for City Steading, we just put CS to shorten the name on RUclips.
I wonder if an aquarium bubbler wouldn't oxygenate that a little more efficiently? Also maybe before steeping the raisins stick them in a food processor perhaps they will soak up less.
Sure, you know you can make it as complex as you like and you know I like keeping it simple :)
@@CitySteadingBrews it's only a little more complex
@@josephwoodall832 true, but it's just more stuff too :)
Hi, I have a question about yeast. Temperature for yeast to be more specific. It comes with a back story. (Sorry). So 3 months ago my house caught fire and i became immediately homeless. Just so happened i had started several batches the night before the fire. One of the first things i rescued after we were able to go back and salvage our stuff was all my brews. It's been a scramble ever since, finding a home etc. To the point where out of panic we moved into a dilapidated trailer and live completely off grid now. Solar, generator, inverters, a bunch of batteries and propane heaters as our new home did not come with viable electricity and gas. I live in ohio, its snowing here right now and because propane can be pricey and I have 5 cats, I don't run the heat when we're not home. It's been 47 degrees inside the house at its lowest so far and it's only the beginning of winter, and a few of my carboys have seemingly stalled. They were all in the same closet that I discovered a softball size hole in the floor a couple weeks ago. Very drafty area. The trailer originally was missing about 1/3 of its floors that we had to rebuild so missing a few "small" holes isnt that surprising but it does mean the wine was being stored in one of the coldest areas of the house. I decided to try salvaging by adding some new yeast. The bottles are now on a top shelf to be in the warmest area but it still occassionally gets to be 55ish up there if we're only heating the front half and not the back half or just plain not home and not running heaters. Now the actual question...2 actually. 1. If the temp got too low do you think it stalled because the yeast died? And 2. With restart attempt they have yet to do much. (it's been 5 days). Would the dry yeast in the packets also be susceptible to temp death when still dry/dehydrated? I'm wondering if the temp drops killed the restart yeast as well. I more or less assumed the yeast in the bottles may have died but it occurred to me today that the packets themselves may have gotten compromised as well. Side note. I'm very pleased that I made the effort to save all my brew despite them being in a fire. Only a few bottles were truly compromised and the 3 restarts I believe are still viable they just need... something to push them back on the right track and I'm thinking heat is the obstacle I face to not only survive winter myself but also keep my cats, plants, and yeast happy.
That's quite a novel! Basic gist is... you want 70f or so and fairly consistent temps too. Bringing those cold ones back to that temp should bring them back to fermentation too.
Love the content guys! Can the raisins be replaced with dried elder or blueberry?
Completely different flavor and profile, but... yes?
Thanks for the great recipe. And just to be a newb PintA, do you think I could substitute lemon zest for orange zest, organic white (ASSUMING NO OIL ON THE RASINS I CHOOSE) raisins for dark raisins and add white tea for a little tannin?
You can, but it will come out differently.
I’m unsure about the taste (unsure about the taste because I dislike black licorice) and how well it would work but a licorice mead might be interesting
I don't like black licorice either :)
@@CitySteadingBrews ehhh... it was a concept not a good one but a concept. Back to the drawing board 🤔
Seems like my mead recipe, fewer raisins though. Where's the "Brian Rule: If you can't have fun you should be doing something else" shirt? Anyway looking forward to checking my mead.
My 'first mead' is this with less raisins. I wanted something more raisin forward this time.
She's working on the t-shirt lol
Hi guys! Please could you advise where you got your large turkey baster from? I am in the UK. I have looked all over the Internet and cannot find one!
Amazon. Link is in the description for this video: "Master Baster": amzn.to/3oNlXSS
Hey Derica and Brian...quick question here. What do you with the mead/wine/beer you do not like? Do you try saving it by adding flavor, dump it, give it away, etc?
It's rare we dislike something THAT much.... but in those cases, I cook with it or share it with others.
Have you ever tried an immersion blender for mixing a mead?
Nope, and... I'd be afraid to! It could go everywhere.
Hi, Guys! thanks for the awesome content, because of ur videos, I ferment 4L for the price I pay to get one 1L of cheapest wine, I live in an Arab country, and the over reaching Gov taxed the alcohol like hell!
Question: I use a 5L (1.3gl) plastic container to ferment my wine, will this have some negative effects?
I'd rather glass, but for primary, plastic ls alright.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you.
Do you have an opinion about breaking up the raisins using an emersion blender?
Unnecessary. Yeast are microscopic and can get in there :)
If you put boiling water on the raisins, won't that convert the sugars to non-fermentable?
I didn’t boil them or cook them. Just poured hot water on them. No, that amount of heat and contact won’t do that. You need to caramelize the sugars to do that.
Hi there I trying to make an aloe vera wine do I need a tea bag and raisins ?
I have never made an aloe vera wine, sorry, I don't have a recipe for that.
Would you guys ever make a sherry???
Sherry is a complex and time intensive process of at least 3 years so.... maybe we can simulate something but it won’t really be sherry.
A couple of years ago I saw one of your video on how to make Zante Currant Raisin mead and I thought I saved it, but now I can’t find it. Did you delete it?
I have no recollection of such a thing on our channel.
about risks of contamination and other fears of germs ; mead dates back at least 5,000 years. long before the discovery of germs.
to made some mead the respect of some simple rules (like TURBOS) is enough. no need for the sterilization level of a surgical block
Agreed.
So....if I first put dried fruit in hot water and find an oil film, then I have just removed the oil from the fruit and they can be safely used. Right?
Mostly. I would rinse a few times if I saw a film. Still not 100% but should be alright.
Just realized I wasn't subscribed now I am!
Yay!
Just started this mead on Jan 17th and made a second mead 3lbs of wildflower honey and water. The wildflower only batch has a more active airlock but that one is in a carboy and the recipe from this video is in little bubbler wide mouth 1.4 gallon. Do you think it might be because of wider mouth?
Different brews will have different levels of activity, nothing to worry about.
Thank you for sharing this videos, I made my first meads couple weeks ago following this channel. I noticed, it is not react too much, just little bubbles. At this point I have exactly 2 weeks, my question is: Do you think I can add more yeast? or is too late.
If your brew is fermenting, there is no need to add more yeast, it won't do anything.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks a lot, I appreciate your time.
But what about the raisin wine?
12pounds honey 4 1/2 gallons water ,nutrient,pectic, few rasins red star yeast 2pacs bubbled a lot for two weeks then stopped? Help please.
Take a hydrometer reading?
Don't have a hydrometer.
Have made 10 batches the same way all ok,this one I even tried to restart an nothing?
Was just trying to figure out what to make for my next batch when this popped up. Guess I know what I'm making now.
Would it be better to chop the raisins before soaking to get more flavor extraction or is that just extra work?
The cells are broken up pretty good by drying, so... not really necessary.
thanks for the reply. Saw where you answered this a few times before I asked. I should have read the comments first. Got the batch all mixed up, aerated, and sitting on my shelf of fermentation. Can't wait to see how it comes out.
@@ClassicRyder1 no worries. Happy to help!
couldn't you just screw the cap on and plug the small hole and shake to oxygenate the brew thats what I do?
They leak pretty well when I do that.
Isn't Raisin mead a pyment? Considering that Raisins are dried grapes?
Hrm.... dunno. Maybe? It's a melomel for sure, but... a pyment? Interesting idea.
got some packs of 71b the other day and i decided to make some mead with it and it didnt start overnight so im guessing the entire thing was too cold what would be an easy way to heat it up without killing the yeast?
Just let it come to temp on it's own, should be fine. Can take up to 3 days for fermentation to start.
My cranberry mead suffered from sunflower oil. No fermentation in the first week at all. It only started after stitting andadding more yeast.
Two weeks later the fermentation is still sluggish.
The real issue is rancidity, but I can see how it would slow a ferm too.
Just started my first brew, based on your "First mead video", can I just rinse my raisins in hot water to remove the oil. Been difficult to find raisins without this oil in my location.
That's pretty much what we did in the video.
Could we use essential oil that’s food grade?
For which part? If you mean the zest, you're better off just using actual zest.
Have you ever used golden raisins? And if so is there a taste difference?
Taste like raisins to me... :)
Any reason not to reuse the same container with the lees still in from the last batch and just pour in new on top. My thinking is it might result in "training" yeast for higher alcohol tolerance. I've tried it now twice and I'm getting low 15s from bread yeast now.
Not training really, but you can do it, yes.
Just know that yeast will adapt, and sometimes it's for the better, but sometimes, it's not.
Would this recipe be good for a date mead?
You can use this a base, sure. Just switch the raisins for dates.
Did you make a video on how to calculate sugars from fruit?? It's something I struggle with and if u did then I missed it
We look it up. If you are using blueberries, look up "how much sugar is in one pound of blueberries?" :)
@@CitySteadingBrews I looked it up your example and it says 45 g of sugar. Is that a gravity of 0.045 or did I do something wrong?? (Sorry if I've posted this questions 3 times it keeps deleting on my side)
It would be 0.0046
@@CitySteadingBrews so say strawberries for example have 50gs of sugar (just an example idk what the actual sugar is) it would be 0.0050?? Just add an extra 0 in front??
@@elijahkaehler9369 no, it's relative to the pound of sugar which is 454 g. 45 grams was easy as it's 1/10 of a pound.
BAM!... You did IT! 🤭 The Best vaccine! 🤣
That emeril reference lol
You caught that, huh? :)
Meow, meow the Emeril reference was a great throw back to better times lol...hopefully we'll get back to normal soon, Even though we all want it Meow!
I have a 1 gallon carboy that has been fermenting for 3.5 weeks and my last 2 readings have been 1.050. My starting was 1.126 would it hurt to rack it into a secondary
Sounds like it’s not finished. No reason to rack it yet.
@@CitySteadingBrews what does it mean when the gravity readings fluctuates up and down for an example original 1.130 goes down to 1.050 then goes up to 1.084
@@patrickwelch5561 Wow, I can't see how it could possibly go up. You can't convert the alcohol back into sugars. The only thing I could think of is if you've added something that released sugars after some time...?
I am new to this. I've made a batch and it looks and smeels good, still going 2nd week. Then I made a new batch same way but different yeast (bulldog mead yeast). It finished fermenting in 2 days, yes 2 days , from OG 1090 to 1000 and it smelled very sour. So I throw it out and tried again. Now it's day 2 and it smells really sour again. Could it be the type of yeast? I cleaned everything and was very thorough. Should I let it sit and see if it mellows out? Any advice it appreciated.
Most likely it is the yeast, but it simply went dry. Two days is fast. These things might need time to age, or some sweetening. It's a shame you tossed it out, as that was just a complete waste, there was nothing wrong with it. Next time, ask us here before dumping anything :) Most times it can be salvaged, fixe or, just needs some time to taste better. But, you did hit on an important detail... if you want the results we got, you have to use the same products we used in the video, especially yeast.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks I will let it sit and mellow. Also thanks for all you great videos. And I wont throw out anymore unless moldy 🙂
Definitly at that point!
Hi like to try this one but we are in Ireland and carboy is 5 litres how do I scale this
I'd multiply everything by 1.25. The carboy that they used here is a bit larger than a gallon, so around or just over 4L.
@@theastronomer5800 could I do 4l and leave the headspace
Yes, in primary, but once you rack it you don't want that much space.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you love the channel
My very first traditional mead I used a decent amount of raisins and it ended up tasting a little like bourbon! I loved it but my girlfriend didn't like it...because she said it tasted like bourbon. Anybody else have this experience?
That's kind of what I'm aiming for here.
Did you chop your raisins or cook them whole?
We didn’t cook them really and they were whole.