Is your Homebrew Unstable? Stabilizing Mead, Wine, Cider
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- Is your Homebrew Unstable? Stabilizing Mead, Wine, Cider. Stabilization means it won't ferment any more. It's a simple concept that has many ways to achieve it. Some need additional ingredients, some are just a method. All of them can bring stability to your homebrew!
Formula for Fortification:
To calculate the ABV after fortifying, you take the first liquid in ounces (or ml) and multiply by the ABV%. Then take the second liquid in ounces (or ml) and multiply that by the ABV%. Add those numbers together as well as the volumes (keep it ounces or ml). Then you divide the total of the ABV% numbers by the ounces of volume.
An example: We have 20 ounces of 10% ABV Mead. We add 5 ounces of 50% ABV Spirit. That gives us 20x10=200, and 5X50=250. Added together we have 450 and 25 ounces total. 450/25=18, so tht's 18% ABV.
This works for specific gravity just as well as ABV.
Videos we mentioned in this video:
Strawberry Wine: • Easy Homemade Strawber...
Coffeemel: • Coffee Mead - Coffeeme...
Stall or Finished?: • How do I know when my ...
Cold Crashing: • Cold Crashing Wine, Be...
30% Mead: • How We Made 30% ABV MEAD!
Pineapple Habanero Mead: • Habanero Pineapple Mea...
Pasteurization: • Easiest Way to Pasteur...
Ginger Beer: • Ginger Beer - Make Hom...
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This cover image is 10000 times better than stock photos with no name people. 😂
IMO this is one of the most important topics in home brewing. Too many channels focus on the brew part and not the safety (or lack thereof). Having experienced a bottle bomb (thankfully it was under the stairs in a basement and I was nowhere near it) it can be extremely dangerous. I've seen so many YT channels talk about brewing and nothing about stabilizing. Thanks for making a long form video on this topic!
Anytime, we are here to help!
Thank you for another reminder on the importance of making sure your brew is stable. Bottle bombs and unexpected brew fountains are a home brewer’s nightmare.
I recently used baker’s yeast to make a JOAM because my daughter’s boyfriend likes it so much. It went dry. Luckily I’d taken an original gravity reading and when I took the next reading I saw it’d chewed through 14.8% worth of fermentable sugars (around 110 points). I took around five readings because I couldn’t believe my eyes. I never thought baker’s yeast even could go that far. So I back sweetened and pasteurised. No way am I trusting theories about the alcohol tolerance of baker’s yeast ever again and I wasn’t going to risk it kicking into gear again.
I’ve had so many yeast strains overshooting their reported alcohol tolerance that I always stabilise in some way or other.
Happy Sunday guys. Appreciate the new episode. This must've been Friday before the Zoom as Brian is wearing the shirt he had on that night.
Dear Derica and Brian, Love the fact that you are still here on RUclips, parting wisdom. Cant wait to see the kegging method hope you do it from start to finish including any errors / slip ups. as always you two rock.
I would love to learn more about your experience with the one gallon keg and the painstaking process of getting the correct equipment for setup. Love your videos! Have a great day!
You may not be the only ones giving info, but your the ones I always watch and still learn from. My grandpa taught me how to brew and distill - but brewing is the only thing I do anymore. So I just want to say thank you
You are welcome :)
Thanks for another great video.
I've come to the point in home fermentation that I stabilize in one of two ways. Either by fortifying (which I believe is the best way) or I pasteurize. I've only had one "bottle bomb" and that was enough to get me to study how to stabilize. There are actually many ways to "stop the yeast", but many of them do change the taste (or mouth feel).
Keep up your encouragement and we'll keep watching and learning 😁👍🙏❤️
The plastic bottle trick I learned from you guys works like a charm.Fill my bottles and one plastic one,and priming sugar + extra for sweetness(calculated before hand)and as soon as the plastic one hits my carbonation level I like I pop them in the sous vide water bath for 20min @ 60°C and that's it,never had a problem.
Edit: sorry, I must have added that in the water bath, I have an open bottle with a thermometer in,filled with water that I insert at the same time as the others and as soon as that thermometer bottle hit 60°C I set a timer for 20min and them remove all of them to cool.
I do the same as well. I HAVE had a few blow with one I was trying to get a higher carbonation but a bottle blowing in an ice chest of water just means you lost a bottle and have a little clean up vs a safety issue.
Excellent video providing consise accurate information. You two keep getting better. Looking forward to ginger beer take two. Thanks. ❤
Thank you!
Nice one! yea i have some challenges with being in a colder climate and brew space is a bit on a cold side so can end up low temp stopping! Last lot went to sleep for 5 months when had thought it was finished and lucky bumped the bottle and notices was rock solid! :)
Timely release on this as 3 of my 4 tested ended up super dry.. The fourth a Methlegin was absolute perfection and that's conditioning after racking. 100% I'm going to backsweeten the 3 dry ones and then stabilise them via the heating method I've no idea how to spell. Time to find some nice bottles to receive this goodness into soon. ❤ Great video will watch again during the process later.
Love your channel
Love your guys videos. You've lead me to be so much more adventurous and try new things. I have had awesome results making hard ciders and late nights scraping banana wine fodder off my kitchen ceiling at early hours of the morning. I would love to see you guys do a TIKI related brew or a video where you guys switch positions where Derica does the main presentation and Brian does assisting and describing what's going on. Thanks for producing so many well entertaining and informative videos.
We actually did switch… I burned my hand a couple years ago and had to play support!
The slow blink moment at 17:00 cracked me up. Great stuff as always guys.😅😅
I love that image ! 😂. Great video very interesting as always. The new brew sounds delicious!
I've kept my bread yeast in the freezer for decades. Never had one go bad despite getting WAY past the exp date. Only limit I've found is that it needs to come to room temp before adding to liquid. If you don't, the temp difference shatters the cells, killing the yeast.
Thanks for the info. friends!
This one is def bookmarked. Another great vid
Appreciate it!
Love it good job.
Thank you! Cheers!
Super important topic! 👍
I do use chemical stabilization with wine, so I can tell you about the quantities...but don't trust me, check it for yourself if you choose to go this route. Potassium metabisulfite kills most bacteria and fungi, so make sure not to use it immediately if you want your red wine for example, to go through malolactic fermentation. Wine yeast it just temporarily knocks out, and scavenges oxygen by binding with it (protects from oxygenation). It is enough only 2g or 1/4 of a teaspoon per 5 gallons.
Sorbate prevents yeast from multiplying and thus building a viable colony to referment. It is less potent so the dose is 4-5g per gallon or about 1/2 of tsp per gallon.
As for meads, I've started using pasteurization mainly because of what I've seen here. It does not have any deleterious effects on the beverage, quite to the contrary.
This one's handy thanks for putting it out there
Happy to help!
Rewatching this...
Thank you so much for putting up with me during my brewing infancy!
My latest creation is a white grape Pyment made with organic white grape juice, raw honey, raisins, and black tea.
Going to put orange rinds in secondary.
Just got a mead🎉 that clocked in at 16.2% ABV!!!
I had it crystal clear but when I back sweetened it it got cloudy again. I'm very tempted to get some Bacardi 151 and just make Christmas presents!
Thank you guys for everything and Happy Holidays to you and your family ❤❤❤❤
It should clear again. We have that happen when sweetening. And happy holidays to you and yours!
@@CitySteadingBrews fingers crossed 🤞
And a Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Enjoy a nice Scotch by the fire for me 😉
Fortified calculations - YES TY. 🙂
Its n the description if you didn’t see it :)
@@CitySteadingBrews Yes I saw it - that's why I Thank you. 🙂 Most excellent.
You are welcome.
You guys are the reason I got into brewing, and the time I asked a question about my strawberry mead, you, and the community at large were all so helpful! I can attest to your point that getting a hydrometer is very helpful!
But just as a (very late) update on the brew. That brew finished, and the help I got was great.. it still ended up failing due to off flavors from the strawberries in primary adding an.... interesting flavor (kinda like gasoline)
I have since moved on to making multiple metheglin batches, and they've been wonderful! Your channels are amazing and very helpful! Just a quick ask: it took me a very long time to find the plantlife channel. Could you plug your other channels more often?
We do not plug our other channels for a very good reason. We did at one time and got a lot of people who thought that subbing to our other channel and not watching somehow helped… it does not. So, we try to make each channel stand on it’s own.
When it comes to kegging, the ball lock posts and connectors are actually different for the liquid side verses the air side. So pay attention to the markings on the posts and color of connector to prevent things like air leaks.
Initially, Campden Tablets are used to kill off any potentially harmful bacteria that may may be present in the base ingredients used in winemaking, and to discourage any wild yeast from gaining a foothold. Campden will not kill yeast, but it creates an environment inhospitable to them.
Fermentation Stopper (Pottassium Sorbate) (E202) does what it says on the tin. Also known as wine stabiliser, it is used to stop the fermentation process after the wine has been bottled and prevent any further fermentation in the bottle.
You need both to truly stop fermentation.
11:40 I had this problem working out of a shed. I use a 13 gallon electric fermentor filled with water and set to 70 degrees. I place the furmenting Carboy's in the water up to the neck of the bottle and place a short airlock on top, and then close the lid with a vent. Even with the sometimes 30 degree swings here in Florida, This has worked very well for me so far.
I know for a fact that one time I had an apple wine break 17% using bread yeast! Went from 1.120 to 0.995!!!
This was before I knew about or was confident in back sweetening, and I didn't let it age, so it was NOT tasty AT ALL... But it sure did the trick!!!
❤
It can happen, for sure.
ive only really jut started drinking mead in the last few years, my favorite right now is a welsh blackberry mead, so nice... but a couple of weeks ago i started making my own :D wish me luck
It's noon somewhere! Let's have a drink! BTW, my wife and I were enjoying a wonderful (perfect!) port this evening from Costco (if I recall, $15-20) that I'd love your opinion on called 'Six Grapes' W & J Graham's Douro Valley, Portugal Reserve Ruby Porto. We figure they must be doing something right as they were established in 1820. I know that you and your misses enjoy a rich wine on the sweet side and this one has some beautiful cherry and tobacco notes that will have you both going... 'OH! That's good!' Reason I mention it is that perhaps you might be able to duplicate something like it (cherry mead perhaps?) and share the recipe with the rest of us. It's 19.5% ABV, so is likely a fortified wine... but, personally, I'd like to refer to it as "Grape Juice Plus". It's dangerous as it goes down like silky ambrosia. Sulphites yes, but I'm fairly sure it's a light application as I normally get headaches from any cheap wine dosed with them. 😁
Thank you awsome show. Still waiting on my simple meed and spiced apple wine to finish, bothe are clearing greatly in secondary stage, i started both on 9/11 bothe had lelvins 1118 apple went to 17.5% meed went to 12.5%
I love these 101 type term explenation videos. Alot of us newbies hear alot of terms and we don't really understand. I would really love a vid on the explanations of the various "chemicals" what they do, when to use them and WHY they are used and how they work. When I go to my local home brew shop they have an entire Isle of these "chemicals" I'm entirely dumbfounded down that isle. I have no idea what pectic enzymes are or acid Bleds.
ruclips.net/video/PHuYohFWmE0/видео.html
I've gotten lazy with my brewing and dont really experiment too much anymore. I have a basic formula I apply to all my "ciders" and that produces the level of abv, dryness, and tartness that I like. I think moving to mini kegs might have started this because its so much easier for me. My kegs stay refrigerated which makes any residual yeast go dormant and i can simply let the co2 do the carbonating. Give it at least a week in the keg to acclimate to its new environment. You'll notice how much the flavor improves if you steal a taste every day or 2. Also, remember to burp the keg to purge any oxygen in the headspace!
I dont make a ton of brews so I pasteurize all of them. I found that using the Nano Sous Vide in the carboy like you recommended, is easy. Plus I really like to make sure the yeast is dead, and like you also said, it helps clear out the brews. I am planning on making an "adjacent" Tawny Port very soon and I will even pasteurize that in case I dont get the fortification right. I will pasteurize it first and then add the brandy/cognac. I'd rather be safe than sorry and like I said, its easy to do so why not? Plus and I know this isn't the same thing, but I would never rely on cold crashing because when I store my sourdough starter in the fridge for long term storage, after awhile the yeast still ferment the flour/ water mixture even in the fridge.
Exactly!
Been watching you guys for about a month and this was my first comment lol
What took so long? :)
Subscribed 👍
:)
Mangrove Jacks, which you introduced me to has the ABV tolerance on the packet
And it's a tearable packet
I think they are the only one.
I can attest strongly that refrigerating does not hault fermentation. I actually use this intentionally to my advantage. I have started using a mini keg for keeping a cider on tap. Once it's ready for keging I add fermentation sugar to it and let it sit at room temp for a few days to restart fermentation. I watch the pressure in the tank and once it gets above a certain amount I throw it in the fridge. It continues to ferment slowly in the fridge and as I drink it it will release more CO2 into the empty space, repressurizing it for serving. It's not the most efficient but it works for how often I poor from the keg and it greatly reduces the amount of CO2 that I need to use to serve out of the keg.
Interesting idea!
I have two questions and going to give you as much info as I can. I started a wild muscadine wine from wild muscadines collected and frozen for about three weeks. Everything was sanitized properly. I added the grapes and stirred in some water and sugar until I had a good level in my 1 gallon carboy using Lavlin EC-1118 (because that's what I had). Starting gravity was 1.121 on Aug-13. After the first day it was fermenting nicely. 8 days later there was no more activity. I checked the gravity and it was 1.000. I racked it but was only left with 3/4 of a gallon after the fruit was removed and it was drier than I was hoping for. I figured the ABV at 16.33% and the EC-1118 has a tolerance of 18% so I figured it used all the sugar and was done. I wanted to feed it more so I added sugar water to fill the carboy up into the neck but did not check gravity again. It's now fermenting as expected. It had a wonderful muscadine flavor when I tasted it but it felt like it was carbonated in my mouth upon tasting. 1. What would cause the fizziness, and will it eventually go away? 2. Did I screw up by not checking the gravity again after adding more sugar and water?
The fizziness is because fermentation produces co2 and other gasses. It will go away on it’s own. You didn’t really screw up but it will be difficult to calculate abv. Not important really, just something to note.
Brian keeps stealing my shirts hahaha. Every time I buy a mew mead shirt Brian shows up in a video wearing it lol. ok I am gonna buy a new one today and if he is wearing it in a new video I'm gonna start looking for cameras hahaha
Hey guys, great video again! I'm new to brewing and just bought my first kit to make hard cider. My plan was to do a sweet carbonated maple syrop cider (Pretty much exaclty what you recommend not to do for beginners 😢) . I heard of filling a plastic bottle (like pepsi) with the same volume as your other bottles to know when the pressure is right to pasteurize. Basically just waiting for the plastic bottle to have the same resistance as a regular unoppenned pepsi bottle to know the liquid inside has the right amount of carbonation. Any thoughts? Thanks!
It is an ok way to determine is carbonation occurred but it’s not very precise. We have had times where it felt carbonated but really wasn’t.
Great video! It's too hot for homebrewing in my home currently but my plan for this fall is to buy new equipment and try my hand at brewing now that I've watched enough of your videos to feel like I understand the underlying concepts.
That fruitcake mead sounds divine. Will it be released early enough for us to make our own variation in time for the holidays, or closer to the holidays themselves?
It’s a year long process. We began it just after christmas so, when we release it you can start it for next year’s holiday.
@@CitySteadingBrews that makes sense. Good to know!
Brian is wearing a new t-shirt I have not seen before and it's driving me nuts that I can't read the whole thing. lol
Dinosaurs didn’t have mead and we all know how that turned out.
Great video, as always. My question is what guidance can you give if stabilisation didn't go as planned and you have a 'bottle bomb' or notice that fermentation has restarted in your bottles before any explosions or mess? Should you return the wine/mead to secondary and apply the preferred stabilisation method once more? Thanks in advance for answering.
Release the pressure, chill it, drink it ASAP, or you can pasteurize again.
I went with a Soda Stream CO2 bottle to force carbonate some of my brews. You may need to change your connections on your mini keg.....
Important info within!
Question. I made my first wine. It's a mulberry, and it's REALLY good! It's a month old today, and I racked it for the final time before bottling. When tasting it today I think it REALLY could use a touch of coriander. What's the best way in your opinion to get that coriander flavor?
I would just out some whole coriander seeds in for a week and test.
hi guys!! I've been watching lots of your videos and I've learned heaps of stuff. Do you have any content yet that I maybe missed that discusses filtration as a means of stabalizing? What are the pros and cons? I'm planning to brew in 5 gallon batches, and I'm not sure how I'll be able to pasteurize those carboys.
We haven't. Mostly due to it not really being beginner friendly. It's expensive, messy and from what I have been told, not as foolproof as we might like.
You can pasteurize the bottled product too.
Hey from the uk 🇬🇧
Hey I have been watching your videos for a while and have a question. I want to carbonate my brews but doing it naturally is just to risky for me so i was wondering if I could use like a sodastream to do it?
Natural carbonation is not risky if done correctly. I have never used a sodastream.
Ive heard you cant use cartridges for pressure carbonation unless you use alot of then. They are meant for pressure serving off the keg.
Yeah, need at least 2 or 3 from the sounds of it.
On passing the yeast tolerance, you have to hit 19% + ABV to pass them 100% depending on the yeast. I have a 10% yeast right now that has hit 15% in a mead. I know I was shocked today after the reading. I was like "ok it's at 12% that's fine they can't read" a few weeks ago and today it is at 15.2% and sitting at 0.990 and is still going lol. so for me I don't trust any of them so 20-24% is my goal with fortifying.
Hey guys! I have an idea for a brew for you guys to try. I call it Orc Blood, a dark mixed berry wine with Metheglin spices added, and double the amount of black tea. I’ve made a test batch using bread yeast, but I think 71B will have the best results.
Sounds pretty good.
Hey guys, new to brewing, just making my first brew actually. I've noticed in a few videos that after pasteurizing, you still leave the airlock on for another week before you bottle. Is there a particular reason for this? Am I correct in assuming that after pasteurizing that the yeast would be dead at that point?
The yeast are dead, but it could still offgas, and we let them sit to settle out usually several weeks before bottling so we get less sediment in our bottles.
So, a question… What do you think about pasteurizing with oak in the brew? Since the process seems to age meads and such would that make a difference or even shorten the time needed? 🤔 Something I’ll be playing with.
It doesn’t age them. It sometimes mellows flavors in a way that is reminiscent of aging but it does not actually age at all. I don’t think leaving the oak in during pasteurizing would be good… may extract harsher flavors from the wood. There are other compounds in wood that are released at higher temps and I don’t know about the safety of consuming those.
When fortifying, how much of the fortifying option should be added to stabilize? Is there a ratio? Or is it about adding alcohol until the full batch has a specific ABV reading?
You would need to add enough to surpass the alcohol tolerance by enough that you guarantee it won't referment.
My current project is using a yeast that is supposed to go to 15% abv. It went to 15% and I back sweetened it. It then went to 16% and I back sweetened it again. Currently it is 17% and I am waiting to see if it stops. It is the first time I have had Nottingham Ale yeast go this high.
Step feeding can often make a yeast go much further than it’s package says.
random question:
do you think it's worth revisiting hydromel?
considering how much your processes have evolved since the original hydromel series?
I think hydromel might be an easy way to compare different yeasts because it's quicker to produce and the one batch of honey can produce greater volumes
Sure, at some point we will make more hydromels.
@@CitySteadingBrews ooh can't wait
I am into gardening while having an interest in this. When you are talking about during winter stall, gardeners will use a mat that keeps things warm enough to grow things, but not too hot enough to kill what they are growing. Could that be used as a monetary effective way to check for stalled brew?
Only if heat is the problem, but yes, heat can help sometimes. You want to stay in the yeast's range though.
I am really interested in new video about ginger beer! I try to refine my recipe, last time I made it low abv SG 1.014 + priming sugar + erythritol for back sweetening, so something like 2% ABV in the end. And now I am worried how long will be it's "shelf life". Is there safe point of lowest safe ABV?
Well, it's going to be more like 4-5% and we have one working right now.
I have an unrelated question: Can you over-pasteurize a brew? Using suez vide at 155F setting on the device for 1 hour (because it always takes extra time for the beverage to equalize temp with the surrounding water).
I do 145 on the sous vide and set the timer for 30 mins. Can you overdo it? Sure. You are technically cooking the brew. Higher temperatures over longer time means loss of alcohol and possible cooked flavors.
@CitySteadingBrews Do you think it is still safe to drink?
@@matthewmeiring6521 Oh of course.
I use an adapter for my mini keg that allows me to use Sodastream co2 tanks. I have the link but YT isn't allowing me to post it.
question; is ikea glass bottles good for holding ginger beer pressure, i'm talking about KORKEN Bottle with stopper - clear glass 5 oz
I don’t think the Ikea bottles work well for pressure but others have had good experiences.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you, and a huge thanks for the helpful content!
Maybe try
Resin: A common practice was to add resin, typically from pine trees, to wine. This mixture was known as “retsina” and gave the wine a distinctive flavor.
Water: Wine was often diluted with water, especially during symposia (social gatherings). The ratio of wine to water varied, with some preferring a stronger wine while others preferred a milder taste.
Sea water: In coastal areas, some individuals would occasionally add a small amount of sea water to their wine to enhance its taste.
Various fruits: The Greeks might have infused their wine with different fruits like figs, dates, or even pomegranates, to add sweetness and complexity.
Fine ideas but none of those stabilize… not sure I understand the context.
I was trying to find things that you’d might be interested in trying. Ancient Greeks used these additional ingredients. Odd but we still use garum “yuck”
Gotcha! Who still uses garum? I mean it’s sort of evolved into Worcestershire but supposedly that’s not really the source.
Learned from personal experience if you have any sensitivity to sugar substitutes be careful with non fermentable sugars. some are similar to things like aspartame and will have the same effects on someone who is allergic to them or sensitive to them. I don't remember the name I used off the top of my head today but I know it when I hear it .
I use Youngs wine sweetner some times, non fermentable just add slowly or it gets too sweet.
I have a 1.120 SG Strawberry mead (ya I know that’s high as hell lmao) I’m using 71B and for it to drop to 1.000 it would be 16% abv. Since 71b is 13% normally, if I get two readings above 1.000 (mathematically 1.027 is 13%) will my mead be stabilized? For example if I read two readings of 1.015 am I all set? Or do I HAVE to wait till 1.000 (this is my second mead by my first went legit directly to 0.995 over 24 days so I really wasn’t paranoid)
Stable is stable. It should be fine if it goes as you said. It likely will not get to 1.000.
Is there a detectable notice in taste of sugar versus non-fermentable sweeteners taste in a finished wine to your taste buds?
ruclips.net/video/3M5Up696Ivc/видео.html
Is it a bad idea to pasturize everything as SOP? ie: clearing, faux aging, stabilizing...
Bad? Not really. There is a slight risk of broken fermenters, so we only do it as needed.
Hello, I'm new to this but I made my first brew just under 2 weeks ago and i was so excited making it i forgot to check for gravity...it has currently stopped bubbling in the airlock and the carboy. I used a pound of honey, a cup of apples and half gallon of cider with water to top it off. How can i tell my abv or is it too late? Go easy on me im new
Your og was probably something like 1.045. Please use known recipes though when starting out. That way you learn all the little things that make a difference.
Ok so i have a question, here in the UK all our demijohns are imperial gallons. I understand that 1 lb of sugar gives 0.046 ppg US. Ive tried to work out what it is for imp gallons an just get confused can you help me out please.
Imperial gallons are 1.2x US so just divide .046 by 1.2. It’s .038.
@CitySteadingBrews oh of course. I think I was making it more complicated than it was thank you and btw love your work keep it up please 👍😀
I might have just escaped a potential bottle bomb.
Before bottling the mead in question sat for 3 weeks at 1.009 at 10.7% ABV. As test I added a different wood to each bottle: French Oak, Mesquite, Chestnut tannin, Cinnamon and an unaltered control. A minor 'psst' when opening can be expected (air pressure, temperature, aging, etc.) but the Mesquite bottle actually popped hard. It is fully carbonated. There must have been something on that wood the yeast really liked.
And yes, this one was not pasteurized or chemically stabilized. A mistake I will not make ever again.
Yeah, it only takes once....
What does "stall" really mean? Lets say I make a wine and it stays at 12%, sweet. I siphon into demijohn and let it sit for a year, same temp. Is it safe then? Thanks!
Stall means the yeast did not pass their alcohol tolerance and there is still sugars present. In your example, it is not stable. T may or may not ever start up again. You just never know.
Hope this is not off topic but does involve brewing. I plan on making root beer with my kids (non alcoholic obviously). I will be using an store bought extract and bread yeast. Instructions on the bottle and what I’ve found online do not mention stabilizing at all except to mention refrigeration. Is there something I’m missing? Is stabilizing (I would use pasteurization) a possibly good idea so refrigeration is not necessary?
If you’re not making alcohol then why the yeast? If it’s just for carbonation you don’t need to stabilize, but tbh, I am not familiar with the extract you’re using so, I really cannot say if it will be safe or not.
Yes, yeast is just for carbonization. I suppose if left at room temp it would produce alcohol.
@@marks6489 Depends on how much sugar is in it. It IS making alcohol, even with just carbonating. Very small amount though.
Can I pasturize my mead in the little big mouth bubbler, with the lid on and airlock installed? I only ask because as you know, the lid on the bubbler is plastic. If not, what would you recommend?
We do. Just keep the water level below the lid.
@CitySteadingBrews Thanks guys! You're always so helpful and quick to respond! This video came at the perfect time.
@CitySteadingBrews. I started my first cider a couple days ago. I think I have an overactive brew, I'm getting about 3-4 bubbles per second and the top of the brew has foamed up. I'm not to worried about a mess, but all the fluid in my airlock is bubbling away in about 4 hours. I tried using a tube into a larger bottle of sanitizer mix. ( like you mentioned in the airlock video) but sadly my tube doesn't fit on my bottle stop for the airlock, and in the process of trying to force it I got some sanitizer in my brew(starsan). do you have any ideas, do I need to buy another tube that fits? will the starsan I got in the brew ruin it?
I think I was able to solve my issue, I put my funnel on top of the airlock and the sanitizer isn't bubbling over the top.
You can also use a 3 piece airlock body. Our tubing happens to fit in the stoppers though.
Another question... Back sweeten before, or after pasteurizing?
I prefer before. Lets’s everything settle after.
If i remember right, there are a few Soda Stream-esque things for alcohol. Wouldn't those be easier than relying on natural carbing which seems to be kinda hit-or-miss?
I'm not aware of any soda stream things for alcohol... any more info?
@@CitySteadingBrews The main one i know of is from an episdoe of Whiskey Tribe where they tried to carb... well, whiskey. XD The Drinkmate they used said it can carb wine. The Sodastream itself CAN from what i've been able to find, but the manufacturer doesn't recomend it.
So this is making me wonder. I'm currently fermenting a batch using your beginners mead recipe for my first attempt at making a mead. I used
- An 18% yeast (Lalvin K1-V116)
- 3lbs 1.1oz (cause I'm bad at pouring) honey
- 2oz of raisins
- 1/4 tspn Tannin
I started it 7/15, OG 1.134
How can I tell if it were to stall vs it's done if it's not at/above the 18%?
A stall would mean it didn’t go dry.
@@CitySteadingBrews Got it, and that would mean being under 1.000 gravity?
1.000 is considered dry but below is possible.
@@CitySteadingBrews Awesome, thank you so much! Really appreciate your videos, been watching a lot of them the past couple weeks.
Thank you for your work, for it gave me courage to attempt homebrewing myself.
I have a question about different types of common (easily accessible) honey - which types to look for, and which to avoid. Which types are better for different recipe styles?
Are there some types of common honey specific only for Americas or only for Europe, and if so what are the closest counterparts?
I made a mistake, and jumped to recipes too soon instead of learning how different honeys taste in a pure mead. I am correcting this now, but perhaps your experience may speed up the process.
Grassland vs forest polyfloral, linden, acacia, sunflower, buckwheat (i remember you did not recommend it, but is it hopeless?), early spring honey (the white one)... Can you please share any advice on those?
This is a very broad question and would require several videos to cover properly. The simplified answer is use honey you like. Each type of mead and each recipe may call for different things. It would be impossible to give a definitive listing of each honey and it’s use. That said, it is hard to go wrong with wildflower. Just remember, even varietals of honey vary with each season and area since it is a biological product.
@@CitySteadingBrews Understood, thank you.
Ya gotta post the Xmas mead NOW so we can have enough time to make it! If you wait until December, we have to wait until 2024's Xmas to drink it! Ack! 😛
We started it 7 months ago…
P.S. My husband noticed that you lost weight and says Congratulations. (He doesn't usually watch; he was just in the room this time.)
@@julietardos5044tell him we said thank you!
Thx for these important advice !
Btw do you guys think i can re-bottle a mead without spoiling it ? I did bottle a brew one year ago but just realised there are sediment on the bottom of the bottle
Better to just pour carefully when you drink it.
@@CitySteadingBrewsOk boss !
Not boss… just Brian or Bri :)
Dudes that thumbnail killed me! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Lol
Have you used Monin syrups in any of yours brews?
We have not, but we may at some point.
If I have dead yeast can I use that as yeast stalls?
That’s what yeast hulls are so yes :)
I had a crazy idea about de gassing. I took an apple wine I have that needs to de gas. I put it on the chest freezer and placed my back massager on the freezer and let it run for just a minute, and tiny bubbles appeared rising up.
Lol
There's alot of arguments out there, that pasteurization can "kill" some of the subtle honey flavors, whats your experience regarding this?
Heating honey does damage some subtle flavors but depending on the mead being made it may or may not even be noticed.
Very new to the topic of pasteurization so I am sure that I cant be the first person to consider this. Regarding demijohns cracking or breaking during the process, wouldn't racking your mead into a borosilicate glass container eliminate this issue? Something like a reagent bottle you could buy from a laboratory supply store. Or is the issue of breakage less prevalent than what I am lead to believe. Does anyone have thoughts?
Kind regards.
We had a bottle break one time in pasteurizing. Never had a fermenter break. 140f isn’t that hot…
@@CitySteadingBrews I see! It seems like I was worried about nothing. Thank you.
Another great video! If yall hear about more lalvin being bad let me know. I've had 6 stalls in a row from lalvin d47. Everything stops around 9.5% despite adding hulls and fermaid o. Only used half a packet on all of them. The first 2 I made with a whole packet and they finished.
I think Amazon might not ship yeast right or something like that.
It's probably a temp thing. If the yeast is stored in higher temps, there's the problem.
@CitySteadingBrews I got 2 temperature sensors in. Both stayed around 75- 78 degrees all day last 2 days.
I mean where the yeast was stored before using.
@@CitySteadingBrews so do I buy more of the same yeast from a different supplier and hope they start back up? Or are all of my little yeastys forced to live a life of mild intoxication?
I believe it’s isolated incidents. Try a different batch of yeast and it should be fine if that is the problem.
Have you ever made a blaand
Whey and honey fermentation
No but our friend Bearded and Bored did: ruclips.net/video/nCPjpS7gWjM/видео.html
Finally got round to pasterise my first demijohn.. Now science says under heat pressure I'd expect some rambunctious off gasses. However. Its really going off bubble wise... No chemicals used. 55 Celsius I'm at 20 mins in.. Is this normal? Or shall I let it cool and then bottle and not worry. Many thanks.
You want an internal temp in the fermenter of 60C for 20 minutes. Check the temp inside the fermenter.
@@CitySteadingBrews wow heating 30 litres of water with the airlocked demijohn in was quite energy consumptive. Just bottled 4.5 litres almost a gallon of Methlegin. Many thanks. I've just uploaded a 3 min video on my channel of it.. Were those bubbles normal. No worries if no time to watch in your busy channel lifestyle. You made a cameo a few times comically in it and if you're not keen on the video I'll remove it. Much love Brian and Derica ❤️
You're not pasteurizing hot enough. 50C is barely enough to kill yeast. You need 60C for 20 minutes internal temp IN the fermenter.
@@CitySteadingBrews Which took way longer than I thought to attain and bubbled up the tiny amount of lees intensely. Need a smaller pot less heating time.
The mini kegs with cartridges aren't for force carbing, just serving already carbed drinks
Yes, but they can be used for carbonating too.
@@CitySteadingBrews every company I've looked at says not for force carbonation with the small cartridges because they don't hold enough co2 to dissolve enough co2 into solution. You'd have to connect to a larger tank to achieve a high enough carbonation rate, then switch to the smaller cartridges to serve on the go. Hopefully, you can prove my research wrong.
@@AnArchyzAch I don't disagree actually. It explains our failures to this point.
What would be a good range on the hydrometer to start a wine from
We tend to shoot for right around 1.100. Less is better than more. We almost never go past 1.120.
@@CitySteadingBrews and then when it's done you're shooting for 1.000 or less
In a prefect world, yes.
Make a book of your recipes !!
We plan to.
Hurray! Updated ginger beer video!
I may be a little dense this morning. Your notes say: "We have 20 ounces of 10% ABV Mead. We add 5 ounces of 50% ABV Spirit." Did I miss a detail earlier? What I think you are saying is "If you have 20 oz. of 10% ABV Mead then add 5 ounces of 100 Proof spirit to fortify it." Or did you mean something else with the 50% ABV Spirit.
50% ABV is 100 proof, yeah.
@@CitySteadingBrews So is there a formula for determining how much 30% ABV distilled spirits is necessary to fortify 20 oz. of 10% ABV mead?
The formula given can tell you ABV after fortifying. You just use whatever your ABVs are for each liquid.
My favorite cider has malic acid in it. Because I love that flavor so much, I add malic acid to all my ciders. I also spoke with a cider master recently in Colorado and he said they always find that malic acid makes all their ciders better. I've long wondered why I never see you adding malic acid to your ciders?
We just never have.
@@CitySteadingBrews would you ever try it in a video? I'd love to see you taste test the same cider with and without malic acid. I find the acid adds so much to the flavor and feel of the cider.
We could try it.
Just so you know, apples are loaded with malic acid already.
@@CitySteadingBrews yes, I am aware. Golden State Cider in California makes my favorite flavor - mighty dry. On the label they list 3 ingredients: Apples, champagne yeast, and malic acid. That's what piqued my curiosity. Every cider tastes better to me with added malic acid. The cider master I spoke to was from Colorado Cider Company. He says they've done blind taste tests with and without malic acid at their cidery and it's pretty much always unanimously better with added malic acid.
Can you guys do litchi wine please?!
If we can get enough fresh lychees maybe!
Can you pasteurize all brews - meads, wines, ciders?
You can but it’s not always needed.
@@CitySteadingBrews oh I know - I have pasteurized cider just wasn’t sure if you could wine/mead if needed.
We’ve shown it many times.
If someone wanted you to try their recipe and was willing to pay for the ingredients with the desire to get feedback on taste would you do it?
That would depend on the recipe but most likely we wouldn’t ask for the ingredients to be bought for us. :)
@CitySteadingBrews I have asked you in the past to try one I created and never heard back so I am offering to pay, being honey is costly.
In total here it would cost about $25-30 to make
5 lbs honey though for you 4 would probably be safer.
1 cinnamon stick
1 bottle of rum extract
An oak stick (from beginning to the end)
And a dozen or so raisins for tannins
Ec-1118
I had added a small bottle of vanilla extract but was told you can't taste it
Thanks for the idea. Not sure it's something we would want to make... while we do experiment with extracts sometimes, we prefer using more natural flavorings. Seems like it might taste nice though. You might want yeast nutrients in there or it's very likely to stall. 5 lbs of honey is going to make this very sweet, something like 1.040 finished. 4 Lbs is still more than what we would normally recommend, and would likely still end sweet as the yeast is meant for 18%. I highly recommend nutrients for this one :)
@CitySteadingBrews I understand, it is a dessert mead for sure. I personally use bread yeast as nutrients after it has started . I do not drink so I can't tell personally if it's good but many love it. You basically know the taste as you used rum before. Thank you and may you continue to make videos for decades...being you are the only ones I want to watch in home brewing
Have you ever had stomach issues from home made brew?
Nope. It should be easier on your stomach if anything.