One thing I've noticed with strawberry wine is that it doesn't gain anything by aging, and in fact it gets a little worse. I drink it within 6 months while its fresh. I make strawberry wine every year during picking season here in Maine. I understand how frozen berries are great, but the varietal is different when picking your own and they are much more flavorful, so I'm lucky. The recipe is a stock fruit wine that you guys have taught over the years, just like in this video. Cheers, and thank you so much for helping me enjoy this great hobby+community! You guys are the best, big hugs!❤
There’s a winery in Wisconsin that makes this, and I actually made one earlier this year! I have the opposite problem with strawberry that a lot of other comments seem to have though, whenever I make something with strawberries it takes a few months of aging before it starts to taste good so I’m not sure how mine turned out yet. The Wisconsin winery’s version tastes exactly like strawberry jam to me though, it was really good so I have high hopes for mine
Im from the South, so yes. Later on in life as my taste and other things changed it started tasting "fake" and upsetting my gut, but I hurt many a bottle of that in my early 20s😂
Boons strawberry was what my late wife first got drunk on with me had to sit with her half the night in bathroom she got so sick😅 never did let her live it down god i miss her ❤
I love Boone's! I once made a wine that tasted like Boone's. It had some leftover Kedem white grape juice which contains potassium metabisulfite, so I didn't know if it would work. It did ferment, but did not go dry at all, and I had used EC 1118. Then I added the strawberries. It was tasty, but it would be difficult to replicate due to the uncertainty around the K meta.
I basically don't drink. I have maybe 4 drinks a year, but ai love making wine and mead for family and others. I just started doing bigger batches for family because a gallon disappeared too fast lol
That bucket is my main brewing vessel, it's fantastic for me, currently finishing a strawberry wine similar to yours , you will like it. I vary in that I back sweeten and use hibiscus tea at the start for color and tannin, then when serving the wine use lemon juice at the end to balance. I am considering trying to use white grape wine concentrate to replace 85% of the water and some of the white sugar, waiting to see how this strawberry is received. I used an entire yeast packet on 4 gallons and used very aggressive swirls the first three days to keep the CO2 low and the yeast suspended which yielded the least amount of "foot" smell ever. Multiple racks or a clearing agent is a certain. Early sampling of this effort is receiving favorable remarks and looks like another batch won't last long once bottled. Geared up from one gallon to four, apparently not enough though. And anyone who cooks or plays bartender understands that a recipe is more like the Pirates code, more of a guideline than an iron fisted legal requirement, or you will be hunted down and persecuted for heresy. For such a fun hobby some folks get far too serious, we are making tasty brews not changing world history.
A recipe that I often do is what I call the 1 recipe. For 1 gallon of wine, use 1kg of blackberries, 1l of red grape juice, 1l of apple juice, 1kg of sugar. Have also used raspberries or blueberries instead of blackberries. Always comes out nice. You will probably have to sweeten to taste (I drink it dry)
I watch pretty much all you videos, and I have to say this one was extra well done. You did a fantastic job of explaining everything, why you did what you did, other options one could do, and explained the decision making process. Very thorough and clear teaching on this video in particular. May I recommend that you add this one to your Playlist for beginners. Newbies do go there first and adding this one would represent some of your latest techniques that they should know. Good job, guys!
I used strawberries for my first cider, and I blended them up. After letting it sit and cold crashing, everything settled to the bottom and the brew was very clear! No pectic enzyme required either!
You mention Rhubarb, I picked up a 6 gallon German Riesling kit. Made the first 2 gallons added honey to bring the SG up to where they wanted it. For the second 2 gallon batch I made a rhubarb riesling, which isn't bottled yet but has been back sweetened it tasted really good. I have started a Lychee (from a canned drink) Riesling for the last 2 gallon batch.
I just got done bottling my first day I made the traditional honey a strawberry and a cherry and I’m sitting on the couch enjoying my creation. Oh my God it’s so good thousand times better than what you can buy in the store.
This video is excellent. I am going to experiment with my home grown concord grapes to make a wine. This definitely is excellent timing. Thanks for the awesome content as always
I made several gallons of strawberry mead this spring for the summer, and I don't know what it is about the nutrients in them but they've all maxed or exceeded the yeast tolerance. My strongest one got to 20.5% 😱, with K1-V1116. I used frozen strawberries and added fermaid o, opti-red, tannin, and pectic enzyme. To your question about color at the 45 minute mark, opti-red does wonders for my meads and wines and I add it to any red ones I make - hibiscus, cherry, strawberry, etc. After pasteurizing I force carbonated them and took the keg to a party. Needless to say I had to cut people off at 2 glasses unless I confirmed they didn't drive to the party haha!
I have noticed with most fruit wines that I have made. I drink them before six months because they seem to taste better than if they sit for a long period of time. I also truly believe that this is probably one of the best videos you guys have made For wines. It is also my opinion you guys are hilarious and you seem to get along quite well and you work off each other phenomenally. Thank you for all the work you put into this video. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you sharing all the knowledge that you have learned to make things easier for other Brewers, including myself and trying different things. Why don’t you try a mango wine or a Mango honey wine as a video. I hope you both have a great weekend and thank you again.
Thanks for all the kind words! We did do mango... ruclips.net/video/WnImlHeCgUc/видео.htmlsi=Jvx8lVl7Yb3mcF2k ruclips.net/video/het4QIKJdi0/видео.htmlsi=HtWqo0l9JAw9dmtQ
Id really like to see you guys experiment with different aging techniques. There are lots of interesting experiments you can do like microwaving, freeze-thaw cycles, aging at higher temperatures which i think would be very fun and insightful.
Me excited that there’s a new video! 🙌🏼🥳 💃🏻Also, I love any brew videos that call for sugar, because honey is pricey. I like to alternate mead, wine, cider, mead…etc. -helps the wallet a bit. 😁 I haven’t made a strawberry brew yet, so this is definitely on the ‘to-brew’ list. Thanks! 🍓🍋
I've been making the must for strawberry wine by macerating the fruit with white sugar plus pectinase, and then filtering out the solids. That has seemed like a great way of getting a reasonable initial gravity reading, and means that I don't need to deal with strawberries potentially getting moldy.
I just started making wine last week, and I’ve watched so many of your videos already! Love your personalities and all the great information you give us viewers! But I have one question about sanitization - the towel that you put all of your sanitized tools on, is that just a normal towel? I have been using a card table as my workspace and I use star San to wash the table top before starting.
40:40 one of my favorite things when watching you guys is seeing Brian's facial reactions when tasting while Derica explains what you are trying to achieve. I like to guess what he's going to say based on the reaction.
Although many consider it to heresy, a little FOOD GRADE vegetable glycerin at the end does wonders for mouthfeel and lemon juice at serving time does amazing things.
That's a really detailed guide, thank you! I think my next experiment will be something with strawberry. I still have a question though. In many videos you used black tea to add tannins. However for this beverage you did not even consider it as an option. But why? Is black tea only good to be added in the very beginning? Or is it just a matter of taste?
Sounds good 👍 You mentioned hibiscus . I like this idea. Would you add the dried petals in at the same time as the strawberries? Would you treat the petals with anything or straight in?
And the biggest of all things that you forgot is that YOU did not have to prep them aka cut or clean them LOL love you guys keep on brewing in the free world!
I totally agree with what they're saying about the flavor profile being subjective. As they were commenting on it, I was thinking to myself, "Actually, that more pronounced lemon flavor sounds great to me!"
I remember the wines of my youth when an 18-year-old cold by 3.2 beer and any wine; could you do Ripple clones? Strawberry Hill and Apple were my two favorites.
Hey guys quick question. I just recently started a cherry wine, I used some pure cherry juice I got from the store and some d47 yeast. Cleaned everything out in star San and made sure everything was spotless. 2 weeks into fermentation and it came out dry but the smell is unreal. Some sort of sick mix between eggs and sewage and it’s VERY potent. I took a taste and it’s not horrid and there’s nothing weird looking about it. What do you guys recommend I do about this?
I use frozen fruit all the time! It's cheaper, I never have to worry about a spider or other junk you have to wash off from local fruit, and everything you said too. For defrosting I tend to take it from the freezer and keep it in the fridge for a day or two until thawed but still ice cold rather than leaving them on the counter. I don't food processor anything like you said, but I take a good squish to the bag while still sealed shut when they're fully thawed. Squish them by hand into mush and they're good to go. I'm tired of people thinking frozen fruit makes for a worse mead/wine.
Have 2 questions. Why not use boiling water to pasteurize the fruit and desolve the suger in the boiling water then pouring over the frozen fruit? My other question is the fruit has sugar and water so the water dilutes the brew as well as the sugar raised the sugar level, so does the sugar in the fuit really raise the alcohol in the end really as the water in the fuit also diluted the brew?
First, you can do that if you want. Second.. it's all just estimation. Don't get caught up in the numbers for abv. It's more important that the brew doesn't start too high and that you know it's finished.
Wow I have not checked in in a while! I like the new video improvements! I do have a viewer request if you guys get around to it. You guys should try and make an orange creamsicle wine!
Another excellent video. I got some problems with my cider. I joined the bejeezus level but haven't got any info on how to get into the FB group, patreon or anyway to ask but here. My cider has significantly slowed. What was 90 bubbles per minute, my daughter counted because she's smart lol, has dropped to 1 every 45 seconds, again daughter counted. It's only been 4 days. I've swirled on day 2. Should I take a reading now or wait longer? Could the cider be done? Thanks for all the help!
If you joined the VIP club you should have received an email with a link to the group to join 😀, but you can just use this link too: facebook.com/share/qq4DUugUnXrdXysg/?mibextid=K35XfP
It's better to leave it than rush it. Bubbles mean very little actually, just that gas is escaping and this happens even after fermentation is done, if the temp goes up, etc. we take our first reading when it t looks like there is no activity. Then wait a week and take another to confirm it is finished.
I Don't know if you have covered this before, but if honey has started to ferment in a jar because of to much moisture, are you still able to use that to make a mead?
I noticed alot of our brew seem to finish off at 1.014 to 1.020...we rarely get dry. We use generally the basic recipe with fermaid o. Its inactive or stuck there, we swirl to degass and leave it quite alot of time. We were using D47 yeast...the mead gets to be about 12-14% (we keep experimenting). I just switched to EC-1118 to try a new yeast. Any thoughts on what might be happening?
@@CitySteadingBrews around 1.12-1.13. I am using generic Honey (3lbs) plus orange/raison/fermaid-o/yeast/orange/1c black tea/fill gallon with water. Lots of early activity normally, just finishes seemingly short. We have tried adding more fermaid-o later on, but it didnt jump start it really.
Try aiming for under 1.100. We've found that using slightly lower gravities is easier on the yeast. Adding fermaid-o to a stall doesn't necessarily help. Try just yeast hulls and a good swirl.
@@CitySteadingBrews Okay thank you for the tip!! We didnt have yeast hulls, I probably should invest in it and maybe back off on the sugar content as we are a little cautious to over fill the gallon with the top up water with how active the little yeastie-boys get (lol). thats probably why the gravity is a bit too high to start with
I'd love to see you two make a chili and chocolate wine, just because I think it'll check both your boxes... or potentially make both of you go "OMGWTH?!"
I made a blackraspberry jam mead the og was 1.110 i used 3 pounds of honey and a quarter jar of jam checked after 2 weeks and it was 1.054 so i let it set longer about a week swirling the lees back in it and th gracity was still the same and the tolerance for the yeast is 18% but every drink ive made kept going to 7% did it stall or am i doing something wrong i feel like im not adding enough sugars im still new to all this
I've made strawberry wine a few times, but I just can't get a good strawberry flavor. It usually just tastes like a mildly sweet white wine. What can I do?
Add more strawberries after fermentation is complete, after pasteurization or chemicalizing. It will add more strawberry flavor. Or add strawberry flavoring from a bottle.
Brian: "I don't believe there are blenders and food processors in the wild ..." Me: Glares at Brian while I lock up the offended wolverine and comfort the sobbing bear. Brian: "Having a bad seal ..." Me: "Look, buddy, if you are going to go after marine mammals, too, you are on your own."
4:12 Even the ice is relatively warm this time of the year in Florida. Had some ice cream recently. It was room temperature. Still chilly compared to the shade. These jokes ain’t getting better.
I stopped figuring the sugars of fruit in brews. Less math, I can't guarantee all the sugars will macerated out, and if I get an extra percent or 2 of alcohol, BONUS!
I don't think I really like too much lemon flavor in my brews. Like I am betting I would prefer orange here to lemon. It's that lemon Pledge thing lol.
@@CitySteadingBrews Mayhaws and Pawpaws are two different things. Not to be confused with Mamaws and Papaws, however, which could totally happen in the South. Lol
"There are no blenders out in the woods." Me: *having brought a blender in case i wanted a margarita while camping.* I'm feeling a little called out here, bud.
@@CitySteadingBrews I unfortunately don't have a direct comparison because i've only done one since I started homebrewing(this year) and I used caramelized strawberry, but it came out very natural strawberry flavor, and it added a little complexity to the fruit flavor - just something to think about since you dont have the honey rounding out the notes.
I dont know about caramelizing. I do always cook real fruit. Bring it to a boil and pour it through a bag to strain the fruit, seeds, stems, ect. It just removes a couple of steps of getting all that out and losing volume and gets straight to adding the fruit flavor. I tried it a couple of times just pouring fruit in but its just so much more work straining and I can see no benefit.
so uh, just opened my fermenter to check on it and it had a half formed demon head who started talking to me about how 42 was the answer to everything.... exactly who do i call for this sort of thing? tried an excorsist but that didnt work. is there like a "brew demon banishment" department there at city steading brews i could talk to? lol
I just got done bottling my first day I made the traditional honey a strawberry and a cherry and I’m sitting on the couch enjoying my creation. Oh my God it’s so good thousand times better than what you can buy in the store.
I'm one of those who gives wine away. I keep some for myself but I also like sharing. Making the wine is the enjoyable part for me. 😊
Nothing wrong with that!
Same for me! I don’t really drink but it’s fun to make
I did a strawberry rhubarb mead and it was awesome. I used frozen because I'm in Texas, and it's hot here too.
Strawberry Sunset would be a good name
One thing I've noticed with strawberry wine is that it doesn't gain anything by aging, and in fact it gets a little worse. I drink it within 6 months while its fresh. I make strawberry wine every year during picking season here in Maine. I understand how frozen berries are great, but the varietal is different when picking your own and they are much more flavorful, so I'm lucky. The recipe is a stock fruit wine that you guys have taught over the years, just like in this video. Cheers, and thank you so much for helping me enjoy this great hobby+community! You guys are the best, big hugs!❤
That's understandable and could total happen. We will see! Glad we could help.
I wonder if Honeydew Melon flavored Mead, would work. Also, coconut + pandan flavoring, would be an interesting thing to try.
Vegetable glycerine can also add some body to a watery wine without adding tannin.
Beautiful color
Just started a cotton candy grape wine yesterday. I'm looking forward to it
Please, try a strawberry rhubarb wine, the combination in jam is soooo good, I m pretty sure it would do a delicious wine.
The problem is getting fresh rhubarb here.
That actually sounds wonderful.
There’s a winery in Wisconsin that makes this, and I actually made one earlier this year! I have the opposite problem with strawberry that a lot of other comments seem to have though, whenever I make something with strawberries it takes a few months of aging before it starts to taste good so I’m not sure how mine turned out yet. The Wisconsin winery’s version tastes exactly like strawberry jam to me though, it was really good so I have high hopes for mine
I just started a 5 gallon batch of this. Had to bootleg Rhubarb from Illinois to do it though. Lol
It does not grow in their climate
So.... strawberry (red) lemon (yellow) red and yellow make orange. Lol. Good video guys.
Am I the only one that still remembers and would like some Boone's Farms Strawberry hill wine that we drank in high school all those years ago?
I remember it. Wasn't a fan back then.
Im from the South, so yes. Later on in life as my taste and other things changed it started tasting "fake" and upsetting my gut, but I hurt many a bottle of that in my early 20s😂
Boons strawberry was what my late wife first got drunk on with me had to sit with her half the night in bathroom she got so sick😅 never did let her live it down god i miss her ❤
We were big fans of Boones farm.
I love Boone's! I once made a wine that tasted like Boone's. It had some leftover Kedem white grape juice which contains potassium metabisulfite, so I didn't know if it would work. It did ferment, but did not go dry at all, and I had used EC 1118. Then I added the strawberries. It was tasty, but it would be difficult to replicate due to the uncertainty around the K meta.
I literally made the same thing one month prior before you posted this video lol definitely a perfect end of summer drink
Totally agree to that!
I’m not a home brewer but I want to soon but I’ve always liked how a blackberry wine tastes
I made beet wine and it was fantastic.. using bread yeast.. I think it was too sweet for me... but I will adjust it from there.
I basically don't drink. I have maybe 4 drinks a year, but ai love making wine and mead for family and others. I just started doing bigger batches for family because a gallon disappeared too fast lol
That bucket is my main brewing vessel, it's fantastic for me, currently finishing a strawberry wine similar to yours , you will like it. I vary in that I back sweeten and use hibiscus tea at the start for color and tannin, then when serving the wine use lemon juice at the end to balance. I am considering trying to use white grape wine concentrate to replace 85% of the water and some of the white sugar, waiting to see how this strawberry is received. I used an entire yeast packet on 4 gallons and used very aggressive swirls the first three days to keep the CO2 low and the yeast suspended which yielded the least amount of "foot" smell ever. Multiple racks or a clearing agent is a certain. Early sampling of this effort is receiving favorable remarks and looks like another batch won't last long once bottled. Geared up from one gallon to four, apparently not enough though. And anyone who cooks or plays bartender understands that a recipe is more like the Pirates code, more of a guideline than an iron fisted legal requirement, or you will be hunted down and persecuted for heresy. For such a fun hobby some folks get far too serious, we are making tasty brews not changing world history.
A recipe that I often do is what I call the 1 recipe. For 1 gallon of wine, use 1kg of blackberries, 1l of red grape juice, 1l of apple juice, 1kg of sugar. Have also used raspberries or blueberries instead of blackberries. Always comes out nice. You will probably have to sweeten to taste (I drink it dry)
That sounds great! Thanks for the idea! 🎉
I watch pretty much all you videos, and I have to say this one was extra well done. You did a fantastic job of explaining everything, why you did what you did, other options one could do, and explained the decision making process. Very thorough and clear teaching on this video in particular. May I recommend that you add this one to your Playlist for beginners. Newbies do go there first and adding this one would represent some of your latest techniques that they should know. Good job, guys!
Thank you! We can do that.
I have the same juicer and agree that it does a good job.
I used strawberries for my first cider, and I blended them up. After letting it sit and cold crashing, everything settled to the bottom and the brew was very clear! No pectic enzyme required either!
It's not always needed 👍
You mention Rhubarb, I picked up a 6 gallon German Riesling kit. Made the first 2 gallons added honey to bring the SG up to where they wanted it.
For the second 2 gallon batch I made a rhubarb riesling, which isn't bottled yet but has been back sweetened it tasted really good. I have started a Lychee (from a canned drink) Riesling for the last 2 gallon batch.
Videos are great! Finally starting my first wine and will be trying this recipe!
Yay!
A new video just in time for me to listen to it as I go to sleep :)
And of course, I will watch it tomorrow 😊😊
Hope you enjoy!
Hahaha. I Do the came thing too
I just got done bottling my first day I made the traditional honey a strawberry and a cherry and I’m sitting on the couch enjoying my creation. Oh my God it’s so good thousand times better than what you can buy in the store.
This video is excellent. I am going to experiment with my home grown concord grapes to make a wine. This definitely is excellent timing. Thanks for the awesome content as always
Glad it was helpful!
black pepper goes really well to, if acidity and sweetness are on point ;-)
it always surprises as well, and who doesn't like to surprise?
I made several gallons of strawberry mead this spring for the summer, and I don't know what it is about the nutrients in them but they've all maxed or exceeded the yeast tolerance. My strongest one got to 20.5% 😱, with
K1-V1116. I used frozen strawberries and added fermaid o, opti-red, tannin, and pectic enzyme. To your question about color at the 45 minute mark, opti-red does wonders for my meads and wines and I add it to any red ones I make - hibiscus, cherry, strawberry, etc.
After pasteurizing I force carbonated them and took the keg to a party. Needless to say I had to cut people off at 2 glasses unless I confirmed they didn't drive to the party haha!
Thank you so much for your guidance. I feel like this is a hobby. I can really get into.
I have noticed with most fruit wines that I have made. I drink them before six months because they seem to taste better than if they sit for a long period of time. I also truly believe that this is probably one of the best videos you guys have made For wines. It is also my opinion you guys are hilarious and you seem to get along quite well and you work off each other phenomenally. Thank you for all the work you put into this video. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you sharing all the knowledge that you have learned to make things easier for other Brewers, including myself and trying different things. Why don’t you try a mango wine or a Mango honey wine as a video. I hope you both have a great weekend and thank you again.
Thanks for all the kind words!
We did do mango...
ruclips.net/video/WnImlHeCgUc/видео.htmlsi=Jvx8lVl7Yb3mcF2k
ruclips.net/video/het4QIKJdi0/видео.htmlsi=HtWqo0l9JAw9dmtQ
You all are the best! Love the content
Thanks so much!
Id really like to see you guys experiment with different aging techniques.
There are lots of interesting experiments you can do like microwaving, freeze-thaw cycles, aging at higher temperatures which i think would be very fun and insightful.
Make it twice a summer coming up soon its a great fall wine as well wonderful wine great video
Me excited that there’s a new video! 🙌🏼🥳 💃🏻Also, I love any brew videos that call for sugar, because honey is pricey. I like to alternate mead, wine, cider, mead…etc. -helps the wallet a bit. 😁 I haven’t made a strawberry brew yet, so this is definitely on the ‘to-brew’ list. Thanks! 🍓🍋
I've been making the must for strawberry wine by macerating the fruit with white sugar plus pectinase, and then filtering out the solids. That has seemed like a great way of getting a reasonable initial gravity reading, and means that I don't need to deal with strawberries potentially getting moldy.
Sure but you lose all the tannins that way.
I just started making wine last week, and I’ve watched so many of your videos already! Love your personalities and all the great information you give us viewers! But I have one question about sanitization - the towel that you put all of your sanitized tools on, is that just a normal towel? I have been using a card table as my workspace and I use star San to wash the table top before starting.
Yup, just a clean towel. It gets plenty of solution on it though.
40:40 one of my favorite things when watching you guys is seeing Brian's facial reactions when tasting while Derica explains what you are trying to achieve. I like to guess what he's going to say based on the reaction.
Watery...that was how I found my strawberry wine. I've never added wine tannin that late in the brew. Going to have to try that.
Although many consider it to heresy, a little FOOD GRADE vegetable glycerin at the end does wonders for mouthfeel and lemon juice at serving time does amazing things.
That's a really detailed guide, thank you! I think my next experiment will be something with strawberry.
I still have a question though. In many videos you used black tea to add tannins. However for this beverage you did not even consider it as an option. But why? Is black tea only good to be added in the very beginning? Or is it just a matter of taste?
It's a matter of taste. Not everything needs tannins or added tannins as skins and seeds contain quite a bit.
Quick question. Can you add fruit to wine after fermentation kinda like what works with mead?
Of course! 😀
@@CitySteadingBrews have you guys ever tested to see which way keeps more of the flavor of the fruit.
ruclips.net/video/EzaMkTp5B_0/видео.htmlsi=e1tA_k9piUfBrtUH
Sounds good 👍
You mentioned hibiscus . I like this idea. Would you add the dried petals in at the same time as the strawberries? Would you treat the petals with anything or straight in?
I don't really know... haven't researched a recipe yet.
With all the tinkering to taste you needed, I think the repeatability at 4 sounds right. Strawberry pie wine sounds great.
And the biggest of all things that you forgot is that YOU did not have to prep them aka cut or clean them LOL love you guys keep on brewing in the free world!
I totally agree with what they're saying about the flavor profile being subjective. As they were commenting on it, I was thinking to myself, "Actually, that more pronounced lemon flavor sounds great to me!"
Love to see you make a French Medieval Black Mead "Bochet" where you cook the honey first.
ruclips.net/video/vyR7-8i_bVU/видео.htmlsi=YtcOj6mY1dZXm3Ev
I remember the wines of my youth when an 18-year-old cold by 3.2 beer and any wine; could you do Ripple clones? Strawberry Hill and Apple were my two favorites.
Maybe?
Zip tie cheese cloth on the end of your siphon hose to filter the little seeds and floating junk
Hey guys quick question. I just recently started a cherry wine, I used some pure cherry juice I got from the store and some d47 yeast. Cleaned everything out in star San and made sure everything was spotless. 2 weeks into fermentation and it came out dry but the smell is unreal. Some sort of sick mix between eggs and sewage and it’s VERY potent. I took a taste and it’s not horrid and there’s nothing weird looking about it. What do you guys recommend I do about this?
Sounds like stressed yeast and a lack of aeration at the startup. Best you can do is leave it. It will age out. Not dangerous or anything though.
Treat yourself! Get a Microplane Zester. :) Zest that whole lemon in a dozen swoops.
I have one actually
I use frozen fruit all the time! It's cheaper, I never have to worry about a spider or other junk you have to wash off from local fruit, and everything you said too. For defrosting I tend to take it from the freezer and keep it in the fridge for a day or two until thawed but still ice cold rather than leaving them on the counter. I don't food processor anything like you said, but I take a good squish to the bag while still sealed shut when they're fully thawed. Squish them by hand into mush and they're good to go. I'm tired of people thinking frozen fruit makes for a worse mead/wine.
May be a weird question but can you use cantaloupe in a mead or wine, and would it taste okay?🤔
Melons seem to be more difficult to ferment as they spoil quite quickly.
Have 2 questions. Why not use boiling water to pasteurize the fruit and desolve the suger in the boiling water then pouring over the frozen fruit? My other question is the fruit has sugar and water so the water dilutes the brew as well as the sugar raised the sugar level, so does the sugar in the fuit really raise the alcohol in the end really as the water in the fuit also diluted the brew?
First, you can do that if you want. Second.. it's all just estimation. Don't get caught up in the numbers for abv. It's more important that the brew doesn't start too high and that you know it's finished.
When making okra mead should I remove the seeds from the pods?
I wouldn't make okra mead.... but I don't think the seeds are dangerous.
Wow I have not checked in in a while! I like the new video improvements!
I do have a viewer request if you guys get around to it. You guys should try and make an orange creamsicle wine!
Welcome back! We did an orange creamsicle mead: ruclips.net/video/0tVJ07b6HdA/видео.htmlsi=oli5_Kakr0OMSvt6
@@CitySteadingBrews Hey close enough! Just change out the honey for sugar and we have wine! Thanks!
Another excellent video.
I got some problems with my cider. I joined the bejeezus level but haven't got any info on how to get into the FB group, patreon or anyway to ask but here.
My cider has significantly slowed. What was 90 bubbles per minute, my daughter counted because she's smart lol, has dropped to 1 every 45 seconds, again daughter counted. It's only been 4 days. I've swirled on day 2. Should I take a reading now or wait longer? Could the cider be done? Thanks for all the help!
If you joined the VIP club you should have received an email with a link to the group to join 😀, but you can just use this link too: facebook.com/share/qq4DUugUnXrdXysg/?mibextid=K35XfP
It's better to leave it than rush it. Bubbles mean very little actually, just that gas is escaping and this happens even after fermentation is done, if the temp goes up, etc. we take our first reading when it t looks like there is no activity. Then wait a week and take another to confirm it is finished.
@CitySteadingBrews I've heard you say that. Just seems like it just uber crashed fast.
It can happen with lower abv brews.
@CitySteadingBrews ok thanks. I rewashing your basic cider for the billionth time. Seems you said that but I didn't catch it.
I wonder if strawberry back sweetened with lactose would give a real strawberry cream flavor ?
It might, lactose sometimes adds that feeling.
How long do you guys age before you drink the majority of your brews? I know you save at least one bottle for a year, but what about the rest?
No real number for this. We just drink them as we feel like it mostly.
"A precisely estimated amount"... another fun vid... thanks
Glad you enjoyed it.
"Make more" at some point that needs to be the phrase of the day.
57:26 hibiscus tea added to this would be awesome
Id like to see a fruit bomb mead using cranberries raspberries and dark cherries. I use this fruit mix for jam for linzer cookies and it is delicious.
can you not get frozen rhubarb in Florida? I see it here in Missouri sometimes
Haven't seen it tbh.
@@CitySteadingBrews pity, I've never had much luck growing it here but I think it's always been our soil.
I Don't know if you have covered this before, but if honey has started to ferment in a jar because of to much moisture, are you still able to use that to make a mead?
I don't see why not, though it could turn to vinegar too.
@@CitySteadingBrews Guess I need to try it if I have some that goes bad. Thanks for the answer.
I think im going to do a hibiscus strawberry lemon wine/mead...🤔
In Oregon, homebrew alcohol can't leave the property on pain of ATF.
That's a law in most places I think.
In TN, we can transport up to 5g. We can also have up to 5g on display as a demonstration at many types of events.
There is a rhubarb extract flavoring 👍🏻
Actually crazy timing on this video. I'm doing a gallon batch of strawberry wine with an o.g. of 1.074 just now.
I noticed alot of our brew seem to finish off at 1.014 to 1.020...we rarely get dry. We use generally the basic recipe with fermaid o. Its inactive or stuck there, we swirl to degass and leave it quite alot of time. We were using D47 yeast...the mead gets to be about 12-14% (we keep experimenting). I just switched to EC-1118 to try a new yeast. Any thoughts on what might be happening?
What is your usual starting gravity?
@@CitySteadingBrews around 1.12-1.13. I am using generic Honey (3lbs) plus orange/raison/fermaid-o/yeast/orange/1c black tea/fill gallon with water. Lots of early activity normally, just finishes seemingly short. We have tried adding more fermaid-o later on, but it didnt jump start it really.
Try aiming for under 1.100. We've found that using slightly lower gravities is easier on the yeast. Adding fermaid-o to a stall doesn't necessarily help. Try just yeast hulls and a good swirl.
@@CitySteadingBrews Okay thank you for the tip!! We didnt have yeast hulls, I probably should invest in it and maybe back off on the sugar content as we are a little cautious to over fill the gallon with the top up water with how active the little yeastie-boys get (lol). thats probably why the gravity is a bit too high to start with
Strawberry hibiscus maybe
East Coast company that makes great value apple juice has a recall!
Ok... we have never used that.
I'd love to see you two make a chili and chocolate wine, just because I think it'll check both your boxes... or potentially make both of you go "OMGWTH?!"
@@johnp.2267 we have something like that coming!
@@CitySteadingBrews Be still, my fluttering chocolate-and-spice-loving heart! ❤
I'd love to see yall try and make an Arnold Palmer mead or wine. I know twisted tea is a thing, but I believe you both could do better.
You can also reverse tare: put the sugar on, tare, pour and check until -1.75lbs is achieved
Yup!
I made a blackraspberry jam mead the og was 1.110 i used 3 pounds of honey and a quarter jar of jam checked after 2 weeks and it was 1.054 so i let it set longer about a week swirling the lees back in it and th gracity was still the same and the tolerance for the yeast is 18% but every drink ive made kept going to 7% did it stall or am i doing something wrong i feel like im not adding enough sugars im still new to all this
The og had to be higher as 3 lbs of honey alone is 1.105. So I am guessing it stalled . You're adding too much sugars if it stalled in that way 😀👍
So basically you have to adjust the amount of honey with the other ingredients your using is that correct?
Yes absolutely.
Pumpkin spice mead ?
Sort of did that but I am not fermenting pumpkin.
I've made strawberry wine a few times, but I just can't get a good strawberry flavor. It usually just tastes like a mildly sweet white wine. What can I do?
We showed in the video how we did it. Ours had a lot of strawberry flavor actually. The easiest way to get more flavor is add more fruit.
Add more strawberries after fermentation is complete, after pasteurization or chemicalizing. It will add more strawberry flavor. Or add strawberry flavoring from a bottle.
Brian: "I don't believe there are blenders and food processors in the wild ..."
Me: Glares at Brian while I lock up the offended wolverine and comfort the sobbing bear.
Brian: "Having a bad seal ..."
Me: "Look, buddy, if you are going to go after marine mammals, too, you are on your own."
What exactly is 4.54 in the equation ? Where does that number come from ?
454 grams in a pound.
What about carbonated?
You can if you want to.
4:12 Even the ice is relatively warm this time of the year in Florida.
Had some ice cream recently. It was room temperature. Still chilly compared to the shade.
These jokes ain’t getting better.
You're right.
They're not 🤪
I stopped figuring the sugars of fruit in brews. Less math, I can't guarantee all the sugars will macerated out, and if I get an extra percent or 2 of alcohol, BONUS!
Has anybody mentioned Strwberry Banana mead?
ruclips.net/video/jYjeoa2RzJo/видео.htmlsi=33PTegRAdbZ5HBOB
What can I say, I love sour flavors! 😅
I don't think I really like too much lemon flavor in my brews. Like I am betting I would prefer orange here to lemon. It's that lemon Pledge thing lol.
Pecan and Mayhaw wine or is that too Southern? 😁
Nuts have fats that could be an issue and never even seen a pawpaw. 😀
@@CitySteadingBrews Mayhaws and Pawpaws are two different things. Not to be confused with Mamaws and Papaws, however, which could totally happen in the South. Lol
"There are no blenders out in the woods."
Me: *having brought a blender in case i wanted a margarita while camping.* I'm feeling a little called out here, bud.
Lol
Ok... I see LMAO in the top right corner, lol, I know it says Imagine, but it kinda works as I see it... Don't ya think?😂😂
I think y'all should consider caramelizing the frozen strawberries at the start next time you do a strawberry wine
Why? I've never had caramelized strawberries. Wouldn't it add a cooked flavor?
@@CitySteadingBrews I unfortunately don't have a direct comparison because i've only done one since I started homebrewing(this year) and I used caramelized strawberry, but it came out very natural strawberry flavor, and it added a little complexity to the fruit flavor - just something to think about since you dont have the honey rounding out the notes.
I can check into it.
I dont know about caramelizing. I do always cook real fruit. Bring it to a boil and pour it through a bag to strain the fruit, seeds, stems, ect. It just removes a couple of steps of getting all that out and losing volume and gets straight to adding the fruit flavor. I tried it a couple of times just pouring fruit in but its just so much more work straining and I can see no benefit.
Strawberry - Red + Lemon - Yellow = Orange
Or white actually.
so uh, just opened my fermenter to check on it and it had a half formed demon head who started talking to me about how 42 was the answer to everything.... exactly who do i call for this sort of thing? tried an excorsist but that didnt work. is there like a "brew demon banishment" department there at city steading brews i could talk to? lol
Maybe just dump it.... 😈
Make a red wine 🍷
We have made many on the channel.
Wow, a 5 gallon batch would be 30 pounds of strawberries! No way I could manage that in a 6 gallon bucket.
Not sure why not if we did it in a one gallon batch. May need to make 4 gallons?
@@CitySteadingBrews I know, it just seems like a huge amount of fruit. I might have to try it!
Call me crazy I actually like the smell of Pledge ….is that wrong 😂 Wendy’s sell strawberry lemonade and I can see the wine profile
Thanks guys.....it was indeed stalled but have fixed that so she is off to the races again......
Woohoo!
I just got done bottling my first day I made the traditional honey a strawberry and a cherry and I’m sitting on the couch enjoying my creation. Oh my God it’s so good thousand times better than what you can buy in the store.