Just a few beginner questions if I may... Can I use cane sugar to backsweeten? How hot was the water when you poured it in the mead? Can it be too hot? I'm currently making a berry mead, maybe another week before it's ready... I'd like to bring out the berry flavor by backsweetening if that's possible. Very fun hobby, love your videos!
Got one of your kits for Christmas and started my first batch on the 6th, its already starting to clear a little cant wait to try a taste in 20 days lol
I also got a kit for christmas! My first batch didn't go as smoothly as possibly but was still pretty tasty and now I am confident that my second batch will turn out wonderful :)
Another great video!! You explain things so well. When you bottled your mead after adding the yeast stabilizer, did you end up with any carbonation in your mead, or was it basically flat? Did bottling this way help preserve the flavor without much or any carbonation? Thank you
are you just aging them in those bottled you capped towards the end of the video? Is that okay or are you only allowed to age in the big gallon jug during either the initial fermentation/backsweetening process? Love the content btw
Should you also stabilize with a campden tablet? Ive heard using both will close any chance of the yeast restarting fermentation. Would appreciate any feedback!
I’m a beginner however I’ve read and researched this a lot so hope to answer here. You don’t need to use a Campden tablet if you are using the Craftabrew backsweetening kit because it already contains the correct ingredients to prevent further fermentation. If you weren’t using that kit, then yes you can use a single Campden tablet for a gallon of mead, along with potassium sorbate. But not necessary here.
It shouldn’t change. But if you buy a hydrometer and learn the numbers converted to abv you can double check. I’d say it’d still range from 11-14% depending on yeast and how well it ferments
Adding water and honey will decrease ABV minimally. Alcohol content won’t change as fermentation (process that turns sugar to alcohol) has finished by this point.
Hey! ive got a question, i bought a craft a brew kit, im making a traditional mead i added 3 lbs of honey into it, started this on the 28th and as of today it smells like a dry wine, is this normal?
Thanks for the video. I am doing my first mango mead. Fermented the mead normally without fruit until 1.000 SG. Added 1 lb of mango and fermentation started back up. Been fermenting for a month now and I plan to put the mead in the fridge for 24 hrs and then use the potassium sorbate to stabilize. I was thinking about backsweetening. Does this all make sense? Again, first timer here, and trying to avoid bottle bombs. Thanks in advance!
I like to check SG about 7 days apart to make sure the fermentation has ended. (First time after bubbling has noticeably stopped and yeast cake has formed on bottom)(second time after it has clarified) If it's the same SG, then I know it's done fermenting. It is still a good idea to stabilize before adding additional water or sugar to get back up to 1 gallon volume.
by re fermenting your mangos youre loosing your mango sweetness and taste fermentation turns all your sugars to alcohol if you are wanting the mango sweetness and taste ferment with it in the primary then in the secondary backsweeten it with honey and add more mango (i would put in brewers sack at this point) also make sure you kill the yeast and fermentation at this point by adding potassium sorbate you do not want anymore fermentation at this point this will make for a more flavorful and sweeter mead
You'll want to try to make a concentrate since strawberry is such a light, delicate flavor. We'd recommend juicing as many strawberries as you'd like then trying to extract as much water from this as possible, the best way to do this would be long and slow heating using a double boiling method, this should help protect the flavor from high heat or scorching and allow water to evaporate over time until you get to a nearly syrup consistency. You can then stabilize just as if you were to backsweeten but add the syrup at this time rather than the honey.
ecv1118 lalvin yeast and for nutrients anything with plenty of N(i dont know how this word is spelled in english but look at chemistry periodic system under letter N and u will se :)
More sugar (honey) is more potential alcohol so if you put more sugar in the batch then it could eventually get to a higher alcohol content but it would stress the yeast out and potentially cause off flavors. Starting with 40oz of honey per gallon is a great medium where you get a higher ABV of about 12.5% but you don't stress the yeast out too much if the nutrients are properly used. This then allows you to stabilize and back-sweeten your mead once the yeast has consumed all of the sugars in the honey.
I want to flavor like in your other videos with peaches or fruit,but also want something less dry and more sweet. What should the process be when doing both steps?
Excluding equipment, it depends mostly on the price of your honey. If you use cheap honey from somewhere like Costco, or better honey, the price will fluctuate. I'd say about $15 for 3lbs of honey, plus about $2 for the yeast, about $7 for yeast nutrient (this is enough to make many batches, so let's call it $1) and whatever a gallon of water would cost you, say $2. So about $20-25 for 4 bottles or $4-6 per bottle.
Technically no, to keep from referm, yes. If you backsweeten without stabalizing and ferm starts up again, you are basically step feeding. You can step feed the yeast until they reach their alcohol tolerance. You have to hydrometer every step, then once your gravity doesnt change over at least 2 weeks, your yeast are inactive.
If they did not dissolve, I'd give the carboy a bit of a swirl to help it mix and wait another 12 hours prior to adding the back-sweetening honey. Cold temperatures could also contribute to the stabilizers not fully dissolving.
If you listen to this at 1.25x, the background music sounds like someone repeating "fuck yeah" over and over again
Omg i can't unhear this now and is the best thing ever
That's interesting..nothing better to do than that.
@@Soccerusaf YEAH! Stop having fun around me!
I watch everything at at least 1.25x
At normal speed I can't help but hear this being a remix of the "I go meow" meme song.
How long after back sweetening did you wait before bottling?
Just a few beginner questions if I may...
Can I use cane sugar to backsweeten?
How hot was the water when you poured it in the mead? Can it be too hot?
I'm currently making a berry mead, maybe another week before it's ready...
I'd like to bring out the berry flavor by backsweetening if that's possible.
Very fun hobby, love your videos!
Got one of your kits for Christmas and started my first batch on the 6th, its already starting to clear a little cant wait to try a taste in 20 days lol
How'd it turn out
I also got a kit for christmas! My first batch didn't go as smoothly as possibly but was still pretty tasty and now I am confident that my second batch will turn out wonderful :)
Another great video!! You explain things so well. When you bottled your mead after adding the yeast stabilizer, did you end up with any carbonation in your mead, or was it basically flat? Did bottling this way help preserve the flavor without much or any carbonation? Thank you
are you just aging them in those bottled you capped towards the end of the video? Is that okay or are you only allowed to age in the big gallon jug during either the initial fermentation/backsweetening process? Love the content btw
I have never back sweetened by mixing my honey in hot water. Since I will be doing that tomorrow I will try your method.
Can you make this kit with a spigot bottle?! Like your kombucha one! Would be a lot easier to transfer to other bottles.
Should you also stabilize with a campden tablet? Ive heard using both will close any chance of the yeast restarting fermentation. Would appreciate any feedback!
I’m a beginner however I’ve read and researched this a lot so hope to answer here. You don’t need to use a Campden tablet if you are using the Craftabrew backsweetening kit because it already contains the correct ingredients to prevent further fermentation. If you weren’t using that kit, then yes you can use a single Campden tablet for a gallon of mead, along with potassium sorbate. But not necessary here.
What would the alcohol content of this mead be after backsweetening?
It shouldn’t change. But if you buy a hydrometer and learn the numbers converted to abv you can double check.
I’d say it’d still range from 11-14% depending on yeast and how well it ferments
Adding water and honey will decrease ABV minimally. Alcohol content won’t change as fermentation (process that turns sugar to alcohol) has finished by this point.
Hey! ive got a question, i bought a craft a brew kit, im making a traditional mead i added 3 lbs of honey into it, started this on the 28th and as of today it smells like a dry wine, is this normal?
Yes
It probably tastes similar too. Yeasty also, and hits like a ton of bricks for some reason.
Thanks for the video. I am doing my first mango mead. Fermented the mead normally without fruit until 1.000 SG. Added 1 lb of mango and fermentation started back up. Been fermenting for a month now and I plan to put the mead in the fridge for 24 hrs and then use the potassium sorbate to stabilize. I was thinking about backsweetening. Does this all make sense? Again, first timer here, and trying to avoid bottle bombs. Thanks in advance!
I like to check SG about 7 days apart to make sure the fermentation has ended. (First time after bubbling has noticeably stopped and yeast cake has formed on bottom)(second time after it has clarified)
If it's the same SG, then I know it's done fermenting. It is still a good idea to stabilize before adding additional water or sugar to get back up to 1 gallon volume.
by re fermenting your mangos youre loosing your mango sweetness and taste fermentation turns all your sugars to alcohol if you are wanting the mango sweetness and taste ferment with it in the primary then in the secondary backsweeten it with honey and add more mango (i would put in brewers sack at this point) also make sure you kill the yeast and fermentation at this point by adding potassium sorbate you do not want anymore fermentation at this point this will make for a more flavorful and sweeter mead
lol start the "at this point" counter
hey do you guys have a store front by chance?
We are online only but we do have our products available direct from our store CraftaBrew.com, Amazon as well as select small retailers.
If I'm making a flavored mead (strawberry), what's the best method to really make the strawberry flavor stand out more than the alcohol?
You'll want to try to make a concentrate since strawberry is such a light, delicate flavor. We'd recommend juicing as many strawberries as you'd like then trying to extract as much water from this as possible, the best way to do this would be long and slow heating using a double boiling method, this should help protect the flavor from high heat or scorching and allow water to evaporate over time until you get to a nearly syrup consistency. You can then stabilize just as if you were to backsweeten but add the syrup at this time rather than the honey.
Thanks for the info
@craftabrew!!
You can also look up how to make strawberry syrup videos (burry fruit in sugar and wait)
Do you need to rack again after the pottasium sorbate has done its job or is it ok to leave in
No need to rack again.
hello! i wanted to ask what kinds of nutrients and yeast i should use for making an apple mead, great video as always and have a good day
ecv1118 lalvin yeast and for nutrients anything with plenty of N(i dont know how this word is spelled in english but look at chemistry periodic system under letter N and u will se :)
d47 should be fine for yeast and for nutrients do either fermaid k with DAP or fermaid o with go-ferm
Does it matter what kind of water you use when warming the honey? I originally used spring water but all I have currently is purified bottled water
Probably no noticeable difference.
Is there a reason to not put more honey for the initial fermentation to end with a sweeter mead that doesn't need backsweetening?
More sugar (honey) is more potential alcohol so if you put more sugar in the batch then it could eventually get to a higher alcohol content but it would stress the yeast out and potentially cause off flavors. Starting with 40oz of honey per gallon is a great medium where you get a higher ABV of about 12.5% but you don't stress the yeast out too much if the nutrients are properly used. This then allows you to stabilize and back-sweeten your mead once the yeast has consumed all of the sugars in the honey.
I want to flavor like in your other videos with peaches or fruit,but also want something less dry and more sweet. What should the process be when doing both steps?
You would finish the fruit mead, then move it to the second carboy like he does in this video, then add your honey to sweeten.
How much would you say the mead cost to make over all per batch ?
Excluding equipment, it depends mostly on the price of your honey. If you use cheap honey from somewhere like Costco, or better honey, the price will fluctuate.
I'd say about $15 for 3lbs of honey, plus about $2 for the yeast, about $7 for yeast nutrient (this is enough to make many batches, so let's call it $1) and whatever a gallon of water would cost you, say $2. So about $20-25 for 4 bottles or $4-6 per bottle.
Stabilizer packet? Not the powders or granules you have to weigh or measure?
The stabiliser packet contains those things already. It’s calibrated for a gallon of mead as in the craftabrew kit.
Do I need stabilizer?
Yes
Technically no, to keep from referm, yes. If you backsweeten without stabalizing and ferm starts up again, you are basically step feeding. You can step feed the yeast until they reach their alcohol tolerance. You have to hydrometer every step, then once your gravity doesnt change over at least 2 weeks, your yeast are inactive.
after stabilizing do you rack off the stabilizers that feel to the bottom before back sweetening
If they did not dissolve, I'd give the carboy a bit of a swirl to help it mix and wait another 12 hours prior to adding the back-sweetening honey. Cold temperatures could also contribute to the stabilizers not fully dissolving.
Best to just pasteurise, instead of filling your mead with a vunch of chemical crap. The kit is unessacary and overpriced.