We found this bourbon barrel aged maple syrup at Costco a few months ago and made a wine out of it. A month later and it’s the best thing we’ve ever made! We were taking about making 5 gallons and doing it for Christmas gifts next year. Fast forward a few weeks and we’re watching this episode and you fortify your wine and my wife gasps and goes “we should fortify the maple wine with bourbon!” You’re giving us bad ideas…
I made this recipe with some slight modifications. Instead of wine tanin, I used an elderberry tea. Added dried 10-12 dried cranberries for a more complex taste. I also did a little of the sweetening with sugar (because I ran out of honey). I left my spices in for a month. It was PHENOMENAL! Heavily spiced with a deep, rich flavor. I would never have thought to make a mead like this. Thank you sooo much for this idea. I think this has to be a new holiday tradition.
I just fortified and sweetened a 2 gallon batch of this recipe! I also helped a friend make a batch, which was his first time making mead. It smells and tastes like it's going to be awesome! I've learned so much watching your videos since I started this hobby in Oct 2023. Thank you!
Not a question, just want to share my brewing happiness! FINALLY found the perfect bottles for this holiday mead! I made 1 gallon with rum as you did and 1 gallon with vodka as well (I don't like rum, but my husband does). 375ml bottles to share with family and friends and still have some for ourselves. Just ordered some more wax for making wax seals to fancify them. Today was my first time wearing my Official Brew Day Shirt - I also have Brew Master socks. Started a cranberry cider today for Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving celebrations. Hopefully I do it justice as a few friends are now expecting it, lol. D&D - my halfling druid has a background of guild artisan: brewer. My DM has no understanding of how brewing works, but he's all in for me foraging ingredients while we travel and has developed several homebrew rules regarding selling recipes through my guild for a little money on the side. My character can even grow their reputation in the guild for more perks. Last, but not least! In going back to rewatch several of your cider videos, I finally found one that used the really cool 5L fermenter that sold out hours after your video came out (the oaked hopped cider video). It's back in stock and I was finally able to order one, lol. Sorry for the novel, but hopefully you'll read this and smile because I'm so excited about my brewing and it's all thanks to you two (and everyone that helps you). I've been watching you since the first Viking blood video (at least) and it is such a fun and rewarding hobby. Especially how you present it in giving us so much easily digestible info and promoting guidelines so we can tailor brews to our tastes. So long story long... Thank you for doing what you do!
Being a Brit, most of us are brought up on fruitcake and don't quite have the aversion to it like most Americans ;-) I'm going to use your recipe as a base but use similar ingredients as I use in my Christmas cake and use brandy, not rum. You guys have never let me down yet so I am expecting a great Yule mead next year.
If that's the case are there any fruit cake recipes you know of that I could use that are good? I don't want to make one like the ones that I've had experience with which were... questionable.
Same mate, I’m going lower on the figs, around 70% on the dates but adding mixed fruit plus cherries 😊 I like a citrusie note so kinda toying with lemon peel but Spiced Ribena is definitely going in lol. Fortification will be brandy (it’s cheaper). No idea if this’ll work 🤣
Thank you for the videos. I started a simple mead on 1/21/24 which is my first brew. Then decided to start the fruitcake mead on 2/2/24 all going well with all of your education over the years.
0:19 I love the TARDIS noise at the beginning. My mom would make fruit cake and wrap it in a linen towel soaked in rum or brandy. She'd start in November and soak it until Christmas. You could get drunk on it.
doing this one, I have my own Figs & Dates from trees in my yard. have been wanting to do a mead with them but not sure to makeup. I did do the fig wine and loved it
I started this mead within a week after you posted this video. With snow in tonight’s forecast here in Maine I am in the holiday spirit and just opened up a bottle. All I can do is echo Brian-DAMN. I can’t wait to share this with friends in a couple weeks and get another batch started for next year! Thanks guys!
Totally agree. Just finished bulk pasteurizing a pumpkin mead (with actual pumpkin AND pumpkin spice). I should have started that one a lot earlier. But at least it wil be finished and aged well before the '24 holidays.
@@aimeevanlandingham3844It's pretty simple. Cut, peel, roast and mash pumpkin. Add water, honey, pectic enzyme and yeast. Step feed if necessary. After fermentation sweeten with honey and brown sugar. Add pumpkin spice. Pasteurize if necessary. Age and bottle.
When I saw the thumbnail I was concerned you were making a pine flavored mead... This looks amazing. I don't drink alcohol but I love the almost magical alchemy that you guys go through. I have a lot of subs to crafters (machinists, 3D printing, woodworking, resin crafts,whatever), and you guys are as incredible to watch as any of those others. I just love your personalities and excitement and the process of craft and discovery. Although there is an excellent woodworking youtuber that makes a lot of recipes with trees he's working with. Justinthetrees? I think? I bet you guys could colab with him and make something unique and incredible from christmas trees,
Interesting. My fact-of-the-day calendar informed me that yesterday was Jane Austen's birthday, and she was an accomplished homebrewer with her specialty being spruce beer. I've never had a spruce/pine beverage of any type, and it sounds like one of those things I might have to make so I can try it.
So now that I watched Justinthetrees' video Cake Flavored with Pine Cone Syrup, I 100% agree with you that CS should collaborate with Justin on making a pine cone mead/wine.
I made a gallon of this with rum and a gallon without back in January (2024). Just cracked open a bottle without rum, last weekend with friends (a little early) and it was a HUGE hit. My wife, who does not like wine very much though it was surprisingly excellent. So far, this one is my top seller ;) Thanks for the recipe. I'm going to have to start several more gallons for next year now.
We were going to make the Spiced Metheglin recipe today...then I see this, released today. Now I am wondering if I need to figure out how to track all these ingredients down last minute! Trying to establish a Christmas Tradition Mead, where we make it each year around Christmas and drink it the following. This might be the one.
@@CitySteadingBrews That settles it then. The only bummer is the dates say they ship in 1-2 months. I'll be able to use your affiliate links for the other stuff, but will have track down dates locally.
I have come to the conclusion that watching your channel is dangerous to my credit card, lol. Way too many good ideas and possibilities. My "to do" list just keeps growing. Keep it up!
Coming back to this! I finally cracked open our mead! Started in January and opened it tonight. Your reactions were accurate because it is INCREDIBLE! Its so SMOOTH despite fortified with rum 😂 Holy cow its tasty. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe. Merry Christmas to you both! ❤
Finally, I bottled my version of this yesterday after 5 months. I didn't fortify or backsweeten. It honestly tasted soooo good as it was. I didn't want to change it. Thank you for all your guidance and recipes for this amazing hobby.
I've been homebrewing mead for a few yrs now, usually basic or show mead, as I like it sweet myself, I've got 2 gallons on the go now (2 weeks) can't wait to get the berries/cinnamon/cloves in and smell that aroma in my man cave/fermenting station. I'm not a rum drinker personally but most of this will be gifted as Christmas presents anyway so I'll give it a go :D thanks for sharing!
Started this around three weeks ago and I've used a combination of orange blossom honey and Spanish forest honey which has a strong molasses flavour so I am very excited for this one!!
Wow, I started brewing this 6 months ago, and after 5 months of bulk aging, I just fortified a gallon of the 3 gallons I had and it is INCREDIBLE. I intend to let it bulk age with the rum and honey for another 3 months before bottling and aging 1 more month, ready to enjoy by Christmas. If it tastes this good right now, I cannot IMAGINE how good it will be by December. The remaining 2 gallons I had I went ahead and backsweetened to 1.011 semisweet and look forward to that too. Thanks for this recipe, this is gonna be a winner for sure.
Started this in January 24 and just added my Kracken today. Flavored to sweetness 1.018 ish and its killer so far, will bottle around the holidays. I got a hint of almost butterscotch on initial taste but quickly faded. I have another in the wings I will not fortify for comparision but so far so very good!
I wanted to tell you about one of my latest meads! Last month I started making up 2 separate one gallon batches, 1 just a traditional mead and the other i tried something I've never seen someone do, not sure if you've tried this but i really think you should, it'll surprise you! I took a gallon of hot water (not scalding) and started a tea, with a mixture of different teas, earl gray, chamomile, an organic peach tea, green tea, regular lipton tea, and some lipton iced brew (orange and black mix). I let it steep until i felt it was done (few hours), i just kept tasting it to make sure it didn't get too strong (or bitter). I used 100% tea instead of water in this mead and a month in, it tastes amazing! The tea sure didn't help much for the color up to this point lol (but I'm not worried about that, it should just be a little darker than the norm) I used 71b and since it has been colder this last month here in East Texas, it's been running at 65°-72° in my brew room. Which i have found that 71b runs a little slower at these temps, but the 3 batches I've ran like this, all have came out very well!
I think the best partabout your videos is stuff like this ! Watching the whole Journey from bare ingredients to finished wine/mead / beer and to see you both enjoy your hard work ! And be able to share in the creations! I get the same enjoyment making my own wine ! Great job. And happy holidays !
I love that this is what you put the Kraken in. I just mixed a cyser, lemon mead, and a metheglin into a cocktail and my girlfriend says I need to brew an official wassail mead. I guess I should take your cue and start it as soon as I get my Valentine's Love Potion out of my Little Big Mouth.
I was brought up on fruitcake as well. And like Ianwilkinson says, my great grandmother not only used brandy in her recipe, she preserved it with brandy as well. It was always a running joke in my family that you could set it on fire at Thanksgiving, and the brandy wouldn't burn off until after new years!! Since she added mace to her fruitcake I'm going to add a little bit of mace to the mead and see what that does, as well as some different dried fruits that are also used in great grandmother's recipe. Also, the yeast you're using might be better for the temperature here. It’s cooler between 64 and 68. It rarely gets above 72 even in the summer (you should see my electric bill)! Thanks for a great start 👍. Love your videos, always fun and full of information.
Just rewatched for I don’t know how many times and you reminded me of a story in the news a couple of weeks ago. A piece of Queen Elizabeth II wedding cake from November 1947 sold for £500, now that’s some scary preservation.😳😳😳
Loved the idea of this, but added 1/4 cup of candied fruit with the spices (had preservatives so it wouldn't matter at that point), and I think it added a nice touch!
I've brewed for a few years using the,"PawPaw" method. It wasnt until I stumbled upon your channel that I graduated from preschool. This year when I brewed I would cover it with an industrial grade trash bag. But this time I wrapped it in a thin blanket with a standard heating pad. My 6 gallons of pilsner I started yesterday has me mesmerized as this is the first time I really get to watch my airlock. I think I am ready to graduate grade school. Looking at a 7.9 gallon conical with stand and a detachable collection chamber at the bottom. I bought a 7lb bag of pilsner then added 1 gallon of apple juice and 4lbs of brown sugar. My spgr was 1.070. Wish me luck my last beer a muntons amber was only ok. My wines usually do great if they dont have peach in them. Heck my red grapefruit wine was so good that I put a 5star rating at the top of my notebook "Formula" page. Putting it on par with my home made MD 20/20!
My holiday mead is Cranberries blended. Honey. Water. Cinnamon sticks 2. A pinch of cloves and nutmeg because I have no idea how much to put into a 1gl carboy. and a bunch of peppermint candycanes mini along with a teaspoon of yeast nutrients. It should be ready by maybe a few weeks. It's the third week but I will be taking my second test on friday. STill got some fermenting going.
Have you guys ever had Barenjager? Its a honey liquer (it's imported from Germany). It tastes like drinking mead that was backsweetened with so much honey it becomes syrupy (obviously that wasn't how it was made. Its distilled, because it is 35% ABV, but it tastes fantastic). It leaves a slight film of honey flavor on your lips that you can taste for like ten minutes after drinking it.
Finally got to start mine today! :) I couldn't find any figs, locally, so I used raisins, instead, and a good Earl Grey black tea for the tannins. Everything else was the same as yours. I did use a full gallon of water, and that brought my starting gravity to 1.090. (like 11.5%ish possible... but since I am gonna fortify it "It just doesn't matter!" LOL! Thank-you guys for putting this out there. I love to give away my brews, so this is gonna be X-mas this year for everybody. :) I will post again in December to let y'all know how it turned out with the raisins and earl grey.
I made 2 gallons of this stuff, split the batch when it got to the fortified stage. One batch fortified with Kraken, the 2nd I'm letting it ride. I pasteurized the 2nd batch (15%) for safety will backsweeten it and "let it sit." Everyone should make this recipe! It's so good even at the early stage I'm at.
Unfortunately I have to grieve, I purchased the demijohn that y’all showed in another video and I heard a crack and rushing of liquid. The holiday mead is now living in my shop vac and about to get dumped. 😭
@Gmrgrl-mb5np really sorry to hear that! Contact the manufacturer, maybe there was some defect? Obviously that won't replace the mead... again, sorry for your loss.
I wish I had seen this video in January, but I don’t think I was even a subscriber then. That was BM, before mead. BCS, before City Steading…that actually sounds better than BM…LOL. 😂 I’m so excited to make this one. I have a list and this just ascended to the top. YUMMM.
I made my fruit cake in July and it has about a half a bottle of brandy in by now and it is so delicious and not building material. I think I might have a go at this over the Xmas holiday sometime between Boxing Day and new year.
The Tardis sound fits perfectly. Just racked two bubblers of exactly this that have been standing since new years day 2022 and it blew my mind. Now I hope the family and friends enjoy it just as much! Happy holiday season everyone!
I made this one and definitely regret not using a bag for the fruit. So many fig seeds and a very loose lees. Racked it for the first time last night and will almost certainly have to rack again. I plan to fortify half the same as you and just pasteurize the other half.
Ive watched 10+ of your mead videos and am super impressed with your approach and presentation. Scientific method / critical thinking that doesnt overwhelm the neophyte. Walking me thru the questions i didnt know i had without making me feel inept. At this Ive bought vessels, a case of honey and other implements. Thankyou for the confidence!
I try to make your favorite recipes. When I made your new Viking Blood mead, I had some boozy dried cherries from conditioning that tasted good, and that I did not want to get rid of because they had my delicious cherry mead in them. So, I used the boozy cherries to make 2 loaves of fruitcake, soaked in some Calvados that I wanted to finish using. The fruitcake was delicious. The cherry mead is about a year old now, so I'm bringing some to the family for Christmas. Likewise, I made a raisin mead that is also a year old or more, and that is going to our Christmas celebration. Now, I have fermenting your apple juice wine made by concentrating 2 gallons of apple juice into one gallon, except that I started with nine quarts of apple juice instead of eight. I will take my time before racking and bottling it. I have a lot of dried fruit in my cupboard, so as soon as the concentrated apple wine is bottled, I'm going to try this very recipe. I'm looking forward to it.
So I started this one in early February. I racked it today into secondary and added the spices. I think I'm going to rack it onto cherries when I remove the spices and then rack one last time when it's time to fortify.
I have a basic mead I made that doesn’t have any strong flavors so I’m gonna try this recipe with it. Adding the seasonings, I am looking forward to the taste test. It’s fun watching you two Experiment.
I see Wednesday Adam's with those braids. Y'all reference movies and books so much...I look forward to it. On the other hand I have my first 3 brews going now. I wish I could get a year zip by in 45 minutes like this video. 2 weeks have dragged by here 😢
Watching these videos.... Really makes me just want to drink my first batch even though I just racked it for the first time and it's only been a couple of days. I'm so excited for this batch to be done so I can experiment with more flavors and mixes
I get my fruitcake from Ackroyd's Scottish bakery in Detroit. It's very good andRUM soaked the way my mom always made it. Unfortunately, she's not able to mess with it anymore, so the one I get is close. Wish I could try this.
I did something similar with a spiced cyser I made. I used honey and Musselman's apple cider and then used clove, cinnamon, and allspice. Let it extract for a week, and then backsweetened with brown sugar. I've only had a few people try it but everyone has loved it as a "Christmas in a glass" type drink. I should note that by similar, I meant I was going for a Christmas mead.
19:29 I have know allspice berries from a video of yours, and I falled in love with it. In my country it's called "jamaican pepper", don't know why. hehehe And man, now I have some great mead recipes with then. thank you.
thank you...your channel is wonderful, you are fantastic...I have reproduced some of your meads...one more fantastic than the other...now I'm trying the coffee one...and I have dates ready and figs...because only in this period are they available to me in Italy in Trentino...thanks again...
Have you ever tried the typical gingerbread spices? cinnamon, star anise, ginger, mace, fennel, cardamom, coriander, anise, cloves, allspice, nutmeg. Orange/lemon and anise peel are also possible (standard in mulled wine). Of course, you have to think carefully about which spices to add before or after the fermentation process.
Definitely loved the color throughout the different stages (when it was clear of course). I'll give this a try and see what happens. One more thing. When it was mentioned about how actual fruitcakes are sometimes re-gifted, and Brian eventually said "they're cakes", here's my counterpoint to that. Twinkies are cakes (or at least part of them are), and they tend to last a long time before spoiling...if they ever do.
I actually got a stall on this at the exact same gravity and timeframe as you did haha! And that was with a staggered nutrient schedule. Ive never had a stall before, so I'm glad you filmed everything and showed us what you did
Having just recently started, I was not aware of the previous fortification video. I just bottled my "holiday" acerglyn (my second brew ever) and had not fortified it, but my EC 1118 reached 17%. Sweat, spicy and with a hint of citrus, I hope next year I will be even half as happy with mine as you were with yours.
Made this mead unbelievable! All the different notes you get is spectacular! What am I doing with it? I’m gonna let it sit all the way to Christmas! Thank you both!
Just started this, should get ready for Christmas 2025 :) Tried to follow the recipe as closely as I could. SG 1.081, probably a bit of an underestimate. Didn't have tannin so brewed black tea. Added a touch of Meadowsweet to the tea, in Norway literally named mead herb! (Mjødurt). No Fermaid O either, so added a touch of tartaric acid to the tea instead.
@CitySteadingBrews seems to be working well, fermentation has been going, enjoying the lava lamp look! :) Didn't have access to either Fermaid O or yeast hulls. It might affect the flavor profile, but the honey I had available was much lighter in color, so anyway the flavor will be somewhat different.
Fantastic video, fantastic mead! I think it's also a bit sweeter than the final gravity suggests, because of all the alcohol that was added. (Remember the gravity before adding the rum was 1.002, and then after it was well below 1.000.
Love love love your channel, ive been making my own mead ever since i cam across your first vikings blood back when Brian had the big beard😊. Ive been looking for something special to make and this is going to consume my january! Thanks guys, and heres to seeing more of your videos in 2024! 🎉
awesome job on another video. I am still waiting on my mead from a recipe you all shared a while ago. I am looking forward to tasting it. (Honey, Raisins, Black tea).
Well now I know what I'm going to try to do this coming January! Yummmm. Btw, if fruitcake scares you, it's not good fruitcake. A good fruitcake has a texture like a heavier cake (like gingerbread), very moist but definitely cakey, full of fruity notes and spices. It should smell mouthwatering rather than chemical. I hope you will get to try a real homemade one!
We found this bourbon barrel aged maple syrup at Costco a few months ago and made a wine out of it. A month later and it’s the best thing we’ve ever made! We were taking about making 5 gallons and doing it for Christmas gifts next year.
Fast forward a few weeks and we’re watching this episode and you fortify your wine and my wife gasps and goes “we should fortify the maple wine with bourbon!”
You’re giving us bad ideas…
Lol
I made this recipe with some slight modifications. Instead of wine tanin, I used an elderberry tea. Added dried 10-12 dried cranberries for a more complex taste. I also did a little of the sweetening with sugar (because I ran out of honey). I left my spices in for a month. It was PHENOMENAL! Heavily spiced with a deep, rich flavor. I would never have thought to make a mead like this. Thank you sooo much for this idea. I think this has to be a new holiday tradition.
This is why I love your videos, self contained and not trying to flog part 2/3 etc. Makes it really good
We are always trying to improve :)
Long time lurker, first time commenter. I'm inspired. It sounds great.
Awesome!
I just fortified and sweetened a 2 gallon batch of this recipe! I also helped a friend make a batch, which was his first time making mead. It smells and tastes like it's going to be awesome! I've learned so much watching your videos since I started this hobby in Oct 2023. Thank you!
Happy to help!
Not a question, just want to share my brewing happiness! FINALLY found the perfect bottles for this holiday mead! I made 1 gallon with rum as you did and 1 gallon with vodka as well (I don't like rum, but my husband does). 375ml bottles to share with family and friends and still have some for ourselves. Just ordered some more wax for making wax seals to fancify them.
Today was my first time wearing my Official Brew Day Shirt - I also have Brew Master socks. Started a cranberry cider today for Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving celebrations. Hopefully I do it justice as a few friends are now expecting it, lol.
D&D - my halfling druid has a background of guild artisan: brewer. My DM has no understanding of how brewing works, but he's all in for me foraging ingredients while we travel and has developed several homebrew rules regarding selling recipes through my guild for a little money on the side. My character can even grow their reputation in the guild for more perks.
Last, but not least! In going back to rewatch several of your cider videos, I finally found one that used the really cool 5L fermenter that sold out hours after your video came out (the oaked hopped cider video). It's back in stock and I was finally able to order one, lol.
Sorry for the novel, but hopefully you'll read this and smile because I'm so excited about my brewing and it's all thanks to you two (and everyone that helps you). I've been watching you since the first Viking blood video (at least) and it is such a fun and rewarding hobby. Especially how you present it in giving us so much easily digestible info and promoting guidelines so we can tailor brews to our tastes.
So long story long... Thank you for doing what you do!
"Have fun storming the castle." Miracle Max
Being a Brit, most of us are brought up on fruitcake and don't quite have the aversion to it like most Americans ;-) I'm going to use your recipe as a base but use similar ingredients as I use in my Christmas cake and use brandy, not rum. You guys have never let me down yet so I am expecting a great Yule mead next year.
We only used 94 proof.
I grew up on good family-recipe fruitcake here in FL 😅 either way, I think we're definitely trying this.
If that's the case are there any fruit cake recipes you know of that I could use that are good? I don't want to make one like the ones that I've had experience with which were... questionable.
Same mate, I’m going lower on the figs, around 70% on the dates but adding mixed fruit plus cherries 😊 I like a citrusie note so kinda toying with lemon peel but Spiced Ribena is definitely going in lol. Fortification will be brandy (it’s cheaper). No idea if this’ll work 🤣
We like fruit cake in Canada too 😀
Im thinking of making this for next Christmas! Can't wait to see what the 1 year tastes like!
Thank you for the videos. I started a simple mead on 1/21/24 which is my first brew. Then decided to start the fruitcake mead on 2/2/24 all going well with all of your education over the years.
0:19 I love the TARDIS noise at the beginning. My mom would make fruit cake and wrap it in a linen towel soaked in rum or brandy. She'd start in November and soak it until Christmas. You could get drunk on it.
doing this one, I have my own Figs & Dates from trees in my yard. have been wanting to do a mead with them but not sure to makeup. I did do the fig wine and loved it
I started this mead within a week after you posted this video. With snow in tonight’s forecast here in Maine I am in the holiday spirit and just opened up a bottle. All I can do is echo Brian-DAMN.
I can’t wait to share this with friends in a couple weeks and get another batch started for next year! Thanks guys!
Awesome! Glad you like it!
Totally agree. Just finished bulk pasteurizing a pumpkin mead (with actual pumpkin AND pumpkin spice). I should have started that one a lot earlier.
But at least it wil be finished and aged well before the '24 holidays.
Would you be willing to share the recipe? I have some pie pumpkins to use up.
@@aimeevanlandingham3844It's pretty simple. Cut, peel, roast and mash pumpkin. Add water, honey, pectic enzyme and yeast. Step feed if necessary.
After fermentation sweeten with honey and brown sugar. Add pumpkin spice. Pasteurize if necessary. Age and bottle.
@@elricthebald that sounds amazing thank you!
Pineapple honey with apple cider spice turns out soooo good.
When I saw the thumbnail I was concerned you were making a pine flavored mead... This looks amazing. I don't drink alcohol but I love the almost magical alchemy that you guys go through. I have a lot of subs to crafters (machinists, 3D printing, woodworking, resin crafts,whatever), and you guys are as incredible to watch as any of those others. I just love your personalities and excitement and the process of craft and discovery.
Although there is an excellent woodworking youtuber that makes a lot of recipes with trees he's working with. Justinthetrees? I think? I bet you guys could colab with him and make something unique and incredible from christmas trees,
Thank you :)
Interesting. My fact-of-the-day calendar informed me that yesterday was Jane Austen's birthday, and she was an accomplished homebrewer with her specialty being spruce beer. I've never had a spruce/pine beverage of any type, and it sounds like one of those things I might have to make so I can try it.
I just went and watched Justinthetrees' video on making incense from juniper. What a neato video! Thanks for the tip!
So now that I watched Justinthetrees' video Cake Flavored with Pine Cone Syrup, I 100% agree with you that CS should collaborate with Justin on making a pine cone mead/wine.
I made a gallon of this with rum and a gallon without back in January (2024). Just cracked open a bottle without rum, last weekend with friends (a little early) and it was a HUGE hit. My wife, who does not like wine very much though it was surprisingly excellent. So far, this one is my top seller ;) Thanks for the recipe. I'm going to have to start several more gallons for next year now.
Awesome! Yeah, figured it would be good with or without the rum. With the rum you don't have to stabilize is the advantage.
Just bottled my Holiday Fruit Cake mead today that made back in January. I look forward to enjoying it next month!
Awesome!
We were going to make the Spiced Metheglin recipe today...then I see this, released today. Now I am wondering if I need to figure out how to track all these ingredients down last minute! Trying to establish a Christmas Tradition Mead, where we make it each year around Christmas and drink it the following. This might be the one.
This is better for a holiday theme.
@@CitySteadingBrews That settles it then. The only bummer is the dates say they ship in 1-2 months. I'll be able to use your affiliate links for the other stuff, but will have track down dates locally.
Shouldn't be too hard to find.
I am a 20+ year mead brewer and I approve this message. X-Mas Mead
I have come to the conclusion that watching your channel is dangerous to my credit card, lol. Way too many good ideas and possibilities. My "to do" list just keeps growing. Keep it up!
Lol
Coming back to this! I finally cracked open our mead! Started in January and opened it tonight. Your reactions were accurate because it is INCREDIBLE! Its so SMOOTH despite fortified with rum 😂 Holy cow its tasty. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe.
Merry Christmas to you both! ❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
Finally, I bottled my version of this yesterday after 5 months. I didn't fortify or backsweeten. It honestly tasted soooo good as it was. I didn't want to change it. Thank you for all your guidance and recipes for this amazing hobby.
Glad you like it!
I've been homebrewing mead for a few yrs now, usually basic or show mead, as I like it sweet myself, I've got 2 gallons on the go now (2 weeks) can't wait to get the berries/cinnamon/cloves in and smell that aroma in my man cave/fermenting station. I'm not a rum drinker personally but most of this will be gifted as Christmas presents anyway so I'll give it a go :D thanks for sharing!
Started this around three weeks ago and I've used a combination of orange blossom honey and Spanish forest honey which has a strong molasses flavour so I am very excited for this one!!
Wow an 11! That’s amazing I need to make this for next year
Wow, I started brewing this 6 months ago, and after 5 months of bulk aging, I just fortified a gallon of the 3 gallons I had and it is INCREDIBLE. I intend to let it bulk age with the rum and honey for another 3 months before bottling and aging 1 more month, ready to enjoy by Christmas. If it tastes this good right now, I cannot IMAGINE how good it will be by December. The remaining 2 gallons I had I went ahead and backsweetened to 1.011 semisweet and look forward to that too. Thanks for this recipe, this is gonna be a winner for sure.
After that tasting.I'm definitely starting this one! Sounds great.
Hope you enjoy
Y’all really sold me ok this! I’m gonna make this after I try makin a beer
Love the use of the Tardis appearing! Happy Holidays
Same to you and yours!
It's not x-mas without The Doctor.
Started this in January 24 and just added my Kracken today. Flavored to sweetness 1.018 ish and its killer so far, will bottle around the holidays. I got a hint of almost butterscotch on initial taste but quickly faded. I have another in the wings I will not fortify for comparision but so far so very good!
I wanted to tell you about one of my latest meads! Last month I started making up 2 separate one gallon batches, 1 just a traditional mead and the other i tried something I've never seen someone do, not sure if you've tried this but i really think you should, it'll surprise you! I took a gallon of hot water (not scalding) and started a tea, with a mixture of different teas, earl gray, chamomile, an organic peach tea, green tea, regular lipton tea, and some lipton iced brew (orange and black mix). I let it steep until i felt it was done (few hours), i just kept tasting it to make sure it didn't get too strong (or bitter). I used 100% tea instead of water in this mead and a month in, it tastes amazing! The tea sure didn't help much for the color up to this point lol (but I'm not worried about that, it should just be a little darker than the norm) I used 71b and since it has been colder this last month here in East Texas, it's been running at 65°-72° in my brew room. Which i have found that 71b runs a little slower at these temps, but the 3 batches I've ran like this, all have came out very well!
I think the best partabout your videos is stuff like this ! Watching the whole Journey from bare ingredients to finished wine/mead / beer and to see you both enjoy your hard work ! And be able to share in the creations! I get the same enjoyment making my own wine ! Great job. And happy holidays !
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
Gotta love that TRBOS reverb delay craziness
I love that this is what you put the Kraken in. I just mixed a cyser, lemon mead, and a metheglin into a cocktail and my girlfriend says I need to brew an official wassail mead. I guess I should take your cue and start it as soon as I get my Valentine's Love Potion out of my Little Big Mouth.
I was brought up on fruitcake as well. And like Ianwilkinson says, my great grandmother not only used brandy in her recipe, she preserved it with brandy as well. It was always a running joke in my family that you could set it on fire at Thanksgiving, and the brandy wouldn't burn off until after new years!! Since she added mace to her fruitcake I'm going to add a little bit of mace to the mead and see what that does, as well as some different dried fruits that are also used in great grandmother's recipe. Also, the yeast you're using might be better for the temperature here. It’s cooler between 64 and 68. It rarely gets above 72 even in the summer (you should see my electric bill)!
Thanks for a great start 👍. Love your videos, always fun and full of information.
Just rewatched for I don’t know how many times and you reminded me of a story in the news a couple of weeks ago. A piece of Queen Elizabeth II wedding cake from November 1947 sold for £500, now that’s some scary preservation.😳😳😳
Not sure I'd eat it.... lol
Used to work at a local brewery, always enjoyed making Christmas ale. Now I'm gonna attempt this as my first holiday mead.
The T.A.R.D.I.S. sound effects was the perfect thing to start!!
Keep being awesome!!
Thanks!
Happily, I'm Italian, so Christmas was time for panettone 😋 but I'll be trying this mead next year!
Loved the idea of this, but added 1/4 cup of candied fruit with the spices (had preservatives so it wouldn't matter at that point), and I think it added a nice touch!
I've brewed for a few years using the,"PawPaw" method. It wasnt until I stumbled upon your channel that I graduated from preschool. This year when I brewed I would cover it with an industrial grade trash bag. But this time I wrapped it in a thin blanket with a standard heating pad. My 6 gallons of pilsner I started yesterday has me mesmerized as this is the first time I really get to watch my airlock. I think I am ready to graduate grade school. Looking at a 7.9 gallon conical with stand and a detachable collection chamber at the bottom. I bought a 7lb bag of pilsner then added 1 gallon of apple juice and 4lbs of brown sugar. My spgr was 1.070. Wish me luck my last beer a muntons amber was only ok. My wines usually do great if they dont have peach in them. Heck my red grapefruit wine was so good that I put a 5star rating at the top of my notebook "Formula" page. Putting it on par with my home made MD 20/20!
My holiday mead is Cranberries blended. Honey. Water. Cinnamon sticks 2. A pinch of cloves and nutmeg because I have no idea how much to put into a 1gl carboy. and a bunch of peppermint candycanes mini along with a teaspoon of yeast nutrients. It should be ready by maybe a few weeks. It's the third week but I will be taking my second test on friday. STill got some fermenting going.
This was a nice little surprise video. Loved the Dr Who intro.
I may have just bought figs and dates at Costco to start this for next year 🤗
Imagine this idea, but as a rum ball mead, OMG!
Have you guys ever had Barenjager? Its a honey liquer (it's imported from Germany). It tastes like drinking mead that was backsweetened with so much honey it becomes syrupy (obviously that wasn't how it was made. Its distilled, because it is 35% ABV, but it tastes fantastic). It leaves a slight film of honey flavor on your lips that you can taste for like ten minutes after drinking it.
Yup. It's good for sore throats :) we keep it in the fridge.
Finally got to start mine today! :) I couldn't find any figs, locally, so I used raisins, instead, and a good Earl Grey black tea for the tannins. Everything else was the same as yours. I did use a full gallon of water, and that brought my starting gravity to 1.090. (like 11.5%ish possible... but since I am gonna fortify it "It just doesn't matter!" LOL! Thank-you guys for putting this out there. I love to give away my brews, so this is gonna be X-mas this year for everybody. :) I will post again in December to let y'all know how it turned out with the raisins and earl grey.
winner winner served after Turkey Dinner
Or with!
I made 2 gallons of this stuff, split the batch when it got to the fortified stage. One batch fortified with Kraken, the 2nd I'm letting it ride. I pasteurized the 2nd batch (15%) for safety will backsweeten it and "let it sit."
Everyone should make this recipe! It's so good even at the early stage I'm at.
I'm watching this while dinking my first ever mead i finished a few weeks ago
As you wish… lolol. I am definitely making this. I absolutely love fruitcake.
Unfortunately I have to grieve, I purchased the demijohn that y’all showed in another video and I heard a crack and rushing of liquid. The holiday mead is now living in my shop vac and about to get dumped. 😭
@Gmrgrl-mb5np really sorry to hear that! Contact the manufacturer, maybe there was some defect? Obviously that won't replace the mead... again, sorry for your loss.
Thank you. Tried this again… oh my goodness! I’m giving this out to people for Christmas 2025. 😊
Golden fruitcake, we made this one in our family bakeries for a 100+ years, wish I had some right now.
I wish I had seen this video in January, but I don’t think I was even a subscriber then. That was BM, before mead. BCS, before City Steading…that actually sounds better than BM…LOL. 😂 I’m so excited to make this one. I have a list and this just ascended to the top. YUMMM.
Welcome!
Bless you guys for starting a holiday video in January!
I made my fruit cake in July and it has about a half a bottle of brandy in by now and it is so delicious and not building material. I think I might have a go at this over the Xmas holiday sometime between Boxing Day and new year.
omg i love her lmao Got a nice holiday cider going cant wait to open next week
The Tardis sound fits perfectly. Just racked two bubblers of exactly this that have been standing since new years day 2022 and it blew my mind. Now I hope the family and friends enjoy it just as much! Happy holiday season everyone!
Wow, you made this same thing?
Yup, including the Kracken rum! I kid you not. @@CitySteadingBrews
I made this one and definitely regret not using a bag for the fruit. So many fig seeds and a very loose lees. Racked it for the first time last night and will almost certainly have to rack again. I plan to fortify half the same as you and just pasteurize the other half.
Ive watched 10+ of your mead videos and am super impressed with your approach and presentation. Scientific method / critical thinking that doesnt overwhelm the neophyte. Walking me thru the questions i didnt know i had without making me feel inept.
At this Ive bought vessels, a case of honey and other implements.
Thankyou for the confidence!
Thank you. We love gearing things like this! Best of luck and we are always here to help
My wife and i BOTH are so incredibly excited about this one. We are starting it in January as you recommended. Gonna be a hard wait till next holiday.
Oh my goodness, I know what I am starting in January!!!!!
I try to make your favorite recipes. When I made your new Viking Blood mead, I had some boozy dried cherries from conditioning that tasted good, and that I did not want to get rid of because they had my delicious cherry mead in them. So, I used the boozy cherries to make 2 loaves of fruitcake, soaked in some Calvados that I wanted to finish using. The fruitcake was delicious. The cherry mead is about a year old now, so I'm bringing some to the family for Christmas. Likewise, I made a raisin mead that is also a year old or more, and that is going to our Christmas celebration.
Now, I have fermenting your apple juice wine made by concentrating 2 gallons of apple juice into one gallon, except that I started with nine quarts of apple juice instead of eight. I will take my time before racking and bottling it. I have a lot of dried fruit in my cupboard, so as soon as the concentrated apple wine is bottled, I'm going to try this very recipe. I'm looking forward to it.
Ok. Started this Holiday Mead in January. Finally got it bottled yesterday. My favorite mead so far. ❤. Thank you guys.
Hope you enjoy it!
So I started this one in early February. I racked it today into secondary and added the spices. I think I'm going to rack it onto cherries when I remove the spices and then rack one last time when it's time to fortify.
My hats off to you. This is an awesome recipe and I'm all over making this one.
Thank you :)
I have never tried making one of your recipes, only follow your methods, but this one I just might have to try it.
I have a basic mead I made that doesn’t have any strong flavors so I’m gonna try this recipe with it. Adding the seasonings, I am looking forward to the taste test. It’s fun watching you two Experiment.
I see Wednesday Adam's with those braids. Y'all reference movies and books so much...I look forward to it. On the other hand I have my first 3 brews going now. I wish I could get a year zip by in 45 minutes like this video. 2 weeks have dragged by here 😢
Make more :)
That. Sounds. *Amazing.* 😳
It is!
Watching these videos.... Really makes me just want to drink my first batch even though I just racked it for the first time and it's only been a couple of days. I'm so excited for this batch to be done so I can experiment with more flavors and mixes
Make more! Then eventually you never run out!
Going to be making this this weekend! Wish the little big mouth bubbler would come back in stock.
There are alternatives: amzn.to/3PPQnDT
Ok… I think I nailed it! I finally found a mead that I like. Thanks
Great!
I get my fruitcake from Ackroyd's Scottish bakery in Detroit. It's very good andRUM soaked the way my mom always made it. Unfortunately, she's not able to mess with it anymore, so the one I get is close. Wish I could try this.
I did something similar with a spiced cyser I made. I used honey and Musselman's apple cider and then used clove, cinnamon, and allspice. Let it extract for a week, and then backsweetened with brown sugar. I've only had a few people try it but everyone has loved it as a "Christmas in a glass" type drink. I should note that by similar, I meant I was going for a Christmas mead.
11 from both wow okay i might try this for next year
Yeah. Highest scores ever given.
19:29
I have know allspice berries from a video of yours, and I falled in love with it.
In my country it's called "jamaican pepper", don't know why. hehehe
And man, now I have some great mead recipes with then. thank you.
One of my favorite spices for sure.
I had a cyser turn out quite bland. Dropped an allspice berry in each bottle, and bam, fixed it right up.
thank you...your channel is wonderful, you are fantastic...I have reproduced some of your meads...one more fantastic than the other...now I'm trying the coffee one...and I have dates ready and figs...because only in this period are they available to me in Italy in Trentino...thanks again...
Happy to help!
The Fremen station. Gotta control the spices!
Have you ever tried the typical gingerbread spices? cinnamon, star anise, ginger, mace, fennel, cardamom, coriander, anise, cloves, allspice, nutmeg. Orange/lemon and anise peel are also possible (standard in mulled wine). Of course, you have to think carefully about which spices to add before or after the fermentation process.
Same idea really. We just simplified it a little.
Just backsweetened mine! My final gravity wound up being 1.030. I'll be bottling this and gifting it for Christmas.
Congrats!
I am so excited to try this recipe out!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Definitely loved the color throughout the different stages (when it was clear of course).
I'll give this a try and see what happens.
One more thing. When it was mentioned about how actual fruitcakes are sometimes re-gifted, and Brian eventually said "they're cakes", here's my counterpoint to that.
Twinkies are cakes (or at least part of them are), and they tend to last a long time before spoiling...if they ever do.
One difference: chemical preservatives
@@CitySteadingBrews very true.
I actually got a stall on this at the exact same gravity and timeframe as you did haha! And that was with a staggered nutrient schedule. Ive never had a stall before, so I'm glad you filmed everything and showed us what you did
Happy to help!
I am 100% doing this recipe in Jan. I love christmas pudding and mince pies, so this sounds right up my street
Sounds great!
excellent video! 👍
Now I have to figure out how to keep this a surprise for a whole year! 😂 definitely making it! Never had a "date" though, might have to try it first
Lol
@@CitySteadingBrews that was riddled with typos, I swear I haven't started drinking.. yet. 😂
No worries! I typo like crazy on my phone.
Happy Holidays.
Same to you and yours!
Having just recently started, I was not aware of the previous fortification video.
I just bottled my "holiday" acerglyn (my second brew ever) and had not fortified it, but my EC 1118 reached 17%. Sweat, spicy and with a hint of citrus, I hope next year I will be even half as happy with mine as you were with yours.
Made this mead unbelievable! All the different notes you get is spectacular! What am I doing with it? I’m gonna let it sit all the way to Christmas! Thank you both!
Glad you like it!
I love this intro, you guys should do something like that for all your videos 😂.
Just started this, should get ready for Christmas 2025 :) Tried to follow the recipe as closely as I could. SG 1.081, probably a bit of an underestimate. Didn't have tannin so brewed black tea. Added a touch of Meadowsweet to the tea, in Norway literally named mead herb! (Mjødurt). No Fermaid O either, so added a touch of tartaric acid to the tea instead.
Tartaric acid is nothing like fermaid O....
@CitySteadingBrews seems to be working well, fermentation has been going, enjoying the lava lamp look! :) Didn't have access to either Fermaid O or yeast hulls. It might affect the flavor profile, but the honey I had available was much lighter in color, so anyway the flavor will be somewhat different.
Maybe a little bit there's a lot of flavor additions in this one so not very noticeable maybe.
Fantastic video, fantastic mead! I think it's also a bit sweeter than the final gravity suggests, because of all the alcohol that was added. (Remember the gravity before adding the rum was 1.002, and then after it was well below 1.000.
Good point.
I made a brew from Grape nuts cereal. Strangely it tasted like a combination of beer and lemon aid. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be
Interesting!
Love love love your channel, ive been making my own mead ever since i cam across your first vikings blood back when Brian had the big beard😊. Ive been looking for something special to make and this is going to consume my january! Thanks guys, and heres to seeing more of your videos in 2024! 🎉
Just started cooking this recipe today!
I'll have to try this one
awesome job on another video. I am still waiting on my mead from a recipe you all shared a while ago. I am looking forward to tasting it. (Honey, Raisins, Black tea).
Love this recipe.
Trying it again but would like your thoughts on adding a habanero for a slight warming feeling...primary, secondary and quantity ??
Not sure a spicy chile adds to this but that is just my opinion.
I got the 1.110 og as well but before i put any fruits yet
Add a little water and it will go down.
Well now I know what I'm going to try to do this coming January! Yummmm. Btw, if fruitcake scares you, it's not good fruitcake. A good fruitcake has a texture like a heavier cake (like gingerbread), very moist but definitely cakey, full of fruity notes and spices. It should smell mouthwatering rather than chemical. I hope you will get to try a real homemade one!
It was a joke...