So glad it helped, sometimes the little tricks really help. I was amazed the first time I tried the glycerine trick - its a game changer (and looks like a lava lamp too! 😁)
Thank you. I tried your port wine and parsnip it's really good. Now I started the blackberry mead. Tried other recipe from others but twas crap. Your recipe is really great. Thank you.
Going to make a honey berry version of this once my honey berries have been harvested. I have never made mead before but consider myself an experienced wine maker. I made your Parsnip wine and it turned out fantastic.
I'm in touch with a local bee keeper and have some honey on the way. I'll be trying this recipe.!! If you can't find unscented bleach in the supermarket (like me), if you use good quality bleach and rinse twice as advised, a final rinse with a kettle of boiling water, trickled down the sides of the plastic bucket ensures that no fragrance remains, don't do it with a glasss demijohn though. (If it's still available though, Milton is basically bleach without any cleaning properties and used to be unscented and still may be).
Hey! Such a nice and clear video! Definitly deserves a thumbsup! One question: do i need to use a glass jug as secondary fermentation or can it also be a different white bucket as the primary fermentation? Thanks! Already excited to brew my first mead! 🎉
Thank you! Do enjoy watching you make brews. You're so much more meticulous than I am. I call what you do "When it's done right" and what I do as "Well, it's done" Thanks again!
Enjoyed your video very much, thanks for posting. I have both blackberry hedges and bees, and not enough freezer space for all the berries, so we're going to give this a try. Actually made two batches, one with last fall's heavily goldenrod honey, and the other with this year's late spring/early summer mix (fruit trees, berries and some clover). Will report back in a year or whenever it's finished! PS- I've got close to 40 gallons of red raspberries, do you think I could use this recipe and substitute them?
Thanks so much for this informative video. I'm doing ok with chicken keeping thanks to you and Fiona but less successful with mead! I had a go at a basic mead recipe last year. It's been sat in bottles for 6 months and when we tried it at Christmas it burnt the back of our throats, not in a good way 😂. Did we try it too soon or have we gone wrong somewhere? How long do you leave your mead bottled after secondary fermentation before you start drinking it? Advice on the internet is conflicting so any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks
Hi Lindsey! Mead is one country wine that really benefits from bottle time. My take is to age for at least a year. My other observation is that if you ferment some honey too dry it can become quite harsh. I like nany wines dry, but mead isn't often one.
Thanks, and I look forward to seeing the result. I noticed you've stepped on the philosophies of some of your commenters. Don't worry about it. If you've been at this for 25 years you probably know what you're doing.
Everyone has their own techniques and it's fine to (courteously) disagree 😉. I've made this recipe many times (and a very similar strawberry one). They work well for me - delicious and reliable 🙂
I have 4Kg of New forest honey waiting, the problem is, I need to bye more demijohn but the new ones are taller and don't fit in my filling system.@@EnglishCountryLife
I've never used orange juice as a starter for my yeast, and the tannin tip explains why my attempt at mead was "thin" I'll have to give that a try ! Did you ever do the growing ginger video ?
Interesting, you certainly do some things I don't often see other mead-makers do on RUclips, not that that's at all a bad thing if it works for you! Of course, in my experience, mead doesn't need exponentially more time on the actual fermentation - usually I find even a high abv mead is done producing alcohol within about two weeks. You are definitely right that secondary takes a while, but I find a lot of that is more bulk ageing and letting the harsher, jet fuel flavours mellow out and/or gas off. Definitely need to try the glycerine thing for secondary, though. Then again, I've mostly used champagne yeasts, I didn't even know mead specific yeast was a thing! I'll check it out, but I think it's probably smart not to be too married to a specific kind of yeast, you can really tailor what yeast you use to your recipe if you want a really specific result. I've heard a lot of American mead makers have really taken to using a Norwegian ale yeast lately that can go up as far as 16% and can put out citrusy tropical flavours if you ferment it warmer than you would on average, so I'll probably try that on a future batch. I rarely see people filtering the way you did after primary (people are very scared of oxidising their mead/wine to an overwrought degree I think), but I personally had to with my most recent batch, as I was using whole watermelons that I'd painstakingly juiced, and the pulp largely separated out before primary was even fully done, not sure if I'd recommend trying it that way, but there we are!
You are totally right that everyone has their own way to do things & I do agree that lots of yeasts can work, I've had good luck with both port wine yeast and Champagne yeast over the years and I'm sure many others work. I recall once the same person who was paranoid about oxidizing wine while racking off using a Richie's degassing tool that is basically a paint mixer 😁
@@EnglishCountryLife I’m not sure, it did ask for specific temperatures and a heat mat which I neglected. Perhaps thats why it didn’t form into anything.
A little sugar, nutrients and warmth reinvigorates the yeast. Orange is slightly acidic which yeast likes & its flavour isn't off-putting. If you don't have any just use a teaspoon of sugar in some warm water
Sorry I was disappointed with this recipe boiling honey makes a Boche, kills the natural antibiotic properties and the nuances of the honey. I've never boiled it and never had problem not anyone else I know, the only boiling/ pasturising I do is on the fruits to remove the need for unnecessary chemicals.
Also filtering so fine so soon will remove most of the yeast colony stressing them out making off flavours and possibly stalling it. Hence why it takes you so long, mine have finished fermenting with in 2 months at most Higher alcohol meads need more aging and you seem to be mixing these stages up.
Ah well, we all have our own methods. To be honest, I've never found bottling mead early a good idea - the secondary ferment definitely runs on longer for me
A Boche (from burnt) is when you actually caramelize the honey before using it, merely heating a must is just a normal process that some follow, some don’t. I have a 2 year old boche that is just amazing, one of my favorite styles. The only hard rule of mead making is adding honey.
![State of Play | September 24, 2024 [ENGLISH]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fVs0suPHAX8/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you so much! I’m so excited to try it, I always have lots of berries, but the tea tip for tannins is great because I dislike grape.
So glad it helped, sometimes the little tricks really help. I was amazed the first time I tried the glycerine trick - its a game changer (and looks like a lava lamp too! 😁)
Thank you. I tried your port wine and parsnip it's really good. Now I started the blackberry mead. Tried other recipe from others but twas crap. Your recipe is really great. Thank you.
I'm so glad 😊
Going to make a honey berry version of this once my honey berries have been harvested. I have never made mead before but consider myself an experienced wine maker. I made your Parsnip wine and it turned out fantastic.
Sounds great!
I'm in touch with a local bee keeper and have some honey on the way. I'll be trying this recipe.!!
If you can't find unscented bleach in the supermarket (like me), if you use good quality bleach and rinse twice as advised, a final rinse with a kettle of boiling water, trickled down the sides of the plastic bucket ensures that no fragrance remains, don't do it with a glasss demijohn though. (If it's still available though, Milton is basically bleach without any cleaning properties and used to be unscented and still may be).
Good tip on the Milton - it definitely works!
Thanks for this.I'm going to be giving mead a go this year,
It's well worth it Don. I'll put another recipe up soon.
Hey! Such a nice and clear video! Definitly deserves a thumbsup!
One question: do i need to use a glass jug as secondary fermentation or can it also be a different white bucket as the primary fermentation?
Thanks! Already excited to brew my first mead! 🎉
@@Fantasy3350 Hi! It doesn't have to be glass but it must be air tight and have a fitted air lock
@@EnglishCountryLife thanks for the info! Definitly subscribing! :)
@@Fantasy3350 Any time 😁
Thank you! Do enjoy watching you make brews. You're so much more meticulous than I am. I call what you do "When it's done right" and what I do as "Well, it's done" Thanks again!
Hey, if it works, it's right! 😁
Enjoyed your video very much, thanks for posting.
I have both blackberry hedges and bees, and not enough freezer space for all the berries, so we're going to give this a try. Actually made two batches, one with last fall's heavily goldenrod honey, and the other with this year's late spring/early summer mix (fruit trees, berries and some clover).
Will report back in a year or whenever it's finished!
PS- I've got close to 40 gallons of red raspberries, do you think I could use this recipe and substitute them?
Hi! I can't see why raspberry mead wouldn't work!
Why do you mash and not use a liquidize
I find liquidisers can produce very fine particulates that are garder to remove. I'm sure that it could work though!
Thanks so much for this informative video. I'm doing ok with chicken keeping thanks to you and Fiona but less successful with mead! I had a go at a basic mead recipe last year. It's been sat in bottles for 6 months and when we tried it at Christmas it burnt the back of our throats, not in a good way 😂. Did we try it too soon or have we gone wrong somewhere? How long do you leave your mead bottled after secondary fermentation before you start drinking it? Advice on the internet is conflicting so any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks
Hi Lindsey! Mead is one country wine that really benefits from bottle time. My take is to age for at least a year. My other observation is that if you ferment some honey too dry it can become quite harsh. I like nany wines dry, but mead isn't often one.
@@EnglishCountryLife Thank you so much for taking the time to give your advice. I shall put it back, resist temptation and leave it alone ☺️
@@lindseybush2775 Absolutely, you can always stabilise & back sweeten it later if it is too dry
Hi, what alcohol percentage does that yeast give? Are the melomels more like wine strength?
Hi, this often ferments out to 16% or more do stronger than most wines
@@EnglishCountryLife excellent! I'll attempt that one then when I have blackberries. Will attempt the straight mead in meantime
Thanks, and I look forward to seeing the result. I noticed you've stepped on the philosophies of some of your commenters. Don't worry about it. If you've been at this for 25 years you probably know what you're doing.
Everyone has their own techniques and it's fine to (courteously) disagree 😉. I've made this recipe many times (and a very similar strawberry one). They work well for me - delicious and reliable 🙂
I now have 10 ltrs. of blackberry mead started. Thank you very much for the video.
Outstanding! I'd better not post the sweet dessert mead recipe in case you run out of honey 🍯!
I have 4Kg of New forest honey waiting, the problem is, I need to bye more demijohn but the new ones are taller and don't fit in my filling system.@@EnglishCountryLife
@@topazpowell8561 We get all ours from the local car boot sale (50p is average) 😁
Wow I'm paying £10 from the car boot@@EnglishCountryLife
@@topazpowell8561 The advantages of huge car boots in rural areas 👍
Second question, your recipe states 5L of water. but only utilizes 2. Am I to add the additional 3 after boiling the honey in 2L?
Yes the additional water is to top up the demijohn
@@EnglishCountryLife thank you for the clarification sir!
@@heathj9403 Any time 🙂
I've never used orange juice as a starter for my yeast, and the tannin tip explains why my attempt at mead was "thin" I'll have to give that a try !
Did you ever do the growing ginger video ?
Hi Peter! I forgot to record all the ginger steps, I'll try again this year!
Did you ever do your follow up video?
I haven't - it's still waiting for final steps! Soon, I promise
Interesting, you certainly do some things I don't often see other mead-makers do on RUclips, not that that's at all a bad thing if it works for you!
Of course, in my experience, mead doesn't need exponentially more time on the actual fermentation - usually I find even a high abv mead is done producing alcohol within about two weeks. You are definitely right that secondary takes a while, but I find a lot of that is more bulk ageing and letting the harsher, jet fuel flavours mellow out and/or gas off. Definitely need to try the glycerine thing for secondary, though.
Then again, I've mostly used champagne yeasts, I didn't even know mead specific yeast was a thing! I'll check it out, but I think it's probably smart not to be too married to a specific kind of yeast, you can really tailor what yeast you use to your recipe if you want a really specific result. I've heard a lot of American mead makers have really taken to using a Norwegian ale yeast lately that can go up as far as 16% and can put out citrusy tropical flavours if you ferment it warmer than you would on average, so I'll probably try that on a future batch.
I rarely see people filtering the way you did after primary (people are very scared of oxidising their mead/wine to an overwrought degree I think), but I personally had to with my most recent batch, as I was using whole watermelons that I'd painstakingly juiced, and the pulp largely separated out before primary was even fully done, not sure if I'd recommend trying it that way, but there we are!
You are totally right that everyone has their own way to do things & I do agree that lots of yeasts can work, I've had good luck with both port wine yeast and Champagne yeast over the years and I'm sure many others work.
I recall once the same person who was paranoid about oxidizing wine while racking off using a Richie's degassing tool that is basically a paint mixer 😁
Im just not the best brewer 😂 I made a whole much of sludge from a beer kit I purchased.
That's weird with a kit, they are normally pretty reliable. Did you follow the instructions or just wing it? 😉
@@EnglishCountryLife I’m not sure, it did ask for specific temperatures and a heat mat which I neglected. Perhaps thats why it didn’t form into anything.
Why orange juice with the yeast?
A little sugar, nutrients and warmth reinvigorates the yeast. Orange is slightly acidic which yeast likes & its flavour isn't off-putting. If you don't have any just use a teaspoon of sugar in some warm water
Sorry I was disappointed with this recipe boiling honey makes a Boche, kills the natural antibiotic properties and the nuances of the honey.
I've never boiled it and never had problem not anyone else I know, the only boiling/ pasturising I do is on the fruits to remove the need for unnecessary chemicals.
Also filtering so fine so soon will remove most of the yeast colony stressing them out making off flavours and possibly stalling it. Hence why it takes you so long, mine have finished fermenting with in 2 months at most
Higher alcohol meads need more aging and you seem to be mixing these stages up.
Ah well, we all have our own methods. To be honest, I've never found bottling mead early a good idea - the secondary ferment definitely runs on longer for me
They keep fermenting vigorously - never had a stuck fermentation yet (on mead) 😉
A Boche (from burnt) is when you actually caramelize the honey before using it, merely heating a must is just a normal process that some follow, some don’t. I have a 2 year old boche that is just amazing, one of my favorite styles.
The only hard rule of mead making is adding honey.