I like to use cherry juice for my cherry wine, less sediment. Only the yeast settles with some of the color and it's just as good as the whole cherries but faster
@johnbissonette124 as someone who's taken the effort to slow cook apples and make them into cider. And as someone who's used the $3 juices. It's nice just to be able to throw away the jug, vs. having to sanitize it, and you can make some pretty sweet flavors. With little effort. And honelsty after a month of sitting in their bottles. Yum
@@commonsense.1014 can confirm. I've brewed in the Welch's containers multiple times. 👍 there's something about the mason jars that i just enjoy, and i feel the flavor matures better in glass.
I live in Australia and after watching a few of these videos I’m going to check out the home brew store not far from here. I used to brew beer quite a few years back. Thanks for the inspiration mate . I have a perfect spot in the man cave to set something up. 🍺🍺
I was waiting a while for many of my meads to clear, until I used Red Star: Cote des blancs. If kept at room temp ~63-73 degrees, its done fermenting and clearing up in as little as 2 weeks. 1 rack 5-7 days in to get it off the fruit / what lease has built up. If anyone else tries this or has an even better sudgestion, LMK!
the trick is to cold crash or chill the wine/mead and then we only really have to use Sparkolloid Powder, it works perfect for hard apple cider, regular mead as well as darker the wines like blackberry mead...
pro brewer here! we use whirlfloc in our boils, which is just irish moss in tablet form, and biofine in our post ferm. i really like your idea of using opposite static charges! i also just like hazy drinks lol
Another way I learned to clear it up is "Cold Crashing" for 2 weeks in your fridge (it's free this way). Only issue with this method is it takes up quite a bit of room in the fridge. Clarity of my mead went from a 3 to a 7 (maybe even an 8).
I'm looking into making Mead soon, and I love your channel! I'll probably use your resources to buy all the stuff I need. I have a question, though- what are the additives used to assist made of? I err on the crunchy side, and prefer to stick to natural products if I can. ☺️
What kind of cherries did you use? And would you ever use a sweeter one like the maraschino cherries before they are died red? Or even Queen Ann cherries you know sweet cherries.
Use a sieve with a Buchner funnel and filter paper to do this instantly. A vacuum on a flask or other container will be needed to pull the fluid through the filter
Siphoning is better. It oxidizes the mead less because it’s lower surface area exposure. Plus the siphon has a filter catch in it, if it’s a good one. If you pour it over a filter it’s gonna kick all the dead yeast back into solution and unless you’re using a really small micron filter paper it will pass through. You also run the risk of clogging the paper and vacuuming a hole into it. The dead yeast will bring a taste with it too
If you add sugar in the bottling phase that would cause it to carbonate. There’s still gonna be a little live yeast in it. I’m not sure the ratio of mead:sugar (I’m sure a quick reddit on it would help), and obviously use good grade bottles that can handle some excess pressure. Recommend a cork too, so it can naturally pass a little CO2 through the cork wood if it needs to.
I heard fermenting cherries results in a pectic haze unless you use an enzyme. Is this untrue or can the fineing agents deal with pectin haze? Is that what the sparkolloid for?
It is best you wait but if you do it mid fermentation it will remove dead yeasts and might remove some of the off-flavors at the risk of contamination@@gabewilliams1341
It depends on how much fridge space you have or how consistent your outside temperature is. I like to do bentonite while it's initially fermenting and the cold crash a few weeks after secondary and that works pretty well
Can you sweeten it after fermentation with say sugar free maple syrup or another sugarfree drink? I'd assume it wouldn't start fermenting again but still have sweetness
Don't put weird sugarfree things in there. Just use a sugar alcohol like erythritol or xylitol. Or hell, why not just use _sugar?_ It shouldn't start fermenting again because when fermentation has already stopped the yeast are all dead.
@cameroneridan4558 there’s still some live yeast in there that will be suspended. Most of the yeast is dead but theres still gonna be a tiny bit kicking around. Adding regular sugar in the bottling phase would cause carbonation. If you wanted to add sweetness but not be carbonated, you’d use an alcohol based sugar cause the hydroxyl group will be not edible by the yeast when it dissociates into the solution. It’ll change the pH in a negligible amount
@@SlightlySchizophrenic (I love your username) still want to see if it can happen. Technically they are a fruit. Probably gonna taste awful but still want it. 🤣
how long can mead with addition of fruits sit bottled? i know that standard mead can sit for a few years but i just want to know if thats the case with mead with addition of fruits so to not start too early
Depending on the ABV, higher alcohol content beverages tend to store longer. But unopened about 4-5 years. Most should be consumed within a day or two once opened as they will air off and become lesser quality over time. Store in a cool dark area such as a fridge to prevent it turning into vinigear. I have had a bottle sit in my fridge for over a year. After this long it was one of the smoothest bottles of my own homebrew i ever drank.
You also want to remove the fruits once the fermentation process is over. Thats what he talks about by removing the "sediment" aka the solids including the fruits.
A while back, my dad was making cherry wine. When I saw him doing so, he made a critical error that required throwing out a bit of product. That error was not removing the pits properly. In your video, I see that error was not made, but hopefully someone in the comments with plans to make cherry wine learns of this. You cannot just grind cherries into a mash. The pits are toxic.
You boil the small amount of water you put the betonite in, not the whole batch. I'm not sure why except to sanitize it, but people do say you have to be very careful about keeping everything clean with fermenting, so it probably it that. :)
I was just about to ask that. Why dont you just cold crash it?? I make beer for a living but would assume the process is the same. Cold crash it, then rack it.... right?? Transfer into another vessle if you need to add more flavors. More cinnamon?? Maybe a hoppy mead??
Cold crashing is a lot less effective for mead than it is beer and also carries risk of contamination. It can sometimes work but it’s almost always better to just add in some pectinase at the beginning.
Mead is honey wine, but when people say wine, they usually mean the ones made from grapes. It's not wrong to call it wine, but it's simpler and clearer to call it mead
Mead is honey based, traditional “wine” is grape based. You can think of it like different beers, lager vs amber vs stout. It’s all pretty much the same techniques, more or less, but different ingredients and slightly different steps here and there.
About $50-100, including bottles. 1-2x 1-5gal jars ($20-50 ea) i recommend 1/2 inch tubing for siphoning(5-10ft is plenty) ($10 you may want an auto syphon for about $20) the airlocks are cheap but necessary. ($10-15 for a pack of them) Your choice of yeast i like red star and lalvin. But something as simple as bread yeast will work. ($10-20) a pack of screw cap bottles is what i get, easier to store. But many people enjoy the corks. ($20-30) The additional chemicals they use for clearing and stopping the fermentation isnt completely necessary. (I dont buy these so unknown price) Something to sanitize your gear, a bit of bleach for sanitation of your gear is an option. If you buy glass vessles you can boil / bake them on low heat (100-150) to sanitize. Or buy some food grade santization mix. Whichever method you use for sanitization you should rinse the bottles well after to insure it doesnt affect the brewing process dont forget to boil / sanitize your airlocks lids and siphoning tubes too. You may also want a hydrometer to check the ABV ($13) You can save money by using used wine bottles for storage of completed alcohol. Another way to save cash is just not use finishing bottles. And pour it straight from your brewing container as you will save the bottle cost and syphon cost. but it wont be as clear as you will likely end up pouring the dead yeast from the bottom of the bottle.
~waves~ but then I usually drink mead when working and camping with Ren Faires so between people carrying it around in gourds and wine skins, clear goes hazy anyway. Long as it takes good, I don't care.
You mean like pour it into another vessel with cheesecloth on it? Would add too much air, disrupt the yeast, create off flavors and much more of a hassle, just rack it.
My family makes wine occasionally at home we also avoid the sediment so I couldn't say from experience but my parents are both of the opinion that it does impact the taste as well as the mouth feel of the final product.
It's mostly about improving the mouth feel. The aesthetics is a nice bonus too. Think drinking coffee w/a lot of grinds in it versus coffee w/o a lot of grinds in it.
Only one variant has traces of it, which the FDA says not to consume and is not what he shows in this video as he’s using food grade bentonite. Either way it’s trace amounts at best, much like what everything has, and even so you’re not actually consuming any of the clay as you rack it off.
I like to use cherry juice for my cherry wine, less sediment. Only the yeast settles with some of the color and it's just as good as the whole cherries but faster
I like making wine from Welch's grape ☺️
@johnbissonette124 as someone who's taken the effort to slow cook apples and make them into cider.
And as someone who's used the $3 juices.
It's nice just to be able to throw away the jug, vs. having to sanitize it, and you can make some pretty sweet flavors. With little effort.
And honelsty after a month of sitting in their bottles.
Yum
@@commonsense.1014 can confirm. I've brewed in the Welch's containers multiple times. 👍 there's something about the mason jars that i just enjoy, and i feel the flavor matures better in glass.
@@johnbissonette124 hell yeah brother, I once used a Snapple bottle lmao, twas awful but it worked.
@@didybopintitys now im curious what the powdered lemonaid would turn into 🤣... homemade hard lemonaid lol
Thanks for making content man. Been wine making for 7 years and I like to watch your videos just to find out more tips and tricks to the trade.
His videos are quite basic, they're made to sell "his" mead recipe!
I live in Australia and after watching a few of these videos I’m going to check out the home brew store not far from here. I used to brew beer quite a few years back. Thanks for the inspiration mate . I have a perfect spot in the man cave to set something up. 🍺🍺
I was waiting a while for many of my meads to clear, until I used Red Star: Cote des blancs. If kept at room temp ~63-73 degrees, its done fermenting and clearing up in as little as 2 weeks. 1 rack 5-7 days in to get it off the fruit / what lease has built up. If anyone else tries this or has an even better sudgestion, LMK!
What was the alcohol content of your mead?
@@jitteryhands16 I typically aim for between 11-15%, with most 13-14%
"Nobody wants to drink it hazy", Kingcobra jfs has entered the chat
Skittles and C4 mold water coming in nicely toobz
Sparkolloid sounds like an alien race
It's apparently no longer made too
the trick is to cold crash or chill the wine/mead and then we only really have to use Sparkolloid Powder, it works perfect for hard apple cider, regular mead as well as darker the wines like blackberry mead...
A little bit of time and cold crashing has cleared my dark cherry/strawberry mead rather well with no additives
pro brewer here! we use whirlfloc in our boils, which is just irish moss in tablet form, and biofine in our post ferm. i really like your idea of using opposite static charges! i also just like hazy drinks lol
Same on the hazy drinks thing. I find them visually appealing haha
Another way I learned to clear it up is "Cold Crashing" for 2 weeks in your fridge (it's free this way). Only issue with this method is it takes up quite a bit of room in the fridge. Clarity of my mead went from a 3 to a 7 (maybe even an 8).
You can also chill your brews. I imagine a mead works about the same as a homemade cider.
Cold crashing basically
@@AedanBlackheart correct
I'm looking into making Mead soon, and I love your channel! I'll probably use your resources to buy all the stuff I need. I have a question, though- what are the additives used to assist made of? I err on the crunchy side, and prefer to stick to natural products if I can. ☺️
This is so cool!
I cant believe no one mentioned the hozier song. Also cherry wine sounds fucking delicious
Awesome ! Thnx bud 💪🏼🫵🏻
Maybe you can try to make a Choya Umeshu Plum Wine. I've tried the store bought one and man it tasted great
You could also cold crash it to clarify, then rack or bottle it
Just to clarify, you’re saying putting it in the fridge will allow the sentiments to settle faster?
If you're using additives to clarify your mead, do you still use filters ?
These videos have literally been asmr af and now im off to go buy mead
I gave you the 1000st Like😂✌️
Can you add the sparkolloid without betonate?
Do these additives affect the flavor of the mead?
Can we use wooden spatula to mix instead of plastic?
Making mead has to be the best hobby for people who forget about things. Or procrastinate for months on end
Is this just for cosmetic reasons or is it to make it taste better? You wouldn't get ill from drinking the cloudy stuff would you?
Yes just for cosmetic reasons. I have some batch that I don't filter properly and the sediment inside the bottle doesn't look pretty.
He clearly says in the video its to make it less cloudy. Man you slow af
Depending on your yeast it can add a fairly sour bite to the drink too.
I always get sick when its cloudy
What do you with all the fermented fruit?
What kind of cherries did you use? And would you ever use a sweeter one like the maraschino cherries before they are died red? Or even Queen Ann cherries you know sweet cherries.
could you use one of those purifying catalyst thingies from p&g thay capture the particles
Use a sieve with a Buchner funnel and filter paper to do this instantly. A vacuum on a flask or other container will be needed to pull the fluid through the filter
Siphoning is better. It oxidizes the mead less because it’s lower surface area exposure. Plus the siphon has a filter catch in it, if it’s a good one. If you pour it over a filter it’s gonna kick all the dead yeast back into solution and unless you’re using a really small micron filter paper it will pass through. You also run the risk of clogging the paper and vacuuming a hole into it. The dead yeast will bring a taste with it too
I use bentonite but never herd of the sparkolid i wipl see if i can find it looks great
So
1 bentonite while still fermenting
2 let fermentation end/stabilize/pasteurize
3 sparkalloid?
Can you use the sediment for fertilizer?
Can this be made as a sparkling wine? Thanks!
If you add sugar in the bottling phase that would cause it to carbonate. There’s still gonna be a little live yeast in it. I’m not sure the ratio of mead:sugar (I’m sure a quick reddit on it would help), and obviously use good grade bottles that can handle some excess pressure. Recommend a cork too, so it can naturally pass a little CO2 through the cork wood if it needs to.
I heard fermenting cherries results in a pectic haze unless you use an enzyme. Is this untrue or can the fineing agents deal with pectin haze? Is that what the sparkolloid for?
I've heard a trick is to use Cherry Juice, something I think I'll try.
Do u need that stuff
Many clearing agents exist but my favorite technique is a cold-crush, just leave it in the fridge for 2 days
My mead is aging now. Can I cold crush while it’s aging or wait until it’s done?
It is best you wait but if you do it mid fermentation it will remove dead yeasts and might remove some of the off-flavors at the risk of contamination@@gabewilliams1341
@@gabewilliams1341I’d wait till it’s done.
crash
Can i use a coffe filtrer?
I’m going to try to use Kiesosol and Chitosan it doee a really good job if you’re trying to quickly clear up your mead.
Why not cold crash the mead? Real question
It depends on how much fridge space you have or how consistent your outside temperature is. I like to do bentonite while it's initially fermenting and the cold crash a few weeks after secondary and that works pretty well
cheers😊
I would love to buy your wine.
Is it possible to make milk and honey wine
At what point do you add bentonite?
Do you have to move to another container? Why?
Can you make strawberry wine 🍷
Can you sweeten it after fermentation with say sugar free maple syrup or another sugarfree drink? I'd assume it wouldn't start fermenting again but still have sweetness
yes, most people just use erythritol as it is a non fermentable sugar
Don't put weird sugarfree things in there. Just use a sugar alcohol like erythritol or xylitol. Or hell, why not just use _sugar?_ It shouldn't start fermenting again because when fermentation has already stopped the yeast are all dead.
@cameroneridan4558 there’s still some live yeast in there that will be suspended. Most of the yeast is dead but theres still gonna be a tiny bit kicking around. Adding regular sugar in the bottling phase would cause carbonation. If you wanted to add sweetness but not be carbonated, you’d use an alcohol based sugar cause the hydroxyl group will be not edible by the yeast when it dissociates into the solution. It’ll change the pH in a negligible amount
@@stealthyturtles I did very much suggest that too, but y'all should be pasteurising things you make at home anyway.
Add potassium sorbate before adding sugar back into it to halt any further fermentation.
This is probably stupid... But can you make mead from olives?
i mean not from olives but you could add olivier to flavor it ig
@@SlightlySchizophrenic (I love your username) still want to see if it can happen. Technically they are a fruit. Probably gonna taste awful but still want it. 🤣
could i use this to make japanese sake with rice
Does anyone know if the cherry recipe is in OP’s book?
So if I’m not using additions like fruit I don’t need step 1?
Cold crash only after fermentation and use a yeast that is very flocculant.
how long can mead with addition of fruits sit bottled? i know that standard mead can sit for a few years but i just want to know if thats the case with mead with addition of fruits so to not start too early
Depending on the ABV, higher alcohol content beverages tend to store longer. But unopened about 4-5 years. Most should be consumed within a day or two once opened as they will air off and become lesser quality over time. Store in a cool dark area such as a fridge to prevent it turning into vinigear. I have had a bottle sit in my fridge for over a year. After this long it was one of the smoothest bottles of my own homebrew i ever drank.
You also want to remove the fruits once the fermentation process is over. Thats what he talks about by removing the "sediment" aka the solids including the fruits.
A while back, my dad was making cherry wine. When I saw him doing so, he made a critical error that required throwing out a bit of product. That error was not removing the pits properly. In your video, I see that error was not made, but hopefully someone in the comments with plans to make cherry wine learns of this. You cannot just grind cherries into a mash. The pits are toxic.
I thought just plain old pectin should help drop solids out of solution
Wouldn’t boiling water kill your yeast?
Or did I miss a step?
You boil the small amount of water you put the betonite in, not the whole batch. I'm not sure why except to sanitize it, but people do say you have to be very careful about keeping everything clean with fermenting, so it probably it that. :)
Turn that gunk at the bottom into a face mask
I Wana make mead now :)
Cold crashing often works without any additives
I was just about to ask that. Why dont you just cold crash it?? I make beer for a living but would assume the process is the same. Cold crash it, then rack it.... right?? Transfer into another vessle if you need to add more flavors. More cinnamon?? Maybe a hoppy mead??
Cold crashing is a lot less effective for mead than it is beer and also carries risk of contamination. It can sometimes work but it’s almost always better to just add in some pectinase at the beginning.
@@jonathanpfeffer3716can you teach me how to use the pectinase?
No. In fact at mead alcohol levels (much higher than beer) there is less a chance of contamination
How about olive mead? 😮
I went to buy bentonite today at a health store and they warned me that it contains lead and aluminum. Is that not a concern for you?
I’ll drink a hazy wine
Hi, I know I'm a noob but can anyone tell me what the tube like stuff is on the cover
i mean, hazy beers are often better, they tend to have a bit more yeast/bread flavor.
Is haze an issue?
Not really, just makes it look weird and can change the way itll feel in your mouth.
Couldn't you just filter it with filterpaper or a cheese cloth?
No. The particles are microscopic, and will pass through all of that.
So can you call mead wine? Is it kind of interchangeable?
Mead is honey wine, but when people say wine, they usually mean the ones made from grapes. It's not wrong to call it wine, but it's simpler and clearer to call it mead
Mead is honey based, traditional “wine” is grape based. You can think of it like different beers, lager vs amber vs stout. It’s all pretty much the same techniques, more or less, but different ingredients and slightly different steps here and there.
Mead is mead, the only other acceptable name would be honey wine or what type of mead it is.
How much does it cost for a simple setup for mead making? I'd love to start making my own
About $50-100, including bottles.
1-2x 1-5gal jars ($20-50 ea)
i recommend 1/2 inch tubing for siphoning(5-10ft is plenty) ($10 you may want an auto syphon for about $20)
the airlocks are cheap but necessary. ($10-15 for a pack of them)
Your choice of yeast i like red star and lalvin. But something as simple as bread yeast will work. ($10-20)
a pack of screw cap bottles is what i get, easier to store. But many people enjoy the corks. ($20-30)
The additional chemicals they use for clearing and stopping the fermentation isnt completely necessary. (I dont buy these so unknown price)
Something to sanitize your gear, a bit of bleach for sanitation of your gear is an option. If you buy glass vessles you can boil / bake them on low heat (100-150) to sanitize. Or buy some food grade santization mix. Whichever method you use for sanitization you should rinse the bottles well after to insure it doesnt affect the brewing process dont forget to boil / sanitize your airlocks lids and siphoning tubes too.
You may also want a hydrometer to check the ABV ($13)
You can save money by using used wine bottles for storage of completed alcohol.
Another way to save cash is just not use finishing bottles. And pour it straight from your brewing container as you will save the bottle cost and syphon cost. but it wont be as clear as you will likely end up pouring the dead yeast from the bottom of the bottle.
Basic starter kit from Amazon is like 50$ I got that a year ago and expanded fast to experiment quicker
@@Adam-no4gp I did the same, started with 2 carboys , now I have 6
My Mead is NOT clearing up lmao
Does anyone love it hazy?
~waves~ but then I usually drink mead when working and camping with Ren Faires so between people carrying it around in gourds and wine skins, clear goes hazy anyway. Long as it takes good, I don't care.
Definitely gives it a homemade/yeasty taste/look.
couldn't you just bag up most of the added fruit to laminate a majority of the sediment
What about just gently warming it with egg whites and egg shells
I put that bentonite on my face lol
I rub my cloth on me nads a bit, bit of soap and it's kept my face clear for years
It's. what they make cat litter out of.
@@Dystopianutopiabuildsyeah, it's useful for many things. They're not putting used cat litter on their face lol.
Use isinglass or Irishmoss instead
Don't use metal utensil on the benonite clay.
I did both and its not clearing up
I just put it in the fridge
Yeah but that stuff like is a little carcinogenic so I'm not using it
No chemicals
its all chemicals. You're made of chemicals.
Bentonite is clay
Why can't you use cheese cloth or something to filter it?
Not expensive enough
You mean like pour it into another vessel with cheesecloth on it? Would add too much air, disrupt the yeast, create off flavors and much more of a hassle, just rack it.
is there an issue with hazy mead? Does it taste different if it’s clear?
That's what I'm curious about too.
Is it just a aesthetics problem or a taste problem?
My family makes wine occasionally at home we also avoid the sediment so I couldn't say from experience but my parents are both of the opinion that it does impact the taste as well as the mouth feel of the final product.
It's mostly about improving the mouth feel. The aesthetics is a nice bonus too.
Think drinking coffee w/a lot of grinds in it versus coffee w/o a lot of grinds in it.
@@RoninXDarknight Oh, so it's a texture thing then! That makes more sense
Mead is not wine!
You know how to make wine. Now hire a speech therapist to teach you how to talk
Since you know how to make wine, now find a speech coach to teach you how to talk
You know bentonite is in old style regular cat litter and the fire retardant dropped from planes they use on wildfires. 😮
Yes, clay will do numerous things.
It's also used to seal wells.
That all I needed to hear he almost sold me.
Wait till you hear about Dihydrogen monoxide.
@D8W2P4 I just drank some. Am I going to be OK? You got me kinda worried...
Bentonite has lead in it
Only one variant has traces of it, which the FDA says not to consume and is not what he shows in this video as he’s using food grade bentonite. Either way it’s trace amounts at best, much like what everything has, and even so you’re not actually consuming any of the clay as you rack it off.
no one's called it mead since Viking times ... quit it please
Why not call it mead, that’s what it is.
Wastechannel
Bro got a gun to his head 💀
Nice mead tho
Who tf is nobody