Are you planning on publishing more mead (or other home brewing) videos? I’ve just binge watched myself through tour entire mead playlist… even though I’ve been making meads for over 30 years now, it never gets old. I love watching others ply the craft and share their knowledge.
Heya, Edda, thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes, I plan to make more content. I have recently relocated my family to a new state, and I am still in the process of making our property into what we want it to be. Between my job, family and home construction obligations, I have been short of free time for making videos. I haven't even made a batch of mead in a year and a half. 😔 Anyway, I feel like I am rounding the bend and am able to steal so.e time here and there for the fun stuff, so keep an eye out for some new videos. 😁
@@dadstoolbox8364 - That’s what can be called “life happens”. We all have a brewing hiatus at sole point simply because other things have to take precedence. In my books, family, food and lodging will always trump other things. Good to know though that you’re seeing the bend of that road looming. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for those videos! I love your concept of passing on what a Dad would pass on to his kids and sharing it on a broader platform. My daughter has ‘only’ me and for all those little things, UA-cam has become our best friend. From simple things like unclogging a sink or fixing a leaky faucet to rewiring a lamp to simple car repairs, there’s a lot of things cropping up in daily life you don’t want to have to pay a professional for or having to wait for a kind soul to do it for you… and that means learning to do it by yourself. Living in the countryside it means freaking out the neighbours some times and being that crazy lady who won’t ask a man but acquiring those skills is priceless. The biggest reward is seeing kids picking up those skills and running with it. Just recently my daughter took apart the pipes beneath a kitchen sink at one of her friends’ house because it wouldn’t drain. The parents were away for a few days (kids were 17-18 years old, grandparents down the street) and they didn’t want to call for help. She knew what to do because she’d seen me do it and was handing me the tools while I was tackling it at home. I got the after-the-fact report from the parents because their son ‘fessed up and was impressed. Apparently the story came to light because that sink had never drained so well in over a year. My daughter hadn’t even thought of mentioning it because to her, it was just something you know how to do. I had to learn it off UA-cam. Proud Mama moment. 😊 Please keep the videos coming once you can again. There still is so much to learn!
Thank you for the kind words. Life is slowly getting back to normal for us after the move and the whole Covid thing. I was getting to the point in my personal mead making journey where I was starting to look into temperature control during the fermentation process. My current and past living environment made it difficult to keep a steady, cool temperature in my house for my yeast to be happy. As winter sets in, my house should be a lot more suitable to make some small batches of mead to shake the rust off. My equipment is still packed up, and I don't have a workspace set up yet, but I'll be getting there soon. As someone who grew up without a steady, reliable father figure, I understand how some of today's generation of children and young adults are missing those skills and knowledge that a Dad provides. To me, UA-cam is a great tool for those that are motivated to seek out that knowledge on their own. It's just sad that so many folks have to go that route. The internet is a poor substitute for a good father. Congrats to your daughter for taking the initiative to be self sufficient, and to you for raising a child that's able to take care of herself and her loved ones when things get a little rough. =)
@@dadstoolbox8364 - A coolbox is a great insulator against temperature swings, as well as an old fridge or freezer. If heat is a problem, a wet towel around a fermenter can help a lot. Belgian homes don’t have airconditioning and summers are getting a lot warmer so I understand what you mean. My main motivation to help my daughter to be self sufficient is the fact that her father wasn’t exactly a good example and from when she was 10, he was taken out of the picture of her daily life. I wanted her to learn that it’s okay to not know things, it’s okay to ask for help, but that there are very few things you can’t learn to do by yourself. You just have to find the information and try. That aligns with your vision and motivation quite a lot. Please keep doing what you do!
I did say 45 days in the video. Because I made the video three years ago, I can't say for sure why that was. Generally speaking, when I use the balloons, I let them go a bit longer than normal because the balloons don't give you the same feedback as a bubbler does. The length of your fermentation is going to depend on several variables. Such as the sugar content of your must, the aggressiveness of the yeast strain you chose, and how well you control the temperature of your fermentation (again depending on the yeast strain). In most cases, my primary fermentation is wrapping up in around two weeks. Sometimes, secondary fermentation can go on for a bit longer depending on what you are doing with your mead.
Hey! Thanks for the kind words and for watching my video! I've been making mead for a few years now, but decided to start this video series out at the basic/fundamental level and work up toward the more advanced stuff. Hopefully I can put something out that helps you in your journey as well.
Heya, Jonathan. If you want stronger mead, you have to select a yeast with higher alcohol tolerance. Once the percentage of alcohol gets too high for the yeast, they either die, or cease to function. Some strains have a really high tolerance, others are prettly low. You can also run past the expected alcohol tolerance of your selected strain by creating the ideal environment for your yeast to survive longer. You do this by providing extra nutrients for the yeast to consume, regulate the temperature of the fermentation, regulate the PH levels during fermentation and, in some cases, you can give them a boost by adding more raw honey during the fermentation.
You can do either. I usually do it at room temperature. If you refrigerate it, it will clear faster, and drastically slow any fermentation that may be happening. This is commonly referred to as "cold crashing". At room temperature, your mead will slowly do whatever it's gonna do.
Thanks
/salute 😁
Are you planning on publishing more mead (or other home brewing) videos? I’ve just binge watched myself through tour entire mead playlist… even though I’ve been making meads for over 30 years now, it never gets old. I love watching others ply the craft and share their knowledge.
Heya, Edda, thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes, I plan to make more content. I have recently relocated my family to a new state, and I am still in the process of making our property into what we want it to be. Between my job, family and home construction obligations, I have been short of free time for making videos. I haven't even made a batch of mead in a year and a half. 😔 Anyway, I feel like I am rounding the bend and am able to steal so.e time here and there for the fun stuff, so keep an eye out for some new videos. 😁
@@dadstoolbox8364 - That’s what can be called “life happens”. We all have a brewing hiatus at sole point simply because other things have to take precedence. In my books, family, food and lodging will always trump other things. Good to know though that you’re seeing the bend of that road looming. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for those videos! I love your concept of passing on what a Dad would pass on to his kids and sharing it on a broader platform. My daughter has ‘only’ me and for all those little things, UA-cam has become our best friend. From simple things like unclogging a sink or fixing a leaky faucet to rewiring a lamp to simple car repairs, there’s a lot of things cropping up in daily life you don’t want to have to pay a professional for or having to wait for a kind soul to do it for you… and that means learning to do it by yourself. Living in the countryside it means freaking out the neighbours some times and being that crazy lady who won’t ask a man but acquiring those skills is priceless. The biggest reward is seeing kids picking up those skills and running with it.
Just recently my daughter took apart the pipes beneath a kitchen sink at one of her friends’ house because it wouldn’t drain. The parents were away for a few days (kids were 17-18 years old, grandparents down the street) and they didn’t want to call for help. She knew what to do because she’d seen me do it and was handing me the tools while I was tackling it at home. I got the after-the-fact report from the parents because their son ‘fessed up and was impressed. Apparently the story came to light because that sink had never drained so well in over a year. My daughter hadn’t even thought of mentioning it because to her, it was just something you know how to do. I had to learn it off UA-cam. Proud Mama moment. 😊
Please keep the videos coming once you can again. There still is so much to learn!
Thank you for the kind words. Life is slowly getting back to normal for us after the move and the whole Covid thing. I was getting to the point in my personal mead making journey where I was starting to look into temperature control during the fermentation process. My current and past living environment made it difficult to keep a steady, cool temperature in my house for my yeast to be happy. As winter sets in, my house should be a lot more suitable to make some small batches of mead to shake the rust off. My equipment is still packed up, and I don't have a workspace set up yet, but I'll be getting there soon.
As someone who grew up without a steady, reliable father figure, I understand how some of today's generation of children and young adults are missing those skills and knowledge that a Dad provides. To me, UA-cam is a great tool for those that are motivated to seek out that knowledge on their own. It's just sad that so many folks have to go that route. The internet is a poor substitute for a good father.
Congrats to your daughter for taking the initiative to be self sufficient, and to you for raising a child that's able to take care of herself and her loved ones when things get a little rough. =)
@@dadstoolbox8364 - A coolbox is a great insulator against temperature swings, as well as an old fridge or freezer. If heat is a problem, a wet towel around a fermenter can help a lot. Belgian homes don’t have airconditioning and summers are getting a lot warmer so I understand what you mean.
My main motivation to help my daughter to be self sufficient is the fact that her father wasn’t exactly a good example and from when she was 10, he was taken out of the picture of her daily life. I wanted her to learn that it’s okay to not know things, it’s okay to ask for help, but that there are very few things you can’t learn to do by yourself. You just have to find the information and try. That aligns with your vision and motivation quite a lot.
Please keep doing what you do!
Did you say 45 days? Mine bubbles like crazy, then slows dowm to very little in about 10-12 days. The alcohol content is around 13% at that point.
I did say 45 days in the video. Because I made the video three years ago, I can't say for sure why that was. Generally speaking, when I use the balloons, I let them go a bit longer than normal because the balloons don't give you the same feedback as a bubbler does. The length of your fermentation is going to depend on several variables. Such as the sugar content of your must, the aggressiveness of the yeast strain you chose, and how well you control the temperature of your fermentation (again depending on the yeast strain). In most cases, my primary fermentation is wrapping up in around two weeks. Sometimes, secondary fermentation can go on for a bit longer depending on what you are doing with your mead.
Nice video. Just started making mead myself. Keep up the good work!
Hey! Thanks for the kind words and for watching my video!
I've been making mead for a few years now, but decided to start this video series out at the basic/fundamental level and work up toward the more advanced stuff. Hopefully I can put something out that helps you in your journey as well.
How do you make your mead stronger in alcohol
Heya, Jonathan. If you want stronger mead, you have to select a yeast with higher alcohol tolerance. Once the percentage of alcohol gets too high for the yeast, they either die, or cease to function. Some strains have a really high tolerance, others are prettly low.
You can also run past the expected alcohol tolerance of your selected strain by creating the ideal environment for your yeast to survive longer. You do this by providing extra nutrients for the yeast to consume, regulate the temperature of the fermentation, regulate the PH levels during fermentation and, in some cases, you can give them a boost by adding more raw honey during the fermentation.
When you store the mead when you first put it in that 1 gallon do you put it in the fridge or room temp?
You can do either. I usually do it at room temperature. If you refrigerate it, it will clear faster, and drastically slow any fermentation that may be happening. This is commonly referred to as "cold crashing". At room temperature, your mead will slowly do whatever it's gonna do.