As someone who is just learning about this stuff I really appreciate how you guys are not snobby or gatekeepers to using things like bread yeast and fortification. The common trend I've noticed with a lot of tutorial videos on this topic seem to put their nose up to bread yeast as if it's not a viable method and not worth trying you guys are the complete opposite and is giving me the confidence to brew my first mead
There's nothing inherently wrong with bread yeast. I've made many great brews with it, and in fact, sometimes it's superior to commercial yeasts. Gatekeeping and elitism are the worst things in any hobby!
@@calvenwilliams3373 I just made a red wine with fleischmanns yeast it’s 12.1% smells and tastes delicious when it clears I’ll bottle it and try it in a years time
My wife got me 3 of the little big mouth bubblers for christmas this year, yes I mistakenly peeked at the shipping label, but I am sooo excited to start brewing on the 26th!! Hope everyone has a great holiday season!! Thank you for all you guys have put out this year!!
You two taught me how to make mead and wine. It became my biggest hobby. Every Christmas my friends and family wonder what flavor they are going to get. My "signature" Mead is a cherry/plum that everyone is asking me to make more of. I think this will taste great with a rum fortification
I've been watching your videos for a couple of years now and just love them. It got me into brewing and experimenting with brews of my own like the Honey Apple Juice "mead" I made which I then "Fortified" with Whisky. OMG!! I just loved that one. Also have a Coffee Mead which is brewing at the moment. Maybe I should also mention the failed experiment with a Cherry Slushy you get at the local store. Well my friend sold me the concentrate you use, and well, that didn't turn out how I expected. All that to say, experiment and enjoy! Oh and yes you should do a top 10 for 2024, which would include the tasting of ones you did in 2024 and also a top 10 of all time.
So I love this mead so much I've made 3 versions of it. Your original recipe with Sailor Jerry's rum (final ABV 20%), one where I added cherries in conditioning and fortified with a Las Vegas locally distilled cherry rum (final ABV 22.5%), and one fortified with that same distillery's navy strength rum and added spices of cinnamon, allspice, clove, and ginger (final ABV 25%). That last one has needed the most time to age and mellow, but they are all sooooo good!!!! I can't thank you two enough!
@31:16 See that right there is one of the many reasons i love you guys. The synergy between you two is superb. One of you has an idea and the other helps to mold it and help that idea grow into an excellent brew. Team work makes the dream work
I've been teaching friends how to make meads, one particular mead we go back to all the time is a version of your Spiced Methiglin. Typically 6.5 gallon batches. This latest batch we've fortified to 18% ABV using Tequila. Everyone loves our meads. We've also done a small batch of Pineapple Capsicumel and fortified it with Rum. Huge fan of fortifying meads. Totally on board. Not cheating at all...!!! 😃 Top 10 of All-Time...!!! ❤
I made this as one of my first 3 brews on day one. It's about 9 months old and I'm looking forward to sharing it on Christmas with some fancy wine family! Thank you for all your knowledge and happy holidays!
Before I get into the video, I made this this year and have given it out to people as gifts, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. People who "hate fruitcake" had this and were blown away. Edit: I guess I could've waited until 0:21 😂
Definitely an all time top ten. I have made a few of your recipes, and I have never been disappointed with any of them. This one is a 13 on my 1-10 scale, and my personal next favorite is the spiced metheglin.
Thank you both for all your vids this year. This Aussie watches them as soon as I see them on my feed (which given my location is always after the fact).
I'm glad you bring these one year + tasting videos out. I rewatched the making video, this is going to be my next mead. I'll probably make this the weekend after Christmas. I'm really looking forward to tasting this. Thanks CSB
1. This is definitely going to be one I get going for the New Year! 2. Yes!! Move to Ohio!! The air hurts our face this time of year, but it's a hurricane free zone too!
So, okay, some how I missed this one when it came out originally. I have it on my list for January now, so it will be ready by next Christmas. Also, I wanted to comment that, on roku/youtube app, your links are great! I never tried them from there until today and it was fun! I look forward to making this and sampling it next Yule. Keep up the wonderful work. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
First, I've been watching you guys for years and I love your channel. Second, give fruitcake a try yourselves. Here's why I say this. I made your improved Viking Blood Mead and it was Crazy Good, and at the end of the project, I had lots of very boozy dried cherries at the bottom of my fermenter. I ate one, and liked it, but it had too much alcohol in it to just snack on, so I found a fruitcake recipe that had 5-stars online, and I baked it with the boozy cherries in the batter. I soaked a gauze cloth with some Calvados that I had and did not like to drink, wrapped the cakes as instructed and aged them. The fruitcake was great, and I didn't even have walnuts or pecans at the time to put in it. You might try using your mead-soaked dried fruit in a fruitcake. Just a thought. I think I'll try this fruitcake mead next.
People "get mad " about what and how you do things?? That's pretty lame. I watch to learn and get ideas on things to brew. Your channel gives both... for free! What a bargain. I'm glad you do things I haven't or possibly wouldn't (like fortify) , it's great to learn about new things. Thanks to your channel, I've made 5-6 batches of Mead, apple cider, mango, black cherry/plum ... based on ideas I've seen here. Thanks! Keep it up!
You totally got me hooked on mead making. Made your holiday mead only fortified it with Brandy. Have 3 bottles that are 11 months old now and will be drinking at Xmas , As far as fortification I believe Port is just fortified wine and is amazing to drink Cheers from New Port Richey Fl. Have a great Xmas
I'll also say a top 10 that you drank in 2024 makes sense. So it could include brews you made in prior years like the dusty lemon you found. Also, would love to see you do a video about blends! I've recently had to do a blend with a butterfly pea flower mead I made that stalled and I blended it with a few dry melomels.
Top ten from all time sounds great. I've been thinking towards trying something new, so picking one from your list that I've not made yet would be fun.
I recently started fortifying my meads with aged and distilled mead. Unfortunately the distiller put it on French oak. That was a mistake. But the general idea is good and I'll keep doing it, but with different spirits. TOP 10 OF ALL TIME!!!
We wanted to make a port style wine and made a 15% dark, heavy mixed fruit wine as the base. When we tried this with various spirits, we both decided that we preferred the wine as it was. Nautically minded people will understand that this wine is now called Starboard Wine.
I have to ice our Christmas cake today which is a fruitcake, it will get served with my Xmas mead which is similar to your fruitcake mead recipe but without the fortification. (The Christmas cake is fortified though… with brandy this year, I change it each year)
I will agree. I started this brew almost exactly one year ago. I made two gallons, one with rum and one without. I cracked open a non-fortified bottle last week. My wife, who does not care for wine much at all,. has ordered me to create another batch for next year. I may go whole hog and do a 5 gallon batch. This recipe is amazing!
I have made your fruit cake mead twice. Once fortified second time unfortified but pastureized. Both are great in their own right. I also have finished your payment port and old fashioned mead recipes, add on your spiced methlegin mead these are my four favorites and aw snap three are fortified. All of these I will be making again. I think CSB should keep doing it your way. I would like to see more fortified meads and I do it for the purpose of stopping fermentation and the unique flavors it brings to a mead. I could care less about abv because I drink for the flavor not to get drunk. What do you think about a fortified Pina Colada Mead?
With all this talk about numbers, I am brought back to the video of the accidental "cooking wine". If something is "bad", try cooking with it. Great video and that stuff looks freakin' fantastic! Not all products can be an 11. Sometimes they can be repurposed :) Starting January I will be starting my brew exploration and will be checking your old content for ideas. 1st stop is the grocery store mead. Going cheap and easy and going from there.
Haha. Doing my first fortified bevvie right now. I made a grape juice and raisin brandy. Just started my grape juice and raisin wine. O.G 1085 and fortification will be at 1.040. The grape brandy will be used to bring the abv to 20% while the wine still has around half the sugar, and into a barrel it goes for the long haul. It takes 10 years to become an aged tawny port. 🥺🤣😅🤣 There will be plenty left over to use to replace angel share and tastings. This one will definitely teach me patience. 😂 I might have to revisit this beverage's episode. I just finished a rum that would probably go pretty well for this purpose. 😁
A sub-point to flavor is making extracts or infusions. When I want to add chocolate or coffee flavor I take cacao beans/coffee beans and let them sit in a strong neutral spirit for a couple weeks and make an infusion, it gives so much better of a result than just adding them to the brew (and takes the same amount of time roughly as primary fermentation).
You guys are more than welcome, after our discussion on zoom ages ago about this shape of Glencairn (that i was drinking out of at the time) and you mentioned that you didn't have one in that style/hadn't seen one in that style (i cant remember which one now), it had to be done haha. If you're gonna drink awesome Mead you gotta do it in style lol 😉
Top 10 of 2023, seperate top 10 of 2024 & overall top 10 LOLz Interesting to see the correlation. I want to make this!! We just made our 1st successful Elderflower Wine! Today we back sweetened, pasteurised & bottled. Tested our 1st Traditional Mead today - it's Dry 1.000, PH 4.5. We're letting it sit 😀 Thank you for Teaching us 🙏🏽
Love the channel hi i have my first basic mead, fermentation is done, just waiting another week to make sure its finished (advice from the experts) yeast is Mangrove Jacks Mead M05 Yeast 18% i want to add flavours to it in secondary, cinnamon and blue berries, how long should i leave them in secondary? im also going to be fortifying it Abv is 2.7 atm
@@CitySteadingBrews 1.36kg Rowse honey 96 oz water yeast Mangrove Jacks Mead M05 Yeast 18% 1/2 teaspoon fermaid O constantly at 23C heat pad start grav 1.120 lasted grav 1.000 i have gone wrong somewhere, or my friend has written it down wrong if i have done that math correct its ABV is 16.2
As always love your videos and I think I will try making this for next year. I have a dumb question hope you might be able to address I thought I saw some where that law wise that distilling was the act of raising the alcohol content past its natural point or something similar. Is this the case or is it just the act of the distillation process and boiling it?? If its the process a while back when I was in the Air Force I had a buddy who would make apple pie cider or Apple Jack and freeze it and here comes a follow up question despite being called freeze or cold distilling its not distilling its condensation. I mean I am perfectly fine with trying to just make a plain good mead and fortifying if I am tech wrong about the law being raising it past its natural point.
The government definition of distilling is raising the alcohol via concentration or removal of aspects of the beverage, in a nutshell. Essentially, aside from fortifying, any way to raise alcohol other than fermentation is considered distilling.
I started brewing just after Christmas last year, my Christmas present was put right to use. I made this in March and look forward to the bottle at Christmas time. I have 3 bottles left from the close to 2 gallons I made. So I certainly don't hate it 😅 However at this point I enjoyed the Carrot cake mead more in my opinion.
There's a micro distillery I drive by all the time I need to try...they make brandy from mead. Could be amazing on its own, could be amazing to fortify with. Dunno, though. Never had a chance to stop. Up North Distillery in Post Falls, Idaho if it interests you. I THINK they ship?
I bottled this 3 days ago. I really like it but I think it needs less Kraken and more dates. I'm still looking forward to drinking it at my anniversary party in May though!
wow... i dont remember this from your other videos, so what you mean is instead of pasteurizing, you increase you ABV so the ethanol kills of the yeast so stabelize the brew... I dont like pasteurizing i think it offs the flavour... this is way better than pasteurization and also increases the ABV, much better way IMO... can you link a video on showing how to do the math on fortifying the brews plz? TY
Technically illegal so, we don't demonstrate or talk about it on our show. It's also questionably dangerous as you're concentrating not just ethanol, but methanol and other fusels, toxins, etc.
Distilling is illegal in most places, use of a still is not the legal sticking point. Raising the ABV by removing water or concentrating is the legal definition of distillation.
I used to take southern comfort (as it has lots of sugar in it)and light it with a match to add a caramelized flavor to it…. Maybe something similar could be used to fortify with…. I might have to try that…..
It is usual to take one measure of good honey to four of water, which you heat in a pan till it is rather more than lukewarm. Then pour half of this warmed solution into a wooden vessel, broad and capacious at the top, and mix raw honey with it. Afterwards put this water containing the melted honey also into the pan with a good fire beneath so that it may boil properly until scum is seen. This should be taken off bit by bit with a piece of linen tied to a long stick or by using a perforated spoon. Continue until the honey and water mixture appears to be clean. When this has been done, an appropriate quantity of hops should be boiled separately in a linen bag inside a covered pot over the same fire, until at least half the water has evaporated, so that their bitterness may be evident. This will mean that the greater or lesser sweetness of the honey and water solution will be moderated. Yet it must be done in such a way that the water, prepared like this with the honey and cleared of froth, is first poured into the wooden vessel and then the bag of hops at once put into it together with the water it was boiled in, so that through the mutual effect of the honey and water, and from the addition of hops, a proper combination is made. This done, the container is covered with thick cloths and allowed to stand until the heat has almost died away and it has grown tepid. Next take some dregs of beer, of which I shall have more to say below, in proportion to the quantity of the brew. Put it on top as if it were rennet, and place a lid on the vessel a second time till you can see the whole mixture covered with a kind of pure white foam. If there are no dregs available, baker's yeast may be used. After this the mixture should be strained through a linen cloth on the next day and run into a clean, empty vessel; this is for storing it in and it must be kept stopped. On the eighth day, or sooner if there is a pressing need, it will be possible to drink it quite safely. However, the older this drink is, the purer, better, and healthier it will be.
Hi folks! I'm a visitor from the home distilling side of UA-cam. I recently made a hard cider fortified with brandy and sweetened with apple juice concentrate. I aged it with French oak for a month and bottled it. It's been sitting for a total of two months now. The abv is 20%. How can I expect it to age in the short and long term? It's no longer in contact with oak. Your input would be appreciated. Thank you! 😊
The flavors should mellow some over time just like anything that ages. Honestly though, that's a lot of fortifying so it may not change much at all over time since distilled alcohols don't really age once bottled.
Distilling spirits at home is illegal at the federal level, but some states allow it for personal use: Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Rhode Island: These states allow "legal" moonshining. Iowa: There are no laws about distilling homemade alcohol in Iowa. Missouri: Small-volume distilling of alcohol for personal consumption is legal, but federal laws still apply.
Please do a top ten list from the last top ten list to now. A top ten of all time would be ok, but could just be compiled from all of the top tens overtime.
I consider myself a fairly serious brewer at this point, and almost always fortify. The idea of "cheating" is absolutely ridiculous. I'm an adult, I can do what I want!! 😂
Hey Brian and Danika. Vinolab is an online calculator which maybe suitable for people to work out the amount of spirit to use to fortify. I mention this as I don't believe in mobile phones, therefore I don't have a calculator on hand as my teacher said. 😂😂😂
@CitySteadingBrews its not sour like vinegar, so I think it isnt. Just a.. bad taste. Ill try sweetening it. Ive also had this with some cider, leaving a headache as well.
I've been brewing and watching videos for 5 years, and you two have become among the best content creators in the space.
Thank you, we appreciate that.
Agreed!
Agreed! It was CSB specifically that convinced me that I could brew my own mead and enjoy the results.
As someone who is just learning about this stuff I really appreciate how you guys are not snobby or gatekeepers to using things like bread yeast and fortification.
The common trend I've noticed with a lot of tutorial videos on this topic seem to put their nose up to bread yeast as if it's not a viable method and not worth trying you guys are the complete opposite and is giving me the confidence to brew my first mead
There's nothing inherently wrong with bread yeast. I've made many great brews with it, and in fact, sometimes it's superior to commercial yeasts. Gatekeeping and elitism are the worst things in any hobby!
@CitySteadingBrews I'm a self taught mushroom farmer, mycology and brewing have this in common
@@calvenwilliams3373 I just made a red wine with fleischmanns yeast it’s 12.1% smells and tastes delicious when it clears I’ll bottle it and try it in a years time
My wife got me 3 of the little big mouth bubblers for christmas this year, yes I mistakenly peeked at the shipping label, but I am sooo excited to start brewing on the 26th!! Hope everyone has a great holiday season!! Thank you for all you guys have put out this year!!
You have a good woman. 😊
Top ten of all time, please!
You two taught me how to make mead and wine. It became my biggest hobby. Every Christmas my friends and family wonder what flavor they are going to get. My "signature" Mead is a cherry/plum that everyone is asking me to make more of. I think this will taste great with a rum fortification
That's so cool! Good for you.
I've been watching your videos for a couple of years now and just love them. It got me into brewing and experimenting with brews of my own like the Honey Apple Juice "mead" I made which I then "Fortified" with Whisky. OMG!! I just loved that one. Also have a Coffee Mead which is brewing at the moment. Maybe I should also mention the failed experiment with a Cherry Slushy you get at the local store. Well my friend sold me the concentrate you use, and well, that didn't turn out how I expected.
All that to say, experiment and enjoy! Oh and yes you should do a top 10 for 2024, which would include the tasting of ones you did in 2024 and also a top 10 of all time.
So I love this mead so much I've made 3 versions of it. Your original recipe with Sailor Jerry's rum (final ABV 20%), one where I added cherries in conditioning and fortified with a Las Vegas locally distilled cherry rum (final ABV 22.5%), and one fortified with that same distillery's navy strength rum and added spices of cinnamon, allspice, clove, and ginger (final ABV 25%). That last one has needed the most time to age and mellow, but they are all sooooo good!!!! I can't thank you two enough!
Very cool ideas.
The last of the ingredients for this recipe arrived yesterday.
Starting it over the weekend.
Haven't heard how Brian is doing with his BP and Type 2.
You guys are the best. Thank you!
It's not really the scope or topic of this channel, but thanks for asking. I'm managing.
@31:16 See that right there is one of the many reasons i love you guys. The synergy between you two is superb. One of you has an idea and the other helps to mold it and help that idea grow into an excellent brew. Team work makes the dream work
I've been teaching friends how to make meads, one particular mead we go back to all the time is a version of your Spiced Methiglin. Typically 6.5 gallon batches. This latest batch we've fortified to 18% ABV using Tequila. Everyone loves our meads. We've also done a small batch of Pineapple Capsicumel and fortified it with Rum. Huge fan of fortifying meads. Totally on board. Not cheating at all...!!! 😃
Top 10 of All-Time...!!! ❤
Nicely done!
Mine wants to see how it's done but doesn't want to do it...😅. They want me to make theirs for them.😊
The pineapple capsumel with rum sounds delicious!!!
I made this as one of my first 3 brews on day one. It's about 9 months old and I'm looking forward to sharing it on Christmas with some fancy wine family! Thank you for all your knowledge and happy holidays!
Before I get into the video, I made this this year and have given it out to people as gifts, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. People who "hate fruitcake" had this and were blown away.
Edit: I guess I could've waited until 0:21 😂
Awesome! Happy to hear it.
Those glasses are gorgeous, well done Adam! 👏
💚
Definitely an all time top ten. I have made a few of your recipes, and I have never been disappointed with any of them. This one is a 13 on my 1-10 scale, and my personal next favorite is the spiced metheglin.
Thank you both for all your vids this year. This Aussie watches them as soon as I see them on my feed (which given my location is always after the fact).
Wow, thank you so much! Glad you enjoy them!
I'm glad you bring these one year + tasting videos out. I rewatched the making video, this is going to be my next mead. I'll probably make this the weekend after Christmas. I'm really looking forward to tasting this. Thanks CSB
Happy to help.
Top ten of all time sounds like a great video!
We need a top 10!
1. This is definitely going to be one I get going for the New Year!
2. Yes!! Move to Ohio!! The air hurts our face this time of year, but it's a hurricane free zone too!
Lol
And no alligators either.
So, okay, some how I missed this one when it came out originally. I have it on my list for January now, so it will be ready by next Christmas.
Also, I wanted to comment that, on roku/youtube app, your links are great! I never tried them from there until today and it was fun!
I look forward to making this and sampling it next Yule.
Keep up the wonderful work.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Happy to hear the links are working well for you!
First, I've been watching you guys for years and I love your channel. Second, give fruitcake a try yourselves. Here's why I say this. I made your improved Viking Blood Mead and it was Crazy Good, and at the end of the project, I had lots of very boozy dried cherries at the bottom of my fermenter. I ate one, and liked it, but it had too much alcohol in it to just snack on, so I found a fruitcake recipe that had 5-stars online, and I baked it with the boozy cherries in the batter. I soaked a gauze cloth with some Calvados that I had and did not like to drink, wrapped the cakes as instructed and aged them. The fruitcake was great, and I didn't even have walnuts or pecans at the time to put in it. You might try using your mead-soaked dried fruit in a fruitcake. Just a thought. I think I'll try this fruitcake mead next.
What a good idea!
Love the glasses! Sounds very yummy, hope my batch is half as good. It's the desert wine/liquor for Xmas. Happy holidays!
This stuff is awesome! Coming up to a year in the bottle and I love it! I’ve gifted some to friends and they too really like it. Thanks guys! 👍
I made that last January the day after my birthday. It's waiting for me at home, I haven't bottled it yet. Very much looking forward to it!
People "get mad " about what and how you do things?? That's pretty lame.
I watch to learn and get ideas on things to brew. Your channel gives both... for free! What a bargain.
I'm glad you do things I haven't or possibly wouldn't (like fortify) , it's great to learn about new things. Thanks to your channel, I've made 5-6 batches of Mead, apple cider, mango, black cherry/plum ... based on ideas I've seen here. Thanks! Keep it up!
Oh people get mad about anything, lol.
You totally got me hooked on mead making. Made your holiday mead only fortified it with Brandy. Have 3 bottles that are 11 months old now and will be drinking at Xmas , As far as fortification I believe Port is just fortified wine and is amazing to drink Cheers from New Port Richey Fl. Have a great Xmas
Port is fortified wine, yes. Very specific method to it but it is just that. We made a version a while back.
I'll also say a top 10 that you drank in 2024 makes sense. So it could include brews you made in prior years like the dusty lemon you found. Also, would love to see you do a video about blends! I've recently had to do a blend with a butterfly pea flower mead I made that stalled and I blended it with a few dry melomels.
Top ten from all time sounds great. I've been thinking towards trying something new, so picking one from your list that I've not made yet would be fun.
Dang that sounds good! I’m getting into mead again now that I’m not so broke. I think I might try my hand at this! Great video guys!
Oh cool, I guess I have to try this recipe then! Thanks for sharing this with us
It's a good one for sure.
Another great video! Thanks for all you 2 do!!
i would love the top 10 of all time list!
I recently started fortifying my meads with aged and distilled mead. Unfortunately the distiller put it on French oak. That was a mistake.
But the general idea is good and I'll keep doing it, but with different spirits.
TOP 10 OF ALL TIME!!!
It looks that good I can almost taste it 😄 wow beautiful I knew you were going to give it 11 lol
We wanted to make a port style wine and made a 15% dark, heavy mixed fruit wine as the base. When we tried this with various spirits, we both decided that we preferred the wine as it was. Nautically minded people will understand that this wine is now called Starboard Wine.
LOL!!
YEEESSSS for a top ten!!!!
I appreciate the all-in-one videos!
Top ten of all time
I love the top 10. Of all time will be interesting
I have to ice our Christmas cake today which is a fruitcake, it will get served with my Xmas mead which is similar to your fruitcake mead recipe but without the fortification. (The Christmas cake is fortified though… with brandy this year, I change it each year)
did you use marzipan on that cake before you frosted it?
i think thats a tradition :)
I will agree. I started this brew almost exactly one year ago. I made two gallons, one with rum and one without. I cracked open a non-fortified bottle last week. My wife, who does not care for wine much at all,. has ordered me to create another batch for next year. I may go whole hog and do a 5 gallon batch. This recipe is amazing!
Glad you like it!
I got you Brian. We math different.
This is a must do!
I have made your fruit cake mead twice. Once fortified second time unfortified but pastureized. Both are great in their own right. I also have finished your payment port and old fashioned mead recipes, add on your spiced methlegin mead these are my four favorites and aw snap three are fortified. All of these I will be making again. I think CSB should keep doing it your way. I would like to see more fortified meads and I do it for the purpose of stopping fermentation and the unique flavors it brings to a mead. I could care less about abv because I drink for the flavor not to get drunk. What do you think about a fortified Pina Colada Mead?
Fortified Pina Colada sounds good actually!
Pineapple mead + Malibu rum perhaps.
Top ten of the year and memorable honours from previous years
TOP TEN TOP TEN TOP TEN!!!!!
Yes, a top 10 of all time would be cool. But a top 10 for '23 or '24 would be good also. Thanks for the video, I always learn something from them.
I would say top ten of all time. It would be like an evolving cheat sheet shopping and to do list for homebrewing satisfaction
I’m gonna be fortifying mine today. I am really excited to taste it and age it for the holidays next year…😊
All-time top ten pasteurized episode is my vote.
With all this talk about numbers, I am brought back to the video of the accidental "cooking wine". If something is "bad", try cooking with it. Great video and that stuff looks freakin' fantastic! Not all products can be an 11. Sometimes they can be repurposed :) Starting January I will be starting my brew exploration and will be checking your old content for ideas. 1st stop is the grocery store mead. Going cheap and easy and going from there.
Haha. Doing my first fortified bevvie right now. I made a grape juice and raisin brandy. Just started my grape juice and raisin wine. O.G 1085 and fortification will be at 1.040. The grape brandy will be used to bring the abv to 20% while the wine still has around half the sugar, and into a barrel it goes for the long haul. It takes 10 years to become an aged tawny port. 🥺🤣😅🤣 There will be plenty left over to use to replace angel share and tastings. This one will definitely teach me patience. 😂 I might have to revisit this beverage's episode. I just finished a rum that would probably go pretty well for this purpose. 😁
Please please please Can we have a top 10 of all time!?!?
Also I love your show! You guys are very informative and entertaining!
We recorded a 2024 top 10.
@4:00 that color is amazing... it looks like liquid happiness
It really is!
A sub-point to flavor is making extracts or infusions. When I want to add chocolate or coffee flavor I take cacao beans/coffee beans and let them sit in a strong neutral spirit for a couple weeks and make an infusion, it gives so much better of a result than just adding them to the brew (and takes the same amount of time roughly as primary fermentation).
Recommendation, try planting a lime tree form seed and using the leaves. The small leaves are even better than the zest.
You guys are more than welcome, after our discussion on zoom ages ago about this shape of Glencairn (that i was drinking out of at the time) and you mentioned that you didn't have one in that style/hadn't seen one in that style (i cant remember which one now), it had to be done haha. If you're gonna drink awesome Mead you gotta do it in style lol 😉
lol, thanks Dude!
Top 10 of 2023, seperate top 10 of 2024 & overall top 10 LOLz
Interesting to see the correlation.
I want to make this!!
We just made our 1st successful Elderflower Wine! Today we back sweetened, pasteurised & bottled.
Tested our 1st Traditional Mead today - it's Dry 1.000, PH 4.5. We're letting it sit 😀
Thank you for Teaching us 🙏🏽
We made a 2024 top ten, making all that together would be like a 4 hour video, lol.
@CitySteadingBrews we'd watch it LOLz
🤟🏽🙌🏽🤣
We'll watch anything you put out!
We appreciate you both!
Merry Christmas!
@@cassandraletton lol, thanks.
Top Ten All time yes!
Please do a top 10!!!!! Of all time. ❤
Love the channel
hi
i have my first basic mead, fermentation is done, just waiting another week to make sure its finished (advice from the experts)
yeast is Mangrove Jacks Mead M05 Yeast 18%
i want to add flavours to it in secondary, cinnamon and blue berries, how long should i leave them in secondary?
im also going to be fortifying it
Abv is 2.7 atm
Are you sure you only have 2.7% abv? What is your recipe?
@@CitySteadingBrews
1.36kg Rowse honey
96 oz water
yeast Mangrove Jacks Mead M05 Yeast 18%
1/2 teaspoon fermaid O
constantly at 23C heat pad
start grav 1.120
lasted grav 1.000
i have gone wrong somewhere, or my friend has written it down wrong
if i have done that math correct its ABV is 16.2
Sounds more like it.
@@CitySteadingBrews
still need advice on the cinnamon and blue berries
thanks
As always love your videos and I think I will try making this for next year. I have a dumb question hope you might be able to address I thought I saw some where that law wise that distilling was the act of raising the alcohol content past its natural point or something similar. Is this the case or is it just the act of the distillation process and boiling it?? If its the process a while back when I was in the Air Force I had a buddy who would make apple pie cider or Apple Jack and freeze it and here comes a follow up question despite being called freeze or cold distilling its not distilling its condensation. I mean I am perfectly fine with trying to just make a plain good mead and fortifying if I am tech wrong about the law being raising it past its natural point.
The government definition of distilling is raising the alcohol via concentration or removal of aspects of the beverage, in a nutshell. Essentially, aside from fortifying, any way to raise alcohol other than fermentation is considered distilling.
Yes we want top ten!!!!!
You folks could do an absolutely great "Jean and Gene" cosplay from the Umbrella Academy. I was unsettled by it for a moment 😅
I started brewing just after Christmas last year, my Christmas present was put right to use.
I made this in March and look forward to the bottle at Christmas time. I have 3 bottles left from the close to 2 gallons I made. So I certainly don't hate it 😅
However at this point I enjoyed the Carrot cake mead more in my opinion.
Definitely need an updated top 10. Not just 2024, but all time
There's a micro distillery I drive by all the time I need to try...they make brandy from mead. Could be amazing on its own, could be amazing to fortify with. Dunno, though. Never had a chance to stop.
Up North Distillery in Post Falls, Idaho if it interests you. I THINK they ship?
Yes, a top ten of all time
I would love a top 10 every year!
I bottled this 3 days ago. I really like it but I think it needs less Kraken and more dates. I'm still looking forward to drinking it at my anniversary party in May though!
What yeast do yall recommend for brewing beer?
Really there are many and it depends on what the yeast offers you but Safale S-04 is a good all around choice.
@CitySteadingBrews thank you 😊
wow... i dont remember this from your other videos, so what you mean is instead of pasteurizing, you increase you ABV so the ethanol kills of the yeast so stabelize the brew... I dont like pasteurizing i think it offs the flavour... this is way better than pasteurization and also increases the ABV, much better way IMO... can you link a video on showing how to do the math on fortifying the brews plz? TY
We showed how in this video, but here's a video on it: ua-cam.com/video/ERX7scF37Uo/v-deo.htmlsi=MJfe5-LLVrUlvtac
Have you tried freeze distillation?
Technically illegal so, we don't demonstrate or talk about it on our show. It's also questionably dangerous as you're concentrating not just ethanol, but methanol and other fusels, toxins, etc.
@@CitySteadingBrews I've never tried it due to the potential dangers but didn't think it was illegal because there's no still.
Distilling is illegal in most places, use of a still is not the legal sticking point. Raising the ABV by removing water or concentrating is the legal definition of distillation.
@@CitySteadingBrews I was unaware. Thanks for clearing that up.
the gold makes it taste better for sure :)
I used to take southern comfort (as it has lots of sugar in it)and light it with a match to add a caramelized flavor to it….
Maybe something similar could be used to fortify with….
I might have to try that…..
Sorry, but I will never add Southern Comfort to anything.... I had a bottle a few years ago, and used it as lighter fluid for our outdoor fires....
I would love to see a top 10 since the last top 10. However any top 10 I would enjoy.
For the arthritus when I get it i buy jello, boil some water and make jello DRINKS (non alcoholic). The jello has never failed me yet
It is usual to take one measure of good honey to four of water, which you heat in a pan till it is rather more than lukewarm. Then pour half of this warmed solution into a wooden vessel, broad and capacious at the top, and mix raw honey with it. Afterwards put this water containing the melted honey also into the pan with a good fire beneath so that it may boil properly until scum is seen. This should be taken off bit by bit with a piece of linen tied to a long stick or by using a perforated spoon. Continue until the honey and water mixture appears to be clean. When this has been done, an appropriate quantity of hops should be boiled separately in a linen bag inside a covered pot over the same fire, until at least half the water has evaporated, so that their bitterness may be evident. This will mean that the greater or lesser sweetness of the honey and water solution will be moderated. Yet it must be done in such a way that the water, prepared like this with the honey and cleared of froth, is first poured into the wooden vessel and then the bag of hops at once put into it together with the water it was boiled in, so that through the mutual effect of the honey and water, and from the addition of hops, a proper combination is made. This done, the container is covered with thick cloths and allowed to stand until the heat has almost died away and it has grown tepid.
Next take some dregs of beer, of which I shall have more to say below, in proportion to the quantity of the brew. Put it on top as if it were rennet, and place a lid on the vessel a second time till you can see the whole mixture covered with a kind of pure white foam. If there are no dregs available, baker's yeast may be used. After this the mixture should be strained through a linen cloth on the next day and run into a clean, empty vessel; this is for storing it in and it must be kept stopped. On the eighth day, or sooner if there is a pressing need, it will be possible to drink it quite safely. However, the older this drink is, the purer, better, and healthier it will be.
Umm, sure? It's an old method, might be okay.
Oh, is this in reference to the Danish Mead Recipe? Confused me, as it's not replied to, just posted fresh.
@@CitySteadingBrews Possible AI bot
How does this compare head to head to the Spiced Methaglin?
Vastly different actually.
Top 10 please, including aged stuff I would think is essential.
Hi folks! I'm a visitor from the home distilling side of UA-cam. I recently made a hard cider fortified with brandy and sweetened with apple juice concentrate. I aged it with French oak for a month and bottled it. It's been sitting for a total of two months now. The abv is 20%. How can I expect it to age in the short and long term? It's no longer in contact with oak. Your input would be appreciated. Thank you! 😊
The flavors should mellow some over time just like anything that ages. Honestly though, that's a lot of fortifying so it may not change much at all over time since distilled alcohols don't really age once bottled.
Buy both of your guyses reaction this is the best time to stock up on fruit cake or make it and do a 5-gallon batch for your self
Would love a top 10 of all time
Distilling spirits at home is illegal at the federal level, but some states allow it for personal use:
Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Rhode Island: These states allow "legal" moonshining.
Iowa: There are no laws about distilling homemade alcohol in Iowa.
Missouri: Small-volume distilling of alcohol for personal consumption is legal, but federal laws still apply.
Yup.
Top 10 all time
Please do a top ten list from the last top ten list to now. A top ten of all time would be ok, but could just be compiled from all of the top tens overtime.
I consider myself a fairly serious brewer at this point, and almost always fortify. The idea of "cheating" is absolutely ridiculous. I'm an adult, I can do what I want!! 😂
23:06 oh you mean that calculator teach said you’d never have handy? 😂
Yup, that one.
Top 10 plz!
Hey Brian and Danika.
Vinolab is an online calculator which maybe suitable for people to work out the amount of spirit to use to fortify.
I mention this as I don't believe in mobile phones, therefore I don't have a calculator on hand as my teacher said. 😂😂😂
I will check it out, thanks.
Also, I have a feeling this one is going to be at least top 3, if not #1
We ended up doing a 2024 edition so... it's not on the list at all, lol.
If you move to ohio... we could visit and taste some of your meads!!!😊
Tried to make it a year ago, recently tasted it. I think I failed.... it tastes soury?
Have had this with another mead as well. Try again I guess!
Is it just dry or do you think you actually turned to vinegar?
@CitySteadingBrews its not sour like vinegar, so I think it isnt. Just a.. bad taste. Ill try sweetening it. Ive also had this with some cider, leaving a headache as well.
@@CitySteadingBrews ok i tried it sweetened... its dangerous now sorry for bothering!
lol, no worries.
I've recently discovered this channel. I've searched but can't find the recipe. Can someone help please?
It's linked in the description 😀👍
I don't think mine was an 11. Maybe I went too strong on the fortification since the rum is a strong flavor. I am sad to not experience an 11.
Please make a top ten❤❤❤❤
❤
Ever thought of doing a collaboration with Bearded and bored and his liquor fairy?
Nope, since it's illegal for him too.
The bottom of the graphic got cut off during The Pour Cam.
It happens, we're human.