Viking Blood 2020 - FINISH IT!

[@MrKholcombe]

Someone beat me to the mention, but Derica put that lid on like a boss. Hit the thread and just spun it like a roulette wheel. Being more of the Brian in trying to start threaded things, it affected me emotionally and I had to rely on my emotional support mead to get me through the existential crisis it created

[@CitySteadingBrews]

She even said it later... she got lucky.

[@MrKholcombe]

@@CitySteadingBrews let’s face it Brian, YOU got lucky when you married her. Y’all have the best dynamic. Never fails to cheer me up if I’m having a bad day

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@MrKholcombe Oh, absolutely. I am the luckiest man in the world. I'm saying, her words.... after filming that section, ....'wow, that was pure luck getting on there the first try!'.

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Emotional support mead. I’m so stealing that!

[@johnburke5087]

Stealing? Heck I'm getting a note from my doctor!

[@christopherbreznai1805]

Oh for such an inexpensive hobby it's frustrating getting such awesome ideas from you 2. My rice wine is still going, I just started an orange mead, thanks for the tip about the tea. I have pomegranate waiting for a vessel and next cherries. My wife would kill me if it wasn't so tasty.

[@elricthebald]

22:38 Like the great Adam Savage once said: "Remember Kids, the Only Difference Between Screwing Around and Science Is Writing It Down." I've been using a pitcher with measurements from the start. It greatly helps with bottling as you can easily predict what size of bottle should be your final one.

[@ronweber1402]

I have my brew book that I write down what I did with each batch so I can go back on it and recreate what I have done.

[@elricthebald]

@@ronweber1402 Paper is a good idea. I had everything on my PC until the hard drive crashed. (No backup) Been drinking 'mystery mead' ever since. P.s. Got everything on paper now. It won't happen again.

[@cindylu4291]

Hello from Texas. You have opened my world to a new hobby at age 71. Have followed your recipes as close as possible (Beginner Mead, Viking Blood 2020 & Spiced Mead). All three are going. Beginner Mead is at 12.5% and clearing nicely at 7wks. Started Viking Blood 2020 on 10-6-21 with OG = 1.1165. By today 10-16-21 Airlock is very slow with very little if no bubbling at top. #2G reading is 1.0025. Using your constant number (I use 131.25) 135 X 0.144 = ABV of 15.39%. You were right, it is very sour and my could I smell the alcohol. SO my question is; have the frozen cherries been in the recipe long enough to flavor etc. My thinking is to wait another week or maybe 2, then remove bag and continue to conditioning phase with dried cherries and honey. I started to join the VIP, but I don't have a smart phone yet.

[@b-r-a-i-n-r-o-t]

hey cindy, how did these turn out?

[@cindylu4291]

@@b-r-a-i-n-r-o-t I must say I thoroughly enjoyed making these recipes. It is now July of 2023 and only have a few bottles of the Viking Blood and Spice Mead. Our daughter and son-in-law were married in Alaska in June of 2022. I donated most of all the mead that I made to that cause. Everyone attending gave me A+ for my mead and their favorite was the spice and vikings blood. Around the Fairbanks area, mead is the preferred beverage and they all agree with City Steading about the quality of store bought meads. The mead recipes only gets better with age, but the spice mead for sure, gets much better after a year or two. If it's your first time to make, watch videos multiple times and make good notes as you go. I tried to follow instructions as close as I could so I would know what their mead would taste like. I'm getting ready to make more, Cindy

[@patlawson1659]

Yeah , when you do a reading , I lean forward , every time , trying to read the Hydrometer with you . 🤠

[@russbilzing5348]

When you have to do something with the cherries, I would suggest a very good French vanilla ice cream over the top of a small bowl of them. We call it "dessert".

[@lennielundervold7427]

I followed your recipe to the letter except, my local store did not have 71B so I used D47. I also have Little Big Mouth Bubblers so it was easy to follow your recipe. We followed the same steps, in the same order, with the same time frames. We started it on Sep 6 and bottled it yesterday, Nov 14. I can truly say we had the same reaction when we tasted it before bottling. WOW is right! Personally I'm not a big fan of cherry things but this is incredible! We made this mostly for my son who really likes cherry flavored anything and man, were we amazed. The aroma is spectacular. It tastes so good you could seriously drink it now. You guys knocked it out of the park with this one. We are still new to mead making, started our first batches 5 months ago and have made 6, 1 gallon batches of different meads since then. We have learned so much from watching your videos, 90% of what I've learned has been from watching you guys. A sincere Thank You for all the time and effort you put into making these videos. You are not only informative but also very entertaining and it's always fun to see what you're going to do next. Thanks again for being our "go to" as we continue to learn and get better in our mead making venture.

[@TexanGent12]

I don’t know if it is harder for you as a creator, but I love these videos having all the parts in one. I didn’t mind watching 4 videos instead of 1 but it is nice not having to go hunting for the next video!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We now do them all within a week.

[@8Jory]

I really appreciate this format. KZbin is unreliable for feeding you the next video or even giving you the correct video when you try to search for it. And if you're trying to watch an older video it can be hard to back track through the archive and find exactly what you're looking for.

[@notusingmyname4791]

@@CitySteadingBrews your efforts have not gone unnoticed.. I had to break out my dansk mjod and sip on it by the mid part of this video... (don't tell my work I'm drinking on the job... they won't care)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@notusingmyname4791 you do know this is not THAT Viking Blood, right? :)

[@stevejacobson7431]

I just sampled this after being in conditioning for a couple months. It's ready to bottle and OMG is it good! I don't know proper adjectives but it's smooth, tangy sweet and very very cherry! Not a great fan of cherry but had to try it. Accidently back-sweetened too much, 1.040. Ugh, too sweet but still oh so good. Thanks for the great training you give!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Happy to help!

[@Calderon_Jesse]

Great video ! Yesterday I made wine from store bought juice. Watching your video on how to make it inspired me to try it. Thank you. I hope mine turns out good.

[@patlawson1659]

Don't worry about the oil on the dried fruit , the next time you rack , the oil will stay on top . When you stop racking the oil will be left with the Sediment . You Guys are a Great . 🤠

[@pinkdoor85]

Derica, while staring down the camera, mouthing "it's foot" has me howling! 😂 I love you guys.

[@tantos140]

Started my first solo-brew without my friends following your first mead recipe from a couple months ago! Only change I used the dry mead Wyeast n.4632, wish me luck!!!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I hope you like dry mead. That recipe is made for 12-13% with some residual sweetness and that yeast can go to 18%

[@tantos140]

Yeah, I think I do; also the sweet one was not available at the time. I might even pasteurize a couple bottles in order to backsweeten them

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@tantos140 just fyi, there is no real designation of sweet or dry yeasts, it's all about how that yeast works with the recipe. You can make a so called sweet yeast go dry or a so called dry yeast go sweet.

[@tantos140]

@@CitySteadingBrews yeah, just keep adding sugars until the yeast can't take it anymore. In this case, over 18% as you said. But I don't want that much alcohol ahah. Thank you for answering, and helping me get into this crazy fun hobby

[@smikehunteraquariumgames9281]

I made this today! Your success makes it easier to be patient. I made a few other things to help with that. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[@alywolf1223]

Really enjoying the new video layout. Y'alls content has been so helpful and informative 💚

[@TheHellfiremissile]

B & J. To remove the oil place berries in a pot of water and bring to a rolling boil for 10 min. Rack to another pot and reduce. Add to the mix when cool. Cheers, love the vid's.

[@CraigAPennington]

I just did a cyser with Lalvin 71B and a similar OG -1.111-and it fermented down to 0.995. Which (according to The Hall Equation) gives an ABV of 16.7%. It's nice if you like it dry. I do & am not backsweetening. Love that 71B! And those cherries might be a good garnish in a Manhattan.

[@georgecolby7488]

My first 2 meads I used raisins that gave them a funk. I think it was the oil on the raisins. Good catch by rinsing the cherries in hot water!

[@jeremysherfield3669]

This has been the best recipe I have ever made although I did add 9 oz of Bing cherries dried in conditioning. Thank You!

[@goldiegirl6705]

The color is amazing. I love your videos.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thank you!

[@m4a44]

Hahahahaha, I was oblivious to that splashing sound until you mentioned it. It certainly is a lovely sound lol

[@CPTCAVEMAN21]

Put sugar on the dry cherry residue. Let it sit for a day or so and strain off the syrup. Use for mixed drinks or icecream, etc.

[@jefferyformosa1448]

Hi guys just watched Viking blood 2020 , it's inspired me to put a batch down , I missed how long you left in demijohn for before bottling .thanks looks awesome 👍

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I generally do a racking when fermentation is complete, then bottle once it clears.

[@turbodog1542]

Just finished last racking using this recipe and it tastes great!!! Gonna let it sit for a couple months before bottling. Thanks for the recipe!!!!

[@turbodog1542]

Starting G 1.110. Final G 1.000. Back sweetened, and last G is 1.024.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Happy to help :)

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Thank you SO MUCH for the idea of rinsing the cherries. I had been wondering about that, as virtually all dried fruit sold in ly country seems to have been coated in oil. Raisins ate impossible to get without that stupid sunflower oil so I have substituted them with dates as those are the only exception to the ‘yay-let’s-chuck-a-load-of-oil-over-the-fruit’ rule. I’ve also eyes the bottle of Everclear but I’d have to rinse that off too.

[@lgmakes9412]

Love the new format! The alcoholic cherries may be good if chopped, placed in with some butter sautéd pears, cooked with honey with spices, flambé then serve with crepes and cream? Or a compote for ice cream? Perhaps purée them, strain, and use the alcoholic juice as a mixer? Keep having fun!

[@alligatormonday6365]

Make a compote with them and some pear, add lots of butter, serve over some very pepper heavy pork.

[@dmsawyer]

I found a cool source of bottles with flip top lids cheap...the bonus is they actually come full of tasty home style soda. At World Market there are bottles of "French lemonade" that when I last bought them were about $3.50 a bottle they are made to withstand carbonation are decorative and about the cheapest way to get cheap bottles for bottling.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Sounds like the ones we find at Aldi

[@dmsawyer]

@@julietardos5044 it's honestly a great deal

[@scottbramman4246]

Making my 3rd batch of this mead. You two are amazing i made a 2 gallon batch beginning of the year bottled it and had it at my wedding, and everyone loved it even the wedding singer was so impressed he wanted to buy a bottle. 😂

[@scottbramman4246]

It was bottled for at least 6 months before being drank

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Well done!

[@darkdevil905]

Brian you are my hero!

[@JeezumJurgie]

My wife and I are really loving your videos thanks so much. We can’t wait to try some of these recipes. Our first try is a oatmeal stout kit that was put together at our local brew supply shop here in Vermont. It’s looking great so far.

[@hunterman600cc]

Black cherry icecream with chocolate chunks. :) That'd be yummy.

[@barmyshrimp7344]

I love your content! You guys have given me lots of inspiration to brew and lots of useful information! I've made viking blood before with tart cherries in primary but i tried this recipe and honestly it tastes amazing! From a fan in the UK 😁

[@iangarcia9104]

Went down a rabbit hole, found your video, now I'm a subscriber. Looking forward to trying this. The honey mead looks good too.

[@elderzimriah]

I like the idea with the dried cherries!! Tomorrow it will be 2 months since I made my mead. I will taste it again at the end of the week because it was toooooooo hot. I will probably get some of those dried cherries 😍

[@klenmcrock5265]

Should a made chocolate covered cherries with them. Alcohol cordials...yum.

[@colinmacvicar2507]

Great idea

[@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582]

Yumm!

[@epiccheesemoment4035]

They make alcohol pods that you eat and dissolve in your stomach

[@Indian0Lore]

I ate some of the primary fermentation cherries from my run of this. Just taste like alcohol.

[@klenmcrock5265]

Sounds good. Just kidding. That suks. You should've covered them in chocolate with syrup.

[@smoek2285]

Me and my wife just started and used your recipe. Only difference is we started off with a gallon for fermentation and used a 3rd of each ingredient. About to remove cherries to today

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Why a third? Going to be very dry and have a lot less flavor.

[@ianwozniak9123]

You can use they cherries as a chaser for hard liquer. They are amazing brandied.

[@iowaviking]

Love your videos keep them coming.

[@justtoobefrank7720]

Making my viking blood right now! Thx for the recipe!

[@bluesteeljay9343]

Color looks really good. I plan on trying this next.

[@colinmacvicar2507]

I’m left wondering what everything was sanitized in.

[@colinmackay92]

😆😆

[@Shria9]

I think Trbos and Wibble ran off together.

[@jticonchuk]

😆

[@baronjellykrak3739]

I used dried cherries to make my batch. I'm working on perfecting my brews.

[@steliosmaris]

The color is beautiful

[@jeremy-ez6nd]

shining a flashlight thru it to rack helps alooott, and will help us see how clear

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Video is nearly 4 years old :)

[@saifamer9576]

I’m a bit new to brewing as a whole, but have you guys tried making anything with QA23 yeast? It’s supposed to produce a ton of glycerol to sweeten and add mouthfeel. I’m using it to make a apple bochet and I’ve got to admit it’s real good.

[@iWhiteHammer]

I find the dried fruit idea really interesting especially because I work at a dried fruit facility. We very rarely produce cherries but I wonder what other products could be mead worthy 🤔

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Just about anything! We bought some dried fruit, various kinds to try different things!

[@iWhiteHammer]

@@CitySteadingBrews I'll have to do some plotting.. Maybe I'll try aronia or black currant 😊

[@TheCrimsonIdol987]

Anything you'd find pleasant to eat, I'd assume.

[@stevehoward7525]

Made this for the second time, I used 71b and it has ended at 16.2% in only 2 weeks which blew my mind. Can't wait to get it bottled

[@austinball2744]

I love thease videos yall are making. I'm just about to start making mead. I bought a bottle recently and love the consistency and flavor textures that are present. U fortunately for me "aka" my wife when I make this mix she won't get any due to an allergy to sunflower oil. Or sunflower ever

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

If you can find an affordable dehydrator, your wife will be able to enjoy all those dried fruit she can’t have now. I recently got myself one for less than 50 USD (I live in Europe, did the conversion) and now use dehydrated fruit I made myself in my brews. A lot cheaper than store bought dried fruit as the energy needed for the dehydrator is low. I buy fruit on offer, forage, or use donated fruit from bumper crops out of my neighbour’s gardens. No sunflower oil allergy here, but a daughter who is half fruit bat and would eat me out of house and home on dried fruit alone… and now I can use any dehydrated fruit I want in any brew I want. Double win… Maybe something you’d consider? Added perks are cheaper meat jerky, lovely “sun-dried” tomatoes, delicious pickle crisps (dried pickle slices), lovely low-fat salty chickpeas to nibble on (boil chickpeas till tender, season to taste, dehydrate them and enjoy), dried herbs to your heart.s content (dry left-over fresh herbs instead of letting them slowly die in the fridge)… etc.

[@louisleoncini9240]

Brian, on the 1gal jugs get the 38 mil screw cap with the air lock hole, they work .

[@BigBo1967]

Once again Love you guys, you keep all of this interesting and give beginners like me a chancce to understand and maybe, just maybe give it a try ourselves.

[@jeannetteclyburn377]

My husband grew up in Wenatchee, Washington. Apple capital of the world. They also, however, grow cherries. My husband worked in a fruit warehouse cold storage ( I miss all those samples he brought home) and he says: Ff you want to know which cherries are the sweetest of the sweetest, that would be any of the black cherries. Bing cherries are the leader of this pack, along with their siblings Lambert, Chelan, Sweetheart, and Tulare. We prefer Chelan cherries but Bing are also VERY Tasty. Just an FYI. If we come upon some or have his parents (who still live in Washington State) ship us some, we will be sure to shoot them your way. Also a quick question. Can we use the fruit we personally preserved through canning? Knowing what sugar was applied to the simple syrup?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You sure can! The flavor will be different from using fresh fruit, but it is a great option!

[@RedneckEngineerMakerDude]

I'm only one week into primary fermentation of this exact recipe, and already thinking ahead to the conditioning phase. Being a bit worried about that 'head-space' thing, I purchased 5 lbs of pure glass ball thingies (glass balls used to fill decorative vases). I'm thinking that those glass balls will do well to remove that excess head-space, after the dried cherries are added... and 'also' maybe help to trap any additional lees when racking the mead into bottles. Fingers are crossed, hope it works well...

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

A zipper bag filled with water (double bagged or triple bagged) works just as well if you use a wide mouth fermenter. Alternatively (over time) you can get yourself fermenters in staggered sizes. That.s what I have. Glass fermentation weights work as well. I find beads make racking finicky, if there are still solids that need to precipitate out. If there’s some air in the zipper bag it’ll float some but the air won’t come in contact with the mead either. A racking cane easily slips past the bag as well. I still prefer staggered fermenters but that’s me. When in doubt, I attach a piece of tubing to my soda stream machine, stick the end through the hole where the bung of the fermenter fits in, and carefully shoot in a shot or two of CO2. Works perfectly.

[@MichaelAnderson-df2hj]

So "Springy Thing" is the technical term kinda like "Clicker" is for a remote? Love you guys. Really my "Go Too" channel now for inspiration and ideas. Starting January 2024 I will be recreating some of your recipes. But I have one question if I may. If I use half the amount of honey and use compacted brown sugar is it still a mead? I have been collecting equipment as I grow in this hobby. Next up is a conical fermenter. Probably the 2 gallon Mr. Beer one as it is the cheapest conical I have found on Amazon. 🖖

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Unless you are selling it or competing it doesn’t matter but technically no, it would be less than half the alcohol coming from honey.

[@stefanb8635]

That is a beautiful brew. I think I might try that one next.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We're quite happy with it, even young. Can't wait to try it again in a year.

[@AM2PMReviews]

I tried this with dried orange slices and some canned cherries I made with a pinch of cinnamon and some hibiscus. My first time making mead. I hope it doesn’t blow up while I am on vacation. I have a starting gravity around 1.1 and using Cuvée yeast. 😅

[@colinmackay92]

I wanted to make the original one but I ended up doing your traditional instead. I'm definitely doing this now though.

[@rivenmain2175]

thank you and it was fun to watch!

[@honeylady108]

Hello Derica and Brian! I know I always panic when I think I've made a mistake. Tonight I racked the secondary (with dried tart cherries) and I SHOULD have followed your exact process...I put a cheese cloth piece like you have in other videos over the syphon end, and for the first 16-24 oz, all these bubbles were coming along with the mead. I pumped more, new bottle well below source hoping that would fix it. Nope. So I stopped and took off the cheese cloth and it all went fine. Such an expensive brew, I sure hope I didn't ruin it. I'm not sure how to figure out the abv with all these rackings. I don't think it really matters, does it? My first rack abv was 14.85%

[@CitySteadingBrews]

ABV won’t change with racking. :) As for the oxygen… you are safe from vinegar pretty much. Sometimes the cheesecloth can be too restrictive and the autosiphon will suck air around the seals. Should be fine. I cannot imagine that much oxygenation happening.

[@honeylady108]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks Brian. If I'd been thinking a little quicker (instead of 4 hours later) I might have poured that bubbly into a bottle and finished racking the rest. Turned out that I had 8 oz that wouldn't fit into final carboy and I bottled it. Then tasted, and wow wow wow! So glad I made your Vikings Blood 2020. I followed your recipe other than I used organic oil free dried tart cherries. I saved/froze all the cherries for smoothies.

[@h3llknight]

Thank you for the informative and entertaining video! on the topic of head space, how do you guys feel about adding glass marbles to the container in an effort to minimise it? Are there any drawbacks/disadvantages to using marbles?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

They work just fine, but... I am always afraid to drop them into glass fermenters.

[@Abhishekshah88]

@@CitySteadingBrews are you worried about introducing oxygen when dropping them in or for a different reason?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Breakage of the fermenter :)

[@Abhishekshah88]

@@CitySteadingBrews thanks for the quick response! Cheers

[@lovestyrke]

Ever thought about getting fresh fruits and dehydrating them yourself and then adding them into secondary? To try and eliminate the additives in prepackaged dried fruit?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Sure, can do that.

[@Shria9]

Running out for dried cherries.... Or maybe cherries to dry. The blueberries I dried for pemmican were fiddly but delightful. Very intense flavour. Actually, at this time of year, it'll have to be dried cherries because the only cherries I can get are dried or frozen and I doubt I can effectively dry frozen cherries. I wonder how freeze dried would work?

[@sneddenmanuel]

Lovely dark colour ❤️❤️❤️

[@jimmieburleigh9549]

Not meaning to go off topic but I was thinking about the strawberry jam and was thinking about all that cranberry sauce on the shelves right now so question is have you done cranberry sauce because that would be interesting especially with Christmas coming up.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It can probably be done? I hate that stuff, so I won't be doing it, lol.

[@jimmieburleigh9549]

@@CitySteadingBrews you drink cranberry wine dont you... lol.

[@mjbine]

Thank you for this series on this mead. One question that I have is you have mentioned the cough syrup taste...how to you avoid that? What should I be doing to ensure I don't get in my brews?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Use tart cherries instead of sweet :)

[@RumblestripDotNet]

IIRC black pepper is supposed to really accentuate cherry flavors.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thanks, someone else mentioned that and I was like... oh, hells yes.

[@paulb36utube]

Can you suggest how to do that. Do you add the peppercorns to the cherry bag?

[@MrIceBrick]

The pitcher looks like a giant graduated cylinder lol I like it

[@creativeevilgenius]

Is there a general rule for fruit displacement to go by? I did a one gallon of this, love it, want to fire up my brand new 7.9 gallon fermenter but not sure how to plan it so I can maximize the fermenter but account for displacement.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's all about the volume you're adding. No general rule really since every fruit has a different density, but save to say you could likely make 5-6 gallons using that fermenter.

[@bamanana9093]

I’m trying to understand pasteurization better. Why was it not necessary with this recipe after adding more honey and dried fruit. I made this and it’s about a week old right now. I want to be sure to get it right because I’m really looking forward to this one. Thanks so much for all you’ve taught me!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

This was past the alcohol tolerance if I remember correctly.

[@UtahSustainGardening]

I have a pitcher just like it! I use it for measuring pesticides at work....

[@tysonc6422]

Thanks for all the videos guys! You have saved many of us from making a lot of mistakes! I did a cherry wine last year that was very "porty" and quite dry but pretty good. Going to redo it this year but contemplating the honey/melomel version. Any thoughts on doing the cherry and mead separately and blending them vs fermenting together?

[@Skulltap]

Well one note on the whole double racking concern. This is for wines which are less susceptible to oxygen issues compared to beer. Beer is commonly racked into a bottling bucket before it goes into bottles, or kegged. If its not that big of a deal for beer, and less likely to be an issue with wine, then I think its quite ok :)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Good point.

[@Joeybagofdonuts76]

Didn't get to the first video for a few days. Just as it was finished this one is loaded. 😃

[@jonathonjollota8661]

Make an Old-Fashioned and garnish with those cherries? Maybe a great co-stream edition?

[@dlynnmorse]

Thank you for this

[@pecans_and_rockets]

Hi y’all, I followed your recipe and my gravity measurements went 1.114->1.000->1.026->1.048. The dried cherries added much more sweetness than I wanted. Would you recommend diluting with water or adding in yeast hulls with EC-118 (I think that’s the right one?) yeast to break down more of the sugars? Also, I promised some mayhaw jelly a while ago, so y’all have a PO Box still for sending you stuff? Thanks guys! Y’all are amazing!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Did you taste test as you went or just add it all in at once? Cherries don't actually have much sugar.

[@pecans_and_rockets]

@@CitySteadingBrews I tasted as I went. It was tasting a good level of sweetness before I added the dried cherries, but I just tried it after letting it sit on them for a while and it added the last 20 points of sugar.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You could dilute or add the newer yeast. Next time check sweetness after all the ingredients are in :)

[@louisleoncini9240]

Brian, just one other thing did you ever take a part the bottling wand an clean it? Never did it then today was cleaning it an saw some little stuff in the water, pulled the cap off an the spring had stuff on it cleaned it fine now. Have a great week.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Have not... or perhaps Derica does?

[@jayperez3559]

Hi guys, amazing videos as always!! I started my Viking blood 2 weeks ago. Next week, if I do not see any activity and check gravity I plan to rack, back sweeten if needed and condition with the dry cherries. How long did you leave the Mead sit on the dry cherries? Thanks again for sharing and mentoring!!

[@DukeTrout]

While the Master Baster is pretty awesome, I notice you still get drips and leaking from it. I’ve been using 150 ml syringes with about 7” of tubing attached to sample my brews for gravity measurements. If I let the liquid in the tube drain (which it wants to do, anyway), it doesn’t drip or leak. I could walk around the house with that syringe pointed at the floor and not spill a drop.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yeah... I could try that I suppose.

[@vanessaveneziaheuer874]

If you could do it over, would you skip the frozen cherries in the primary ferment and start from the beginning with the dried cherries?

[@marquisdejd3562]

I was thinking about the cherry chocolate mead you did.... this recipe draws me in more. I plan on making it in the next couple of weeks (now that I have sweet Cherries locally) and I was thinking of adding a vanilla pod in secondary. You folks said it brought out the flavors more in the other mead and I was wondering what your thoughts were for how it would work in this one. Would It be too much? Thank you! Love the program!

[@marquisdejd3562]

Also! I love the Merch!

[@peterfelonk8535]

Hey Brian and Derica. Love your videos and recipes. Been following for quite sometime now. Me and a friend have run into an issue with the 71 beast while making a mead. We started a five gallon version of the spiced mead and our starting gravity was 1.200. I know now that is insanely high. It’s been fermenting for a few months now and is showing no signs of slowing down. Alcohol content at racking was 16.8% We figured it would eventually stop. Check it two weeks ago and it was at 18.9% and is still going. We are wondering if you have any tips on how to stop the ferment on a five gallon setup. Is there some natural way to stop it so we can degas and bottle it safely. The mead btw is still dang tasty but we would like to bottle this bad boy. Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I don’t have all the numbers in front of me but I can get that all to you if need be and give further details on all we did. If you think it will help. I am writing this on my phone and don’t want to get any more long winded on this first email. Keep on kicking butt. We enjoy all your videos and look forward to chatting more with you. Thanks again in advanced. Pete

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It will stop at some point, that’s for sure. Probably soon. I would just wait it out, when it’s stopped, then proceed to racking and eventually bottling. Don’t rush it :)

[@peterfelonk8535]

@@CitySteadingBrews yeah just wondering how much further than 18.9 it will go. I will keep y’all posted on final %. Thanks for the great response.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@peterfelonk8535 I can't imagine it going much more if at all.

[@sunnycharacter]

Apothic Red Blend has cherry notes to me, but off dry.

[@benlaw6398]

Hey guys, love your videos :D Was wondering if you could do an imperial porter, made with oats, roasted barley, cherries and chocolate

[@glennc1490]

So, this time you didn't mash the cherries. Was the freezing/thawing enough to break down the skins enough to allow full flavor to come out?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Freezing and thawing is enough, yep!

[@yoyoyuyu234476]

My mutant vikingsblood is bubbling away since yesterday. Used frozen cherries, redcurrant from our garden (also been frozen) and lemon peel.

[@donnasmeaton8969]

Would you concider chopping the dried cherries for added sugar in place of adding honey? Or maybe using less honey.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

The yeast pretty much gets all the cherries can give. Dried cherries have the cell walls broken up and yeast are microscopic.

[@Grandpa_RLP]

Following up on the Big Mouth Bubbler. Have you had any problems with it sealing? I have read reviews where they had problems.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We did, then I figured out that you really need to crank the lid down, then no leaks.

[@danieldunn2982]

Hey CSB!, I have been watching your videos for about 6 months and finally decided to try it myself. I started this recipe along with a traditional and dry mead 3 weeks ago. I am in the Northeast and have cooler temperatures which I understand will slow the process down. My biggest question at this point, specifically for this brew and forgive me if you covered this in a video, should I rack based on the amount of time the ingredients have been in or should I wait for the pressure to equalize? Thanks in advance!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You should take a reading. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3mponiCatd2gZIsi=MuevK1SOKzmgm8c-

[@ryancanfield6515]

Hello! I am new the world of home fermentation. As in...I bought a kit, and just started my first mead today. I'm a huge fan of cherry, so this immediately appeals to me. So! Being new to the process, im still learning, and acquiring materials I will need to be successful. Instead of using whole cherries and such, would it be possible to substitute the cherries for cherry cider?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I am going to go out on a limb here and say yes. However, if by Cherry Cider you mean simply the juice of cherries you are good to go. If you are referring to an alcoholic cherry flavored beverage, then no. I hope that helps!

[@ryancanfield6515]

@@CitySteadingBrews lol I do mean the juice of cherries. Thank you for your reply! I just gotta like figure out a balance to make it work.

[@BrokenTablesPodcast]

When did the cinnamon stick get in there??? Do you know how long the stick was in the brew by any chance? Im about to rack and add the dried cherries.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We put that in after first racking along with the cherries.

[@BrokenTablesPodcast]

@@CitySteadingBrews thanks!!! I legit yelled "where the heck did that come from?" while watching 😆

[@gcourtjr]

@CS Mead and More... I'm trying to find the video where you dry-hopped the mead. What kind and how much, and when to do it?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmbKYp6de69qa7c&ab_channel=CSMeadandMore

[@gcourtjr]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks!

[@AngryBearHomestead]

That Big Mouth fermenter you got from Northern Brewer, does it have a spigot? Ones I see on their website has spigot?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

This is the Little Big Mouth, no spigot.

[@kumaril05]

Cheers for 100K, & also Im from Bengal, India & we are about to enter the Lichee & Mango season here, can you do recipes on those

[@drewk.6220]

Looks like a great recipe. Now I have a stupid newbie question... If I don't have a second container big enough to rack into, would it be ok to rack into a bucket, mix in the extra honey, and then rack back into the original (freshly cleaned) container with the dried cherries? Or would that be too much movement?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If you're careful you could.

[@drewk.6220]

Thanks!

[@Frameshaft]

Next brew guaranteed ! In hindsight would you still back sweeten with honey or go just with the dried cherries?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I'd use the cherries... you want the flavor.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

That was the plan all along btw.

[@JordanBridgman]

The blueberry hibiscus mead is having issues? Y'know, I found out hibiscus can throw off the acidity levels if you use enough of it, I wonder if that's contributing? I had a hibiscus mead stall out and ended up realizing I had skipped over "potassium carbonate" in the recipe thinking it was a nutrient I'd replace with some home-boiled yeast, when in fact, it was a pH adjustment. I ordered and then added potassium carbonate, which immediately un-stuck my fermentation. After being stalled for months, fermentation finished in like a week.

[@MrBigMSG]

Dried cherries? What about a hint of citrus for astringent reasons? Might help brighten the cherry.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I was planning to add orange and lemon... but felt it completely unnecessary once we tasted it.

[@johnleyshon2581]

Starsan seems to have a bit of a detergent effect. Would washing your dried cherries in Starsan before washing with hot water have removed more of the oil?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I don't know really... but hot water does the job too.

[@derekjohanson7284]

Just racked my latest Mead. I used "The Beast" and hit 14.55% and hit 1.000 gravity. Nice and clear

[@StickMechanics]

Greetings! You mentioned headspace in your fermenter and typically wanting to avoid it. I think I understand why, but, why? Also, you added 0.75 lbs of honey to back-sweeten; did anything specific go into making that decision? Do you have videos on either of these topics? Thanks so much.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Headspace can sometimes lead to oxidation and off flavors. We sweeten to taste :) We talk about both in most of our videos.