Fermentation Contemplation - Pasteurization, Racking, and Storage of Homebrew

[@radekp.562]

What I love about you two is that there seems to a whole other layer of the conversation in just the facial interaction between you two and the camera. You have infected me with the brewing bug. Thank you. Go forth and be fruitful you beautiful people. :)

[@dagome_prime]

More greetings from Eastern Europe! Great guns, great guns! 😎Live long and prosper!

[@kellywest5025]

Now there needs to be a Fermentation Contemplation jingle. 🎶

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If anyone cared to make one….

[@michelledufault1005]

Thank you for posting these awesome videos! I am that new person .. reading the books, buying ALL THE THINGS....watching ALLLL the youtube videos! Your playlists and conversation help make this adventure exciting. WE APPRECIATE THE TIME YOU TAKE MAKING THESE VIDEOS! :)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Very happy to hear that! Glad you're enjoying the content. We're here to help if you have questions!

[@patrickwilliams3108]

Hooray for a great video packed with information! I used to exclusively brew beer, and it will not really 'go bad', but its flavour and character will suffer with long-term storage (probably because of the low ABV). Now, I love dark beer with tons of mouth feel, etc, but my wife did not. She liked the base flavour, but not the mouth feel or the hoppiness. So, I talked it over with brewers I knew as well as my supplier, and I started adding a pound of brewer's grade rice syrup per 5 gallon batch. That cut the mouth feel dramatically, made the final brew slightly sweeter, and cut the hoppiness a bit. But one day I found a case of beer in a closet that had been forgotten and was 3 years old. Tasted just like it was freshly brewed. Now, more than 20 years later, I always add rice syrup as an adjunct to beer when I brew it as it extends the shelf life dramatically.

[@wallyklw5]

Been watching your stuff x a few months. So I decide to give this a try and start my first concoction. Been laughing at you as you talk about a fermentor bubbling out and all over. Last night started my first meade-pineapple/raisin-with 7 lb honey in a 3 gallon jug. I was getting the disapproving evil eye from wife as I placed it in the pantry to start bubbling. She is certain this will be a fruitless, speedy, messy venture. I reassured her the pantry was a safe place for this. This morning I awoke to her beautiful face spouting nasty, angry words at me, and how I need to get my arse into the pantry NOW. Sticky, pineapple/honey juice EVERYWHERE! So, yes, you know more than I. Yes, these can bubble over even when you’re sure you have enough headspace. Yes, the advice you’re giving is sound and valid. So now I am relegated to a basement storage room back behind the furnace room (she wants to see, smell, nothing of this process again). fermenters now sitting in her old rimmed baking trays (cause now she has reason to get NEW set of baking trays). I laughed at my arrogance, thinking I knew more than you. I also had to tolerate 2 hr of her disapproving evil face as my cleanup was supervised like I was a 3 yr old. I spent 2 hr emptying, cleaning, scrubbing the pantry floor, and cleaning all items that sat on the floor- TWICE. 😊😊😊

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We have all been there in some way or another. Everything we teach and speak about cones from personal experiences.

[@shauncarr1957]

I used your cooler method of pasterizing put a pot of 180 degree water left about 10 min then put boiling water in worked like a champ. Thank you

[@Aaron-hk6st]

WOW! Thank you! Underestimated how much non-fermentable sugar I needed to back sweeten 2 gallons of cider and was forced to back sweeten with white sugar for 1 gallon. Panicked when I realized I needed to pasteurize. Found this video that really helped!

[@MaximilianBrosche]

I use a wine heater😊. In Germany they are on every Christmasmarket to make "Glühwein" (hot and spiced Up wine). These maschines are great, they hold 25 Liters, solely Heat Up the liquid Iinsinde and have a Valve in the bottom to directly fill hot into the bottles👍

[@Marvel170]

Just pasteurized my first brew while watching this! Super excited to see how it tastes in a couple of months. Thank you both for making this info available for everyone 😊

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Congrats!

[@94Vape]

I took a page out of bearded's videos on pasteurising brews a good while ago, whenever I need to pasturise no matter what size of batch, I always use a sanitised sprite or coke bottle to test periodically how carbonation is going, when I test the plastic bottle and its firm, I usualy leave it to the next morning, im talking like 6am when I wake up, or later that day like in the evening I will heat up water to about 70c in my stockpot, cut the heat and take the pot off the stove and place the bottles in and cover for 10-15 mins, I have had like 3 bottles break and explode in like 3 years using this method. When I brew I leave it to FINISH FERMENTING Should be so simple, like my mead in secondary, its at 1.020 approx, its finished, I took 2 readings several days apart, I think it was 8 days, I wanted to get it off the lees, I had taken a reading a couple weeks before and it was at 1.035 ish and I was frustrated because I wanted to get it off of that lees cause it had been fermenting for weeks, But I deffinatley think its better to leave it to finish than racking it off the lees to stop off flavours, just be patient and it'll work out. My mead in secondary is an oaked traditional with some orange zest, recipe as follows for a 5lt brew 2kg honey, out of that 2kg, 750gm was orange blossom Water, duh 2gm wine tannin Used the Tosna 2.0 nutrient schedule but started with 5g yeast nutrient WITH HULLS!! Nottingham lallemand yeast!! This is important 1.126 OG Ferment ... FG 1.018-1.022 see the alc tolerance of the ale yeast made it end sweet When done rack into secondary with all clean & sanitised equipment Get steaming hot water in a glass and throw half an oak spiral in glass Scrub & Zest half to a full Valencia orange Wait for oak & water to cool to room temp Add both zest & oak in, I threw the oak in separate and put the zest in a previously boiled & sanitised hop bag wait And that's pretty much where I'm at, I know you can age first and then oak but I did it backwards to see how it'd go. Lol cheers

[@georgecolby7488]

Very cool, I've been thinking about this lately.

[@shannoncraig509]

I have been taking more accurate notes on my meads and learning alot from your channel. Currently have a mead I have been fermenting from February 24th at 63 degrees (basement temperature). Reading Gravity Date ABV% 0G 1.140 2/24/2022 3:14PM 0% Reading 1 1.120 3/20/2022 3:05 PM 2.62% Reading 2 1.092 3/24/2022 12:53 PM 6.30% Reading 3 1.086 3/27/2022 5:48 PM 7.09% Reading 4 1.082 3/31/2022 11:39 AM 7.61% Reading 5 1.082 4/4/2022 11:12 AM 7.61% Reading 6 1.082 4/7/2022 8:54 AM 7.61% Reading 7 1.070 4/15/2022 1:20 PM 9.19%

[@eric81872]

Thank you for the video! 🤩👍❤☼

[@mondoprime]

I recently started my first brew of blackberry wine and this channel has given me the answers to so many questions. Thank you! Easily the best and easiest to digest home brew channel on here.

[@Silverholic]

I really loved that one video where you brewed a wine! :) :) :)

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Once again, right on point and so necessary! These are questions that keep popping up. Thank you for helping out beginner brewers and giving the more experienced ones a reminder.

[@Silverholic]

I started wanting the highest alcohol content possible but after brewing for over 6 months now and watching countless videos I have now changed my view on that. Now I aim for about 10% abv so that it actually tastes good. I also like brews that are not dry, so I try to get the gravity to about 1.030 after final sweetening (or equivalent, since I now use Sucralose most of the time now). This hobby is really fun, thank you guys for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@jarodlojeck5150]

Great advice!

[@Kate_Fyria]

I just started my first 2 meads and a beer brewing kit this weekend! Thanks for all the advice on your videos. When they're done I'll tell y'all how it went. I did a basic recipie and a basic one with dried cherries just to experiment. I'm so excited to see how they turn out!

[@anthonypoirier94]

Hope you have a good Easter!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You as well!

[@Grandpa_RLP]

I marked my bottles and brought it up to 140 and held for 20 minutes. After cooling the liquid in the bottle came back down to the mark. No loss of wine. I found an article about Louis Pasture testing his method to kill yeast and found that yeast was killed @140 f. I do put foil over the opening of the bottle.

[@gingerdave1231]

Thanks for another great video guys. I’m currently brewing a 25l version of your cider now (decided to jazz it up a bit with some additional cut up apples in primary) and hopefully it’ll be ready for the back end of the summer

[@garrettg9003]

Thank you for your videos. I have always wanted to make wine, but never really like flavors. I watched your video on apple cider and got me back to wanting to try it. I bought the stuff. Made about 4 separate gallons of apple cider over last couple months. First two no so good (no spices). Getting the hang of it and enjoying the drinks. I also enjoy you two in general. You are knowledgeable and entertaining. Thank you.

[@hantms]

Very good vid; love these to kind of recap a particular topic. 💖

[@Backdaft94]

Definitely can’t stress safety enough when pasteurizing. I was preheating some ginger beer in my sink only 105F. I can tell you the glass has enough velocity to cut bare skin 5 feet away, when a bottle explodes!

[@user-ly9ql3bc1f]

I had at one time a six-pack of a top name brand professional brew (the one with the horses)that I had put in the 'fridge and had forgotten about it. 6 months later I was putting a newly purchased six -pack of the same brand in the crisper drawer to keep cool & found the 6 month old brew. What I found interesting was the flavor difference between the two. The 6 month cold bottle conditioned brew was superior in all my criteria. Hence IMHO the best before date on some labels are fallacious. Especially in brews

[@robertmiller6135]

Awsome info!

[@DONK0]

I'm glad i prefer dry brews, no need to pasteurize and back sweeten.

[@ultimablader2]

Definitely tons of incredible information to have that I wish I’d had before my first batch of mead (no notes and no starting spgv oof. Thankfully no mold or other issues), but the second batch I have is a lot more specific (3 lb honey, 1/2 packet premier blanc, Earl grey tea, raisins as food, purified water, 1.100 initial spgv). I’m excited to see where it goes! Next one is going to be a berry mead

[@GrandpasPlace]

I have a commercial bottle of wine that has been sitting on the shelf for over 25 years. No wine cellar, or special environment. However, it is there because a friend went to France and before leaving asked me if there was anything she could get for me while there? I responded with "Just get me a good bottle of French wine." When she got back she handed me the bottle with a smile. I didnt have the heart to tell her that printed on the front of the bottle in french was "A Product of Greece" So it sits as a reminder that everyone makes mistakes. lol

[@micheals1992]

I've just started an interpretation of your Viking blood mead. I've only got 1 bottle of simple mead left and really enjoyed the previous bottle I drunk recently. I've put less honey in though as my simple mead was a similar gravity and it's a bit too sweet for me. 71B seems to struggle with higher gravity's imo. The starting gravity of my Viking blood was 1.102. I used Pectolase (pectic enzyme) as well. I find I get better results using it in fruit wines. Never made a fruit mead until now.

[@TheBemmelizer]

Love 💕 to watch you both…. But my wife is getting crazy 🙈 Started about 6 months ago and have about 15 different kinds (200liters) Keep on posting these amazing vids 💪

[@CarlPapa88]

Filmed on my Birthday, cool.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Happy belated Birthday! :D

[@CarlPapa88]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks 😁

[@bradcrady4534]

Question about back sweetening in a third rack. I have three one gallon batches sitting in secondary that I plan on racking a third time, I was a little too aggressive in the first rack and pulled over a bunch of lees. All three batches fermented a tad under dry with an average ABV of 14.3%. I used Lalvin D-47 with 3# honey. To my question, would I need to pasteurized if I let it set under airlock in the third rack after back sweetening in case fermentation restarts. Thanks for all the great information, love your show!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You could pasteurize if you like the sweetness as is and want to bottle sooner than later. If you don't mind it fermenting more than you can let it do so, take a gravity reading, wait another week then take another gravity reading and compare the two. If they are a the same then you SHOULD be safe to bottle without pasteurization. Lalvin D-47's alcohol tolerance is 14% so if you go beyond that, then you SHOULD be ok.

[@keithmcauslan943]

Your timing for this is perfect. I have made 6 gallons of a white wine blend. I have noticed that it is browning. They are in Conditioning now. But I am considering (as of today) how I should reduce the head space. I have a limited number of sizes so going into smaller bottles at each racking is not really practical. I am leaning towards adding things to the bottle to take up space. Glass beads would be annoying, But rods about the length of the shoulder could be placed in especially if they are of light material. I was thinking acrylic, plexiglass; then I thought about PVC pipe capped off and filled with something. This could be lowered in put 8 in would still be room for the siphon and they should come out if I tip the bottle over. PVC. PVC is used for plumbing but is it for drains only? Do any of these give off bad chemicals? Maybe PEX tubes? Sanitize before inserting naturally.

[@johnshaw6702]

PVC is not just used for drains. Your average mobile home uses it for all the plumbing. You should do your research though. You can't just use any plastic. You're looking for food grade. Marbles, possibly in a brewing bag to keep them from rolling around, sounds like a better idea to me.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Browning is often a sign of oxidization. So your thoughts of limiting the headspace is on the right track. I would still suggest keeping your headroom additives to something like glass as alcohol is a solvent.

[@DukeTrout]

I didn’t think ethanol evaporation was the main reason to keep bottles closed during pasteurization. I thought it was to keep dissolved CO2 in solution. The lower the temperature, the more CO2 will remain in solution. When we heat up a water solution with dissolved gasses, the solubility of the gasses decreases and they come out of solution. If one was bottle carbonating, I would think it would be advantageous to keep the bottles closed in order to retain dissolved CO2 (which stays in solution under pressure despite reduced solubility.)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If carbonating yeah… you have to leave the caps on.

[@joshhebard2130]

Its a high chance that one of my brews have stalled, since the ABV tolerance of my yeast is around 19% and I'm at 13.5 and most pleased with the result, I've always been weary about pasteurization but this definitely is making me invest in one of those water circulation machines.

[@mikaelsolheim]

can you guys do a new video on backsweetening? feel like the one you have is a bit messy and im really scared of ruining my brews when backsweetening. thanks for the videos anyways

[@Madix1024]

Love all the content! In your episode of "Using Fruit in Wine Cider and Mead" you mentioned you were going to make a video testing adding fruits in primary vs secondary vs 1/2 primary and 1/2 secondary. I scoured the channel and can't find that. Am I over looking it or did this just end up not happening? Thanks!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We have not completed that video yet, so you are correct. It is still in the works as many have asked for it! Thank you for your patience!

[@micheals1992]

You could actually test if you loose alcohol during pasteurisation by taking a hydrometer reading before and after and then use a formula to work out how much alcohol you actually lost based on the gravity of pure alcohol. I was just playing around with a formula and it's actually quite interesting that a gravity reading of 0.996 with 14% alcohol equates to a gravity reading of 1.03 if you removed the alcohol, add back that 14% at 0.787 and you get 0.996. it's actually quite sweet if you removed the alcohol. If you're heating your brew you could also increase the gravity through water evaporation so this method may not be accurate if you heat a water, alcohol and sugar mixture as any fluid lost would raise the gravity.

[@J.T323]

Hi everyone,I'm new to brewing and I have a question regarding an experimental sweet county wine that I'm busy with...So here's what I did: Made a ginger tee with fresh ginger,spices and sugar to get a S.G of about 1.100...,I then splitted it in two batches and added bread yeast to one and a brewers yeast to the other and I kept in a room with stable temp. DATE TEMP S.G 05/03 20°C 1.107 O.G for both 08/03 20°C 1.078 brew 08/03 20°C 1.088 bread both tastes and smell different but great 12/03 21°C one week later racked both from lees and solids because people told me it will develop off flavors if I left it longer. 22/03 25°C 1.028 brew tastes and smell great 22/03 25°C 1.032 bread tastes great but slight sulfer smell 15/04 23°C 1.008 brew F.G tastes and smell great 15/04 23°C 1.010 bread F.G tastes fine but smells like sulfer 16/04 racked,degased them 18/04 bread yeast one cleared beautifully but strong sulfer smell brewers yeast still very cloudy but tastes and smell great So my questions are why did the bread yeast develop a sulfer smell and how can I fix it? All that I can think of is that the yeast got stressed from racking to early or temp was a bit high...but 25°C doesn't seem too high...any ideas on why and how to fix it if possible? thanks

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Normally a sulfur smell indicates that the yeast were stressed due to a lack of oxygen in the beginning. This should dissipate with time.

[@J.T323]

Good day all...To give an update,I just left them with out stiring and the smell dissipated somewhat,the bread yeast batch is very smooth with very nice hint of fresh ginger bread,but still a slight sulfer smell...The brewers has a stronger ginger kick like ginger beer but also very nice...I shook the fermenting vessels vigorously before I pitched the yeasts to get air into it and I did degas it but not by stiring but by using a vacuum pump...I think thats maybe why the smell didn't go away.

[@bogg54]

Hey Brian and Derica! Hope you two are well. Thanks for sharing this video! I remember you guys mentioning about getting a high OG then stabilising it before it goes dry so that(in theory) you wouldn't have to back sweeten it. Whenever you have a chance, could you share your thoughts on doing this? Thanks again!🍻🥂

[@CitySteadingBrews]

That was our old way. We found that this often led to stalled brews when dealing with high tolerance yeast as we had to have an overly high OG that can stress yeast. We also found that we had difficulty replicating results as those darn yeast can't read. What I mean is that we would do the math based on what the manufacturer stated where the parameters of the yeast, but the yeast would often either surpass their documented tolerance or stop below their tolerance. Now we strive for a lower ABV as it is less stressful on our yeast and it gives us a beverage that we can drink more of. We ferment it until it is dry. Back sweeten to taste if necessary, and then pasteurize if we back sweeten. This way we can reliably reach the same ABV each time we make the brew again.

[@bogg54]

@@CitySteadingBrews Well first off thank you so much. I appreciate your time to share this.

[@bogg54]

@@CitySteadingBrews I made a test batch in a half gallon - honey,yeast,bpolen,water(nothing special) OG 1.130. Day 54 bubbles slowed down and FG 1.024. Day 60, 2nd grv. read the same. My target abv was ~12% but got 14+. Tasted sweet....zEro tannins, lol. The one gallon test batch(with the same OG as the half gallon) would do like you said, stall. It stalled at around 11-12%. The 1 gallon test batch, OG 1.130 to FG 1.034

[@paulallerston3771]

I no longer have that image. It was from the before times. It was 6+ bottles of elderberry syrup that started to ferment in the fridge and exploded... messy

[@crossvg]

You guys are awesome! I was just wondering, how do you hit your target spgr when making mead? Like say I want to make a sweet mead ending at about 1.025 how would I go about making sure it ends around that specific gravity?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We used to do the math and figure out how much additional sweetness we needed to add verses the alcohol tolerance of the yeast we were using and do it that way. However we found that if we used a high alcohol tolerance yeast then we often had to have a very high OG that often stressed the yeast and sometimes created a stall. Now that we aim for lower ABV's and look to make something more repeatable, we add enough honey to get to our target ABV and then back sweeten to taste and then pasteurize so no further fermentation will occur.

[@GippslandCNC]

BEGINNER QUESTION. can you use the lees on the bottom as nutrients for a new brew.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You can. It is best to use them for similarly flavored brews as some of the flavor from the original brew will come through. This is particularly important to consider when reusing lees from a Capsicumel.

[@scottdebruyn7038]

I'm a apple cider guy (5 gallons at a time as I keg it in a Cornelius keg for carbonizing) and discovered that I do not like the 'buttery flavor' imparted by malolactic fermentation (secondary fermentation as it is erroneously called). 2 parts to my question... How do I deal with 5 gallons of cider at a time in pasteurization? And your comment on 'just killing the yeast at 140F', leads me to ask, do you know at what temperature I could pasteurize to and 'safely' back sweeten and stop fermentation (including native bacteria growth), to keep it stable in my Corny-Keg. I'm over trying to use sulfites. BTW, I'm building a 'Keezer' (a 'K-egerator / fr-eezer', which is a converted chest freezer) for my brews as I like em 34-38F cold. Let me know if you'd like to see the link to parts and construction. Anything you mould suggest would be appreciated. :)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

The same pasteurization method would be applicable in this scenario as chilling a beverage only slows fermentation. With larger amounts you might simply have to do it in multiple batches. kzbin.info/www/bejne/poeYp4aPe9Vpoc0

[@scottdebruyn7038]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks! Great idea using the sous vide cooker! I'm contemplating testing a sample of the fresh juice against fresh juice heated to 140-160F, re-cooled for taste variance. The thought is that as long as the sugars aren't cooked, it should be OK. I'm thinking higher temps to kill the bacterial critter strains of acetobacter, malolactic and other 'wine fault' bacterias to get 'sweet & carbonated' finished product in my Corny keg (sweeten, pasteurize, then carbonate in keg for safety). Thoughts?

[@nefarioushaze]

First I want to just say thank you, your mead tutorials have finally given me the courage to start brewing my own :) I've just started 2 more batches and instead of the bread yeast I've used Youngs Dried Active Wine Yeast, I am curious though if it will leave a load of sediment in the bottom like the bread yeast did, if so what is your advice on limiting the sediment coming through the bottling wand

[@CitySteadingBrews]

There should be a layer of sediment in any fermentation you do. If you rack multiple times and let the brew rest between rackings that will limit the sediment for final bottling. We tend to do two rackings prior to bottling. Also, when there is a large amount of sediment on the bottle of your fermentation vessel we have found leaving the cap on the bottle of the auto siphon raises the area of intake thus limiting the amount of sediment that gets transferred.

[@nefarioushaze]

@@CitySteadingBrews ahh that's perfect then I was scared I messed something up 😅 thank you for the advice I will certainly try to rack more than once

[@mandolinman2006]

Got a question. Do you know of a wine recipe using wild black cherries? My tree is about to bloom for the very first time and, while I doubt it'll be enough for anything, it's got me thinking.

[@LevidelValle]

Hydormel? Or a Grape wine with cherries in primary?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Using wild fruit is the same as using fruit. You can cut them up. You can juice them. You can freeze them (our personal go to for what we collect from our garden.) You can substitute your cherries for what we used in Klingon Blood Wine, any of the Viking Bloods, or basically anything we used fruit in.

[@mandolinman2006]

@@CitySteadingBrews I didn't know if their flavor profile would change things or not. Hopefully it'll start producing more cherries and I can send y'all some. Don't worry, I won't send as many as I did muscadines.

[@dukealaquack5412]

Ok so I made a plane mead 2 and 1/2 pounds honey mixed Into one gallon of water and half a packed of bread yeast. I don't know if you said in one of your past videos. But once my mead is done fermenting I degass it and bottle the mead. How long do I have a chance for it it turn Into viniger or will I always have that chance once I make that mead.

[@dukealaquack5412]

I do apologize for the miss selling I'm using my old labto the keys don't work that wel any more

[@CitySteadingBrews]

To turn a brew to vinegar you have to have these things all work in tandem. The ABV of the brew must be under 15%. Even anything over 10% limits the acetobacters to work effectively. You must have oxygen present. If you are careful with your process then you shouldn't have oxygenated your brew after alcohol was created. I hope this information helps ease your mind.

[@RandPrint]

I tried to look around to see if I could find any records of anyone trying it and couldn't, but have you guys ever tried using freeze dried fruits in secondary to avoid things like them adding sunflower oil as an anti-clumping agent in dehydrated fruit?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We have not but that might be something to investigate further. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@jeremyfindley5640]

I have a question, I know in your newest pasteurization video with the sous vide you put a disclaimer in the comments not to use that method with carbonized brews. Do you suggest the cooler method still for carbonized beverages or do you have an updated version? Thanks & I greatly enjoy your videos!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

No. For carbonated brews you want to bottle first and cap, let them sot to carbonate then you can use the sous vide method to pasteurize.

[@jeremyfindley5640]

@@CitySteadingBrews Awesome & thanks so much!

[@GippslandCNC]

I watched a KZbin video on bottling tomato pasatta. They wrap the bottles in a towel, I think it's to stop the bottles knocking together in the pot.

[@stephenstevens4153]

Brewing has been around for thousands of years with millions of brewmasters throughout the generations. I'm not so conceited to think I can "reinvent the wheel". Its best to just learn from experienced people, and practice. In the end find the brew you love.

[@aqhan]

Anyone can make mistakes, even people that done this for a while. I am not one of these people, as I am relatively new, but I did manage to do something stupid. I stopped the fermentation before it was done, thinking it would be ok, and I won't have to back sweeten. Now I'm left with a dillema of how to deal with 6 gallons of traditional mead. I'm thinking that pasteurization might be the key to bottles not exploding. Any thoughts?

[@aqhan]

@@davidhowell7279 I did use them, but as I understand it now, they don't really kill the yeast. They will give me max few months from stabilisation before yeast resumes. Pasteurisation would probably do the trick though. I really need this mead to last until Christmas.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yes, pasteurization would be your safest bet in our opinion.

[@Deridicus]

I started 2 brews about 2 weeks ago and I already see a few mistakes I made and was hoping you could help me with figuring out how to remedy the situation if necessary. In one I followed the recipe in your video "How to Make Mead - Make your First Mead for Beginners" except I used fresh orange zest (about half an orange worth) and 5 grams of yeast (I know that's too much and for some reason thought a gallon needed a whole packet I know a bit better now) I also followed a recipe of 2.5 lbs. of honey, 1 lb. of frozen blueberries, 10 Oz of raisins and 5 grams of yeast in a 1 gallon jug. Did I ruin them by adding too much yeast and should I be breaking up the fruit layer that is forming at the top of the blueberry one. Thanks!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

There shouldn't be an issue with adding too much yeast, unless you add an extraordinary amount of yeast. We now tend to use a full 5 gram packet of yeast for our one gallon fermentations for two reasons: 1, we are lazy and 2 we have found that when using dry yeast a full packet gives a larger percentage of live yeast and thus more often than not, a quicker start up.

[@Deridicus]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thank you! I saw lots of people saying different things so I appreciate the help!

[@922crappiebbq8]

Thanks for the bloopers lol

[@Winterborn5]

Looking for some advice. I'm a newbie brewer. Only been in this for about 4 months. My first batch of mead turned to vinegar due to improper sanitization. I have a second one going now, but it seems to be very very slow. One bubble in the airlock a minute. It's been sitting for two weeks as of now and I've been degassing twice a day by swirling. My starting gravity was high (I misjudged the capacity of my carboy), at 1.180 on April 4th. Used 4 lbs of orange blossom honey, bread yeast, and water to make about 2 gallons of must. I thought it stalled or hadn't started at all due to lack of bubbles, so I checked the gravity on april 11th. That reading was 1.150. I added a little bit more yeast, some water to dilute a bit, and some nutrients. After all that, I'm still not seeing much activity. No foam, very few bubbles in the airlock. I just looked at it again, and I do see very very small bubbles on the surface, like a soda that's lost most of the carbonation. Should I be worried, or just relax and leave it alone? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

[@damianbenson8092]

Thats a very high starting gravity. Im not sure what alcohol tolerance bread yeast has, but seems like thats all it can consume is that 0.030 gravity. Get yourself a proper wine or champagne yeast to start out with high gravity meads. That yeast can't do the job.

[@Winterborn5]

@@damianbenson8092 It's the Fleishmans yeast. About 11-14% tolerance. I'm thinking about splitting the must into two bottles and diluting it a bit. See what that does.

[@damianbenson8092]

@@Winterborn5 Personally even if it did finish fermenting and hit tolerance, it would be way to sweet for me. Consider splitting, diluting a bit of that mustbto bring down the specific gravity. Then heat up the must to the temperature the yeast likes to be pitched at, and then pitch the yeast directly into the must. When I ferment I heat up my must by placing the glass Carboy in the sink or bath with hot water until its at the temperature specified on the yeast packet, then I pitch directly into the must. Kicks off the fermentation quickly.

[@Winterborn5]

@@damianbenson8092 I just checked it again. The reading went down to 1.120, so its still cooking, just very slow. I degased it, added some nutrients and a little more yeast. I never thought about heating the carboy....I'll try that in my next batch.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Your OG is high so that alone could stress your yeast. That said, it looks like they are trying their best regardless. If you can keep it warmish then they might make it through. Hopefully if they do ferment your beverage the stress of the high amount of sugars won't cause off flavors. The optimum temperature range for yeast fermentation is between 90˚F-95˚F (32˚C-35˚C). You do not need to ferment at this high of a temperature but the closer you are, the better for the yeast. Something as simple as wrapping your fermenter with a blanket or towel could help.

[@enderhawk7899]

I’m about to attempt my first mead. Yet I’m worried about to much APV. Should I Pasteurize it during racking or not at all? Also what does stuck mean?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I highly suggest watching our beginner mead video and following as close as possible the recipe.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5XUg5t6jbB_oKM

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Stuck means the yeast aren’t fermenting though there is plenty of sugars left and the alcohol tolerance has not been reached.

[@maintainingprepper5478]

Maybe you already answered this and I missed it, but… per adventure I want to stop at 9% but used a yeast that will go to 15, I want to carbonate, should I cold crash first, bottle, wait a few days and pasteurize?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Cold crashing is really only useful for slowing down fermentation and clearing a brew. If your brew is clear enough for you, then cold crashing is not necessary. You can either add only enough honey to go dry at the 9% mark and then back sweeten to taste if desired and then add the appropriate additional sugars for carbonation then pasteurize after carbonation is done. Or watch it and carbonate at the just below 9% mark then pasteurize. We talk about this further in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqfZpomAg9NloK8

[@wesp3779]

Nature find a way…Jurassic Park Steading 😂 (I know it’s Life finds a way but close enough) thanks for the great vids!!

[@jamesvaughn1354]

Start small . I jump into make 5 gallons of beer one gallon of mead when I first started

[@timmc5954]

My wife doesn’t like the taste of strong alcohol so pasturizing early might work. Maybe you have a suggestion for a low abv tolerant yeast. After killing the yeast wouldn’t it become more lees to settle in your bottle?

[@duberbaker3600]

Hi Bryan and Derica, I've recently started to educate myself on fermentation in its many forms at home. Which has left me with a nagging question! I keep hearing that yeast will cannibalize weaker strains and that hulls are basically dead yeast as nutrition... So my question is; Will adding some of my ginger bug to a brew add to the nutrition in any way

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Possibly. We have yet to test that but it sounds logical.

[@MajorGRecording]

The boiling point of ethanol is 173.1F or 78.5C. The boiling point is the temperature a liquid boils and will turn into vapor.

[@Juniperlaneestatesales]

@daniel davies i need people like you all around me

[@CitySteadingBrews]

This os what we were saying. When you mix it… things change.

[@thankfulpeeps5456]

Continuing this comment from the Acerglyn video...our brew finished at 1.002/14.0% ABV (not sure what the tolerance is for bread yeast) but just trying to understand, if we flavor it with fruit syrups in the bottle, should we pasteurize them or should they be fine?

[@system6195]

Will you ever show a left over leese re-add juice back to it, and show us what happens?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We have had limited results with reusing lees so we probably won't be showing that. We strive to show what works or at least have a good explanation of why it didn't.

[@DanielJAudette]

Not going to name the channel name but there is a mead channel that stated that mead once bottle only has a shelf life of about a year. I know it's not the case. Mead like wine should get better with age but like you said keep the bottle out of sun light and if they are corked use a decent cork and have the bottles at.that point on the side

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yeah a year is wrong. There is a limit to aging but it's more like 2-4 years most times.

[@danielplumley379]

Hey guys, love the content. Today I just completed my first mead, and I followed along with your "How to make your first MEAD" video posted a couple months ago. I followed every step exactly. I have a couple questions though. So I decided to use a fresh orange instead of dried orange peel, and I cut up slices of the orange peel and added them in. This is the ONLY thing that I did different than you guys. Since I am new to brewing, I had no idea that the pith would cause bitterness. I removed the orange peel from the fermenter about 3 hours after it started fermenting, which also caused some of the oils from the peel to go into the fermenter. I am worried about bitterness, and removing these peels was not an easy process. My question is, do you guys think this mead will end up being bitter? Will the PH change from the orange affect the yeast negatively? Those rinds were only sitting in the must for about 3 hours. Like I said, I had to sort of squeeze the peels to get them out, so some of the orange peel oils did go into the brew. One other thing, I boiled my tap water before starting to remove any potential chlorine and added the yeast into my fermenter when the temperature was 100 degrees Fahrenheit. My airlock actually started bubbling in the first 30 minutes, and it has been bubbling very quickly ever since. That's great news, right? My house is usually around 67 Fahrenheit so that's what temperature it will sit at from here on out. Anyways, sorry for the long comment but thanks for all the great videos!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

From what you have described I think your brew should be fine. I doubt much bitterness was extracted in that short amount of time. Your water temperature wasn't high enough to damage the yeast, but was high enough to get them all excited as you witnessed. The oil from the peel would have extracted into your brew anyway, so any that came out during your removal shouldn't be an issue as well.

[@danielplumley379]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks for the reply!

[@haitkhuu]

Do you loose any of the gases (carbonation) when you pasteurise the bottles unopened?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yes. You don’t pasteurize carbonated brews without a cap or lid.

[@haitkhuu]

@@CitySteadingBrews thank you!

[@birtarnb]

I am a little confused as to what to do, I made my first mead, actually 4x 1 gallon and had heard in some of your videos that taking a gravity reading iiiiiisn't that necessary when starting out and just trying, but now I am unsure of when I know I should rack to get the berries and such out. I made one of them from your Blueberry video and planned on just taking the berries and all that out in 2+ weeks like you did but as I can't really take a gravity reading to know where it stands I am a little miffed at myself that I chose to skip that step, I just don't really understand the numbers and all that yet so I chose to skip it. If I were to get myself a hydrometer, when should I do the first reading? I brewed ALL 4 of them yesterday, all different yeasts so maybe I was a dumbdumb and made it hard on myself with that too

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You only need to ask once, we see all the comments :)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

First, yes, we have said it's not 100% necessary, but it is still VERY highly suggested and we use them in nearly every video for that reason. Knowing when to rack is shown here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqSylWyojLeWibc

[@birtarnb]

@@CitySteadingBrews sorry! I figured since this was a 2 month old video I would have more success asking in the community tab :D

[@birtarnb]

@@CitySteadingBrews I'll look into it better! Thank you!

[@javierhanza]

Hi Brian. I have a problem. I press some fresh apples and added Sodium Metabisulphite and Pectine Enzyme. Waited 24 hrs and added yeast SafAle S04 and yeast nutrients, but fermentation did not start. Waited another 24hrs and added more yeast, this time I hydrated it in warm water. It has been 3 days now and there is no fermantation. What can I do?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Are you sure it's not fermenting? Check for bubbles, if it's a bucket, sometimes they don't seal well.

[@javierhanza]

@@CitySteadingBrews it's a carvoy with airlock. I see no bubbles

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@javierhanza It's possible the sulfite was too much? Or it's too cold, or your yeast was dead. I'd try brand new yeast, not the same packet you already used.

[@javierhanza]

@@CitySteadingBrews Finally, some bubbles. Maybe too much sulfite. I don't know. Thanks a lot.

[@thenotsurechannel7630]

Two things: 1. A suggestion... to avoid any complications with bottles... I've lately been pasteurizing my brews directly in a pot on a stove top, then racked it to a plastic vessle (water dispenser) to cool, before bottling. So far it's been working out well. No "off tastes" due to the plastic. 2. I tried to share an image of my fermentation station via a link to it, but every time I make a post with a link... my post completely disappears :(

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You could be loosing some alcohol that way as the opening of an open pot is larger than the opening of an open bottle. Links are disabled in comments.

[@BeerWineandShine]

What brews do you guys repeatdly do, off camera, because you like it, and dont like not having it around? Besides your spiced Methogline Brian! Lol. (Which btw i currently have in primary)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We would love to have the time and space to brew off camera, but now of days we have neither. In a perfect world, I would want to have a constant supply of Klingon Blood wine, our simple red wine, the Franklin (mojito kilju) , and one of our many ciders. Bri of course would want all the Spiced Metheglin. There are more that I'm forgetting, but this video shows our personal favorites: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6SVfGOCq85kp9U

[@GoryMagpie]

Pineapple mead?! Is there a video on that?? :o

[@GoryMagpie]

Never mind, saw a video and going there now!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We will also be brewing more with pineapple in the near future.

[@GoryMagpie]

@@CitySteadingBrews oooh looking forward to that! I realy love pineapple 🍍🍍 😁

[@ka_ekim7277]

Let's pretend this is my first brew and I don't have a hydrometer yet (it's in the mail) But my brew is getting to about 3 weeks. Do you suggest pasteurizing any time you don't know the initial gravity to do the math?

[@ka_ekim7277]

To be clear - I know to wait for the airlock, not just that it's been a few weeks

[@CitySteadingBrews]

No, let it sit for 8-12 weeks and it should be done.

[@Joseph_Dredd]

How many wines do you have sitting in your house for more than three years..... Erm, None. For more than a year? erm, none. :) I like wine! It's there to be consumed before it,ahem,goes off!

[@LevidelValle]

If you ask a question be detailed.

[@johnp.2267]

Pasteurizing: Brian: "I shall smite you, yeast, with my 140 degree finger!" Yeast: "But we did what you wanted! We work so hard for you! Why!?" Brian: "Because you never take a vacation." *SMITE!*

[@CitySteadingBrews]

lol!

[@johnp.2267]

@@CitySteadingBrews Now I want to see a t-shirt with "Yeast Never Take Vacations". I would totally buy that.