How to Make Date Wine Easily at Home

[@JustMe-ue3wc]

As an Arab brewer I highly recommend type of dates called “Sukari dates” its so sweet and delicious its grow in Saudia Arabia, Im not sure if you can find it in the US and its a little bit more expensive than other types of dates, If you really interested to try it and you didn’t find it let me know I can send it to you fresh from the farm, peace from Middle East

[@Xyd641]

Indeed, they do have a great dates in KSA 🕊️

[@kumaril05]

where im from, growers in rural Bengal, India sell Date sap early in the morning, it called "Khejurer Rosh" & its so sweet like a juice & fun fact if you keep it till the evening it become "Tari" which is basically a Date Sap Beer & the Tribal people in the Forest areas drink that in loads, once I went to their village & tasted it, & boy was I tipsy.... & now you have showed me the way to ferment the dates itself, will definitely try it... Cheers

[@andyn3532]

If you have never had dates fresh still on the stork before they have been dried and go all sickly sweet you need to try and get some, it's a whole different fruit. You bite into them and get a dry astringent kind f texture then as you chew it's a juicy sweet explosion of loveliness. They are more of a yellowy colour when fresh.

[@-Kayda-]

I like the "Grain to glass" video's the most. From start to finish. Recipe, readings, racking and tasting all in one. Love your channel. Bye

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If we did that our videos would be hours long, lol

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You said... "bye", are you leaving us????

[@-Kayda-]

@@CitySteadingBrews No I'm not! ;)

[@AdamFranklin500]

Great video as always. Lots of helpful information, rather than just rushing and leaving us with more questions than answers. You guys make this hobby even more fun than it already is

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thanks Adam!

[@jeremyrodriguez9773]

A new way to enjoy date fruits aside from having it with your fav tea or coffee..love the idea. Thanks for this.

[@weyounvorta2527]

not relevant but whenever i have a headache youre my go to channel because you are, fun, informative and soothing to listen to because your voices are very nice.

[@louisgrochowski7912]

I have made a few of your meads,and love them. The best is cherry/Chocolate. I have 2 improvements to that bigmouth bubbler. 1. THE SEAL..... use a Styrofoam board from Dollar tree and cut to size, this is a little thicker and will seal the jar very well. 2. This is more of a tip. The top is very hard to get on and off, if you take a hot towel and wrap just the top this will expand the plastic every so slightly and it makes it much easier to remove. Great brewing to you and yours, Peace Lou

[@mattkanaby974]

i also put 2 seals in the lid and seems to work better, but i do love these little things

[@txikitofandango]

Great video as always, your knowledge is so practical and applicable and deep. I was wondering if honey is always an acceptable substitute for sugar in these recipes, with the right adjustment, like adding 30% more. Or is there a reason to use sugar instead of honey

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It’s about 1/3 more and yep, can be subbed.

[@mbbillington3459]

Love dates. This sounds so interesting. I like the idea of brightening with citrus (lemon), brown sugar, and the tea. While watching this again, I wonder if some capsicum might be a nice addition. What do you think?

[@socialxperiment3162]

I think I’ll make a date mead.. thanks for the inspiration!

[@thenightcook1134]

This video helped me figure out why I got into mead brewing. I came for the alcohol, I stayed for the science.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

LOL, awesome!

[@1960genius]

Thank you for this! I love dates. I saw someone on Instagram take a date, open it and add a dab of nut butter, with a small piece of chocolate!!! It’s like a dessert! Love what you guys do here on KZbin! I’ve made my first batch of plain cider and am now enjoying it thanks to you!!

[@eddurning6300]

My wife likes date with nut butter and dusted with powdered sugar.

[@1960genius]

@@eddurning6300 YUM!!!

[@farooqahmed3820]

we are exporter of dates

[@CBQuery]

Wanted you to know how much I enjoy your videos. I am a pure amateur. I have been at it for about 2 years. I've made some good wines and some losers. Watching date wine video. Enjoyed it immensely. I use 71-B and a variety of other Lalvin and Red Star yeasts. Getting the 18% with 71-B I had to wonder what EC 1118 would have done. It's nice to be amused and taught at the same time. Note: I experienced Jungle Coffee 56 years ago in a land far away.

[@jessicalawrence3074]

the neat way to do it... in the fermentor from the beginning.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If you MUST be neat, sure.

[@MyXboxIsBroken]

Hell yes! I have been waiting so long for a good date wine recipe

[@bearhudson1045]

1st comment lol.... looking good, gonna make this one for sure, as always you two, thanks for making a great vid.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thanks for watching!

[@avifreed5243]

If you’ve never had date vodka it’s worth a try. Very sweet and makes a great desert liquor. I wonder if it’s made from distilling date wine.

[@pauldean3271]

I am making this wine and I am wondering if I could use the tannic powder. I had to take the top off and break up the fruit cap there was a good bit of bubbles trapped. Can’t wait to taste it.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Do you think it needs more tannins?

[@user-nd1fg3oh5m]

Another great video thanks for everything I've made afew ciders so far watching u guys and I also have a cranberry/cherry mead a few weeks in as well as a jalapeno/habanero mead and a ginger mead requested by my lady.... again thanks a bunch for the guidance! And greetings from south central PA!!!

[@TheKris2615]

Thankyou for the date wine. Wondering for a quite a bit.

[@kyladaly4572]

we have a canary date palm tree in our backyard. It's dropping fruit rn, so I wanted to find recipies for it :)

[@williamrichardson7174]

You should try to get your hands on some fresh ones. I often sit under a tree and eat all I can. This year I'm on my third feast an have managed to save 20lbs. I'm looking for wine and Brandy recipes. Any body interested, an big clean umbrella I have found to be my best friend picking just about anything, even blackberries.

[@kevinjacobs5159]

On a side note those date pips can be roasted and used to make Arabic coffee.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Interesting!

[@ahmadsartawi]

Arabic coffee is made with coffee beans but you can roast them to substitute the coffee beans which means you can make any kind of coffee

[@txikitofandango]

I really love this idea and I've seen your whole series on it and I've started my own using your recipe. But now I'm wondering, would you do it differently if you did it again? Possibly adding acid blend or lemon juice in primary fermentation? Using more fruit? Using a bag?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I couldn’t say. Would have to re-examine everything and see if there’s a better method. I hate bags so… probably not :)

[@PrismC]

Arabic is my native language and you pronounced "Medjool" correctly haha, great video!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Cool, thanks!

[@SeamusOConnell-s4n]

Watching your videos where you use the large mouth fermentation carboys, I think if you bought a silicone baking sheet, you could cut a new seal from it. It should give you a better seal than what comes with the carboy.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Possibly. It does work well enough though.

[@Markus__B]

Brian: "We´re going to need a Lemon" The Internet (keyboard clicking sound): "ThATs nOt a LEmon. iT´s aN ...." Derica: "That´s not a Lemon. That´s an Orange" The Internet: "Damn"

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I tend to work on recipes all at once, and another recipe uses lemon... so.. lemon on the brain.

[@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582]

@@CitySteadingBrews Brian, out of curiosity do you have a recipe with figs coming up?

[@Mezox13]

This is exactly my thought process

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582 I don't, lol... not sure where the fig thing came from.

[@eggileierkopf9421]

Name a yellow fruit

[@sarahbass1143]

Hi again, so I made the date wine in two 1 gallon wide mouth fermenting jars yesterday and added a whole package of Lalvin instead half and the prescribed 1/2 tsp of fermaid per jug. I should add that I aerated it like I do the mead must for 5 minutes before adding the remaining water, which I filled up to the very top of the neck (leaving maybe an inch of glass). It was all fine at first, but most of today I've been managing volcanic action. The airlock has had to be emptied like 3 times today because of the backup of the liquid, and when I unscrew the lids what looks like a mass of peanut butter is blocking the top). I don't know if I overfilled, put too much yeast, or it's a combo of that plus the Fermaid. I had to scoop the mass of yeast/fermaid/foam out to bring the liquid up to the neck (the foam mass seemed to be pushing it down). But then when I closed the lids again, the bubbling stopped, which has me thinking I scooped out all the yeast. I then added another package of yeast to each jug (but not more Fermaid), and more water since it decreased by 1/4 of the jar (leaving about 4 inches of jar this time so that it would mitigate the explosion). I'm seeing it start to bubble again, but I don't know what I did wrong or if I've ruined this wine attempting to fix it. I just don't know where all this foam came from (it was much more in 1 jar than the other). Perhaps you could tell me what I did and if I've messed up this batch irredeemably. Thanks.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You didn't need to add more yeast. You can't remove it that easily. It's just an active fermentation. Use a blowoff tube. We talk about them in a few videos, like here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHqrg5R4pdWfgqM&ab_channel=CitySteadingBrews

[@sarahbass1143]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks for that. I watched the video and that helps. So that "peanut butter" mass in the top 1/4 of the jar is normal then? In adding more yeast and water after skimming the stuff, did I throw the chemistry off?

[@sarahbass1143]

I am going to try this since I saw your follow-up video this year and it turned out well. I got dates while at the store the other day, but then saw prunes as well, and got a bag. Do you think the proportions would work with prunes for a plummy-ish wine? I was looking for a prune/plum wine on your channel but only saw the one you made using juice (Black Cherry Hooch). Just wondering your thoughts on prunes, thank you.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I made a prune juice wine… once. It was vile. Never made anything with whole prunes so I can’t say. For a plum wine though fresh ir frozen plums might work better.

[@sarahbass1143]

@@CitySteadingBrews 😂 Ok thanks for that.

[@charliemcbride2880]

Love medjool dates...been eating since a few months ago....was hoping for a wine/mead recipe . Thank you!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You are so welcome!

[@farooqahmed3820]

we are exporter of dates

[@marinasf3576]

I said it before, I absolutely adore both of you! Thanks for making such a nice mead content :)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Our pleasure!

[@mascotloser420]

Great video, I am very grateful for your videos. I'm getting a hobby going that will hopefully teach me how to be more patient.

[@quenchdigital6435]

Any adjustments you suggest if using D47 yeast?

[@00Sparkie00]

Sounds good I might have to try this one. Is there any reason not to do the steeping directly in the fermentation vessel?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Other than the hot water 'could' crack the glass, no.

[@gamzetank2518]

What do you think about sun dried apricots? I am thinking of starting an apricot wine similar to your date wine (swapping dates with apricots). Any advice?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Different sugar content, but should work.

[@alexcan669]

Great video guys. I really want to see the rosemary hydrogel and the jam wine!

[@icantthinkofaname6872]

you can actually make date wine without alcohol just put some dates in water and let it sit for 12 hours. its naturally very sweet

[@amirrahim2336]

Then not wine lol that's just juice maybe a lighty fermented juice

[@icantthinkofaname6872]

@@amirrahim2336 yea its non alcoholic, add yeast, sugar and get a proper fermenting kit to make alcoholic wine

[@mikeemmons1079]

I use dates a lot around the holidays. I chop them up with my kitchen shears. Still finds the pits, doesnt dull my good knife in the doing.

[@generrosity]

Wow you guys are getting *really* good at the spoon of unusual size! Looking forward to the next phases :)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

lol, thank you.

[@U812GREEN]

Do y'all think prunes would have a similar result? Great videos!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I made prune juice wine once.... it was absolutely disgusting. Now, real prunes? Dunno. But it won't taste the same, dates don't taste like prunes.

[@U812GREEN]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks I would probably distill it after fermentation. Maybe fresh plums would be better. Great Channel keep y'alls fermenter full and your locks bubbling

[@jeffbradfield4413]

Dont know if you have watched the channel barley and hops but he was talking about hydrometers . He said that beside the potential alcohol % the last 2 numbers could also be used as a guide of how many days it would take to ferment, .60 would take approximately 6 days to finish . Thought it would be interesting to see if it really worked

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Not really. There’s no correlation, and it’s just an estimate or guess really.

[@Cptidris]

In my country (Oman) , date wine and mead is made at homes mainly by farmers in mountain areas and it has been like that for many generation.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I wish more people made these things at home.

[@Name-lo8pk]

Is the lease technically yeast hulls? Could you throw it in a dehydrator?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You could. It's dead yeast and a lot of other things.

[@raadalfarsi]

Hey Brian and Derica, love your channel and I'm a long time viewer, it's awesome that your trying to make Date Wine, as I tried to make a Date Mead, here in the Middle East we have Date Molasses that's similar to how honey us used and I used that to make a Mead. Seems like Date Molasses has way more sugar in it that honey, like x3 the amount, and got 1.110 from it, and finished fermentation in 11 days all the way down to 1.005 leaving me with a 14.5 ish ABV drink that was very similar to Jägermeister, tastes amaizing and want to experiment more with it. On a side note I think Derica should go for a pixie haircut would look very nice on her xD

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Honey is about 50% sugar, date molasses is about 65% sugar. Curious how you got a licorice flavor from dates though!

[@peachysrcandgames5824]

Bacon wrapped dates are amazing

[@jimwhiteford443]

Totally love the idea of date Wine i’m not likely to try it though because dates in Scotland are stupid expensive I might have a bit of a look on the Internet to see if I can get them mail order cheap. As always looking forward to your next video

[@nehemiaszkajrys6190]

Go to arabic/middle eastern shop and buy a Date Jam. Or go to home bargains. Their dates are not best quality but are super cheap

[@CecilNew]

I typically boil and dissolve half the water with the all the sugar and use it to pour over the fruit. A technique learned from another blogger from whom I have used many recipes... pros/cons?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I see no harm in it really.

[@gordslater]

To stone sticky dates for winemaking in bulk first dust your fingers and the dates in powdered / icing / confectioner's sugar to prevent them sticking to everything. Then use your fingers to peel open the date and remove the stone. It should just plop right out once you tear / prise the date lengthwise. The small amount of sugar added does not affect the final quantity much, but best to check the OG just in case. Different types of dates have huge variation in sugar content anyways. ( edit: OG readings will always be well off due to the heavy suspended particulate matter so don't worry too much ) I just use dry stoned dates - not camel fodder grade but the cheapest food grade.

[@shayson1357]

camel fodder

[@mattkanaby974]

if the fermenter had a fitted silicon or teflon seal it would be so much better. one thing to point out, watch out for the threads on the class fermenter, some times they are not formed well.

[@henriqueribeiro8167]

Funny I just made your beginners mead, and as I am waiting for it to get ready, I made another mead with dates instead of raisins. I boiled everything, including some bread yeast, to have it be food for the propper yeast I added later. The thing is bubbling like crazy.

[@chrisjohnsharp]

Where do you get that pack of yeast hills from

[@CitySteadingBrews]

a.co/d/bwgItih

[@SublimatedIce]

I appreciated the lemon orange correction

[@nemoforsberg1039]

Hi..another great video from you. Thanx. One (maybe stupid) question.. How do you calculate that 1060 from the dates? do you have a formula for that to maybe? :) Thanx again for all your videos.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I looked up how much sugar was in them and figured out how much gravity they would add.

[@nemoforsberg1039]

Thanx for quick reply.. let´s see if I get it right.. (Grams/Liter/2.6) 594g / 3.8L / 2.6 = 60 ?

[@elainehall6155]

Date wine. Luscious. ❤

[@antonioj.2147]

300th video! Congrats!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Is it?

[@antonioj.2147]

@@CitySteadingBrews I think so

[@acidbran]

Plumbers tape might help with the seal. Cheap fix for leakage.

[@gpdewitt]

Can't wait for the racking. Are there any drawbacks to running this through a strainer for first rack, then letting it settle for a few days, then siphoning? Seems like you could waste less wine that way.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

That's likely what we will do :)

[@donluidzi8916]

Hi, great video guys, I just got a question about the oil ( I noticed that You don't worry about that). Some sort of oil always been put all over dry fruit like date or rains, probably to preserve them. You are not finding it to change the flavour some how ???

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's never been a problem.

[@JohnFoley1701]

Have ever tried using tea for all of the liquid? Like a fermented sweet tea, or arnold palmer.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We did a rooibos mead and a tea wine in the past couple months.

[@chiruboy23]

Can we use honey instead of sugar ?I am planning to use Java plum nectar honey.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yes, sure. You can use any fermentable "sugar" source you wish. Just know that with every change from our recipe there will be changes in your final result. Happy Brewing!

[@abiebiabed]

Hello. I have prepared about four gallons of date wine. But after about two weeks, it has not yet settled. Has the fermentation process stopped? I also made banana wine at the same time and the bananas are almost settled. Do you think that a large amount of dates has caused bad fermentation?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Fermentation takes time. Did it stall? Hard to say. Did you follow our recipe or alter ingredients or volumes? Ours is older than that and we're just getting ready for it's first reading.

[@TheRscorp]

I used dates to flavor a Christmas Mead in Secondary (along with raisins, dried apricots, etc) and the dates I used dissolved and turned into what I can only describe as GOO. I'm curious now to watch yours and see if the same thing happens or not.

[@wolf3200]

Which time should transfer it to secondary fermentation

[@CitySteadingBrews]

When fermentation is complete.

[@johnfoster9160]

Is there anything advantageous to using dates with pits versus ones with the pit removed? Or does it not matter?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Many outs of various fruits can add bitter flavors to brews. Also… we planted them and are growing date palms, lol.

[@johnfoster9160]

@@CitySteadingBrews thanks!

[@MTexpeditions]

Question! Have you ever had your raisins float? I started my first ever mead on August 21st, it took a week before fermentation started. I think its because I used a local honey that is very dense. I used d17 and my o.s.g. was 1.120

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's not uncommon for them to float.

[@lookabovelookbelow]

Chop them up first.

[@misslurmath]

Would it be better to steep the dates directly in the fermentor and no need to pour again?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You could I suppose.

[@antonioj.2147]

Sorry to bother you but I was wondering if a half empty sealed bottle of cider could oxidise with the ammount of oxygen in the bottle? I love yor videos,keep up the good work.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yes it can. That’s why we always say half bottles go in the fridge.

[@cosmolewandowski7860]

What brand of knife is that. Looks like my cheap kiwi (which I love) just heavier (which I need).

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Shun. Not super pricey but like $150 or so.

[@MarthaFam-th6px]

Can I use Flieschmann’s yeast

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You can... might come out differently.

[@Skulltap]

I ordered a couple of those big mouth bubblers, and noticed some air bubble in the glass on both. That makes me rather concerned about them breaking. Did any of yours come in with air bubbles in the glass?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Didn't notice any in ours, no.

[@evolution.revolution]

Does anyone know approximately how long the process will take before you have to filter it and be ready to drink thanks 🙌🙌

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Don't filter... trust me. Siphon it off the sediment and pulp. How long? Ours is almost ready for it's first rack.

[@evolution.revolution]

CS Mead and More thanks don’t really know what that means lol are you guys making another video explaining that by any chance

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Dan Geary yes when its ready :)

[@DimitriLipak]

Interesting if it's possible to replace the honey by pure dates honey (syrup), aka silan... to make a Mead like product?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

There is no honey in this recipe to replace... That said, you could use honey in place of the sugar, but it's not quite enough to really be mead. If you used anything other than honey, it's still wine.

[@definitelydelish]

Curious, would/could you use Honey 🍯 instead of white sugar and if you did, what honey do you think that would pair well with the Dates (clover, wildflower, orange blossom, buckwheat, Tupelo, etc) Looks like something I’d love to try one day (love dates just on their own so wine sounds very good)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

The date flavor is likely to overpower any honey you use aside from very strong ones. I'd use clover, wildflower or orange blossom so as to not waste the uniqueness of the honey due to that.

[@pauldean3271]

I had made date wine once before following your recipe and it was great. I tried it again and had a severe problem. Let’s just say I found what looked like rice stuck to the top of my big mouth fermenter. And I definitely did not put any rice in. Could this have come from the dates? It went down the sink. Help.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Honestly, I have no idea. Sounds like some kind of insect larvae, which... could have been from lots of things.

[@pauldean3271]

Yaaa that’s what I was afraid of dates and sugar. And time.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@pauldean3271 I'd dump it to be safe.

[@DrummerFreefall123]

I heard about people making pumpkin wine, that'd be an awesome one I think...

[@Superwalter2222]

I got a question I've been wanting to ask for a while. Why don't you just leave the tea bag in the brew during primary fermentation?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If you make a cup of tea and add it, you are adding a finite amount of tannin. If you leave the tea bag in, it continues to extract, and can easily overpower and turn bitter.

[@jbaidley]

Love your videos. But I've noticed that a lot of your recent videos have the video and the audio varyingly large amounts of out of sync. Any chance you could look at sorting that out, please?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I believe that's on your end or YT's delivery system. Checking them from my side... they are totally synched and no one else has said this. We have noticed when watching YT videos that they are sometimes out of synch. Pausing the video then restarting in a few seconds normally corrects it. That or restarting the video. I can assure you, our audio and video is in synch as I check that when we upload :)

[@ammartech3660]

OMG ! I was thinking about it for couple of days ! locally here, we can find a REALLY good dates, like its almost have a texture of honey on it . Next project, Date wine it is 😁

[@BUGt95.]

Can you use golden raisins instead of brown ones for brewing?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Sure? We didn't use raisins at all though.

[@trudyhoffmann6405]

I needed a blow off tube big time! I just racked off the fruit and it went really dry. Added sugar and it's going to sit now

[@luiznikolajweber6952]

This is so cool, but can somebody explain to me what's happening when they put that glass thingy on top?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Glass thingy? do you mean the airlock? That is a one way valve that keeps bugs from entering the brew.

[@luiznikolajweber6952]

@@CitySteadingBrews yeah I think that's it. I mean the glass thingy on the lid. Didn't know it was called an airlock. Is it necessary to make wine?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@luiznikolajweber6952 it's more or less something necessary to keep bugs out, yes.

[@luiznikolajweber6952]

@@CitySteadingBrews but can't you just keep the lid on to keep bugs away? I'm sorry if I'm asking stupid questions, but I literally don't have any experience in making alcohol 😂

[@luiznikolajweber6952]

@@CitySteadingBrews also, won't you have to do destilling? I've seen that in other wine making videos

[@fredkourmadas7914]

The international market in my town has date syrup. So you don't have to chop dates if you don't want. If you do chop and pit your own dates, the pits grow into beautiful palm trees. If you like that sort of thing.

[@jamesgardner2101]

Dates are my favorite candy!

[@IamLilibel]

Hello, question: 14/135=0.1037. How did you get 1.1037? I'm trying to figure out how to do the calculation myself. Thanks.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Water is 1.000, and this is denser than water so you add 1.000

[@LevidelValle]

A whole new meaning of Date night.

[@Stavrose85]

I'm sorry for the silly question but why don't you squeeze the tea bags? Also, did you use brown sugar and if so, what's the difference?

[@lookabovelookbelow]

It turns the leaves bitter if squeezed. As an English man. I know this. 🙂👍🏼

[@Stavrose85]

@@lookabovelookbelow Thanks for the tip. Much appreciated!

[@Sithdude78]

Apparently in ww2 sailors would make a raisin wine, only seen a few mentions and never a recipe but its popped up enough to have probably been a thing.

[@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582]

Cool! I never heard that, but makes sense.

[@danielserene4532]

Raisin wine is a thing in Italy and North Africa. The ancient Romans would brew it then boil it down to a syrup to sweeten their foods before cane sugar came along.

[@lookabovelookbelow]

My dad did this in the navy. #drunkensailor

[@spanthrax]

could you just start with the hot water/date mixture in the fermenter to start with?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yes.

[@MU-oi1su]

Hot date juice with cinnamon is fantastic. I hope my date wine is also good 😬

[@goncalosousa7137]

Dear Brian and Derica . try this. Get some pitted dates and roll them with fryed bacon, to get them together use a toothpick. Just amazing how it tastes. :)

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Where I live we add very cold cream cheese in the date where the seed used to be and wrap bacon around them. A quick pass under a very hot grill to give the bacon sole colour, and for a little touch of acidity, perhaps a drizzle of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. Delicious. The reason why the cream cheese needs to be very cold is so it won’t melt too much as the bacon rashers brown. The thinner the slices of bacon are, the better too.

[@goncalosousa7137]

@@eddavanleemputten9232 Sounds interesting, i will try someday :) with cream cheese i use salmon. Roll some smoked salmon around cream cheese and hold with a toothpick.

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

@@goncalosousa7137 - i do that too! Some times I mix in some chopped fresh dill too.

[@jamesgreeniii147]

Interesting. Could you run the dates and orange peel through a food processor so 1. It wouldn't take up so much space in the fermenter. 2. Would processing it release more sugar?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You could, but it won't really release more sugar.

[@GlennForbes20]

How big is the wide mouthed carbouy?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

1 gallon.

[@paulallerston3771]

Yeah, you're gonna have a ton of lees in there... raisin and date makes great mead too.

[@phantomaquarist3417]

On the topic of teas w/ flavor. In my current brew I used my favorite tea lapsang souchong. Which is a smoked black tea, and considered the strongest flavor profile tea in the world from what I've read. It's also only allowed to be smoked and produced in one part of the world in China as this used to be a tea for royalty. Very interested to see how this is going to end up as a mead with strawberries and blackberries.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We have some of that too, planning to make a mead with it.

[@phantomaquarist3417]

@@CitySteadingBrews If you go to do it I would suggest using more than one tea bag. I let mine boil for 15 minutes with my blackberries and strawberries couldn't even taste a background hint of it because the berries were too strong. Personally I wanted that smoked flavor so two packets worked.

[@josephe.pinejr.1008]

Did you ever consider using a refactoring meter.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/paTQnYuJbrKjqbc We have!

[@ladysu5127]

Can you help me by understanding.. If after its boiled and 1/3 is left ,does it mean that the wine is weaker .. And if after its boiled and 2/3 are left then does it mean that its stronger ?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Wait… back up a bit. You boiled the wine after fermentation or before?

[@devilinthedetails9665]

How about using the fermenter directly next time?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thermal shock could crack the glass.

[@devilinthedetails9665]

@@CitySteadingBrews Aaaahn. The lazy me would have just poured slowly. 😂 I was mesmerized at your diligence.

[@rongreene1788]

In a pinch I have used plumbers putty to make a seal.