How We Made Ikea Lingonberry Mead

Lingonberry Mead Recipe with Lingonberry Concentrate from Ikea. A viewer sent us this concentrate of Lingonberry and we knew we wanted to make a mead with it. At first we thought it was just juice, then we read the package... so, long story short, we made Ikea Mead or Honey wine with Lingonberry juice.
Ingredients:
2 lbs Wild Flower Honey: Bevy's Bees [e-mail]
16.7 oz Lingonberry Concentrate: www.ikea.com/u...
1/2 Lemon Peel
1 Packet Red Star Premier Classique Wine Yeast: amzn.to/3cCOn13
1 Cup Black Tea
5 grams Heather Tips (steeped in the tea)
2 grams Fermaid O: amzn.to/3z6gXPZ
Additions:
8 oz Lingonberry Concentrate
French Oak Plus Char: barrelcharwood...
After aged one year, how does it taste? • We Drink Lingonberry M...
Airlocks and Blowoff Tubes for Brewing: • Airlocks and Blowoff T...
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[@micahestep7679]

"adjust as you go" wonderful advice, but also remember to take notes!

[@micahestep7679]

@@julietardos5044 or.....Ka-Boom!!!

[@aqhan]

Very, very nice! Talking about Sweden (where I'm located), I just got a license to open a micro meadery! I am very excited!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Wow! Congratulations 🍾

[@ThatNerdyCatholic]

I recently made a lingonberry wine with 1 1/2 bottles of the concentrate and some extra white sugar. It came out very light and refreshing, and definitely a distinct flavor. A friend of my wife who has Swedish blood really liked it. My wife also enjoys it, I am definitely making it again.

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Mmmmmm… my IKEA does stock the lingonberry concentrate. I’ve used their blueberry concentrate in conjunction with honey and fresh blueberries for a blueberry mead (oaked that one too) and it was a success! I’m adding lingonberry mead to my to-brew list! Thank you!

[@johnburke5208]

Man I learn something new every time I watch these. It’s interesting to watch how you flavor these brews. In recent months I’ve started trying to target specific tastes with my brews (rather than just making one to see if I’m able to haha) and I have to say it’s immaculate. I recently made a nice pineapple wine and I love that you guys are always there to bring more fun and tips to my brew game :)

[@parisherlocker3627]

I'm really loving these long form videos! Hope this format sticks!

[@geordiekimbo2]

Just racked off a few of my latest meads: a raspberry which was nice when backsweetened; a toffee apple cyser - also nice and a rescued orange blossom traditional that I let sit in most of primary on maple wood. That was awful so I added French oak and blackcurrant and raspberry juice and it's ended its secondary dry and thankfully quite nice. I love this hobby and I'm glad you were the first youtubers I watched who showed me making mead was not a scary idea.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I’m glad you didn’t give up on the traditional but rather made adjustments!

[@kevin_ninja_jones2363]

2 things loving the hair and you 2 should write a book brewing for dummies type book because you guys break things down in a way that don't overwhelm or over complicate things and I along with the rest of your community im sure appreciate it.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thanks! Bri has one in the works. Trying to decide how to best publish it. Thinking an e-book style might be the easiest for our viewers to access.

[@risingcalm7192]

You can self publish for short money on amazon! Im in for a book once your done!!

[@hollrulf7876]

Tried making lingonberry mead once. It was the only time I ran into a stuck fermentation. Did a little research and found out that lingonberries have a specific type of acid that strongly inhibits fermentation. I used A LOT of dried lingonberries, along with twice the amount of concentrate that you did. Wish I’d done the research on the lingonberries before I tried to use that much in a mead. The amount of lingonberries makes a difference. Looks like you guys used just the right amount. I finally got mine going again, but it took TONS of work. That acid may be the reason that it surprised Brian that it didn’t go as high as the yeast tolerance. Gonna try your recipe next time.

[@scottaustin5290]

I’m so thankful for what you guys do I’ve been fallowing for awhile and brew both wine and mead love this hobby and you guys

[@tuckerdoolan8830]

I just started my first batch of mead, I'm making your 'first mead' recipe and can't wait to try it when it's done! I think I may separate some during conditioning and oak it to see how it comes out. Love your vids!

[@Tapirrr]

i have Grimfrosts lingonberry mead in my fridge, its sooo good!!

[@elricthebald870]

Haven't tasted it yet. Might add it to my wishlist for when I make another purchase from them.

[@Tapirrr]

@@elricthebald870 its really good and smooth! can definitelly recommend!

[@Darth_Zamiel]

When/where did you get it? I had some of Grimfrost's mead years ago, but their website has shown all varieties as 'out of stock' for years. All the retailers linked from Grimfrost's site also show no product available ☹️ If you know where someone has some for sale please help me out 🥂😉

[@thatjonguy103]

So, I haven't watched the entire video yet, but I'm at around the 24 minute mark where you're backsweetening and wanted to share a method I use with you that would work well for this type scenario especially. I have a couple boxes of syringes that are 30ml and 1ml. As a side note I do reuse them so these should last a long time. I'll draw off 30ml from the batch and put that into a glass. Then I'll add either honey or a concentrate to that sample and mix it up. When using concentrate I use the 1ml syringe. This is enough to get a decent taste, enough to mix in a measurable amount of what I'm adding, but not so much as to waste a lot of the batch or get too tipsy in the process. Also with 30ml it scales up nicely as it's about 1/100th the size of some batches after racking. Especially with fruit. Once I've adjusted the sample to what I like I will add the honey/concentrate in the same ratio or maybe a little less and see where it is before making fine tune adjustments to it. I do record the amount per 30ml in my notes so when I make the same recipe I can start off by adding that amount even to larger batches assuming all other factors like the final gravity are close enough. Also as an alternative they do have graduated shot glasses that go to 30ml and beyond a bit which could be used.

[@stevenweir7236]

You two are awesome!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thanks!

[@MrShaynen]

You should try making mead from Ikeas Elderflower saft ( Swedish for syrup). I made wine from our homemade elderflower saft. I am going to try doing a mead from the lingonberry preserves.

[@MrShaynen]

I have started my Mead from the lingonberry sauce. It is foaming alot. It's been about a week. I was using a s airlock. Had to switch to blowoff tube. My question is " Is the foaming normal? I am assuming the foaming is due to the pectin in the jam/sauce.

[@briansims7382]

Equal parts water and concentrate. Take gravity, multiply by 2 will give you the gravity of the concentrate

[@donaldmiller8629]

Lingonberry preserves may be one of my favorites. Oh , what the heck ? It is my favorite. Followed by citrus marmalades. I made my first basic mead a few years ago. I entered a bottle at the county fair. My first time doing that also. I took a second place in the mead category. I was very happy with second place for my first ever mead. My competion was a woman that took five blue ribbons out of several wine categories.

[@AnswersToMJ]

Its bin amazing to watch you make this, im totaly new to the brewing and your channel deliveres comfort and support to my ever so fragile confidence. I have watched maybe 30 hours of your videos this weekend, and i am hoping to make my first brew soon, but yeast and nutrients scares me since i dont understand it. i will keep watching your channel while taking notes, dont stop doing what you are doing, great inspiration love what you are about. Much love from Sweden~💖

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thank you for watching!

[@matthieuhilckmann9665]

This is just awesome. Me and my girlfried started to make our own mead since April and you're videos are really inspiring. Little question about the oak: is it reusable for another batch of mead or has it soaked up too much flavor to be of any use? Keep up the good work!

[@alexcan669]

That’s awesome guys. I need to get my hands on that concentrate or jam maybe

[@quintonyager7992]

I appreciate you going to a sweet cuz it's my favorite to flow with. Plus your unscientific/scientific approach. Thanks!

[@brokentablespodcast]

OMG YAHHHS!!! I cannot believe you finally made this!!! I was asking a year ago for it!!!

[@brokentablespodcast]

I am very surprised yours isn't a shade of red? My lingonberry came out like a Rosé wine.

[@Shadowofskippy]

I made a wine with this for Christmas and it turned out amazing

[@Eldormen]

I love you two so much. edit: swed here that is the amount of concentrate I would have added to that amount of water.

[@MrTacklebury]

I'd love to try this one. Lignonberry crepe's from IHOP are one of my favorites. ;)

[@davidmcdonald4771]

Gotta try this one. Thanks for the video. Sounds delicious. You guys ROCk!!!

[@Silverholic]

Now I have to go to IKEA :) This should be good stuff! BTW Brian, I learned recently that for the first few days of fermentation, a airlock is not needed. It's better to put a tube and jar filled with water to catch any overflow. Well, it's still an airlock but not one of the traditional ones.

[@MrAcuta73]

It's a blow-off tube and really only needed if you have an overly vigorous fermentation. Beer can go insane for the first day or so.

[@jackloparo9091]

That sounds really good.

[@ghoppr71]

Speaking of making Mead from store bought juice, I finally got around to bottling the Knudsen Blueberry Mead, because... life got in the way. It is AMAZING. I can't wait to taste it in a year.

[@quintonyager7992]

I'm happy to see you make a mead again. I've done the cheap wine brew but really interested in mead honey brew and I love how you keep inspiring me to keep the range going!

[@evanmackay4975]

I’ve been wanting to make a lingonberry mead. I also want to make a bilberry mead but am having trouble finding bilberry in the US.

[@HolyPineCone]

Go for the bilberry if you can find it. At least with fresh, you use about 1 kg for 5 liter mead. Sorry for the units. Lalvin rc212 works great. When aged a year it is the best mead I have made! So sad I drank most of it during the year...

[@barrytdrake]

My local IKEA has this concentrate (along with Bilberry and Elderflower). I'll be whipping up my Lingonberry Mead this weekend, so I am rewatching your video for tips. Thank you! Also, let me know if you want more concentrate. 🙂

[@Coxeysbodgering]

Just got back from IKEA with 2 bottles of lingon berry drink and glad I rewatched this before I chucked both bottles in for a 1 UK gallon batch! Cheers for all the info you share, this weekend I have my Vikings bloody to rack off the fruit and going to secondary ferment with dried cherries for the extra notes

[@drsrwise]

One minute in and I'm already laughing out loud 😂😂

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We aim to please. 🤓

[@yourmetalgod69]

I have used this lingonberry stuff for mead before and it is wonderful with elderflower just an FYI and a little orange zest

[@brianmccool9728]

Hey I made your OG Mead (my first mead ever, also never really consumed any before) - the recipe with the black tea, raisins, and orange peal. Holy crap is it delicious!

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Just looking at the bottle from Ikea and it says to dilute 1 part syrup with 6 parts water and then there's 12% sugar. Presumably, this means that the syrup is 84% sugar - no wonder the hydrometer has issues. That's more sugar than we expect from honey. Looking forward to trying this one!

[@henka1bylin]

Hello Henrik from Sweden here the concentration on the lingonberry is 1:6. just love your content, am going to start my first Mead on wensday, and its al on you😉!

[@ultimablader2]

Gonna have to try this one. Before that, I’m gonna have to figure out why my basic meads don’t like to clear until pasteurization. Came out great, but the yeast just wanted to stay in solution for the past 2 months

[@AdamFranklin500]

Bulk age it in a demijohn until it clears. Bare in mind not all brews will clear 👍🏻

[@PhyleXTension82]

A quick question regarding your acid addition - I notice that you only used the zest, doesn't the acid come from the juice primarily?

[@robtodd5480]

Cheers 🍻 thanks for sharing

[@rockyrdc]

Thank you for doing a two year tasting I just wondered if a capscamil is worth a two year tasting after a year mine was excellent

[@johnherron3961]

Again a lovely lesson in mead brewing. 🙂

[@micahestep7679]

And good morning everyone. Fasten your seatbelts and turn the volume dial up to 11.

[@micahestep7679]

Got that ceiling fan running I see. High temps in Texas as well.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yeah, forgot to turn it off for filming.

[@heartemisart700]

Now there's an idea, using fruit syrups! Grimfrost is great! Got the idea to make pine needle mead from there too. Tasted amazingly sweet, although it was a dry mead. I expected it to be a little cough syrupy but it was way more complex. I'm going to try the heather tips!!

[@bobharrison2212]

U 2 are so good together… love the Chanel….. my come to place…

[@theastronomer5800]

Ha ha, I was waiting for you trying to get a reading on the concentrate! I used their blueberry concentrate - had to dilute it 50/50 with water, that gave me a reading, and then multiply it by two. It's crazy high....

[@D_Halvig]

Finally bought some barrel char product, can wait to get that in a traditional I was about to bottle.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Woo hoo! :D

[@toyesteve]

I love Grimfrost... I've bought so much stuff from them.

[@Silverholic]

Have you thought about getting a conical fermenter? Not having to deal with the lies seems like it's worth it. Also this is for your channel so it's a business expense ;)

[@XxdjforrestxX]

I love the hair cut

[@stalwartlenny9883]

you guys should try making cloudberry mead.

[@keithmcauslan943]

Is that an imperial Scouch or a metric Scouch?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Lol! I think it’s universal 🤓

[@whistleblowerer6527]

I have a lingonberry/spruce shoot wine racking at the moment. I hope i will taste like norrland. /Swede

[@hammelbreu2059]

Brian, the correct command for your mobile is not "recognize me!!", it is "witness me!!". 🤣 Nice video btw, thanks for the content 🥰

[@anticure8317]

update on my first brews, both were started on 7/19/22, the mead is still super cloudy and burping slowly so I am not touching it to check yet, the cherry wine had been quiet for a couple days and with it being in a bucket fermenter I decided to check it to make sure it was doing ok. It started with OG 1.086 (+ however much sugar it got out of 3lbs of frozen cherries) and is now down to 1.002. I racked it off the fruit and lease and gave it a taste today on 7/26/22. At only a week in it has an alcohol bite and a BIG cherry flavor, it is super dry but smells sweet. It does have a bit of what seems to be what I have heard people describe as the "fermented fruit funk", and to me it seems like it wants to be sweeter, but the wife likes it already as is and this brew is mostly for her anyway. Going to let it sit in secondary for awhile to see if more sediment settles out and let it mellow a bit before deciding if it needs sweetened or not. Using the 135 metric it would be around 11.34% (+ anything it got out of the whole fruit). So far it looks like it's going great and it's a ton of fun! full rundown of the cherry wine: 1 gallon of Simple Truth Tart Cherry Juice (Organic juice from concentrate, juice started at 1.048 Gravity) 15oz of white sugar (brought gravity to 1.086) 1 3lb bag of mixed variety frozen cherries 1 packet of Lalvin 71B yeast Started on 7/19/22 with OG of 1.086 (+ the 3lb of whole fruit cherries) Racked off fruit on 7/26/22 at Gravity of 1.002 I will keep you apprised!

[@RyanSmith-ut4dy]

My brew readings are always off the charts 😂😭😂

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Perhaps you are adding too much?

[@elijahkaehler9369]

I made a Carmel apple bochet recently that OG is like 1.142 (or something, I don't have my notes) ... smelling the airlock it smells like a ages Spiced rum 😋 which made me think of putting French oak (or another kind of wood) Have you guys ever oaked a bochet or something to make it taste like a bourbon/rum (I know you've "recreated" a gin)

[@stevenweir7236]

So I get to say FOUR!

[@micahestep7679]

Sorry Mr Weir, you had third, my bad 😞

[@micahestep7679]

I was WRONG oops!

[@the_whiskeyshaman]

Ohh yea sounds pretty great

[@Tapirrr]

how large of a cylinder do you need for a hydrometer like yours? how big is your measuringcylinder?

[@pete8420]

Someone should do a fan art of a happy brew splashing out the sides of the container.

[@rachellemazar7374]

I’m looking forward to the one and two year tastings

[@edwardcunningham6315]

Great idea with the lingonberry 👍 I wonder if raisins would work better than lemon zest for tannin additive ? BTW, half sugar and half Honey make weade😃🤣 Thanks again for the video 👍

[@CitySteadingBrews]

The Black Tea added tannins. The Lemon zest added an acidic note.

[@philosophersbreweryandferm2487]

You git a haircut mid-video. Looks good! Thanks for continuing to make great videos.

[@ThomasPetter]

"let me take a sip"... "are you going to take us on a trip?" ..."no more rhymes; I MEAN IT"... "anybody want a PEANUT?"

[@Max_Snellink]

Interesting on the cold crash.. The very first mead I ever had was after a day in a snowy mountain down in the local small town. The market place had a festive thing going off. A guy had a vat of mead warmed but not hot hot. One cup sip taster I bought a big cup then a bottle to take home. Flavour notes change from fridge to room to cozy throat hugging warmth. Wood fire stove.. I've a dedicated two glass stove pot for mead now. What's your favourite temp to drink at?

[@Barbarian_Bru]

ok but if you WERE to add pine shoots per say, how much would you add?

[@shadowcat1519]

Lingonberry is also called low Bush cranberry. That is why you get a cranberry taste.

[@bonsang1073]

have you tried the chestnut powder tannins ? im curious how it compares with the french oak charred piece

[@plick645]

K. Would be cool if you could put together a mead making kit or list. Maybe a kit you can sell on the channel. And a recommendation list. I want to make my own, but it's not as straightforward for a dummie like me.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You might appreciate our beginner mead: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5XUg5t6jbB_oKM

[@plick645]

@@CitySteadingBrews okay I'll add this to my watch again playlist.

[@jeffreymiller3599]

Great information and I really appreciate you guys!! I’ve got a couple brews underway and can’t wait to keep going. I’m encouraged by your enthusiasm relative carefree manner to brewing! Could you bring to the forefront the true honey bee struggle? I have a few friends that have apiaries and I don’t have the platform to scream from. You guys rock! I enjoy your content.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

True honey bee struggle? I'm not aware of one tbh. Honey bees are in great quantity and are in no danger. It's the wild bees that are being eliminated and they do a LOT of the pollination. Ironically, part of the reason for their decline is honeybees being used to pollinate...

[@GermanBrew]

Is the 50% Honey a regulation by law in USA. Because in Germany it’s just allowed to call it mead if 100% of the fermentabble sugar is from honey. If you put for example fruit in it it must be labeled as honey fruit wine. To label it as mead is illegal 😅

[@gregdavey4897]

Is a scosh , the metric equivalent damach ? 😂😂😂

[@CitySteadingBrews]

😂

[@russwhaley]

So, I have a crush on some of Grimfrost's staff myself... completely understand...🤘

[@roytelling6540]

THIS I HAVE TO TRY! I live in Finland and I can go and pick Puolukat (Lingonberries) from the forests near me :) I make my own Puolukkahillo (lingonberry jam) as I find the shop bought jams are too sweet you don't get the tardiness of the berries. Still trying to find a apiarist near me. Not going to watch the video

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Not going to watch???? Lol

[@roytelling6540]

@@CitySteadingBrews Opp's I need to read before I send comment LoL I meant "NOW" going to watch the video

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@roytelling6540 LOL!

[@scottybryant]

If you were to redo this batch, would you have added the extra lingonberry and oak at the beginning of the brew, or exactly replicate this and keep it as a back sweetening?

[@scottybryant]

I ask because this recipe sounds fantastic

[@RobertSandell]

The next time I get over to the states I'll try to remember to bring some Swedish honey with me and send to you. Shipping costs from Sweden is way too high to ship directly unfortunately 😊

[@samljer]

You ever consider using various hops for flavor balancing? CASCADE hops would have done WONDERS here i think.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We don't particularly care for hopped meads, but that is certainly something someone who enjoys hops could do. We have even stopped using Cascade hops in our beers due to the grapefruit flavor they sometimes impart.

[@russyates482]

I have a cleaning question, how to clean the inside of the transfer tubing on the auto siphon? Thanks

[@wecuyler]

the lid's name is "The lid of innumerable directional spins" or LIDS...lol

[@spanthrax]

The syrup is 1 patt syrup to 6 parts water

[@zeyadhanifah]

Thank you for the video

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You're welcome! Thank YOU for watching! 😊

[@HolyPineCone]

I'm quite happy to see you and the commenters succeeding with the concentrate. The fresh berries turned out to be tricky for me. They did not like being in primary at all as it stalled really early. And then never cleared. Might be ok in secondary but I kind of lost my interest for them in mead.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I'm sorry you had so much difficulty. :(

[@samuelgilbert9734]

I'm mesmerized by the animation on the YoutTube plaque in the background. I guess it must be the reflection of a ceiling fan, right?

[@naali1648]

I just made an batch using cloudberries, fingers crossed it turns out great :) Have you ever tasted these berries?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I have not had a cloudberry before. I’m interested in how your brew turns out. Happy Brewing!

[@kittyfox3200]

I love the chocolates with cloudberry liquor

[@davidgagin3864]

They do a blueberry one to

[@AustinNystel]

.....especially with strawberries? 🍓

[@Mugenetics]

I remember you saying it before in a video (or two), but how many tea bags to cups of water did you use? 1:1?

[@bsicc]

2:37 I'M DYING LMAO

[@LycaonsMemories]

i think i still have a bottle of grimfrosts lingonberry mead.. i should open it

[@bluehaze2001ify]

If it has to make you think, it’s highly concentrated. lol

[@markmanning2921]

100% with you on that grapefruit thing, i can eat lemons raw off the tree but grapefruit is just ick lol p.s. have a my first mead in the closet in my motel room (here long term for work) percolating away. Only thing i did not put in there is some citrus because I forgot it... its been in there for 3 days... can i add it now?

[@jenslyn42]

It is as always enteraining to see you guys make a new brew, but this time what really drew my focus was how you guys apperently have apperently never seen concentrated fruit juice before!? To me that seems like such a common standard thing in my kitchen. Are these kind of products that rare in the US?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Not really rare, and we have used them before, but we hadn’t noticed this was a concentrated juice is all. Getting a proper gravity on juices is always important and with concentrate it’s a bit more tricky.

[@Wayouts123]

I think they say to mix 1 bottle to 6 parts water. I think.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It is one part concentrate to six parts water as a recommended dilution. However we intended to brew with it and wanted to have a stronger ratio of the concentrate.

[@keithmcauslan943]

He is having one of those days.

[@suzz1776]

So I store my brews in the fireplace. And I made a vlood orange mead onetime and I woke up the next day to check and the thing exploded like a guiser out the airlock and straight up and all over the inside of the fireplace. Aparently the orange clogged the airlock and crated pressure so it caused a guiser when it went.. Lol. To this day the inside flu part still smells like old alcohol cuz I couldn't get it all clean. LOL. So now I put a tray under and a light towl over the top for the first day...just in case. Lol.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Fun story! Home brew teaches us to not only be patient, but to be problem solvers.

[@jimmelton7299]

Is the sg the same basically for all sugars, white, dark brown, turbinado?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

They can vary a little, best to test the brand you're using. They may have differing amounts of molasses and other things.

[@MirrimBlackfox]

Heather is bitter, it was used in beer before hops was common, lingonberry is related (and has a similar flavor profile) to cranberry which is *also* bitter... I am going to use my amazing powers of precognition and say that this brew will be bitter, at least it would be far to bitter for me.