Hydromel Recipe 2022 - Easy Sparkling Mead

[@Shawn-wt4kh]

I have no intention of ever brewing my own stuff, and yet I just binged all your videos. You two are fun and entertaining.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

LOL

[@dennisjeffrey5453]

I'm beginning to think I enjoy these two and their videos more than I enjoy mead!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Lol

[@rossborgwardt1036]

You made my day!!! I have been wanting to make a hydromel for weeks. I have found videos on other channels, but I Love how you show everything. Plus you guys don’t add anything extra! 🤗. You guys rock!!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Glad I could help!

[@jamesj8965]

Ive done a few at 7% and they were drinkable at 5 weeks. If you are going with a fruit back sweetening i recommend blueberry or cherry.

[@roybarnes-thewildlifeman1855]

The others don’t have the style and persona of Derica and Brian.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Aww thank you!

[@piercedupdude]

Got a smokin deal on a 2 tap kegerator and made two 5gal hydromels, a ginger lemon and a sitka spruce and mosaic hopped one. SO GOOD! Clear, carb'd and on tap. Summer ready!!

[@Skydaughter256]

I've been waiting all winter for my lavender to bloom again so I can make a lavender hydromel! Thanks for the updated recipe; I'll come back to it once my blossoms come in!

[@generrosity]

(NZ) Winter is coming. Time for hydromel! 😆 Love your work 💚

[@404Cluster]

Thanks!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thank you!

[@PedroE]

Recently found a juniper berry mead i made two years ago in the back of the fridge, its sooo sweet and beautifully rich

[@obisescapades]

Hi guys, I have always fancied making my own brews but didn't know where to start. After watching several of your videos, you have helped so much with all your information and passing on your knowledge. Please keep up the great work

[@Shellewell]

The smashing sound effect when you threw MegaMaid had me for a split second there 😂

[@daigledj]

Think this is the first video I can recall you guys didnt use anything for tannins. My first Hydromel is currently offgassing while waiting for me to have time to get to it and without the secondary additions or even aging tastes pretty yummy as is. Enough so I may set a bottle back before I do anything else to it.

[@the_whiskeyshaman]

Love these back to basic tutorials even for experienced makers it’s a good recap. Thanks guys

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Glad you like them!

[@elricthebald]

Cool. Got a hopped Hydromel in secondary as we speak. Going to bottle and carbonate it before the end of the month.

[@gregorybogart5200]

I put the new musts into my beer brew kettles. I also learned to save some of my Starsan solution to refill my airlock should it needs to be cleaned and refilled!

[@philswaim392]

First! Also thanks so much. Looking for my next mead batch and i think this will be it. I did your juniper mead and it went pretty well. I also dont like a heavy gin taste but the juniper flavor with honey and citrus was really tastey

[@DarciaSidTV]

Love you guys !! Im perfecting my meadmaking every other day, even tried making Absinthe which came out not half bad. xD Blessed be.

[@LardoiseGirl1976]

Good morning.

[@roytelling6540]

I live in Finland and there is a natural spring about 8,2km from me (about 5 miles) :)

[@georgehardisty8948]

Food for thought about filtering. The filter is going to keep some of the good brew, the best filter will take more than what you leave in the bottom of a 1 gallon brew.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We don't filter. It's just not something we're really looking to do. IMO it's more effort than it's worth to save a couple ounces of brew.

[@SA12String]

Our tap water here is from a well, being in a rural (for now) area, and it tastes incredible, but every so often, you can tell the general improvement district runs chlorine through the system to stave off mold and crud growth. For a day or so, the water tastes like a pool. So it might be a good idea that even if your tap water tastes great like ours, you should take a taste before you use it in your must. Just an observation.

[@honeylady108]

Good afternoon Brian and Derica! I just ordered a pack of the yeast and this will be my first hydromel. Thanks for all the great videos! Oh, btw, I still have 4 bottles of lemon mead that I bottled on 5/17/21 and was so happy to watch the video of how yours aged out. I gave one bottle away and there's a good chance they didn't open it yet. I am going to let them know that it's more than a cooking mead now, if they still have it. That's what I did with my first bottle; I used it in a seafood recipe where it turned out an excellent dish, Now it's a drinking mead if mine is as good as yours.

[@GeoffNewman68]

Long time viewer, first time brewer. Thanks for sharing these videos. This made a great way to use some of the extra honey from my bee hive. 🤞I hope my attempt turns out as well as your brews.

[@LFHiden]

For those who are interested, different yeasts like different temperatures, a yeast like Kveik wants a really high temps for example

[@KevinKaneTheOneTheOnly]

I'd love to see you guys tackle Braggots!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJqWkKKHjdasf5o

[@papaVT]

It's kind of dumb, but i really appreciate you bringing up the 131.25 thing here after my question a few days back (i'm probably not the only one who asked though). It really shows that you care a lot about your community. As usual, thanks a lot for the video i can't wait to try out the recipe!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Without all of you, this channel wouldn't exist :)

[@pyrostar69yt]

Wow, really... super glue! I would have never thought of that.

[@knightmare1015]

Very cool. I did the math 1.036 - 1.000 = 0.036 * 131.25 = 4.725% ABV. That is going to be really easy to drink when its finished. I also enjoyed your "What is Mead?" video too. This is a French style mead.

[@thorongil8729]

I have dandylion semysweat mead and i want it to be sparkling. So my question is if i add sugar and then pasteurize it, will it remain sparkling or not? Maybe this is a noob question but i have never made a sparkling mead before.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If you want a sweet carbonated beverage it is best to sweeten to taste, then add the correct amount of additional sugars for carbonation, then to pasteurize after carbonation is complete to stop over carbonation. If you already have a carbonated beverage that you would like to be sweeter, your best option is to add some simple syrup at the time of drinking so that you won't loose your carbonation.

[@thorongil8729]

@@CitySteadingBrews thanks, love ya!!

[@BrokenTablesPodcast]

Grab a bottle of Tazo Hibiscus 🌺 Rose 🌹 Tea concentrate from the grocery store and add before water for an amazing Rosé like hydromel. One of my favs rn.

[@bretonleo8740]

I find So4 and other English ale yeasts like Nottingham to be really temperature sensitive, I would temp control it to 65 Fahrenheit to avoid the esters that you can have at room temp with that yeast. They can produce a nice clean mead or ale but can also be overly fruity in a non pleasant way. It can also stall on you easily, since it floculantes really well one other tricky thing of this English strains !

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I find it works really well in our environment. Not really had any objectionable fruity flavors.

[@bretonleo8740]

@@CitySteadingBrews that’s a good news ! Thats also the fun part of home brewing, we all find the things that work for us the best ;) Thanks for your reply !!

[@jbtravelssolo7596]

I live in tyrone st.pete right down the street from yall and i can say our water does indeed have chloramine in it atleast the last time i checked and a normal water filter does not take that out.

[@osutuba]

f I wanted to make a one gallon batch of this and make it a cranberry-orange session, would I want to use the cranberry juice in primary or add it to secondary?

[@j.jacobdeisher1152]

Looks tasty! Can't wait to try that one.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Hope you enjoy

[@areaska]

Would you recommend using a cup of black tea for a tannin in this or is it not recommended and desirable for a brew like this? I’m still rather new to brewing and wanted to know

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Up to you really. Tannins add body and mouthfeel.

[@Bertaland1]

I am going to make just what you made, it will not be as good as yours, because I live in Colorado, but it will be OK. I thank you for how to make this easy sparkling Mead. Have a Great Day.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Not sure why being in Colorado would make it inferior?

[@Bertaland1]

@@CitySteadingBrews Because, I do not have the same Honey. But that's OK. I know it will be good.

[@Bertaland1]

@@CitySteadingBrews Because I do not have the same good honey as you have and yeast. But I know it will be good for me. I thank you for another Great Video, and have a Great Day.

[@prplprince8730]

I’ve personally never used ferm-o. Does it allow the yeast to work faster because they’re well fed?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We haven't really noticed a significant difference in time of fermentation, but we have noticed a significant reduction in stalled brews. This could be a result of adding fermaid O and it could also be due to us keeping the fermentable sugars at a lower level.

[@hantms]

About the "How greedy do you want to be" in filling up as high as possible.. You can just leave quite a bit of space, wait for the initial vigorous fermentation to settle down a little, so then a day or two later you can fill it up further. "Oh but then my SG reading changes" yes it does, but you can just calculate the new 'starting gravity' based on the original volume, measured SG, and then the volume you've added.

[@hantms]

Or: fill it up nice and full, take SG reading before pitching yeast, then take out 2-3 cups and put that in a bottle in the fridge (won't ferment, no yeast yet), THEN pitch yeast, let the yeast knock itself out foaming all it wants to do for the next 2 days, then when it settles down add back the must you put in the fridge. Yes it's an extra step, but so is dealing with a huge mess, blow off tubes and all that fun stuff. :) )

[@parisherlocker3627]

How does the use of Fermaid-O fit in with the natural brewing method? What really is Fermaid-O?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's an organic nutrient. We began using it since we found it made for a more consistent fermentation. We don't really push a "natural" concept so much as a "simple" concept. Sure, the two coincide a lot, but that's the idea. As to what is in it? "Fermaid O™ is a blend of inactivated yeast fractions rich in organic nitrogen. Fermaid O™ does not contain added ammonia salts (DAP) or micronutrients."

[@parisherlocker3627]

@@CitySteadingBrews Oh I see! Thanks.

[@m0rbidhusky]

Is it possible to fortify and bottle condition a mead or cider?

[@elricthebald]

Fortify AND carbonate? That's gonna be tricky. You won't be able to naturally carbonate because of the higher ABV. Only thing I can think of is to fortify it and use something like a SodaStream to carbonate.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I don't think you can fortify and carbonate naturally no. You can force carb though.

[@finebrian224]

What is your fermentation station?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's a shelf on a shelving unit is all.

[@johnshaw6702]

I think yeast is everywhere in my place. Twice now, I poured apple juice in a container and forgot to put it in the refrigerator. Both times it started fermenting on the counter. The rest was being used to make Apple wine.

[@chriscalvert8617]

Do the sanitized items need to be totally dry before you use them?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Nope, not at all.

[@lord123j]

Ever thought about mead fortification with a peaty or creamy mouth feel Scotch? Asking for a friend

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You certainly can if you like.

[@rossdalley1424]

Yeast Nutrient is really not easy to find in spain. Just like a lot of home brew ingredients. Are there natural ingredients I could use. Also have you ever naturally carbonated using honey? Would it give enough taste to a juice wine? Thanks for all your help and I am loving all your videos ❤

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You can try mail order or boil a tablespoon of regular yeast and it becomes an "ok" nutrient. Honestly we leave nutrient out a lot and haven't seen much difference at least in typical brews. Super high ABV may be a different story.

[@rossdalley1424]

@CitySteadingBrews thank you so much. It is always hard to find things in Spain. It is not a popular thing to do here. I have been working on a juice wine recipe. Which uses 2 popular fruit juces here. It is cranberry and grape juice (2L), and pear juice(2L). I named it Cranperry. I also want to add honey to flavour it, ABV about 9%. Back sweeten with a non fermentable and... not sure of it is worth natural carbonation with sugar or honey for the extra taste. It also uses a little lemon and vanilla extract in conditioning to add complexity. Not made it yet as I am working away but aim to start in a few weeks. Always happy to hear of other good ideas. 👍

[@n3x_VR]

Thanks from France for all your vidéos ! Question about this one , can I replace Fermaid O by some Black tea , raisin and Orange skin like your older vidéos ? Thanks !

[@CitySteadingBrews]

They don’t do the same thing. Fermaid O is nutrients, the others add color and flavor. You can leave it out but you take a higher risk of stalls or off flavors.

[@n3x_VR]

@@CitySteadingBrews Oh okay thanks , I don't have Fermaid in france or on amazon Fr :/ Do you know something to replace that ? Because you didn't use it in other mead video

[@dualblade4862]

This is neat! By the way, I don't know what kind of diet yall are on but yall look great! Happy for yall.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thank you!!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

This is our other channel where we explain the diet changes: kzbin.info/door/qjTeB88zqdwT69gdNC-UXw

[@dualblade4862]

@@CitySteadingBrews Haillll yea thank yall!

[@ihmehiitaja]

I'm currently making sparkling mead, although it's above 10%. I was thinking about oversweetenening some of the bottles during secondary fermentation and then stopping the fermentation so that I end up with sweet sparkling mead. Not really sure how to stop the fermentation. Maybe pasteurization but I'm afraid the bottles might explode from increased pressure due to heating. I'm only going to heat the up to 70°C. Do you have any suggestions?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqfZpomAg9NloK8&ab_channel=CitySteadingBrews

[@jackbradney5161]

Hi, I love all your content and have a couple of brews on the go! All I have for bottling is a mega maid, is there any reason there would be an issue other than it being tedious to bottle using mega maid? Thanks in advance!

[@apeschell]

Can you take your regular simple mead recipe and dilute with water after primary fermentation to get a hydromel?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I wouldn’t do that really, but in theory it’s possible.

[@Bam_Like_Dat]

I believe I would need to use a filter for my tap as well. What do you use?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We use to use an RO filter but now use a Berkey.

[@Bam_Like_Dat]

@@CitySteadingBrews 👍 Thanks! I'm on it!

[@edwardcunningham6315]

Been enjoying the videos for a few days now. Watched the beginners videos and gotta say there's a lot of great info, and going to have to save them. Question, can I use homemade raisin yeast for brewing? Thanks again 😊

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We have not tried it but as it is basically wild yeast grown with raisins, I don't see why not.

[@4.23.21]

Can you add raisins and orange peel like in other videos

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Of course you can if you enjoy the flavors they bring to a mead! 😊

[@jeffreypayne5459]

Hey guys, I live in northern Idaho AND I brew on a storage unit/man cave. It's mild at best here. Most of the year is downright cold. Fermentation is slow. At least twice as long. Is there any benefits to slow Fermentation? Or bad consequences?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Just use the right yeast. D47 for example likes cooler temps.

[@hanslemmen9492]

Is the fermentation station just a shelf where you keep the brews?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yup!

[@LordWiseWolf]

Take notes! I made a wildberry mead for my wife and sister for their birthdays. They loved it and want more. I only remember the ingredients. Not amounts or if it was wildberry before or after fermentation or in conditioning or both. It was an experiment and I have no notes I can find except the date it started, date it finished date it finished aging.

[@niko.airsoft]

Would Mangrove Jack's MEAD YEAST M05 be good for Hydromel? Thanks!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

it is suitable for all types of mead but it does have a high alcohol tolerance (18%). So if you are looking to make a sweet hydromel you will have to pasteurize it and back sweeten most likely.

[@benjaminstocks4924]

I have a question unrelated to the video. I have a batch of cider bottle conditioning in a cooler and today noticed some green mold at the bottom of the cooler. I cleaned that out, but then noticed the bottles (swing-top) all have a bit of mold at the seal. I have been burping them to check carbonation and only just now noticed the mold. Is it safe to clean the bottles up, sanitize, and let them keep going?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Mold bad. I would be very leery of anything in that cooler at this point.

[@benjaminstocks4924]

@@CitySteadingBrews That's what I was afraid of. Well, at least I get to bottle the ginger beer I made using your recipe early!

[@thestarnerd7172]

I have a question will bottling in to a metal bottle change a brews flavor?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I think I got this in the Live, but yes, metal will change the flavors.

[@thestarnerd7172]

@@CitySteadingBrews thank you and yes you did but it is still appreciated

[@ikkkkkkke1]

I am a new Homebrewer, after being a beekeeper for a few years. Is there a reason why you are using yeast in packets of 5 grams? at my homebrewstore you can also buy 500 gram yeast containers for the price of 10 x 5 gram packets. what would you recommend?

[@smoke4824]

If you can buy bulk *wine* yeast and nutrients I would recommend that it's cheaper than single packets but most people dont make or buy in bulk so it's cheaper for them to buy single packets at a time but make sure you are purchasing wine yeast as bread yeast gives different flavors' goodluck friend!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Easier to get, more convenient than measuring.... Never thought about it. We like to use many different yeasts too so having 500 g of each would be too much.

[@ikkkkkkke1]

@@smoke4824 thanks, yes i have bought lalvin 71B yeast 500g for the price of 10 x 5g lalvin 71B packets. that should last me a while xd.

[@ikkkkkkke1]

@@CitySteadingBrews ah yes i understand the reasoning. thank you for the answer!

[@therenaissancewoman2080]

I checked on Amazon for the Safal - S04 and it's expensive. In Canada it's $9.98 for just one pack. Is there another yeast that could be used that's less expensive?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Any yeast will “work” but an ale yeast would be more similar.

[@sarahspalding2449]

Everytime I ferment anything with grape I have to use a blow off tube. I just automatically put one on now to avoid the sticky mess.

[@CLEARSKIESTV]

Where is part 2? It appears there is only a single video for Sparkling Mead on your channel.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6PckGmmpdWjedksi=RKY43qhAmqcI95yA Sorry, link should have been in the description, and now it is!

[@lukastojanovic8551]

Why did you use safale s04 instead of a wine yeast?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We wanted a lower ABV beverage, so using a lower tolerance yeast was appropriate.

[@GeorgeSmyth]

Just a question for anyone - I've got several bottles of Cyser (11% ABV) that have sediment at the bottom. I'd like to remove the sediment but my auto-siphon is too large. Would it make sense to rough rack it, let it settle out, then re-bottle it, or would the chance of oxidization put it in the "better not, just deal with it" category? Thanks.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

With every racking there is a risk of oxidation. However, it's not that high. If the sediment bothers you, you can siphon out of the bottles and rebottle, but I wouldn't rough rack this.

[@GeorgeSmyth]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

[@tombrabant7097]

Was wondering I haven’t seen this discussed, or I just missed it but how long do you use your star san

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We just make up a tub of it and then get rid of it when done. We don't keep it around.

[@Joenerfhearder]

Some Lager yeast will work below 60, I don't know much about it but I think they can work to 40 F. or so...

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yeah, lager yeasts are a whole other ball game. :)

[@emr52071]

What is the ideal pH for the water?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Water is ideally 6.5-8.5. Outside of that you may have problems.

[@mel-way3232]

All the meads I make get a slight sulfur smell when they get down to 1030 gravity is this normal?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Sounds like not enough aeration. Also try degassing during fermentation.

[@mel-way3232]

Thanks and love your channel

[@captnron740]

what happened to the turkey baster?

[@johno7617]

Very little flavor in straight hydromels. I put fruit and ginger in all of mine. Mine are 4-5% abv. Yours might have more honey flavor at 8%

[@buffalojoe78]

I tried Meridian Hive’s hydromels and for some reason I just couldn’t get into them. They were like 5% but just thin and sparkly.

[@xxtwigzxx34]

Noticed a little issue with your 1.035 info. You mention that for EVERY lb of honey into that 1gal container, and topped with water, it will increase gravity by .035. This can't be true. It works for the first lb of honey, but not for the second... third.... fifth. As you can imagine, as you add more honey into the same size vessel, you're greatly changing the ratio of honey/water. As an extreme example, if you put 10 lbs of honey in there, you won't end up with 1.35. I know this may seem obvious at those numbers, but we don't want people adding 2-3 lbs of honey in that one gal jug and guessing the brix. Also, Hello from Nova Scotia, Canada! I love your content and use it allll the time!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's a rough guide. Honey changes too, so it's not always even .035

[@thestarnerd7172]

I asked this during the live but i dont think you understood what i meant i asked if you would ever revisit rice wine but what i meant to say is would you go back and add other flavors to the rice wine like fruit, spices,flowers etc... Cuz right now it is like the purest mead people.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Oh... well, that was our first foray into rice wine. I suppose we could do something like that, sure.

[@ST62382]

I just made a similar recipe but used 3lbs of honey. Now you have me nervous about the results At the same time, I made your traditional recipe using black tea, raisins and orange peel

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If you were aiming for a hydromel… it’s not. However! It can be a perfectly fine mead :)

[@ST62382]

@@CitySteadingBrews I was aiming for a mead anyway so that’s good to hear

[@craigloutsch5895]

Apple mead please

[@CitySteadingBrews]

That is known as a Cyser: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXi7oXx5pL11hck

[@el0tito]

"Shake the BeeJesus out of it"

[@maurotrevisan7879]

Hi! Is it possible to see your cats??? :3

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We keep them away when we're brewing so we don't get cat hair in our brews.

[@maurotrevisan7879]

@@CitySteadingBrews same thing here! :p

[@chrisperrin4329]

♥

[@larryakre5942]

A quirky observation, it appears that your necked fermenters (gallon jugs) are threaded for a cap. Why use "the thumb saver bung" ...or any bung for that matter, when you can just screw on a cap & be done with it. No leaks, muss, or fuss. Your thumb(s) will appreciate the relief of stress. Save Thy Thumbs!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We could... lost those caps a long time ago and I think we have three kinds! T's easier (and funnier imo) to just use a solid bung :)

[@throng5092]

I wanna make this one but six gallons of it hahahah

[@throng5092]

I made it it turned out great

[@samkutana925]

Room temp 50 degrees in England?? Y’all need to get rid of Charles he be playing y’all

[@CitySteadingBrews]

That comes from a friend who lives there.