I Tried the Craft a Brew Mead Kit

Today I'm trying out the craft a brew mead kit. I received this kit to review and try from Craft a Brew and wanted to put it to the beginner mead maker test. I walk pretty quickly through the mead making process in this video and turn this mead kit into a metheglin. We are adding some cinnamon to this mead and making it pretty interesting and fun.
I do have a affiliate link if you want to try this kit for yourself:
www.amazon.com/Craft-Brew-Mak...
Drill attachment for stirring: amzn.to/3TAHTTe
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Equipment I Use:
Here are links to equipment and there is a recipe card below:
Glass Carboy (& Airlock): amzn.to/2QP7Mxm
Short Auto-Siphon & Tubing: amzn.to/2YXorU7
Long Auto-Siphon & Tubing: amzn.to/3NOjKFH
Hydrometer: amzn.to/31P3PPF
1 Gallon Keg: amzn.to/3tuYttM
Star San (Sanitizer): amzn.to/32OhXYF
Scale: amzn.to/34TSAaL
Hand Bottle Capper: amzn.to/3buC6at
Bench Capper (Optional): amzn.to/32LZZpY
Hand Corker: amzn.to/32MlxCO
Floor Corker (Optional): amzn.to/3gPgbvq
Wine Corks: amzn.to/3jCvQ2Y
Bottle Caps: amzn.to/3lNMHSD
Bottling Wand: amzn.to/3hR8rKH
Wine Bottles: amzn.to/47enlDT
Synthetic Corks: amzn.to/3tMpKrs
Red Star Yeast Sampler: amzn.to/47en8AB

[@GusSchultzPlays]

For anyone interested in kits with buckets, Home Brew Ohio has several options at different size points. Definitely worth checking out for newcomers.

[@juliaharbeck774]

That is always the one I recommend. The craft a brew would be better if they had a hydrometer and a plastic bucket which teh ohio one has.

[@juts89]

I think the better experience of including a racking cane/Auto siphon would be worth a small price increase. Anything to reduce friction for entering the hobby.

[@iamathousandapples]

I agree. I just did this kit last month and the siphon isnt great. I wound up getting hella sediment in all my bottles cause the siphon wouldnt stop and had to rush it. Also no talk of backsweetening which I'll have to do in my next batch

[@kb2vca]

Not sure I agree. An auto siphon is a luxury item. A tube and racking cane is all you need to transfer from the primary to the secondary. If a wine maker does not know how to suck a tube to begin to siphon, I am not sure that they should be making a wine or a mead. An hydrometer IS useful, but not so much to measure your starting gravity. If you are making a mead and you are using bottled honey then you KNOW that 1 lb of standard honey dissolved in water to make 1 US gallon will raise that gallon of water by 35 points. Two gallons, will raise the gravity by 70 points and 2.5 gallons will raise the gravity to 1.087. You have more water, the gravity will be reduced and you use less water and it will be increased. You need an hydrometer to be able to monitor the progress of the fermentation... but all other things aside, monitoring fermentation without creating problems because of poor sanitation may not be a great idea if pushed by a kit maker.

[@theonedelta1239]

​@@kb2vcaI've never understood the mentality of "if you can't do X with outdated techniques and need to rely on new technology that makes it easier then you shouldn't be doing it at all." Auto siphons were made to improve the quality of the fermenting experience. Is there realistically any situation in which a racking cane is better than an auto siphon, or that you would have to use one over the other? Plus if you enjoy the hobby you should welcome anything that lowers the bar for entry so more people can enjoy it too.

[@pinkdoor85]

I have used this kit once. It does do a pretty great job in instructing a beginner. Due to this, and loads and loads of your videos, I had several more pieces of equipment and ingredients in my arsenal before I started really getting into mead making. Thank you for sharing this!

[@ManMadeMead]

I'm super glad I could help!

[@jamesbrothersstudio4660]

I bought that kit. There are better kits with less fancy packaging in the same price range. You pay for the packaging. It's not a great kit. It's just okay and you'll spend more to get what you need. Home Brew Ohio kit was $4 more and came with everything that has and a hydrometer, 2 gallon bucket, and auto siphon.

[@skeezixmccat]

It doesn't really seem all that bad, but I did also end up going with the home brew Ohio kit 😂 because it is better and it was actually $10 cheaper for me on Amazon than this kit was

[@tr1084]

Started brewing about a year and a half ago. This pack was how i got started. My friends and I have since made dozens of gallons of mead with our own preferred style. We still have some of our first batch from this. Great learning experience but, man, there's plenty of sediment and they said nothing about sweetening. There's a reason we still have some sitting around.

[@bobbyblazes4398]

That's the kit that got me into it a couple years ago. I will say if I didn't continue to research while it brewed i wouldn't have continued after the results. I credit my research/hobby to You, DTM and CSB. Cheers

[@DavidGarcia-hp1xc]

Same here. I started in october and have been non stop doing research because my first one was pretty garbage.

[@bobbyblazes4398]

@DavidGarcia-hp1xc Cheers

[@helenrestell901]

Same, I started with this kit but ended up dumping it because it was awful. Started again with more knowledge and better results.

[@ThaddsRips]

Love your work. My first brew was with a kit. They are great for a beginner. They often include things you might not think of.

[@pokedino99]

This was the kit my friend got me for Christmas, and now I have about 15 gallons worth of mead in progress thanks to your videos

[@ManMadeMead]

I'm happy to help!

[@alaskandonut]

Thanks for the content!

[@andymiller1707]

I’m working on my 1st batch right with this kit

[@damnyiffers]

How did it turn out? I'm curious

[@primitivedaisy]

My favorite mead to make is Spiced Metheglin with cinnamon, allspice and cloves. It’s a recipe from City Steaders and my absolute favorite! I have a 5 gallon brew aging right now. 😊🐝

[@ManMadeMead]

Very cool!

[@TigerPat_9180]

Really Appreciate Your Video , Thanks ! 🐯🤠

[@FermentationStation-xc6iv]

Awesome

[@Sirbloody]

I bought this kit back in January and I already added so many more upgrades.

[@Xuzzas]

Can i still backsweeten if i only have one carboy?

[@ManMadeMead]

Yup!

[@tim-tim-timmy6571]

Great idea to slightly diverge to get an interesting brew. I disagree about the auto-siphon. Auto-siphons are beginner friendly but plastic ones will scratch over time and sanitation will be a bit dodgy. It also tends to introduce oxygen while it is siphoning. I threw all of mines away and got an old fashioned stainless steel racking cane that has a small cap at the bottom to avoid siphoning the lees. That has been a game changer, I will never go back. But once again, it's not the most beginner friendly thing.

[@pancakerizer]

Same. I once dried my auto siphon on a wire rack, and it caused some small indentations on the bottom gasket of the inner cane. When I went to rack my wine, the seal wasn't good, so it sucked in a bunch of air with my liquid! A stainless steel racking cane is never going to have those problems.

[@primitivedaisy]

Can you share the brand of SS siphon you purchased? I didn’t know there was an option! 😊🐝

[@tim-tim-timmy6571]

@@primitivedaisy it’s not specified, I just went of the website of my homebrew store, they sell « stainless steel racking canes ». I bought it with some silicone tubing matching the size, a cane holder and a clamp . To see how to use it, there is a video of Doin The Most about it. First time: practice with water

[@wendull811]

Is there a way to make a simple syrup with honey so I can backsweeten my mead by the glass. I like mine dry, and my buddy likes it sweet.

[@ManMadeMead]

You can definitely just add some sugar to back sweeten before you drink it!

[@Certawin]

Curious. Think a mesquite honey would be a good back sweetener. As an addition to thier clover honey?

[@ManMadeMead]

I definitely think it would be fun! I like mesquite honey. It's very good!

[@sapphirII]

I'd like to have clear beer bottles. To look at the color of the mead while I can just one bottle alone.

[@jscancella]

What's the link to @2:52? I couldn't find it in the description

[@ManMadeMead]

Oops I left it out! Here it is: amzn.to/3TAHTTe

[@jscancella]

My father-in-law got me this kit for Christmas, and it is the first time I ever made mead. I followed the instructions and replaced all the water with apple juice not realizing that the ABV would shoot up because of this. So calculating it, I ended up with ABV about 16%. When I first tried it, it was undrinkable. I am letting it sit for 6 months to a year and hoping it will taste better by then.

[@ManMadeMead]

It'll definitely taste better with some time!

[@chaoarecool]

This is my fist kit I used. It’s ok but I is missing some things like a good racking cane and hydrometer

[@christinaa.8233]

I just bought this kit in February from Amazon and it did not come with potassium sorbate. Just the yeast, nutrients, and sanitizer with the equipment. It’s good for beginners but still need a hydrometer.

[@brewqser5025]

Hi, I started my first batch (1,096 OG) and after 18 days it was at 1,054g, then after next 3 weeks (6 weeks in total) it is at 1,048g (I measured it 2 times). I don't know why it "stopped". I saw that your batches usually takes like < 5/6 weeks to go dry. Any idea what happened or what to do? Maybe I should start over and treat this first batch as ~6% "beer" and enjoy it as it is?

[@ManMadeMead]

Hmm.. did you add your yeast nutrient? You can definitely create a yeast starter by pitching new yeast in some honey and water mixture. Let that sit for a few days and then add it to the mead. It should restart fermentation

[@brewqser5025]

@@ManMadeMead Yes, I added some. I followed your "A Cheap & Simple Mead Tutorial for Beginners!", with the same yeast and nutrient. I also contacted you via mail, and we can talk there, why not :). For now, I will try to restart this batch. Wish me luck, bcs that "stubborn" first batch isn't going to stop me :).

[@sidneymilligan9572]

how funny, this is how I got in to fermenting myself

[@dracobruhma]

Came here to see day 2 step. Very disappointed theres no step by step of it

[@ManMadeMead]

Sorry dude! Check out the craft a brew video that talks about it!