Irn-Bru Mead? Part 1

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Great experiment! Apparently two of the main flavours are thought to be banana extract and citrus, with a bot of a ginger kick at the end. Some will also add blackcurrant to the list. According to the website, Irn Bru contains 32 flavours. The ‘bubble gum’ aspect could very well be caused by the banana extract. About the candies: I think there might be a lot more fermentable sugars in them than you think… which will be interesting to see: as you didn’t mix them in completely you might essentially be step feeding your brew! That means: hold on to your socks, this brew could end up with quite a kick! Long fermentation perhaps, but it might have the kick of a scottish mule in a bad mood and unwilling to get out of its cozy stable… only to gallop out at top speed once it decides to get going. Careful or it could bowl you head over tail in the process. Sounds kind of fitting with the Scottish theme though: Scottish sarcasm is infamously lethal and throughout history the Scottish clans were fierce warriors. Can’t wait to find out how it turns out!

[@nicholaskarako5701]

I've tried Irn bru twice and overall thought the soda had a mild mandarin orange/ creamy vanilla taste so I can totally agree with the Tutti-frutti concept in this batch of mead. If this batch doesn't taste like the soda maybe try, orange blossom honey, mandarin orange juice/ zest and and lactose. Blackcurrants are also very popular in the UK. Bought the blackcurrant concentrate a few times. Definitely a grape juice flavor, but with complex earthy tones, tart dried cherry and blueberry flavors. Really good in a gin and tonic. A blackcurrant mead juniper berries and the typical botanicals use in gin could be quite nice.

[@angellinares90]

Great video stefanie! First time hearing about irn bru.

[@siphil0]

The mic is a big improvement!

[@ginley2]

Hope it turns out good Steph :)

[@TheLaughingSimon]

Most Scots will appreciate the lack of aspartame in your mead. The Big Controversy was when the sugar tax went up in the UK and all the soft drinks companies scrambled to save profits and lowered the sugar intake and started using aspartame to compensate. You can't get full sugar bru anywhere anymore 😔

[@faultyinterface]

That is honestly tragic. Aspartame is so nasty. The sweetener that is ruining things for me here in the US is Stevia.

[@Nudgeworth]

How did it turn out? I used to really like Iron Bru :)

[@stanleygrover2162]

Add a pound of dark table traps from the grocery store. It will give you color.

[@seriouslyrelaxed]

Is there a particular type of grapes that work best for the color?

[@daviei13]

Part 2?

[@TheLaughingSimon]

It's hard for a Scotsman to pinpoint the flavours of Irn Bru because we've had our tastebuds ruined from years of drinking irn bru.

[@LumberDrum]

Hey, clicked through to your channel after seeing your collab with faewood. I enjoyed this video too but I'm having trouble navigating your content as you've placed the channel name at the front of all of your video titles and its taking up all of the character allowance for the title preview, meaning I can't tell what anything is about before clicking on it.

[@MakingPourDecisions]

Thanks for the heads up! Just went through and made some changes!

[@andyn3532]

Barley sugar and sherbet would have been good ingredients for this one

[@MakingPourDecisions]

I'll keep this in mind for my next attempt!

[@stanleygrover2162]

Grapes not trapes

[@seriouslyrelaxed]

One more vote for no food coloring

[@christopherhaughey6900]

Irn bru just taste of Irn bru... didn't you know it is part of the salt, sugar, sour, bitter, umami and irn bru !

[@umerbatt5906]

I like you

[@littlebones88]

My God, who would drink that stuff? Aspartame is poison. In any case, I got very close to that color with my dandelion/raisin mead. I'll bet that enough raisins would give you the color, though they might alter the flavor profile you're looking for. When decocted, dandelion petals will make the brew orange too with a much milder flavor. I shy away from using artificial anything, so I'd say no to food coloring. Hey, why not use distilled water in your brew? Distilled water is pure water, unlike these glorified tap and spring waters. I've only ever used distilled, and it never let me down. Good luck with your brew, I bet the sugar in that candy ferments. By the way, they have natural tutti frutti extracts or you could try making it with particular fruit combinations.

[@MakingPourDecisions]

I like using spring because it has minerals that can be beneficial to yeast. Distilled can be "too pure" but if it works for you then I might try it one day!

[@littlebones88]

@@MakingPourDecisionsHmmmm...... well it is my understanding that the minerals in water do not assimilate well if at all in animals, only plants. Animals (yeast) derive available minerals from plants/other animals. Pretty much all fresh water initially comes from distilled water in the form of rain. Spring water is basically water contaminated with inorganic minerals, something our body has to remove. People like the taste I guess, but there is nothing like an ice-cold glass of distilled water. The jugs they put distilled water in can sometimes pick up a chemical from the plastic (methyl-something), but the negative ionic bond that distilled water has causes this and heavy metals to pass out of the body with the water. If you brew with distilled water, take a sip first to make sure it doesn't taste of plastic. If you feel that I am wrong on any of these accounts, please let me know. (you'll never get a kidney stone if you drink distilled water)