Skyrim Black Briar Mead - Elder Scrolls CookBook - Mostly

Skyrim Black Briar Mead - Elder Scrolls Cook Book. Well, mostly. We've put off making the Elder Scrolls Cookbook recipes due to questionable practices, but, we decided to alter them a little but keep to the spirit of the Black Briar Mead from Skyrim.
Part Two of this Video! • Skyrim Mead Finishing ...
Ingredients:
3 pounds Wildflower Honey: [e-mail]
1 pound Blackberries
2 Cinnamon Sticks
2 Cloves
2 grams Fermaid O: amzn.to/39pO0Wb
1 Pack Premier Classique: amzn.to/3MIGOSP
1/4 Cup Rose Hips: amzn.to/3mGowXD
_____________________________________
Elder Scrolls Cookbook: amzn.to/3MOyrF7
Little Big Mouth Bubbler: www.northernbr...
Our Favorite Pitcher: amzn.to/3aTYYUw
Spoon of Unusual Size: amzn.to/3MIFZcH
Fermentation Bag: amzn.to/3xIuKfX
Fermentation Weights: amzn.to/3MXSDEZ
Star San: amzn.to/3HeOZFc
Graduated Cylinder: amzn.to/3HiIq4o
Hydrometer: amzn.to/3aU8ZB7
Syringe: amzn.to/3Hgqtng
Tiny Whisk : amzn.to/3MDaRLG
Thwack Your Packet t-shirt: city-steading....
Fun t-shirts: city-steading....
Some items used in the making of this video (We are Amazon Affiliates and as such do receive a small commission if you purchase anything after using one of our links. There is no cost to you for this, but it does help the channel and enables us to keep bringing you content. Thank you!)
_____________________________________
Become a City Steading VIP - Click to learn more
www.city-steadi...
_____________________________________
Want more City Steading?
Website: www.city-steadi...
Instagram: / citysteading
#blackbriarmead #skyrimmead #mead #citysteadingbrews

[@luisvan-hoof4913]

Absolutely love this idea!! In the defence of Maven Blackbriar and her meadery in Riften, they only really have access to water from Lake Honrich and the sewage system which absolutely needs the bejesus boiled out of it XD I'm more of a Honningbrew mead drinker myself. There are more streams that run off the White river which definitely make a natural, cleaner mead (as long as they hold the skeever poison!)

[@chawk530]

I'm pretty sure the dash of salt was a mistranslation. Pretty sure it's actually skooma.

[@AustinNystel]

Definitely need to hold off on the skeever poison. Might also wanna check to make sure no crazy wizards are hold up in the underground parts.

[@frogjunk]

That’s Jarl Maven to you!

[@phillawrence5148]

Word

[@phillawrence5148]

I vaguely remember poisoning that meadary for some reason 🤷

[@simonmacomber7466]

The point of Skyrim Mead isn't to get drunk, it's to have a very sweet drink that won't give you dysentery. Some of us _really like_ super sweet, effervescent mead. Having made the mead _exactly_ as it was described in the book, I found it absolutely delicious. It is what I expect mead to taste like.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Despite Bri's mini rant, we actually didn't have an issue with the original recipe as written in the Elder Scrolls cookbook. We go into this further in the follow up video. If you like your brews quick and sweet, then the book's recipe is great, particularly for new brewers with limited equipment.

[@Jackson-id2nz]

Almost like the sour home brew “beer” that old African guys drink in the sun all day

[@relensha7804]

A direct quote from the game, spoken from the very wise Commander Caius captain of the whiterun guards. "Oh come now, this is mead... not some wine to be sipped and savored."

[@michaelweiske702]

I do feel like Black Briar Mead should be somewhat intoxicating. If you hire a carriage to take you to Riften, the carriage driver might say "You ever been to Riften? Be sure to try the Black Briar Mead. A few mugs of that and you'll forget all about the long trip".

[@DocBrew69]

Thanks for pushing him over the edge Derica. Very entertaining to watch Brian outside of his comfort zone.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

lol

[@BobGrimminger]

I think these quick mead recipes are designed to be consumed while they're still fermenting, which is why they suggest tasting it and deciding when you want to drink, and noting that they'll be fizzy when you have them. They're also probably designed to be stopped/refrigerated once you get to a stage that you like them, rather than being fermented to completion and then bottled.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

That's what we were saying, yup.

[@GogiRegion]

Unfortunately bread yeast, what a lot of people who don’t know what they’re doing will use, is a yeast with a low flocculation. If you’re not letting it finish, it’s basically going to be all in suspension and have a noticeable taste.

[@legioxequestris4202]

Just when I thought this channel couldn't get any better, they bring in some Elder Scrolls recipes.

[@D_Halvig]

Brian was just itching to rant from the beginning of the video 🤣. I just so happen to have some honey that’s waiting to be used. This will be the next one for sure, along with the Irish mead.

[@pablodelsegundo9502]

That cookbook is hilarious in that they associate tropical spices with what's largely a tundra-nation: Ginger, cloves, grains of paradise...

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's also from a world that has....MAGIC. So....

[@kaitosevski3881]

You could explain that by Skyrim sharing a border with Hammerfell, so they could get all their spices from there Plus, I'm sure all those Khajiit traders would have some tropical spices from Elsweyr

[@yamato9753]

Khajit Traders everywhere, headquarter of the east empire company in Solitude, riften as the headquarters of the thieves guild, borders to hammerfell and morrowind... Checks out.

[@RafalBorowski]

Super cool you're making some brews from games. Practically in every RPG there are some brews/potions that can be crafted from different herbs and ingredients and seeing a real world take on those is fun and cool :)

[@eddieruby2893]

Confession... This book is what started my mead making. And wine. And root beer 🍺and beer. Lol but it started with 3 of the recipes Blackbriar being 1.

[@JustinP]

Love how you guys are having fun with you're brewing and trying interesting things.

[@heartemisart700]

Just a little info on rosehips. The de-seeded rosehips taste awesomely fruity as a tea (combines well with hybiscus) and in meads. The whole ones are kinda yuk coz the seads are musky and used more for making skincare products. Very interesting recipe!

[@TheHemmert]

I wondered if that was the case with the taste. Also; rosehips are full of vitamin C.

[@jasonwood9520]

i love the banter between you two. it reminds me of my wife and i and having hit pretty much rock bottom, its just what i needed. thank you!

[@BobaF99]

Make sure you try Vilod's Juniper Berry Mead, 9/10 Dragonborn would recommend!!

[@vicroc4]

I was just thinking that. Ralof certainly seemed to appreciate it.

[@ixwt]

Never thought of the fermentation weights for bags! Love that idea.

[@kinbolluck476]

ikr jez

[@BobGrimminger]

Skyrim was the thing that introduced the idea of possibly making mead to me.

[@rodneyswitzer607]

I made all 4 of the Elder Scrolls Meads plus just the Basic Recipe in May of 2021, half gallon batches and as it called for ale yeast, I used Safale S04, after 52 days fermentation still not done so I bottled and pasteurized. They were all good young but after 1 year not so good, not bad either.

[@RayMaster_901]

Holy crap this is probably going to be my favorite episode out of them all!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thank you for watching!

[@maxhunter3574]

Rose hips are a great natural vitamin C and antioxidant berry, also I think great for color and tannins in an orange wine, imo, or something similar. But otherwise, kinda a tough brew ingredient.

[@Drajika]

Thank you guys so much for making this mead!. I am planning to make all of the skyrim meads and the 2 week fermenting time is kinda worring me for being short of a time. I also really like how you use the recipe and then goes with your experience of measures for each spice :D!! Thanks again! Liked and subscribed ! Skål from Sweden :D

[@GermanBrew]

I made the Nord Mead from the book a while ago. I used a forest honey for it. The mead tasted really good but I think the ingredients don’t fit to Skyrim and the Nord. All the ingredients they write are from warmer countries 😅. But yes the one who write the book never made mead before 😂😂 I also think they also never played Skyrim

[@sclabhailordofnoplot2430]

Or its like the Elders Scrolls alchemy and they just gave your 2 ingredients. Self discovery for real life. "I also think they also never played Skyrim" (Play Skyrim for hours or make mead in real life) Hmm I know which one I would want to sip.

[@GermanBrew]

@@sclabhailordofnoplot2430 I did both 😂 play Skyrim for hours and made mead. I still hope to find a recipe in the game.

[@mbbillington3459]

Rose hips are high in Vitamin C and make a very tasty tea. It was my eldest son's favorite when he was a child. They're good stuff!

[@frankkeltch5260]

Recently I was covered the recipe for the family black berry wine. And everyone in the family enjoys it. A friend of mine had told me that to him it seemed thin and watery. So I was thinking of all of the ways I could improve it by thinking of all the recipes you guys have used. Then you come up with this Skyrim Blackberry Mead and I go there's my answer thank you. I won't copy your exact recipe but thank you for the better ideas to improve and make my family's blackberry wine my own

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

I know you commented this a year ago… still can’t resist replying as I’m re-watching the video after the 1-year tasting was published. There are two main solutions to ‘watery’ wine. 1. More fruit 2. Tannin Generally the ratio of fruit-to-water you’ll find for a lot of wine/mead recipes is 3 lbs of fruit to 1 US gallons of water, supplemented with sugar. That’s a little low for my personal taste. Adding an additional 1/2 to 1 lb is going to be a lot better. The more you add, the better. As an alternative, you can add any type of juice you fancy or think might marry well with your fruit. Even replacing half the water with a juice works wonders. Two of my go-to’s are apple juice and grape juice. To add complexity you might consider replacing part of your original recipe’s sugar with honey or, cost permitting, go full-on mead and use only honey. One thing with blackberries is that they contain a lot of seeds that might add a lot of bitterness if left in too long. What I do with seed-ridden fruit (blackberries, mulberries, raspberries… etc) is to crush the berries, add them to a fine mesh brewing bag, and whip that bag out after 3-5 days. Of that results in a wine that’s not tannic enough I either add a bit of wine tannin powder (remember you don’t need much!) or I add toasted oak after fermentation (taste frequently and remove as soon as you think it’s enough). If you find there.s still something missing, a touch of vanilla can do A LOT. Again, use a light touch. I hope that if you tried this video’s recipe you really liked it. If not, perhaps what I just wrote gives you a few ideas.

[@masondavis8617]

I can imagine Maven Black-Briar making this mead, telling her workers "I want no poof! This is a No-poof Brew!"

[@jdbuchs6659]

First off, been a viewer for a few months and love your videos. You two have inspired me to take the dive into home brewing. Got my first traditional, metheglin and vikings blood (nicknamed The Valkyries' Toll) going on 4 weeks. Second, had a random funny video idea... Top 5 Worst/Disappointing Brews. I don't know why I thought of it, but now I'm super curious. Thanks again for the inspirational, insightful and instructional content. Keep up the great work!

[@grantpflum6844]

Its so funny to watch her keep him on track!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

try... she tries to keep me on track!

[@Fernstump]

My guess as to the oddities in the recipe is they wanted it to reflect how the mead would’ve been made in the game, I.e. more in the older style where, as you said, their water wouldn’t have been the best so boiling would’ve killed any harmful bacteria. More for “authenticity” of product than quality of product. Albeit the amount of honey is far too much, and I doubt they had s-style airlocks in Skyrim!

[@Coxeysbodgering]

Thanks for saying about the cinnamon Vs cassia, i was so impressed with your spiced apple wine video and recipe I had to try it. I couldn't find the red star classique anywhere quickly thought. Started the sanitation (chem San) and realised I'd run out of cinnamon sticks and a corner shop semi Asian shop had some marked as cassia so used them. Anyway I scaled the recipe to UK gallon, 464g sugar 4 liters apple juice 1 cassia stick 2 cloves 9 allspice had to use general purpose yeast and expired bread yeast covered in boiling water as nutrition. This was one of the quickest starts, as it's almost a UK summer the home temp is around 19°C . Sorry for the essay take care and stay safe, Mike

[@eingames9931]

I have a brewing friend that would oxigenate the water before adding to his wert by pouring the water from a pitcher to a large pot with the water falling a minimum of 3 feet. This splashing adds enough oxygen for his yeast with out splashing the rest around.

[@MegaJoy66]

Thats awesome this is definitely gunna be one my list of To-Do Brew list

[@GSBrofly]

The Redwall series has a lot of interesting beverages to look at as well.

[@Drogbeorn]

I stopped brewing mead about a 15 years ago. Y'all inspired me to come back to it. Mind you, where I live now (Argentina) has some HUGE drawbacks (cost and mostly plastic), but I am back on track. I thought I knew a lot, but thank you for teaching me that I did not.

[@zackzehnder220]

“Heard they’re reforming the Dawnguard. Vampire hunters or something, in the old fort near Riften. Might consider joining up myself.”

[@krisares6396]

Rose hips are a medicinal herb, they are the bulb from a rose. I use them in my migraine tea, which has feverfew, so it tastes like crap anyway, but it works. Great antioxidant value. I add honey to it often.

[@RayneNaegwyn]

Ah! So exciting! I have posted a few of these meads in your facebook group. Forgot to mention there that I used your technique and just the flavours of the book. All of them turned out great!

[@aimeevanlandingham3844]

I know it's like, 2 years later, but Trader Joes has some reusable produce bags that make great brew bags. I don't think they would work for super small things but otherwise I've had good luck with them.

[@AnArchyzAch]

Raw Honey is full of microorganisms and hot water will pasteurize it. The reason that it isn't a problem with honey is the lack of water but with mead we add tons of water. That being said I personally don't heat my honey on most brews.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

True, but it's not an issue in brewing. If you are using honey that hasn't been cleaned in any way, it might be something to consider. For instance, dead bugs, dirt, etc, I might want to do something about, but most honey that is readily available has no such concerns.

[@basicems24]

It sounds like the salt comes in as a Gose inspired mead. I've seen some manufacturers make blackberry melomels with a touch of salt as a take on the Gose style of beer.

[@DZSabre]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! I am planning my attempt for after i harvwst my blackberries so I am glad you are taking a shot at it so i can learn from you guys.

[@millertime42046]

Putting honey into boiling water is not just for "dirty" water. The act of boiling the water also helps bypass some of the natural hiccups that come with fermenting honey. By boiling it you can get a cleaner more efficient mead. You will o course loose some of the honey notes but not enough that you should notice drastically. If you want a quick fermentation that comes out clear faster then boil it, if time isnt an issue then dont worry about boiling it.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Tell me more about how boiling makes a more efficient fermentation? I cannot find any proof of this.

[@millertime42046]

@CitySteadingBrews By helping kill off the enzymes naturally present in honey as well as the small amount of proteins being broken down by heat as well as some of its more complex acids. Also, honey in the raw form has a lot of wax like particles in it from the bees making hives. If you break down all this, then the yeast can consume it easier. Think about it like this, the bacteria in your gut breaks down your food. It does this better to cooked food vs raw food. If you don't believe me, you can also do your own tests as many other have done and seen the results.

[@ivanbannon4260]

I love your videos! My brother and I home brew many things and watching you both reminds me of many of the ways we did things and learned! Great job! We will be trying some of your recipes.

[@itswamba2060]

I have two Big Mouth Bubblers arriving on Tuesday. I’m making your spiced metheglin and now, Blackbriar mead. It just sounds delicious!! Thanks!!

[@DalorianShep]

your pronunciation was pretty spot on Derica! I have also had this book and several other game based cooking books and the recipes have been fairly solid. As always they do need some adjustments at times though, especially if we have experience in making it. I spy some lingonberry on the back shelf, will we be having one of those pop up?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Good job finding the "Easter Egg." Keep looking for more hints on what's to come. ;)

[@andresacebal427]

Finally!!! ♡

[@shawnbrunelle5449]

Hi guys....I'm Shawn and have been watching your wonderful show ...actually binging it,not in any particular order and nothing has been disappoint at all. I'm learning so much. The last video I watched was " how to make mead at home Sep 8 2018 I loved it. The thing that I saw that blew my mind was that small section of your bookshelf containing The 2nd edition Dungeons & Dragons books!!!! I have been playing D&D 2nd edition since I was 9 yrs old and I'm still running the same campaign at 53 yes old. I have refused every other edition. you sir and Lady are a breath of fresh air. I will now be serving my own mead at the games of course only to those old enough to imbibe. Definitely liking and subscribing. Thanks you both.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

That is Awesome!

[@chrisriker5422]

I'm not sure what the fermentation process does to the vitamin content of different ingredients. Being that mead was from what I can tell also consumed medicinally, the rose hips may be there for the vitamin C content(quite high). Granted they were likely unaware of vitamins, they likely were aware of the health benefits from ingesting them in some manner. Just a thought.

[@ironworks1700]

I got that book for my birthday this year. I decided to make the Nord Mead, definitely changed their methods similar to how you did. I am letting it sit until 4th of July.

[@DZSabre]

I want to share my experience with the recipie from the book. I don't think the salt is going to be an issue. I followed the recipie exactly (except for the boiling). I used a dash of Himalayan Pink salt instead of Iodized Salt. No yeast energizer or nutrients added since there are rose hips and berries in there. My yeast started producing within 20 minutes and the salt does not seem to have prevented them from working. I know in baking the salt slows the fermentation so I figure that the worst that could happen is the fermentaiton is slowed but not stopped.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

While it may not directly inhibit fermentation, salt just isn't the best thing to add to a brew. Thus, we left it out.

[@davidmathieson8661]

when the recipe book is calling for tablespoons of cloves, could it be they are referring to ground cloves, wherein shop bought ground clove is possibly not as powerful at imparting flavour as whole cloves are? I don't know if it's a fact or not but from old cooking videos I've watched, they say ground spices don't have the same potency as "fresh"

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You have a point, but tbh, a teaspoon of ground cloves is probably something like 20 cloves ground up. Even if they lose 3/4 of their potency, that's still FAR more than one or two fresh cloves.

[@timmc5954]

T shirt idea “ I gotta bee mead”

[@timmc5954]

A play on the song I gotta be me

[@adamflores4206]

Actually, when I was in college many years ago, in our chemistry class we did an experiment and adding a bit of salt was good for the growth of yeasts. We calculated the actual percentage of salinity but it was a long time ago and I don't recall what that amount was but a pinch of salt would probably be good for yeast growth and have a minimal impact on saltiness of the brew. Incidentally, the best nutrients was taking live yeasts, freezing them to burst the cell walls and straining off the liquid leaving behind all the cell walls.

[@awesomeal3603]

I love this game. Hope to see the Honningbrew recipe!

[@thegoodwolf4255]

14:15 don't know why that made me laugh. Love your videos guys! PS: rose hips are good as jelly after about 4 cups of sugar lol

[@tonybone2009]

Soooo…if we are doing Blackbriar Mead, can we also expect Honningbrew Mead soon?

[@ronaldsabourin8835]

The men's bathing suit reference made me laugh

[@MrFiredragon1976]

good video... btw, if you use to much cloves... it'll kill your yeast. Like cinnamon, I believe it has an anti-bacterial effect. I once did a test brew with too much clove and it simply never ferment. what a waste of good honey. So if you're looking for a strong clove taste in your mead, add them after fermentation. For the salt, just a little amount will go a long way. If your water is too pure, it'll leave a bland taste that you don't understand where it's coming from. I would say a trace amount is good, like way less than what they put un gatorade. I personnaly use a mix of potassium chloride and good quality sea salt. I hate the taste of roses in any liquid... I would have use hibiscus instead. And it's good for my high blood pressure as a side benefit.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We agree, hibiscus is a lovely addition to brews. Despite Bri's rant, we were actually trying to stay true to the original recipe from the Elder Scrolls cookbook. Watch for the follow up video were we talk more on our thoughts on potential changes.

[@MrFiredragon1976]

@@CitySteadingBrews I enjoy cooking and owning recipes... but I always try original recipe to have an understanding of the creator visions. (yes to me, cooking, brewing and even curing are all part of the same family). But then, I main goal is to enjoy what I brew and there is no way I'll enjoy rose buds :P. (my wife drink rose tea almost daily) FYI, the first mead I tried brewing was Trojniak, a traditional Polish mead and I've been hooked since then. Even if I've never reproduced exactly the same mead since then. Truth be told, I hated the stuff at first, but after forgetting about it for 2 years... I tried it before throwing it away and to my surprised it was one of my best! But 2 years... that's a huge commitment.

[@damienwebster6506]

i have just made this today thank you for the video

[@theastronomer5800]

Great intro/analysis at the beginning. I also think that quite a few people who write how to make a mead haven't made any themselves. Why would you bother to make and drink something after just 2 weeks when it's going to taste soooo much better after 2-3 months.

[@petersteadman841]

Wow that's a strong light beer.... 🤔 wondering what their strong ale is like? 🥳->🤯->🥴->🥺->🤮->😴->🤕

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Re-watching this after you published the 1-year tasting. I wonder where the juniper flavour came from… the rose hip seeds? The fact you added two cloves? Mmmmm… I know seeds can add weird flavours. Whenever I work with fruit that contain a lot of seeds I tend to remove the fruit after 3-4 days, 5 at the most. Fresh/frozen fruit gets roughly crushed. Dried fruit gets cut and soaked in boiling water/boiled. If the dried fruit doesn’t sufficiently rehydrate, I boil for a few minutes, then kind of press/rub through a sieve to get the fruit pulp to go through and leave the seeds behind. Pectic enzyme takes care of any haze caused by the heating.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We just did what the recipe said :) mostly!

[@reneaclark7689]

Primier Classique has a tolerance of 15%, I love it and use it a lot. I tried to use it to make a tolerance semi sweet traditional. It got all the way to 17.9% AbV. Anyway, thanks for the video :) happy brewing

[@Art790631]

Nice I'm currently replaying Skyrim. I currently have a hibiscus and rose pedal mead I'm letting age. It originally started foaming at the top hardcore. But when I tasted it, still can't really taste the rose.

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

I made a rhodomel last year, using rose hip tea (bags, dry-hopped into the fermenter) and rose petals harvested from my garden. When fermentation stopped I didn’t taste or smell the roses, just a slight fruity flavour from the rosehips. After adding a few handfuls more petals in secondary and letting them sit in there for a week or two I racked over and almost fell back from the strong rose scent to my brew. I thought I’d ruined it. Bottled it and planned on using that mead as a mixer. Now it’s all mellowed out and one of my crowd-pleaser meads. The rose is strong but not overpowering. If you want a strong rose aroma, use strongly scented roses… or more petals. More petals in secondary means the rose essential oils and scents will infuse more thanks to the alcohol in your brew. At least, that’s what I was told. Some of the scents and flavours always escape through the airlock during fermentation. A new addition during secondary can compensate for that. To be sure however I’d let it sit some and check.

[@aqhan]

I recently bought a stirrer I connect to a drill. I can now stir and aerate the must properly and not have to shake the bejesus out of it. Plus it's hard to shake 7 gallon carboys 🤣🤣🤣

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

I’ve been wanting to do a blackberry mead for ages… if this one turns out good it might just be the one!

[@kinbolluck476]

👻

[@kylecameron3498]

Brian’s face when “The Elder Scroll”

[@TILxVALHALLA]

Thank you!

[@Quinny1394]

About drink less when the abv is too high or drink more if its too low, I have been back and forth with drinking and decided to not exceed 15 standard drinks per week. Starndard drinks are a good way to keep track of what you are drinking, especially if you write down what you drink in a notebook or something. Standard drinks work by multiplying the amount of milliliters of alcoholic beverage by the abv by .789 so the way I keep track is I drink alot of pale ale and some are 3.5%, .375 (ml) stubby (standard bottle size in aus) x 3.5% abv x .789 = 1.03 So I'm finicky enough that I would measure with a cocktail jigger thing 90 mls of a 15% mead in a glass to make it 1 standard drink per glass. Lol 🤣

[@PacesIII]

There was Blackbriar brewery and Horningbrew meadery. Neither had blackberries. I know...cookbook. But...game.

[@frogjunk]

You guys should talk about the mead recipe building sites and tosna. Some of us may need pointers how much goferm to use and also how much fermaid O to use.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We don’t is Tosna nor do we use any of those sites.

[@slapurmom5667]

I was laughing almost the whole time.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We aim to misbehave... uh... I mean entertain. ;)

[@DONK0]

Huh i just made a blackberry mead a few weeks ago too. It exploded twice lol. I used 3lbs of berries and 3lbs of honey. I mashed and boiled the berries to sanitize them

[@xmarksthespot7708]

I've noticed you guys rarely(if ever) use fruit juice instead of actual fruit in your brews. Is there a reason you couldnt use preservative free blackberry/blueberry juice for instance? Would the flavor be any different?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We do use juice pretty often.... mostly it's just more convenient. Depending on the quality, there could be flavor differences.

[@ChyngtonDon]

This book got me into mead

[@knightmare1015]

Pretty cool recipe. Just one thing though. Light beer does NOT mean less alcohol, it means less ingredients and less body to it so it's not as filling as the regular beer would be. Some light beers have more alcohol than the regular beer does. A prime example of this is regular Budweiser versus BudLight Platinum. Regular Bud is 5% ABV while Budlight Platinum is 6% ABV. But I do agree with you on the author not knowing anything about brewing anything before.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Sure, but in truth, most light beers are lower. Alcohol adds to the calories in a food too, so it makes sense that lower ABV = lower calories = lighter beer. Also, using less ingredients, aka, malt will naturally reduce the ABV too. Of course there are outliers, but... I'm pretty sure they meant lower ABV beer in their recipe here, as I doubt calorie content came into play, lol.

[@knightmare1015]

@@CitySteadingBrews yeah that makes sense.

[@Cluster-Duck]

you had me at skyrim

[@Falcon532.]

I believe most people who say they can't drink something over x% is because the whole *it burns* thing.. I know when my acid reflux kicks in I cand drink anything over 9% otherwise I will end up throwing up. Otherwise give me that shot of Jagermeister!

[@blakebeckywahls7585]

random thought and suggestion. have you heard the song "watermelon crawl"? it references sweet red watermelon wine. have you or would/could you make watermelon wine?

[@feldon27]

I'm a firm believer that if you can do what you love and get paid for it, you should do that and I can tell that the vast majority of brewing videos bring the two of you a lot of joy. Yet it's hard to miss that Brian really did *not* love making this and slavishly trying to fix someone else's recipe. Maybe in the future this type of situation would be a fun opportunity for Derica to do a collab video with other Skyrim players or homebrewers in the community who are getting their start and still rely upon other recipes and aren't confident enough yet to create their own as you are. Hope this isn't taken as hating or negative, just an idea on alternative solutions. I've got 3 of your brews making and am looking at ordering stuff to make the Chocolate Pomegranate right now.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I’m sorry Bri’s take on this brew was perceived as negative. We try to be more animated when on video to make said videos more entertaining. We did try to convey that we understood their methods and even appreciated their flavor choices but wanted to put our spin on the recipe rather than simply replicating it. Thank you for watching and I hope we can continue to give you fun and thought provoking content that you can enjoy.

[@feldon27]

@@CitySteadingBrews I appreciate your reply. Reading other comments, I think most people took the video in the spirit it was intended and had fun with it. Thanks for putting so much homebrewing info out there. It really demystifies a lot of things.

[@AmazingStoryDewd]

I'd love to see you do a Nord mead

[@DarkFaerie316]

Lol, I made this back in September last year. Am currently waiting on it to clear so I can rack and bottle it. (I totally disturbed the lees while I was checking it so gotta wait for it to settle)

[@loganalvarez2985]

hey yall, so im making brians spiced methaglin (made it last year did pretty well) but unfortunately it seems to be stalling a lot sooner than i anticipated (my last reading only put it at around 5 percent and its already almost equalizing on the airlock) can i pitch more yeast into it or will i need to get creative to save it?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Temperature plays a big part. If you're not 70-80f, try that first.

[@loganalvarez2985]

@@CitySteadingBrews temps not a problem, ill do another reading to see if its maybe just fermenting very slowly

[@MrAcuta73]

Brew bags: Buy 1 gallon paint strainer bags in a box. One-time use. Yeah, you can re-use them. More environmentally friendly, but...

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Not sure they are food safe though.

[@MrAcuta73]

@@CitySteadingBrews To be fair, not 100% sure myself. I wash them with Dawn thoroughly and sanitize before use. Hopefully not poisoning myself, but have seen that tip/trick used a LOT. I feel safe enough using them.

[@MirrimBlackfox]

Rose hips are very high in Vitamin C, which might be why they have you add them.

[@mrbrianc]

#1 takeaway... send Brian all the rose hips that I can find

[@frankybmth]

You guys should do a blind competition. each of you make a mead and film then compare. tastes are so different.

[@timothynaquin8899]

24:14... That's an interesting color

[@corinneqofhearts5069]

I have the Fallout cookbook which I assume is from the same publisher. It feels like a book that was written by someone who doesn't cook much, potentially someone not from North America (not a bad thing but some of the word choices are weird). I think for these things the branding is more important than the content, by and large.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Agreed!

[@scottferguson2757]

Do the honing brew mead is lovely

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's being planned, yes.

[@philswaim392]

Blackbriar mead is swill. So you have to make it taste terrible lol. Honingdew mead is way better ;) Im looking forward to this tho

[@connissia]

I noticed you having difficulty with the syringe gasket sticking inside the body. I have a suggestion. Get yourself a glass syringe, they never stick like that and are easy to clean. 🙂

[@darthdredd2821]

I actually love distilled water, (i know im in the minority) bc of the blank slate aspect.

[@GabrielYeager]

Thanks for doing this! Been dying to make these for over a year... my honey has become a rock as a result, unfortunately. What is your preferred method of making your honey fluid again?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Warming it up will help dissolve those crystals. If your honey is in a heat resistant container, then you can simply let is sit in a warm water bath.

[@matthewworley5302]

thats the yeast i use and the packet says you should rehydrate it in warm water for 20 minutes before pitching.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You certainly can rehydrate as per package. We used to do so as well, if you watch any of our older videos. However, in our particular circumstances, we haven't seen any difference between rehydration or a dry pitch. It might be due to our careful handling, storing, and frequent turn around of yeast.

[@walterhawkins1062]

I've had light German beers that are 12% by volume

[@JustaSpaceCowboy]

Don't take this the wrong way, as a nurse, we are advised not to wear rings while caring for patients as they harbour bacteria underneath. Probably best practice not to wear any jewellery while handling brew ✌

[@kurtulrich761]

Not to be that guy but to be fair ... they sanitize in solution all there equipment there hands . Star San kills anything that could be on any surface .

[@JustaSpaceCowboy]

@@kurtulrich761 Depending on how tight or loose the ring is, the liquid may not even reach underneath. You'll never see a nurse or doctor performing a sterile procedure with one on. Don't forget that StarSan is not a disinfectant and has at best a bacteriostatic action with limited scope.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

All good points. Best practices would be to remove rings, you are absolutely right. Our rings are silicone and loose fitting. We tend to mess with them (as their bendy nature makes it easy to do) while sanitizing to get into all the appropriate cracks and crevices. As this isn't something that can be done with traditional rings, the best practice would be to remove them or use a sanitized implement (spoon, tongs, whatever is appropriate for the task at hand) rather than your hands.

[@handsomedevil7072]

Your rose hips was way too dry and old, that's why they are useless and you are not wrong. They should look dark red. When you poke them with a knife and make tea, they give quite a sour, slightly sweet tea. Sourness are quite similar to malic acid but sharper, but dissappeares very quickly.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

That is how they came, we ordered them for this recipe I believe... or not that long before. But you're right!

[@benway23]

Morrowind was a powerful addiction...

[@luciapitti1722]

I found a skyrim recipe that said to put the yeast in the boiling water and cool it... I died.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Lol.

[@mrhappyfoot]

You are absolutely right, that recipe is inacurrate, my mead brews in a 5 days to a week in an english summer and is very alcoholic.

[@seannahmcauliffe2367]

Well I'm now inspired to start brewing again lol 🙂

[@DidWeWin1]

Three questions: 1) If the fruit is loose and floating, as appose to submerged in a bag, will you have to rack or rough rack the brew earlier? That is, will the floating fruit be quicker to spoil (in a bad way)? 2) If the vessel is deep enough and you don't have solids and such getting in the way, is there any reason why the gravity reading can't be taken directly from the fermenter? 3) I've got a brew in primary for a friend: cran-elderbary (juice only) plus a little sugar OG 1.063 The plan is to ferment dry, then back sweeten and carbonate. He likes his cider semi-sweet. I know sweetness is subjective, but in your opinion, how much sugar would be appropriate (in SpGr)? I'll add to that the 1 oz per gallon for carbonation. Also, yes, I am aware I will need to pasteurize. Glad you're not going to let me make bottle bombs :) Thanks!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

1) Yes, keeping fruit in a bag is to make it less messy and to keep the fruit submerged. Fruit floating on the surface is more likely to dry and mold. 2) If your vessel is deep enough and wide mouthed enough to retrieve the hydrometer after the reading and the walls are thin enough to avoid distortion then you can certainly take a reading right from the fermenter. 3)Wine Residual Sugar Content Dry Wine: 0.990 - 1.007 Semisweet Wine: 1.008 - 1.015 Sweet Wine: 1.016 - 1.025 Dessert Wine: 1.025+