hmm yes with raberry its strange, when my grandad used to make rasberry wine he just used the juice and addded sugar and it seemed like you didnt need the yeast in itself
Right now I am making a peach/pear/nectarine summer themed mead, but this exact problem is happening! the only difference is that it bubbles up into the airlock. The only solution so far has been to remove the airlock and pour a little out, but the problem persists! I'm afraid I'll wind up with a gallon of yeasty foam and no mead! What would you do?
It's only a couple of days old, so maybe it will fix itself? What do you think, you're an expert!
@bushinarin It will settle down in a few more days. I would take a bit more out, keep the airlock cleared to avoid an explosion of mead. You can after it calms down add water to it, to fill it back up. Just boil the water first then let it cool as to purify it. Hang in there the primary and vigorous ferment will end soon.
@epicfantasy It's already started it's cool down, but I fear it's still too soon to add water. Thanks for the boiling tip though. For a moment I panicked and thought I'd lose my mead.
When a batch of mead goes bad, it's basically the worst feeling in the whole world.
As far as adding flavors, using pasteurized frozen juice concentrate seems to be the only way to safely guard against contamination. I definitely understand the desire to use a more natural method of flavoring, especially if you grow your own berries. In that case, you really want to wait until primary fermentation is complete to add the fruit. The alcohol already in the mead and the high yeast concentration already there will hopefully stifle invading bacteria and fungi.
@jgreeter i think that in adding fresh fruit, the best time is in the peak of fermentation where the competition will have little to no chance to take hold from the ravenous activity of the yeast
I'm fermenting a mead right now around 5L, its only been two days but what I'm planning to do is add about 12oz of mixed berries (strawberries,blueberries, blackberries,raspberries) to the mead after seven days of fermentation and continue for two more weeks then place into a secondary fermenter and add another 12oz of berries there.
@bowow0807 sounds pretty good. I do have a couple of concerns though. The pectins in the berries will cloud the mead a lot. You may want to add a pectic enzyme to clear it up. And, the berries could contaminate your mead with an unwanted yeast or bacteria. You may want to pre-treat them with campden tablets.
@epicfantasy i used frozen berries and i don't have access to any pectic enzyme or campden tablets but ill take the chance and ill just try using gelatin for a clearing agent
@bowow0807 I am not sure about the gelatin. You may have to look that up. It is ringing a bell for me and people may do it. You could just rack every month and let it clear up on its own. Will take longer but it will work.
@epicfantasy Gelatin worked great for my cider. It went from cloudy to perfectly clear in three days. Just mix it in a little hot water and add to the carboy.
for your raspberry wine/mead when should the raspberies be added after the inital introduction of yeast to the mead /wine or at the very end when the yeast has died out
@epicfantasy agreed, adding them in primary will provide nutrients to the yeast but you may loose some fruit character while adding them in the secondary doesnt really assist with yeast nutrients but gives you a little more fruit character in your final product
What kind of temperatures do you need for fermentation... i live in michigan and its getting colder now and i'm thinking about making mead. Never tried ti before, seen the vids, among a bunch of other reading.
Any the hoo, i have a large basement at my disposal for storing and letting this stuff age, but its a michigan basement... 10 degrees colder than the house (50s or so) and like all michigan basements relatively mildew-y and definately not dry. Thoughts?
hmm, 50ish might be a bit low. It may stall or halt the ferment. Probably better off keeping it in the house around 70. The not dry is a factor too. BIg thing about mead is contamination. you don't want some unwanted bacteria getting hold in there.
@maglinjosvinn im in minnesota..haha..i have the same situation..its like 65 down there right now....so yeah..and im new at this and have a TON of questions
Get two if you can. This way after a couple of weeks you can siphon it all out of one jug and into the second jug. Will make your mead better tasting.
Hey, I was going to make mead in plastic water containers, that siphon it into a glass jug when i get a hold of them. Is this a good idea? Also, if I do siphon it out into the glass jug, do I transfer the fruit too?
sounds ok. I would transfer fruit depending on how long you wait to siphon and how strong you want the fruit flavor. Its a personal preference. Longer is fruitier.
Recipe from the site so that others don't have to go digging for it:
Sweet Raspberry Mead (Makes 1 Gallon) * Yeast: EC-1118 (1 packet) * 1 Gallon Spring Water * 4.5 pounds wildflower honey * 1.5 pounds red raspberries * The juice from 1 lemon * The juice from 1 lime * 3 Tablespoons of strong english tea * 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient
Thanks for posting the recipe! This is a great recipe and it comes out really sweet. It's like a dessert wine. My second batch I halved the amount of raspberries.
great videos! so you make the mead then put it in the carboys then add the fruits and spices? i heard that people put in the fruits while boiling the water. how long do you let them ferment?
Thanks! There seems to be a lot of different ways to add the fruits! A lot of different, successful ways :) I geneerally just put them in right away and leave em for a couple of weeks. You vary the amount of fruit and the time in the carboy the adjust the flavor.
Nice vids on your site! I don't know of anybody who uses a ferment chiller with mead. How much will it cost to chill it for 6-12 months? I think mead is quite a different animal than other brews. I might put it in the chiller and keep it at 70 until the first racking which is probably around 3 weeks. Then just let it be wherever its convenient. With the higher temp maybe it won't take 6- 12 months ! --8 full months until May, i think ur ok. there r speedy mead recipes but i never tried them.
I'd REALLY like to see you put your mead videos in a seperate group so they'd all be easier to find. I have been dying to try my hand at mead, my Wife is interested too, what would you call the safe temperature range to store it at?
I have a HARD time in the summer, since its always over 80 by ten am!
Hi! Thanks for watching. You make a good point about my videos being grouped. Just yesterday I arranged my playlists so people could find the various topics i video about. You can click on my playlists button and find my mead videos all grouped together under mead making (19 of em so far!) Let me know if that works ok! About the temperature: It's been my experience that mead is pretty resilient to temperature variances. more in next comment.....
and generally it seems that the warmer tempereratures speeds up the process. and of course lower temps slow down the process. I move my mead down into the basement during the hot summer months. It's usually around 65 - 70 down there. Advice on Mead temp varies greatly but I say try to keep it within the 60-70 range. Particularly in the first week or two when a lot is going on. If you can't do this then you are probably still very much ok. Beermakers are obsessed with temp but mead not so much
Excellent! It's good to hear about the resilliency, my "cellar" is the closet under my stairs and it doesn't keep a low temp. Probably because it shares a wall with the garage. Right now it is 9:48am, and I just now shut the house up to turn on the air, and the closet is already at 78!
I can easily keep it under 70 in my ferment chiller (video on my channel), but the ferment times are 6 to 12 months right??
Am I too late to start one now to be ready by May 1st??
I have 9 different batches going right now. It's about 23 gallons of mead! I am experimenting with different mead flavors. raspberry, maple, orange, very sweet and more.
hmm yes with raberry its strange, when my grandad used to make rasberry wine he just used the juice and addded sugar and it seemed like you didnt need the yeast in itself
ShaggyR1z1a 2 weeks ago
Aren't these things light sensitive?
Grundalizer 3 weeks ago
@Grundalizer Yes, great question. I cover them when not shooting vids :)
epicfantasy 3 weeks ago
Do you remember the temp of that room and what type of yeast you used?
rogueIT 2 months ago
@rogueIT I think it was lalvin D47, The room was probably typical room temp.
epicfantasy 2 months ago
Right now I am making a peach/pear/nectarine summer themed mead, but this exact problem is happening! the only difference is that it bubbles up into the airlock. The only solution so far has been to remove the airlock and pour a little out, but the problem persists! I'm afraid I'll wind up with a gallon of yeasty foam and no mead! What would you do?
It's only a couple of days old, so maybe it will fix itself? What do you think, you're an expert!
bushinarin 9 months ago
@bushinarin It will settle down in a few more days. I would take a bit more out, keep the airlock cleared to avoid an explosion of mead. You can after it calms down add water to it, to fill it back up. Just boil the water first then let it cool as to purify it. Hang in there the primary and vigorous ferment will end soon.
epicfantasy 9 months ago
@epicfantasy It's already started it's cool down, but I fear it's still too soon to add water. Thanks for the boiling tip though. For a moment I panicked and thought I'd lose my mead.
When a batch of mead goes bad, it's basically the worst feeling in the whole world.
bushinarin 9 months ago
As far as adding flavors, using pasteurized frozen juice concentrate seems to be the only way to safely guard against contamination. I definitely understand the desire to use a more natural method of flavoring, especially if you grow your own berries. In that case, you really want to wait until primary fermentation is complete to add the fruit. The alcohol already in the mead and the high yeast concentration already there will hopefully stifle invading bacteria and fungi.
jgreeter 11 months ago
@jgreeter This is oustanding advice. thanks!
epicfantasy 11 months ago
@jgreeter i think that in adding fresh fruit, the best time is in the peak of fermentation where the competition will have little to no chance to take hold from the ravenous activity of the yeast
bowow0807 5 months ago
I make wine. It calls for mixing during fermation. From watching vidio on meade
making , you never mix after its put into glass carboy, why?
pugmom6 1 year ago
@pugmom6 It doesn't need it! Typically aeration is not needed unless the ferment is stalling out.
epicfantasy 1 year ago
@epicfantasy You my good Sir are a mead god. Cheers
ThinkingRebal 7 months ago
I'm fermenting a mead right now around 5L, its only been two days but what I'm planning to do is add about 12oz of mixed berries (strawberries,blueberries, blackberries,raspberries) to the mead after seven days of fermentation and continue for two more weeks then place into a secondary fermenter and add another 12oz of berries there.
What is your input about that?
bowow0807 1 year ago
@bowow0807 sounds pretty good. I do have a couple of concerns though. The pectins in the berries will cloud the mead a lot. You may want to add a pectic enzyme to clear it up. And, the berries could contaminate your mead with an unwanted yeast or bacteria. You may want to pre-treat them with campden tablets.
epicfantasy 1 year ago
@epicfantasy i used frozen berries and i don't have access to any pectic enzyme or campden tablets but ill take the chance and ill just try using gelatin for a clearing agent
bowow0807 1 year ago
@bowow0807 I am not sure about the gelatin. You may have to look that up. It is ringing a bell for me and people may do it. You could just rack every month and let it clear up on its own. Will take longer but it will work.
good luck!
epicfantasy 1 year ago
@epicfantasy Gelatin worked great for my cider. It went from cloudy to perfectly clear in three days. Just mix it in a little hot water and add to the carboy.
mattratf 1 year ago
so after 6-9 months u just stain it and drink? or do you have to spoil it
Kevin67401 1 year ago
you gotta send me your recipe....PLEEEZ! just bought the kit! need guidance!
amo22601 1 year ago
how long do you let it ferment?
versatilechicken 1 year ago
@versatilechicken 6 -9 months before it is ready to drink.
epicfantasy 1 year ago
for your raspberry wine/mead when should the raspberies be added after the inital introduction of yeast to the mead /wine or at the very end when the yeast has died out
Forbidenangel0 1 year ago
@Forbidenangel0 You can do it either way, I add them right away.I recommend you treat them first with pectic enzyme and campden tablets though.
epicfantasy 1 year ago
@epicfantasy agreed, adding them in primary will provide nutrients to the yeast but you may loose some fruit character while adding them in the secondary doesnt really assist with yeast nutrients but gives you a little more fruit character in your final product
MrDrinkMead 1 year ago
at what stage do you add the fruit?
dzdaydreamer92 1 year ago
Hey Will, would you mind posting the recipe? Id like to give that one a try.
xalr1982x 1 year ago
@xalr1982x
its always fun to experiment with your own take off. A generic recipe for a semi-sweet mead is 4# honey, 8oz. raspberries per 1 gal
jtown0069 1 year ago
Hey Will, would you mind posting the recipe? Id like to give that one a try.
xalr1982x 1 year ago
Excellent idea- adding fresh pressed REAL Fruit juice, will really speed-up your fermentation- as well as give you a varietal flavor!
Patriotgal1 1 year ago
Thats high krausen like nothin else!
rcf5005 2 years ago
What kind of temperatures do you need for fermentation... i live in michigan and its getting colder now and i'm thinking about making mead. Never tried ti before, seen the vids, among a bunch of other reading.
Any the hoo, i have a large basement at my disposal for storing and letting this stuff age, but its a michigan basement... 10 degrees colder than the house (50s or so) and like all michigan basements relatively mildew-y and definately not dry. Thoughts?
maglinjosvinn 2 years ago
hmm, 50ish might be a bit low. It may stall or halt the ferment. Probably better off keeping it in the house around 70. The not dry is a factor too. BIg thing about mead is contamination. you don't want some unwanted bacteria getting hold in there.
epicfantasy 2 years ago
Anything from 10-40 is OK but you must chose
a yeast for the temerature range you want.
Temperature also affects speed of it.
Colder LAGER yeast likes it 10-20.
Ale yeast likes it 20-30
Wine yeast likes it 15-35.
Bread yeast can go as hot as 45 and do OK (youll get booze but less tasty)
And then each of those has about 100+ subtypes with each having its own prefered range.
samljer 2 years ago
If you wernt aware by the way those temps are in *C
samljer 2 years ago
@maglinjosvinn im in minnesota..haha..i have the same situation..its like 65 down there right now....so yeah..and im new at this and have a TON of questions
amo22601 1 year ago
When making mead how many gallon carboys should I get? I would get two correct?
PipeFellow3434 2 years ago
Get two if you can. This way after a couple of weeks you can siphon it all out of one jug and into the second jug. Will make your mead better tasting.
epicfantasy 2 years ago
Hey, I was going to make mead in plastic water containers, that siphon it into a glass jug when i get a hold of them. Is this a good idea? Also, if I do siphon it out into the glass jug, do I transfer the fruit too?
MAJORdorMo 2 years ago
sounds ok. I would transfer fruit depending on how long you wait to siphon and how strong you want the fruit flavor. Its a personal preference. Longer is fruitier.
epicfantasy 2 years ago
Wow I was planning to make wine though for half a year now...but now watching this video has insipred me to get off my ass and do it!
TrandomnesstwO 2 years ago
mmmmmm fermentaion.
Chaser53pin 2 years ago
Recipe from the site so that others don't have to go digging for it:
Sweet Raspberry Mead (Makes 1 Gallon) * Yeast: EC-1118 (1 packet) * 1 Gallon Spring Water * 4.5 pounds wildflower honey * 1.5 pounds red raspberries * The juice from 1 lemon * The juice from 1 lime * 3 Tablespoons of strong english tea * 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient
salpta 2 years ago 2
Thanks for posting the recipe! This is a great recipe and it comes out really sweet. It's like a dessert wine. My second batch I halved the amount of raspberries.
epicfantasy 2 years ago
Do you put the raspberry in whole or are they crushed or squeezed to get the juices?
pureraver91 2 years ago
I freeze them then crush them frozen; this releases the flavor.
epicfantasy 2 years ago
That sounds great, I'll have to try that sometime
drunkfux1 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Do you put the raspberrys in whole or are the crushed or squeezed to use the juices?
pureraver91 2 years ago
MMMMM! That looks SOOO good! Wish I could try some of that.
Mesatalia 3 years ago 2
great videos! so you make the mead then put it in the carboys then add the fruits and spices? i heard that people put in the fruits while boiling the water. how long do you let them ferment?
timber23 3 years ago
Thanks! There seems to be a lot of different ways to add the fruits! A lot of different, successful ways :) I geneerally just put them in right away and leave em for a couple of weeks. You vary the amount of fruit and the time in the carboy the adjust the flavor.
epicfantasy 3 years ago
Nice vids on your site! I don't know of anybody who uses a ferment chiller with mead. How much will it cost to chill it for 6-12 months? I think mead is quite a different animal than other brews. I might put it in the chiller and keep it at 70 until the first racking which is probably around 3 weeks. Then just let it be wherever its convenient. With the higher temp maybe it won't take 6- 12 months ! --8 full months until May, i think ur ok. there r speedy mead recipes but i never tried them.
epicfantasy 3 years ago
I'd REALLY like to see you put your mead videos in a seperate group so they'd all be easier to find. I have been dying to try my hand at mead, my Wife is interested too, what would you call the safe temperature range to store it at?
I have a HARD time in the summer, since its always over 80 by ten am!
OPE08 3 years ago
Hi! Thanks for watching. You make a good point about my videos being grouped. Just yesterday I arranged my playlists so people could find the various topics i video about. You can click on my playlists button and find my mead videos all grouped together under mead making (19 of em so far!) Let me know if that works ok! About the temperature: It's been my experience that mead is pretty resilient to temperature variances. more in next comment.....
epicfantasy 3 years ago
and generally it seems that the warmer tempereratures speeds up the process. and of course lower temps slow down the process. I move my mead down into the basement during the hot summer months. It's usually around 65 - 70 down there. Advice on Mead temp varies greatly but I say try to keep it within the 60-70 range. Particularly in the first week or two when a lot is going on. If you can't do this then you are probably still very much ok. Beermakers are obsessed with temp but mead not so much
epicfantasy 3 years ago
Excellent! It's good to hear about the resilliency, my "cellar" is the closet under my stairs and it doesn't keep a low temp. Probably because it shares a wall with the garage. Right now it is 9:48am, and I just now shut the house up to turn on the air, and the closet is already at 78!
I can easily keep it under 70 in my ferment chiller (video on my channel), but the ferment times are 6 to 12 months right??
Am I too late to start one now to be ready by May 1st??
OPE08 3 years ago
Looks delicious.
HerpAndFriends 3 years ago
man how much do you have fermenting at the same time?
hemna 4 years ago
I have 9 different batches going right now. It's about 23 gallons of mead! I am experimenting with different mead flavors. raspberry, maple, orange, very sweet and more.
epicfantasy 4 years ago