One thing I would like to see is you guys try to intentionally make vinegar. Especially because Tasting History recently did an episode where he used Honey Vinegar. Both because I think you guys might be able to show how much needs to go wrong for vinegar to be produced in a standard brew, and because I think you guys might try making a rather interesting flavor of vinegar.

@Hometoad

11 ай бұрын

Is there a difference between good and bad vinegar and did homesteaders intentionally have a batch go bad so they could have vinegar for preserving and cooking?

@bfreeman8186

11 ай бұрын

Once about a time, we made a vinegar by accident. We had made a delicious blackberry vine and was trying to do it again, ended up with blackberry vinegar...( I'm pretty sure we over oxygenated) ...it's okay, tho we used it on pork ribs. They turned out soon tender and delicious 😋 the blackberry flavor pulled through but didn't overtake. Ended up being a happy accident 😊😋😁 !

@OriginalOrlaith

11 ай бұрын

getting rid of the stuff that makes vinegar from your equipment is really hard, (i've heard) so i wouldn't do it with the same containers etc.

@demonicbunny3po

11 ай бұрын

@@OriginalOrlaith Good thing to consider. Might also be another good lesson to show ways to clean the equipment if it does happen. We see a lot of things going right, occasionally things going a bit wrong (like the stall in this video), but what happens when things go horribly off the rails? And how do you clean it up afterwards? And can you make something drinkable from the problem? There are a number of recipes to make ancient Gatorade using vinegar, which have a variety of names depending on culture and time.

@TheMilkman710

11 ай бұрын

I would love to see this as well. I'm currently in the process of making some rice wine vinegar because a recent batch of rice wine ended up sweeter than I would like.

BTW, the sanitizing fluid that came out of the baster sanitized the towel 😁

Most municipalities don’t use chlorine anymore, they use chloramine, which doesn’t evaporate. You will need to filter any tap water.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Fair enough. We do filter it :)

@micahestep7679

11 ай бұрын

And you need a sub micron filter or a reverse osmosis system to remove chloramine....regular filters won't get it all.

@powerman7776

11 ай бұрын

@@micahestep7679 Any activated carbon filter (eg. Brita) will remove chloramines.

If you want to get the flavours from citrus peel but not much of the pithiness, look up oleo saccharum. Basically toss the peel in sugar and the sugar pulls out the flavorful oils. There seems to be a misunderstanding amongst home brewers as to why cranberry is such a pain to ferment. It's not exclusively the ph, which is the same as lemonade which isn't nearly as much of a headache to turn alcoholic. Cranberry actually has some antimicrobial properties. As far as I understand it affects the cell walls of some bacteria and proteins so my guess is that this hurts the yeast, possibly that's why the pectic enzymes didn't work properly either.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Yup :)

"You don't need a scale" you said, to measure your sugar. You are correct, but there is a more accurate way than "bout dammuch": Granulated sugar weighs about one half pound per cup. Two pounds? Four cups. (Two pints, One quart.) You can get close by measuring volume. As always, guess low and add a little after you take a reading.

I have been rewatching your older videos just to make sure I upvoted everything. Yeah, you're wonderful. Thank you for your work.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Thank you, we truly appreciate that!

@smoochysmoochy7267

5 ай бұрын

I m watching All.Of yalls Vids On a LOOOOP😂

@CitySteadingBrews

5 ай бұрын

@smoochysmoochy7267 that may take a while!

I enjoy your early flavor method. Try this. Make your traditional to 15/16 % then add frozen crushed cranberries 1.5 lbs. 1 & 1/2 lime peeled, 3 mandarin orange peeled let that sit for 4 weeks, then add anything else you want from there. But let’s keep this between us. Lol. You guys Rock!!!!!!

Good morning, love your videos! Thanks for sharing the fun and your knowledge

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

And thank YOU for watching!

I’m not sure if someone else has brought this up about potassium bicarbonate, but there is a similar adjunct you could try instead for pH: potassium carbonate (K-Carb). K-Carb will raise the pH with less amounts than bicarbonate. Additionally, yeast need potassium for a healthy fermentation, so it was not a negative thing to add the bicarbonate after fermentation had started, especially if the fermentation is still active and you see nucleation when adding adjuncts. However, it should be noted that K-Carb has more potassium per molecule than bicarbonate. Personally, I follow a nutrient schedule that suggests adding 1.5g of K-Carb per gallon to the must alongside nutrients before adding the yeast. While this amount will barely raise the pH, it adds extra potassium to the must for the yeast. All that said, it depends on the goals you are trying to reach for your brew. I think if pH adjustments with minimal additions is the goal, you should give K-Carb a try. Maybe a side-by-side pH test using the 2 adjuncts in a controlled amount of water? And if you’re looking for a source, I bought my K-Carb from MoreBeer.

I had been wondering about PH lately and specifically when to test it and how to adjust. Clearly you made this video to address this specifically. Again Mr. Wizard, well done !!!

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Thanks, happy to help.

It was such a pithy that you couldn't get the peel to come off all in one. I was looking forward to seeing the Bejeezus Unleashed but the little big mouth is ok too. I just started a 7 super fruit wine on Friday. I am really looking forward to that one!

Excellent information ❤. I've learned the same things as you talked about. A pinch of baking soda or citric acid does help the PH and I keep my sugar (ABV) at a level that the yeast is "comfortable" with and the taste and smell seems to be more pleasant. I've also noticed (which makes sense) it ferments out quite quickly 👍. My stabilizing system has always been to hydrate all dry additives just because (as you mentioned) it's easier to mix, and there's no extra "liquid" because I use the juice from the fermenter. For clarity, I've always relyed on pasteurizing. A lot of suspended particles drop out of suspension as temperature drops in liquids and it's much safer in storage and when back sweetening. Thanks again for spending your time with us and sharing sound information, this is what we need more of ❤.

Great educational video, yet again! I actually pH corrected for the 1st time today! I did use baking soda though, because it was easier to buy at the grocery store. And I'm cheap😆

I love watching your videos. Thank you for the insight! I really like making my brews with Cranberry. I have never even thought of worrying about my Ph balance. My wife really enjoys my Cranberry spice. I do most as a cyser base. I do treetop sweet and tart apple juice, 2 lbs Nates pure honey per gallon. 2 lbs frozen Cranberry (blended) per gallon. 1/2 ginger per gallon. And 2 sticks of cinnamon per gallon. I typically do 5 gallons at a time. I will also use Brogravin (i think that's how you spell it) yeast. It has a ginger bite, but it is so good. I don't know if it's because I'm using whole Cranberry and letting it leach into my brew, but I've never worried about my Ph. I'm sure this is too much info, but i just wanted to share. Thank you guys. I really do enjoy watching your videos.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

You have been lucky. Cranberry is very acidic.

I started my first brew last night. It had activity in 90 and is bubbling away enthusiastically. It is cider, just apple juice, FermaidO and S04 yeast. So excited!❤

@eddavanleemputten9232

11 ай бұрын

Congratulations on stepping into the weird and wonderful world of home brewing! Your cider will most probably go dry as you didn’t add any fermentable sugars. You can back sweeten with unfermentable sweetener or you can use a fermentable one and stabilise. As the ABV won’t be very high fermentation will go fast. Don’t be put off if it tastes a little green. Because of Brian and Derica’s wonderful and vast collection of videos, you will know it needs time to get yummier, to calm down and to meld. I hope you stick with the hobby. It offers so many different brews and recipes to try and all you need is patience. And yeast. And the ingredients you feel might be nice, either of your own choosing, or from a tried-and-tested source. You’ve got a great source through this channel. Happy brewing!

I'm new to brewing...this looks like it would work really good with Roselle hibiscus (I have lots of it). It would add the tart, cranberry flavor without the pH issues, it gets dry (0.990) and clears really nicely. Thank you for doing this!!

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Any brew can run dry in the right conditions.

Hey Brian and Derica! I recently got into making wine because of you guys and have been watching your videos to learn, they have been super informative! I have a degree in molecular biology and a minor in chemistry and wanted to answer your question about invert sugar. In order for yeast to digest the disaccaride sucrose (table sugar) they have to first break it down into glucose and fructose by secreting invertase. This happens outside of the yeast cell wall so that they can import the digestible sugars inside their cell walls. Since invert sugar is already broken down into glucose and fructose, the yeast do not have to go through this preliminary step. In theory, this would make fermentation more efficient due to the fact that the yeast can immediately transport the sugars inside their cell wall and begin digestion. However, since I am not an experienced wine maker yet, I’m not sure of the actual increase in efficiency. I hope this helps, thanks for the awesome videos!

@CitySteadingBrews

10 ай бұрын

Yes... exactly. The research I did says the difference is minimal.

Somehow your videos started popping up in my feed. I’ve never brewed ( unless you count the times I was drinking age adjacent and brewed swill because I couldn’t buy it). Other than that never even considered it before. Not sure why it popped up there but But I watched the video and …enjoyed it. Have continued watching your videos , and even started baby’s first mead. Maybe will get more complicated as I learn but enjoying your content! Thanks!

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

LOL, that's pretty cool. Glad to have inspired you. Baby's first mead. Funny. We are hearing more comments like yours lately, I wonder what is happening? Not complaining, as it's apparently working!

@DavidJones-uh9rg

11 ай бұрын

My theory is that I used to be in the video gaming industry and am a fan of different shows and things that you folks reference in some of your videos. Google/KZread is scary good at predicting what you might want to click on. It’s almost freaky at times! My thinking here, you have a few different skyrim meads. References to Star Trek and a few other things that cross over to my searches maybe.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

That's possible!

@DavidJones-uh9rg

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews oh yeah. Your skyrim meads. Was probably that. Stay safe and enjoy the remaining of summer!

@eddavanleemputten9232

11 ай бұрын

Congratulations on starting your first mead! Couldn’t help reacting to your comment. I’ve been home brewing for over half my life and still enjoy it. I still have to run out of recipes and ideas to try. It never gets old because every brew is different. Brews change with age. There’s almost always something to tweak, vary, try. There’s always something to learn. I hope you stick with it. Happy brewing!

I have five citrus trees on the property: owari satsuma mandarin, two cocktail pomelo (not a cocktail citrus tree - this represents that more than one citrus type is grafted onto a single plant), tahitian pomolo, and tangelo. Mixing the juice from the cocktail pomelo and tangelo together is really nice.

Cranberry and citrus is gonna bottom out the ph. Glad y’all made it work.

My wife is also a cranberry fan so this'll be my next. great vid as usual

Loving the videos as we are just getting into home brewing! Two questions.. Can you guys do a video on your recipe making process? And cause I am in Australia, fermenting containers of different sizes are super hard to come by so we only have 5L ones. How much head space in secondary fermentation would make you worried about oxidation?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/oI6YzKlrotbShto.html

Hi guys. You are great. One problem I witnessed is that adding potassium bicarbonate after fermentation has started, will add a lot of co2 to your wash and the brew will stall before it finish its job. So for later experiments I suggest adding potassium bicarbonate before adding yeast is a must.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Gasses escape with agitation :)

I've only ever put lime in primary once and it came out tasting very bitter and unpleasant. It ended up being the only brew I've had to tip away (no others so far 🤞). Hopefully whatever funky flavour you're getting from it will disappear with time!

Thank you for everything you do! My father and I have really enjoyed brewing together, and we have you guys to thank for that. I was wondering if you guys have ever considered brewing a fuzzy navel wine? I would love to see your take on a recipe for that!

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

That is very cool. Happy to help. Peach… peach is my nemesis! I can work on it though!

Brian and D are the masters of brewing! ❤

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Thank you but I would never consider us that way :)

@eddavanleemputten9232

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews - A true master never does. I learned that practicing martial arts. 😊

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

@eddavanleemputten9232 the more I learn, the more I come to realize how much more there is to know.

@eddavanleemputten9232

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews - Exactly! If you ever feel like crawling down the rabbit hole of the life teachings martial arts masters have to offer, you’ll find them saying that a lot as well. We’re never done learning. My weird brain is now laughing it’s (bleep) off and snickering about home brewing being a martial art. Adding in that serving a suitable amount of home brew to someone is a valid technique of putting someone out for the count. And no, I haven’t even had a drop of alcohol today. Stopping at that before it gets even weirder. 🤪

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

@eddavanleemputten9232 i was a martial arts instructor in my teens. Black belt in tang soo do, Tae Kwon Do and 3rd degree in ninjitsu :)

Bummer it didn’t quite go as you would have wanted it. However it has the potential of becoming something really, REALLY good. It already tastes good. With some age on it… possibly wow! Can’t wait to see your one year tasting!

Aaaaand this is WHY when making hot sauce ferments I check the ph. Anything below 4.0 in a 3% kosher salt solution at the end of fermentation is shelf stable. So we add about 25% AC vinegar, some brine if needed, some bourbon and spices, and let it age in a gallon jug. My favorite hot sauce channel is Chillichump . I wanted to be able to make a shelf stable Louisiana style hot sauce without ages of storage in bourbon barrels in salt caves😂 He also makes ciders etc. Its amazing the differences that various yeasts and lactobacillus planterium etc have on the things we enjoy eating. This stuff is fascinating. Thanks guys!

I just bottled a delicious plum blueberry wine and it's coudy af. Tastes just fine. Not as good as my morat, but it's definitely drinkable.

I’d be interested to see some brews based on the 4 seasons, like how Derika did the Beltane mead! I’m doing a mulled wine at the moment to be ready for winter cuz I thought it would be fun to introduce all the flavors of a mulled wine during fermentation rather than buying a red wine and doing all the things to it.

@kjdevault

11 ай бұрын

How’s the fermentation running? I kno some of the spices are so antibacterial that they can slow or stall a fermentation.

@metamorphforest4853

11 ай бұрын

@@kjdevault It’s going perfectly! I didn’t add the spices during primary, just the juices and orange peels and it went to 0.997 gravity from a 1.100 starting point. I just racked it yesterday and added spices. It already started clearing, so I’m hoping that it clears fast enough for me to be able to rack it in a couple of weeks to remove spices without it getting cloudy again

Chloramine is difficult to filter out.... Also, check out Transite piping. It was used everywhere in the USA by cities in our domestic water supply. It is also called a.c. pipe due to the fact that it is made from a combination of concrete and ASBESTOS!!!! I've done hundreds of repairs on water mains over my 27 years as a commercial plumber where we've run into it. It all showed loss of material on the surfaces inside due to water velocity and wear from particulates in the system.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Our Berkey removes 99% of all that.

hi guys, big fan of your videos - got some inspiration for my own brews here. Why do you not use Bentonite to clarify your brews? I had great results using it.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Honestly… it’s just not necessary and may strip some favors.

The fumaric acid in the cranberry could very well be the source of the cloudiness. Fumaric acid esterizes easily and the unsaturated bond in the middle can undergo all sorts of reactions that leave the molecule stereochemically "shaggy."

I just started an apple cider and trying to find a pumpkin wine to try

Interesting video as always. The Shelf of xvz Fermentation goes along better with your unique standard naming convention, whereas fermentation station is more widely used and the first time I heard it I think was several years ago from Brad from Bon Appetite. In case you're interested in user input =]

So I recently started bee keeping for a new hobby. I decided to use my new found supply of honey to get into mead making. This new venture brought me to your youtube channel, love the videos by the way. I have been binge watching your kids and using your Amazon affiliate links to get supplies. One thing I did get that I haven't seen you use is a conical fermenter. I,m curious if you have tried one and what your thoughts are.

@CitySteadingBrews

5 ай бұрын

They are usually plastic and we like glass better for the most part. Also... just not something we have found a need for really.

I think it's interesting adjusting pH, it's obviously a logarithmic scale, so making small adjustments doesn't get you far up that logarithmic curve. I'd also be interested to see an aggressive "swirl" or something would do to get dissolved CO2 out, and figure out how much that'd affect pH (if at all), as CO2 lowers pH to some extent

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Degassing has very little if any effect on pH. That scale and all

Only problem I see is that buffering after the yeast was added allowed the yeast to be stressed/damaged by the overly acidic enviroment before it was brought into range. I always buffer before yeast when I have to. Could be the Issue, well that and cranberry is famous for being hard to ferment.

Water mains in the USA are either ductile iron, c900, or Transite ( i.e. asbestos concrete)

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Thus we filter.

She's always talking about the smell, and that's something I am really interested in too. I've found there's a startling difference between people's ability to smell things. A test I've found to be a good indicator is this: can you smell salt? If you take a spoon of table salt, and smell it - there's a decent amount of the population who literally can't smell anything coming off the salt. I'd be willing to bet she CAN smell it.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Well.... actual pure salt has no smell. That's a scientific fact. HOWEVER, iodized salt has iodine and other impurities and does have a smell. Kosher salt does not, and Himalayan pink salt has a minor mineral smell. So you're not smelling the salt, but the impurities within it :)

@PaulTMaack0

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews good point. I guess I should have specified "Table salt"

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

You did actually. I was explaining further for those in the back :)

Why didn't the pectin enzyme work? Maybe because emzyme is ph and temperature sensitive? Edited. I also just googled "ph buffer wine calcium carbinate vs potassium carbonate" And found out that a wine site reports. "Calcium carbonate is used to reduce the acidity of wine. It does not require cold-stabilization to force complete precipitation, as does potassium carbonate. However, calcium carbonate is more likely to affect the flavor than potassium carbonate, and may take a few months to fully precipitate.", And another page on the same site reports "Potassium Carbonate is used to lower acidity levels in wine. 3.8 grams per gallon will reduce acidity by about .1%. Potassium Carbonate requires that the fermenter be stored cold for several weeks after application. During the period of cold stabilization the tartaric acid drops out as potassium bitartrate. Maybe some of the cloudiness is simply potasium bitrate that has not fallen out of solution.

@CitySteadingBrews

10 ай бұрын

Yup. Makes sense!

Alton Brown references are always welcome. I would make one myself, but that’s a different post.

I personally like Calcium Carbonate for buffering. But either works well.

pH of the must will change immediately after adding Potassium or Sodium Carbonate. Few minutes if using Calcium or Magnesium Carbonate, much longer if you're adding straight sea shells but still in minutes or hour range, not hours. Also, for sugar wash type must, aim in 4-5 pH range instead of 3-4. pH 3 has 10 times acid of pH 4. Finally, pH buffering is most important at start of fermentation and first 1-2 days, during yeast replication. Once replication has stopped and colony is settled, pH won't change much.

I'd love to see CSBs take on margarita wine!

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Maybe!

I wouldn't worry about changing the flavour with potassium carbonate. All that remains in solution is the potassium, the carbonate reacts to form carbon dioxide which you get through fermentation anyway, and potassium is relatively low in flavour, slightly salty and bitter but unless you're using potassium chloride as salt substitute you're probably not going to notice. In terms of adjusting pH there really isn't a way around it either, you have to substitute an ion for every hydrogen ion you neutralize after all, and there really isn't much better than potassium.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Pretty much what I figured. But, never used it so I was probably overly cautious.

In looking for a good Blackberry Wine recipe, I found many that were using RedStar Premier Cuvee. RedStar info states it is an 18% tolerance yeast and is more like a champagne yeast but it is often used to fix stalled brews. It is also stated to be a slower yeast. Might be worth looking into. My Blackberry Wind started @ 1.108 and in six days ended @ 0.988.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

This actually didn’t stall, we just didn’t realize it until editing. We surpassed the alcohol tolerance of the yeast so… it stopped. Sure, you can use higher tolerance yeasts if you like.

@julietardos5044

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews Isn't QA 23 a 16% tolerance yeast? I wonder if raising the pH before adding the yeast would have made a difference.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

@julietardos5044 maybe. Yeah it is 16%. I must have my brew wires crossed.

Hi! This brew brings up a general question I have: how would you carbonate a brew like this which didn't originally use up all the sugars in the original fermentation? My usual method of adding a bit more sugar before bottling would not work (correct?)...so are these brews "uncarbonatable" (without a CO2 machine)? Maybe something for a future video?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Well, in retrospect, it maxed out the yeast alcohol tolerance. The only way would be to use a FAR higher yeast in it or a keg system.

I just started a chamomile apple cider. Will keep posted as to how it turns out.

@kjdevault

11 ай бұрын

This sounds great! I was just looking at cider variations for something different on occasion! Please keep us posted!!

@julietardos5044

11 ай бұрын

@@kjdevault Will do.

I so love a cosmo!

You can add water or more cran like 2-3 cups .. yea you have more must but that also means you have more good stuff.... so all RIGHT~!

Hi 👋. I’ve been watching your videos from a very long time and I love how you make home brewing so fun 😁 I have a question if that’s ok. I started a strawberry wine, I used 2.5 litres of strawberries juice, 1kg sugar About 2.5 litres of water Yeast nutrients. First reading is 1.090 First day everything was ok. On day 2 fermentation was so violent I had to swap the airlock with a pipe and pint of water. I did it very quickly and I’m concerned about infections. Since it’s primary fermentation what are the signs I should look for in case it’s infected?? Many thanks 🙏

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

I highly doubt you got an infection from that :)

@gesuinocannas8711

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews thank you 🙏 also I tried to make a mead and I follow all your instructions as they all make sense. It won’t down to .998. It’s now sitting waiting to clear out and some bubbles are forming on top. Is that a bad sign? Thanks a lot 😁

@gesuinocannas8711

11 ай бұрын

Went*

I've heard of egg shells or oyster shells being used for pH control too..... Obviously cleaned, and then baked if I remember correctly....

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Yup. They contain calcium carbonate.

Hello, I was shopping in the baking aisle and found a product that interested me. It’s called nutritional yeast flakes. The only ingredient is dried yeast and says it can be added to food or beverages for flavoring. I wonder if it could be used as a yeast nutrient?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Not sure it it would work as a nutrient but it will add a cheeselike flavor so I wouldn’t use it.

I made a cranberry wine recently and it took about 2.5-3 months to finish fermenting. OG was 1.09 FG was 1.002 using a 1/2 pack of premiere classique yeast. Here’s my brew notes: Cranberry wine Sg 1.09 ish Cranberry juice, 1 cup Lipton tea, 2ish cups sugar, 1 expired ec1118 for nutrient, 1/2 pack premiere classique Started 8/22/22 Very slow fermentation, possibly from low pH 1.002 on 11/26/22 ~11.5%

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Possibly, that or temperature.

@SiskiyouForest

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews I don’t think it was temperature. The house is always between 72-77 which is smack in the middle of the range for premiere classique. Just be extra careful with bottle bombs with that brew if you didn’t stabilize. I believe your last 2 readings went from 1.03 to 1.028 so it could still be slowly fermenting, which would also explain the cloudiness. Mine was a 9.5-10 for clarity. Anyways, love your channel! I’ve been a subscriber since you had under 2k subs!

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

@SiskiyouForest we haven’t bottled yet either :)

IN this wine did you ever stir up the yeast when adding the potassium Bi-Carbonate? Obviously a gentle stir? when I have been adding ingredients after the initial day I usually take a sanitized spoon and stir the yeast back into solution gently. If we are balancing for the yeast and the yeast hove collected at teh bottom stirring them into the fresh environment seems like a logical idea.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

I swirled it all a few times along the way.

Hi both and community! I need help! I'm making the Viking's Blood 2020 in two 1 gallon containers. Now I'm just starting so they're plastic. I have 4 plastic containers. Nice and cheap. ($2.50 each?)Day 1 both are bubbling away and I'm all happy! Day 2 (today) and in 1 of the containers (fermenters) the airstop? Bubbly thingy at the top? It's stopped bubbling on one of them. I've checked the actual liquid/cherry stuff and it's bubbling away quite happily! But the air stopper thingy is level. So I've got a hole in the plastic bottle somewhere... Ok. Now I've felt around with my hands and I can't feel any realise of any air anywhere. I was hoping I would have felt something and just sellotape the entire top of the bottle? Oh, and there's no liquid seepage so the hole's at the top somewhere... (And I've re-screwed the lid till I'm bored) I did work in a chemical works? And this is the time they'd put very soapy water over the entire pipe to locate the hole. Soap on my fermenter to find the hole? FORGET IT!!! The liquid is bubbling so I'm happy. But should I be? Now here comes the dodgy decision... It's day 2. I've heard (I'm a noobie, I know nothing!) that it's ok to oxygenate till day 3 (I'm just doing the careful swirly thing so no mould grows... I guess because that's what Brian said to do?). Do I move the contents to a new container (I will sanitise first) - I have four, using two - and throw this one because there is a hole somewhere? (P.S. whatever the decision, I'm throwing this one anyways!!!) Or do I just Metallica ride the lightning and do an eye: "Is it still bubbling" till the 2 gravity readings - 1 week apart - to see if it's done, using the first one as a bench mark? A kinda guide? And yes, contents of both are the same, half yeast packet in one, the other half in the other. Now I don't think the 'hole' is big enough to let in fruit flies - but I am in an area where fruit flies are a thing (crack a beer, 1/2 hour later, fruit flies) So this is a major, major concern for me. Should I transfer it into a new container? (In which case, it will oxygenate. These cherries? Where ever they are? They don't wanna go anywhere else! And that cinnamon stick? Man. It's so not going to play ball!) Or just leave it, first brew, live and learn, see what happens, 30 mins of me staring at a bottle to see if it's still bubbling in like 3 or 4 weeks, (I'm still at the point I like watching the bubbles!) grav read it, leave it 1 week, grave read it again... Ya know, don't worry, it'll be fine... I'm happy to leave it, but hey! Community! It's good to talk! Any/all feedback greatly appreciated! :) Oh, and PS. I'm also, obviously, worried about oxygenating during the entire fermentation process. Is oxygen getting in? I don't know. But I'm quite happy to run the experiment, report back the results - community. Together, with our collective knowledge, we are stronger!

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

You’re fine. Plastic is notorious for not sealing. Most likely nothing to worry about.

@trashman1358

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews Thank you!

a very shorty lived girfriend of mine from france took me to angers (pronounced aun jay) where we visited the distillery :) question: does boiling the water help the chlorine evaporate faster?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Boiling for 15 minutes removes most of it.

As I was looking at Amazon to purchase Potassium Bicarbonate and I found a version from LD Carlson and it says on the label "Not to be used to reduce acid beyond 0.3% or used on wines higher than 3.5ph". This may explain why you could not reduce the PH above that range.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

It is stronger than most things for changing acidity.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Also those are completely different scales :). 0.3% total acidity is one measurement and they don’t recommend it for use below that. Not sure why.

Do you think this would be good as a 5 gallon batch to be put in a keg and carbonated for a summertime beverage?😁

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Sure?

Suppose you really wanted this to ferment closer to your target gravity. What would you do to kick start fermentation so that it would work on the remaining sugars? What are some typical options? For example, could you add more yeast, even another type? Or is it the case that trying to do too much could ruin the brew? In other words, when it's done .... it's done!

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

More yeast, yeast hulls, a good mix and even temp change.

I’d like to see you guys do a durian wine.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Pass :)

@DavidJones-uh9rg

11 ай бұрын

I’ll send you the durian !

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Pass.

I have a silly question could you mix ferm maid o and yeast together in one step

@CitySteadingBrews

4 ай бұрын

Best not to. Too much nutrient can be bad for yeast.

When using bottled juice, at what point or kind of juice do you add water? And do you have to?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Depends on the intended purpose really. Juice can be all the fermentables or only some.

I'm a weirdo. I pitch my yeast with a pinch of sugar and let it sit for an hour before adding it to my brews, only because I want the yeast to start the funky dance of love so they can be stronger when introduced to their all-you-can-eat buffet. I could be talking out my backside, but I'm thinking a stronger starting colony might help get the fermentation going quicker, and better avoid infection. Something else: my own cranberry wine only got to 8.5% ABV, despite using Beast and raisins and a cup of black tea. Darned pH levels.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

But…. The yeast are only acclimated to the liquid you hydrated in. They have to readjust to your actual must and that can induce stress.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Even manufacturers are coming around to this. kzread.info/dash/bejne/eoCnpKNugNDIYLQ.html

@johnp.2267

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews So I was talking out my backside, after all. Appreciate the information, and I'll be using a small sample of the must to pitch yeast, from now on.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

No worries! There is a lot of info out there and not all is good…

@papasmurf9146

11 ай бұрын

"There is a lot of info out there and not all is good…" There's the quote of the month. Nice to have a reliable source of information. The fact the two of you are entertaining is just a bonus.

Did it stall because the yeast was partially killed by the ph level being too acidic before you added the potassium bicarbonate? Maybe adding more yeast after getting the ph correct would have helped?

@CitySteadingBrews

10 ай бұрын

Possibly.

1 imperial gallon is 1.20095 US gallons

Make a shaga mead! What would it taste like? I DONT KNOW! First boil the shaga then steep it in the alcoholic wine

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

I have heard of mushroom wine, and most say it's only really suitable for cooking. I can't imagine a mead being much better, lol

you have added the ph boost a couple of times.... and stired the brew to mix it in... do you think that stiring the brew and in so doing also helped it degas.... is it posible that the degasing also makes a difference??

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Degassing helps for sure.

@scroungemastergeneral2015

11 ай бұрын

Adding an alkali to a strong acid usually creates foam as well. (Think about putting baking soda into vinegar.) That might be a factor as well.

Great Video! Would bentonite of been a good idea in this case to help clear? Any reason for not using it?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

If you like, go for it. I have never used it. Maybe we will try it sometime, but honestly a little haze never affected anything.

@TheAciddragon069

11 ай бұрын

i have used several different clearing agents and they all work well but they strip flavors out sometimes severely so

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Quite true. I mean it makes sense, they are removing things so, something's gotta give.

@TheAciddragon069

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews there is nothing more depressing than making a blueberry mead than smells and tastes fantastic then add a clearing agent only to have it taste like white wine with blue food coloring added to it

I have an old ph meter but ran out of calibrating solution. Got tired of having to constantly calibrate it. Seems like they need recalibrated every couple of uses

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

The one we have doesn't seem to need it that often.

@bsicc

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrewsNice... You're lucky then! Most cheaper ones start drifting .1 or so every time they touch something. Even the good ones need re-calibrated in buffer solution twice a month. Luckily the buffer solutions aren't that expensive. I ordered some so I can start checking PH again :)

wanted ask a question I made a wine sp was 1120 at start when it finished was 1012 so what would the alcohol be in it im not real good with numbers

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/qoKrsLyglbfaeag.html

Mmmmm. Crunchy Oranges

rofl best video....the pith police ...classic

36:21 i LOVE your shirt where did you buy it?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Probably Amazon. Might be a link in the description.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Actually it was a gift! Thought I think it's on Amazon.

@CasperSallee

11 ай бұрын

thank you! @@CitySteadingBrews

I have noticed a trend with this channel I've done my best to watch most if not all of your videos I am a true fan BUT. I have noticed additives such as Camden tablets wine tannin and peptic enzyme. Have your opinions changed about wine additives and or stabilizers? In the younger videos on this channel I never saw any additives it was all organic and mostly natural ferments please don't take me as being disrespectful at all I have learned so much and I'm grateful just honestly curious if I as a fellow brewer missing out? thank you for your time reading my long-winded comments

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

We would be irresponsible to not even try these things sometimes. Camden tabs… not likely again. Pectic enzyme has its uses. We don’t use stabilizers at the end of fermentation. Are you missing out not using pectic enzyme? Meh… not really.

@xxx_madman_xxx5868

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews I bought some tannin and peptic enzyme going to try them in my next spiced apple dessert wine and see if I can get it to clear in less than 6 months. I tried eggshells needless to say that was an epic fail and I'm glad I did it on a small-scale gelatin I've tried with mixed results what is your opinion on kieselsol and chitosan? I hear good things but try to not use what i don't understand fully

the people obsessed with sanitization need to remember wine was made for hundreds of years by stepping on grapes with bare feet in a wooden bucket on a dirt floor

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

True, and people drank a lot of bad wine too. Today we can do better, but there's no need to be obsessed, I agree!

having watched your older videos it seems you have the best success getting high ABVs when you step feed vs adding all the sugar at once. maybe your stalling problem is just over stressing the yeast?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

In this case we actually passed the yeast alcohol tolerance. I didn't realize it until editing :)

@TheAciddragon069

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews ah fair enough

an Alton Brown reference is never unwelcome.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

I agree!

How about making an oxymel. Can an oxymel be developed with mead instead of raw honey, and utilize 25-year-old balsamic vinegar?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Still needs honey.

Can you guys make an Apflewein? Traditional German apple wine made with honey, maybe carbonate it?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Sounds like a cyser.... kzread.info/dash/bejne/qXuM0qt8n7uof8o.html

@user-we6ir5ko7c

11 ай бұрын

My understanding to be considered a mead it need a certain percentage of honey for the fermentation process (obviously a high one) and with a significantly lower percentage would be considered a cider? I could be wrong also how long it ferments and what nutrients it the yeast get depends.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Generally 50% of the fermentables should be honey.

@user-we6ir5ko7c

11 ай бұрын

Right, to be considered a mean or “cyser”this is just using a small amount of honey for the fermentation to still be considered a cider, just made with a little bit of honey

GET THE GOOP

Just one question do you not have to calibrate the pH-meter?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Every so often we do.

They sell 2lb bags of sugar.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

And 5 and 10 :)

Oh, Brian an AB joke...love him.

Hey guys i know this isn’t about the video but I’ve got a question, the hydrometer I’m using is the brewers elite one you guys have listed in your equipment, now I’ve used this thing in water which is supposed to be 1.000 i even dropped the temp of the sample to 60° for calibration purposes but it was reading 0.994 is this the same with yours? Or did i just receive a faulty one..?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

I would contact Brewer's Elite. Or... check your water? Use spring water. Not sure that's what it is, but it's the next logical step.

@Itsjayy225

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews okay thanks, i did use spring water, I actually just used a grinding tool and filed the glass down until it hit 1.000 at 60° but kinda bummed i had to do that.

@Itsjayy225

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews there is one thing i can think of that mayyy be a cause but i didnt think of it, do you think my graduated cylinder could be giving off readings? Its only a 100ml cylinder but the hydrometer still floats but just barely i have to fill it basically to the brim

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

@Itsjayy225 no… it will still float to the level no matter the cylinder.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

If the hydrometer wasn’t actually floating that is the problem yes.

You putting in a lot more bicarb than you expected doesn't surprise me. pH is logarithmic. 1 point pH equates to a concentration difference of a factor 10.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Yup

I think the word you are looking for is titratable acidity. sounds like youre combining it with tartaric acid

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Yep. Not confusing the ideas, just the words!

Seven million asbestos fibers per liter or less in our drinking water has been deemed "acceptable" by regulatory commisions set up by our goverment. It is a known cause of digestive system cancers. There are still an estimated 600,000 miles of a.c. pipe still in use in the USA and Canada. All of it is past its date of serviceability.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Thus, we use filters.

Preference tasting score = transparent bias

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Yup!

Can you guys make a moscato?

@CitySteadingBrews

5 ай бұрын

Not specifically unless we can get that variety of grape, but a sweet white wine we can.

Why not just add lemon juice to bump the acid level?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

The acid level was too high.... we were taking it down. Lower pH means higher acidity. We needed to raise the pH.

@Raymond.Butler

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

All good :)

.... so that's not a slide-rule in your pocket... ta-boom

I think this is easily repeated. If you added the sum of the ph additive it would probably come out almost exactly the same.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

True enough.

Brian, bud, i love ya, but how you get the stuff off the bottom of the bottles legit bugs me. XD Open it, dump half, then shake up the rest. The liquid moves more because it has more room, and its a lot easier to get the stuff off the bottom.

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Wait… what?

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Why do I want the stuff off the bottom?

@thehellfirewolf13

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews Oh, i meant the solids and stuff that sticks to the bottom of juice bottles

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

@thehellfirewolf13 oh juice bottles! Yeah you have a point. Honestly it’s never been a problem though, lol. All comes out just fine :)

@thehellfirewolf13

11 ай бұрын

@@CitySteadingBrews Don't you make a point of shaking up juice bottles to get that stuff off the bottom of them? A little extra food for the yeast?

Also settle the debate From the Uk And i used to pump gasoline as my first after school job 22 years ago A Uk Gallon is 4.54 litres 😂😂

@julietardos5044

11 ай бұрын

Measuring things in the UK can be...creative. I'm in the US, but I saw a post from a train worker who had tasks such as measuring the trains speed in meters/second over the course of a mile.

I think you guys should try making peppermint wine I started some a couple weeks ago and is crazy smelling used 2 pounds of the red and white striped peppermint candy and a lil sugar in a one gallon fermenter and started at 1.114

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

From candy…. Ehh… not really our thing but we might come up with something!

@mikewoo5488

11 ай бұрын

You guys literally made koolaid wine a month ago lol and all candy is is sugar with flavor in this case sugar and peppermint oil I’m thinking bout ginger candy next or the strawberry candies like hickory farms came with

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

@mikewoo5488 we can have standards :)

@mikewoo5488

11 ай бұрын

Your possibly passing up what could be the worlds best breakfast wine it’s not done yet but can almost guarantee it will pair perfectly with toothpaste no weird taste like orange juice after brushing lol

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

@mikewoo5488 lol

I want to send you guys a bottle of my mead but i dont think it would make it i live in Washington State on the opposite side of the country than you guys

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

Thanks but we don’t encourage sending bottles. First it’s illegal to ship alcohol in the US and second we have too many already! :)

Google sez a British 20% more than a US gallon...

@CitySteadingBrews

11 ай бұрын

5 liters yup

Pennsylvania 6-5000

@CitySteadingBrews

10 ай бұрын

Transylvania…