>> I've never had mead.
>> What, wait, really?
>> Really?
>> I have never.
Actually, I take that back.
I've had honey and
theoretically if I've had yeast
and I've had water.
So, in theory, I've had
all the building blocks of,
>> Yeah all the parts ready,
you just let them sit together long enough
to make anything happen.
>> And that existed for
two weeks to three months.
>> You sound like Dr. Manhattan.
[laughing]
>> Manhattan's very different.
>> Oh, that's a different thing?
[laughing]
>> Suddenly there's three
of me and I'm all naked,
I'm like, "What's going on, bro?"
>> Brian's naked and blue, like,
"I have consumed all of
the base properties of mead."
[laughing]
[soft music]
>> ROBOT VOICE: Making Mead.
>> Don't take this the wrong way,
but I'm happy to see Anthony Buonomo
without any weapons.
>> I'm pretty excited that maybe
we're not going to have to fight,
but today you are teaching us about mead.
>> I feel like we will
fight because it's mead.
I feel like mead guarantees
that fisticuffsmanship will ensue.
>> That'll be the after show.
>> That's right.
>> Yeah, Anthony says,
"Well, I did lace these with PCP.
"So..."
[laughter]
>> So, we're going to actually make mead,
which I guess is
synonymous with honey wine?
>> Yeah, basically roughly the same thing.
There's a bunch of
different varieties of mead
depending on what you put in it.
Mead in it's most simple form
is just honey, water, yeast
and just let it sit in a dark
corner for a couple weeks.
>> And as we learned
during the pruno episode,
I guess really it's just time plus yeast,
takes in sugar,
poops out alcohol,
and in the case of the pruno,
the sugars came from the fruit juice.
But in this case I guess, honey,
I assume has more sugar in it?
Question mark.
>> Yes, honey is actually
really interesting.
It's, I want to say 80 plus percent sugars.
Which actually makes it something
that's entirely shelf stable.
It'll last forever.
It might crystallize.
And if it does you just
put it in hot water.
It'll dissolve back out into solution.
>> Yeah there were stories
like there's honey surviving
all the way from ancient Egypt--
>> Wow!
>> Like 2,000 or 3,000
years ago.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> Or some stuff.
>> Honey does not go bad.
That high sugar content
that makes it that way.
So you actually need
to add the water to it
so the bacteria and yeast will survive
cause otherwise it's
just, nothing happens.
>> Now the AVB percentage on mead
ranges anywhere from like 3.5 to like 20.
>> 20 percent?
>> Yeah.
>> Holy cow!
>> It's all entirely on how
much initial honey there is
in the solution to begin with
which of course is your
initial starting sugars.
And the alcohol content of the yeast.
>> Now there are a lot of
different types of mead.
These were made all around the world.
So it's not just something
that's medieval England.
>> Oh yeah.
>> This is really
all over the globe.
>> It's much longer and they even theorize
that it's one of the first
fermented beverages there are
just because it is so simple and happened
accidentally out in the fields.
Like, you accidentally leave some honey
or throw some honey in your water barrel
or whatever and it kind
of ferments naturally
because there's natural yeast
that will ferment for you.
>> I just really wish
that I had a time machine
where I could go back
to the discovery of mead
and be like, "Why are you acting so weird?"
"I don't know, I feel really good.
"I had some of that honey that
was in that barrel over there."
"That's been there for like
three years."
"It's great you got to try it."
[Brian laughing]
>> So when it comes to making beer
I know that it's very easy to screw up.
We did some home brewing
with some of the scam
stuff, home brew kits.
And it is astonishing how
precise everything has to be.
Is mead similar in that regard?
>> Is there some wiggle room?
>> A little more loosey goosey.
>> Mead as you'll see mead
is a lot more loosey goosey.
If you're looking for a specific result
you're going to need that more precise
balancing everything out.
How we're just kind of
winging something together
for the first time
or you don't really care as much
about reproducing the same
thing over and over again.
You can kind of just
throw things in a bucket
and see what happens.
>> So if we're going to rank
making mead on a difficulty level
compared, you know, you got beer and wine
and all that other stuff.
Mead is the easiest would you say or?
>> To my knowledge I've
never played with wine
but looking at wine kits
there's a lot more involved
in them, different thing to it
like you can literally run
down to the grocery store
buy a gallon of water,
couple pounds of honey
and even in a pinch bread yeast
and get passable mead out of it.
>> Now you've brought two
different methods to teach us.
>> Yes.
>> There's a really, really simple one.
And then there's something
to do a little bit better.
>> ANTHONY: Right.
>> Okay we're going to try both though.
>> Yep, absolutely.
>> All right,
let's get started.
>> I thought you said
this shit was simple.
>> Correct, yes.
>> This is potassium
sorbate wine stabilizer.
>> And this is clearly made to
get like hair out of a drain.
>> Potassium meta bisulphate.
This is not looking simple.
>> Right, right this is mine.
>> Okay.
>> Oh I see,
I'm banished here.
I'm going to go to the children's table.
>> This is you guys.
>> Okay.
>> Okay.
>> All right.
It comes down to being able
to measure more precisely
and more importantly sanitation.
All this stuff.
>> Yeah we don't give
a [electronic beeping]
about sanitation.
>> ANTHONY: Yeah, these
there's no contaminants.
It's sealed, it's clean.
You know what you're getting into
you know what you're getting out of it.
This is not clean, this has
been out and used repeatedly
so I'll need to sanitize
it with some of this.
I'm going to be doing some very proper
oral pipetting, oral siphoning.
>> It sounds sexy.
>> Yeah, right.
>> I'm in.
>> Just like
siphoning gasoline.
>> Now is that before or
after we make the mead?
>> A little com A, a little com B.
>> Right on.
>> So lot of this is cleaning stuff.
These chemicals are later on
are used to stabilize the mead
so it won't ferment anymore.
So once you get it down to a point
where you don't want
anymore sugar burned off.
>> Oh got it otherwise
the yeast doesn't know
that it's quitting time.
>> Yeah.
>> The yeast are just,
they're just going to keep on eating.
>> Right, they'll keep on eating.
At some point they will hit a saturation
where they're at the alcohol solution,
their own [electronic beeping] basically
will make them die off and
stop producing anymore.
But as soon as you kick
them around a little bit.
>> Wait, you would want to stop that
before they eat up all the sugar
because you want the sweetness
that comes in originally.
Hey, look at this, we're
learning, we're learning.
>> Right, so there are
two ways of doing it.
So you can over sweeten to
begin with and keep an eye on it
or just kind of caution to
the wind and see what happens
and stop at a certain point.
>> That one.
>> Yeah, that one.
And at that point you kind of measure it
with the specific gravity or
how sweet it is, how it tastes
and then you put the
stabilizer to stop it.
So one will stop them
producing more yeast.
The other will stop them
from turning alcohol into,
>> I have questions but,
>> Pretty sure he said specific gravity.
>> Okay, the fundamentals are we just need
something for the yeast to eat.
In this case the sugar in the honey.
>> Right.
>> A place for the yeast to swim
and turn into the delicious mead.
And what kind of yeast are we using?
>> This here?
>> That there.
>> Austin has a really
nice home brew store
that costs all of a dollar.
>> Ooh, nice.
>> What is this exactly?
>> Wine yeast.
>> Wine yeast.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Specifically wine yeast.
>> Yeah.
And that's a personal preference.
I like the taste this one makes
more than some other yeasts I've tried.
>> Lots of different types you can get?
>> Dozens, dozens, dozens.
>> Okay.
>> So right now we're
doing really, really basic.
We're just doing a simple
mead adding your fruits,
adding your spices.
It'll make your melomels or you add--
>> See, he's doing it again.
>> With funny words, right?
>> Yeah, what is melomels?
>> It just means it's a
fancy word for fruit mead.
>> Oh, for flavors.
>> I thought those were
the little candies you get.
>> [laughs] Those are Mike and Ikes.
>> Mike and Ikes.
[Brian laughing]
>> Different.
>> That's a
version we do.
>> You can probably flavor
it with a Mike and Ike.
I don't what'll happen.
>> Put Hot Tamales in there.
>> There is no limit to any of this
that's why it's so fun and interesting.
>> I want some Gobstopper mead.
>> [laughs] And Nerds [laughs].
>> Yes.
>> JASON: It's sugar.
>> It's extra sugar.
>> It'll work, all right.
>> All right, so we got
they three ingredients,
the yeast, the sugar and the water.
Should we get like a bucket?
Let's get the Pruno bucket.
>> You want the Pruno bucket?
>> Yeah!
>> I was going to let you guys mix in this
and we're going to keep
everything clean and sanitized.
You don't have to do anything else.
>> Oh, mix in this.
That would be better.
>> That was good.
>> That's be better.
>> That's good.
>> Way easier, no sanitation.
>> Yeah, okay, all right.
>> So one of the first
things we need to do
is sanitize the equipment
cause I'm going to actually use
some of that water to make my own.
>> Okay.
>> So the current goal is
we're going to dump out
about half of each of
these buckets into mine
which gives both of us working
space to dilute the honey.
We'll mix everything
up, then add the yeast
and top it back off.
And you're not sanitizing for safety
you're sanitizing for a
consistency of flavor profile
because you don't want funky
whatever bacteria's coming in?
>> Yes.
Correct.
>> Okay.
>> So it's somewhere between safety.
Like so if you do this wrong
you'll wind up with
really expensive vinegar.
>> Oh wow, okay.
>> So you need the right
yeast to go in there
and control everything.
>> And what is this
stuff that you're doing?
>> So this is Star San.
It's a very standard, generic sanitizer
used in any of the home brew stuff.
>> BRIAN: Okay.
>> It's colored suspiciously
like some versions of mead.
>> Right.
>> So, just make sure
he doesn't--
>> You can try some.
I think it's--
>> Just make sure he doesn't.
>> I think it's mostly safe.
[Brian laughing]
>> Drink it, I'll drink
anything that looks like mead.
>> So simple directions are
you can use an ounce to
sanitize five gallons.
This is like in the two gallon realm.
So I'm going to use like
quarter ounce if that.
Swirl at the bottom.
Sanitize this, sanitize my tube.
Sanitize my specific gravity meter
which we'll talk about.
And the other equipment as well.
>> Yeah the specific gravity
meter if I remember correctly
you take a measurement at the beginning
and then a measurement at the end
and the difference is what
tells you what the alcohol--
>> Right, how much sugar
has disappeared, absolutely.
Dump some of that in.
Add some water.
>> BRIAN: So you're just
washing everything out.
>> Yeah.
Lots a bubbles now.
>> Yep.
>> So I'm just going to
add anything I want sanitized
which is pretty much everything
cause it's not going to hurt anything.
>> JASON: Oh and you're just going to.
>> Going to dump everything--
>> Immerse it in there.
>> Shake it up a little bit.
I know you guys are all about
your proper methods of everything.
>> We're all set on our side.
I don't know why you're
taking so long.
>> Yeah, I know.
>> I mean, look at all this
science that's happened.
>> Right.
>> In the past.
>> Just using the bottle
brush here to clean out
anything that may have developed.
>> What is this guy right here?
>> That's later.
>> Oh.
>> That's later.
>> You want to wager some guesses?
>> Yeah this is a--
>> Hygrometer.
>> This feels like it's
something to grab a thing.
Oh I bet that's what--
>> Yeah.
>> Go down and then it,
I don't know, hook, no.
No.
>> No.
>> I'm going to give it a quick sanitize.
>> Whatever it is, it's got to be clean.
>> It's got to be clean.
>> Right, everything should be clean.
>> I'm at a loss, I
don't know what this is.
>> Just going to dump this all out,
>> Okay.
>> So do you have to
worry about the residue
of this stuff on there,
I assume it's all sterile.
>> Um, so not necessarily all sterile,
it actually is good for the mead to
sit in there with it.
So it actually helps
create a protective layer,
so one of the big important things after
we get the fermentation started,
you want oxygen mixing in,
>> Mhm.
>> So this leaves a nice
layer of non-oxygen between
and covers everything.
And what it does, the
bubbles do fully break down
actually help feed the yeast nutrients.
>> So that's a very
specific sterilizing agent,
you're not going to want to use Windex.
[laughter]
>> Or scrubbing bubbles.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> This episode's going
to go off the rails
when we realize he's making poison.
[laughter]
>> But that was the big reveal.
>> Yeah, fabuloso has got just the
right mix of hydorchloride
>> Fabuloso!
>> Each of you pick a gallon,
open it up and dump about
half into my bucket.
>> But we're going to use
the rest for our thing?
>> Yes.
>> All right.
>> ANTHONY: What are you, racing?
>> Yeah.
[laughter]
>> ANTHONY: Only half, don't over pour.
>> That's about it.
>> Nailed it.
>> Perfect, perfect for
our level of precision.
So, all the mead I make
is with Round Rock Honey,
local honey, local flowers,
I really like the flavors of it.
They also have a new brand
that I want to try out.
So I'm going to have one of you
play with this one.
>> BRIAN: Good bees.
>> Oh, do we have like, a
tasting stick or something?
>> A tasting stick?
>> ANTHONY: A popsicle stick, I know.
>> Those are cooperation you
think we run around here.
>> I believe those are called spoons.
>> We've got a tasting stick.
>> ANTHONY: It's something.
[laughter]
>> Somewhere.
>> There we go.
>> Perfect.
[laughter]
>> Stick the finger in.
>> Oh, the poor child's hands!
>> It's not a child, it's CHI-ILD.
>> So, I want you guys to
try the difference between
the two different types of honey.
>> Okay.
>> All of a sudden
I'm uncomfortable.
>> Use the tasting stick.
[laughter]
>> It's like, been, Jesus Christ, okay.
>> Oh, it's gift gold.
[laughter]
>> Hold on, don't get it everywhere.
[laughter]
>> Okay, to compare,
use the tasting stick.
[laughter]
>> That's good honey,
>> That's good internet
>> Hang on, I want to
get, I guess I got to,
[laughter]
>> That's good.
>> Can you describe how that tasted?
>> It tasted like honey.
It was good, it was kind of, earthy?
Really sweet.
Yeah, it was honey.
>> All right, now use the
tasting stick for this
Round Rock Honey.
[laughter]
>> Mm, okay, yeah.
This is actually sweeter,
and this one kind of has
an earthier flavor to it.
They're both good, I prefer this one.
But yeah, this one is
like a boutique version?
>> Actually, so they've got
a bee farm in Argentina.
>> Oh wow!
>> Oh wow.
>> So it's completely
different flavor profile.
>> Yeah.
>> So from the other
side of the world, yeah.
>> No there is a distinct
difference between the two.
>> So yeah, so the different meads,
>> Mhm.
>> Are going to be
completely different as well,
with no other changes.
Everything else will be the same,
it will be the same yeast,
the same everything,
just different honeys,
and have completely different,
[laughter]
>> What?
I'm going to put the tasting
stick right over here.
[laughter]
So these two different
honeys are going to give us
a different flavor profile
in the mead, as well.
>> Yes, completely different.
So, one of you takes the
three, one pounds of those,
put it in that one,
and we'll measure out
three pounds of honey
into the other ones.
>> Oh, these are each one pound
>> Yes.
>> Okay, got it.
>> Those are each one pound.
>> So I'm going to use
all three of these,
>> Oh, 16 ounces.
>> In this one, and Brian is going to do,
>> Yup.
>> Okay, gotcha.
>> So, am I just eyeballing this one, or?
>> Nice scale.
>> Oh yeah, of course!
>> Keep it very, yeah
drop it on there first.
>> Do I need to sample all of the bottles,
with I've got the--
[laughter]
>> You're welcome to.
>> Okay.
>> ANTHONY: So you're
going to use a quarter
of that since a gallon
of honey is 12 pounds.
>> Blurp, blurp.
>> So don't worry too much
about getting all of it
cause we're actually going
to mix some water into it
>> Okay.
>> And shake it,
to get the dregs out.
>> So you think, this is,
>> That's probably good enough.
>> Oh just, good for now.
>> Yeah.
>> JASON: One pound, four ounces.
>> ANTHONY: He's getting
all the honey out,
and one is pain.
>> One pound,
six ounces.
>> Well, you can put some
water in, shake it up,
get the rest out that way.
>> One pound, ten ounces.
>> So we're putting three pounds of honey
right in half a gallon of water.
>> Well it's going to build
back to the full gallon.
>> Six [screams] I did it!
Ah I messed it up!
>> ANTHONY: Oh god!
>> I almost got one extra ounce.
>> Is that a problem?
>> No.
>> Oh, okay.
>> ANTHONY: So I'm going
to add a gallon and a half,
so I'm going to hand wave
to about 5 pounds of honey.
If you're inclined, there
are mead calculators online.
>> BRIAN: Oh, it gives you exact ratios.
>> Yeah, so you can plug in okay,
my final volume is going
to be a gallon of mead,
I want to use this much honey,
it'll give you an estimated
alcohol percentage,
like, you can do this all very very,
scientifically and
accurately and get exactly
what kind of sweetness and
desire you're looking for.
>> BRIAN: So the fourth
ingredient I guess is time,
is mead substantially different in term
of the time it takes to ferment?
>> So it depends on which
we're comparing against,
like your beers it's going
to be same fermentation time,
depending on how you treat it,
how warm the environment is, again,
the yeast itself will
determine fermentation rate.
>> Mhm.
>> But you're generally
looking at one to two weeks
up to as long as four if you wanted to,
but after that, it pretty
much is done and it stops,
that's when you add your stabilizers in.
>> That's probably enough.
>> And just cap it and shake it.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> JASON: You could
just, take the lid off.
>> That's what you could do.
Merp, merp, merp.
I have diarrhea.
[laughing]
>> Most appetizing mead ever.
[laughing]
>> With the anthropomorphic
honey bottle telling everyone.
Sorry everyone I have diarrhea.
>> Looking pretty good, not going to lie.
>> ANTHONY: Right, it's perfect.
>> So that's wild.
>> Like, look at that perfect
layer between the two.
>> ANTHONY: Right, that's
because we shook his up.
>> Can you hand me
the wood drill?
>> It's like one of
those executive knickknacks.
>> Under the table there.
>> JASON: The drill?
>> Yup.
>> Drill?
>> You guys don't need it don't worry.
The benefit of doing things the fancy way.
>> Oh we haven't put
the yeast in here yet.
>> Correct.
So were not going to add the
yeast until we aerate the must.
So the mixture of honey
and water is a must.
>> I know what it is.
On Hacking the System,
>> Yeah,
>> when we bleached the papers,
>> Yeah,
>> And mixed them up,
and I kept spraying bleach all over you,
>> Yeah,
>> That's what were doing here,
that's what the attachment was for.
>> Got it, okay, got it.
>> That's what I'm doing,
you guys get to shake it.
>> Oh that's what that thing was for.
That's brilliant.
>> So you guys can shake
that for a long time.
>> JASON: Shake it?
>> Shake it.
>> Okay.
>> We'll race.
>> All right.
>> Back to back
[laughing]
>> Hot shaking action.
>> Oh.
>> Yeah.
>> Oh.
>> Yeah.
>> Oh.
>> We're going to be on
the sexy mead calendar.
>> You need to shake harder than that.
[whirring noise]
>> What, what, what?
[laughing]
>> Whoa!
>> Oh!
>> Is this going to turn into cocktail?
[laughing]
>> JASON: For goodness sakes.
>>> ALL: Aruba, Jamaica,
>> BRIAN: Not cocobo!
You son of a--
>> So now that we have
the must properly aerated,
we take our hydrometer to take
the specific gravity rating.
Again, specific gravity just tells you
how much sugar there is in
solution in the mixture.
>> It basically is an indication of,
how much water to other
stuff ratio there is.
>> Right, absolutely.
>> Got it.
>> Because there's only honey and sugar,
and the sugar will give
us a reading for this.
And the specific gravity
based on what it floats to,
its going to tell us how
much potential alcohol
there is in the mixture,
and we can add more,
less water to get the
balance we're looking for.
>> So you can forecast
exactly how much ABV
you want your drink to have,
rather than a rough guess,
you can actually determine it.
>> Yup, yup absolutely.
So each yeast has a
specific alcohol tolerance,
so say, and these don't have it,
but say these had enough for
17 percent alcohol in it,
this yeast only goes
up to about 14 percent.
>> At which point, it all
dies, choking on its own poo.
>> And realistically, and
again, anything natural,
you're not going to have
an accurate 100 percent reading for it.
So it may stop at 12, it
may go up to 15 or 16,
>> Got it.
>> But that's when
you use the stabilizer to stop it early.
The more traditional way
that people tend to do,
build this to only 10 percent, stop it,
stabilize everything, in what
they call back sweetening,
so back sweetening is when
once its done fermenting,
and you stabilize everything,
then you add more honey
or other sugars to--
>> Flavor the taste.
>> Yes, that's when you add
your cherries, strawberries,
fruits or whatever you want afterwords.
>> Got it.
>> That gives it a much more
controlled method of doing everything.
That's sweetening in the secondary
or back sweetening in secondary, so.
>> Cool, so is there any
sweetening is that you do upfront,
as far as putting the fruits in before,
>> So you can sweeten in primary,
which would be adding any
kind of things right now,
>> Mhm.
>> There are trade offs there, are again,
you never know which sugars
are being eaten at this point.
Cause if I have fructose in my fruit,
and then the honey and
sweeteners from that,
it can go from either or,
and certain yeast will eat certain sugars,
and other things like that.
And so it gets really artistic,
if you want to do it that way,
or hand waving if you prefer that method,
or you can stick to very, traditional,
I'm going to do It this way,
this what worked last time,
and repeat the process every time.
>> So how do we measure
the specific gravity.
>> Do you want to do
the honors of siphoning?
>> Yeah, I'll siphon.
[laughing]
>> I guess I just get this started.
>> Yep, and you don't need much,
you honestly if you cap it off,
>> And then now, I just fill this up,
>> And you're going to wrap, stop stop,
you don't need much at all.
>> Okay.
Hey, look, a did a thing!
>> That was a lot easier then
when we tried to siphon gasoline.
>> We all have our own ways.
Rough estimate, so we can
see, it kind of float there,
>> BRIAN: Okay, so what is
this telling us right now?
>> ANTHONY: Okay, there are a
couple different sides to it.
So you can see right here,
the specific gravity reading
is right around 1.136 1.14.
And on the side right next to it,
it has a potential alcohol content.
>> BRIAN: That's the estimated
>> JASON: Oh!
>> BRIAN: Got it.
>> ANTHONY: Right.
>> JASON: It's right there on it!
>> Yup, so generally
you'll record this number,
and the difference between
the number gives that
because this is a potential
alcohol not actual alcohol.
>> Sure.
>> So right now, the potential
alcohol its reading as,
how much?
>> ANTHONY: It's right around 18 percent.
>> If you have the yeast
that's got the stuff
to make it all the way to 18 percent.
>> Yeah, If you had
like a champagne yeast,
you could use a champagne yeast which gets
really really dry,
so it can hit that 18 to 20
percent really consistently.
This is going to stop
around 14 mos likely.
So that's going to leave
us at four percent,
and then you'd have
residual sugars of 1.030,
and if you look at that 4
percent, 30, right there,
that's like, and I know
from just doing this,
that 1.030 is a really really sweet wine,
like desert wine, if not slightly sweeter.
>> Oh wow.
>> Okay.
>> That's way sweeter
than I want this to be,
so I'm going to add a
bit more water to this.
>> So the number you're
trying to hit is how much?
>> 1.120.
>> Could I drop this hydrometer just right
in our mixtures to see?
>> ANTHONY: Yeah.
>> BRIAN: Or do we need
to put it in the tube.
>> ANTHONY: Yeah, you definitely can,
you can probably get it
back out, like this one,
this bucket here, I don't do that
but this bucket as you
can see is a bit short.
>> Oh got it, got it, got it.
>> ANTHONY: So I can do it for mine.
>> BRIAN: Whereas this is, okay.
>> ANTHONY: So with yours,
you guys can definitely
just drop them in there,
and you're going to have a lot of issues,
because of the bubbles.
>> Oh, got it.
>> JASON: Oh, yeah.
>> So you're about 1.13, both of yours I'd
just bring back up to that fill line.
>> Okay, with water, add more water.
>> Yeah, once were at the end of that,
>> Okay.
>> But you're, yeah definitely
just to check out what
the differences are,
and they should be the same,
his will be a little bit lower,
because he has a bit more water in it.
>> Yeah.
>> 1.12?
>> Yeah I'd put it around 1.12.
>> Okay.
>> Something like that.
>> JASON: So that would be--
>> ANTHONY: So I'd stop right about here
just so we can add the
yeast and shake it up more.
>> BRIAN: So you think
that's good, just 1.12?
>> Yeah, I mean you can top
it off more if you want,
entirely up to you, this is your--
>> My batch.
>> Your baby.
>> Okay, put a little
bit more water in there.
>> If you want really sweet water,
you're welcome to try some of that.
>> No [laughter]
>> Just make sure he doesn't, drink it.
>> He'll drink anything
that looks like mead.
>> Oh that is very sweet.
>> Yeah.
All right, so give them a
little bit of a shake just to
mix everything back up one more time,
>> All right, were getting
ready to add the yeast.
>> Yup.
One of these is good for 5 gallons.
>> So well want to share,
>> Use about half, yeah.
>> Okay.
>> ANTHONY: I'm going to use
about of one of my own as well,
just to make sure.
>> So theoretically we could
pour this entire thing in there,
and all it would do is what,
increase the rate that it would ferment?
>> ANTHONY: Yup.
>> BRIAN: Okay.
So that's about half of it.
Here you go sir.
So do we shake it up or
just leave it right on top?
>> Shake it a little bit more.
>> I don't know if you gave me,
>> Oh did I,
>> Did he, short change you?
>> I think you used quite a bit.
>> Did he short change you?
>> Yeah.
>> I did.
>> Yeah.
>> I assumed so.
>> Yeah, I think so, a little bit anyway.
>> And realize, there's hardly
any left, Brian just goes,
>> ANTHONY: That's half.
>> Yeah.
[laughter]
>> And worth noting, different yeasts,
have different ways of starting,
some want to be started up separately,
so you dump the yeast in
a bowl, warm our water,
let it sit in that, let it run from there.
>> That was the big criticism
we got from the Pruno episode is that
we didn't activate the yeast.
>> Yeah.
>> When we used
the bakers yeast.
>> Right.
>> Whereas the brewers yeast,
worked just fine the
moment we threw it in.
>> Yeah, yeah different yeast
have different ways of doing it.
>> Yeah that was the big
complaint we got on Pruno.
[laughter]
>> Okay now shake it?
>> Yup, just a little bit,
just to get it mixed back in.
>> Next thing we're going to worry about
is creating some kind of one-way valve,
and you've got an actual stopper--
>> I've got a stopper.
>> That will let the CO2 come out.
>> Another thing, we're going to give
you guys some yeast nutrients.
>> BRIAN: Oh!
>> ANTHONY: In the way of raisins.
>> BRIAN: Oh right on.
>> So take a handful of raisins,
this is just enough
residual sugars in there
just to help make sure the
yeast has stuff going on,
and doesn't struggle.
Starting off for you guys we have a
very very fancy airlock system.
>> Yeah.
>> Some balloons.
Poke some holes in it,
with this handy little pin,
>> Do you poke first, and then?
>> Yeah, poke some holes in it.
>> Okay.
>> And then wrap it over the top.
And this is your really simple airlock.
>> So this is not a perfect seal,
but it assuming that
there's CO2 coming up,
this thing inflates, and it leaks out.
>> Yup, absolutely.
>> What temperature does
the yeast like to chew on?
>> In the 65 to 70 range.
>> Oh, well that's perfect.
>> So my airlock is
slightly more standard.
It's a two part system here.
Fill it up with water,
it'll float to the middle,
bob up, and then when air
comes up, the bob comes up,
and you see the holes
in the bottle of that.
>> We used one of those
on Pruno, did we not?
>> Yeah, correct.
>> Okay.
>> Okay.
And just like that as you
can see as I push down,
this pops up and releases.
>> JASON: Perfect.
>> Not both of these methods
take, a couple of months,
you say, or two weeks,
>> So fermentation should
be done in about two weeks.
>> Oh.
>> However, you can
drink it at that point,
it's not going to be very good.
Mead is one of those
things, it's a challenge.
I saw that.
[laughter]
>> But I want to drink
it, it's got the booze!
>> You're not going to tell
me not to drink my mead!
>> Yeah, right?
>> I describe it as young,
it's got this really strong
alcohol taste to it still,
it's not going to be very smooth,
it's not going to be very good.
The longer you let it sit and mellow out,
the better it's going to be.
>> So there's no more
fermentation going on,
>> Right, there's no more fermentation.
>> But there's, like, flavor coloring.
>> Sure.
>> Right.
And it'll smooth out
that strong alcohol taste
will slowly disappear over time.
>> JASON: Okay.
>> Does it matter, whether or
not light is shining on it?
Would light have a sterilizing effect
would it better to put it in a dark area?
>> It is better off in a dark area.
>> Okay.
>> Cool and dark spaces is generally the--
>> Cool, so this is why
your equipment is better
because you've got opaque
structures on there to protect it,
whereas this will, the light
>> ANTHONY: I mean,
>> will cause trouble.
>> You can wrap
that with a towel.
So you want to check on them,
make sure everything is
looking good, looking fine,
with a setup like this,
you're looking for some
sort of bubbling action,
your guys, you just got to
make sure the balloons inflate.
It'll be that position permanently.
>> JASON: Okay.
>> Of just--
>> Of just the CO2 always--
>> As it bubbles out.
>> Let's just, set them down here.
>> One of the other important things
you guys don't need to do with that,
that I'll be doing with this one
after a couple of weeks
is called racking it.
Once the yeast is done fermenting,
get it off the mead itself.
All of a sudden its going
to settle at the bottom,
cause the yeast is going to die,
it's going to fall off, things like that.
So you want to get it out
of this container and
into a different one.
So you can do it with a siphon,
with those you kind of just wing it,
and dump it into something else,
another gallon jug,
and let it age in that.
>> After a couple of weeks.
>> Yeah, so when it's done fermenting,
you know, that two to four week time span,
>> Oh, when the balloon
isn't inflating anymore.
>> But yours is always
going to be inflated,
there's always going to be
a little bit of off gassing,
but it's going to stop off significantly.
>> From about three weeks from now,
when we decide we're done.
>> Yeah.
>> And can you just, you
could just, taste that,
if its right?
>> Yeah, it'll be how sweet you want it,
how alcohol tastes to you,
you don't really need all
the fancy things involved.
>> For what we made,
what's the prime window
for us to drink from it?
>> The longer you let it
sit after you rack it,
the better it's going to taste.
The longer you let it sit, the
smoother it's going to taste,
the alcohol flavor is going to go away.
My personal minimum is about 2 months,
before people start
drinking it and trying it,
like I'll try it beforehand,
to make sure it's going
where I want it to, but
I'm not going to like,
try this, to people who don't
know what they're doing,
before that two or three
month window has passed,
just because its just
going to taste a lot like,
that alcohol jet fuel,
kind of flavor to it until
that alcohol flavor made sure it's away.
>> So in the meantime
do we have a preview,
of what it's going to taste like?
>> Yeah, I've got a bunch of
things for you to try out.
>> Let's go.
>> Okay!
>> Let's go grab some of that.
>> Start off with a fairly dry mead,
that's been back sweetened with cherry.
>> So dry means, you've let
the yeast pretty much eat all the sugars,
then you've sweetened it after the fact,
giving it a flavor color profile right?
>> Yup.
>> Got it.
>> Absolutely.
>> How would you sweeten it with cherry?
Did you put actual cherries in there?
>> Yup.
>> JASON: Oh okay.
>> I took way too long
and way too many cherries,
and cut them in half, and pitted them.
>> Awe.
He named each one.
>> I did!
>> He writes them letters,
sings to them at night.
>> Dear Edgar, you are delicious.
>> So I traditionally don't
like super sweet fruity stuff,
so give me just a little bit of this.
>> ANTHONY: Oh this is dry.
You'll probably enjoy that more.
>> I assume it's the same rules
as we've learnt from the Beeress,
where you want to appreciate the color,
look at the cloudiness,
>> Yup.
>> Oh, sure!
>> Smell the aromatics,
oh this does have a dry,
almost wine-like.
>> ANTHONY: Yeah.
>> Oh wow, but you can--
>> Nose.
>> Definitely smell the alcohol in there.
>> Do you know what the ABV on this is?
>> Offhand no, I think it's sitting
at least 12 percent though.
>> Okay.
>> Wow, that is way more dry,
I thought it was going to
be so sweet, and it's not!
Oh, I like this a lot more
than I thought I would.
>> I've never had a mead like this.
>> It's like a very dry red wine.
>> Until today it didn't occur to me,
that you could have meads
that weren't the clear kind of golden,
almost syrupy type of drink.
And this is a dramatic
departure and is really good,
and you just, made this!
>> Yeah!
>> That's fascinating.
>> And so I assume that
there's experimentation
over a lot of time.
>> Yes.
>> In my imagination, you would make
a whole bunch of these at the same time,
changing little things all at once,
and so as long as everything is labeled,
you can understand,
oh this is going to give it
a drier profile and so on.
>> Right, like I said, there's
plenty of information online
about different yeasts where
their alcohol tolerance is,
how they react,
how they do things,
>> That's great.
>> Yeah, so.
>> I like that quite a bit.
>> Next one is a way more traditional,
definitely that sweeter side of things,
it is just straight honey
on the first batch of it.
But I've actually got different
additions to this one,
in these two gallons.
>> Okay, so all three of these
are essentially the same formula,
these are just back sweetened differently.
>> ANTHONY: Right,
well, they're sweetened,
they're just flavored differently.
>> BRIAN: Got it.
>> JASON: Oh, okay.
>> ANTHONY: So they've got
different flavors in there.
>> One of them is chorizo.
[laughs]
>> Chorizo?
>> It's migas flavored.
>> Migas flavored mead.
>> Yeah, everyone needs
a breakfast mead, right?
>> Yeah, breakfast mead.
>> So this is,
>> Oh yeah.
>> See that looks like mead.
To me.
>> This is unintentionally way sweeter.
>> So the nose on this one,
a sour tang to the nose.
>> Oh yeah, yeah,
>> But you can tell,
>> Man I don't know, I don't
know what I'm experiencing.
>> Look at how syrupy it is though.
Like you could tell.
>> Sticks to the sides.
>> Yeah.
>> Oh that's sweet!
That's just like, we had that honey water.
I can't even detect the alcohol in there.
This seems like this would fuck you up.
>> Yeah, yeah that one tastes like
it's got a lot more alcohol,
I don't know that it does.
>> Probably doesn't.
>> I mean that one had
kind of a bite to it.
And this one is just ambrosia.
But it's too sweet for you.
>> You say ambrosia, I say danger.
[laughter]
>> Yeah see this is
what I'm more accustomed
to carrying around the
Renaissance festival, right.
>> Dangerous.
>> These are the same
thing that we just drank.
>> Same exact thing,
they've been sitting on
spices for at least a month,
probably a bit longer.
>> Okay.
>> I've not even
tried these yet.
>> Oh wow.
>> Oh wow, okay.
>> ANTHONY: So, this
is with mulling spices.
>> BRIAN: What are mulling spices?
>> Kind of when you have hot apple cider.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
It's a big box at like, H-E-B,
that says mulling spices on it.
>> Got it.
>> It's got cloves,
and cinnamon,
>> And all spice, and things like that.
>> Do you ever drink mead warm?
>> Yes.
>> I read how it's pretty
common to put mulling spices
in there and mull the mead,
like you do a cider.
>> Oh, man it smells
like Christmas in here!
>> Oh, wow.
>> That's amazing.
>> Yeah, this is like, liquid Christmas.
>> That pungent aroma,
sort of is like a warning,
that other one, the straight honey,
I feel like I might go too fast.
This one feels like it's
going to slow me down.
>> You need to sip it.
>> Yeah.
>> Still sweet.
Boy I like that spice a lot.
>> It's got a bite.
>> That gives it a much
more interesting profile.
>> It's not an alcohol, but it is a bite.
>> Yeah.
Oh that's great.
>> What's your favorite so far?
>> To my surprise, the cherry dry.
>> Yeah, me too.
I think mostly because
that one was unexpected.
>> Mhm.
>> So, this next one,
is essentially the same thing
as the base that we drank here,
just like the other one
but instead of mulling spices we have,
>> ANTHONY: Sarsaparilla.
>> Brian And Jason: Sarsaparilla!
>> Sioux city sarsaparilla!
>> Sioux city sarsaparilla.
That's a good one.
[laughing]
>> What's happening down here?
>> ANTHONY: Oh, that's the sarsaparilla.
>> Oh, Jesus.
>> And cheesecloth.
>> BRIAN: Oh, got it.
It does look like it's alive!
It looks like its in
formaldehyde or something.
[laughter]
>> This is some sort of bio experiment.
>> Yeah, absolutely.
>> It turns and looks at you.
>> It like, knocks on the glass.
[laughter]
>> It says, my family, do they live?
>> Open your mind.
[laughter]
drink of me and know eternity.
>> Its that scene from Poltergeist
2 when he drinks the worm
>> Oh, the tequila worm?
The Geiger thing comes out, the Geiger.
>> So what is sarsaparilla?
>> A root, it's akin to root beer,
you can use it to make root beer flavor.
>> Oh, that's wild.
>> Oh that's what I'm smelling.
>> Somewhere between
root beer and cream soda.
>> That's wild.
>> Mixed with some
anise and clove I think.
>> Yeah.
>> It looks just like the other one.
>> Man, that's fantastic.
>> Oh wow, dramatically
different from the last one.
Much more subtle.
>> The other one just came
on screaming Christmas,
this one whispers, thanksgiving.
[laughter]
>> Also very good.
I like this one a lot.
That's interesting.
This is a hobby where you
can easily experiment.
>> Oh yeah.
>> And just try all
sorts of stuff.
>> It's fairly safe,
>> Yeah.
>> I mean, outside of the fact that
you're drinking a toxin.
>> Other than it being alcohol.
>> [laughter] Yeah, exactly.
>> I just assumed that there
were a couple of variants,
but there's really
infinite amounts of mead
that you can craft at home.
>> Yup.
>> I'm already feeling
a little floaty.
>> JASON: Oh, you really?
>> It's good stuff.
>> It'll sneak up on you.
>> It's strong.
>> Just going to,
>> You having a little more?
>> We're going to toast
to this, gentlemen.
>> These were all really good.
>> Thank you.
>> Here, let's do it to
Anthony, thank you so much
for expanding our horizons
and taking us into a brave new world.
>> Toasting with an empty glass.
[laughter]
>> Bad luck man.
>> Oh that's good.
>> It's starting to feel like working out.
>> It is!
>> ANTHONY: Yeah.
>> I thought this would
be the one episode with Anthony,
where I wouldn't sweat.
[laughter]
Wrong.
I kind of wished you'd come in your armor.
[laughter]
