Does Pasteurization Change Mead Flavor? 

I'm glad you find our approach helpful. Thank you so much for watching!

This is not unique to brewing either. Be it blacksmithing, weightlifting or baking bread. People like to overcomplicate the things they do to seem smarter to everyone else. Lots of everyday things is kind of like this. This friday I'm going to process a few chickens. It can be done fancy but I don't need to in this area either. Good enough is good enough.

Yeah that has been my experience as well. Immediately after pasteurizing you don't get much clarity, but all the dead yeast fall out of solution within a few days and it clears way faster than unpasteurized brew of the same batch.

@@xmarksthespot7708 I find that strongly fortified brews can also have that rapid flocculation effect. Once I bring the ABV up past a certain point, it falls out to crystal clear in a couple days rather than weeks.

@@GogiRegion YES! I think that it may have less to do with the ABV though and more to do with the adding liquids of any type really. It seems to create sites for particles to amalgamate and then fall out.

Thanks for watching!

@GammaRayGaming Yes, I did it at 165F so it was interesting to see if the results would vary at the lower pasteurization temp.

Options are important. Everyone has opinions, they're cheap. Do what works for you.

I know that this part of the process can be a bit confusing. To naturally carbonate you need a beverage that has yet to reach the yeast's alcohol tolerance and then add the proper amount of sugar to carbonate and then pasteurize if it wasn't dry to start with. This is ultimately important if you want a sweet carbonated beverage. If you end up going beyond your yeast's alcohol tolerance but have used a low tolerance yeast and you still want to naturally carbonate, you can add a higher alcohol tolerance yeast at the time of carbonation and will have to pasteurize if you have sweetness. The main reason for pasteurization is if you have any fermentable sugars left over after the carbonation process then the yeast can and in most cases will continue to ferment thus increasing the gasses in your bottle which could lead to a bomb. We stress pasteurization as a safety precaution. But you pasteurize AFTER carbonation has taken place. I hope this helps.

They are great bottles!

There's no flaw though I see what you're saying. We weren't testing preserving techniques, we were finding out if pasteurizing significantly changed the product.

Thank YOU!

This is my concern . I love dryer mead but afew that do need a little bit of a sweetness added to round them out. In fear of ruining I will use potassium metabisulfite but don't want to sorbate too, while also not wanting to use erithytol. From this and your comments it seems I can ease my pasteurization fear. I too make strongly flavored brews

@@charlescomer2692 - Pasteurising isn’t hard. You do need to do it safely, but Brian and Derica have several videos in which they explain the process both with a sous vide device and without. I do not own a sous vide and in order to make sure I don’t shock the bottles I’ll sit them in the sink filled with hot water from the tap to temper them prior to putting them in the pan with hot water. There’s a trivet in the pan to ensure the bottles do not touch the bottom. A heavy lid sits on top just in case. Once pasteurised I will sit the hot bottles on a towel (against temperature shock) and allow them to cool slowly in a quiet place, covered as well. I’ve been doing it like this for years and it works perfectly for me. As long as you work safely and don’t hurry through the process, with no distractions, it’s a rather simple process and there isn’t much to worry about.

@@eddavanleemputten9232 I've been thinking of getting a cheap Sous Vide just for brewing. Also need a huge pot and lid. I get the process and it seems relatively easy but my fear/concern was flavor change as well as potential degradation of the honeys health benefits with heating this high for pasteurization to occur. It wasnt actually mentioned at all in the video nor have I heard anyone bringing that aspect up before, as it seems the concern is more in the minimal lost of %abv. Thanks though. I'll use all that advice moving forward with safety in knowing I'm not sending bottle bombs out into the world lol. One last thing though.. Do you bulk pasteurize or by bottle? The bulking way makes a lot of sense to me for convenience and knowing they've all cleared out equally with no sediment/fall out.

@@charlescomer2692 - I get your concerns. Where flavour is concerned, if you pasteurise by bottle and do it in closed bottles (swing tops are great for that), nothing evaporates and even though the heat might change some of the compounds, nothing gets out… individual bottles will cool down more quickly which would mean the total heating time is shortened. That would theoretically mean the good things coming from the honey would have a bigger chance of being preserved, or if you turn it around, it would mean they get less time to degrade. Bulk pasteurising does offer the advantage of possibly having more sediment falling out of suspension. I’ve done both. Usually I prefer individual bottles, they’re easier to handle. I do have to mention I live in Belgium where people won’t even bat an eyelid at a bit of sediment (or a lot of it!) in a beer. I give my brews plenty of time to clear before back sweetening and bottling, which means sediment is very minimal. It’s not uncommon for me to leave a brew under airlock for months on end after its last racking. Every now and then I’ll make a batch of dry traditional mead that’s more or less at the yeast’s alcohol tolerance. I use that to top off fermenters that I allow to bulk age under airlock. This buys me the time to allow for this bulk ageing. An alternative to the airlock is to get demijohns that can be fitted with a swingtop stopper. Fill to maximum capacity, seal and let it sit… over time I’ve come to a brewing rhythm that suits me and gives me something to do every other week-end (give or take). Starting a new brew, moving one to secondary, finishing and setting to bulk ageing, back sweetening and bottling… it provides me with a very relaxed schedule, it doesn’t matter if things need to be put off for a week or two (except perhaps removal of fruit), there’s always something to do and things stay interesting. Your schedule and mileage may differ. I guess that my long waffling boils down to this: decide for yourself what is your main priority where the end result is concerned. Is it clarity? Is it the benefits the honey offers? Is it ease/speed? I know a mead maker who bulk pasteurises, racks off the sediment, and then back sweetens with raw honey to add back in some of the benefits and who doesn’t mind the bit of sediment that results from adding that honey. Also remember that unless you shell out the cash for a filtering getup, chances are you’ll always have some sediment. So do a lot of good, high end wines that are left to age. Add that knowledge to the fact I don’t mind a few extra months before I bottle and my sediment-friendly cultural heritage and you’ll understand why a few whisps at the bottom of a bottle doesn’t bother me. You’d be surprised how little it is when a brew gets enough time. Hope this helps.

We have never filtered. No need.

You can pasteurize your full fermentation vessel if you have a large enough bucket

Seems a bad idea to use fire to get rid of a few bubbles in a glass of mead, no?

They said that 1lb sugar raises gravity by 0.46 per gallon of must. 1lb honey will raise by 0.35

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eSRgJCSRjwY.html. Just did a video last week on that.

This was before that test actually.

@@CitySteadingBrews Aaaaah! Makes sense now ;)

Where to?

Happy town...😁👍

Love you vids...

Several…. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zWBU3EI-EFo.htmlsi=fIWWAAPndf1X1Win

Nope. It's not eliminating those. Properly fermented produces very few fusels. Aging helps there toi.

I have the same concern. We have done it... probably best to use fresh water though to be honest.

Sounds like it smells like fermented yeast. Degass it, let it mature, the smell will likely change some

@@KernsJW thanks a bunch

If the temperature dropped lower than the yeast can handle, they may have just kinda went to sleep. I had that happen with a batch when winter hit. If you have litmus paper, you can check the pH to see if the yeast may have stopped from that. If it's not one of those 2 things, idk. I'm still pretty new.

It only takes like an hour… what do you mean sit for 2-3 days? We just leave them under airlock afterward until time to bottle.

Sure, but not with honey as it could allow wild yeast to ferment.

Nothing really. It still takes time to extract.

This would be true except that it all changes once it's mixed with water. A chemist explained this to me. Literally almost none of that is boiled away using this process.

Wouldn't it be detectable with a gravity reading before/after?

It will still age. Pasteurizing has a minor effect on the flavors, but it still ages.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ALR-S3oKWjQ.html

@@CitySteadingBrews ahh ok. I saw that video a while ago but I know that is more for short term and I've had a few folks saying it will damage the wine in the long-term, but... Ultimately.... It's ok? It's not going to ruin my wine/mead if I leave it to age after pasteurizing? That's what I'm taking from this.

It’s not going to ruin it no.

@@CitySteadingBrews awesome, thanks for the reassurance guys. ^^

It's a bit low, you may have problems. Try a heating pad?

p.s., Derica - Charlie Foxtrot ;-)

Doesn’t require heat… it’s a chemical process though.

There was sooooo little oxidation here and oxidation takes time to change flavors.

👍 Thank you for your thoughts. I have learned so much from your channel and am brewing my own mead and cider based on your recipes. Cheers to both of you!!!!

Not really. A little cloudy is fine but some people really get crazy about clarity.

@@CitySteadingBrews I have a cider that's not clearing up. I made it with unfiltered apple cider and I don't think it's gonna clear up. Tastes mighty fine tho 😉

@@allthingsbethie if it tastes grate and you made what you were trying to then you are good my friend

Higher risk of water splashing inside of the opened bottle.

@@melandor0 ah ok thanks

Nope! I thought that too but it changes when you have a solution with water and ethanol. A chemist explained to me you lose nearly nothing with our method.

Also, ethanol doesn’t boil until 173.1 degrees F

@@micah.little yeah but the bad stuff (methanol) boils at a lower temp.

@@CitySteadingBrews I know I'm late to the party here, but it's because of something I noticed over the past two days. I use your sous vide pasteurization method, and two days ago my wife and I split a bottle of apple honey wine I made that I calculated to be 16.5% ABV. We barely felt anything as far as alcohol effects. The next day we split a bottle of commercial rose that was only 12.5% ABV, and felt WAY more of the alcohol effects. I'm not quite sure how to reconcile that, other than it seems that alcohol is indeed simmering off?

Well, no, we're not going to use chemical stabilization, first off. Second, the test was to see if there's a difference between pasteurized and non-pasteurized. That's it.

@@CitySteadingBrews is there really a raging debate over whether or not applying heat to a brew changes it vs not adding heat? Seems like a no brainer to me. I don't understand the point beyond that though. I mean unless your adding a spoonful of sweetener to a glass to improve its flavor who backsweetens a brew and doesn't stabilize it unless they want it to ferment further? Look, i understand cs brews is rather opposed to using chemical stabilizers but I feel its a valuable experiment to compare stabilization processes. Lots of brewers use them and swear by them. Even if cs brews is generally against it i feel the educational value would generate views. Maybe the results will surprise? Maybe not. Let's find out! Please and thanks!

SOUSS? I don't think they exist.

@@julietardos5044 Inconceivable!

@@chrisobrien2528 It's Cary Elwes's birthday today!

What temp and how long? There should be no loss.

maybe it was off-gassing and boiling the alcohol a little? I accidentally went a little high it went from 120-155 really fast so I just took it off heat and it remained at 155 for around 20 minutes. after it cooled, maybe 10 hours later, I cold crashed it overnight and it cleared so well. I was shocked how well it cleared with those two processes. @@CitySteadingBrews

Sounds like it cooked a little.

Might be kinda hard to taste it that way!

@@CitySteadingBrews black whiskey tasting glasses exist, maybe a early christmas gift for yourselves?

Pretty much.