Mango Habanero Capsicumel Mead Making - Let's Make Mead! 

I am now entering into my second year as a home brewer. When I started I was using juicy juice, bread yeast, and yes, a balloon on top of the jug. I then stumbled onto this channel about a month into brewing. I now have an entire room dedicated to my wine and mead, a in depth detailed notebook with all of my notes for each brew. All glass carboys ranging from .5 gallon up to 6 gallon. I now have multiple hydrometers, racking canes, bottling wands, and air locks. All thanks to the passion you two show in your home brewing. One of your earlier capsicumel videos intrigued me, but I never got around to making one. Then I watched this video. I’m proud to say that as of today I just started this exact recipe. The only differences that I can tell is I didn’t use the same honey. But everything else I followed pretty accurately. I used 2.5lbs of wildflower honey, 1 habanero, and 1 pack of Lalvin 71Beast. My starting gravity was even within only a few points of yours. I read a 1.082, and then to my surprise I walked away after pitching the yeast and within 30 minutes there’s already activity in my airlock. Which is making me super excited that my variables are matching your brew. I’ve already watched your tasting and bottling video on this certain brew, and I’m super excited to rack this brew into my wide mouth and add my dried mango. So I suppose the real reason for this super long comment is to thank you for the passion you two give to help educate those of us who are still learning some basics to brewing, and how enjoyable it is to watch you guys, and how much your videos have helped me plan a brew using basic math and note taking. Cheers!

Those looked like a nice pair of left handed chopsticks! Want!

Good Lord!!! It acts as a nutrient to the yeast??? Where have I been?! WONDERFUL!!! Another MEAD I must create! Thank you!!!

Actually, if you subtract the original weight of the pitcher and water from the final weight of the pitcher and water and honey, will give you the weight of the honey.

While very enjoyable and informative, my mind does keep going to how this looks like an episode of a Netflix show about a school teacher and a jazz musician doing chemistry to supply the underground market with as better quality mead... you should pitch that to Netflix, you could call it... Brewing Bad? Maybe? :-P

Loved the editing of Brian shaking the honey jug, and the look on his face. 🤣🤣

I do a imperial stout every summer that takes like 20 lbs of 2 row and 10 oz of wet hops, I put around 25 to 30 habaneros in secondary The beer comes out great, it’s stout in the front, then a pepper sting that goes away in a few seconds to end with a stout, boozy finish. It’s truly great. I make 5 gallons a year.

I knew there was a reason I grabbed a bag of frozen Mango from Costco yesterday! I also have Habanero plants in the garden...

So excited ive got habanero growing in the garden and 5 gals of traditional waiting for them

I just got my 12lbs of honey in yesterday, that I ordered. I am so excited. I am just waiting for my mead yeast to arrive. I always make meed with wild yeast I 'catch' so this is the first time I will be using yeast that I bought specifically for this. I am so excited to try this. :)

2 new carboys coming tomorrow, so many new meads to try. This sounds like summer in a bottle! Taking notes!!

I love your videos and have learned so much from you both. I actually started mead making last year because you inspired me to do so. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos.

Wow, now thats a coincidence, Just racked some Mango wine yesterday 🤣🤣

Aaand, it is begun. I trusted you guys and only used 1 habanero pepper and the same volume of wild flower honey and the same yeast. Water volume was likely different but it's close and you haven't steered me wrong yet with 7 bottles of excellent mead drank, and/or aging. I'm especially looking forward to this one as a New Yorker living in Texas who has raised his spiciness game significantly over the years.

Hi, brian and derrica , i just tasted the recipe, with 4 habaneros as i am mexican and one felt like it wasn't enough, i used fresh fruit and 2 pounds, and yet i have to say i got the same notes, maybe a little more intense, also it came crystal clear at the one month mark, thanks for the laughs and tips.

Wow. When you said the yeast loved the capsaicin in the pepper, you weren't kidding. Made the same recipe I've made in the past but with one habanero pepper thrown in, only this brew was the first time I had to attach a blow off tube to avoid a messy catastrophe.

The Sample Sucker! I'm interested to see your comparison between full and partial yeast packets. I tend to go even lower (around 1/4 to 1/3 of a packet for a 1-gallon brew, and 1/2 packet for a 3-gallon brew) and still get good results. Doing a slight spin on your caramel apple bouchet, I had intense bubbling for three weeks with that kind of yeast usage, and it's just now slowing down a bit.

The Wand Of Master Bastin’

I'm glad I ordered your exact pitcher then... It is awesome.

I've enjoyed watching your videos! I've learned to wear gloves when handling peppers, even milder jalapeños, because that capsaicin does not wash off easily! If you get it in your eyes cold milk does help.

For my first ever batch in 2023, I want to make a mango habanero mead, so thank you for posting this. I’m thinking of going with a starthistle honey, as it’s my favourite, or perhaps even a dark buckwheat. :)

I'm about to move my 3rd batch of mead into second fermentation this weekend. OK, so I'm a New Yorker who's lived in Texas for 15 years and my tolerance, and love of, spiciness has grown so I'm all about trying this out for round 4!

I remember trying a capsicumel with jalapeños. Yeah, turned out to be a batch of jalapeño juice haha. Was like fire water. Used about five or six jalapeños. It was ether a combination of using too many, or leaving them in the must for too long. Definitely gonna try again, but might use this recipe instead haha.

With the syringe, when the liquid transitions from the tube, to the barrel, it encounters turbulence. To get a sample with no foam, draw past the 100ml (or whatever) mark, let it sit a second, then depress the plunger to the 100ml (or whatever) mark. Also remember the tube contains a quantity not measured by the markings.

We made a ginger beer 2 months ago and added a single habanero to it. It started at 1.092 and went to 0.096 after 2 months. We didn't think it would go completely dry, so we gave it plenty of sugar to eat and plenty of time, low and behold it went DRY. We used Red Star Premier Blanc yeast, which goes to like 18%, and it took that ginger beer to 14%. I didn't know habaneros were good nutrient for yeast, maybe that helped it go as dry as it did. We also used ginger, lemon, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and a few peppercorns. I figured as anti-septic as all of that was, the yeast would struggle. Preliminary taste is AMAZING. Now it's bottle carbing/conditioning until college football season starts.

Thank you for all you do. Capiscamel brews are awesome and fun, and pair so well with fruit additions. I have a 2.5 gallon habanero batch going now to split between two fruit additions.

OMG I was just discussing doing this friends after having mangos all week long!

Ooh I'm gonna have to try this one 😮

Its great to see you use the syringe i suggested last year. Ive gone through 2 syringes since then because the rubber on the plunger dries up from the sanitiser and jams up

I picked up 3 kinds of honey to send you guys today. Will be in the mail on Tuesday.

A bit late now, but if you tared out the scale with the pitcher and water first you could weigh the honey that was added

Excellent episode, so gotta try that one. Yes I'm taking notes. Also really great looking cat, yes I'm a cat daddy of 8. Peace out y'all!

YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

The syringe should be called Jupiter! Cause it’s always there with the gravity assist!

Tare scale with the water in it before you pour it in the honey jug to loosen it. Then you know how much you added.

I'm defiantly going to try and make this one! kind of excited.

Perfect for my 12 hour car ride

I feel like this one is gonna be a good recipe to cook with if I can keep from drinking my whole batch 😆

My minds tellin me nooooo!!! But, my bodyyy!!! My bodyyyy's tellin me yeeeeahhhhh!!!

Oh my gosh…..I’ve been thinking about how to make something like this for the past month!

I’ve been using 71-B with ciders, to get them dry to back sweeten and carbonate and it works so well. Foams a lot with juices I’ve found though. It’s become my go to all around yeast

I love this channel! I had always been interested in home-brewing and the information from you guys is awesome. I love the fact you don't use all the sorbates and preservatives. I have started a Cherry and Plum mead using a mix of several of your guides and it's so far so good! Although it's ABV is 17%. Keep making the content because i am enjoying the hobby

Ive discovered 2 things about that particular pitcher in my last almost 2 months of usage: 1. The handle is garbage and needs replaced with something more rigid 2. The pour spout works wonderfully for pouring off a reading sample into the graduated cylinder. Side note: i did the pitcher mixing for my last couple brews for simplicity and because my immersion blender has a whisk attachment and it doesnt fit very well in a standard carboy.

The capsaicin gives it the warm and fuzzies and keeps it warm and active.. just like feeding chickens cayenne pepper during colder months to keep egg production up when it falls. Chickens dont have heat receptors in their mouths or belly so it just keeps them warm which stimulates egg production

You guys honestly are awesome:) I am making my 3rd batch of Earl Gray Tea Wine and I am using Lavin71 B. :) I am excited to see the difference

Oooh yummy!!

You read my mind. I'm currently making this but as a ghost pepper.

What is this madness love it!

KITTY!!!!

i made one with 12 ghost peppers it turned out good

That sounds amazing! I’m glad you guys are doing this one. Great job on the video guys. My girlfriend loved tiger at the end I explained her that was “tiger also known as daddy’s little girl” lmao

this is my life.

Ooooooohhh… this sounds like a lovely one! I’m now wondering if you’re going to use fresh mango, or dried, or both. Mango and chili go so well together in dishes that I now really want to know what you think about it in a fermented beverage. Thanks for this video!

I've brewed beer with chillies before, made a very smooth lager with just a little heat in the throat. I did find though that on a session it tended to have the same effects in the lower regions as a hot curry though...

I might humbly recommend the "Tube Quaich" as a name for this new device.

Yummy! Good choice.

Didnt realize it was arm day for Brian. Lmao. Must have been sunday when this was filmed. BEJEEZUS BE GONE!!!! (shaking ferminator vigorously)

If this turns out like the old smokey's mango habanero whiskey then this will be awesome

Yo, where were you guys when I made my habanero mead 1.5 months ago and decided to use 4 habaneros. Cause I'll tell you that it didn't turn out as mead, it's a straight fire elixir haha.

Question: Would it be ok to add the yeast to the must while in the pitcher ? Just saying because it would be easier to mix it and do further aeration before putting it in the carboy. Just a thought I had.

Some of the faces Derica makes, LMAO!!!!!

You could have tared the scale with the water in the pitcher to get the weight of the honey added.

the Sucker Supreme

Hm. Sweden is not known for it's food for a reason, except meatballs. We do not have many strong flavors. So this sounds so strange to me. Chili and mango? The comments seem excited but I just think it sounds outlandish. Like putting broccoli on your wedding cake. But I look forward to the tasting. 😁

Take the credit you two, "Educator" indeed, otherwise I wouldn't have the courage to start this at home.

The catheter of sampling?

Every seed is sacred.

I love your channel. I was working on making a Sumak honey extraction and did not dehydrate the sumak per the instructions I received. Funny thing is that the honey pulled the moisture out of the sumak and then I had water….! Oops! That is how I found out of the two of you and Mead! So now I am making sumak mead, And it is really really high in vitamin C so it is not fermenting very well, was trying the wild yeast thing, love wild yeast stuff. My question is… should I add some yeast to assist with the process? I am so excited to see what this turns out as.

Had a pineapple cider with hint of green jalapeno that was good, but probably would of been better if a fully ripened red jalapeno was used so you don't have that grassy after taste or a Habanero was used instead. A mango Habanero mead sounds good though.

Why not add mango to primary? New to brewing. Thanks!

Seems to be the season for Mango :-)

Have you tried to make Sima, Finnish Mead.

Also, you could call the new syringe "Mega Maid" in homage to Spaceballs... on the grounds that it goes from suck to squirt?

♥☺♥

Not yet through the video but your patience seems to be endless. I would have cut open the honey-bottle after the first false attempt to get the chunks out

About to start on this project - but a question from seeing your other mead videos: No black tea? Doesn't need it because of the peppers and mango?

I been watching all your videos and I was just wondering if you could use bread yeast for this recipe

Tare out the scale with an empty bottle of honey,. Then weigh the bottle with the small amount of honey. I hope that makes sense 🤔.

Weight o honey doesn't matter when you take gravity readings?

You should call the new master baster Sam Plurr

if you zeroed the water you would know how much honey was added right?

You should weigh your honey bottles with your honey then rinse out the honey and weigh again and subtract you will have how much honey by weight you put in then and if you have 2 bottles just do it twice and add them together? Right?

catheter of measurement

Plus side to having the shake the daylights out of the honey in the bottle is, hey, early aeration. Edit: Geez, as soon as i left that, Brian said it. I watch too many of your videos. XD

You are great. I'm a mad brewer. Yes I do take some notes, but I'm never sure of the result. I have a basic mead, grape juice and a peppermint ( for Christmas) going now. I am wondering if you have an idea why my mead stalled. It was an experiment that started at 1.116 with just water and honey. I used 71B and was hoping for a little bit of sweetness. But it stopped at 1.046 and I added a little Firmade-O and some EC-1118 ( reluctantly) to get it going again. It went to 1.036 and stopped again. Do you have any ideas why that happened? I was expecting at least 14% and after I added the 1118, I was expecting dry at about 14.9%. I going to just let it clear, even though it's much sweater than I would like.

"Squeezy McSquirt"

So you said every goes in dose that make " every seed sacred and should never be wasted so say if the python"

The Must Sucker

I used the 100ml syringes for a while, they work great when they are new, but over time the rubber gasket starts to stick and it become very difficult to avoid getting oxygen in there because the movement becomes unsteady. maybe I left mine in the sanitiser for a little too long or something, but just a heads up.

If you're still looking for a name I'd like to suggest "the sample sucker"

Capsaicin seems to be a anti-biotic, but also very importantly not anti-fungal, agent. This means it can kill wild bacteria that might compete with yeast in a brew.

Manual Suck-O-Matic.....actually, since you're doing something with a hot pepper, it is actually a "Manuel Suck-O-Matic"?

Started beginning this year. Made 1 gallon with 8 habenero. Second rack over 1 week. Do I regret using 8?

Question: how do you all think this would change if you used dried habanero(s) instead of fresh? Do you think another pepper or two would need to be added? Would anything potentially be missing flavor-wise due to it being dried?

Dang, this one sounds soooo good, but capsaicin hates me. Might have to try finding another spice alternative...

meadus pump

somebody's played farcry

Do you guys ever deal with back flow from your air locks and if so is it a bad thing and what do you do about it?

The Sippy Syringe

I just watched this video and looked at some recipes by other people. Is there a reason why everyone adds either fresh or dried fruit for the fruit flavor? How different would this have been if you started with a mango juice instead of water?