Adding tea instead of tannin might bring out some different flavors as it ages. Kinda like tea wine.

The controlability/repeatability of the tannin powder is a related advantage, if you really want to refine a recipe you can go down to the milligram if desired. I wonder if spray dried instant tea is a best of both worlds option given it should be pretty standardized at least within a brand. A mixture of the two in various proportions may also be a way to get a specific tannic profile pretty repeatably.

Re-watching this after doing a test on a tiny batch of wine I made. I GREATLY preferred using tea while fermenting both for the clarification and for the flavors. Double benefit for me.

Gotta admit, I tried this as one of my first wines. Easy, lovely, plenty of booze and I stop it after a week or so cause I like sweeter and less booze, and have no patience. Lol Flawless. Started with unsweetened, tart cherry juice. Watch Derica and Brian and you will fall in love with this hobby as I have. Thanks Guys. Love ya's!

If you got rubber grommets and the appropriate drill bit, you could easily convert those lids to hold airlocks (better than the bungs). Definitely would help keep it sealed (and could be reused in the future).

Appreciate the tape reference. I also have been doing my own tannin experiments the last few months, so this episode is very timely

Thanks guys as always! Really enjoyed the comparison video actually. Something different 😊 looking forward to the year comparison and see how it’s changed. I’ve found the best tea bags for the slightly smoother, less tangy mouth feel ironically are the cheapest Asda (our Walmart) savers range. 80p for 100 or something like that. The more expensive ones tend to not be as smooth. You’d think it would be the other way but every day’s a school day 😂

Absolutely love the experiment videos! This was interesting to see. I'll be sticking with black tea for now since they're so similar. Can't wait for the one year taste test!

Indeed, I liked this comparison, and look forward to the update in a year.

I thought this video was freaking awesome. Thank you for doing it. I can't wait to find the one year version.

Love this kind of content, experimenting with this vs that. I appreciate the diversity of content

I appreciate these comparison videos. Very helpful.

I keep some starsan in a old jug between brewing sessions just to have some to fill airlocks if I have blowouts. Otherwise I make new during racking or starting up brews. Love this video!

Great video, I've tried both but prefer the tannin mainly for convenience.

I love that you guys were always more approachable using things we all have. That’s what I needed as a beginner in the hobby. I loved the video guys. Keep them coming

Interesting experiment. Glad somebody finally did it.

I love you guys! Thank you for all your awesome videos!

Great experiment ... glad to hear that the tea is as good as the tannins.. as I try to not spend more than I have too

Super helpful! Please do more like this.

Love these experimental vids. Keep em comin!

Love the data, you guys are great

I love your videos and this was great. It really makes it feel like wine making can just be simple. You can make it technical and get specialty ingredients, but you can also just use what you can get your hands on.

I loved this! I’ve always used tea (with one batch being an exception) and I was curious if there really was a difference. I’m definitely interested in seeing a one year check up!

I am looking forward to the one year comparison!

I have drilled holes in caps and used rubber grommets, stick the airlock through the rubber grommets, reuse the original caps. still not perfect the grommets need to have a groove that matches the thickness of the cap. but keep spraying the cap with StarSan every day and it works.

Thank you for doing this. Great work !! You are right, it is sometimes difficult for us in South America to get some of the ingredients, never mind the varieties of yeast and nutrients. Tips like this are encouraging for home brewers

I really find these experiments fun. I dont drink but find the process very interesting.

That was an interesting experiment. I can’t wait to see the year tasting now. Also I made a large batch of your beginners mead for our wedding a couple weeks ago(started last fall). It was a huge hit and everyone wanted more.

Great video 👍. Can't say much more 😁 I enjoy simplicity, that's why I like your channel 👍

Tea brings more to the table than just tannin I suppose. 🧐 I love doing fruit bottle mini experiments 😆 Looking forward to the 1yr test too!

I love this... I'm waiting for a brew to finish, I used white oak and cherry twigs and brewed a tea out of them after wrapping them in foil and toasting them in a fire... Hoping it turns out well...

Love these types of videos. Would love to see a recipe book from you guys, would buy that in a heartbeat. Although, I do enjoy watching the videos anyway and writing them down myself. Thanks for the content, keep it up!

I had hoped that you'd have revisited these after allowing the aging to mellow. Hope you have done that! Yayyyyy! At the end it says that you'll update!

So I'm thinking there needs to be a Dr Mead t-shirt! Awesomely educational vid!

Hi B & D, Love all the great information that you produce. So far, the results of my wine and mead based upon your guidance has proved out fantastic! I recently read that “tannins” contributed to headaches associated with wines. Also “histamines,” followed by a recommendation of, “If you don’t want a headache, drink plenty of water and take an antihistamine before opening a bottle of wine.” What the heck? Like you, I like brewing without sulfites which I’ve known can contribute, but have you ever delved deep into the synapses surrounding headaches? And I’ll just close with this. As a 62-year-old man, I watched one of your recent D&D videos and I didn’t understand a bit of it, but I enjoyed every bit of it, because you two are just so entertaining to watch! Keep up the great work!

This was a most excellent comparison test! Trying it again with a different juice like apple might have a different experience. I wonder if they even sell tannins in Japan? Tea has always worked great but you are both very correct in that you never can taste the tea.

We like these kind of videos!

Thanks!

thanks for the video. this was fascinating

Princess Bride. What I’m taking out of this experiment is that if a brew lacks tannins post fermentation, it’s convenient to have tannin powder on hand to adjust. No dilution. Allow the brew to sit for a bit, then bottle. Job done. Or with a strictly no-water brew, use tannin because again, no dilution. Otherwise, use whatever is convenient. As far as the tea version being fruitier: pure tea wine does have a fruity note. That makes sense! Thank you for this comparison video! I’m already looking forward to the 1-year video!

I ferment with tea and then use tannin if and when I need to adjust tannins after. I feel the complexity of tea can add something else to the brew, while tannin is a controllable addition. It may be in my head, but I feel I can taste a difference between types of teas used like you mentioned. A better whole leaf tea seems to add a smoother edge if the brew is a bit dry, but doesn't overcome nor clash when a brew is a bit acidic. The same can be said when just drinking the tea, so use one that when its heavily steeped you feel has a good aftertaste.

The thing with storing ethanol in plastics is it depends entirely on the plastic. Some will dissolve immediately on contact while others will last years with no issues. As long as you have the correct plastic it should be okay but I fully understand not wanting to risk it

i drill holes and fit rubber grommets to the lids when making supermarket cider.

A years a long time to wait, maybe 6 months. Maybe bottle a third one equal parts of each. Love your videos!!

Very cool

Thanks for the experience! It comforts me in my use of tea! To be truly scientific, however, you might have considered brewing a third batch with neither tea nor wine tannin, as a "control batch".

Truly interesting & intelligent instance of an investigative informational instruction into inventing imbibements. And just plainly entertaining. Cheers 🥂

Shows how consistent Concord Grape juice is. I just started a concord grape wine with Walmart's home brand, and it was exactly 1.064 pre-sugar. I just priced wine tannin made only from grape skins and seeds, and oh my god the price. Scott Labs Uva'tan is over $200 for a half kilo (which is more than any of us will ever need, but GEEZ), but they clearly cater to big professional vineyards.

Cool video. I thought for sure you’d combine them at the end to see if you’d get the best of both worlds.

For big batches (i have 2 7.5 gallons stainless steel fermenters) is good to use tannins, but for smaller batches tea is great.

The grosory mead resepy of yours, was just fantastic, its simple, and just amazing, like i have never tasted somthing that good before, you can feel the lemon and the raizins, did not have to sweeten it, i like wiskey and all, but im the same ass brian, i like my brews sweeter, so i was so suppriesed it was good and done after only 2 weeks, its too young i dont understand how its that good allready

ahh I love this, but if you deep dive in this you can find Many more tannins than the standard chestnut wine tannin that is easy to find. I have 8 on hand now but I still have 3 or 4 teas at any point as well because it all you need sometimes. Very awesome video... though I do not recommend deep diving into this subject and going nuts unless you are insane and like to experiment a little too much(like me haha). I have a few that are from some really strange trees/bushes and they have strange instructions on their uses, BUT that said they have neat properties that seemed like fun to play with for at least one batch.

Lovely people.x

Would love to see y'all do the same thing but make a 3rd one without any tannins

Very enlightening. So if one is absolutely consistent with brand, steeping temperature and time, one might be able to approach the controllability of wine tannin aditives, if the tea method is preferable to you for whatever reason.

You guys make some great videos but I wonder if you mixed the powered tannin with the tea how would that be,since you mentioned the different qualities in each one.

One tea bag per gallon? Do you have directions for tea brewing and adding? Thank you!

I'm glad to hear they're so close, cause the fewer powdery things I can throw in a brew the better :D how much tea do you use in a brew on average to get a perceivable result in the end product?

I'm 4 days into my fermentation and didn't add tannins to it. Is it too late to add black tea to it? Can I add it into the secondary fermenter and not get a tea flavor?

Have you made a chokecherry (chokeberry) wine?

The finished standard cup of tea is 6 oz as the tea leaves absorbs about 2 oz of liquid if made under the ISO 3103.

I wonder if the tannin needed to sit longer. I have heard it can take a couple weeks to absorb into the wine and give the desired effect. I also sometimes wonder if using boiling water to dissolve the tannin would speed up the process. Kind of like the tea.

Will any black tea work

Can you add tannin after fermentation? Thanks guys. Love the channel ❤ UK

Could you use the tannin additive in secondary or conditioning, if while tasting to see what the brew still needs, you determine it didn't have the desired mouth feel? Also, on an unrelated topic, do you remember your coffee mead video? Have you considered adding cacao nibs or chocolate and vanilla extracts to make it a true mocha mead? Is there anything one could add to give it a caramel flavor? Also, thanks for these videos. I continue to learn soooo much!

Hey quick question I don't know if you've made a video yet but I'll search after this comment but using raisins for tanning is there really a difference to chopping to throwing them in whole and maybe do a comparison along with black tea vs the raisins thanks in advance guys

Extremely excited to learn this ...I am low carb big on tea an health benefits new to wine I've found a piniot grigio at 70 cals and 4 carbs( popular wine,under $10.00,begins with a B) wondering if u guys know how they do that?? I would love to learn thanks !

Mistakes were made, left out where the morning sun could hit it. At about 8 months old found out airlock had broke, looked like it had been broke a couple of months (the air did get to it). Smelled it smelled fine, after a taste could be the best mead I've made. (It also looked fine and 15 to 20% abv).

You should do a brew comparison when regular tea vs green tea is used

Thanks for this! Great vid. This comparison of tea vs tannin would have been even better if you had done a 3rd bottle with no addition. What does tannin add and is it worth it? Is it necessary?

Ever try the cold brew tea. I wonder if you could drop them into a fermenter for a given amount of time for repeatability and avoid dilution.

❤

Hi, just wondering why you guys are using 135 instead of 131.25 in your alcohol calculations? Cheers, Thomas

Have you guys ever used amoretti extracts or concentrate its for brew I'm curious about it its the 1 add on KZfaq that pops up the most and almost every video of yours I see it that add comes up and it looks like it could be good the add says they are natural so just a thought

It is very ironic that I asked you this question 2 days before you posted the video. That must be why my wife says I am psychotic. Speaking of the wife, she wants to know if you ever made a Moscato, which is her favorite wine. Is that just a specific type of grape? Anyway, keep up the great content. I did not realize you had the other channels. I just notified my son about your D&D channel

Going Off topic..though I did also enjoy this video. Would it be possible to make wine or meade with canned fruit/mixed fruit.

I was wondering, guessing you have a lot, what assortment of carboys and fermentation buckets do you have?

Should've tasted the tannin water... FOR SCIENCE :P

Do you have to add the tannin/or tea in the beginning? At what point is it too late?

As you wish!

Shouldn't you have taken the specific gravity after adding the water?

INCONCEIVABLE!!!

i just bought some tannin form north mountain

Has there been an updated tasting?

Should do a chest nut tannin vs oak tanning🤔

Crazy question. What if you mixed the wine tannin and tea together and made wine? Would you end up with a more balanced wine with taste, aroma, body being influenced by the combination?

Can you add tannin during any portion of primary fermentation, or only initially? I didn't have it when I first started my mead 8 days ago, but have it now. Is it safe to add, or even a good idea? Appreciate the help, thanks!

So, let me say first this was a fun video. I was pretty impressed with the actual rigor you put into conducting your experiment! However let me also ask a question about a mead we made because my wife and I are a little confused. We made a pear mead (pear juice and honey + nutrient) with a OG of 1.124 and a current reading of 1.014. Reason I’m asking is because the air lock stopped bubbling after a week and then we let it sit for another week before we checked it, so it’s two weeks old. It also had some weird white things on top that made me nervous. Did we do something very wrong or very right?

I should order some air locks... Been using the cap method for months now 😅 6 odd gallons of bottles worth!

Have you ever used other teas as in flavoured or types like assam etc ? Wondered if there was any point to that or could it overpower and mess with flavours in a bad way

What brand of tea did you use if I may ask?

Perhaps teabag+water = standard 6oz cup finished?

Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line! I would be inclined to use the tea just because it's more convenient to get. The grocery store is less out of the way than the homebrew store (am I lucky my small town even has a homebrew store?) 🤷 I have another unrelated question, about clarity: I have two brews, bottled a couple of days apart at the end of July. They are both ginger-jalapeno flavored very low ABV brews (I was going for kind of a soda). The only difference in the recipe was the amount of jalapeno; I made the first one, realised there was too much, and made a second batch with less. I added nothing to either one to affect the fining. #1 is translucent; pretty hazy but okay. Not pea soup. #2 is so clear I can almost read through it. What in your greater experience accounts for the difference? I've only been at this for a couple of months, so I don't yet have the tools to figure it out. Thanks! :)

I have a theoretical question, having just started a brew of Welch's Grape Juice and some WIld Turkey 101. I didn't add any sugar and was trying to calculate how much WT I needed to add to achieve an ABV of around 12%. A bottle of Welch's has 8 servings with 35g of sugar per serving, or 280g of sugar, which is a little over half a pound, so I assumed this was adding a specific gravity of about 0.028 (-ish). But you got an SG of 1.064, which would correspond to well over a pound of sugar. Why is there such a discrepancy? Why is a calculation based of the sugars listed on the label so off from what I would expect using the hydrometer?

What kind of tea did y'all use? Just a basic like Lipton black tea?

😃

Can anyone suggest a good and rather quick (5 minutes or less) cleaning method or tool for 1 gallon glass vessels? I have used PBW , dish soap, agitation, bottle brushes & even those power drill flappy paddle cleaners. Nothing seems to work consistently and has frustrated me so much I have not made anything in months. Thank you in advance for your recommendations and advice!

I prefer tea as well. I think the flavor adds complexity and taste to it….. how’s those reapers tasting?

Some reason the glass switching reminds me of the Princess Bride Iocane powder scene.

i don't think i understand the terms being used. but i did a mid ferment test to understand what was going on with my brew and where it was headed. but my 2 science experiments have very sharp edges to them. probably because the OJ leads to higher acid content but had i added tea / tannins should that have smoothed out some of the sharpness? i probably should not have tested it while it was still fermenting because there is still probably a lot to change but i have since added a small oak chunk to the OJ+sugar experiment and a small oak chunk and 1/2 cup of unflavored oats to the honey splash of OJ, water experiment. just to see what that would change. yeah i know and i just watched the video today. "BE PATIENT" but but but SCIENCE!!! i only have 6 1/2 gallon mason jars right now (4 active) and not enough room i cant do all the science properly so thus i have become a mad scientist 😅 couple days ago i did an all coffee using honey up to ~1.112 SG and a black tea 2 scoops give or take and a bag of lemon ginger tea with honey to ~1.112 SG and like the mad scientist i am i am probably going to see where their flavors sit in a couple weeks like i know i should not do as there are live cultures in these beverages 🤔 anyway. when i tossed the oak chunk in it had gone from the 1.12 down to 1.02 so it should be almost done but ist still bubbling so i am trying to be patient the mead was 1.12 and is down to about 1.08 which means its going to take a while still and i am leaving it alone now that i have a basic idea of what's going on in the jar (though everything smells wonderful each time i open the cabinet) i have only been at this maybe a month now. I am more willing to ruin my brews to learn but sometimes asking teaches just as much as failing. and I learn a lot when I fail, in fact its my most productive (and costly) way to learn 😅