Malkore's (not so) Ancient Orange Mead

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So I managed to get Orange Blossom honey for this.

I'm looking to make a 4 gallon batch, using 9lbs of Orange Blossom honey. Would it be too much orange to then use 2 oranges in this, or should I pull it back and only use 1?
 
I made a batch of this back in April and just now bottled the first of it (I had 3 gallons for the flavored version, but had 1 gallon left over - don't ask me how but that's the way it worked out - so I fermented it separately in a little one gallon jug) - I bottled the unflavored gallon. Heh, I am usually not nearly patient enough to wait this long for something to finish. Anyway, I of course accidentally drank the mead from my hydrometer beaker after I was done. Pretty good! Going to bottle the flavored stuff tomorrow, and now I have very high expectations.

Thanks for the recipe!
 
I just racked this one off earlier after putting it together a few weeks back.

OG was 1.096

today it was 1.012, we'll see how this goes, so far it seems very promising
 
Figured I should post an update. I did sample a bottle a few weeks ago. Its fairly light, a nice sweetness, good honey aroma, and then the spices and orange come out as a secondary flavor, almost part of the aftertaste.

I'll be curious to see if it stays this way or if the flavors meld more. But it was very smooth, very drinkable. It'll be hard to save bottles for 2 years to try then :)
 
when you bottle this, are we talkin beer bottles and caps?
Do you prime this at all?

You can definitely use beer bottles, or wine bottles. I find it hard to drink a wine bottle of mead in a sitting though, so 12 oz longnecks work out to a couple wine glasses worth.

depending on the yeast strain used, you could prime or leave it still. both JAOM an MOAM are sweeter meads, so its hard to prime them because they are sweet due to the sugar content exceeding the yeast's attenuation.

of course if you have a keg, you can force carb, and then bottle.
 
Have you tried this with any other yeasts, particularly dry yeasts? My LHBS doesnt have the sweet mead yeast, and I cant see paying $7 plus shipping form an online retailer.
 
Now that I've moved the AB to a secondary for oaking, I've got my Mr. Beer free and no big plans for it. Any reason I couldn't use it for a batch of this, 2.5 gallons or so, anyone know?
 
Now that I've moved the AB to a secondary for oaking, I've got my Mr. Beer free and no big plans for it. Any reason I couldn't use it for a batch of this, 2.5 gallons or so, anyone know?

I used glass jugs for this but I don't see why you couldn't us Mr. B. I don't know how oxygen permeable Mr. B is but if you are just using it as a primary, go for it. If you are going to bulk age it out, I would rack to glass after fermentation.
 
I'll have to give it a try then. I'll probably pick up a three gallon carboy or similar before long, just don't have one this moment, and the Mr. Beer is there. Thanks.
 
Have you tried this with any other yeasts, particularly dry yeasts? My LHBS doesnt have the sweet mead yeast, and I cant see paying $7 plus shipping form an online retailer.

if you can get Fermentis S-33, I've used this higher attenuating ale strain on many meads. It'll hit 13% ABV and is easy to find.
 
Never made JAOM, but I've used bread yeast before, and it does NOT produce a superior mead.

JAOM is meant to be an easy recipe, with easy to acquire ingredients.

superior compared to what?
i've now made a total of ten 5 gallon batches of AOM. the original orange 3 times, with the orange replaced with blueberries 6 times and once with red raspberries.
personally i find it too sweet, but my wife and many of our friends prefer it, so i keep making it. i have balanced the sweetness with craisins, extra spices and cayenne pepper. (i've reported on my experiences more on the winepress forum).
in january, my blueberry AOM was entered in the national meadllennium competition as a melomel. the judges said it really should have been entered as a methleglin because the spices overwhelmed the blueberries, but they still gave me the 3rd place medal!
i've attempted to repitch with EC-1118 to take it drier, but have never succeeded. i actually had to throw out one 3 gallon batch.
joe developed this recipe for a narow purpose and i now agree that if i want a stronger drier mead, i will use more traditional recipes.
as for the flocculation issue with bread yeast, i have to agree. when i plan to bottle it, i move the carboy from the aging room to the bottling location a week ahead of time so it settles back down.
 
Well, baker's yeast is designed for...well...baking. While technically all yeast is yeast, the fact is that some strains are 'better' at converting sugar to alcohol, especially/mainly when it comes to phenols and esters that can be produced even by healthy yeast (i.e. hefeweizen strains that impart banana aromas even when fermented cool).

Note: I never said you couldn't make good mead with bread yeast...but in terms of consistency, a brewer's yeast is going to give better results. Its produced with more rigid standards and quality control measures vs. bread yeast.


And, i've simply never found a good reason to put raisins in any of my meads. Sorta like adding tannin. Some mazers swear by it, others swear it off.
 
OK, here we go. First mead, first homebrew.

AncientOrangeAug152009.jpg

Aug 15 2009

Recipe is a hybrid of Joe's and Malkore's recipes. Batch multiplied to 5 gal; 2 super ripe whole Clementines cut into sixths were substituted for each large orange called for in Joe's. Honey used: 5 lbs Miller's wild flower, 12 lbs Miller's clover. I picked it up straight from the packing plant on lunch break. :D No honey was harmed (read boiled) in the creation of this mead haha. Instead, I let it sit in a sink full of warm water to loosen it up while I sanitized my equip with Star San and prepped the ingredients.

I used White Labs WLP720 Sweet Mead Wine liquid yeast. After warming the yeasties in my pocket while I prepped and sanitized for about 1 hr, I mixed the honey with 2 gal room temp Mt. Olympus spring water in the carboy, pitched the yeast and slooshed it around a good bit. I then topped the carboy up to 5 gal with more spring water and added the remaining ingredients.

I chose Clementines as I really enjoy their flavor and they remind me of when I lived in Spain. I also noted that someone else had success with them in Joe's recipe too. I think it helps that they have very little white pith compared to your standard orange. While on the my Spain kick I decided to add 10 pitted medjool dates to the recipe. A fistful of dried sour cherries and 2 anise stars also found their way down the funnel for good measure. All other ingredients are per Joe's original recipe. I'm hoping that the additions will add a subtle complexity that will contribute to the overall balance without stepping into fruitcake territory lol. Cross your fingers for me.
 
Someone gave me a Mr. Beer and I decided to put it to use with this recipe. My first mead, and my second brewing attempt.

Started it today, we'll see how it goes.
 
OK, here we go. First mead, first homebrew.

AncientOrangeAug152009.jpg

Aug 15 2009

Recipe is a hybrid of Joe's and Malkore's recipes. Batch multiplied to 5 gal; 2 super ripe whole Clementines cut into sixths were substituted for each large orange called for in Joe's. Honey used: 5 lbs Miller's wild flower, 12 lbs Miller's clover. I picked it up straight from the packing plant on lunch break. :D No honey was harmed (read boiled) in the creation of this mead haha. Instead, I let it sit in a sink full of warm water to loosen it up while I sanitized my equip with Star San and prepped the ingredients.

I used White Labs WLP720 Sweet Mead Wine liquid yeast. After warming the yeasties in my pocket while I prepped and sanitized for about 1 hr, I mixed the honey with 2 gal room temp Mt. Olympus spring water in the carboy, pitched the yeast and slooshed it around a good bit. I then topped the carboy up to 5 gal with more spring water and added the remaining ingredients.

I chose Clementines as I really enjoy their flavor and they remind me of when I lived in Spain. I also noted that someone else had success with them in Joe's recipe too. I think it helps that they have very little white pith compared to your standard orange. While on the my Spain kick I decided to add 10 pitted medjool dates to the recipe. A fistful of dried sour cherries and 2 anise stars also found their way down the funnel for good measure. All other ingredients are per Joe's original recipe. I'm hoping that the additions will add a subtle complexity that will contribute to the overall balance without stepping into fruitcake territory lol. Cross your fingers for me.

Im goin g to make a 3 gallon batch similiar to this Using white labs sweet mead yeast 11 lbs of clover honey. how is yours coming along? im thinking about using clemintines as well as i like the flavor. some yeast nutrient, will pectic enzyme also quicken the time for it to clear?i like a still and desserty sweet mead should i add more honey so it dosent come out dry? anyways i digress have u sampled it with the clemintines? or does anyone have any advice as to how much honey to add? a name brand mead i like is rabbits foot sweet mead.


(edit)
I made this later that day 9-26-09
11 Lbs Clover honey
3 Tangellos Cut into eights squeezed and shoved in carboy
1tsp. yeast nutrient
1tsp. pectic enzyme
water to 3 gallons
white labs sweet mead yeast
didnt boil the honey just grabbed the carboy and shook the hell out of it (3 gallon better bottle)

o.g 1.155
started bubbling slowly that night

9-28-09
bubbling about every 3 seconds smells delicious ill take some photos and get back to ya. any idea how long this stuff will take to clear?
 
11lbs in a 3 gallon batch, as long as you're not using a higher attenuating wine yeast or champagne yeast, it should end up sweet, likely 'dessert sweet'.
 
just racked into secondary today gravity 1.060 really sweet, but i like a dessert
sweet wine. one could really taste the tangellos, tastes great! now to try and forget about it.
 
I just made my very first batch of mead using this recipe. it smelled great! now I just need to forget about it until christmas!
 
Just bottled mine right out of the primary. It was crystal clear and 90% of the fruit had sunk. Here's my post detailing the tweaks to I made to Malkore's and Joe's recipes. I didn't take a beginning SG, but it ended up at 1.040. Can't particularly pick out the clementines, but I think they still contribute. The White Labs WLP720 Sweet Mead Wine liquid yeast I used seemed to peter out at around 10%, at least thats what my tongue and head told me. That's just an approximation though. Just to be safe, I fortified it up 2% more with Everclear. Even with all my sterilization, I wanted to reduce chance of spoilage since it is so sweet. This stuff is definitely something to serve with (or as) dessert. Here are my tasting notes:

Smell: Sweet spicy with subtle yet tangy honey undertones. Could use some more complexity if it were drier, though I think both would come with a higher attenuating yeast and/or age. As it is, with something this sweet, any more complexity would be overkill.

Taste: Sweet, yet not enough to be cloying if served chilled. Slightly spicy like spiced rum, but not so spicy as to be medicinal. Best description of the spice character I can come up with is sweet pink bubblegum without the pink. The similarities to pink bubblegum are such that all 3 people who have tried it have come to that same comparison.

Mouthfeel: Almost too heavy. Chilled, it will work, but warm or room temp is out of the question. This is not a mead for mulling. Could use a little more acidity too. Next time I think I will take it all the way dry with a champagne yeast, then back-sweeten and adjust acidity to achieve a better balance.

Drinkability: Decent if chilled. Medium-heavy bodied. Like I said, you could have a glass or two of this stuff for dessert. Great for special occasions, but not an everyday drink. I couldn't put down more than 2 glasses in a sitting though due to the level of sweetness. Alc content feels like 12%. Should make good Christmas presents. :D
 
Looks like this is my weekend project. My question is, I was going to stick to the original post and make 2 gallons. All I have are 5g carboys. Will this be any problem for a primary having that much headspace? I mean, I could go out and buy 3g carboy, but I feel it's pointless. I do have some 1g jugs that I could use then shipon it on out to secondary later on when it's time.

Also, unless I was blind, but much yeast do I pitch for this?
 
Just curious, would it hurt to do a two gallon batch in a five gallon carboy? It's either that or a gallon plastic milk jug. Somehow the glass carboy just seems better, but is that too much head space?

Man, somehow I read every thread on here except the previous post, sorry for the repeat question.
 
Something has to be wrong with my 1 gallon of mead...I used 3.5 lbs of honey, got some water up to 160 F, put in the honey, the zest and juice of one medium size orange, 1 cinnamon stick and 1 whole clove, turned the heat to medium low while I was adding all of this, and threw in a half teaspoon or so of yeast nutrient, fermax, and then poured it all into my glass gallon carboy, covered the top and let it cool to around 100 F (the carboy was still warm, but not hot) and then I tossed in a packet of danstar nottingham, put on a blow off tube, and let it sit in my basement around 68-70 F. I did not strain out the cinnamon stick, clove, or zest.

It started to bubble a little, but I was expecting a huge reaction, hence the blow off tube. The OG was aroud 1.125 and a whole packet of nottingham should do some SERIOUS attenuation...so today, I after 2 days of not really bubbling that much, I pitched another packet of nottingham, thinking maybe that the first one was bad?
But nothing has really changed...

So, Im thinkning...is the zest cinnamon stick and clove messing with the fermentation???

I wouldnt think that this would be a problem bc the original ancient orange recipe left the orange pieces in the fermenter no problem.

Anyone run into something like this?
 
you've diverged so far from the AOM recipe that this post doesn't even belong in this thread.
but it should be fermenting anyway. are you sure the airlock is in tight? has your SG changed any?
 
the stopper and tube are very snug fitted, and it is bubbling, so the fg must have changed by now, but it is just going so slowly...the other thing i was possibly thinking might make a difference is the honey. My honey was close to 8 months old and was mostly crystalized, which turns very smooth again as soon as you get the honey warm anyways. IS it bc I left out the yeast energizer maybe?
 
Started 3 gallons yesterday, with a few modifications. The benefit of homebrewing is modifying awesome recipes and hoping for improvement.

I used a grapefruit and an orange because I love grapefruit. I removed all the pith but still threw the fruit in. I still used some raisins from the original JAOM recipe hoping maybe some raisin flavor will seep in (but I am also doing a staggered nutrient addition plan).
I added Potassium Carbonate (1 gram per gallon) in accordance with Hightest's mead FAQ on potassium carbonate upfront addition to prevent stuck fermentations and reduce acidity. I've had great luck with potassium carbonate in my other mead. And I added some gypsum for my water mineral content.
Can't wait to see how it ends up. Thanks Malkore.
 
you've diverged so far from the AOM recipe that this post doesn't even belong in this thread.
but it should be fermenting anyway. are you sure the airlock is in tight? has your SG changed any?

agreed. 3.5 gallons and nottingham...it doesn't matter if you added a pound of yeast to this. Notty ONLY attenuates so much before the alcohol kills it off. More yeast won't prevent that.

The zest won't affect anything unless you used so much that you made the must too acidic.

I think you just have to deal with a high gravity mead and an ale yeast that's going to sluggishly ferment it and still leave you with a final gravity of probably 1.050....gaggingly sweet.

You'd almost be better off pitching some 19% abv yeast like EC 1118 or champagne yeast NOW, instead of waiting for the notty to leave you at 13% and too much alcohol for another yeast to fire up.
 
I wanted to come back and note that I bottled my batch today. It tasted amazing! I let mine sit 2 months, but honestly a tasting at 4 weeks was pretty good. I am happy with my substitution of a grapefruit and an orange instead of three oranges (3 gallon batch).
 
I'm getting ready to start a five gallon batch of this. Although I don't have any wyeast sweet mead yeast, and I'm not sure if they sell it at my lhbs. Any substitution suggestions?
 
Made this bad boy last night. I used 2.8 lbs Sams clover honey, 1 clove, 1 cinnamon stick, juice and zest of one orange for a 1 gallon batch. I did just as the recipe said, I dissolved honey in .5 gallon water and steeped rest of ingredients at 150*F for 15 minutes. I then cooled, strained, topped off with ozarka, and then pitched KV-1116.

I know that yeast will really dry it out, but I prefer dry wine, so this should be nice. It's already guzzling away this morning it a steady 63*F.
 
Malkolore, What happens if you add the yeast nutrient, but not the energizer? I'd like to make a batch, but this be the only thing I have a hard time getting my hands on.
 
Most yeast nutrient is just vitamins. Energizer is primarily a nitrogen source, and sometime yeast hulls are added in to the mix.

Since honey is basically void of nitrogen, Energizer is really an important thing for straight meads that have no fruits/grapes or malt added to provide some free nitrogen.

I can't imagine in New York you cannot find Energizer at any brew store?
 
Well, here's a bit of an update on my 1 gallon batch. Since Lalvin 1116 is all I had, I used it. It's been fermenting at 65* for 5 weeks now and the airlock is still bubbling once a minute or so. I haven't taken a gravity reading, but I know it's still going. I'm thinking that I'll probably let it go to the 2 month mark, then prime and bottle for some long aging.
 
2.8lbs in a gallon batch shouldn't take 5 weeks to ferment fully...let alone 2 months.

Not that its going to turn out bad, but it seems like the longer your primary takes, the longer you have to age it out before it tastes really good.

That's why I have been pushing the 71B yeast, degassing, and staggered nutrients. The mead I started this weekend OG 1.115 is starting to slow down. I haven't taken a reading yet but I'd bet I've lost 70 gravity points in the last 6 days.
 
2.8lbs in a gallon batch shouldn't take 5 weeks to ferment fully...let alone 2 months.

Not that its going to turn out bad, but it seems like the longer your primary takes, the longer you have to age it out before it tastes really good.

That's why I have been pushing the 71B yeast, degassing, and staggered nutrients. The mead I started this weekend OG 1.115 is starting to slow down. I haven't taken a reading yet but I'd bet I've lost 70 gravity points in the last 6 days.

Well, I just took a gravity reading, and it's currently at 1.010 and is still fizzing. The small hydrometer sample that I tasted was as crazy alcohol hot and slightly carbonated from yeast still fermenting. From the small amount of mead I took to take a hydrometer sample, I think I'm about to top off it off with some clean water with a tiny bit of yeast nutrient in it.
 
So I made some of this about 2 weeks ago and not reading carefully I thought the recipe was for 3 gallons, not 2. So I took a gravity reading and it was at like 1.060, I figured something was wrong. I looked back at the recipe and figured it out. I had already topped off with water leaving no room for the additional honey I needed. My plan is to rack it onto the additional honey within the next week. (I'm waiting on my cider to finish so I can free up the carboy). Will there be any problems with this? Are the yeast going to freak out when I throw a bunch of extra sugar at them?
 
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