Why didn't you go to the grocery store and get a packet of bread yeast like the recipe calls for? I mean how long would it take 15 min.? Now it will ferment to dry and with the whole peel of the orange in there it will be bitter as hell and it will take a long time if ever before it's drinkable or you will have to sorbate it and then back sweeten.
Joe's Ancient Orange Mead
- Thread starter Yooper
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Because I decided I didn't want to use bread yeast. I've heard that the bread yeast contributes to it being bitter and that it's hard to bottle without it being cloudy from moving the jug. I'm only making a gallon so I didn't want 2 of the 4-5 bottles being cloudy.
If I have to back sweeten, I think I can deal with that. I'm just asking if anyone has any experience with this type of yeast and how dry it will turn out.
Goofynewfie
Well-Known Member
Bitter rocket fuel caused by the orange pith. The bread yeast leaves behind sweetness that covers it and leaves it drinkable quicker. The ec-1118? 12-18 months would be my guess.
I used a premier cuvee yeast, a similar strong yeast to 1118. It's at about 4-5 months of age and i'm not going to open another bottle to try out until at least 6 maybe 8 months. First bottle tasted like it was getting better then when I tasted at bottling time. Little more smooth. Little more honey aftertaste. But still had a fairly strong orange peel/ pith flavor. Very drinkable but time will help this one out for me.
Next time I do this recipe, i'll use the bread yeast like I SHOULD have..... Maybe a Lalvin 1116..
Next time I do this recipe, i'll use the bread yeast like I SHOULD have..... Maybe a Lalvin 1116..
I just bottled my first JAOM. I waited until the fruit dropped and was very careful and didn't have a problem with the yeast. I used the inside of my auto siphon as a racking tube because the siphon was too wide to fit down the neck of the 1 gallon carboy. Anyway, I took a small piece of cardboard, 2"x2" cut a slot in it that the racking tube would fit in. I measured the depth that I wanted the end of the racking tube be and put a bread tie on the tube where it would be at the top of the neck. I lowered the racking tube into the carboy and when the bread tie was close to the top of the neck I slid the piece of cardboard in, lowered it right down until the bread tie was resting on the cardboard and it kept the racking tube stable and at the right level so there was no unnecessary movement and therefore no stirring up of the yeast.
allhailRITTER
Well-Known Member
Just bottled this tonight after about 5 months in the jug. Had a little left over to sip on. It is pretty delicious except I can taste a little bitterness that tastes like the pith. I think next time I may try and remove the pith on the orange. It's still really tasty though.
Its probably really going to be bitter now that you didnt use the bread yeast,even it being a sweet mead yeast with enough pitched sweet mead yeast it still could ferment it out dryer than the bread yeast giving the perception of more unbalanced citrus bitterness ,hopefully it doesnt. Your kind of at your own risk without following the recipe. Shure some variations can work but thats probably due to with alot of expericence with yeasts and meadmaking and alot of times luck. Good luck though. I would try making the recipe and going with your opinon/experience other than what a few people think of it maybe before you try and alter it to perfection. Meads are meant to age in the bottle to your liking, like the guy above posting notice he said it tastes pithy/bitter @bottleing. @ bottleing,not bottle aged yet.
huesmann
Well-Known Member
No. Bread yeast contributes toward it being slightly "bready" in flavor, but it's not offensive. The pith in the orange peel is what contributes toward it being bitter.
You are right about the cloudiness. If you're worried about that, I'd ignore the instructions that say not to rack, and once the fruit has dropped, rack it as you like until you feel you can bottle without clouds.
If you use 1118 it will go dry, 100% chance of that.
I decided to give it another try and this time I followed the original recipe verbatim. I'm going to give the one with the dry yeast 6 months and then bottle it and let it bottle age another 6 months before I try it.
Here's my JAOM foaming away!
Here's my JAOM foaming away!
Mine is beautifully clear, it was bottled right off the yeast and I'm a bit of a klutz so it isn't that hard if you are a bit careful. Make sure to set up your carboy where you are going to bottle from for at least a week before you bottle, mine didn't move for more than a month and not moving for that long I think made the lees a bit more stable less prone to stir up with any movement of the mead. I kept the end of the racking tube about an inch above the lees and away from the dropped orange slices so I didn't suck any yeast off of those.
rlmiller10
Well-Known Member
After reading every post on this thread I took the plunge and started my first ever mead Friday night. I did one batch to the JAOM recipe other than removing most of the pith from the oranges (very thick pith on the oranges I had). I did the second batch to be dryer so I used three lb of honey to the gallon and d47 yeast. And the last batch was not a JAOM. It was a traditional mead which I plan on racking onto raspberries in six weeks or so. Thank you all for the inspiration.
Edit: First post BTW!
Okay, I put a batch together in a Carlo Rossi carboy. After reading 150 pages of this, I think it should work pretty well. My next batch will be to the T with bread yeast and all...I used 3.5# of organic honey 2 small oranges as they did not have a large one. I zested some of the peel and cut out and cut up the meat. Threw in 20 raisins and 5 cranberries for variety. 1 Organic cinnamon stick with 2 organic cloves and 6 leaves off of a rosemary plant with 4 drops of organic vanilla extract. I used Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast. I know, I know, no guarantees on a modified recipe but what do you do? I think it should turn out alright after reading all of this...? First photo if of the pitch, second is of the "Yeast Goo" that has started forming. Thoughts?
Okay, I put a batch together in a Carlo Rossi carboy. After reading 150 pages of this, I think it should work pretty well. My next batch will be to the T with bread yeast and all...I used 3.5# of organic honey 2 small oranges as they did not have a large one. I zested some of the peel and cut out and cut up the meat. Threw in 20 raisins and 5 cranberries for variety. 1 Organic cinnamon stick with 2 organic cloves and 6 leaves off of a rosemary plant with 4 drops of organic vanilla extract. I used Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast. I know, I know, no guarantees on a modified recipe but what do you do? I think it should turn out alright after reading all of this...? First photo if of the pitch, second is of the "Yeast Goo" that has started forming. Thoughts?
itsme_timd
Well-Known Member
Brewed this on 05/31, just checked it and the fruit is falling. Looks like we'll get it bottled up this weekend.
Ill just tell you this,and not from experience. It will most likely be to pithy orange bitter until you age it if you end up with a gravity lower than 1.02.Havent used the yeast havent even bottled a JA0M yet but I know more about it than Ive even had yet. You may need to look into how to backsweeten though. I doubt much will show from the vannilla but you can always add more to taste at bottleing. Final thoughts are; if it turns out ok,chances are you will better like it in a year from now unless you happen to like it sooner which is a lucky chance possibly.
I don't think he did add the pith. This is what he wrote.
What he created would be more along the lines of Malkore's Not So Ancient Orange Mead.
Yes sir, I am wanting to get rid of aging out the pithy taste I have read about. On Storm the Castle, he lists the 71B-1122 as a perfectly suitable alternate? The online reviews said it worked well with mead and let behind nice fruity flavors. http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/fast-cheap-mead-making.htm
I was hoping for an almost dreamsicle taste with the vanilla...If it is trivial, I will probably not backsweeten as this is my first bottle. Not because I do not want to, I just want to see how it turns out.
Edit: After typing about the jug I wanted to see how she looked. I do not have a big thick layer of krausen like I have seen on others(I just found Northern Brewer calls this a low foaming strain). I also have seen some people type about topping off the carboy after 3-4 days of fermenting. Is this what to do? I am hoping to get maximum bang for the buck and topping it off only seems like the thing to do to get that.
I was hoping for an almost dreamsicle taste with the vanilla...If it is trivial, I will probably not backsweeten as this is my first bottle. Not because I do not want to, I just want to see how it turns out.
Edit: After typing about the jug I wanted to see how she looked. I do not have a big thick layer of krausen like I have seen on others(I just found Northern Brewer calls this a low foaming strain). I also have seen some people type about topping off the carboy after 3-4 days of fermenting. Is this what to do? I am hoping to get maximum bang for the buck and topping it off only seems like the thing to do to get that.
Yeah after around a week, you can top off closer to the top with water if you feel like it. I never did with my first batch. Still got 4 bottles off my gallon batch and a small sample glass to taste after bottling.
I am not sure as I just started my first concoction and have not racked anything, but this might help alleviate oxygenation and stirring up the lees while racking. I just got mine in the mail today. - http://www.eckraus.com/1-gallon-siphon-kit.html
Quokimbo said:
It's no as much about the lees, its more about the amount of room the oranges take up on the bottom on the jug. It's probably not a big deal to have only 75-80% but I'm just wondering of people top up or leave it.
GeorgiaMead
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 14, 2013
- Messages
- 454
- Reaction score
- 43
Per direction there is no need to rack hence no need to top off
Just doing a little journaling...I lifted the hood and saw lots of bubbles rising and some small sediments floating around. One chunk of orange looks like it was going up and down and revolving around the carboy. I think all is well and it smells of orange-ish something or another in the cabinet? I really squeezed the peels, ground up the spices, and chopped up the slices of orange meat into thirds so I imagine the chunks of stuff is just that. I like watching it swirl and am oh so excited about getting to taste it. I also am totally ready to start another batch! I have 5 more empty carboys waiting...I have been emptying Carlo Rossi jugs in preparation for the last 6 months! hahaha
Yeah I bottled straight off the lees after a hair over 2 months. Didn't do any racking. I think next time i'll rack at the 2 month mark, top up with water and let it sit and bulk age and further clarify before I bottle. Mine was still a little hazy during bottling which i'll assume is more of a pectin haze than yeast in suspension. As of today, I can still see my JAOM slowly clarifying more in the bottles as time goes by.
Pretty cool to see how clear some of yall's batches are at the 2 month mark. I didn't have that luck for some reason.
Pretty cool to see how clear some of yall's batches are at the 2 month mark. I didn't have that luck for some reason.
itsme_timd
Well-Known Member
Bottle our JAOM yesterday and sampled it. Holy crap I can't believe how good this is! I've only tried 3-4 meads and this is better than any of the others I've tried. We'll definitely make this again as we're already bummed we only made a 1 gallon batch. It's just shy of 4 months old and if this gets better with age I'm really looking forward to trying it again in a few months.
Awesome labels!
I plan on leaving mine in the gallon jug for 4 months too. I know if I bottled it at 2-3 months I would end up drinking most of it before it got as good as it should. The only way I can keep my hands off of anything is by letting it age in the carboy.
I plan on leaving mine in the gallon jug for 4 months too. I know if I bottled it at 2-3 months I would end up drinking most of it before it got as good as it should. The only way I can keep my hands off of anything is by letting it age in the carboy.
I love the labels; how do you make them?
itsme_timd
Well-Known Member
Thanks guys!
I designed the label then printed them on ivory colored paper. The image is full color as well. I cut them out square then set those suckers on fire around the edges and immediately blew them out. That part was tricky but I like the way it turned out. I only set the smoke detector off once!
I designed the label then printed them on ivory colored paper. The image is full color as well. I cut them out square then set those suckers on fire around the edges and immediately blew them out. That part was tricky but I like the way it turned out. I only set the smoke detector off once!
That is absolutely genius; I might have to steal that idea myself, if you don't mind.
itsme_timd
Well-Known Member
That is absolutely genius; I might have to steal that idea myself, if you don't mind.
Not at all, definitely share pics if you try it out.
Tim did an excellent job on the labels. I can't get over how good this mead is. It's a shame we didn't make more of it. Next time.
itsme_timd
Well-Known Member
Can anyone tell me how they heck they get all the goop out of the gallon jug afterwards???
itsme_timd said:
I shook the jug for a while, but ended up sticking a hook inside with the jug upside down and pulling it out over a bowl.
itsme_timd
Well-Known Member
I figured that might be the case but was hopeful there might be an easy trick I was missing.
Brewed this on 05/31, just checked it and the fruit is falling. Looks like we'll get it bottled up this weekend.
I was just curious how much actual volume you got out of yours? And were the bottles pretty clear? MIne is just starting to show signs of clearning now after 3 weeks primary. Cant wait to bottle them in a few months and give some out for Christmas(If they are good by then)
I may do one or two wine bottles and then rest in beer bottles, I have about 1.5 gal right now so Im hoping to get at least like equivelant of 12-12 oz bottles for volume.
itsme_timd
Well-Known Member
I was just curious how much actual volume you got out of yours? And were the bottles pretty clear? MIne is just starting to show signs of clearning now after 3 weeks primary. Cant wait to bottle them in a few months and give some out for Christmas(If they are good by then)
We got eight 375ml bottles out of a gallon. It's fairly clear except for the last couple bottles. I know it's against the JAOM rules but on our next batch I'll rack this to secondary to drop a little more trub.
Needle nose pliers
