Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

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As a guy who has ONLY brewed JAOM, JAOM variants and Apfelwein, I have to say that I like it leaps and bounds better than Chaucers or the other commercial meads I have tasted. Plus I get to screw around with different fruits and flavors, and the cost is minimal.

I just run the honey container closed under hot water for a little while to loosen it up for pouring, and I dont bother stirring or shaking the jug after I add my gallon of tepid water. The little yeast warriors will eat the honey from the top down, and its fun to watch over time.

By the way, the ONLY two adjuncts that I didnt like when I tweaked this base recipe were the espresso (brew coffee first, dont use grounds like a yutz) and the lavender. YMMV, but I've tried all manner of different fruits and have enjoyed just about every one of them.
 
Well, I bottled mine over the weekend. I really like the taste but the clove is STRONG. I threw caution to the wind and used 2 cloves. I think I'll start another batch with just one. I'll be aging the 2 clove batch for a while to see how it mellows. Thanks Joe, where ever you are.
 
Still not clear after 4 months (brewed April 1st), not sure if I should bottle it or continue to wait, thoughts?
 
Just started my first mead. JAOM. Peeled the oranges and just put what I would normally eat in there.

Patiently brewing beer until October.
 
Patiently brewing beer until October.
Don't be a sally!
Dream about your JOAM! Think of some additional flavors you might like to try... then TRY IT!
My first year of brewing JOAM (Which I decided I really didn't like) I made over 20 1 gallon batches. All Different, all (but 2 were drinkable) and all made me a better brewer and mead maker!

You can only learn so much from reading. Eventually, you have to put wort and must into fermenters and make bubbles!

Get To It!
 
BigKahuna said:
Don't be a sally!
Dream about your JOAM! Think of some additional flavors you might like to try... then TRY IT!
My first year of brewing JOAM (Which I decided I really didn't like) I made over 20 1 gallon batches. All Different, all (but 2 were drinkable) and all made me a better brewer and mead maker!

You can only learn so much from reading. Eventually, you have to put wort and must into fermenters and make bubbles!

Get To It!

I bought a bottle of Chaucer's to see if I even like mead, then I have three one gallon glass jugs waiting if I like it. I'm a cider guy and not sure if I'll like it.
 
Just got started on a 3 gallon batch, and incidentally, my first brewing project of any kind.

I went with 2 gallons of cheap filtered apple juice with only ascorbic acid added, 2 quarts of unfiltered fresh cherry juice, and 3 pounds of honey. Based on the sugar content of the ingredients I should be right at 1.08 OG.

6 hours in it's fizzing away like a hot soda in my recycled 3 gallon Prima jug with its super-sophisticated ballon airlock.

Edit 20 hours in: Holy hell, the balloon airlock thing definitely does not work for these ingredients. The balloon was almost entirely inflated and half full of blow off 2 hours ago, so I popped out the center of the jug lid and went down to Lowes to get 4 feet of 1/2" OD plastic tubing. Sanitized everything, managed to squeeze off the balloon without spraying the inside of my cupboard, and have it chugging rust colored froth into a 1 gallon water jug which I have sitting in a pan should it froth over. Smells great though, nice sour tang from the cherries.

Thanks for all the tips.

With the sale on apple and cherry juice, I ended up getting another 4 gallons of the apple and 4 quarts of the cherry, and picked up a 32oz bottle of cherry concentrate off Amazon. I'll go get a 6 gallon pail and 5 gallon better bottle, some K1V-1116, a couple of airlocks, and a hydrometer to do a sparkling cherry cider to tide me over until the mead mellows out.
 
I don't know if this is a tip per se, but its something I do.

If I want to try using, say, guavas for the first time I make a gallon, no big deal. But if I really want to get crazy and make, say, celery mead, I use a cleaned 1 liter whiskey bottle.

I bought a bag of black party balloons at the party store, so now my improvised 1-liter batches look pretty punk rock. Lol.
 
Is Fleischmann's ActiveDry or RapidRise the correct yeast for this ?
 
Goofynewfie said:
I used the rapid rise and it turned out okay

Crap. Bought the activedry. Rapidrise gave me visions of coming home to an explosion of honey.
 
Ok so I just made my first batch of joam, my first mead. It was super easy. I did peel the skin off, removing the pith with a knife, and put the peel/rind and meat of the orange since I didn't have a zester. I did make two rookie mistakes rushing through the directions. I used room temp water and shook it after I put the yeast in. Would either of these cause issues? Dumb stopper keeps slipping up.

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You should be fine, that yeast will have a fails day, and all will be well. I wouldn't be worried if I shook it up with the yeast. In fact I did a little bit with my second one I think. I'll be able to try mine next week! I just need to move it to a growler our something from my milk jug.maybe I shoulddo that tonight.
 
Something to remember with this recipe is it seems to WANT to work. I've screwed it up in all sorts of ways, and I still had something drinkable at the end. Too much yeast, too little yeast, shook it, didnt shake it... all the batches made mead.
 
Checked it out before I went to bed. Foamed like a rapid dog. Had to quickly sterilize an airlock and put it on before bed. Was nice and clean this morning. Do I wait til the foam falls to add some water to the neck? Also, do the oranges dissolve or deconstruct? Wondering how to get them out to use the jug again.

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No need to sterilize, or sanitize. I just rinse off with water. The abv will get high enough to kill anything I feel. This is suppose to be ancient and easy. So don't worry and take a lot of time to clean/ sanitize. :)
btw whats the dark stuff on the bottom of the jugs in the first pics you posted last night?
 
No need to sterilize, or sanitize. I just rinse off with water. The abv will get high enough to kill anything I feel. This is suppose to be ancient and easy. So don't worry and take a lot of time to clean/ sanitize. :)
btw whats the dark stuff on the bottom of the jugs in the first pics you posted last night?

I'm guessing that's honey that settled out?
 
tre9er said:
I'm guessing that's honey that settled out?

Yes. It's honey. Should it not be like that? How does one get the oranges out afterward?
 
Yes. It's honey. Should it not be like that? How does one get the oranges out afterward?

Some people feel the need to shake to incorporate, some dont. Personally, I like watching the yeast eat up the honey a centimeter at a time, so its up to you. I personally employ a chopstick and a hearty shake to get the oranges out... probably the most labor intensive part of the whole process.
 
CreamyGoodness said:
Some people feel the need to shake to incorporate, some dont. Personally, I like watching the yeast eat up the honey a centimeter at a time, so its up to you. I personally employ a chopstick and a hearty shake to get the oranges out... probably the most labor intensive part of the whole process.

I did shake it before putting the airlock on. I thought Joe said no shaking, no racking, etc.
 
I did shake it before putting the airlock on. I thought Joe said no shaking, no racking, etc.

Right, shake before airlocking. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. For the most part I just watch the honey disappear slowly over several weeks.
 
Ok. I won't sweat it. Do I need to wait til the foam retreats from the neck to top off with water? Should I use cold water this time?
 
hippo8046 said:
Has anyone tried anything related to JAO and blackberries? I would imagine this would be something absolutely wonderful.

I've read every single post and there was not one blackberry variant. That was the sole reason I read them all. I have the original going now but I also want a blackberry version. I hope no one condemns me for not starting a new post but this is what I'm thinking for a one gallon batch:

3lbs clover honey
1lb frozen blackberries, thawed
fresh mint (unsure of how much at the moment)
5 whole black peppercorns
25 raisins
1tsp bread yeast
 
Ive used almost precisely that same recipe aryoung, but with mixed berries rather than all blackberries. It wasnt my favorite varient, but it was pretty great.
 
Right, shake before airlocking. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. For the most part I just watch the honey disappear slowly over several weeks.
But will it do that with a JAOM? The yeast tolerance isn't enough to convert all the honey, so wouldn't you be left with a thin layer of honey at the bottom, with a layer of lees on top of it?
 
But will it do that with a JAOM? The yeast tolerance isn't enough to convert all the honey, so wouldn't you be left with a thin layer of honey at the bottom, with a layer of lees on top of it?

I never have, but I say that while knocking wood. I dont know much about the science behind it, but I can tell you that all of my JAOM has had fully converted honey (with residual sweetness, so maybe not fully converted SUGAR molecules). But this might just be because I wear my magic sleeping cap. :fro:
 
I need to bottle my JAOM tonight to bring on vacation with the family for them (and me) to try this out! I think I may just transfer using a funnel to a growler. I don't care if I get some yeast and other stuff in there, it'll all sink and hopefully harden enough when I keep it in the fridge for a few days.
 
The top portion is getting a little darker a few days later.

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don't shoot me, i've only read through about ten pages here. made this up last night and used cote des blanc yeast, instead of baking yeast, i'm assuming it'll work out just fine?
 
don't shoot me, i've only read through about ten pages here. made this up last night and used cote des blanc yeast, instead of baking yeast, i'm assuming it'll work out just fine?

Making any changes at all voids the warrantee on the recipe. If I am not mistaken, that particular yeast will yield a much drier product than good ole Fleishmanns. But hey, if you like dry mead, thats not a problem.

This recipe is like any other recipe for cooking or making anything... I suggest doing it a couple times to the letter and then experimenting with variations.
 
The top portion is getting a little darker a few days later.

For the record, none of your pictures show anything visibly out of the ordinary at all.

Aside from prayer and/or superstition, I would avoid "doing" anything at all with this for the next couple months. Just let God, the faeries, and science do its thing.
 
Ok so I just made my first batch of joam, my first mead. It was super easy. I did peel the skin off, removing the pith with a knife, and put the peel/rind and meat of the orange since I didn't have a zester. I did make two rookie mistakes rushing through the directions. I used room temp water and shook it after I put the yeast in. Would either of these cause issues? Dumb stopper keeps slipping up.

A plastic zip tie looped through the handle and around the stopper should hold it down until it dries.
 
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