First Time Mead Questions

Hi Everyone,
First time posting in the mead section because I feel I'm finally ready to venture into the realm of Mead Making! I was going to start a 5 gallon batch last weekend but was unable to start so this weekend it is. I supposed this will end up being a JAOM w/o breadyeast. I want to do a no- boil mead.
Ingrediants:
Batch Size 5.5
13 LBS Orange Blossom Honey
5 Oranges
2 Cloves
5 Cinnimon Sticks
125 count raisins
White labs yeast nutrient
First Question: how many packets of Lavin D47 (5g)? 1 or 2?

The other question I have IS I ran my water though a 5 micron filter and boiled it in a Stainless kettle with the lid on and it will probably sit until this upcoming friday night (today being wednesday) will this water be ok you think, or should i refilter and reboil?

and if you have any words of wisdom for a first time mead maker, i'd greatly appriciate it. Thanks all! Cheers!

I just run mine through a Britta filter, no boiling, but I live in the city.

Keep in mind JAOM is great as is, for various reasons. The d47 will take it dry, accentuating the bitterness of the orange pith. If you really want to use that yeast, you likely will have to use more honey or stablize and back sweeten.

If you use a wine yeast with the JAO recipe it will likely ferment dry. Its not a good dry recipe because the lack of sweetness to balance the flavour from the orange pith. So you get a bitterness focused.

To balance that, you need to back sweeten the batch.

If you're gonna do a JAO type recipe, especially if its your first mead, then do yourself a favour and make it as close to a benchmark batch as you can. It gives you a baseline to work and learn from.

Then think on making other recipes where the ingredient list is less important to "get it right"......

Would upping the amount of honey to 16 lbs be enough to leave a semi sweet mead?

Why do you not want to use bread yeast? This is my 4 month old batch, and it tastes great, made with bread yeast.

Wow!, that is crystal clear, that is what i AM looking for. I'm not sure why i dont want to use bread yeast, i guess because i'm looking for a more updated product? i guess i'm really not sure.

It is almost a right of passage to make a batch of JMAO per Joe's recipe. It is kind of fun. Then you find his Quick Grape Mead recipe & then you have a room full of carboys before you know it.

cmhblake said:

Wow!, that is crystal clear, that is what i AM looking for. I'm not sure why i dont want to use bread yeast, i guess because i'm looking for a more updated product? i guess i'm really not sure.

Click to expand...

Just don't screw with tradition, it would cause the recipe maker to roll over in his grave if he were dead.

...if you want to use a more aggressive yeast you could always add more honey so you have some residual sweetness.

I will chime in with everyone else why not. Definatley use the bread yeast. You will be 100 times happier with the product. And up the spices to at least 5 cloves and at max my favorite dosage of 10 cloves in the 5 gallon recipe. Also 5 pinches of nutmeg and allspice. That is the minimums asked for in the original recipe and I think they are essential to complete the mead. Also the honey should be upped to about 17.5 pounds.

I love me some traditional JAOM...bread yeast and all.

Saramc: ain't that the truth! In my house I've got a RFJM. Which stands for a "Room For Joe's Meads". It's amazing how quick they can build up. They're like potato chips, I always want just one more.

Alright, you have all talked me into it! i will use the bread yeast and up the honey and up the spices! Thanks again, i just needed the push to do it right!

See..now I have decided to start another batch of the original, but I am going to bump up the spices as Arpolis suggested. And I am using my good wildflower honey instead of my Kirkland's clover honey. Not that the clover honey was bad, I like clover honey.

You won't regret it

I've never used nutmeg....damn, I feel another batch this weekend.