Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

Secondary is good with this due to the low flocculation/gets crap everywhere the moment you move it around bread yeast. Leaving it for months seems to pose no issues. Me and my friend had a few glasses of his around 5 months old and was great for drinking already. I think my batch had a little more bitterness to age out. This recipe is still around since it's near foolproof and the results are good. Just use good honey.

I went to my LHB store before I started this to pick up some stoppers for my growlers that I have. The guy suggested I use Lalvin K1-V1116 dry yeast so I picked that up. Since I was splitting up the recipe between two half gallon growlers I put one clove in each growler and broke a cinnamon stick in half. I put a pinch of nut meg and a pinch of all spice in each growler. I also mixed a small bowl of yeast up and went a little over 1 gram and split it between to the two bottles. The store I went to had a lot of different honey in a lot of sizes. I selected two larger bottles of regular clove honey that equaled 3 pounds and a smaller quarter pound bottle of orange blossom honey. I put 15 raisins in each bottle and cut up an orange and put half in each. I only topped off each bottle to the bottom of the necks for fear that they would blow up in the utility closet and piss the wife off.

Oh well. We'll see how it comes out and I'll keep an eye on em. Should be good for Thanksgiving.

- Destin

sillbeer said:

I went to my LHB store before I started this to pick up some stoppers for my growlers that I have. The guy suggested I use Lalvin K1-V1116 dry yeast so I picked that up. Since I was splitting up the recipe between two half gallon growlers I put one clove in each growler and broke a cinnamon stick in half. I put a pinch of nut meg and a pinch of all spice in each growler. I also mixed a small bowl of yeast up and went a little over 1 gram and split it between to the two bottles. The store I went to had a lot of different honey in a lot of sizes. I selected two larger bottles of regular clove honey that equaled 3 pounds and a smaller quarter pound bottle of orange blossom honey. I put 15 raisins in each bottle and cut up an orange and put half in each. I only topped off each bottle to the bottom of the necks for fear that they would blow up in the utility closet and piss the wife off.

Oh well. We'll see how it comes out and I'll keep an eye on em. Should be good for Thanksgiving.

- Destin

Click to expand...

That yeast is going to make a very dry mead I bet.

You deviated and the bitterness will probably show up with a strong spice profile. Clove may be overpowering. Warranty voided. This is based off of reading way too many pages of this thread.

All brewing is an experiment. Hopefully it turns out okay though. Results with bread yeast turn out great for this since it finishes sweet with 3.5 lbs of honey.

Most people who brew think a recipe with bread yeast is dumb, but this one is effective.

I'm a newb and unsure. I went with my LHBS guys advice, he said it was a champagne yeast. Only time will tell and I'll learn either way. One bottle is bubbling ok and the other one is not bubbling at all but it's only been 24 hours.

- Destin

So I made this just before Christmas and it is clear and the fruit has dropped. Just when I should try this guy. Also the air lock has stopped bubbling.

Try it now, if it is clear and the fruit is on the bottom. Then bottle what you havent drank and hide it from yourself for as long as is possible.

After this has aged, how do you bottle it for storage?

- Destin

Hey, I just started this recipe and I'm wondering if it'll screw up.

My dad has made lots of wine so he decided to give me a hand.

I got 16 pounds of honey from a beekeeper for a 5 gallon brew. 2 sticks of cinnamon, 2 pieces of clover and 2 whole oranges (except for the skin stuff). Reason I changed some of this was because of all the negative comments saying that the recipe is too sweet. The only yeast I recognized at the local wine place was the kv 1116 so I went for that.

While I was getting ready to pour in the water, my dad threw in the yeast. He said it doesn't matter, I thought it was a bad idea, since we had to shake the whole thing.

So anyways, it's been about 4 hours, and still no bubbling. Am i screwed?

Lemme try this one again...

I just started a new batch of JAOM. The instructions state to add more water after the foaming stops. How much? How far up the bottle do I fill it? Do I have to keep adding water as it evaporates and the level drops?

AbuMaia said:

Lemme try this one again...

I just started a new batch of JAOM. The instructions state to add more water after the foaming stops. How much? How far up the bottle do I fill it? Do I have to keep adding water as it evaporates and the level drops?

Click to expand...

I personally never add water, but you dont want liquid any farther than just the bottom of the neck or a little bit into the neck at most.

You need not and should not continue to "top off" from that point on.

thombrew said:

Hey, I just started this recipe and I'm wondering if it'll screw up.

My dad has made lots of wine so he decided to give me a hand.

I got 16 pounds of honey from a beekeeper for a 5 gallon brew. 2 sticks of cinnamon, 2 pieces of clover and 2 whole oranges (except for the skin stuff). Reason I changed some of this was because of all the negative comments saying that the recipe is too sweet. The only yeast I recognized at the local wine place was the kv 1116 so I went for that.

While I was getting ready to pour in the water, my dad threw in the yeast. He said it doesn't matter, I thought it was a bad idea, since we had to shake the whole thing.

So anyways, it's been about 4 hours, and still no bubbling. Am i screwed?

Click to expand...

I think you will be ok. I think this will come out drier than you will care for, however.

Next brew, I heartily and fully suggest you make JAOM exactly as directed, so you can see the difference.

CreamyGoodness said:

I think you will be ok. I think this will come out drier than you will care for, however.

Next brew, I heartily and fully suggest you make JAOM exactly as directed, so you can see the difference.

Click to expand...

Thanks, will do. And also, adding honey right now wouldn't be much of a good idea would it? Been two days and there's still no excessive foaming, but there are bubbles on the cover thingy.

Has any one tried adding a lemon for a little extra citrus flavor?

doolsx said:

Has any one tried adding a lemon for a little extra citrus flavor?

Click to expand...

I added a lime to my 3 gallon batch. No worries about it not being citrusy, it tasted like straight orange peel for a month after bottling. It is starting to mellow now.

I made a one gallon batch of this (with craisins because I didn't have raisins) back at the end of August. It was my first mead. Back when I racked it to a clean fermenter, I tasted it and it was nasty rocket fuel. I bottled it today and had a taste. Man, it is so much better. It still has a ways to go, but it is really going to be good!

thombrew said:

Hey, I just started this recipe and I'm wondering if it'll screw up.

My dad has made lots of wine so he decided to give me a hand.

I got 16 pounds of honey from a beekeeper for a 5 gallon brew. 2 sticks of cinnamon, 2 pieces of clover and 2 whole oranges (except for the skin stuff). Reason I changed some of this was because of all the negative comments saying that the recipe is too sweet. The only yeast I recognized at the local wine place was the kv 1116 so I went for that.

While I was getting ready to pour in the water, my dad threw in the yeast. He said it doesn't matter, I thought it was a bad idea, since we had to shake the whole thing.

So anyways, it's been about 4 hours, and still no bubbling. Am i screwed?

Click to expand...

you should be fine, give it a few days before you start to panic

The JAOM mantra "honey and bread yeast WANT to make mead". There are all manner of ways you can botch up the recipe and still come out with a drinkable jug of hooch, just so long as you dont mess with it too much or dump it out!

I kinda want to dump mine out.. It's about 5 months old, and it's not hot or anything but it has this overpowering bad yeast flavor that I can only describe as "autolysis", though I've always thought that to be a myth.

I did not drink mine until it was a bit more than a year old. I placed it in competition when it was 3 and 4 years old. Won medals with it at that age. Don't throw it out. Stick it in the back of the closet and just let it sit forgotten for another 6 months or so.

I made some JAOM and variants back in 2011. Some were in 3 liter plastic bottles with EVERYTHING still there...after racking and bottling one year and a half later, almost every batch is pleasantly drinkable. I had to discard only 2 batches because of bad flavour. JAOM and mead in general get way better with age, and that is something I learned 1st person

Made three batches of this. One strictly by the book, then a blackberry/lemon variant, and a grapefruit variant. Been a month so far and still happily bubbling away.

check it out with a couple pears. highly suggest it!

So creamy do you just add pears instead of an orange or are there other changes?

No other changes blh. I'd say about 2 bosc or the green pears (forget the variety name) cut into spears. Its nice and rustic, goes well with a nice vinegary salad (Ive found) and people will like drinking it whilst watching Game of Thrones .

I have a mason jar of used Nottingham yeast in my fridge that I washed & bottled up last week from when I brewed a nut brown ale.
Can I use this yeast for this mead recipe? If so, how much should I use?

(Don't know if it's been covered in this thread...just don't have the time to go through 1145 posts!!

Thanks guys, MF

MidniteFlyer said:

I have a mason jar of used Nottingham yeast in my fridge that I washed & bottled up last week from when I brewed a nut brown ale.
Can I use this yeast for this mead recipe? If so, how much should I use?

(Don't know if it's been covered in this thread...just don't have the time to go through 1145 posts!!

Thanks guys, MF

Click to expand...

Honestly, I wouldnt with this recipe. You are likely to get pith and hot rind flavor and make it dry as a bone. I'm sure other recipes work lovely with Notty, but this one cries out for bread yeast alone.

I just bottled mine after about two and a half months. Tried some and it was very spice forward. Not much orange. Does the spice subdue after time?

My first batch, which I started Jan 2, is starting to clear up, though it's still bubbling. Should I rack it into another container, or let it finish out the remaining 3 weeks? I can't tell how clear it's getting, it's in a milk jug, but shining a flashlight through it shows it's mostly clear.

Leave it alone

Just racked my one gallon batch to secondary. It had been in primary since..idk...OCT or early nov. The oranges dropped to the bottom at least a month ago and I racked it over today and topped up with water. I tasted it and its bitter as heck...got some sweetness to it but its really really bitter, it does taste lke its been on the rhines for a long time...

did I screw up by not racking/bottling earlier or will this get drinkable? cause it was really not drinkable...it was gaggable...

this recipe is a little too sophisticated for me. is it possible to use a balloon poked with holes instead of an airlock? also i know that honey has some anti bacterial properties, does this mean i can forgo hardcore sanitation techniques in favor of a rinse in boiling water?

johannvdl said:

this recipe is a little too sophisticated for me. is it possible to use a balloon poked with holes instead of an airlock? also i know that honey has some anti bacterial properties, does this mean i can forgo hardcore sanitation techniques in favor of a rinse in boiling water?

Click to expand...

Are you joking? If not then yes, I always use a balloon for JAOM. Instead of hardcore sanitation you could use hot water and 1 tablespoon of bleach. Rinse several times.

johannvdl said:

this recipe is a little too sophisticated for me. is it possible to use a balloon poked with holes instead of an airlock? also i know that honey has some anti bacterial properties, does this mean i can forgo hardcore sanitation techniques in favor of a rinse in boiling water?

Click to expand...

I made batches on 2 liter PET bottles which ended OK. I did not even boil every time. And I used poked ballons too

But I have to admit that some batches tasted bad in the end, so to be on the safe side I would also try to sanitize as much as possible.

BTW I would recommend making larger batches, because on 2 liters you lose quite a lot of mead because of the sediments.

Good luck!

This question will no doubt be frowned upon but, considering the price of honey here in South Korea, (cheapest I've seen being an USA import - clover honey 1.36kg at $31 is it possible to use a mixed honey i.e. corn syrup 90% / real honey 10% (cheapest price $11 for 2kg)

Will it make a drinkable fake 'mead' or not?

Is there anyone out there who is not embarrassed to let me know?

Honestly friend, if honey is that expensive I personally would buy some corn sugar and make Apfelwein instead. I honestly dont think corn syrup is a good substitute for honey, particularly in this recipe.

I am so ignorant about South Korea, is real maple syrup available/affordable? If so I'd set out and make acerglyn (maple wine) instead.

Sorry, I know its not the answer you wanted to hear...

Thanks anyway for the sad news. Everything I've looked for is wat too expensive

I do do an Apfelwein but with regular sugar because that is all there is. Cheapest apple juice here is $2 per liter (Ceres) Treetops is $11 a gallon.

I have calculated that the cheapest thing to brew is Skeeter Pee.

Last week I paid out $52 for a 6 gallon carboy.

Anyway, no more grumbling.

Thanks

Yikes, $30 for 3 lbs? Here I thought getting a 5 lb jug of honey for $15 was expensive.

Just bottled my first mead. Fermented a month or so, and died down so I cold crashed it for about a week, and bottled it today. I noticed two of my bottles were a bit cloudy, and also in one of them I saw some bits of yeast floating around, will this make bottle bombs?

Just "bottled" my first gallon last weekend. Started it Dec 1, 2012. I filtered it through coffee filters 3 times to remove any solids. Im not a wine drinker so Im not sure how this is. It tastes "hot" to me. I vacuum sealed the jars with a FoodSaver and Im going to let it sit a couple months now.