Show us your Mead in a photo!!!

Thanks baker, I let it bulk age for 8 months before I bottled and didn't use any fining agents. This is really just a case of if you let it sit long enough it will eventually clear on its own.

Ryan

Your welcome. Ooh nice! I hope mine turns out like that but will see. How is the flavor of your mead?

Its about 16% ABV so when it was bulk aging it was rocket fuel with a hint of bitterness (from the Gesho). A couple months after bottling a lot of the harshness went away and a slightly bitter apple flavor dominated with a very dry finish. The last time I cracked a bottle was in January and the slight bitter flavor has mellowed, the apple has toned down and I felt like I was getting more of the subtle honey flavors finally coming out. I wish I made more than a 2 gallon batch.

Ryan

Oh wow that sounds amazing! If you don't mind I'd love to try some could you please post or send me the recipe. Are you going to make another batch from the same recipe?

Baker

A glass of blueberry melomel with some yard bird.

Tnoodle said:

A glass of blueberry melomel with some yard bird.

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Warm blueberry melomel if you let it sit there too long though

Vanilla Chamomile Metheglin

Only 50 days old

From left to right (which also happens to be order of creation) JAOM, Apple Pie cyser, pomegranate melomel, Joe's Quick Pyment, and a test batch of traditional mead.

Scott

Ooh that JAOM is looking pretty sweet! Speaking of that does any one have a good and easy recipe for JAOM?

Well the one on the left is an apple cinnimon mead and the one on the right is still in the primary stages but is going to be a cherry vinnilla mead. I'm just waiting for the fermentation to slow down to rack it a smaller carboy.

baker1234 said:

Ooh that JAOM is looking pretty sweet! Speaking of that does any one have a good and easy recipe for JAOM?

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Easy recipe for jaom??? Itt is easy... You mean easier?

Honey 3.25 lb/gal
Water
Real mead yeast not bread yeast
Orange zest and fruit, NOT pith though
Nutrient
Time

Easy

Alright cool. Thanks bhunter.

baker1234 said:

Ooh that JAOM is looking pretty sweet! Speaking of that does any one have a good and easy recipe for JAOM?

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Bhunter gave you the basics.. This thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/joes-ancient-orange-mead-49106/ posted by Yooper is the go to thread for JAOM.

Jukas said:

Bhunter gave you the basics.. This thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/joes-ancient-orange-mead-49106/ posted by Yooper is the go to thread for JAOM.

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I just think that putting bread yeast and orange pith in a quality drink is rubbish. It costs the same to buy wine yeast and 10 min to peel and zest the oranges.... 10 min to remove 2 huge factors in off flavors... Yes please

Just curious BHunter, but have you actually made a JAOM using bread yeast/pith and have determined that the product is inferior, or are you just morally against using bread yeast and pith in a mead?

My first batches are still aging, so I don't have the experience to say one way or the other, but it does seem like a lot of people have gotten very good results using the exact recipe, and those that deviated (specifically using wine yeasts) have generally regretted it.

Personally the batches that I've made with bread yeast have tasted great (keeping in mind none of them are technically "done" yet, they have finished primary fermentation and in secondary), and the one batch I made with a real wine yeast (EC-1118) has so far proved less than tasty. Time will probably change that.

Scott

I have tried jaom, but have never made that exact recipe myself. I have my own modified version (what I posted above). I will say that I know there is a difference in the finished product when using bread yeast vs. mead/wine yeast, and I have eaten an orange peel.... Neither will taste good in mead. Go, eat an orange peel. Then ask yourself if you want that to even POSSIBLY be a taste mixed with your honey sweetness? Undoubtedly, no.

I just don't understand, when you can buy a yeast that is MADE for what you are making and costs the same, WHY would you use an inferior product?!? Just because gas will run through a diesel truck, and it's easier to come by, doesn't mean it's the right choice...

delvorak said:

Personally the batches that I've made with bread yeast have tasted great (keeping in mind none of them are technically "done" yet, they have finished primary fermentation and in secondary), and the one batch I made with a real wine yeast (EC-1118) has so far proved less than tasty. Time will probably change that.

Scott

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Keep in mind that Prisse de Mouse (EC1118) is a monster yeast capable of tearing through the honey up to 18% ABV. Bread yeast will likely poop out around 11-12%. Bread yeast will be a very sweet mead, while Prisse de Mouse will take it dry an require extended aging due to the alcohol it kicks out.

I'd reckon to get an even close comparison to a 2 month old bread yeast based JAOM you'd have to wait till the 6-8 month mark if using Prisse de Mouse

this is a picture thread and not recipe discussion

My cherry melomel 5 days old

If the photo upload went through, on the left is mixed berry wine, on the right is mixed berry mead. Same recipe, just one with sugar, one with honey. Cherry pie filling, blueberry pie filling, cranberry juice, grape juice concentrate.

Bhunter87 said:

I just think that putting bread yeast and orange pith in a quality drink is rubbish. It costs the same to buy wine yeast and 10 min to peel and zest the oranges.... 10 min to remove 2 huge factors in off flavors... Yes please

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I have made meads with both bread yeast and wine yeast. They DO have different characteristics that may be beneficial for what you are trying to achieve in the end product. The bread yeast leaves the mead pretty sweet. The pith from the oranges leaves a nice subtle bitterness that very nicely balances out the sweetness. It's definitely NOT as bitter as sucking on an orange peel.
I have made the real JAOM recipe multiple times and have made modified versions of the recipe (such as leaving out the pith, or using orange juice, or using wine yeast), and I feel that the original recipe is still FAR superior to the modified recipes that I have done. You really should make a batch of the original recipe and see for yourself. It's really not that expensive to make a 1 gallon batch. I have been making 5 gallon batches of the original recipe, because it's so damn good.

If you wanna discuss recipes either go to the recipes section or start a new thread, other wise just show your Mead pics here...... quit hijacking this thread

My Creme Brew right before & after bottling. I usually bottle in brown glass, but put this in a clear bottle just for this thread.

My first Mead, my first JAOM. Kept to the original recipe for this one. Will deviate on the next go

Racked my experimental mead again due to massive build up of lees and sediment. Still really dark!

Here is my JAOM at day 49. Clearing well and fruit starting to drop.

Here's what I put together today. :rockin: They're all "JAOM style".



From left to right: orange, blueberry, peach, and blackberry

Ukrainsk Mjød, nose eye view.

Last nights fun....

Latest batch of mead started last night using Welches Black Cherry & Wild Grape juice. Based on the Joe's Quick Grape recipe.

Calling this my Spiced Orange Christmas mead, JAOM is on the right

Slow and steady. This is a seven gallon experimental batch of Brochet based on a 1393 recipe. The green light is on a 250 watt fish tank heater keeping the must at a steady 74F. Haven't tasted it yet, but it smells yummy.

This is my first batch of mead, 3 months in, looking awesome

dennisjonesjr said:

This is my first batch of mead, 3 months in, looking awesome

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So pretty when they clear

dennisjonesjr said:

This is my first batch of mead, 3 months in, looking awesome

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That is some beautiful looking mead. Did you do something special to get it so clear?

wrkrB said:

My Creme Brew right before & after bottling. I usually bottle in brown glass, but put this in a clear bottle just for this thread.

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Love the flip-top bottle. Where'd you get it.

That's my batch of Hefty Braggot, about 10 days old. Doesn't look like much yet.

Bradinator said:

That is some beautiful looking mead. Did you do something special to get it so clear?

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I put bentonite in it but I did it too early so it started fermenting again. I left it alone for 2 months after that and racked it. I have 3 more that I need to rack this week that are not that clear. The only other difference is in my first one also had the juice from a whole orange in it so I think that help the yeast. Anyway I'm still learning patience

This is the gravity sample of my first mead. It is a light lemonade mead.

My mead bottled and ready to drink with another gallon going. Can't wait for my other mead to be finish.