Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

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Every time I try to move my mead to transfer into bottles it shakes up the lees. I can't leave it anywhere easy cause I have kids who will touch how do I overcome this dilema
 
Just bottled and sampled a batch of this ancient orange mead and was pleasantly surprised! Started two more batches with grapefruit instead of orange and one without the clove. Now I need to level up and try a batch of something a bit harder.
Thanks for the recipe!
 
Has anyone done the recipe exactly but used a Red Start Premier Cuvee yeast instead of the baker's yeast?

I understand it may not be the ideal yeast for this but that's what I ended up using in the batch I put together this past weekend. I suppose we'll see how this turns out..
 
Looking at having a go at this but was wondering if you can just throw in a litre of OJ on top of the honey?

3Lb honey
1L OJ ( from concentrate )
1 Cinnamon stick
1 Pinch allspice
1L Welchs white grape juice
1 tsp yeast Nutrient
Wine yeast

SG 1.100
FG 1.010

I know this is far from the original...
What do you think.. :)
 
Just bottled mine and tried one after 13 months and man was it strong. The smell almost knocked you off your feet. It tasted much more mellow but it was still too strong and had a pretty strong alcohol burn. Maybe because I didn't top off after fermentation? Either way I just plan on letting the bottles sit for another year or so and try again.
 
hunter006 said:
Looking at having a go at this but was wondering if you can just throw in a litre of OJ on top of the honey?

3Lb honey
1L OJ ( from concentrate )
1 Cinnamon stick
1 Pinch allspice
1L Welchs white grape juice
1 tsp yeast Nutrient
Wine yeast

SG 1.100
FG 1.010

I know this is far from the original...
What do you think.. :)

Don't do it. The OJ is way to acidic, and I highly doubt you'll finish at 1.010 using wine yeast. It will probably be more like 1.00 or even lower, and you'll really taste that OJ. Just try to imagine OJ without the sweetness.
 
Don't do it. The OJ is way to acidic, and I highly doubt you'll finish at 1.010 using wine yeast. It will probably be more like 1.00 or even lower, and you'll really taste that OJ. Just try to imagine OJ without the sweetness.

Or, as fatbloke would say "dry as a buzzard's arse"
 
Surely I can stop close to with stabilizer/campden and raise the acidity with acid blend? Maybe
 
Your right. Jusst looking for a good tasting easy quick brew other than cider.. which I might add did taste like a Buzzard's a$$, not that I know but was dry..
 
Ok. So joes is more or less but omit the OJ, ferment out and back sweeten with about 4oz honey.. probably looking at around 13-15% .
I'll chuck it all in this weekend and see what turns out.. starting to knock out a brew every 2 weeks so can bottle some up and save for a rainy day..
If anyone can come up with some more quick turn around meads then please fire away. Would be nice to get some experience and a small stash going. Im in the UK so there's a few rainy days ;)
 
I bottled my JAOM on 4-20-2013. I drank what didn't fit into full bottles, so I finally got to taste this recipe and my first mead. More on that later. Here's my story.

I bought these ingredients from the grocery store.

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I decided to make two batches with the same ingredients except that I would remove the pith from the orange for one of the gallons.

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To ensure that one orange wasn't tastier than the other, I split the two oranges in half and put one half of each orange into each gallon. In the picture above you can see the skin that I've peeled off with a vegetable peeler, and I'm removing the pith underneath.

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I didn't fill the carboys all the way up so that there would be plenty of head space.

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You can see some foaming here. I forgot to take the specific gravity when I pitched it, but I tested it a few days later before filling up the head space, and I was very surprised to find that the two jugs had very different gravities.

Original JAOM: 1.148
No Pith JAOM: 1.112

My guess is that I didn't measure the honey correctly and put a bunch more into the jug for the original JAOM.

I filled most of the head space with spring water.

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After 7 weeks, I moved the two carboys to my kitchen where I planned to bottle the mead. I moved them a week early so that any lees I kicked up would have a chance to settle.

As I was moving the two jugs, I learned something interesting. The first jug, I was careful to not slosh the contents around, but I did nothing to prevent rotating the jug as I turned corners in the house to get it from the fermentation room to the kitchen. Just in the few turns that I had to make, I noticed that the jug would turn, and some of the lees touching the sides of the jug would turn too, but most of the lees and liquid would stay still (conservation of angular momentum). The area where movement and non-movement met created turbulence, and that kicked up a bunch of the lees.

For the second carboy that I moved, I was careful to not rotate the jar as I moved through the house, instead twisting my body around the jug as I needed to turn. That jug kicked up almost no lees, which you can see the picture.

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I waited another week before bottling. On bottling day, I tested the gravities again.

Original JAOM 1.051 (~12.7% ABV)
No Pith JAOM 1.042 (~9.2% ABV)

Note: if my notes are correct, the first gravities were taken before I added spring water to fill up the head space, so the volume was different than when I took the final gravities, and likely they were different in each jug; therefore, I suspect that my estimated ABV values above are too high.

I had only bottled one brew before this, so I didn't have much experience. I also had a friend helping me before, so it was my first solo bottling, but I had no trouble. Each carboy filled a little over four 750ml wine bottles.

I was careful to not kick up lees while bottling the first gallon, so you can see the bottles are clearer. I mistakenly kicked up some in the second gallon.

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I drank the extras that night, and tried to taste the difference. One of my goals for these batches was to tell if the pith flavor was noticeable.

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Both of them tasted like sweet mead. There was a strong orange flavor (more like the cooked orange of orange chicken, rather than a fresh orange), and the spices were definitely present (though the clove, allspice, and cinnamon overpowered the nutmeg). There was also a pretty strong "hot alcohol" flavor.

The original JAOM, pictured above, was the one that had less lees in the bottling, and it tasted better than the bottle with no pith; however, the flavors were extremely similar. It was more of "off flavors" that made the difference, and I guess that it was the lees that were causing the difference. Neither of them had a specific orange pith flavor. That may change as it ages.

The other differences between the two batches had more to do with the process of making and cleaning. Whole orange slices are much easier to prepare, but I lost some of the orange juice when squeezing the slices into the carboy. I didn't lose any juice inserting the slices with the skin and pith removed. When cleaning, it was easier to get the orange remains out from the jug where the pith was removed, because the peel was a separate item that was easy to get a grip on, and the orange pulp was a little smaller and fit through the neck of the jug. I had to work harder to get the whole orange slices out of the jugs.

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I'm very interested to taste them again after they have aged a while. I now understand why so many people say you should age your mead before drinking it. I certainly enjoyed getting to finally taste the mead I had been working on, but it is not ready to share yet.
 
Ok I've gotten everything to make this Mead. But have a few questions.
Do you have to use all the spices ( nutmag, all spice, cinnamon, ect.) or can I just use the honey, water, yeast, raisins, and oranges?
Do I need to use a hydrometer?
And is there any pointers, tips, or hints that y'all may have for someone doing this recipe for the first time?
 
tommyg595 said:
Ok I've gotten everything to make this Mead. But have a few questions.
Do you have to use all the spices ( nutmag, all spice, cinnamon, ect.) or can I just use the honey, water, yeast, raisins, and oranges?
Do I need to use a hydrometer?
And is there any pointers, tips, or hints that y'all may have for someone doing this recipe for the first time?

Spices - no, you don't need any of them, but it will taste different.
Hydrometer - no, if you let it sit for a couple months it will most assuredly be finished.
Pointers - the only time people get in trouble with this is when they deviate from the recipe. Follow the recipe.
 
Ok. Will do. Getting ready to make it now. If I do use spices. Can I use all ground spices?
 
tommyg595 said:
Ok. Will do. Getting ready to make it now. If I do use spices. Can I use all ground spices?

Yes you can use ground spices. Just be careful to not overdo it, I wouldn't use more than 1/4 tsp of any one spice. You can always spice it up before bottling with some spice tea if you feel it is lacking, but there's no way to take spiced out.
 
Thank you. I've got all but the yeast in the carboy. I've shook it alot. Its really foamy. The honey I'm using is wildflower. Got it from a local farmer. He says he does nothing at all to the honey that would hurt it from making Mead. He says he makes it too. But didn't have any on hand to taste. So, I'm really hoping this turns out tasty.
 
Thank you Yooper for posting this recipe! I started my first batch yesterday. Easy peasy! (Thanks Joe!) I made some slight variations. We'll see how it turns out...
1) I used a large lemon instead of an orange.
2) I used coriander seed (1/2 tbsp. crushed) instead of cinnamon, clove, or allspice.
3) I used 3 lbs of honey instead of 3 1/2 lbs.
4) I used dry mead yeast. (Wyeast 4632)

I had read that sweet mead is like dessert wine, which I'm not a fan of, so I made these changes in hopes to get a refreshing and tart, dry mead. Thanks again!!

Thirst Bee Mead.jpg
 
Had to pop this; as I'm a moron and didn't keep track of dates real well, I can only say it was brewed AROUND Dec 5th and bottled AROUND March 21st. It is delicious and we have two other bottles kept aside for June 22nd for Shakespeare in the park and around Christmas. Going to be a long wait until Christmas...

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I put a batch of JAOM down on the 29th March, the bubbling has now slowed and basically stopped and the mead is no longer cloudy ( I don't know if this constitutes cleared? ). Without a hydrometer is there any way to say definitely whether I should bottle it now (only 5 weeks after starting) or is it worth waiting another 3-4 weeks until this 2 month period as per the original instructions?
 
On my brew table I keep an old piece of mail. The test is, can I read the text through the mead? If so, its clear enough to "bottle" or in my case, put in a 1.75 liter scotch bottle and put in the fridge before drinking over the next couple days.
 
Hello All question. I started a JOAM on March 9th. Checked it today and it is very clear and i can see thru it, but the friut has not dropped. Should i wait until it drops or is it good to bottle now. I think i should wait, but wanted to be sure.
Thanks
TIm
 
Has anyone done the recipe exactly but used a Red Start Premier Cuvee yeast instead of the baker's yeast?

I understand it may not be the ideal yeast for this but that's what I ended up using in the batch I put together this past weekend. I suppose we'll see how this turns out..

bump :D


I'm curious as to how much different the flavors will be since the baker's yeast is wayy different from the Premier Cuvee yeast. Hopefully my JAOM turns out tastey still.

:mug:
 
Racked off 5.5 gallons of this Meade made with a slightly modified recipe. I used safale s-05 instead of bread yeast. Fermentation temp was maintained at 62F and took about 2 months to finish fermenting (this turned out phenomenal). Calculated Initial gravity was 1.1389+ (my brix meter only goes to 32 and it was maxed out). Calculated final gravity 1.026 for an ABV of about 15.14.

Used 19lbs of honey for 6 gallons, the honey was raw honey harvested from a local barn by a beekeeper in our homebrew club. I can’t wait to taste this with some age on it because it is really good now.
 
How long before this is drinkable? Bottled today was nice and clear, but did not taste good. Seemed pithy. Hope this mellows with age.
 
Here is 6 of my 8 bottles of JOAM. The three on the right are with D47, cranberry, and the orange pith removed. The three on the left are the original recipe. Taste upon bottling was, to my taste buds, indistinguishable; hot alcohol and orange. got into the lees a little on the original recipe so I have one cloudy bottle. I did get into the lees with the D47 as well, but it did not cloud up the bottle I was filling. for that reason alone it may be worth it to use D47 for this recipe.

Something I found mildly interesting. The fruit dropped 2 months to the day from when I started the batch. Also, the fruit would rise and fall depending on the temperature in my house.

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Those are nice. I've been wondering about using d47 or 1116. Didn't know if I would have to change up anything to do it. Did the d47 taste better than the bread yeast.
 
Those are nice. I've been wondering about using d47 or 1116. Didn't know if I would have to change up anything to do it. Did the d47 taste better than the bread yeast.

nearly identical at bottling. bread yeast was just a tad sweeter.
 
I will be making this recipe tonight then leaving for vacation on Monday the 3rd. If I leave enough space should it be okay while I'm out of town or should I wait until I get home so I can keep an eye on it?
 
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Just shy of 2 months, all but one orange wedge and a few raisins have sank, mead is crystal clear. Probably bottle in the next week or so. First one, can't wait to try!
 
Just transferred my first batch. I waited about weeks longer since the fruit did not drop until yesterday. It taste great a little dryer than I thought it would be , but since I shorted the honey by about 1/2 pound that maybe the reason. My wife loved it. It's chilling now I think will be better cold. I have lot of rhubarb and my looking for a good recipe for that. Blueberry is done in 10 days can't wait to see how that turned out.
 
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