Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

Coming up on week three, fermentation has slowed down to what I'd call a "normal" level. Cleaned out the airlock one last time just now, total of four times altogether. There was a single fruit fly in the airlock when I pulled it off, and I haven't seen any around the house at all. Considering the mead is in a closet far away from the kitchen or any other source of food, I figure it was just a brave soul who wandered to his death.

Smells amazing though, and I'm patiently waiting for the orange to drop so the raisins floating on top will fall.

I'm at week 3 also. I also had a few fruit flies hanging out at the top of the mead bar. None got drunk inside my airlock though. I need to clean it out again, hopefully the last time. I forgot to get some honey at the lhbs yesterday. So I may make a quick trip to the store in a little, maybe I'll just go after work tomorrow. Ya, I'm being lazy now after a busy day.

sweed said:

I'm at week 3 also. I also had a few fruit flies hanging out at the top of the mead bar. None got drunk inside my airlock though. I need to clean it out again, hopefully the last time. I forgot to get some honey at the lhbs yesterday. So I may make a quick trip to the store in a little, maybe I'll just go after work tomorrow. Ya, I'm being lazy now after a busy day.

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I just made my second JAOM yesterday and I have about a thousand fruit flies nearby but I don't think they'll be able to get in, especially during active fermentation. But man do I hate those little creatures.

Just finished bottling mine, tasted great! My first batch, will have another started soon.

Just wanted to post a thank you to DeadNuts Brewing for the blueberry vanilla variation idea. Just bottled a 5 gallon batch and man is it good! Just lovely. We loved it so much we will be starting another batch soon. Cheers!

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Just wanted to post a thank you to DeadNuts Brewing for the blueberry vanilla variation idea. Just bottled a 5 gallon batch and man is it good! Just lovely. We loved it so much we will be starting another batch soon. Cheers!


Hey glad you liked it! I have one bottle left myself. I need to make some more!

cincybrewer said:

Thanks, I may try it like this for my next one. I made one a few months ago but left the peel completely intact so it'd be good to compare. Though I thought about doing a slight variation of JAOM with maybe something like vanilla beans. If anyone has any suggestions of some good variations, please feel free to let me know but I can search these threads as well as I'm sure there are a number of posts with the same thoughts I'm having.

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I did a blueberry/vanilla bean variation (an idea I got from a poster on this forum) and just got it in the bottle. There was a little left over in the bucket so my husband and I had a taste and it turned out very good. Here's what I did:
15# Sue Bee honey (equals about 144 ounces)
4 gallons of store bought spring water
5.25# frozen blueberries (7-12 ounce packages)
7 vanilla beans halved and split
1pack of Fleischman's
This batch took 6 weeks to ferment. The fruit never fell and it didn't get crystal clear like the JAOM does but the yeast had definitely stopped so we bottled. Tested a bottle one week later and it was delicious. Though, next batch I think I will add more vanilla. Hope this helps. Happy meading!

Thanks salli. I ended up brewing a regular JAOM the other day because it turned out that I didn't have vanilla on hand like I had thought. But I may go with your recipe for my next one. Right now I have two JAOM's going and I have yet to try a mead, so maybe I should make sure I like it before making another.

I made another one Monday night. I was going to do orange and strawberries, but when I got home and cut into my 'orange', it was a grapefruit! haha
They blast those grapefruits with that gas or something that made them really orange, and they weren't big like grapfruits either. Anyways, it went crazy after an hour from pitching. The rubber stopper popped off, so I put it in the laundry room sink for the night. The next morning it was still foaming over, so I left it for the day. When I got back from the gym after work, 14 hours later, it stopped foaming, so I cleaned it up and put the airlock on it again. The opast few days its messy again, but not as bad as the first night. This will be an interesting one, and I am thinking about making another one, or a cider, or something, because these little guys are fun to make, and im sure will taste great!

Started my first JAOM last night. No oranges so I used 5 clemintines, based on the previous 81 pages I've read since last night I'm not too worried about that modification. Only thing I didn't add was cloves or all spice, didn't have any in the cabinet and the two stores I went to were out. Side note, I'm known for missing the obvious but the workers there must be in the same boat.

Woke up this morning, 12 hours laters, and my airlock was full of eventually soon to be heavenly juice. Cleaned her out. Four hours later I need to clean the airlock out again. Looks like I'll be perusing the forums for some help on alternatives that won't require me leaving my house as any of my tubing is too big for the corks I have.
When it comes to drinking, sips or big drinks? Any particular glass ware that complements a mead?

First pic is from 9PM last night, second is 9AM this morning prior to the cleaning. Yes, I sanitized everything like an OCD monk.

You just need a vessel with more headspace. If you don't have one, split the batch up into two jugs.

Just bottled mine last week that I made in the first week of April. Did 2.5 gallons and turned out great. And i was really happy that my bread yeast brought it down to a final gravity of 1.014

Joined the club today. Can't wait to try it in a few months

I've had my JOAM going for about 6 weeks now. Looks like it's progressing fine. Oranges still haven't dropped but I've got a couple weeks yet before I'll start to get anxious. Unfortunately though, I'm in the middle of a bit of a brutal heat wave. The last 4 days or so have been quite warm, and as a result the area my mead is being stored in is at least 30 degrees C (not sure what that is fahrenheit, at least 80-85 I would think) and I'm wondering if I should try to find somewhere cooler for it. Nowhere else in my house is much better, but I might be able to find some place for it. Either way, should I be worried? Thanks.

Just started my first gallon this evening, I used slightly more oranges and a little less peel it was bubbling away in mins!

What temp should this be left at?

newbrew77 said:

What temp should this be left at?

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I think the recipe says 79-80 degrees

punkrkgrl said:

I think the recipe says 79-80 degrees

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Oops 70- 80 lol

Second batch going, first turned out amazing.

Sometimes the fruit will not drop so when it clears just bottle it up.

Is it possible the change this easily to a apple cinnamon cyser or just a blueberry mead? I am not the biggest fan of oranges.

rs4life said:

Is it possible the change this easily to a apple cinnamon cyser or just a blueberry mead? I am not the biggest fan of oranges.

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I have read about a few people doing this. I think that the oranges provide some acid to help offset the sweetness. But blueberry would probably be pretty good.

Add about a lb of blueberries and a tsp of vanilla extract per gallon. I did this and it turned out great!

I started a batch on 2/18 and bottled it this weekend, so far out of 8 testers I've got 3 +1's and 5 "ok's"... since one of the +1's was from a guy that runs a winery with several award winning products and 30 years of wine making experiance I'd say it turned out pretty good...

JAOM will be my first adventure into the world of mead. Started a 1 gal batch today. Now it's time to read this entire thread.

Made my first one gallon batch today. Only problem I've had is now that's it's been going a few hours some of the honey seems to have settled at the bottom

Itsott said:

Made my first one gallon batch today. Only problem I've had is now that's it's been going a few hours some of the honey seems to have settled at the bottom

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Just leave it, the yeast will still eat it.

Has anyone heard of the "True" orange?
They are little packets of 100% crystallized orange. Their more popular ones are lemon or line.
I was wondering if you guys think I could substitute the packet for the oranges. Each packet = an orange wedge.

I am curious if this recipe will work with a dry white wine yeast?
I have a packet of DYW84. The last mead I used it with came out very astringent. Does anybody have any experience with dryer yeasts in JAO?

BCNbeer said:

I just made a 2.5 gallon batch of this (in an old Mr. Beer). I kept everything the same, just upped the honey to 5 lbs. Has anyone been able to carb it, or is the bread yeast a little too weak at the end of fermentation?

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how did this turn out using Mr. Beer since there's no airlock, but vents? I have one sitting around unused.

My batches all carbed fine.

BigKahuna said:

EVER!
If your mead is 5 years old, and it still sucks like a $1,000 hooker.... The you can dump part of it! Until then.... Dude! RDWHAHB!

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Nearly pissed myself reading this at work. Lots of entertaining people on these forums. My coworkers are concerned about my sudden outbursts of laughter.

Can someone clarify the honey dissolving process? Are you placing the container of honey in a warm bath to loosen or actually pouring honey into warm water? Newbie here. Also, do you rack this to a secondary or bottle from the primary after two months? Any take on using two Clementines instead of one orange for different sweetness and less off tastes from the white pith? Small slices would be easier to get out of the one gallon jug too if I can't use Mr. Beer due to lack of airlock. Thanks.

I add hot water to honey jug and shake, pour into fermenter, add more hot water and SHAKE!
JOAM, no secondary needed! MAOM, may be worth the time.

BigKahuna said:

I add hot water to honey jug and shake, pour into fermenter, add more hot water and SHAKE!
JOAM, no secondary needed! MAOM, may be worth the time.

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MAOM posts said it was less orangy and more dry. The sweet, orange nature is what appealed to me and no boiling. Was thinking of trying two clementines instead of one orange too. They're a little sweeter. Though a brewing yeast in lieu of bakers was tempting. My first mead so I may try it exactly as is or just use Clementines at most. Is this closer to cider or white wine?

Nope. It's JOAM. It's a beast of its own. Try it, change what u don't like! It's cheap, easy and fast!

BigKahuna said:

Nope. It's JOAM. It's a beast of its own. Try it, change what u don't like! It's cheap, easy and fast!

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Is it more like cider or wine ?

Vox said:

Is it more like cider or wine ?

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Wine, if you twist my arm. But It's like cheap orange mead than anything!

Hmm. Maybe this isn't up my alley then.

Vox said:

Hmm. Maybe this isn't up my alley then.

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Maybe not! But for what it costs, the potential that you'll like it, and the opportunity to learn something.... How do you pass it up?