How should JAOM look?

A lot of people begin their mead making careers with JOAM and a lot of others still have questions about it. I've been making JAOM on and off for a few years and I still make a gallon sized batch every six months or so for those who absolutely love it (The Missus included).

There are also a lot of questions about when to bottle. I began this mead 10 weeks ago, using two small Clementine oranges and local alfalfa honey. This is about as good an example of what a typical JAOM should look like at bottling time as any. No, not all the fruit has dropped - that isn't important. What is important is that it's clear.

This will go into the bottle this weekend and be ready for consumption in another 6 weeks or so. Total time from pitching the yeast to consumption: about 3 months. I still have 3-4 bottles left from the last batch so these likely won't be consumed for 6 months or so and will be even better for the extra aging.

At what temperature did you ferment this batch? In bottling after 10 weeks, do you expect additional sediment/lees after bottling?

I do all my wine and mead making in my finished basement, which is heated. However the temperature is about 67 during the winter.

After it clears to this degree there won't be many lees dropping in the bottle but you can't help but suck up a few "floaties" like orange bits and so forth. The first few bottles are crystal clear but if you really want to get all you can then the last bottle is bound to be a little cloudy and have more floaties in it. This will all drop out if the bottle is kept upright.

This would be a good sticky.

Did you use bread yeast in this batch?

Mine was started on 12-27. It looks like it's clearing from the top down. It's not clear like in the OP, just more clear at the top of the jug. That just seems odd to me. Everything is still floating, btw.

haven't made JOAM, beerrunner, but I know with my country wines, very typical to see clear from top down. The yeast/particulates are slowly settling as the fermentation finishes, etc. Don't worry about it.

Liquisky said:

Did you use bread yeast in this batch?

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Yes, this is the only way I make this particular mead. It's a successful recipe and I don't change it in any way, except to use different kinds of oranges, tangerines, or pineapple. It is, however, the only mead I make using bread yeast.

how do folks usually bottle 1-gallon batches? Do you rack to a typical bottling bucket, or can you put the bottle wand on a short racking cane?

short racking cane.

I just bottled a 1gal batch of Bochet Mead. I used a short Auto-Siphon with bottle filler. I got four 750ml Champagne bottles and one 12oz beer bottle. Since there's so little of it, I'll probably wait 2 years to try it. I used Pasteur Champagne yeast.

Its obvious Summer you know what your doing but let me ask you, What is your favorite recipe? Whats turned out the best for you?

ruger12pk said:

What is your favorite recipe? Whats turned out the best for you?

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I almost hate to admit it since they're so easy and basic, but I really like the quick meads made with any number of fruit juices and concentrates. I prefer D-47 yeast with an OG of about 1.090 allowed to ferment to dryness and then backsweetened before bulk aging. I have to say they're also some of the most popular and the bottles that get emptied first.

People have their own preferences but I like a sweet potato mead I made late last winter, a saffron mead made about the same time, a caramel apple mead made 2-3 years ago, and various cysers made over the years. I'm liking the ginger spiced braggots quite a bit as well. My most successful was a Chablis pyment made from Alexander's concentrate about 3 - 4 years ago that took a gold medal at the International Mead Festival in Denver last year.

Amazing work! Well those are lofty goals for me but I like the sound of the saffron mead...but that has GOT to be expensive to make...recipe?

Expense was my first thought too. Nothing like using most expensive spice in the world for a metheglyn.

etp777 said:

Expense was my first thought too. Nothing like using most expensive spice in the world for a metheglyn.

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Without a doubt! So the obvious question was How did it turn out in the end? Im assuming that it would be the one mead that would need the most aging to mature due to the strength of Saffron....Even if you just used a pinch thats pricey stuff!

Found one recipe calling for 5 grams for 6 gallons. Guy paid $7/gram (197/oz), so works out to 35 just for the saffron.

ruger12pk said:

I like the sound of the saffron mead...but that has GOT to be expensive to make...recipe?

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Mead is a labor of love for me and I don't worry too much about the expense. I have a friend who owns the local brewery and we discuss our trips to the International Mead Festival and the tastings of over 100 commercial meads but also tasting a lot of amatuer mead while we're there. We agreed that some of the best meads are made by amatuers, and simply because amateurs don't have to worry about a mead paying for itself. We can choose to use expensive ingrdients and to use 4-5 pounds of fruit per gallon of mead because we don't have to make a profit on the results.

As for the recipe, I'm currently wasting time at work. I'll try to dig up the recipe later.

Well you know, that aint half bad is it! I wonder how it would taste if you put a pinch into the orange cinnamon mead recipe instead of the clove and allspice....hmmmmmm

ruger12pk said:

...but that has GOT to be expensive to make...recipe?

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I just posted the recipe in the mead recipes section.

what brand of bread yeast? Mine didn't drop out as nicely. It was clear but the oranges remaine in a stringy yeast stew.

Thanks SS. By weird co-incidence I was looking for a saffron mead recipe just today and saw the prices for Indian and Spanish saffron at Penzeys. Almost had a coronary! Just as well you call for a gram of saffron, and no more.

How did the saffron mead turn out tastewise? It certainly passes in the looks department.

I think it turned out great. It has a very exotic spicy flavor and just off-dry. It's difficult to describe the taste of saffron, which came out in quite a pronounced way, even though it was just a gram. The trick is to roast it lightly in a hot, unoiled frying pan. Have you ever had the Mahatma brand yellow rice? It's flavored with saffron and would give you an idea of the flavor.

Baumgartner said:

what brand of bread yeast? Mine didn't drop out as nicely. It was clear but the oranges remaine in a stringy yeast stew.

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Paciencia, Grasshopper. It will drop clear eventually. I've used both Fleishman's and Red Star but generally Fleishman's (that's what was used for this one). They both work. If the fruit is still floating after the mead clears and there are dusty lees all over everything, just tap the sides of the carboy and everything will fall to the bottom. Don't shake it whatever you do or it'll result in everything going cloudy again.

I can't stress enough how important it is to follow the original recipe if you want to be assured of a consistent result. Yes, other methods may work but the original is guaranteed to work, as advertised, every time.

summersolstice said:

Have you ever had the Mahatma brand yellow rice?

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Yup. Numerous big bags of it! I love the flavor and fragrance of saffron. Pity it's so expensive.

Thanks again. This is a must-make mead for me!

I made a gallon batch of this on 11/17/08 and all the oranges, raisins, and serious lees is still on top. Will this stuff fall? It is crystal clear below the junk floating.

I used bread yeast and all. After seeing this picture, I am thinking I will be dipping through this top layer of crud. But then again, it may just need a little longer to fall out.


*EDIT- just read Summer's response... i only read through the first page.

summersolstice said:

Yes, this is the only way I make this particular mead. It's a successful recipe and I don't change it in any way, except to use different kinds of oranges, tangerines, or pineapple. It is, however, the only mead I make using bread yeast.

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SS, are these the only other types of fruit that you have done in the JOAM? I want to do another quick mead soon, and was thinking about trying a different type of fruit. How was the pineapple? That sounds like it could have been very good.

Ryan said:

SS, are these the only other types of fruit that you have done in the JOAM? I want to do another quick mead soon, and was thinking about trying a different type of fruit. How was the pineapple? That sounds like it could have been very good.

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Pineapple does work well with this mead but I leave in the raisins and leave out the spices. A few years ago, as an experiment, I tried using other fruit, again leaving in the raisins and omitting the spices, and they really turned out quite well. Photos below. The cherry was made with canned tart Oregon cherries.

Talk about Mcgyver Style Mead Brewing! I would never have thought of using a washer/dryer to both warm and agitate my mead.....Only thing I ever agitated to distraction was my last girlfriend....she didnt appreciate mead..so off ya go little girl!!! LOL

summersolstice said:

This will go into the bottle this weekend and be ready for consumption in another 6 weeks or so. Total time from pitching the yeast to consumption: about 3 months. I still have 3-4 bottles left from the last batch so these likely won't be consumed for 6 months or so and will be even better for the extra aging.

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I'm still waiting on mine started on 11/27 to clarify. It's quite cloudy yet. The orange wedges and even many of the raisins are still floating too. Anyway, what does the 6 weeks+ in the bottle do for you with Joe's? The recipe I printed off didn't mention that part so I was hoping it would be ready to drink before too much longer.

Once it's finally clear I'll have to figure out the bottling. I've got a siphon and a racking rod. I've seen other threads mention bottling meads with a loose cap so excess gas can escape. While most of what I've heard about brewing is with beer, I'd not heard of that before with bottle conditioned brews.

All meads/wines continue to develop over time patrick767. Long molecules break downn into smalleer ones, short molecules attach together into longer ones, etc. More generally, ahrshnenss smooths, complexity develops, etc.

etp777 said:

All meads/wines continue to develop over time patrick767. Long molecules break downn into smalleer ones, short molecules attach together into longer ones, etc. More generally, ahrshnenss smooths, complexity develops, etc.

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Yep, I was kind of wondering more specifically what it does for JAOM and if it's decent right after bottling or if it really needs the aging time. Now I just read in another thread (Malkore's not so AOM) that one of the problems with JAOM is some bitterness possibly from the whites of the orange peel that age helps.