Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

Just got this in the fermentor. Excited for it to workout I'm using this as a wedding present for a fellow homebrewer. Used a sweet mead yeast I had on hand just to roll the dice see what happens. Starting OG was a tad over 1.105.

mine was considerably darker. Should be delicious

mines alot darker then that picture respresents haha damn flash was on.

Well, I guess I'll add my attempt to the longest running thread ever! I followed the exact recipe on page 1. I figured I'd post some reference pictures of the activity I had in the first 24 hours. (~75 degrees)

0 hour:


2 hours:


12 hours:


24 hours:




bubbles video:
http://youtu.be/-3I3-DFBTI0

Well here we are at batch 3 & 4

Batch 3:
2.5lbs clover honey
1lb orange blossom honey
D-47 yeast
1/2 of a navel orange
1 granny smith apple
2 cinnamon sticks
2 vanilla beans
1 clove
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Batch 4:
2.5lbs clover honey
1lb orange blossom honey
D-47 yeast
1/2 of a navel orange
generous handful of dried cranberries
2 vanilla beans
1 cinnamon stick
1 clove
1 heaping cup of blueberries

Did you not dissolve the honey in water first? Will that make a difference in the grand scheme of things? Just wonder since I've only ever made 1 gal of mead myself.

I personally never dissolve the honey. For me first step in fermentation is bubbles, second is seeing the yeast eat the honey down to the bottom of the fermenter little by little. And last step is being able to see it clear.

Just avoid okra and the world is your oyster.

Cool, thanks for the info...

(and okra is nasty...lol)

CooperBrew said:

Did you not dissolve the honey in water first? Will that make a difference in the grand scheme of things? Just wonder since I've only ever made 1 gal of mead myself.

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I've seen a lot of people in this thread have success without dissolving the honey so I figured I'd give it a shot. I ran hot water over the bottles the honey was in the entire time I cutting and washing the fruit, added the honey first, then water, shook the piss out of it. I'd say it is partially dissolved. we'll see how it works out in a few months. hoping for success because it's much less of a pain than dissolving.

DwaynieAD said:

I've seen a lot of people in this thread have success without dissolving the honey so I figured I'd give it a shot. I ran hot water over the bottles the honey was in the entire time I cutting and washing the fruit, added the honey first, then water, shook the piss out of it. I'd say it is partially dissolved. we'll see how it works out in a few months. hoping for success because it's much less of a pain than dissolving.

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My signature says it all. It really is a near-foolproof recipe. Not to say you are a fool or need proofing, but had you been you'd still be ok.

CreamyGoodness said:

My signature says it all. It really is a near-foolproof recipe. Not to say you are a fool or need proofing, but had you been you'd still be ok.

You are more likely to have a threesome with members of the Japanese women's curling team whilst spinning a plate on your head than you are likely to screw up a batch of JAOM.

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Just atttempted/bottled my JAOM and kicked up some of the yeast after having some trouble with the siphon. You guys were right about it possibly being messy. Anyway got one bottle and recapped the growler to wait for the yeast to fall out of suspension again. Got a little from the rest of the siphon for a test as well and........ it'll need some time to age. A bit on the spicy side at the moment. Nice honey aroma though.

Sorry, camera phone pic is not the greatest.

CreamyGoodness said:

My signature says it all. It really is a near-foolproof recipe. Not to say you are a fool or need proofing, but had you been you'd still be ok.

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Love it.

A month in and mine is looking pretty good. It's a lot clearer than it looks in the picture and the yeast is pretty thick at the bottom.

2 months and a week after putting everything together, I have my first gallon batch of JAOM bottled! Only things I did different from the recipe are that I used Red Star Premier Cuvee yeast and did not add any cloves or spices except for the cinnomon stick. I think this is quite drinkable and tastey this young! I did note a semi strong orange pitch taste but I can tell that a few more months will have this tasting awesome. Very happy with the results so far. Big thanks to this forum for posting this recipe.

Cell phone pic:

I just tried my JAOM for the first time after sitting in the carboys for 5 months. This stuff is incredible! My wife loves it, so that's a good thing. I will be making a 5 gallon batch soon. Thanks for the recipe!

HotRodJosh said:

I just tried my JAOM for the first time after sitting in the carboys for 5 months. This stuff is incredible! My wife loves it, so that's a good thing. I will be making a 5 gallon batch soon. Thanks for the recipe!

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Nice! For a real treat, try a glass with a squirt of Hershey's Chocolate syrup. Mix well and enjoy!

So... just how smelly is it supposed to get in the first few days?

I kind of want to help a fellow board member out and tell him that his excessively and overwhelmingly *stinking* mead is just fine and normal. But as *i*'ve never made the stuff I don't have any experience as to what is or isn't normal.

So...

Any great stories as to just how badly and how much stinking to high heaven this can get? Anyone ever seen any buzzards staggering around after being knocked off the ****-wagon by the smell? ... Or should my fellow poster start practicing his japanese curling small-talk for his inevetiable threesome coming up?

8)

CreamyGoodness said:

My signature says it all. It really is a near-foolproof recipe. Not to say you are a fool or need proofing, but had you been you'd still be ok.

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5 days after not mixing the honey it was all gone from the bottom of the carboys. just in case anyone else in the thread was wondering.

Thinking of trying 1 gallon batch Grapefruit Mead here’s what I am thinking Using Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead as a base

3 1/2 lbs or 4Ibs. honey
1 Ruby Red Grapefruit (not sure if I will leave rind on)
1 small handful of raisins
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove
1 pouch of sweet mead yeast or bread yeast not sure yet ( I have the sweet mead yeast and have never used it)

What do you think, is it going to be sweet or dry? Not sure if the honey will take the tartness away from the grapefruit

Personally not only would I leave off the grapefruit pith but I would also "skin" the segments as well. The segment membranes are so much more bitter and tough than with an orange. I think if you do this the sweet mead yeast has a chance of making the mead finish sweet... if you leave the rind and skins on my bet would be on dry as a bone.

I would use the zest (either grate it off or use a peeler) and just juice the rest of the grapefruit.

I have a question and I'm sure it has been answered but reading through 98 pages doesn't sound fun... After a few months does it need sorbate and kmeta to stabilize or can t be bottle directly from primary?

GeorgiaMead said:

I have a question and I'm sure it has been answered but reading through 98 pages doesn't sound fun... After a few months does it need sorbate and kmeta to stabilize or can t be bottle directly from primary?

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I've never used sorbate or kmeta. With that said, I drink this stuff too quickly to bottle-age, so take what I say with a grain of salt

GeorgiaMead said:

I have a question and I'm sure it has been answered but reading through 98 pages doesn't sound fun... After a few months does it need sorbate and kmeta to stabilize or can t be bottle directly from primary?

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I bottled mine directly from the primary just like the recipe calls for. After a minimum of sitting for 2 months with nothing added during that time, i'm not too worried about renewed fermentation or bottle bombs if that's your concern. If you wanted to backsweeten, i'd stabilize it before adding anything else. But why mess with a fool proof recipe?

I need to bottle mine. It's going on three months for me.

I made my first batch of this back in January and just tried it finally after about 3 months in the bottle. Not bad. I've only had two commercially available meads, but this was better than one of them. Not as good as the other (the polish Apis Jadwiga mead).

Started a batch of this last night, the fermentation on this is crazy. Started in 45min and this morning the airlock was full of the brew even. Is it because bread yeast has been developed more for CO2 production over alcohol? Makes me want to use bread yeast in more things lol.

Same with me, made my first batch of this today and within an hour had some good activity. Can't wait to try it!

Just started a batch of JOAM myself and had the level just low enough it didn't foul the airlock but I put the jugs in the bathtub the first day or two anyway just in case. Can't wait to try it.

Mine was started May 31 and the fruit is starting to drop. This raisin decided to hangout in the middle though.

This is my Joe's but with Lemon rather than Orange. Started this on June 1st. It fermented like a beast for 3 weeks and then it went crystal clear. Last week all of the fruit dropped. Now I'm just waiting for 8/1 and I'll rack and bottle.

I've never made a Lemon version. Not sure what to expect.

Hi all
Im in the uk.
What other yeast can I use?

Tia

Fleischman's is just regular bread yeast here in the US. Is there a regular yeast most home bakers use for bread in the UK? Maybe Fatbloke can help you out with a recommendation.

jak1010 said:

I've never made a Lemon version. Not sure what to expect.

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I started my very first JOAM (or mead for that matter) on 5/2/13. I too used lemon (and coriander seeds instead of cinnamon/clove). The first taste a couple days ago was good, but very citric! I am thinking the next time I'll try a lime.

Just realized that i've had my first JAOM batch bottled for a little while now and havn't started another batch yet. I need to fix this...

My first batch just crossed over a year and I still have 6 bottles taped shut in a box that I am just letting sit for a while.

I recently bottled my orange raspberry batch and it tastes awesome. Still need to bottle my batch with blackberries and cinnamon.

I started a couple new batches this week, one with orange cherries cinnamon and no raisins, the other with orange raspberry pineapple and cinnamon. I think I will make another orange batch specifically for topping off any other batches after racking them.

This recipe is too easy not to have a few sitting around bulk aging. It does improve with time.

BuddyWeiser said:

I started my very first JOAM (or mead for that matter) on 5/2/13. I too used lemon (and coriander seeds instead of cinnamon/clove). The first taste a couple days ago was good, but very citric! I am thinking the next time I'll try a lime.

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I've done a few fruit variations but never lemon or lime. Sounds interesting though.

my first ever mead of which i used this recipe is still slowly bubbling after a month and a half, looking good to me!!!,

jak1010 said:

This is my Joe's but with Lemon rather than Orange. Started this on June 1st. It fermented like a beast for 3 weeks and then it went crystal clear. Last week all of the fruit dropped. Now I'm just waiting for 8/1 and I'll rack and bottle.

I've never made a Lemon version. Not sure what to expect.

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I did a lemon along an orange batch. I think I used two lemons. I bottled it in June but left enough out for others to try. It is very good!

My lemon batch actually cleared faster than the orange.

What's odd is that I made a batch with same spices, etc..... But- no fruit. It's still a little cloudy....