Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

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Gave this a try today..... Original, clementines, and a blueberry


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great job incorporating the honey tulsa. I usually dont bother, and let my yeasties devour their payload from the top down. I just started a batch of pear and a batch of pineapple over the weekend. I also have a batch of raspberry guava clarifying. Who knows how that is going to work out.

During Game of Thrones we were drinking the last batch of pineapple and pulling from the batch of cyser.
 
Just started my third 5 gallon batch of JOAM and a 5 gallon batch of a blueberry-vanilla variation. My last batch of JOAM I used 15# of honey and it turned out a little sweet for my taste. This time I did 13# of honey (a gallon) to 4 gallons water. For the blueberry - vanilla I went with 14# honey to 4 gallons H2O. Two packets of Fleishman's per batch. I'm excited. It smells heavenly. I used premium Madagascar vanilla beans for the latter batch, the aroma made my mouth water. Can't wait for July. This is a great recipie.
 
I've been telling a guy at work to get a batch going and he's done 3 beers now so he's feeling frisky. He grabbed a box of Fanta Orange syrup that expired from the cafeteria and he's fermenting that lol. Who knows what it will taste like but what the heck he's experimenting.
 
Bigbeavk said:
I've been telling a guy at work to get a batch going and he's done 3 beers now so he's feeling frisky. He grabbed a box of Fanta Orange syrup that expired from the cafeteria and he's fermenting that lol. Who knows what it will taste like but what the heck he's experimenting.
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I think I'd be afraid to drink it.
 
Eh, I'd try it, but I dont think with all the schlock in that stuff the yeast could take hold... Ive been wrong many times before though.
 
Just bottled my first batch of this tonight! I used a Cara Cara orange which has given this a very nice sweet orange taste. It's absolutely crystal clear! Followed the directions as stated and ha no problems. OG was 1.130 and it finished at 1.030. Enjoying the last bit that didn't make it into the bottles. I can get the alcohol mixed with orange and honey in the nose. He taste is orange up front with a nice lingering honey and raisin finish. The alcohol is hot, but not burning. Will give this a month or so in the bottle and taste it again. It's safe to say that I will be making this again! And since I live in the Sunshine State, oranges and honey are plentiful. Next t I may try his with mangoes!

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I just made a batch of this. However, as easy as it was I still managed to screw up. Probably tried to make it too quickly and wasn't paying attention. For starters I ended up putting only a little over 3 lbs of honey in it. I bought two two-lb jugs of honey and poured in 1 and 1/2 jugs, thinking that was 3 1/2. Duh!! To make matters worse, I forgot how much the honey and oranges would add to the volume of the beer so I diluted the honey in way too much water and it wouldn't fit in my gallon jug so I had to pour some of the honey/water mixture out.....Damn me. I might try this again because I don't want to wait 6 months to a year to realize it's not any good.
 
cincybrewer said:
I just made a batch of this. However, as easy as it was I still managed to screw up. Probably tried to make it too quickly and wasn't paying attention. For starters I ended up putting only a little over 3 lbs of honey in it. I bought two two-lb jugs of honey and poured in 1 and 1/2 jugs, thinking that was 3 1/2. Duh!! To make matters worse, I forgot how much the honey and oranges would add to the volume of the beer so I diluted the honey in way too much water and it wouldn't fit in my gallon jug so I had to pour some of the honey/water mixture out.....Damn me. I might try this again because I don't want to wait 6 months to a year to realize it's not any good.
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You didn't screw it up, you just made your own variant. Get a second jug and start a rotation. Just "screw up" something different next time.
 
Would less honey make a sweeter mead or dryer mead? Maybe that's a dumb question but I was thinking the more honey you add the more it would ferment out (like it would in a beer) and produce a dryer mead.

I have been looking around for another jug lately. I guess I could use a reused plastic jug, or a Carlos Rossi jug sounds like a good option.
 
More honey in this recipe would make it even sweeter. Less would maybe be a little drier just depends. You could use a different yeast and dry it out but then it wouldn't be the same as JAOM but that's up to you.
 
Okay cool. I was more worried about it being too sweet so the fact that I added less honey than I was supposed to might not be too bad of a thing. Thanks for the help.
 
Made my second batch yesterday - this time with Mandarin oranges and Craisins. The fermentation is rockin' and rollin'...can't wait to see how it turns out!
 
Question for yooper

I did my first 3 gallon batch about 6 weeks ago...spilled some honey so I got about 8 pounds in for nearly 3 gallons of water. Maybe because I used less honey then needed, but my carboy is now very clear and a couple raisins have fallen.

Would it be premature to bottle now? Since the liquid has cleared up according to your instructions. Thanks!
 
Unibrow said:
Question for yooper

I did my first 3 gallon batch about 6 weeks ago...spilled some honey so I got about 8 pounds in for nearly 3 gallons of water. Maybe because I used less honey then needed, but my carboy is now very clear and a couple raisins have fallen.

Would it be premature to bottle now? Since the liquid has cleared up according to your instructions. Thanks!
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I'm not yooper, but you should let it sit as per the instructions. Wait the full 2 months or until the rest of the fruit has fallen. You won't regret it.
 
I made a batch of JOAM per instructions about a month and a half ago. All of the oranges have fallen, most of the raisins, and it's golden/clear. I'm wondering if it's okay to bottle/rack or should I just wait the full 2 months.
 
nbot said:
I made a batch of JOAM per instructions about a month and a half ago. All of the oranges have fallen, most of the raisins, and it's golden/clear. I'm wondering if it's okay to bottle/rack or should I just wait the full 2 months.
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TWO POSTS before yours literally just asked that SAME QUESTION.


Yes. Wait.

Follow the recipe so you have a baseline, then after that......

Yea.

Am I going crazy here?
 
Ninemill your not going crazy, you are exactly right. All of you who brew this for the first time follow the instructions to a T so you have a base line. We all get the same feeling when we see it clear. We all want to mess with it, but it will turn out the best if you wait the full 2 months or longer.
 
Tnoodle said:
Ninemill your not going crazy, you are exactly right. All of you who brew this for the first time follow the instructions to a T so you have a base line. We all get the same feeling when we see it clear. We all want to mess with it, but it will turn out the best if you wait the full 2 months or longer.
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This is good advice for sure because yooper knows what's up. I suppose i was curious to know if the timetable changes because I scaled up the recipe to 3 gallons and used a bit less honey than needed. Mine is cleared after 6 weeks but I will just wait a few more weeks if that's what is recommended
 
Unibrow said:
This is good advice for sure because yooper knows what's up. I suppose i was curious to know if the timetable changes because I scaled up the recipe to 3 gallons and used a bit less honey than needed. Mine is cleared after 6 weeks but I will just wait a few more weeks if that's what is recommended
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I made a couple 5 gallon batches, and they took a little longer to clear than all of my 1 gallon batches. I normally start another batch after the first month so I have something else to look at and keep my attention off of the one that is aging.
 
I'm confused about something after reading the thread. Somebody asked about the mead spoiling after opening a bottle and somebody said yes it will begin to spoil if you open after bottling. How does this work? I was planning to simply siphon and rack it into a second jug to let it sit and clear a little longer and then simply bottle in Grolsch capped wine bottles. Is there some sort of special process I should be doing for this or is it as simple as it sounds? Somebody else mentioned filling the bottles with CO2. Is that really necessary?

Also if it does begin to spoil, how long does that take. I'm not a heavy drinker...

I apologize for being ignorant. I've been reading the thread, but this is my first home brewing attempt and I think some information is common knowledge and you're probably expected to be aware of it.

I'm planning to do three one gallon batches. One will follow the original post instructions exactly for one gallon and use Wyeast sweet mead yeast for the other two gallons. And maybe reduce the amount of cinnamon and cloves for one of those (half the amount) and add a little more honey (I like sweet drinks). Should I even bother with the bread yeast since I have the Wyeast sweet mead yeast already purchased?
 
Chuckabrewski said:
I dont have a clove yet should i wait to start this?
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If you're going for authenticity a la Joe, then yes. Since this has to sit for 2 months anyway, I'd wait til I could get up to the store for some cloves first, personally. They cost next to nothing, have about 50 or so in a bottle, and can make just as many JAOMs. It's worth the trip.
 
Looks a LOT prettier than my first effort. Hell... looks prettier than my current efforts... though they taste pretty awesome!
 
Here are the three carboys cooling right now before pitching the yeast. I removed the skin from all of the oranges and a decent bit of the pith.

Edit: I found out that apparently Wyeast Sweet Mead yeast is a huge pain. There was zero activity this morning from the two gallons I used it in. After reading about people having lots of problems with it, I said screw it and just repitched with bread yeast (Red Star brand) like the control carboy.

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One can only hope! If not, it would be as sad as seeing a peewee soccer tyke come home with a clean uniform.

Seriously, though, thats a pretty jug o'must.
 
Okay, so as recommended a few pages back, I've racked my still-cloudy-after-3-months batch to a clean container. Current gravity is 1.034, which seems alright. Thing is, now that the fruit's been taken out, there's about 4" of empty space above it in the carboy. Would it be alright to age it like that for a couple of months, or should I bottle now to avoid excess oxygenation?

edit: guess I spoke too soon, it's still fermenting away happily. That answers that, then...
 
Made a JAOM variant on leap day. Used a tangelo instead of orange and added 2 vanilla beans, everything else was same as recipe. It cleared pretty quickly, but it is still bubbling strong. Not as vigorously as it was, but steady. I just made a second variation based on a post about a sprite mead. I peeled 1 lemon, 3 limes, and 3 clementines then added the juice and pulp to the carboy. Zested all the peels and added the zest. Grated 2 ears of fresh ginger (about 1 heaping table spoon of very wet ginger pulp) and added that. 5 lbs of wildflower honey and red star yeast. Figured I'd use up all that bread yeast and play around with some JAOM variants. Looking at making one with gin botanicals in it as soon as I get the first one bottled.


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Ok another question....YOOPER!?!?!?!?

I checked my OG after 2 months, and remember I Messed up and had significantly less honey than needed...the OG was under 1.000 and it was not good

However, I added about 3 tbps of honey to a glass and it tasted immeasurably better after. So I may need to buy an additional amount of honey when bottling, what would I need for 3 gallons of honey-deficient mead? I'm thinking 4# pounds of orange blossom honey? Any thoughts?
 
inordeck said:
Made a JAOM variant on leap day. Used a tangelo instead of orange and added 2 vanilla beans, everything else was same as recipe. It cleared pretty quickly, but it is still bubbling strong. Not as vigorously as it was, but steady. I just made a second variation based on a post about a sprite mead. I peeled 1 lemon, 3 limes, and 3 clementines then added the juice and pulp to the carboy. Zested all the peels and added the zest. Grated 2 ears of fresh ginger (about 1 heaping table spoon of very wet ginger pulp) and added that. 5 lbs of wildflower honey and red star yeast. Figured I'd use up all that bread yeast and play around with some JAOM variants. Looking at making one with gin botanicals in it as soon as I get the first one bottled.


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Holy hell. Please post the results of this....sounds amazing
 
Unibrow said:
Holy hell. Please post the results of this....sounds amazing
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Just started it so theres a long way to go yet, but I definitely post updates. Certainly smells amazing and the yeasties are bubbling away.
 

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