Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

Yakima 728
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Thanks for the tips all, I miscalculated a bit and ended up with more must than I planned, so I split the batch up into two "carboys". Each of them contains about 5.5L and I have, in total, 2.5KG honey in there.

I admit that I made a couple of mistakes, mostly related to temperature - I had boiled the water beforehand but it didn't cool down enough, even with the addition of the honey and OJ, and I had proofed the yeast with a bit of the must and it was going crazy, so I decided to pitch it and keep it outside for the time being.

Anyway, that's all over and I am going to buy a thermometer today and a hydrometer soon, here comes my question - there's only a thin layer of bubbles/krausen on top, maybe 1/8" (1cm). Is this normal? Should I expect more krausen? Keep in mind that the surface area of the water is pretty large since I have big jugs I'm fermenting in.

Another question - I had seen multiple times that the raisins were optional and/or not needed. Are they yeast nutrients after all? I have some yeast nutrients coming in next week, can I add them in then?
 
revjester said:
Two months is more of a guideline. Several things will affect how long it takes to ferment. The temperature, the type of flower the bees gathered the honey from, type of yeast, etc. Remember you are waiting for it to clear and the bubbles to stop, not just timing it with a calendar. .
Click to expand...

+1
Hard lesson for new brewers to learn, but the wine/mead/cider/beer doesn't care at all what the calendar says. This is the exact reason why I suspect my first two wines were almost undrinkable.

hausbrauer said:
Thanks for the tips all, I miscalculated a bit and ended up with more must than I planned, so I split the batch up into two "carboys". Each of them contains about 5.5L and I have, in total, 2.5KG honey in there.

I admit that I made a couple of mistakes, mostly related to temperature - I had boiled the water beforehand but it didn't cool down enough, even with the addition of the honey and OJ, and I had proofed the yeast with a bit of the must and it was going crazy, so I decided to pitch it and keep it outside for the time being.

Anyway, that's all over and I am going to buy a thermometer today and a hydrometer soon, here comes my question - there's only a thin layer of bubbles/krausen on top, maybe 1/8" (1cm). Is this normal? Should I expect more krausen? Keep in mind that the surface area of the water is pretty large since I have big jugs I'm fermenting in.

Another question - I had seen multiple times that the raisins were optional and/or not needed. Are they yeast nutrients after all? I have some yeast nutrients coming in next week, can I add them in then?
Click to expand...

Your process sounds pretty good. My only concern is adding the yeast when the water was still pretty hot, but if you've got some activity it's probably OK. Bread yeast can take more heat than ale yeast.

I wouldn't worry about there being minimal activity either. There are a lot of people who posted here that have an insane amount of foaming/airlock activity after only a few hours, but I've never been so lucky either. And I've still gotten great mead :mug:

Someone else can probably answer better but I think you should be able to add your nutrient when it comes in, since it won't be anywhere near done in a week.
My understanding was raisins helped to add body more than anything else, but if you're going for a thinner (?) drink you'll probably be fine.
 
Ok, someone tell me I'm lazy for not scrolling through 100+ pages for this, I know. But I'm planning on making a 5gallon batch of this and was wondering on scaling issues for the clove and cinnamon sticks. Any advice wwould be appreciated.

And has anyone dry hopped this recipe?


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Jupapabear said:
Ok, someone tell me I'm lazy for not scrolling through 100+ pages for this, I know. But I'm planning on making a 5gallon batch of this and was wondering on scaling issues for the clove and cinnamon sticks. Any advice wwould be appreciated.
Click to expand...

From what I remember reading, people recommend maybe 2 cloves and 2 cinnamon sticks for a 5 gallon batch. But you don't want to multiply these ingredients by five just because it's 5 gallons - they'll be way too potent.
 
Thanks. I assume the honey and raisins sound be proportionate.

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One more question - it's been a few days, and I've been reading about some people aerating their must regularly, at least in the beginning stages. What's the verdict on that? How do you prevent infections when you aerate the wort and expose it to the outside air? And should I only aerate if I am adding yeast nutrients?
 
JAOM, leave it alone because this mead is about how simple and easy it is to make and how the important thing is to ignore it and leave it alone. You prevent infections by sterilizing anything you will be stirring with. You should not be adding yeast nutrients to JAOM.
Ya, people do aerate but more to get the CO2 out than to put the oxygen in. The verdict is that CO2 is bad for both us and yeast and it is better to remove it during the fermenting. If you were making some other mead you could aerate several times a day and make sure to before adding the nutrients, if you are doing a staggered nutrient addition.
 
Well, I opened up my fermenters today and saw that there was absolutely no krausen on the surface. What I had thought was krausen was just bits of orange (i feel so foolish).

Now, I did put my ear to it and heard some carbonation-type noise, like bubbles escaping, so the yeast may still be working. Luckily, it isn't infected in any case. I won't have my hydrometer until next week so I can't take SG readings until then.

My question - should I re-pitch, either with US-05 or bread yeast, to be on the safe side?
 
From reading the posts, you're only a few days in right? I'd let it ride and watch the airlock. If you have activity and then wait till it clears, you'll be fine.
 
I thought raisons were like nutrient giving nitrogen for the yeast. Also you just need to aerate in the beginning. the bread yeast-as long as its fairly fresh will take care of the job the rest of the way. And the raisons are suppose to help supply the yeasts nutrients from what I know.
 
Bread yeast=Saccharomyces cerevisiae, beer yeast=Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Basically different strains selected for different characteristics like an American ale yeast strain and a British ale yeast strain are selected. They have the ability to do the job of the other, they just aren't as good at it as the other.

Personally, I would aerate and add more nutrients. Also you can use any ale strain you want to if it floats your boat.
 
Ok, I'm going to pitch more baking yeast instead of the US-05, and add crushed raisins. If that doesn't get it going, nothing will. :)
 
I started 2 batches this past friday, one orange and one blackberry. the blackberry is going full blast and the the orange is picking up steam. i can't wait.
 
CreamyGoodness said:
Now, if you want to just let it ride and wait for the fruit to fall, you're certainly within your rights to do so.
Click to expand...

Just checked again, and the orange slices have fallen. Just a few raisins still floating (and a lot of yeast rubbish around the top -- stuck to the glass I think).

So that probably happened sometime in the last week or so, so 3 months or thereabouts for mine to fall.

I will keep waiting for the final raisins.
 
Picked up a new 1 gallon fermenter yesterday, getting ready to try this one as my intro to meads!

Is kirklands Pure Honey from Costco ok Or will I be disappointed by this shortcut vs the orange blossom honey?
 
I used Walmart Honey and was not disappointed in the least bit. Just follow the instructions to the letter; and you will be thrilled with the results.

doing a second batch this weekend, with Raspberries and other spices
 
Awesome! Costco has 5# containers of honey for $13.77, can't beat that. Also - one last question - in the instructions, when you combine the honey with "warm water" - like warm water from the faucet, or boiling water or what? I know, I know, this is a recipe that probably shouldn't be over thought, but I can't help myself from asking...
 
zhubbell said:
Awesome! Costco has 5# containers of honey for $13.77, can't beat that. Also - one last question - in the instructions, when you combine the honey with "warm water" - like warm water from the faucet, or boiling water or what? I know, I know, this is a recipe that probably shouldn't be over thought, but I can't help myself from asking...
Click to expand...

Just warm enough to incorporate the honey. If you added cold water there would be a huge honey cake at the bottom of the fermenter (it'll work well enough that way though). You could probably use boiling water, but make sure to hold off on adding the other ingredients (especially the yeast) until it cools down a bit.
 
I boil my water for 15 minutes to make sure it's sanitary and then add my honey when it's around 90F so I don't lose anything aroma wise from the honey.

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zhubbell said:
Awesome! Costco has 5# containers of honey for $13.77, can't beat that. Also - one last question - in the instructions, when you combine the honey with "warm water" - like warm water from the faucet, or boiling water or what? I know, I know, this is a recipe that probably shouldn't be over thought, but I can't help myself from asking...
Click to expand...

I just warmed the honey so it was easy to pour. All of the honey came out of the bottle. I just used room temperature water.
 
zhubbell said:
Awesome! Costco has 5# containers of honey for $13.77, can't beat that. Also - one last question - in the instructions, when you combine the honey with "warm water" - like warm water from the faucet, or boiling water or what? I know, I know, this is a recipe that probably shouldn't be over thought, but I can't help myself from asking...
Click to expand...

I use store bought spring water for my Meade, as tap water is not sterile and ours here is a bit hard. I warm the honey and some of the water together so that it will incorporate easily, and also to make it easier to get into the carboy. (I make mine in 5gallon batches.) Hope this helps. Good luck!:)
 
Any reason you use spring water instea of distilled? I have been using RO/DI water for my brewing thus far...
 
Spring water will have some minerals. Are you adding back any mineral content into your RO water?

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No - I'm guessing from the sound of your comment that I should be using spring water?
 
Try a batch that you know well with only the water change and see if it makes a difference to you.

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ImageUploadedByHome Brew1391437070.430993.jpg
Just waiting for my batch to cool so I can pitch the yeast, and start the waiting game!
I had just ran out of cloves, so I used 2 all spice berries and a tsp of corriander instead.
Also used 2 Minneolas instead of Orange - zested them, & cut the peel away pretty aggressively so I probably only used about 75% of each one.
 
im about ready to start my first batch of jaom. are all bread yeasts the same?

I went to my local HEB/Walmart and they dont carry fleichsmans yeast , all i could find is a bread yeast of another brand local to my country (Mexico) , owned by Lesaffre.

would that be ok?
 
Waramir said:
im about ready to start my first batch of jaom. are all bread yeasts the same?

I went to my local HEB/Walmart and they dont carry fleichsmans yeast , all i could find is a bread yeast of another brand local to my country (Mexico) , owned by Lesaffre.

would that be ok?
Click to expand...

As long as it's not instant or rapid rise yeast, you should be good.

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I think you'll be fine. With all the nutrients in this brew, as long as the yeast is viable, you're sure to get alcohol. With all the flavor and spices, any effect on taste should be minimal.
 
you might be OK. Our supermarket has both versions of fleischmanns; one labeled as rapid rise on the front and the other (what I use) does not say anything other than bread yeast on the front. The recipes intent is probably noting rapid rise and instant rise being the same. I do agree that dry yeast of any kind can be viewed as "instant" once re-hydrated (in water, wort or must).
 
I'm curious now to hear how the fast acting yeast performs since I haven't found anyone that had used it so far.

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ImageUploadedByHome Brew1391528793.031174.jpg
This, and rapid rise were the only two yeasts the grocery I went to had so I used this one - pitched about 20 hours ago, as of this morning I'm getting a bubble every 5 seconds or so
 

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