New Mead maker....

[Teufelhunde]

Hello all. I have made a 1 gallon batch of Joes Ancient Orange Mead for the wife, and after putting it into a secondary to clear after a little over two months, she likes it enough to not want to wait for it to age a bit.

Today, I started her 5 gallons of the same. 17 lbs honey, 5 oranges, 5 cloves, 5 cinnamon sticks, two handfuls of raisins, a smidgen of nutmeg and one pack bread yeast. I could have used a better yeast, but had some bread yeast left and figured if it worked ok last time, should be good this time.....

Was one pack of yeast enough? I still have one left and could add it tomorrow.....it did start to make a little gas after about 3 hours......

Hope it comes out well...

 

[Miraculix]

Hello all. I have made a 1 gallon batch of Joes Ancient Orange Mead for the wife, and after putting it into a secondary to clear after a little over two months, she likes it enough to not want to wait for it to age a bit.

Today, I started her 5 gallons of the same. 17 lbs honey, 5 oranges, 5 cloves, 5 cinnamon sticks, two handfuls of raisins, a smidgen of nutmeg and one pack bread yeast. I could have used a better yeast, but had some bread yeast left and figured if it worked ok last time, should be good this time.....

Was one pack of yeast enough? I still have one left and could add it tomorrow.....it did start to make a little gas after about 3 hours......

Hope it comes out well...

Just throw in the second pack. It doesn't harm but it might help. I would actually have used three, as I used one pack least time for about 4.5 litres, and that one came out great

 

[Dan O]

Hello all. I have made a 1 gallon batch of Joes Ancient Orange Mead for the wife, and after putting it into a secondary to clear after a little over two months, she likes it enough to not want to wait for it to age a bit.

Today, I started her 5 gallons of the same. 17 lbs honey, 5 oranges, 5 cloves, 5 cinnamon sticks, two handfuls of raisins, a smidgen of nutmeg and one pack bread yeast. I could have used a better yeast, but had some bread yeast left and figured if it worked ok last time, should be good this time.....

Was one pack of yeast enough? I still have one left and could add it tomorrow.....it did start to make a little gas after about 3 hours......

Hope it comes out well...

Hello & welcome to the forums, @Teufelhundle. As @Miraculix said, it won't hurt anything to throw it in. If anything, it may give you a faster ferment.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

 

[bernardsmith]

I would watch the cloves. Even if you love the taste of cloves a tiny amount can very easily overpower other elements. And while with most ingredients you can simply increase the quantities linearly when you are increasing the volume of wine, with cloves I would consider using a lighter touch ... but that is me.

 

[Teufelhunde]

I would watch the cloves. Even if you love the taste of cloves a tiny amount can very easily overpower other elements. And while with most ingredients you can simply increase the quantities linearly when you are increasing the volume of wine, with cloves I would consider using a lighter touch ... but that is me.

Yeah, I know they are strong. Used one in the one gallon batch and it did well, so just adjusted for the batch size....hope that does OK......

 

[videojunkie1208]

You might consider pulling them early if you can.

 

[laughing jack]

Take a tasting and see where you are with the cloves. I agree with bernardsmith, a little goes a long way.

-j-

 

[Teufelhunde]

Pulled up this old thread to give an update and maybe ask a question.

I had this tucked away in a nice dark closet and had checked it's progress every few days. I never did add more yeast and it seemed to be fermenting, although waaaaaaaaaaay slow with what I was used to seeing with beer. For the last three weeks or so, It has been completely still in the airlock, so I pulled it out of the closet to get a better look. I did it in a Northern Brewer bucket, so was able so see shadows of the oranges and other floating things. Some of them had dropped to the bottom, which is supposed to be an indicator that the mead is done, but some still remain at the top.

Took a gravity reading of 1.026. It started at 1.126 so it appears to me it has finished with around a 13% ABV. The wife and I both tasted what was in the beaker for the measurement and it actually tastes pretty darn good. It is still pretty cloudy, but the cinnamon and cloves are just about right. The oranges didn't seem to come through very well, they are there, but way in the background.

With my beers, I don't do secondary, because I want to avoid introducing more oxygen than I absolutely have to. Should I move to a secondary to allow it to clear, or just leave it in the primary a bit longer. I really don't worry about clearing too much with beer, how important is it with mead? The wife is all about getting this stuff into bottles so she can start emptying them .

YMMV

Lon

 

[CKuhns]

LOL - I think I'm in love with your wife. OOOPS probably should have left that part out.

I have done a number of JAOMs in 5 gallon batches have always racked after some of the fruit has dropped. I think it helps in clarifying and at times has started another secondary ferment. Just be careful not to splash too much and rack to a container with no or very little headspace. (Just my 2c)