Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

Here's a 1 gallon batch of JAOM that I started on March 7th. On May 1st it was clear and all the fruit sank. 3 days later, 1/2 of it floated back up.

9 weeks after pitching, I racked it off the fruit and lees on May 9th to what you see here. For the heck of the picture, I put box of Triscuits behind it.

I've got an airlock on it and I'm going to leave it like this for the next 6-7 months. Just in time for the holidays. I've never had JAOM older than a few weeks after bottling.

 

Maybe a little late for you, if you've left, but you should be fine if you've made it to Monday and there hasn't been an eruption accident.

 

We (Me and u/BrianHewitt) made a batch of this on Saturday. I topped the water today and stuck it in a closet. Looking forward to trying this out!

 

Looks exactly like every batch I've made. Nice job!

 

Thanks! Can't wait to try this one out.

 

made some last night, first mead. looking fwd to it

 

I bottled my mead tonight. It was tasty though a bit on the spicy side. I bottled in 375 ml wine bottles with corks. This recipe has given me a lot of confidence on mead making and wines in general.

 

So I attempted this last night. The only difference was that I used K1V-1116 instead of bread yeast. And this morning when I looked at the batch I wasn't getting any bubbling/burping. Anyone have any ideas? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Givr it some more time. If it xoesnt start after a few days than worry

 

What would the process be if it doesn't start up?

 

Rehydrate the yeast , than throw it in. but im pretty sure you should have activity by day 4 if the yeast is good.

 

Anyone else get worried about leaving the oranges in for a full 2 months before racking/bottling per the recipe? Seems like the oranges in my batch are starting to or are about to start molding..

I'm at almost a month and half after putting everything together and beginning the fermentation so i'm itching to rack and let it bulk age before bottling.

 

I left mine in for 7 months with no issues. As long as they are undermead, they should be fine. It should be a high alcohol and co2 environment with little chance for mold to form.

 

Makes sense but 2 months of floating also means that portions of that orange are exposed to the air inside the carboy and not fully "undermead". Seems like I have yet to read anyone having an issue with mold so I don't think i'll worry too much about it.

 

They aren't exposed to air. CO2 is heavier and pushed all the air out through your air lock.

 

So this is my first attempt. Lessons learned: siphoning is super hard ( and messy ) with a simple tube, be more patient I believe I pitched the yeast too early while the wort was still hot and it killed them because the next day had no bubbling. I pitched a second batch of yeast the following day and now a day later I'm seeing about 1 bubble every four seconds so it seems like its on its way. I do have one question it seem to have some tried foam residue in the stem on the airlock. ( From the second pitch got rid of the head space i left for the foaming )Should this be cleaned out or is it fine in there until bottled / secondary? Any help would be great. Thanks everyone.

 

You don't have very much headspace in there so when it's fermenting, you'll have to keep a closer eye on it as the rising "foam" could overflow through the airlock and make a small mess. I'd just make sure keep adding water to the airlock as needed if that becomes a problem to ensure it keeps oxygen out as needed.

 

All of the JAOM I've made tasted like pee, literally, it was really bad. I've saved a bottle to to try in another year and maybe the ancient mead fairies will make it taste better.

 

That's why Mr Beer is a great fermentation vessel, it's configured with a spigot just like that.

 

Just made a batch of this this afternoon. I followed the original recipe on the 1st page. I'm looking forward to tasting it in a few months

 

I've heard of people having a rind taste if they didn't use bread yeast. I used K1V - 1116 from lavin? Ideas / help ?

 

K1V will likely take your JOAM dry, dry, dry.

 

Even with 3.5 pounds for one gallon jug ( so less water with the fruit ad what not )? K1V is the only one I think can handle my house temp ( typically 78-85 ) what's the best process for back sweetening?

 

If it's the temps your concerned with you may consider fermenting in a water bath. It's a cheap and easy way to keep temps low.

 

Hello I have a question. Since I have only made 3 batch's of the JAOM and they were all good I tried some with blueberries. Used the recipe in this form that is same as JAOM but with blueberries. It has been 2 months and the fruit has just about all dropped. The mead looks clear but since its dark I can not see though it. Should I wait or do you think it's OK to transfer to bottles or drink.Thanks

 

Given enough time, even dark fruits like blueberries will produce a mead that you can read text through

 

Do I need to stamp the oranges to prevent bacteria growth in primary?

 

Actually the best thing that I've found that helps control bacteria in this recipe is shrimp. That's right, live shrimp. They will eat any and all bacteria that are on the oranges, and also their own fecal matter. Eventually they will be overcome by the alcohol and die, and at that point you leave them in for 7-10 days and then rack off. They add a really cool flavor/aroma element.

 

:smack:

That's just naaaaasty

 

Yea that's not happening. So I assume it must be stamoed

 

No bro, the recipe makes no mention of stamping. Just follow the recipe to the letter and you have almost no chance of screwing up or getting infected mead.

 

So I started my mead 4june and it started about 24 hours later at or bubble every four seconds. As of today ( 13 june ) it's slowed to about one bubble every 12 seconds. It hasn't cleared at all. I'm concerned that it puttering out to early. Can anyone help me understand what could be happened or have any ideas?

 

I guarentee you, no matter what the airlock activity is, that it is still fermenting. You will not see any kind of clarity at this point and you still wont for at least another month and a half, usually quite a bit more. Best thing you can do now is step away. Worst thing you can do is futz with it in any way.

 

I forgot to mention that I used K1V instead of bread yeast. Does that Shane your statement?

 

Ah, in that case I have no idea.

 

K1v would have gone through most of the sugar in that amount of time. best thing to do is just leave it where it is and forget about it. more than likely it will ferment to dry

 

Might I heartily suggest having tums closeby before imbibing?

 

and perhaps some cocktail sauce for the pickled shrimp

 

The way k1v works in Joes Quick Grape...I'm not surprised. I started a batch on June 1st and its down to 1.000 as of today.

 

just bottled this one up last night along with my capsicumel. This cleared up nicely and tastes pretty decent for as young as it is. I did the recipe to the T and worked like a champ. This was my second 1gal sized mead. My wife is really looking forward to this one.