First batch if JOAM.

[Bender]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this comes out.

 

[BargainFittings]

I just racked over 4.5 gallons to a keg to settle out and clear so I can bottle it. It is a very nice recipe and friendly for first time mead makers.

It will be fairly sweet. My circle of friends have brewed this and some have come out very syrup like and others have finished a bit dryer but still sweet.

I'm sipping on a small sample and this batch seems just a bit sweeter than my last big batch.

Enjoy!

 

[Bender]

Simple and friendly is what I need. My first foray into mead (about 15 years ago) was a waste of a lot of honey.

 

[Henny]

I just made my first JAOM today as well. The only thing I did different was I used pineapple instead of oranges..

 

[Bender]

Racked into a secondary today. It smells great. A fair amount of dead yeast came along as the fruit settled down. I may rack into a tertiary next week. This stuff smells great. I can't wait to see how it ages (if it gets the chance).

 

[Henny]

I thought, according to Joe, no racking was necessary or wanted?!?

 

[Bender]

I thought, according to Joe, no racking was necessary or wanted?!?

The fermentation was complete and the oranges weren't submerged anymore and I think they would rot eventually so I made a command decision (this is as close as I get to command decisions these days). If I screwed up it's a gallon batch. If it comes out well it's only a gallon batch (dammit).

 

[Bender]

I thought, according to Joe, no racking was necessary or wanted?!?

Going back and looking at the instructions it says if it's clear it's ready. It was clear. I made this in a leftover apple juice bottle with a narrow neck. If I make a larger batch I'll use a bucket so the fruit has someplace to spread out and stay submerged.

 

[Henny]

The fermentation was complete and the oranges weren't submerged anymore and I think they would rot eventually so I made a command decision (this is as close as I get to command decisions these days). If I screwed up it's a gallon batch. If it comes out well it's only a gallon batch (dammit).

My fruit has been floating since the beginning, I thought I had nothing to fear since it was protected by a blanket of co2?

 

[Bender]

My fruit has been floating since the beginning, I thought I had nothing to fear since it was protected by a blanket of co2?

Hey, do I look like a microbiologist?

You could be right and I didn't think of that.

 

[Bender]

My fruit has been floating since the beginning, I thought I had nothing to fear since it was protected by a blanket of co2?

So after a few minutes of exhaustive research I found this.

Commonly used modified atmospheres of low oxygen and elevated carbon dioxide generally suppress rots only modestly. Low oxygen suppresses fungal growth but only at very low concentrations which may be dangerous to the commodity. Carbon dioxide is fungistatic at levels of 10-20%, but most commodities tolerate those levels for only limited periods. The need for a fungal-suppressing gas in modified atmospheres has led to studies of the fungistatic effects of carbon monoxide. Some, but not all. important postharvest pathogens are markedly suppressed,particularly if the carbon monoxide is added to an atmosphere low in oxygen. A tendency to stimulate ripening may limit its use for long-term storage of some fruits. Possible uses and safety precautions will be discussed.

I didn't bother reading about the rest of it, but it's here if you care. MODIFIED ATMOSPHERES WITH CARBON MONOXIDE FOR SUPPRESSION OF ROT OF PERISHABLE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN STORAGE AND TRANSIT

I would think if it looks OK it is OK, but who knows how funky the fruit can look before you have Ancient Mummy Mead and whatever curses go with it.

 

[Cugel]

Yeah. Mold may well grow on the fruit - that's a good reason to rack. While racking voids Joe's warranty, he uses many old (ancient) practices that probably should not be employed. Bread yeast comes to mind.

I always rack a week or 10 days after the FG has stabilized. A few months a in secondary (with spices, oak etc.) until the mead is crystal clear and has a nice sparkle. Then into beer (for sparkling meads) or wine bottles.

 

[Kilgore_Trout]

Good luck to you, it will turn out tasty!

Mine turned out very sweet and syrupy, the bread yeast pooped out early. Next time I'm using less honey or a different yeast. Tasty but I have to water it down a bit to drink.

 

[Bender]

Good luck to you, it will turn out tasty!

Mine turned out very sweet and syrupy, the bread yeast pooped out early. Next time I'm using less honey or a different yeast. Tasty but I have to water it down a bit to drink.

I've found that I have to water down most meads to make them palatable. I usually pour room temperature mead over a couple of ice cubes and let them melt for a couple of minutes.

 

[Henny]

Yeah. Mold may well grow on the fruit - that's a good reason to rack. While racking voids Joe's warranty, he uses many old (ancient) practices that probably should not be employed. Bread yeast comes to mind.

I always rack a week or 10 days after the FG has stabilized. A few months a in secondary (with spices, oak etc.) until the mead is crystal clear and has a nice sparkle. Then into beer (for sparkling meads) or wine bottles.

Screw that, I laugh in the face of mold HAHAHAHA. But, on a more serious note, did anything come into the idea that the alcohol soaked fruit cannot mold? Especialy when topped with a co2 blanky?

 

[Bender]

Screw that, I laugh in the face of mold HAHAHAHA. But, on a more serious note, did anything come into the idea that the alcohol soaked fruit cannot mold? Especialy when topped with a co2 blanky?

I think submerged fruit would do fairly well. My rinds were never totally submerged and I wasn't sure I wanted to trust the alcohol to seep through the fruit, but... had the fruit been deeper in the rest of the liquid I would have taken the chance. The problem was the container I chose to ferment in (an apple juice bottle leftover from EdWort's Apfelwein Day).

I took another whiff of it yesterday and maybe I didn't do it right, but this stuff smells great so I'll take it the way it came out.

 

[Bender]

It looks good. It smells good. It's getting bottled this weekend. I'm going to make a larger batch next time.

 

[Henny]

I am about 20 more days from bottling. No mold yet but sure smells yummy.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

My fruit floated pretty high in mine and it came out fine. I used the container the water came in to ferment and a balloon for an airlock, lol. I just wish I had gotten the mead away from the orange because after about 6 weeks of fermntation the orange got a little funky. I magically seperated (you know, no racking!) the JOAM from the fruit/spice layer and it has cleared unbelievably in the last two days, you can read a newspaper through it!

 

[Bender]

You can read a newspaper through it!

Obviously you haven't been drinking enough.

 

[PorterTockMan]

Started my first batch of mead about 2 weeks ago. 1 gallon of JAOM. It's bubbling about 1 every 3-4 seconds and it's still very cloudy. But I still have a ways to go yet. Fruit still floating and looking fresh.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Obviously you haven't been drinking enough.

You have a good point.

 

[PorterTockMan]

Just need some reassurance... my JAOM met it's two month birthday 5 days ago. It's still in the fermenter. The fruit has dropped, all but one or two raisins. It's started to clear but still looks cloudy. I can't read any text through the 1 gallon bottle. And it definitely does not look like this:

Is it ok to bottle? Should I wait until it completely clears? Will it clear if the fruit already dropped? I know patience is key, but I'm getting impatient about it. Actually, I've been impatient for 2 months and 5 days.

Any advice? Thanks!

 

[Tusch]

Wait, that is my advice. I hate to ruin a good mead I put months into by destroying its aesthetic value with sediment in the bottle. I say wait until it is just as clear as solstice's an think about bottling then.

 

[LastKnight]

Wait, that is my advice. I hate to ruin a good mead I put months into by destroying its aesthetic value with sediment in the bottle. I say wait until it is just as clear as solstice's an think about bottling then.

^+1

The fruit will drop, then refloat, then drop again, ad nauseam. It's just CO2 outgassing. When it's crystal clear, bottle.

Relax, if it's started to clear then it'll be done sooner than you think.

 

[armorshell]

I am about 20 more days from bottling. No mold yet but sure smells yummy.

Wrong as wrong, it's full to the brim with mold and that's what's keeping the fruit from spoiling. Well, sort of. It's nice and infected, but with the good kind of mold, the established colonies of which probably are keeping any other nasty bugs from establishing a foothold.

Mine turns 2 months in a few weeks here and it's still cloudy as a Seattle summer, all the fruit is floating and I have a yeast cake the size of prime-cut porterhouse.

 

[Tusch]

Wrong as wrong, it's full to the brim with mold and that's what's keeping the fruit from spoiling.

Huh?...........

 

[armorshell]

Huh?...........

You've got an S. cerevisiae infection

 

[Tusch]

Sorry brain fart, I was thinking umm fungi yes mold no. Oh wait, idiot haha. Four hours of sleep, 11 hours of work = sloooooooow

 

[PorterTockMan]

I think something in my brain just popped... But I think I'll follow this advice.

^+1

The fruit will drop, then refloat, then drop again, ad nauseam. It's just CO2 outgassing. When it's crystal clear, bottle.

Relax, if it's started to clear then it'll be done sooner than you think.

I had some moments of panic, but I'm alright now. I'll wait till it's crystal and then bottle. Thanks for the reassurance!