JAOM bitterness

[regulatedhobbyist]

I tried my first batch of JAOM and it was thrown together on 12-7 of last year. It tastes pretty good mostly. However, it is a bit bitter. is there anything I can do to get that bitterness to back off? Or is it stuck like that? What should I do in the future batches? I was getting ready to do another one, but this is not something that SWMBO will sign off on if she doesn't like it. Its why I do most of my brewing in my office so she doesn't have to see it.

Will the bitterness go away with time? What if I were just to add the 'meat' and zest instead of the whole orange cut up?

 

[fatbloke]

I tried my first batch of JAOM and it was thrown together on 12-7 of last year. It tastes pretty good mostly. However, it is a bit bitter. is there anything I can do to get that bitterness to back off? Or is it stuck like that? What should I do in the future batches? I was getting ready to do another one, but this is not something that SWMBO will sign off on if she doesn't like it. Its why I do most of my brewing in my office so she doesn't have to see it.

Will the bitterness go away with time? What if I were just to add the 'meat' and zest instead of the whole orange cut up?

12-7 ? presuming the use of the US familiar when quoting dates, 7th December ???

If so, it's unsurprising.

I know that the recipe says it's ready to drink once it's cleared and the fruit dropped, but I've yet to find it like that.

I just leave it till the fruit has dropped, then once I'm happy with the clearing, racking, etc I just leave it to age for at least 6 months.

It does seem that the pith bitterness, can be at the forefront of the taste when it's young, but seems to mellow/recede with ageing.

If you did just zest the orange and use that and the flesh, you would find that it results in an overly sweet batch, because there's nothing in it that would help balance the flavour.

So if my understanding of the date is correct, then just get it racked, clear and in bottles, then just leave it.

You can always bottle it in smaller beer bottles (crown caps) so you can periodically drink one to taste it, and judge it's progress......

 

[regulatedhobbyist]

Well, it's cleared and racked. I did not leave it on the fruit because I started thinking...

Anyhow, yes, the date is correct. I am unaccustomed to using a more 'global' expression of the date, so I apologize for any grief.

Thanks FB, you always seem to have great answers. So does flavor differ as aging occurs? Such as if I were to do another batch using different fruit, and the fruit taste was weak at first, would it come back stronger with time? This is more for a generalized response, as I know different batches of mead will almost always differ ever so slightly.

 

[fatbloke]

For the best result with JAO, its best to follow the recipe verbatim, or at least as closely as possible. I've tried a number of variations i.e. different fruit, wine yeast, etc etc. But to no avail.

It's also a little counter intuitive if you're used to making beer or wine, but it just works. The only thing with it is that its my belief that it needs ageing. The flavour doesn't change per se, but it balances - some of the specifics change, like the bitterness from the pith recedes, some of the honey characteristic becomes more prominent, as does the Orange and spicing.

It seems that its designed to just work, with basic, easily obtained ingredients (from a local grocery store) with a minimum of technique that can be managed by the most inexperienced of mead makers.

Other ingredients should be really used in a more deliberate way. Hence some research both here and at gotmead, is recommended. Gotmead forums have a good "NewBee" guide, which is worth reading, as there's plenty of technique and method detailed.

Have a read, think on which ingredients you're thinking of using and then post a thread for assistance. That way you should be able to mix your own recipe and have guidance on any pitfalls that might occur with some ingredients......