jaom taste question

[schoch79]

Before I start I dare you to not laugh at my obviously rookie situation LOL. Ok so I know this question is premature but Im asking anyway. I just got done racking my first jaom for the first time. After the rack I still had some of the liquid in the siphon tube and though the liquid was clearly milky...obviously siphoned up some of the ...lees??...I think that's what it is called. So I decided to taste this liquid and OMG it was absolutely horrible. I wouldn't say contaminated or infected or anything but just plain bad. I know it is 1) to early to really get a good taste from it and 2) the sediment didn't help but the question is, do you think the sediment is what caused the absolutely horrible taste or would that just make it taste a little off? Just trying to get an idea of what I'm to expect down the road since its my first. Thanks.

 

[Zaffo]

I think JAOM is delicious. Don't be turned off by what you tried.

I think the sediment gave you off flavors. JAOM doesn't really need to age. Well....mine don't last long enough to be considered "aged".

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[schoch79]

Thanks. Yeah like I said, this was one of the worst things I've ever tasted. I gagged a little and spit it out immediately, lol. But as stated I am led to believe it was the sediment but since I don't know any better I have nothing to compare it to.

 

[fatbloke]

It's the only downside of JAOM......

Bread yeast doesn't flocculate i.e. settle and compact down very well. You can have a nice, clear batch, but the lees will come back into suspension with very slight movement of the fermenter. Even just moving it a little for convenience (or if it thinks you've given it a funny look).

I've tried a number of tricks for my occasional JAO batches, to try and rack it without picking up any sediment......not easy !

These days, once it's cleared and fruit dropped, I just move the fermenter to where I'm gonna actually conduct the racking, then I'm mega careful only to rack cleared mead to a bottling bucket, which any of the last liquid being racked to a separate container so any lees that gets picked up is kept away from the main batch. I use a container that will take my racking cane because I put it in the fridge (overnight is usually enough) until it drops clear again and I can rack off the last bit of the re-cleared liquid......

 

[schoch79]

That sounds encouraging about letting it settle out but let me clarify a few things that contradict what you just said. The fruit never actually dropped in mine, based on your description maybe mine wasn't ready to rack anyway. The other thing is I used champagne yeast instead of bread yeast, hoping to get a better end result. I'll have to be sure to post the end result tasting when its done.

 

[Arpolis]

That is a common thing people do to try and improve the JAOM recipe. I mean it makes sense right? Use a wine yeast for mead rather than bread yeast?!? (All that was sarcastic) no the bread yeast will actually work much better than champagne yeast. You may find that your mead is horribly bitter and off tasting when done. Bread yeast has a tendency to leave behind plenty of residual sugars in the recipe and it balances out but champagne yeast will not often. Don't give up just yet. Just let it further clear and rack until no sediment drops once every 30-45 days. Give it a taste and if you do not like it then report back on the experience. Depending on how it tastes to you there may be some ways to help.

 

[schoch79]

Thanks, I'll have to wait I guess. I knew the part I tasted wasn't going to be exactly perfect I just didn't expect what I tasted....I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[fatbloke]

That sounds encouraging about letting it settle out but let me clarify a few things that contradict what you just said. The fruit never actually dropped in mine, based on your description maybe mine wasn't ready to rack anyway. The other thing is I used champagne yeast instead of bread yeast, hoping to get a better end result. I'll have to be sure to post the end result tasting when its done.

Ah ha!, yes that indeed explains a lot.......

To quote the film..... "don't f**k with the baldies" :rockin:

It was, IMO, no where near ready to rack. The JAO recipe lays it out nicely, but any floating fruit tends to get a layer of yeast on it, and if it's floating, you will bring some back into suspension just by knocking it with the end of your racking cane - a.k.a. bad move number 1

Bad move number 2 is easy. Bread yeast is used, as it will poop out earlier leaving residual sugars, which help to balance out any pithy bitterness that is extracted from the orange pith (as in the white bit of the skin). By using a champagne yeast, all of the sugars are usually fermented out, so the taste is left to focus on the bitterness.

Youve already found that it tastes pretty hideous, so even when it's cleared, it's not gonna taste right.

So my idea for a remedy, either to let it clear, then rack and stabilise it, then back sweeten with gravity measured samples taken and tasted between adding honey - there's a possible downside to that, asfaras, when using honey for back sweetening, it can cause a haze in already cleared meads.

That said, if it's finished bubbling, but it's not cleared yet, you could easily just stabilise it i.e. campden tablets and sorbate etc, first. Then take a measurement of the gravity after a day or so, then just add bits of honey (stirred in to incorporate it properly), then take measurement - you'd want to get it in the 1.025 to 1.035 sort of area, which typically, that's where JAO finishes up, but if you tasted at 1.025 and it still wasn't sweet enough, you've got scope to add a little bit more honey etc. You are NOT looking for how it's gonna be finished at this point, just that it's not fermenting, it's stabilised and it's sweet enough for you.

Then just leave it. Any haze that was generated by the honey should drop out with any other sediment. If you find yourself getting impatient, you could use finings, whether just sparkolloid or bentonite, or maybe Super/Kwik clear (2 part finings of Kiesol and Chitosan).

Then it will still likely need to be aged once clear. In the bottle or in a bulk container (I prefer bulk aging, but the container has to be topped up to exclude as much air as possible), it's up to you......

I'd suggest at least 6 months ageing........

 

[schoch79]

Yeah, my plan at this point is to let it all settle completely, stabilize and resweeten ( the haze doesn't concern me, and then my plan since day 1...let it age for a little. I think the recipe I used even said something about the bitterness from the orange pith aging out. All of this said, my wine I started at the same time, also my first, tastes good, though obviously still young and "raw" tasting.