Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

[hunter_le five]

My fruit has pretty much all fallen and I'm ready to bottle this weekend. Quick question though, how much does a usual batch yield? I figured one (full) gallon would yield about 5 750ml wine bottles, but taking sediment into account how much do you guys usually get from a one gallon batch? Also, do you rack to a bottling bucket first or is it ok to rack straight from the carboy?

I yielded 3L (4 x 750ml bottles) from my gallon batch. I probably could've gotten a bit more, but I was trying real hard not to pick up any sediment with my siphon.

I actually ended up transferring to secondary (3 L soda bottle) for a bit and bottling from there. I'm glad I did, because I did pick up a small amount of yeast on the transfer, which I was able to leave in the secondary.

 

[user 171019]

Assuming you are using one of those glass gallon jugs, if you topped it to about 2 to 3 inches from the lip, then you probably have one gallon plus 8 ounces. The trubb in the bottom is about one inch, so I guess you are going to lose about one tenth gallon, or 13 ounces. I have just let it settle an pump siphon directly out of fermenter, lowering as it empties, stopping short of trub. You could pour off trubb into yet another mason jar or small container and let that settle, giving you a little more.

 

[thedirtychemist]

I did a Jaom earlier this month as my first mead ever. Since I am quite impatient, I opted the 5 gallon route. Heh, if I have to wait and age , I may as well have a full batch waiting!

I ended up using some yeast energizer and yeast nutrients. Also, I subbed for sweet mead yeast. Got a little too happy with the honey mabe.. About 18 lbs for 5 gallon batch. This is more like joes modern orange mead.

I'm hoping for something super sweet! Maybe drinkable in 2 months? I'm hoping the yeast poops out at 10 percentish and leave a lot of residual honey. If not, I suppose I will back sweeten.

I plan on bottling half in beer bottles. I'll make a sparkled/carbonated version with the other half in a keg.

I've heard a lot about staying away from wine yeasts and subbing for something easy and crisp like white labs california ale strain.. Any thoughts?

 

[cronos1013]

I did a Jaom earlier this month as my first mead ever. Since I am quite impatient, I opted the 5 gallon route. Heh, if I have to wait and age , I may as well have a full batch waiting!

I ended up using some yeast energizer and yeast nutrients. Also, I subbed for sweet mead yeast. Got a little too happy with the honey mabe.. About 18 lbs for 5 gallon batch. This is more like joes modern orange mead.

I'm hoping for something super sweet! Maybe drinkable in 2 months? I'm hoping the yeast poops out at 10 percentish and leave a lot of residual honey. If not, I suppose I will back sweeten.

I plan on bottling half in beer bottles. I'll make a sparkled/carbonated version with the other half in a keg.

I've heard a lot about staying away from wine yeasts and subbing for something easy and crisp like white labs california ale strain.. Any thoughts?

I would stay away from the hardier yeasts, part of the JAO recipe is that you're using something that will die at about 8% ABV, thus leaving it nice and sweet, plus removing the need to age the heck out of it. I personally remove the pith and seeds (just use zest and actual edible part pureed in a food processor) when making JAO because I don't like the bitterness that they can impart and I hate trying to fish quarters of oranges out of a carboy. I've never had a batch go south.

I have also tried swapping for other citrus fruit and it's always been good, I've made it with blood oranges, clementines, grapefruit, and kumquats (which came out kind of bitter) and none have been bad. I think clementines make my favorite JAO.

 

[Aceandover]

Come on fruit, fall!!!!!!!!

 

[jak1010]

Looking good...when did you start it? I'd estimate about 7 weeks or so ago?

I've got a steady rotation going myself.

 

[Aceandover]

Sept 21, nailed it lol

 

[jak1010]

Nice! I made a batch on 3/7/13. See my post on page 133. Racked it to a clean 1 gallon carboy on 5/8/13 and bulk aged it till tonight. I just got 4 bottles and some left over (which I'm drinking now). I've never had any that have been aged this long. It's very tasty. Plan on bringing 2 bottles to a family gathering in December, drink one and stash the 4th for a year. Fingers crossed.

 

[Hanso]

Come on fruit, fall!!!!!!!!

Holy crap that is clear. At first I thought the foldgers singles was a label on the carboy!

 

[bottlebomber]

Come on fruit, fall!!!!!!!!

Super clear. Sorta looks like you put grapes in it rather than raisins. What's that stem looking thing?

 

[jstampler]

Super clear. Sorta looks like you put grapes in it rather than raisins. What's that stem looking thing?

Looks like a clove to me.

 

[Aceandover]

That would be a clover, I read afterwards that u should smash the raisins a bit so that's why they expanded

 

[Quokimbo]

Being the eager beaver I am, I bottled this after sitting in secondary for a week. A buddy of mine brought over a store bought commercial mead(Texas Renaissance Festival Traditional Mead) and we gave mine a side by side comparison. The color was almost identical to what was purchased, and the only taste difference was in mine you could taste the alcohol...Along with everything else in the mead, but 100 acceptable for a two month fermentation! I bottled it to age off the alcohol burn and plan on enjoying this immensely when the time comes. I did not take a before and after hydrometer reading, only an after...But, the tube gave my wife and I a buzz!

 

[jstampler]

Being the eager beaver I am, I bottled this after sitting in secondary for a week. A buddy of mine brought over a store bought commercial mead(Texas Renaissance Festival Traditional Mead) and we gave mine a side by side comparison. The color was almost identical to what was purchased, and the only taste difference was in mine you could taste the alcohol...Along with everything else in the mead, but 100 acceptable for a two month fermentation! I bottled it to age off the alcohol burn and plan on enjoying this immensely when the time comes. I did not take a before and after hydrometer reading, only an after...But, the tube gave my wife and I a buzz!

I love the bottles. Are they labels?

 

[Quokimbo]

Um, kind of...They are vinyl decals I cut using my plotter. I make signs, vehicle lettering and junk and thought this would look much more awesome than printed labels. If anyone would like some labels like this let me know lol It is what I do and we can knock some out!

TheHumbleConundrum.com

 

[jstampler]

Um, kind of...They are vinyl decals I cut using my plotter. I make signs, vehicle lettering and junk and thought this would look much more awesome than printed labels. If anyone would like some labels like this let me know lol It is what I do and we can knock some out! TheHumbleConundrum.com

I sent you an email from the contact page of your site.

 

[Quokimbo]

I sent you an email from the contact page of your site.

It never came through? I sent you a PM here...Maybe it is lost in the tubes? I have not finished updating my site with and you can not directly email me from the site. Maybe there was a typo? Either way, just let me know what you were wondering about...Thanks and later!

It finally showed up some 5 hours later...Just an FYI lol

 

[BigGoat]

Being the eager beaver I am, I bottled this after sitting in secondary for a week. A buddy of mine brought over a store bought commercial mead(Texas Renaissance Festival Traditional Mead) and we gave mine a side by side comparison. The color was almost identical to what was purchased, and the only taste difference was in mine you could taste the alcohol...Along with everything else in the mead, but 100 acceptable for a two month fermentation! I bottled it to age off the alcohol burn and plan on enjoying this immensely when the time comes. I did not take a before and after hydrometer reading, only an after...But, the tube gave my wife and I a buzz!

My og was about 1150, so assuming we both did it the same you have about 17.6%. Nice!

 

[Quokimbo]

My og was about 1150, so assuming we both did it the same you have about 17.6%. Nice!

That is a nice amount! I changed the yeast, but used same amount of honey, and everything. Thanks for this! I thought about doing one of those web mead calculators to see what I got...but this works just as well! Hahaha

 

[BigGoat]

No problem. I'm just waiting for mine to clear a bit more and for my fruit to drop. Hopefully just in time for the holidays

 

[Quokimbo]

I was way too eager. Only about half my fruit had fallen when I racked it into secondary...Being my first time to ferment, I think next I will be able to put off my anticipation for the next three(Cherry Vanilla JAOM, Strict JAOM, and a Blueberry JAOM). lol

Yours look good also!!

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

No problem. I'm just waiting for mine to clear a bit more and for my fruit to drop. Hopefully just in time for the holidays

View attachment 158345

I gotta ask, is that a Captain Morgan bottle on the right? How did you scale down the recipe?
I've got a few bottles I've been keeping around for just such an occasion

 

[BigGoat]

I just made the gallon recipe and put half in each 1.75L bottle

 

[Quokimbo]

So, with that last gallon I bottled, to avoid further fermentation I have placed it in the refrigerator. I did not want to add anything to it to stop that and was wondering if I brought it out after a week or so would it still ferment? I know I bottled way early and do not want explosions anywhere? Is this a good practice or would I be better off just waiting in the big jug with an airlock?

Other than that, I lifted the lids on my three gallons and let me say...My 71b Dark Cherry is looking fantastic!

 

[Epimetheus]

That is some weird looking stuff in the cherry batch. I think it was featured in a episode of Dr. Who.

 

[Quokimbo]

That is some weird looking stuff in the cherry batch. I think it was featured in a episode of Dr. Who.

Never watched Dr. Who but what looks so odd?

 

[JOHN51277]

I made two batches yesterday of this. But I think I messed up. I did not dissolve the honey prior to putting in the carboy. It has all settled at the bottom. I have shaken it like a crying baby, but it will not mix with the water. Should I heat it up? Then re pitch yeast? Or just leave it alone? It is bubbling pretty good starting about an hour after pitching yeast originally.

 

[RhodySeth]

I made two batches yesterday of this. But I think I messed up. I did not dissolve the honey prior to putting in the carboy. It has all settled at the bottom. I have shaken it like a crying baby, but it will not mix with the water. Should I heat it up? Then re pitch yeast? Or just leave it alone? It is bubbling pretty good starting about an hour after pitching yeast originally.

From what I understand it will still work fine and the yeast will still consume all that honey. I'd just leave it alone.

 

[jak1010]

Agreed. You'll actually get to see that line between water and honey go down and down as the yeast munch away. It's actually pretty cool to watch and I sometimes intentionality don't mix too well just so I can see this.

There's no effect on the final product.

 

[thedirtychemist]

Good luck with the non-mixed batch. It's not ideal, but should be ok.