Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

[BlackenedBrew]

Ancient Orange Mead (by Joe Mattioli)
1 gallon batch

3 1/2 lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 Large orange (later cut in eights or smaller rind and all)
1 small handful of raisins (25 if you count but more or less ok)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove ( or 2 if you like - these are potent critters)
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice )( very small )
1 teaspoon of Fleishmann’s bread yeast ( now don't get holy on me--- after all this is an ancient mead and that's all we had back then)
Balance water to one gallon

Process:
Use a clean 1 gallon carboy
Dissolve honey in some warm water and put in carboy
Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights --add orange (you can push em through opening big boy -- rinds included -- its ok for this mead -- take my word for it -- ignore the experts)

Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water. ( need room for some foam -- you can top off with more water after the first few day frenzy)

Shake the heck out of the jug with top on, of course. This is your sophisticated aeration process.

When at room temperature in your kitchen, put in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. ( No you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary-- just put it in and give it a gentle swirl or not)(The yeast can fight for their own territory)

Install water airlock. Put in dark place. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's)( Wait 3 hours before you panic or call me) After major foaming stops in a few days add some water and then keep your hands off of it. (Don't shake it! Don't mess with them yeastees! Let them alone except its okay to open your cabinet to smell every once in a while.

Racking --- Don't you dare
additional feeding --- NO NO
More stirring or shaking -- Your not listening, don't touch

After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. (How about that) (You are not so important after all) Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and siphon off the golden nectar. If you wait long enough even the oranges will sink to the bottom but I never waited that long. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. (Like in a cabinet) likes a little heat (70-80). If it didn't work out... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions (or used grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away) . If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated.
If you were successful, which I am 99% certain you will be, then enjoy your mead. When you get ready to make different mead you will probably have to unlearn some of these practices I have taught you, but hey--- This recipe and procedure works with these ingredients so don't knock it. It was your first mead. It was my tenth. Sometimes, even the experts can forget all they know and make good ancient mead.

Yooper, thank you for posting this recipe. I haven't made anything for a few years now, and this one caught my attention. I am just waiting for things to cool down a little, and then I'll pitch my yeast. I'll let you know what happens in a few months.
Chuck

 

[jiMithing83]

Valid point. Especially with 1 gallon batches, I feel like I'm losing a lot of fluid just for each hydrometer reading. Perhaps an estimated OG based on 35 points per gallon and a final reading just to get an adequate approximation...

A refractometer works well for OG readings... not for FG as much (correction factors can be used, but I still use a hydrometer every time) but saves you a bit on the front end.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Sanitize your hydrometer and tube. Pour the sample back after the reading. Easy peasy.

 

[Deb]

Thanks for your help earlier!! I bottled the mead today. Started 10/21/17. It has been clear and all the fruit dropped to the bottom for two weeks. I didn't quite get 5 bottles, more like 4.5. Its freakin delicious. Going to start a 3 gallon tomorrow so I can have it ready for Christmas gifts next year.

OG 1.141
FG 1.050
Is that 12% alcohol?

Modifications: I juiced the orange and just put the rind (no pith) in the glass carboy. I was afraid of not being able to get the orange slices back out. I also added one all spice berry and the rind of one lemon.

 

[Satokad]

Thanks for your help earlier!! I bottled the mead today. Started 10/21/17. It has been clear and all the fruit dropped to the bottom for two weeks. I didn't quite get 5 bottles, more like 4.5. Its freakin delicious. Going to start a 3 gallon tomorrow so I can have it ready for Christmas gifts next year.

OG 1.141
FG 1.050
Is that 12% alcohol?

Modifications: I juiced the orange and just put the rind (no pith) in the glass carboy. I was afraid of not being able to get the orange slices back out. I also added one all spice berry and the rind of one lemon.

Should be right around 12%. I did a quick calculation and came up with 11.93% (no promises on my math, though).

 

[Satokad]

Bottled mine yesterday. Fruit still hadn’t fallen, but seemed to be held up by some bubbles clinging to the underside. I used orange slices without the rind. It was very clear. It clouded up when I moved it upstairs so I let it sit for a week and it cleared back up.
I got 6 swing top bottles and a little bit to taste. The taste was very nice with subtle orange flavor and just a little bit of heat. Going to let the bottles sit for a bit and probably crack open the first one at the end of the month. Going to start another batch here soon. This is very promising.
Thanks for all the advice and helpful hints.

 

[Carrollyn]

I made this last month. I used a one gallon clear plastic Apple juice container. Drilled a hole in the lid for the airlock and smeared a little silicone to seal it in. I followed the directions exactly, except I didn’t have fleischmans, only Red Star bread yeast. I was expecting a lot of action the next day. Nothing. At all. After 24 hours not even a micro bubble. I opened a new packet and repitched. (I knew the packets were fresh from making bread) Nothing. I went and got some fleischmans and pitched half the amount, in case the red star was still in there trying to wake up. This time in about 4 hours I started to see some action. Never any mad foaming, but 3 weeks later and it’s still definitly working away.
Every time I see the airlock give an occasional little pop, it makes me feel good, like I have a little pet.

 

[JAReeves]

I am hoping to take an FG reading on mine this afternoon. I really want to bottle it up.

It's been going in the primary for about three months. The beer/wine cellar, otherwise known as the cupboard under the stairs, stays pretty cool in the winter, so fermentation was probably slower than normal. I am drinking some of my beers and ciders straight out of the cupboard without chilling further. I need to get a thermometer for that room...

 

[superstorm204]

Just cracked open my last bottle of ancient orange I made in 2012

 

[rlmiller10]

Just cracked open my last bottle of ancient orange I made in 2012View attachment 606109

Tell us more. Has the flavor changed? Better? Worse? Fading?

 

[superstorm204]

It is still very sweet, the booze heat has gone away almost completely. Color remains very nice as you can see. It have a very clean taste with a very noticeable orange flavor

 

[Scientific hippie]

The rose hip batch, unfortunately, was the one with the fruit flies. We finally opened the other one; it tasted good, but we drank it after drinking wine, and the alcohol crept up on us. When I have forgotten my, uh, gastric upset, I'll open another bottle, drink less of it, and report.

 

[Maylar]

If you follow the recipe verbatim, as intended, the sweetness counters the bitterness from the orange pith. Straight from the fermentor it's all orange and clove. After a couple months the spices fade a bit and it's quite drinkable. At 8 months however, the flavors meld and the mead develops a wonderful orange perfume. Deviate from the recipe and all bets are off.

Enjoy.

 

[Zander Meiring]

I made JAOM as described last night in a plastic water bottle (jerry can type) as my very first attempt making any alcoholic beaverage. The only change made was using instant dry yeast instead of bread yeast due to local availability. I checked up on it this morning, and the plastic bottle has completely deformed due to expansion. Is it okay to let off some pressure every now and again? or is it prefered to leave it pressurized?

Thanks!

 

[Satokad]

Are you using some type of airlock? That should relieve the pressure.

 

[Zander Meiring]

It's just a sealed container with a tap at the top

 

[Satokad]

It's just a sealed container with a tap at the top

I am definitely no expert, but if the tap doesn't automatically let gas vent (and I'm assuming it doesn't since you had container expansion), you might want to consider changing it out for an airlock. Airlocks are cheap and may save you from having to clean up a fairly nasty mess.

 

[rlmiller10]

It's just a sealed container with a tap at the top

you definitely need an airlock to let off CO2 or you will have a small explosion when the container burst. If an airlock is not available a rubber glove or condom with a small hole stretched over the container filler will let gas escape and be fairly good at keeping out the unwanted stuff

 

[Zander Meiring]

you definitely need an airlock to let off CO2 or you will have a small explosion when the container burst. If an airlock is not available a rubber glove or condom with a small hole stretched over the container filler will let gas escape and be fairly good at keeping out the unwanted stuff

I'll be looking at getting an airlock today, but will opt for the rubber glove as a secondary. Very sharp idea!
Thanks to both of you for pointing out my ignorance

 

[Satokad]

I'll be looking at getting an airlock today, but will opt for the rubber glove as a secondary. Very sharp idea!
Thanks to both of you for pointing out my ignorance

This isn’t ignorance. It’s learning. I’ve already had to toss a batch I made because it got infected. Every batch brings new lessons.
A balloon will also work.

 

[Blacksmith1]

I like the idea of using a condom. been with my wife forever yet each new Dr asks " Do you use condoms?" this way I can say yes, they never ask what you use them for...

 

[JoanofArc]

I made JAOM as described last night in a plastic water bottle (jerry can type) as my very first attempt making any alcoholic beaverage. The only change made was using instant dry yeast instead of bread yeast due to local availability. I checked up on it this morning, and the plastic bottle has completely deformed due to expansion. Is it okay to let off some pressure every now and again? or is it prefered to leave it pressurized?

Thanks!

You need an airlock. That thing will explode if you don't let the gas out.

 

[NeverDie]

Are there any commercial vendors of of already bottled JAOM?

 

[Satokad]

Are there any commercial vendors of of already bottled JAOM?

I wouldn't think so, but I can't say for sure. As it said in the beginning, this breaks a lot of rules.

 

[JAReeves]

So I tried to bottle mine yesterday and realized it had not fermented at all in 4 months, the brix and hydrometer readings were still off the charts. The yeast is good, I use it for bread all the time. Not sure where it went wrong, but I am saving my bottles of orange-flavored honey water to use as adjunct sugar for my beer.

People keep asking me why I make anything other than IPA’s, which apparently are really good. Guess I need to play to my strengths.

I went back to the original recipe to see if I did something different other than leave out the cinnamon and clove which my wife doesn’t like; and yes I made a mistake-I put in 1 tablespoon of yeast, not one teaspoon.

 

[Blacksmith1]

None of which should have kept it from fermenting.

 

[Carrollyn]

I used perfectly good Red Star yeast (because that’s what I had) and it did nothing for days! Nothing at all. I added more from a different package. Nothing. I bought some fleishmans rapid rise (all the nearby store had) and added it. It did begin to work then, but not especially strong at first.
This go’round I used regular fleishmans and it began chugging along at a very nice rate within hours.
Red star shouldn’t have made a difference. It was fresh, and fine for bread. But maybe it did.

 

[Blacksmith1]

it had not fermented at all in 4 months, the brix and hydrometer readings were still off the charts. The yeast is good, I use it for bread all the time.

If there was enough sugar in it that might have stoped the yeast.

 

[Satokad]

Holy cow. Broke out the first bottle tonight. It is amazing. Not sure I’ll need to bother with any other recipes....

 

[First-Time-Brewer]

Hey Everyone,

So... quick question.

I followed the recipe on page 1 for JAOM (about 7 months ago) and have 2-5 gallon jugs sitting under a sink. The fermentation bubbles stopped a while ago (of course) and I was thinking that leaving it to sit there would help it continue to get flavor or taste better or I don't know what... It seemed like a good idea, but was that a stupid move on my part? Should I have moved the mead into a separate container away from the stuff that has settled at the bottom? Does it matter? I know very little about what I'm doing and I'm hoping I didn't ruin the whole batch... But if I need to do it again, so be it.

Thanks