Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

[ruger12pk]

Well the batch of JAOM I made with the K-V1116 yeast is Clear, Still, EXTREMLY alcoholic and TASTY!.....Im real new to mead making and Im pleased as punch over this recipe! Im making more right away! 2 months from start to finish. Delicious & Drinkable right out of the gate and I can hardly wait to try some Ive aged! If you dont try that recipe youve lost your mind! WOW!

 

[BallJar]

After almost two months to the day, my fermentation stopped, so I moved to a new bottle to clarify and in the process tasted a sample. Although I can taste the alcohol, honey and the oranges, it has a really nasty solvent-like aftertaste. Is this something that will age out?

FYI: I used a D47 yeast.

 

[Yooper]

After almost two months to the day, my fermentation stopped, so I moved to a new bottle to clarify and in the process tasted a sample. Although I can taste the alcohol, honey and the oranges, it has a really nasty solvent-like aftertaste. Is this something that will age out?

FYI: I used a D47 yeast.

I don't know- I wonder what caused the solvent-like taste. If it's just "hot" that will age out fine. Solvent-y doesn't really sound good, though.

 

[BallJar]

Based upon your reference to "hot", I would say it has an overly alcohol smell, like isopropyl (not that strong though). Almost acidic.

 

[PSmurf78]

Got the stuff on the way to try this hope to make it this weekend.

 

[Eves]

I don't know- I wonder what caused the solvent-like taste. If it's just "hot" that will age out fine. Solvent-y doesn't really sound good, though.

When you say "that will age out fine" how long are we talking about? And does it matter if the aging occurs in bulk or in bottle?

 

[Yooper]

When you say "that will age out fine" how long are we talking about? And does it matter if the aging occurs in bulk or in bottle?

"Hot" takes different amount of time to age out. If it's really, really hot, it'll take longer to mellow. If it's just a little hot, it might only take a month or two smooth out.

I usually age in bulk, but it's not necessary. As long as it's clear (and those lees are very, very fine from the bread yeast, so be careful when you rack!) you can age either in the bottle or in the carboy. I age it bulk, to keep my hands off of it!

 

[AldousHuxley]

Hi! I've never done any kind of home brewing of any sort before. I came across a reference to JAOM back in January on a Fark.com discussion thread, and I thought "you know I've got a gallon of honey sitting in the cupboard... heck even I could do this recipe!"

My goal was to literally spend no money on this project. So I used a gallon milk jug for my container, and used some tubing to go from the milk jug lid to a water bottle (which would be my air lock). I drilled a hole in the lid of the water bottle, then glued the tubing through with enough excess tubing so that it would reach near the bottom of the water bottle, then I drilled small holes all around the big hole for the pressure to release. I found this set up worked very well as an air lock with minimal hassle and less chance of spilling than the "stick the end of the tube in a cup of water" method.

I did end up buying tubing because I didn't like what I had (2.59 for 10 feet), and the bread yeast because I didn't have any (I think it was $0.80 for 6 packets), but that was it - everything else I already had.

The only thing I did besides follow the instructions exactly was I read a bit about how to properly sanitize equipment for brewing. I used a the bleach + vinegar solution for all of my cleaning (also no cost) and everything worked great. (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/what-sanitisers-cleaners-used-43688/)

So I cleaned everything as best I could, used boiled (and then cooled) tap water for my water source, and then followed the directions exactly. I stored it under my sink in the kitchen, and my house is kept fairly cold, typically ~60F during the day and ~65 at night, so I was concerned that this would not be warm enough.

My "born on" date was Jan 22 2009, and last night (Mar 25 2009) I carefully lifted the contraption from underneath my sink and poured very gently through a course strainer into a glass pitcher.

Given that I had fermented in an opaque container I was immediately excited and pleased by the clarity and deep color of the mead. The first pour (a little over 1/2 gallon) yielded an absolutely amazingly clear and beautiful amber liquid that reminded me of a filtered ale or a darkish apple juice. The bouquet was different than I expected, but pleasant.

I poured the remainder into a 2nd container which significantly disturbed the sediment and created a much cloudier mix (visually akin to unfiltered pressed apple cider). I poured myself a glass out of that container and set it aside to settle.

I had never had a drink of mead before, so I don't have much to compare it to, but I consider myself a beer snob and I'm learning to be a wine snob, so that's my background. Honestly I was prepared for this to be a complete failure as I figured I hadn't washed stuff well enough or it was too cold in my house.

I was really pleasently surprised at how drinkable and tasty this was. The fact that it is built around oranges is interesting because it is so fruity and citrus-y. I think over ice this would make a great alternative to sangria at a summer backyard barbecue. Overall I was just really happy with the final product and am looking forward to enjoying more soon! I only wish I'd started more batches every few weeks so I didn't have to wait another two months for a gallon of it!

Next time:

• I will use a clear container to keep better tabs on how it is progressing.
• I had issues with the adhesive I used to seal the tubing to the top of the fermenting container and then to the water bottle so I need to find something better - I was thinking maybe some kind of aquarium caulking (as these are usually food-safe).
• I stored the whole setup under my kitchen sink which worked fine, but I also store my dishwasher powder detergent under there, and I feel like I got a bit of that flavor/odor in my finished product. I figured with the air lock this would be a non-issue but apparently somehow it still got in. Could be because of my adhesive issues (see above).
• I am going to browse around for a recipe that uses blackberries in a similar ultra-simple recipe - I think that would be great in this.

Overall it was definitely successful and I would recommend this fun little project for anyone who is new at home brewing or just wants an easy project to try.

Newbie question for the community: What is the simplest/easiest/cheapest way to figure the alcohol content of the final product? It seemed much stronger than I expected (which was fine, not complaining) and I'm curious how it stacks up against wines I'm familiar with.

 

[somedudefromneworleans]

I did a 1 gallon test batch of this last october, it turned out really good, now I have a 5 gallon batch going that I started mid February.

 

[SapperBrewer]

Gotta love anything that thrives on neglect

 

[Nomadic_Joel]

Hello!

OK OK...I know I know...dont mess with the recipe...but from reading all of the posts on JAOM...it seems there is a large % of people who have finished with the "rind/harsh/pithy" taste. I am wondering...WHY the rind? Does it add something to the must/end result?

It just seems like all risk, for no gain? I read a lot about the quality of Oranges, and how the ripening/shipping can effect the taste. I am assuming this recipie works/worked great back in the day when you would just grab an orange fresh/ripe form the tree and ferment it..

and being from Canada...everything is shipped in with regards to fresh fruit....

SO could I not just simply add the orange? perhaps even zest it a bit?

Thanks so much for your comments!

Joel.

 

[bob1852]

The ancients didn't have an orange peeler so they had to use the rind.

 

[Nomadic_Joel]

Any OTHER thoughts on rind/no rind....why rind?

thanks..

J

 

[KatoBaggins]

Got my batch going tonight. It looks good to me. I've only had mead once, and I can't really remember what it tasted like. I'm looking forward to this one. It's got some of my favorite things in it.

 

[Dan_of_Earth]

I started a gallon of this tonight. I had everything on hand except raisins, so I substituted a handful of craisins. We'll see how it goes!

 

[CATFISHER74]

I started a gallon of this tonight. I had everything on hand except raisins, so I substituted a handful of craisins. We'll see how it goes!

Craisins are good but the reason for the raisins are the tannins.

 

[KatoBaggins]

I started mine on 4/18/09. It already starting to clear. I'm getting excited to try this.

 

[Yeastie]

Hello!

OK OK...I know I know...dont mess with the recipe...but from reading all of the posts on JAOM...it seems there is a large % of people who have finished with the "rind/harsh/pithy" taste. I am wondering...WHY the rind? Does it add something to the must/end result?

It just seems like all risk, for no gain? I read a lot about the quality of Oranges, and how the ripening/shipping can effect the taste. I am assuming this recipie works/worked great back in the day when you would just grab an orange fresh/ripe form the tree and ferment it..

and being from Canada...everything is shipped in with regards to fresh fruit....

SO could I not just simply add the orange? perhaps even zest it a bit?

Thanks so much for your comments!

Joel.

Why do you say don't mess with the recipe? That's what home brewing is all about!!! Don't take a recipe as the gospel truth, try new things, just zest the ****ing orange and juice it if you really want.

 

[Pronay]

I'm considering racking, I know it says not to, but the fruit is starting to look really putrid after nearly a month

I also used champagne yeast, anyone else use it? It's all I had

 

[knipknup]

I did a champagne yeast mead. It finished at 17% abv but was like turpentine for the first two years. It has been around four years now and is reasonably good. I expect in another 5 years, it will be great.

 

[Pronay]

 

[Pronay]

I did a champagne yeast mead. It finished at 17% abv but was like turpentine for the first two years. It has been around four years now and is reasonably good. I expect in another 5 years, it will be great.

You have some willpower my man

 

[Pronay]

Does my Joe look alright for nearly a month? Doesn't appear to be clearing yet, but it smells really nice, can't wait to try it

 

[Yooper]

It looks really good! It makes me want to go make some right now.

 

[mpcondo]

this looks like an awesome first time mead recipe, I think i mught try two 1 gallon batches this week. one with bread yeast and another with some left over lager yeast, and lager it for the same duration and bottle condition.

 

[Pronay]

This may be me being a little OCD about degassing, but did you degas before bottling your JOAM??

 

[avaserfi]

I didn't - left it in primary for about 3 months and it was completely flat by the time I bottled.

 

[SapperBrewer]

Hey Fellas
Just wondering if anyone has worked with Lychee? I have gone to a couple wine tastings and all the white sweet wines try to get this flavor down.

What I am going to try is an Apricot/Lychee version of the ancient mead this is my first butchering of a recipe and I was looking for pointers.

So what I am looking at right now is:
1Gal carboy
3 Lbs Clover honey
5-7 dehydrated Apricots
1/2 Lb Lychee

the choices I have right now are:
what yeast should I use? I always have fleshmans and coopers on hand.
what would balance the sweetness like chai or cinnamon?

Any feedback would be groovy.
Cheers

PS
well done on the ancient mead recipe. That stuff is potent.

 

[Confucius]

Mine just finished up, and I've got to say, it is one of the better things I've ever tasted. I got rid of the pith and cut the honey down to 3 lbs, and it is wonderful. It tastes wonderful and has a great warmth to it.

 

[gator_brewer]

I've seen a couple people talk about using a milk jug for their primary, does this work? Just cut a hole in the lid, and make a blow off tube?

If so, then I know what I'll be doing tonight!