Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

[ruger12pk]

After a couple weeks in the primary mine has slowed down to a bubble every thirty seconds or so. Is there any reason why I shouldn't rack it into a secondary? If I do, should I add fresh oranges?

I think you should let it go. let it do it crazy thang!!! Itll settle, clear and those oranges will drop and its good to rack then and drop in some sparkaloid then bottle it up!
You did'nt mention if your fermenting it in a glass carboy or pail. Hopefully a carboy so its easier to watch the progress....

 

[Devon]

Yeah, it's a carboy. I like being able to watch the process unfold.

 

[ruger12pk]

Yeah, it's a carboy. I like being able to watch the process unfold.

Oh hell yeah, me too! Just let it ride man, when those oranges drop and it clears, your good to go.

 

[Bullshivit-brew]

I let mine go 2mths and only 1/2 the oranges ever dropped. How long you letting yours go for them to do that? It did come up cryatal clear though.

 

[ruger12pk]

I let mine go 2mths and only 1/2 the oranges ever dropped. How long you letting yours go for them to do that? It did come up cryatal clear though.

Letting the oranges drop is NOT a sure sign, but when its clear and still, its a done deal...rack the clear Mead into another carboy. It may still be a bit murkey possibly, if it is then use some sparkaloid on it, thatll clear it right up.

 

[Blackhawkbrew]

I just tried a sample of my 1st mead (I've never had mead before) that I made on 8/7 and it tastes aweful! VERY strong alcohol flavor and extremely dry (virtually no flavor) (gravity was at 1.013, I forgot to get a starting gravity). I'm really disappointed with this. Any suggestions?

 

[ruger12pk]

I just tried a sample of my 1st mead (I've never had mead before) that I made on 8/7 and it tastes aweful! VERY strong alcohol flavor and extremely dry (virtually no flavor) (gravity was at 1.013, I forgot to get a starting gravity). I'm really disappointed with this. Any suggestions?

You didnt say how much you made...a gallon or 5 gallons...but what it needs is to be simply back sweetened with honey...first you want to make sure its "still" no fermentation if there is your going to need to add some Potassium Sorbate (per instructions) to prevent any further fermentation...once thats done slowly stir in some honey...start witth a cup and work your way until your happy with it....then bottle and let it age!...it will mellow in time and you should have some very nice stoney Mead!

 

[Blackhawkbrew]

Thanks ruger. It's a 1 gallon batch. I also mis-read my hydrometer, the gravity reading was 1.003. So, I think it's done. Would you recommend I transfer to a secondary to backsweaten with the honey?

 

[ruger12pk]

It would be a good idea to go ahead and transfer it into another clean container...you want to hopefully not lose much but you want it off the lees at the bottom...try not to disturb those it makes it easier to clear with sparkaloid. Youll prolly fine once youve got it dialed in as far as your method that youll be sorry you didnt make it in a 5 gallon batch! ;-D

 

[knipknup]

I just tried a sample of my 1st mead (I've never had mead before) that I made on 8/7 and it tastes aweful! VERY strong alcohol flavor and extremely dry (virtually no flavor) (gravity was at 1.013, I forgot to get a starting gravity). I'm really disappointed with this. Any suggestions?

My first mead tasted like paint thinner. Now, 3 years later-ish, it is good. In another 10, it should be great.

Give it some time. One month is almost too short for beer. Mead needs age.

 

[sharpstick]

I just tried a sample of my 1st mead (I've never had mead before) that I made on 8/7 and it tastes aweful! VERY strong alcohol flavor and extremely dry (virtually no flavor) (gravity was at 1.013, I forgot to get a starting gravity).

6 weeks is not enough time even for an AOM. i usually let mine age 3 or 4 months before bottling. bread yeast is an inconsistent thing. maybe yours attenuated more than normal. usually AOM is pretty sweet. i would consider myself lucky that it went drier. i've been trying to get that to happen. put it aside and let it age. try it again in 6 months. hopefully you made enough to have good mead by the time it matures. i always make 5 gallon batches.

 

[MrMiles]

#2 JAO 1 gallon
1 orange cut into 1/16ths squeezed
25 raisens organic
2.5 lbs clover honey suebee
1.0 lbs alidoro honey
1 tsp. Flieshmanns bread yeast
1 cinnimon stick
Water to one gallon

O.G 1140 @ 18.5% abv
Started at 5:00 pm on 9-21-09


Mixed honey with 2 cups warm water by shaking like craZy filled 3"
from top with water. Cut Orange into sixteenths squeezed put into
carboy. Added 25 raisens, 1 cinnimon stick. Shook like crazy. Added 1
tsp. Yeast directly to carboy. Gave about 10 shakes.


41 seconds between bubbles @ 6:00pm:rockin:

 

[LightningInABottle]

I started my first batch of JAOM on 9/4/09. I stuck to the recipe as close as possible, but decided to make one substitution. I used 25 dried blueberries instead of 25 raisins. Also I used a California juice orange to avoid the pithy taste some people have described. Juice oranges have much less pith than navel oranges so hopefully less pith taste.

#1 JAOM
One Cali juice orange quartered
25 dried blueberries
3.5 lbs of local raw wildflower honey
1 packet of Flieshmanns bread yeast
1 cinnamon stick
1 gallon jug of Absopure spring water

I mixed the ingredients and topped with ballon w/pin hole. There was not much action that night, but when I woke up it was bubbling like mad 2 and a half weeks later the bubbling has died down, I can't hear it anymore, but I do see very tiny bubbles. Also the yeast has settled on the sides and bottom. Will post back in a few months with updates.

 

[MrMiles]

Just Bottled a One gallon batch of this today still tastes abit off? i guess hOT is the term. i got roughly 4 22oz bottles and one 12 oz. bottle, would it be best to to store it at room temp? or in my nice cold brewfridge? same question goes for some cyzer i just bottled, should i store at room temp? or refridgerate? thanks
-Miles

 

[knipknup]

Just Bottled a One gallon batch of this today still tastes abit off? i guess hOT is the term. i got roughly 4 22oz bottles and one 12 oz. bottle, would it be best to to store it at room temp? or in my nice cold brewfridge? same question goes for some cyzer i just bottled, should i store at room temp? or refridgerate? thanks
-Miles

As long as your room temperature is not above 75F, store it room temp. If you want it carb'd, don't put it in the fridge. Storing it chilled will retard any carbonation. It will take months to carbonate at low temps (~45F) and depending on the yeast, it will not. So storing chilled will be a good method to keep it stilled and not carbonated.

I would personally stash the bottles in the back of a closet and forget them for a long time. Maybe try one once a year and see how it ages.

I made a 5gal batch, so didn't have to worry about the temptation wanting to try it with only five bottles. :cross:

 

[MrMiles]

thanks i like sweet and still not a big carbonation fan except for beer
gosh right now i have 16 gallons of various meads and cysers ciders going and i only started brewing about 8 weeks ago! talk about habit forming. problem is i have to wait for them to age so i keep making more! i dont even know if anything i brewed so far is any good except for the samplings. but in about 4 to 6 months i guess some of it will pay off thanks for the help.
-Miles

 

[78kombi]

Sounds like a job for a huge batch and force carbing ina keg.

HAW HAW HAW !!! i can see the red keg cups now!

 

[Nugu]

How do you guys bottle this? My first mead, and I don't want it carbed. Is the air in the bottle an issue at all? My understanding when I used to bottle my beer was that it pretty much was used up during natural carbing.

I never did top off my mead to 1 gallon (as per directions, about 3 inches head space was left), should I bother with pouring in some boiled water to top off?

I put off transferring my mead for about 5.5 months, here's to hoping I didn't screw it up. I took a sip of the gunky leftover stuff after transferring and it tasted pretty hot, I tasted something else but I was distracted by the burning sensation so I'm not sure. I figure in a few days after it re-settles I'll bottle and age for a few more months before I try a glass.

 

[Yooper]

You need to top it up to prevent oxidation. In the bottle, there is just a tiny bit of headspace that doesn't cause much oxidation so don't worry about it once it's bottled. In the carboy, you have to top it off.

 

[582brew]

Honey does not go off, ever. It's amazing stuff! They have actually found mummies preserved in the stuff, yum...

 

[WolfyJ]

I read threw most of the posts (skimmed some) and my quick question of the day is: Since the only thing i didnt use is raisins (i did use oranges though in a 5g batch) at certain increments do I need to add yeast nutrients or no? Looking at the carboy it seems to be fermenting nicely. Should I use the nutrients further down the road? I started it on Oct 2 2009.

 

[ruger12pk]

I read threw most of the posts (skimmed some) and my quick question of the day is: Since the only thing i didnt use is raisins (i did use oranges though in a 5g batch) at certain increments do I need to add yeast nutrients or no? Looking at the carboy it seems to be fermenting nicely. Should I use the nutrients further down the road? I started it on Oct 2 2009.

The raisons add a small amount of nutrients as well as tannins. You really shouldnt need any other additional nutrients like you would with other "show" meads. The oranges and the raisons are plenty for it. I never use the bread yeast though...go with Lalvin D-47 or Kv-1116 for your yeast.

 

[CenturyStanding]

So, I put together a batch of this about two days ago. It's my first time fermenting a mead, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect, but I'm concerned something went askew.

I put this recipe together with a few tweaks. I used orange blossom honey instead of clover, to give it that citrusy finish, and instead of the recommended spices I used a pinch of saffron, cardamom and a drop or two of almond extract to give it a more eastern vibe.

Anyway, I sanitized everything, put it all together and pitched the yeast. Almost instantly it developed a tiny bit of foam. Anyway, I put the airlock on and put it in a dark spot that's approximately 70-72 degrees. By the next morning, all visible signs of fermentation ceased entirely. No bubbling in the airlock, no foam, no nothing. It's been 48 hours since initial yeast pitch and still no activity, aside from the few bubbles that popped up the first night I pitched.

So, did I kill the yeast? If so, is the batch spent? Do I have to just chuck it and start over? Or would it be possible to repitch new yeast and restart fermentation?

Any info you have would be great as mead is entirely new territory for me.

 

[ruger12pk]

You have left out some important info...did you use any nutrients? How many pounds of honey? What was your starting OG? and in my mind, what YEASTdid you use? the bread yeast or something more akin for Mead like Lalvin D-47 ?

 

[CenturyStanding]

You have left out some important info...did you use any nutrients? How many pounds of honey? What was your starting OG? and in my mind, what YEASTdid you use? the bread yeast or something more akin for Mead like Lalvin D-47 ?

I made a slightly smaller batch. Used about two lbs of honey and scaled everything down proportionately, which gave me a bit more than half a gallon. Something small just in case it went awry.

I used the Fleichmann's bread yeast, as per the OPs instructions and didn't use any nutrients.

Are the nutrients of particular importance to mead?

 

[Yooper]

I made a slightly smaller batch. Used about two lbs of honey and scaled everything down proportionately, which gave me a bit more than half a gallon. Something small just in case it went awry.

I used the Fleichmann's bread yeast, as per the OPs instructions and didn't use any nutrients.

Are the nutrients of particular importance to mead?

Generally, yes, but not in this case. The raisins and oranges provide nutrients that are lacking in honey.

Since it's such a small batch, it would ferment out very quickly. Just in case it hasn't, give it a good swirl and shake it up a bit to resuspend any yeast that may have quit early.

 

[CenturyStanding]

Generally, yes, but not in this case. The raisins and oranges provide nutrients that are lacking in honey.

Since it's such a small batch, it would ferment out very quickly. Just in case it hasn't, give it a good swirl and shake it up a bit to resuspend any yeast that may have quit early.

I didn't include the raisins and oranges for my batch, so that might be what happened. If I boil a few raisins to sanitize, then add them to the fermentor and shake to resuspend the yeast, do you think that would help? Any other at home suggestions that don't require a trip to the LHBS?

I've been homebrewing beer for a good year and have never had an issue with not using the nutrients, but I suppose mead is a different ballgame altogether.

 

[Yooper]

I wouldn't boil the raisins- they can go right in.

 

[WolfyJ]

in this situation would raisins alone be enough nutrients? sorry, was just wondering out of curiosity.

 

[Yooper]

in this situation would raisins alone be enough nutrients? sorry, was just wondering out of curiosity.

I honestly don't know. I've never had that problem, and it's always been just fine for me.