Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

[dummkauf]

@ yooper, I am trying my hand a mead today, Is the honey just used for the sugars or does really have a slight honey flavor? I have tasted a mead before and I didn't get any honey flavors. It was like stale alcoholic water.

The honey you use should definitely affect the flavor. Not sure what meads you had before(homebrew or commercial), but that sounds very very wrong to me.

That said, if you load the mead up with herbs, or other flavorings, I could see how you could over power the honey flavors too. Plus a really dry mead would not have nearly as much honey flavor as a sweet mead.

 

[2brew1cup]

After a month of fermentation or so.. How long (minimum) should this age for?

underground and under the influence

 

[dummkauf]

After a month of fermentation or so.. How long (minimum) should this age for?

underground and under the influence

Age it til it's drinkable....which seems to be the general rule of thumb for most meads.

The last batch of this I made was aged 3 months in the carboy, bottled, and then aged another 3 months before it was drinkable, though it was another 6 months later(1 year total) until it was really tasty.. However I also use wine yeast for this, I believe the point of the bread yeast is that it will not get the ABV as high, and sweeter meads tend to not need to age as much.

My suggestion would be to let it age, pull samples, and bottle when you like the samples(assuming it's cleared by then anyway).

 

[salli4102]

After a month of fermentation or so.. How long (minimum) should this age for?

underground and under the influence

I aged mine two months in the carboy and a month in the bottle before I drank any. It was alright then. But the longer the better. If I'd have let the bottles sit for another month I beleive it would have been primo but I just couln't stop drinking the stuff. I followed the recipe exactly.

 

[DeadNutsBrewing]

Mine has been in bottles almost 7 months now

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

Ok I brewed this recipe on sunday. I have to say its super easy process, I added fresh squeezed peach juice and it rocks. I got active fermemtation within a couple hours of pitching. Its awesome! Since its my first mead once its done fermenting I'll drink it. Then make a new batch in January and then I'll let it sit for a year.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

What I really need is a tea-totaller friend with a basement. Id hide my bottles there for aging where they are out of reach. At this point I have been making and drinking at a good clip.

 

[bluegrassbrewer]

I have made 6 batches of this mead over the past 4 years. Last night I found a gallon jug pushed to the back of a shelf in my basement which started on 10-14-09 and racked into the jug on 12-25-09. It is by far the best tasting. Definitely worth the wait, even if the wait was accidental!

 

[BootsyFlanootsy]

I just polished off my last 8oz bottle of this stuff last night. I will definitely put forth that this stuff only gets better with age. I had written it off as of a few months ago as far too harsh and way too astringent. HOWEVER, I had only three bottles left and I certainly am kicking myself as of now over that fact. That extra few months in the bottle certainly rounded off the rough edges and then some. I kept it still as I find it's better to sip stuff like this slowly and enjoy the tastes and aromas. Speaking of which, the smell from this stuff really was nothing short of amazing. Flowers, citrus fruits, spices, and of course honey... all mingling together and clearly perceptible from a foot or two away from the glass. It was great out of a brandy glass so you can get your nose in there and smell it as your taking a sip. The taste was pretty intense too.... honey and oranges, cloves and vanilla ... and a really nice flavor I can only imagine coming from the yeast, ( which is odd, but welcome),. I wouldn't even pair it with anything.., it stands on its own.

The only thing I have to say towards the bad is: i really can't imagine that this is different than any other mean in so far as that it really needs a proper amount of time to age. I would hate for people to think that this is something that is truly drinkable in 3-4 months time, go through the trouble and expense of making it, only to be let down by how harsh and phenolic it is at that young of an age. I'd say this really needs AT LEAST 8 months to a year to come into it's own.


Other than that, GO MAKE SOME!

 

[Tnoodle]

I have a couple bottles that are 7 months old and it gets better and better every month. I also entered a bottle in a competition so we will see how it does.

 

[vekzero]

It has been fermenting for 4 hours now & no bubbles what so ever... did i mess up?

 

[Bartman6969]

Nice to see a fellow Tulsa Brewer on here. Just assembled my first attempt at this recipe last night and already Bubbling happily in the closet

I have a couple bottles that are 7 months old and it gets better and better every month. I also entered a bottle in a competition so we will see how it does.

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

It has been fermenting for 4 hours now & no bubbles what so ever... did i mess up?

I'm a little confused, you say its fermenting for 4 hours but with no airlock movement? When you look at your fermenter do you see a yeast floating around?

When I pitched my yeast is was activly fermenting within an hour.

Maybe your airlock does not have a proper seal? you could always toss in another packet of yeast. When I did the recipe I tossed in a whole packet of yeast in.

 

[Misfit]

It has been fermenting for 4 hours now & no bubbles what so ever... did i mess up?

Do not rely on airlock activity for fermentation activity

 

[Tnoodle]

Nice to see a fellow Tulsa Brewer on here. Just assembled my first attempt at this recipe last night and already Bubbling happily in the closet

I really think that high gravity should brew a 5 gallon batch of this since they have the resources and the fermentors. This would be really cool to see when you walked into their shop.

 

[vekzero]

This is what it looks like over night. I am assuming all that that sediment on the bottom is from the oranges & cinnamon? But yeah nothing from the airlock besides two bubbles every 10 mins.

 

[Tnoodle]

This is what it looks like over night. I am assuming all that that sediment on the bottom is from the oranges & cinnamon? But yeah nothing from the airlock besides two bubbles every 10 mins.

By the way your carboy looks, there was a very active fermentation. The oranges could be blocking the co2 that is in there. I suggest that you top it up.

 

[vekzero]

By the way your carboy looks, there was a very active fermentation. The oranges could be blocking the co2 that is in there. I suggest that you top it up.

I will give that a try. Thanks

 

[Tnoodle]

It only takes like a week to 10 days for it to ferment, the rest of the 2 months is for clearing and aging.

 

[Bartman6969]

Maybe we should bring it up to them?

I really think that high gravity should brew a 5 gallon batch of this since they have the resources and the fermentors. This would be really cool to see when you walked into their shop.

 

[2brew1cup]

Mines been sitting in the fermenter for 1 month. The fruit hasnt dropped. Should i just bottle it? Has it been too long?

underground and under the influence

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I would wait for it to clear. Usually I let mine sit in the fermenter "as long as I can stand it" which is usually about 3-4 months.

Mines been sitting in the fermenter for 1 month. The fruit hasnt dropped. Should i just bottle it? Has it been too long?

underground and under the influence

 

[dan09554]

Enjoying a glass now. Made this on May 6 2011. I've had a few bottles here and there, but it didn't seem quite ready, for me anyway. I gotta say, today this is just really nice. beautiful color and has a slight warmth to it. How does everyone prefer theirs? Chilled? or room temp? I've only had it chilled...

 

[Yooper]

Enjoying a glass now. Made this on May 6 2011. I've had a few bottles here and there, but it didn't seem quite ready, for me anyway. I gotta say, today this is just really nice. beautiful color and has a slight warmth to it. How does everyone prefer theirs? Chilled? or room temp? I've only had it chilled...

I like mine room temperature, actually. It's sort of "warming" that way.

 

[2brew1cup]

Mine tastes aweful a month into fermenting.. Smells like cat pee. Is this normal? I know it will age but...

underground and under the influence

 

[dan09554]

2brew, i had my first taste after 2 months. to me, it still tasted like jet fuel, then. today, well just fantastic. can't imagine it getting better.

 

[beowulf]

I made my first batch according to the original recipe with one exception...just used the zest of the oranges and not the pith. I bottled after 2 months (had cleared by then) and now it's 2 months in the bottle. It's just incredible! No hotness...no jet fuel...just perfect. It was quite a hit at the Halloween party since many of our friends are not beer drinkers (for shame!!). Even those that were drinking beer loved the mead as well, though.

I will be making another 2 batches pretty soon....one with the same original recipe and one with the blueberry/vanilla bean variant that I saw someone post earlier. This time, however, both batches will each be 5 gallon instead of 2.5 gallons. It just goes too fast.

To repeat yet again the HBT mantra....thanks, Yooper!!

 

[Tnoodle]

Mine tastes aweful a month into fermenting.. Smells like cat pee. Is this normal? I know it will age but...

underground and under the influence

Why would you taste it a month into fermenting? It is going to taste bad because it is still fermenting. I don't know what to tell you about the cat pee.

 

[2brew1cup]

Just a taste.. Also it seems to be done fermenting

underground and under the influence

 

[huesmann]

I started a gallon on 8/8/11, and it's not really showing any sign of clearing. I mean, it's definitely clearer than when it was fermenting, but nowhere clear enough to read through. I can barely see the shape of my hand through the jar. This isn't really a very quick mead, IME.