Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

[cincybrewer]

Thanks. I'll probably just plan on bottling it like a regular beer....I may look into a corker but then I guess I'd have to buy cork, and I hear that's pretty expensive.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Hey the worst price Ive seen is $0.69 a cork, and that was for the high-grade super amazing natural corks.

 

[cincybrewer]

well that's definitely not too bad.

 

[Tnoodle]

I use the synthetic corks and they are around $40 for 100

 

[feanarosurion]

This is my first post on the forum. This is my second mead, and my second batch of homebrew. My first mead was plain, using champagne yeast, turned out fairly dry but it's had good reviews from those around me.

Anyway, started this on May 28th, a 5 gallon batch, and I scaled everything except yeast up x5. Since then, I've read the entire thread, and I have a couple of questions from stuff that wasn't really answered, or at least not answered adequately.

First off, for a 5 gallon batch with everything scaled up, I'm mostly just concerned about the cloves. Is there anything to worry about if everything else was scaled up x5 as well?

The only deviation from the recipe was that I used currants instead of raisins because that's what I had on hand at the time. I used about 30 per gallon as opposed to 25 to compensate for size. Does that strike anyone as a problem?

Finally, why the strict "no racking" policy? I know, I know, it's all in the first post, follow the recipe and all that. But why? I'm planning to rack once everything's cleared, mostly to bulk age for another 2 months before bottling. For the record, I'm using a 5 gallon pail as my primary, and I'm planning to transfer to my carboy at 2 months. That's what I did with my first batch as per a recipe for straight mead as well as general advice I was given. Anyway, with that in mind, why the whole no racking policy, and should I worry about it if I just rack to the carboy at 2 months?

Thanks

 

[NineMilBill]

1. Cloves are given as a 1 per gallon standard in this recipe. I believe this issue was briefly touched on a while back - some people do 3 or 4 to play it safe, but I've never heard reports from a 5 in a 5 gallon batch.

2. Raisins vs. currants? I believe currants are a raisin variant, I forsee no problems. But why not just get more raisins if you're going to make a 5-gallon leap?

3. The no-racking policy is to maintain the 'Ancient' aspect - and keep people from expecting a 'fine mead' from this. Personally I do rack to secondary, let it sit for a while - and also do clearing racks after that before I bottle. Everyone can appreciate a clear mead.

 

[huesmann]

Currants are berries, whereas raisins are grapes.

 

[feanarosurion]

Currants are berries, whereas raisins are grapes.

Currants, the ones I used anyway, are from a small seedless grape, not a berry.

 

[feanarosurion]

1. Cloves are given as a 1 per gallon standard in this recipe. I believe this issue was briefly touched on a while back - some people do 3 or 4 to play it safe, but I've never heard reports from a 5 in a 5 gallon batch.

2. Raisins vs. currants? I believe currants are a raisin variant, I forsee no problems. But why not just get more raisins if you're going to make a 5-gallon leap?

3. The no-racking policy is to maintain the 'Ancient' aspect - and keep people from expecting a 'fine mead' from this. Personally I do rack to secondary, let it sit for a while - and also do clearing racks after that before I bottle. Everyone can appreciate a clear mead.

Thanks for the tips here, that's really helpful. I think I will be racking to the secondary with that information. It seems like it would be helpful, regardless of whether it's technically ancient or not. As far as the currants, I don't want to add anything else after the fact, and I had enough on hand to be satisfied with what I had. And for the cloves, I'll just test it out I guess. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I've become more and more intrigued with mead and now I really want to jump in, starting with this recipe!

Luckily the Whole Foods has local honey for an incredibly reasonable price. I think I may leave out the clove, though... or just put it a tiny dash of ground clove.

 

[NineMilBill]

I've made a few JAOM's - and honestly, while the clove is present, it isn't screaming CLOVE in your face. It's definitely a metheglin, no doubt, but one in a one gallon batch is pretty balanced with the orange.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

I've made a few JAOM's - and honestly, while the clove is present, it isn't screaming CLOVE in your face. It's definitely a metheglin, no doubt, but one in a one gallon batch is pretty balanced with the orange.

Good to know!

 

[static]

Well I'm gonna live dangerous. I added 2 cloves. I should make another batch without and compare.

 

[huesmann]

Breakin' the law, breakin' the law!

 

[inordeck]

Bottled the JAOM I started on leap day. It was crystal clear with no visible bubbling, but except for a couple of raisins the fruit had not dropped to the bottom. Yeast was stirred up quite a bit in the bottling process so it didn't go into the bottles as clear as I would have liked. It will settle out fine. Tasted good. Pretty dry and not as sweet as I expected. Planning on aging this out until the next leap day, with many a batch in between.
Starting gravity: 1.112
Ending gravity: 1.016

 

[static]

Well i started it Thursday night and there is activity in the airlock but its not nearly as active as the beer I've brewed or the Apfelwein but it has clouded up so i assume that its doing its thing. I just expected a little more activity. Well, the yeast know what it's doing. Just seems sluggish to me. I'm gonna RDWHAHB.

 

[Qwancow]

This is my first attempt at brewing ever. So I followed the recipe pretty much exactly but instead of using the bread yeast I used the Wyeast sweet mead and I just don't know what I am looking for. This is the picture of my mead today and I started it yesterday 6/4/2012. Do I need to dump this batch or just pitch some bread yeast and hope for the best? Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you!!!

 

[huesmann]

Looks like it's bubbling; presumably that's not just because you shook it.

 

[cincybrewer]

I sure as heck wouldn't dump it. I'm a mead amateur but I would think it would still turn out alright using the sweet mead yeast as JAOM is a sweet mead. Search the thread, I'm sure others have used that yeast as well. Good luck.

 

[NineMilBill]

This is the picture of my mead today and I started it yesterday 6/4/2012. Do I need to dump this batch or just pitch some bread yeast and hope for the best?

This batch is less than 24 hours old and you're already asking if you should dump it? Never never never never say that again. I'm sure your Sweet Mead Yeast is going to do just fine - but even in the off chance it doesn't....there are plenty of trouble shooting techniques you can use to fix the problem. If it's not bubbling in the next 24-48 still, search "Stuck Mead Fermentation" or "Stuck JOAM Fermentation". I'm sure both of those searches will give you plenty of detailed discussions on the issue.

 

[STLExpat]

This is my first attempt at brewing ever. So I followed the recipe pretty much exactly but instead of using the bread yeast I used the Wyeast sweet mead and I just don't know what I am looking for. This is the picture of my mead today and I started it yesterday 6/4/2012. Do I need to dump this batch or just pitch some bread yeast and hope for the best? Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you!!!

Wyeast sweet mead yeast is a pain in the butt, give it time but I'd recommend adding yeast nutrient and energizer

 

[sweed]

I made this tonight. OG is 1.134. I made it just like the original recipe says, except I used 20 raisins And my pinch of nutmeg was a little more than I wanted.
It's sitting in a plastic gallon 'milk' jug, and already bubbling softly( 10 mins later). I'll report in 2 months on how this is. I plan to make more different recipes, with apples maybe, cherries sound good also.

 

[Qwancow]

Thanks for the help guys, I am still watching it and its starting to bubble a little. What should my air lock look like exactly?

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Thanks for the help guys, I am still watching it and its starting to bubble a little. What should my air lock look like exactly?

It doesn't matter. Your airlock is not a gauge for fermentation. It's only purpose is to allow CO2 created by the yeast to escape the container and not allow outside-air into contact with the liquid goodness inside.

When it comes to fermentation, your airlock is a lying jerk who kicks your dog and licks your silverware while you sleep. For instance, if there is an air leak where CO2 can easily escape, your airlock won't bubble even though there is fermentation happening. On the other hand, when fermentation is completely, moving or accidentally hitting the container can cause CO2 to escape from solution, causing bubbles in the airlock and a panicked "FERMENTATION STARTED AGAIN" post on homebrewtalk.

Just let it ride and don't worry about the little things. The yeast know what they are doing... they've been doing it for millions of years.

 

[static]

I read something about not using the bread machine yeast in another JOAM thread. That's what i had so i used it. Pro's/Con's ??? My search skills left me wondering....

 

[MikeR]

Started my batch yesterday at midnight (Sunday night/Monday morning) omitted the spices/clove/etc, only used honey and a large naval orange (peeled the skin off, pulled out as much pith as possible, cut them all in half). I rounded it up in metric (since we buy per kg up here), and used 2kg(4.4lbs) of honey, boiled it with about 1L of water, let it simmer for a bit while stirring because only half of it was pasturized, and then poured it into a new 4L water jug(same appearance as a milk jug) with the oranges and enough clean tap water (boiled for five minutes) to bring it near the top.

Shook it all up, let it cool to room temp, pitched in a packet of Fleischmann's yeast, threw an airlock on it, and put it away. Within an hour, I had to pull the airlock off to clean it out, and when I did so, even more kräusen poured out of the top. Threw the airlock back on, and it calmed down within a few hours. The overflow gave me a bit of headspace, so I'm going to pitch the raisins and fresh boiled(and cooled!) water in tonight.

I fully expect this to be extremely sweet thanks to the extra honey and proper yeast, and hopefully it will be dangerously good.

 

[Goofynewfie]

started a batch of this on april first, it is clear, I can read a newspaper through it. however still bubbling very very weakly, maybe 1 bubble every 10 minutes in air lock. do I need to degas it or just leave it be and let it go for a while longer? I can see the bubbles rising from the very bottom and traveling up through the mead

 

[BigKahuna]

This batch is less than 24 hours old and you're already asking if you should dump it? Never never never never say that again..

EVER!
If your mead is 5 years old, and it still sucks like a $1,000 hooker.... The you can dump part of it! Until then.... Dude! RDWHAHB!

 

[MikeR]

So uhh, I've cleaned out the airlock twice now as it has been full of kräusen both times. Very active fermentation, and it's still bubbling up. Is it safe to leave it like that, or should I keep cleaning it out until it stops? The airlock is off for no more than a minute both times, and I figure it's pumping out enough co2 that I don't have to worry about oxidation.

 

[NineMilBill]

If it's that active you could put a napkin over the top and hold it down with a rubber band - similiar to winemaking. After it slows down - give it a week or so, put the airlock on it.