Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

[Goofynewfie]

Pardon the question but does anyone know of a recipe for sunflower flavored mead? It is my girlfriend and my 4 year anniversary this year and sunflower is her favorite flavor/plant. I would like to surprise her with her favorite flavor as mead.

If you can get the flower petals I would use a dandelion wine recipe but substitute the sunflower in place of dandelion

 

[scrub0bk]

So how do you guys bottle this? I know we're not supposed to secondary but curious as to how you all get it to the bottles mice and clear.

 

[rlmiller10]

So how do you guys bottle this? I know we're not supposed to secondary but curious as to how you all get it to the bottles mice and clear.

I racked it out of the primary into a secondary being very careful not to stir up any yeast. Than bottled from the secondary into wine bottles and corked. Could probably use a bottling bucket but I don't have one so just use my auto-siphon with a bottling wand.

 

[fuzzy2133]

I had some JAOM yesterday that I aged with 2 oak cubes and it was fantastic! Problem is my notes are very empty for this batch and I do not know how many months went by with oak before bottling. :smack: I know the original batch was 3 gallons and I bottled 2 gallons at some point.
It was very smooth with good honey and orange aromatics/flavor. Have to chill a bottle of the original batch that was not oaked and see how big the difference is (color, aroma and flavor).

 

[brewski09]

It's pretty much a wait and see game with oak. Even if you let it go 7 days last time, you may be good after 4 days or may have to wait 14 days next time to get the character you are looking for.


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[Jsamp]

I just got done making this. It's my first time making Mead. I didn't have whole cloves so I subbed a pinch of ground. Other than that I made it spot on. I'm looking forward to it since I've never had Mead before.

 

[madwilliamflint]

I had some JAOM yesterday that I aged with 2 oak cubes and it was fantastic! Problem is my notes are very empty for this batch and I do not know how many months went by with oak before bottling. :smack: I know the original batch was 3 gallons and I bottled 2 gallons at some point.
It was very smooth with good honey and orange aromatics/flavor. Have to chill a bottle of the original batch that was not oaked and see how big the difference is (color, aroma and flavor).

Now that's a good idea. This definitely sounds like something I want to side-by-side as well.

*eyes a couple 3 gallon carboys suspiciously as they scurry nervously back towards the corner of the room*

 

[Gavin C]

I need help. This is my first ever mead. It was recommended to be because it was supposed to the "fool proof ". I am on day 3 and there is no activity that I can see from the yeasties? I Added another 1/2 tsp of yeast and some nutrients yesterday. I followed the recipe exact except for using 4 pounds of honey and US-05 for the yeast. Any words of wisdom?

I don't think changing out bread yeast for ale yeast counts as following the recipe exactly. As far as I am aware S-O5 yeast is not suitable for a mead. Perhaps other have had success with it in meads and can chime in. Bread yeast started showing activity within the hour in my JAOM.

Hope it works out for you. Might be an interesting experimental yeast with the Safale 05.

Cheers

 

[brewski09]

Bread yeast and us-05 are the same thing, just different mutations (as all yeasts of the same variety are). I've used Nottingham with good results. I think my next batches will use wine yeasts though. Anyone try k1-1116?


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[AsgardNorth]

Loving this! (only at 2 1/2 months, but had to taste it.) Easy and tasty, cannot complain one bit.

 

[sloanfamilydsm]

Has anyone determined if removing the rind (using only the zest and orange 'meat') helped or hurt their version of the Ancient Orange Mead? I'm planning on making a batch in the next couple days and am curious if SuperiorBrew's idea of skipping the rind was a good idea.

Brewed ?? this up December '13 exactly as posted. Bottled last night and it has a pilthy aftertaste. Seems like leaving the rind off would benefit this drink.

Anyone tried it both ways & have an opinion?

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Brewed ?? this up December '13 exactly as posted. Bottled last night and it has a pilthy aftertaste. Seems like leaving the rind off would benefit this drink.

Anyone tried it both ways & have an opinion?

I know this will be hard advice to stomache, seeing as how you dutifully waited as long as you did, but I would just give it a bit more time. The recipe takes into account the rind's less desirable flavors and counteracts them naturally over time. I'm a purist when it comes to JAOM... except for when Im not .

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Brewed ?? this up December '13 exactly as posted. Bottled last night and it has a pilthy aftertaste. Seems like leaving the rind off would benefit this drink.

Anyone tried it both ways & have an opinion?

I made my batches without the rind or any white flesh and havnt experienced anything like a pithy taste. Mostly the time has jus had to smooth out the solventy flavor

 

[madwilliamflint]

I imagine pulling the pith off would help. BUT I haven't had any issues.

Just brought a bunch to my Dad's place this past weekend and he and his wife loved it. They've got a pretty persnickety palate, so that's about as great a success as I could imagine.

I'm going to start a 5 gallon batch probably this weekend. Based on the last few posts my tentative plan is to zest the oranges (include the zest) and pull the rind off first, so that the zest and flesh both go in. Hopefully I'll have some of my previous batch left so that I can do a side-by-side (age differential notwithstanding.)

I'll report back.

o7

 

[jak1010]

I imagine pulling the pith off would help. BUT I haven't had any issues.

Just brought a bunch to my Dad's place this past weekend and he and his wife loved it. They've got a pretty persnickety palate, so that's about as great a success as I could imagine.

I'm going to start a 5 gallon batch probably this weekend. Based on the last few posts my tentative plan is to zest the oranges (include the zest) and pull the rind off first, so that the zest and flesh both go in. Hopefully I'll have some of my previous batch left so that I can do a side-by-side (age differential notwithstanding.)

I'll report back.

o7

Same with my results. Never had a pith problem but I've done the zesting method and was pleased. I actually do a hybrid of it. I zest the entire orange, slice and put 1/2 of it into the carboy (2 quarter pieces) and then take the remaining 1/2 of the orange and squeeze the juice of it into carboy and discard it. While it is different, it has become my favorite way of making a 1 gallon batch.

 

[frankjones]

Question about the yeast, for three gallons do I use three of the bread yeast packets?

Also, would it be a mistake to use montacharet ? I have a few packages sitting around.

 

[Clanchief]

I made a modified version of this this past weekend with my brother-in-law. We made a 5-gallon batch. Recipe was:

9 lbs. Polish wildflower honey (came from my wife's grandparents farm in Poland)
5 lbs. of clover honey
3 oranges sliced
3 sticks of cinnamon
Wyeast Sweet Mead yeast

I'll post some about it as it's going.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Question about the yeast, for three gallons do I use three of the bread yeast packets?

Also, would it be a mistake to use montacharet ? I have a few packages sitting around.

The amount of yeast remains constant. 1 packet per batch regardless of size.

I'd save the montreact for apfelwein. Using any other yeast than breadyeast for this particular recipe is a mistake only because the results become unpredictable.

 

[bernardsmith]

The amount of yeast remains constant. 1 packet per batch regardless of size.

I'd save the montreact for apfelwein. Using any other yeast than breadyeast for this particular recipe is a mistake only because the results become unpredictable.

Sorry but I disagree. The results are fairly predictable. The use of bread yeast is deliberate. It won't manage to ferment the mead dry so there will be some (significant ) residual sweetness. Wine yeasts are very capable of fermenting dry, musts with high sugar content (such as this one) and so if you use a wine yeast the mead will ferment dry.

I have never tried to make Joe's recipe but every detail (including the use of chunks of fruit rather than say , fruit juice) has been designed to provide very specific results**. If you have a good enough grasp of what each element is in the recipe for then you can modify it with predictable results. If you think that each element is there just by chance or happenstance then modifying the recipe may not result in quite the mead you are looking for.

** the fact that you should wait for the fruit to drop is because this will happen when the yeast is no longer producing enough CO2 to keep the fruit in suspension AND the CO2 is already dissipating enough to allow you to bottle the mead with less risk of flying corks and (worst case) bottle bombs

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Sorry but I disagree. The results are fairly predictable. The use of bread yeast is deliberate. It won't manage to ferment the mead dry so there will be some (significant ) residual sweetness. Wine yeasts are very capable of fermenting dry, musts with high sugar content (such as this one) and so if you use a wine yeast the mead will ferment dry.

I have never tried to make Joe's recipe but every detail (including the use of chunks of fruit rather than say , fruit juice) has been designed to provide very specific results**. If you have a good enough grasp of what each element is in the recipe for then you can modify it with predictable results. If you think that each element is there just by chance or happenstance then modifying the recipe may not result in quite the mead you are looking for.

** the fact that you should wait for the fruit to drop is because this will happen when the yeast is no longer producing enough CO2 to keep the fruit in suspension AND the CO2 is already dissipating enough to allow you to bottle the mead with less risk of flying corks and (worst case) bottle bombs

Perhaps I should rephrase to "I wouldnt fix what isnt broken and risk breaking it."

 

[frankjones]

Does the bread yeast make a big messy krausen?

I'll be making a 3 gallon batch in a the gallon carboy.

 

[frankjones]

Also. I am big into experimenting.

How would this recipe turn out if I substituted peaches for the oranges. Was thinking about making a one gallon batch with peaches.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Also. I am big into experimenting.

How would this recipe turn out if I substituted peaches for the oranges. Was thinking about making a one gallon batch with peaches.

It turns out just peachy.

I apologize for that pun.

But seriously its fine.

 

[frankjones]

It turns out just peachy.

I apologize for that pun.

But seriously its fine.

Lol .... Thanks for taking the time out to answer my questions

 

[frankjones]

Does the bread yeast make a mess? Should I use a blow off tube?

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Does the bread yeast make a big messy krausen?

I'll be making a 3 gallon batch in a the gallon carboy.

Yeah you'll get a plug of schmutz on the top that looks and feels like loam. For this reason I habitually use a blowoff with my batches.

 

[frankjones]

With one package of yeast for three gallons of high test I would be worried about a stuck fermentation.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

With one package of yeast for three gallons of high test I would be worried about a stuck fermentation.

Believe in the power of the raisins, my friend. Believe in the power of the raisins.

Actually... add some more raisins for 3 gallons.

 

[frankjones]

75 raisins?

 

[fuzzy2133]

For my 3 gallon batch I did 3 hand fulls. No clue how many raisins were in there.