Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

[Hanso]

That stuff will rise and fall with temperature change as well as CO2 formation as it collects on the fermenting fruit, which physically holds its sugars in harder to get places for the yeast.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_thermometer

 

[TheWadeShow]

So just keep it sitting in it's dark location until everything sinks and it clears out? I've just been waiting so I can bottle it.

 

[brewski09]

Leave it alone until at least June, maybe longer.

 

[TheWadeShow]

Thanks Brewski! I'll just keep it put away. Mostly wanted to make sure that the rising of the oranges wasn't a sign of an apocalypse within my carboy. hah

 

[jhoson]

Temp control during the main fermentation can help with the rocket fuel syndrome. Also, yeast selection. Try an experiment where you use a yeast meant for fermentation as the primary purpose and I think you will be happier with the product. Again, I can't stress enough the temperature control though. I don't let mine get above 70F.

Will keep that in mind next time I do a batch!!!

My JAOM was brewed during summer; and where I live (countryside in Brazil ) the temp during summer normally is around 96°F even going to 107°F on extremely hot days.

Maybe a swamp cooler will do the job :fro:

 

[sablesurfer]

Finally getting around to my JOAM and WOW, it is very good. It is smooth, warm, crystal clear with plenty of flavors.

Orange is there, but not overpowering, bigger in the aroma than taste. Good strong honey aromas and flavors with nice spicey finish. A bit of the rind/pith that people talk about, but this is 4 months in and it is just in the finish and really helps to clean it up. The heat after about three sips, I'd put this in the 13% wine area of alcohol.

Next time, I will go bigger on the raisins to see, it's like I can barely taste them because I know they should be in there, but no judge would pick it out.



(Yes I had to bulk age it, so kind of a secondary, which is not supposed to be needed, but I had no capacity to bottle and needed the other fermentors. Bulk aged for however months fine and VERY drinkable now.)

 

[sablesurfer]

My JAOM was brewed during summer; and where I live (countryside in Brazil ) the temp during summer normally is around 96°F even going to 107°F on extremely hot days.

Maybe a swamp cooler will do the job :fro:

Oooo...dig a hole, put the mead in a bucket with lid, put in hole, cover with dirt. Dig up a buried treasure in 4 months. Then you've invented a whole "new" thing.

 

[sablesurfer]

OH.....DAMN.

This is the 14yr old wild/buckwheat honey that I got from my father's garage after he passed. The color is ALL from the honey. It is gorgous. Spicey, earthy, citrus with tingling heat on tongue. Rich with hints of chocolate and raisin and floral notes. I little 'olivey', but in an umami(?) way in finish, where as the other version I tried to Mino Choi is WAY olivey.





(This one was brewed on same day as the clear one, but with this family heirloom honey.)

 

[bismarkarek]

So im curious what will actually happen if i rack out my JOAM at say the 1 month mark? since i have 6 gallons bubbling away nicely at almost the 2 week mark i REALLY dont want to **** this up, im just curious.

 

[sablesurfer]

So im curious what will actually happen if i rack out my JOAM at say the 1 month mark? since i have 6 gallons bubbling away nicely at almost the 2 week mark i REALLY dont want to **** this up, im just curious.

My guess, would be that a bread yeast might not be super efficient at cleaning up after itself. So it could take longer to chew up the off flavors it made along the way.

<shrug>

Rack off 3 gallons and tell us.

 

[ggriffi]

This is my first attempt and it has finally cleared. So now that I am ready to bottle, what kind of bottles can/do I use? Also, I haven't tasted it yet at all so do I need to carb it or backsweeten, if so how?

Sorry but I just couldn't go thru all 220 pages to find my answers.

tia,
g

 

[sablesurfer]

This is my first attempt and it has finally cleared. So now that I am ready to bottle, what kind of bottles can/do I use? Also, I haven't tasted it yet at all so do I need to carb it or backsweeten, if so how?

Sorry but I just couldn't go thru all 220 pages to find my answers.

tia,
g

<sarcasm> Why not? We all did, you can't be a real brewer unless you read all 220 pages while sitting in a snow bank both ways uphill. </sarcasm>

IF you followed the recipe, you should not need to backsweeten, if you changed the yeast then you might.

Mead is not normally carbonated, it is always a still mead I see in competitions, even when listed as petulant, it looks still to me. I will not be carbonating mine.

Use any ol' bottles you want to. I have some mead in those clear ginger ale bottles that are 10oz. (Get the replacement screwcaps from home brew store.) I just ordered a bunch of 8oz swing tops for this batch. Mead is strong, so I am going with smaller serving sizes, your mileage will vary.

 

[ggriffi]

<sarcasm> Why not? We all did, you can't be a real brewer unless you read all 220 pages while sitting in a snow bank both ways uphill. </sarcasm>

IF you followed the recipe, you should not need to backsweeten, if you changed the yeast then you might.

Mead is not normally carbonated, it is always a still mead I see in competitions, even when listed as petulant, it looks still to me. I will not be carbonating mine.

Use any ol' bottles you want to. I have some mead in those clear ginger ale bottles that are 10oz. (Get the replacement screwcaps from home brew store.) I just ordered a bunch of 8oz swing tops for this batch. Mead is strong, so I am going with smaller serving sizes, your mileage will vary.

I made it thru about 10 pages and then this


I didn't change anything in the original recipe so it looks like I am good to go!

Thanks for the help SS!

 

[noblex]

Hi. I would like to try this mead too. But i can't find the proper yeast. Is it ok if use a normal vinification yeast? Is it better a cerevisae or a bayanus?

 

[sablesurfer]

Hi. I would like to try this mead too. But i can't find the proper yeast. Is it ok if use a normal vinification yeast? Is it better a cerevisae or a bayanus?

The proper yeast is bread yeast. If you use something else you are making a completely different mead. A wine yeast will make something much drier and very different than this recipe is intended to make.

 

[sablesurfer]

Update, I got these bottles from speciality bottle: http://www.specialtybottle.com/glassbottles-2.aspx?gclid=CO-cmf-RycUCFYsCaQodykgACw They were the lowest price with good online reviews. I got 24 shipped to midwest for $95, a lot of money to me, but an investment since they become part of my brewing equipment.

 

[RhodySeth]

Nice lookin' bottles. My buddy drinks Newcastle so I had him save his clear bottles for me. I bottled some JAOM in that and it looks nice.

On another note it looks like my JAOM from October '13 took Best in Show at a state homebrew competition. Cool!

 

[ThatChefGuy]

My batch is a week old, not much of a sediment build up at the bottom and seems to be fermenting rather slowly compared to my other mead's. Not that this is an issue, curiosity got the better of me. I have taken readings and added a little nutrient (Not so ancient, my bad!). Before i did this i thought i would taste it, i was pleasantly surprised! Looking forward to this finishing!

 

[JDWebb]

My batch is a week old, not much of a sediment build up at the bottom and seems to be fermenting rather slowly compared to my other mead's. Not that this is an issue, curiosity got the better of me. I have taken readings and added a little nutrient (Not so ancient, my bad!). Before i did this i thought i would taste it, i was pleasantly surprised! Looking forward to this finishing!

JAOM requires patience, lots and lots of patience. Once you put the recipe together, leave it alone for 4 months. Do not touch it, pet it, take it for walks, etc. At 2 months the fruit should drop, then it will start to clear, once it has, rack it and let it sit for another month or two.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Im going to have to be that guy and mention that the fact that there are 221 pages on this thread indicates a whole lot of people didnt read the recipe. New brewers are hardwired to worry, I get that and I was a major offender myself, but there are no questions one could ask that werent answered in the recipe itself.

Read the recipe. Follow the recipe. Go on with life...

 

[noblex]

The proper yeast is bread yeast. If you use something else you are making a completely different mead. A wine yeast will make something much drier and very different than this recipe is intended to make.

Last time i used my supermarket bread yeast, the alcool tolerance was less than 6% :'(

I wanna make a mead really similar to this, but i don't think those yeasties will ever be able to brew even half of that honey...

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Someone can correct me, but I feel sure the finished product ends up well north of 6%. as I understand it there are additional nutrients coming from the orange rind (and probably the raisins too) that get it up into wine territory

It won't be able to get it all though, and that's kind of the point. This thing finishes out very sweet

 

[Goofynewfie]

I always thought this came out 10%+

 

[sablesurfer]

Last time i used my supermarket bread yeast, the alcool tolerance was less than 6% :'(

I wanna make a mead really similar to this, but i don't think those yeasties will ever be able to brew even half of that honey...

I had a really sarcastic response written earlier today when I was in a bad mood from work. But.....

...where are you from? If you are in US then red star is what I used and my mead is WELL over 6%. The heat would put it in the 11-13% range. Next one ready to go and I will take gravities this time.

Next, what did you do "last time". Did you follow THIS recipe? Have you done any research on this recipe and meads in general? I have and the orange and the raisins are vital to the success. If you didn't then the ph wasn't right and there were no nutrients for the yeast, look it up.

What I had written this morning was...<sarcasm>"what, you think this entire thread is just to lie to you?"</sarcasm"

 

[noblex]

I had a really sarcastic response written earlier today when I was in a bad mood from work. But.....

...where are you from? If you are in US then red star is what I used and my mead is WELL over 6%. The heat would put it in the 11-13% range. Next one ready to go and I will take gravities this time.

Next, what did you do "last time". Did you follow THIS recipe? Have you done any research on this recipe and meads in general? I have and the orange and the raisins are vital to the success. If you didn't then the ph wasn't right and there were no nutrients for the yeast, look it up.

What I had written this morning was...<sarcasm>"what, you think this entire thread is just to lie to you?"</sarcasm"

uh? Slow down pal. I'm at about 16000km from US, in Italy. Here I tryed some times ago the common bread yeast (It's called "Pane degli Angeli", Angel's bread in in english) with a cyser and cider and in both cases the results weren't good, this yeast die really fast due to alcool. I made some research in italian hb forums and someone said that this yeast cannot go above 3-4%
That's why I asked. I can find a tons of HB yeast online, for beer, wine and mead too. But I've never seen that fishermanthing used in the first page.

<Sarcasm>Also, "you think this entire thread is just to lie to you?" Nope, i think a forum is a place when peaple come to talk, ask questions and receive polite answers, otherwise it's a blog.
Learn the difference.</Sarcasm>

 

[CreamyGoodness]

To be fair, I have used non-American bread yeasts in the past (namely DiGo from Croatia) and have gotten really good results.

Slovenia borders Italy and Croatia borders Slovenia, so I would think DiGo would be available? (more a question than a statement).

 

[JDWebb]

If there's a reason why your JAOM is failing, its because you didn't follow the directions EXACTLY. A lot of people have repeated this. Joe Mattioli didn't just slap this recipe together and hope for the best, he tested and re-tested until he came up with one that works. I don't think it matters what brand of bread yeast, I've done several with several brands with no problems at all, and all have been way over 6%. They have all come out sweet, which is the intent, the fruit has dropped on time, (2 months), has cleared by 4 months, is drinkable by 6 months. If you are looking for something that takes less time, go to the liquor store and buy you mead. Unlike beer, this is a wine, it takes time, lots and lots of time. The aging process mellows out the flavors, dissipates the "heat" and you wind up with a good product. Start today, and by this time next year, maybe even February or March, you'll have a good honey wine. If you push it, bad results happen, and people fill forums with complaints about theirs or someone else's recipe. Take your time, follow recipes exactly, once you put the airlock on it, don't mess with it unless you intend to feed it, degass it, rack it or bottle it. When it comes to JAOM, it is designed so that once you seal the airlock, you don't touch it until its done, some 4 to 5 months from that point. So relax, don't fret, some will clear sooner than others, I've had that happen twice, but I get the same results some 6 or 7 months later...a good, sweet honey wine that goes perfect with a cheese platter.

 

[sablesurfer]

uh? Slow down pal. I'm at about 16000km from US, in Italy. Here I tryed some times ago the common bread yeast (It's called "Pane degli Angeli", Angel's bread in in english) with a cyser and cider and in both cases the results weren't good, this yeast die really fast due to alcool. I made some research in italian hb forums and someone said that this yeast cannot go above 3-4%

Hey, that is why I asked, your first post seemed to imply it, but your profile doesn't say. So yeah, no idea what bread yeast you might have there.

I included the sarcastic part so as not to leave anyone guessing.

But, being in Italy, i wouldn't be surprised at all that you might have access to a variety of yeasts that we wouldn't in America. We probably still have the same strain that came over with the pilgrims. LOL.

Anyway, next time give us an indication where you are looking and others on the board can give you the better answers, like the one just posted. Good luck, hope you find a yeast that works.

 

[noblex]

Thank you

We have a shop of "high end (=overpriced)" food stuff, it's called Eataly, I found a bread yest of (they said) superior quality (=3x price), I'll try with that, and I'll make you know about what I'll get


Last question: in the first page (forgive me, I read only that atm) it is said i can use the honey i want. Do you have any suggestion on which type to chose, or anyone will just work fine?
I was thinking at half of "many flowers" (I'm sorry i don't know the translation for it, but it is the one made of every flower out there) and half from a particular kind of flower (maybe cytrus, or orange, or eucaliptus....)

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Thank you

We have a shop of "high end (=overpriced)" food stuff, it's called Eataly, I found a bread yest of (they said) superior quality (=3x price), I'll try with that, and I'll make you know about what I'll get


Last question: in the first page (forgive me, I read only that atm) it is said i can use the honey i want. Do you have any suggestion on which type to chose, or anyone will just work fine?
I was thinking at half of "many flowers" (I'm sorry i don't know the translation for it, but it is the one made of every flower out there) and half from a particular kind of flower (maybe cytrus, or orange, or eucaliptus....)

Wildflower is the word you're looking for . I say your choice seems like a very wise one. The fun thing about choosing honey is, if you like eucalyptus than you will be pleased with eucalyptus honey mead, etc. I even REALLY liked my buckwheat honey batch, even though the color put some people off.

So basically Im just saying use your imagination and go by what you like.

And again... try to find DiGo yeast. Its yeasttastic.