Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

[tellyho]

I have previously complained about the taste of JAOM in early days, but I have a batch that's bulk aged for a year now, and it's pretty tasty. Not something I'd want to drink a whole lot of. The orange is in there, cloves stand out quite a bit, even after a year. To me, it's more of a liqueur than a stand-alone beverage, on the order of a sweet Vermouth or the like. I plan on bottling soon and aging quite a bit.

 

[organ]

Say my friend mixed the honey with cool water instead of warm water, pitched immediately, and six hours has passed without any sign of fermentation... was that a mistake?

 

[Homebrewinglad]

I could be wrong. But I think once the carboy warms up it should start. Might take a while tho.

 

[sablesurfer]

Say my friend mixed the honey with cool water instead of warm water, pitched immediately, and six hours has passed without any sign of fermentation... was that a mistake?

Just means that the yeast will have to take longer to get to all the sugars, instead of them being dissolved into the water.

My first JOAM's had all the honey settle out anyway. So same end result, it still made my first meads and I am totally enjoying them now after about two months in bottles. Probably drinking too early, but they are fine now.

 

[tellyho]

My honey all settled out, too. It was fine. I'm sure it will work out.

 

[Bent-Brewer]

Does anyone know the rough SG / FG of this? I feel like I read it somewhere the other day, but can't find it any more (Google turned up tons of results, but it seemed like none of them matched). I'm trying to figure out how sweet the mead is in the end just in case I want to cut down on the amount of honey.

EDIT 1:
I'm an idiot and missed the FG ("1.03????") on the very first post. Looks like I'm cutting down the honey a bit.

EDIT 2:
Honey varies in sugar content, but it looks like a "good" average estimate is that it adds 0.034 points per lb per gallon. At 3.5 lbs honey, that should yield an estimated OG = 1.119. Assuming the yeast tuckers out at around 12% ABV, that yields an FG = 1.030 (11.68% ABV).

 

[joseywales72]

Hello All from Turkey,

First of all, this is a wonderful community and thank you to all for sharing your experiences and recipes.
I made my first batch on June,13th dividing all the ingredients by 2. I used one small orange, but I hope that is ok. Anyway it is like this now, I did not touch, shake or take it to a date.

I hope this looks OK. A bubble erupts every 7-8 seconds, but it is clear and a pleasant smell comes whenever I open the cupboard. (It is 25-26 degrees celcius there)

Any ideas?

Thank you people.
Anil

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Hello All from Turkey,

First of all, this is a wonderful community and thank you to all for sharing your experiences and recipes.
I made my first batch on June,13th dividing all the ingredients by 2. I used one small orange, but I hope that is ok. Anyway it is like this now, I did not touch, shake or take it to a date.

I hope this looks OK. A bubble erupts every 7-8 seconds, but it is clear and a pleasant smell comes whenever I open the cupboard. (It is 25-26 degrees celcius there)

Any ideas?

Thank you people.
Anil

I cant see the pic, but essentially you made a half-gallon batch? Sounds like all is well and time will be the biggest "ingredient".

 

[joseywales72]

I cant see the pic, but essentially you made a half-gallon batch? Sounds like all is well and time will be the biggest "ingredient".

Yes, it is a half gallon batch. I had a carboy for 2 liters. So I divided it by 2. I thought the images from Dropbox can be seen here but no problem. As I said, it is a clear golden liquid in the middle, floating raisins and oranges on the top and a white yeast colony(?) at the bottom.
Thank you for the answer.
Cheers
Anil

 

[Pkrd]

I hope this looks OK. A bubble erupts every 7-8 seconds, but it is clear and a pleasant smell comes whenever I open the cupboard. (It is 25-26 degrees celcius there)

Looks great!

 

[fuzzy2133]

Last bottle of a 2013 vintage following original recipe other than lower than ideal fermentation temps. Only a slight alcohol note and it's all orange up front with mild cinnamon in the after taste.

View attachment 1436330773592.jpg

 

[sablesurfer]

Last bottle of a 2013 vintage following original recipe other than lower than ideal fermentation temps. Only a slight alcohol note and it's all orange up front with mild cinnamon in the after taste.

Hey, did you take my glass?

 

[fuzzy2133]

Hey, did you take my glass?

Hell yes I did :rockin:

 

[JDWebb]

I have two of these special edition Jack Daniels bottles that make perfect 1/2 gallon fermentors.

 

[TheWadeShow]

Alright so... recap.

I started my 5gal batch of this recipe on Jan 2nd, 2015. I'm getting to the point where I need to start bottling, I believe but wanted to check with folks here with more experience.

All of the oranges have fallen to the bottom of my bottle, along with most of the raisins. Not all of the raisins have fallen though, and I've got probably ten to twenty floating at the top obstinately. There's a little stuff on top, but rest of bottle looks clear. It's a thick orange/golden color that I can only see through when I shine a light through. Otherwise I can't see my hand on the otherside or anything.

Do you think it would be alright for me to begin the bottling process?

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Sounds like it still has a bit of work to do. A good standard is when you can read a newspaper through the carboy, then it's done.

 

[TheWadeShow]

Darn. Was hoping it would be bottling day here.

I'm sitting at the 6.5 month marker now for my 5 gallon batch. Is that a normal amount of time? Should I be expecting to wait much longer? I keep it right now in a room at around 70f to 72f.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

5 months seems like a long time, but I don't think that's unheard of. It's probably done fermenting, but I can't say for sure until you take some readings and see that it's the same for a few days. The flavor will continue to improve after this though.

Are you moving the carboy around at all? This recipe doesn't flocculate well and some stuff will get stirred up without much effort.

 

[55x11]

(So I tried my best to search for this but words "clear" and "bottle" appear on every page of this thread so it's impossible to find what I need.)

I noticed that many people have photos of their meads in clear bottles. Most of them are corked (is it because they cross over from wine side?). But for home brewers who focus on beer, brown bottles and bottle crowns/caps are standard. In fact, exposure to light in clear bottles is really bad.

So is it a major faux pas to bottle mead the way we would normally do beer? (Brown bottles, caps)? Is thread of light exposure not an issue for mead - perhaps since it's not hopped?

Also, for aging mead long-term (1 year or more), do you keep it at cellar temperatures, does it matter?

 

[RichBrewer]

It is perfectly acceptible to bottle in brown beer bottles. In fact, if you want to enter your mead in a competition you must submit your entries in regular beer bottles. I like to use clear bottles purely for the aesthetics.

 

[brewski09]

I've been happy with 12oz beer bottles and crown caps. I have a blueberry mead that's a year old and is tasting great.

 

[TheWadeShow]

5 months seems like a long time, but I don't think that's unheard of. It's probably done fermenting, but I can't say for sure until you take some readings and see that it's the same for a few days. The flavor will continue to improve after this though.

Are you moving the carboy around at all? This recipe doesn't flocculate well and some stuff will get stirred up without much effort.

I have my 5gal better bottle set up inside a card board box inside of my second bath tub that is not used. It never moves, and is actually set up on top of another box so that it's free of regular disturbance.

So I know it's been sitting undisturbed from either movement or light.

What sorts of readings am I supposed to be taking?

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Hydrometer readings, which measure the specific gravity. If the gravity is consistently the same over the course of some days (usually 3-7), it's technically done fermenting.
However, if you bottle now you'll have a lot of sediment in the bottles after it does eventually settle.

There are clearing agents you could use, or you could rack it a few times and see what that gets you.

I'm honestly not sure why it hasn't cleared yet, maybe someone more knowledgeable can jump in and take a stab at it. Usually I'd say pectin haze, but if you followed the recipe you wouldn't have boiled the fruit

 

[sablesurfer]

.... but if you followed the recipe you wouldn't have boiled the fruit

Did you follow the recipe exactly? Bread yeast and fresh fruit? No preservatives in your raisins? Any changes and it will be a different beast. I only have four batches of experience, but every one has been super clear, to reading through stage, in about 3 months.

 

[joseywales72]

Hi guys,
I wonder if my 2 lt batch is ready for bottling? It began its life on June,13th and now it is extremely clear -I can read newspapers through it and there is no activity (bubbling etc.) at least for 5 days. Do you think it is ready? Maybe not for tasting but for bottling and aging? I'm a bit anxious in fact. I don't want to frak up the batch but nearly everybody here says when it is clear, it is done.
Thank you all.
Anil

 

[sablesurfer]

Hi guys,
I wonder if my 2 lt batch is ready for bottling? It began its life on June,13th and now it is extremely clear -I can read newspapers through it and there is no activity (bubbling etc.) at least for 5 days. Do you think it is ready? Maybe not for tasting but for bottling and aging? I'm a bit anxious in fact. I don't want to frak up the batch but nearly everybody here says when it is clear, it is done.
Thank you all.
Anil

Any chance you can sneak a little bit out to taste? For these little one gallon batches I just use part of my plastic siphon tube. Dip into bottle and press thumb over end. Takes about three pulls to get a full sip into a glass.

Stay sanitary, get a taste.

If it is just outrageously hot...ie - burns like everclear or unaged whiskey...then it probably all just needs to sit for a bit longer. If you could drink and enjoy it, then bottle.

For JOAM, in my house, I am treating it all like an experiment and messing with it when time, resources, and taste work for me.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

It's been my experience that if you can stand to leave it in the carboy, you'll get more mileage out of bulk aging than aging in bottles. YMMV though.

 

[joseywales72]

If it is just outrageously hot...ie - burns like everclear or unaged whiskey...then it probably all just needs to sit for a bit longer. If you could drink and enjoy it, then bottle.

For JOAM, in my house, I am treating it all like an experiment and messing with it when time, resources, and taste work for me.

I'm not familiar with Everclear but I guess I understood "hot" with unaged whiskey. Anyway, my carboy has a smaller cap on it, opened it then dipped a newly opened syringe (I guess it is enough hygiene) and took 10 ml of liquid. It is like liquid gold and it tastes a little bit like white wine, with a tang of orange but sweeter... And hot...
I guess I made it.

Thank you very much guys. I'm going to age it as much as I can stand in the carboy (I shared the pics with my friends and they are anxious so I'm a bit tempted to show off maybe with a 500 ml bottle to them)

I'll begin two new batches, one gallon each next week. One with linden honey from Bulgaria, the other will probably be from chestnut honey, produced a few hundred kms south of here, Istanbul.

Thanks again. I'll share the results.
Cheers.
Anil

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I'm not familiar with Everclear but I guess I understood "hot" with unaged whiskey. Anyway, my carboy has a smaller cap on it, opened it then dipped a newly opened syringe (I guess it is enough hygiene) and took 10 ml of liquid. It is like liquid gold and it tastes a little bit like white wine, with a tang of orange but sweeter... And hot...
I guess I made it.

Thank you very much guys. I'm going to age it as much as I can stand in the carboy (I shared the pics with my friends and they are anxious so I'm a bit tempted to show off maybe with a 500 ml bottle to them)

I'll begin two new batches, one gallon each next week. One with linden honey from Bulgaria, the other will probably be from chestnut honey, produced a few hundred kms south of here, Istanbul.

Thanks again. I'll share the results.
Cheers.
Anil

Uh oh, you caught the JAOM bug!

 

[sablesurfer]

I guess I made it.

Sounds like it!! Congrats.
Hot here really isn't that strong warmth you get after a sip or two, it is the eye watering up in the sinuses burn. That you would need to age. If you like it, drink it. [/QUOTE]

the other will probably be from chestnut honey, produced a few hundred kms south of here, Istanbul.

Anil

Oooo...sounds nice.