Mead by Christmas?

[AJC16]

I want to make 3 gallons of mead and bottle and give it out as Christmas gifts to my family this year, If I make it this weekend will I have a enough time? I have a fermentation chamber so I can strictly control the temperature. I am planning on making a basic mead. Thanks!

 

[theciderkid]

I always age my mead one year before trying it, but it's worth a try, make sure to use yeast nutrient, and correct temps, I would always stay away from ec-118.

 

[msarro]

You can pull it off. If you're using a wine yeast, use one that's meant for young wines (Lalvin 71b should work). Ale yeasts may work here too.

Try to stick towards low abv meads. Also, while bulk aging is best, bottle aging will help some too. I assume your family won't knock it back the day you give it to them (if they do, well, your family is cooler than mine ).

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Make a Melomel, they can be opened within a few months, they are a bit more "forgiving" than a traditional mead.

 

[00radio]

I've given meads for Christmas gifts the last two years. The rule I tell everyone is that they can't open it until the following Thanksgiving...

 

[fatbloke]

Make the JAO recipe......

12 weeks in the making, bottle and a couple of months ageing will just improve it, but it is drinkable straight out from making.

Just don't deviate from the recipe and void the warranty, that's asking for problems.......

 

[Trenchfoot]

Make the JAO recipe......

Just don't deviate from the recipe and void the warranty, that's asking for problems.......

Really?
I am planning to give JAOM a try and have seen lots of people insist that you shouldn't change the recipe.

But surely juicing and rinding the orange has to be better than shoving all that pith in? And surely a proper yeast will be better than bread yeast?

If not, what bread yeast should I use in the UK? The recipes I've seen call for Fleismanns, but I've never seen that here. What do you use?

 

[Bearmaul]

Really?
I am planning to give JAOM a try and have seen lots of people insist that you shouldn't change the recipe.

But surely juicing and rinding the orange has to be better than shoving all that pith in? And surely a proper yeast will be better than bread yeast?

If not, what bread yeast should I use in the UK? The recipes I've seen call for Fleismanns, but I've never seen that here. What do you use?

The JAOM recipe is specifically made to balance bitterness, fruit flavor, and sweetness. If you leave out the pith it'll be too sweet. If you use a real wine yeast it'll ferment too bitter. The recipe is tried and true and with very very very minimal exceptions it should not be deviated from.

I imagine there isn't a whole hell of a lot of difference between US bread yeasts and UK bread yeasts. I'm not familiar with the brands over there but any plain old bread yeast should do the job.

 

[fatbloke]

Really?
I am planning to give JAOM a try and have seen lots of people insist that you shouldn't change the recipe.

But surely juicing and rinding the orange has to be better than shoving all that pith in? And surely a proper yeast will be better than bread yeast?

If not, what bread yeast should I use in the UK? The recipes I've seen call for Fleismanns, but I've never seen that here. What do you use?

So, Bearmaul has pretty much hit the nail on the head. Its quite easy to make a batch of this using easily obtained ingredients from the supermarket etc.

Equally, because Joe is in the US, he's used locally available materials. While it would seem that even the smallest deviation would be voiding the warranty, yet we don't have the choice here do we (did you put a base location on your profile ? ).

The first batch I made was, or so I thought, as close to benchmark. I was wrong. It came out fine but I'd used tescos own basic bread yeast and even worse, I hadn't allowed for the difference between US and Imperial gallons. So I ended up making 20% or so more but less sweet.

I've done it with tescos and co-op own brand yeast as well as allinsons.

Ive used wine yeast, I've used more cloves, etc etc.....

If the batch goes dry (as with wine yeast regularly), then the flavour is focused on the pith bitterness which would routinely be balanced by the residual sweetness in a batch made with bread yeast.

Now there's still some experimentation to be done and some has been. For instance, a JAO made normally but in an erhlenmeyer flask and on a stir plate found that it was possible for it to go dry etc etc.

I've done batches with different fruit. Lemon came out ok but lime wasn't good. Tangerine wasn't bitter enough as it came out very sweet.

So for as close to benchmark, you can get the correct honey but theres no reason why value brand shouldn't be fine. Branded or supermarket "normal" bread yeast and made up to 1 US gallon. The rest as per.....

 

[Tom128]

I am not a fan of JAOM like others it seems. I just got done with my first batch and while I enjoyed the simplicity I don't know if I will try it again. The orange pith taste is just...I can't even come up with a word for it...astonishingly, or offensively overpowering? It's not just strong, it's the only flavor I taste. The honey, a stick of cinnamon and 2 cloves don't even exist in the flavor. I am really hoping it gets better with age. The suggestion of not racking it and leaving the oranges in the entire time really bit me hard as well. I went to bottle it after it cleared and as soon as my racking cane made contact with the oranges they partially disintegrated and a thick cloud of sediment came off of them. Combined with the bread yeast that goes into suspension if you even look at it, I ended up not being able to bottle and moved it to another carboy. I will say while brewing it I found out how magical bentonite is at clearing up a cloudy must. I will make a post about that soon with pics because my experience seems to defy what I have read about it.

 

[fatbloke]

I am not a fan of JAOM like others it seems. I just got done with my first batch and while I enjoyed the simplicity I don't know if I will try it again. The orange pith taste is just...I can't even come up with a word for it...astonishingly, or offensively overpowering? It's not just strong, it's the only flavor I taste. The honey, a stick of cinnamon and 2 cloves don't even exist in the flavor. I am really hoping it gets better with age. The suggestion of not racking it and leaving the oranges in the entire time really bit me hard as well. I went to bottle it after it cleared and as soon as my racking cane made contact with the oranges they partially disintegrated and a thick cloud of sediment came off of them. Combined with the bread yeast that goes into suspension if you even look at it, I ended up not being able to bottle and moved it to another carboy. I will say while brewing it I found out how magical bentonite is at clearing up a cloudy must. I will make a post about that soon with pics because my experience seems to defy what I have read about it.

That's not the point......

It's recommended because its easy and predictable, repeatable etc etc.

No its not a perfect recipe but a tiny bit of research either here or gotmead would have explained about poor flocculation of bread yeast and what to do about it......

So its reasonable to continue to recommend it to the new mead maker...

 

[Tom128]

That's not the point......

It's recommended because its easy and predictable, repeatable etc etc.

No its not a perfect recipe but a tiny bit of research either here or gotmead would have explained about poor flocculation of bread yeast and what to do about it......

So its reasonable to continue to recommend it to the new mead maker...

Okay...I'm not allowed to post my experience with the recipe if it's not positive? No need to belittle about lack of research. I was fully aware of the bread yeast. That wasn't my point, my comment on the bread yeast was a side comment...

My point was that the mead cleared very nicely but the oranges had partially disintegrated into a thick cloud upon being touched when I went to bottle it. On top of that the flavor of the orange pith was far stronger than the threads here and at gotmead suggested. I suspect the flavor issues and the deteriorated fruit were related/the same.

I agree the recipe is easy but my experience provides a case that it may not always be predictable. I wanted to share my experience and state that a very small change, racking off the fruit once before the oranges deteriorated so much, could save some trouble.

 

[Lungus]

Did you wait until the oranges dropped or did you push your racking cane down through the floating fruit? I purposefully looked for oranges with thin skins to avoid excess bitterness and hopefully it will be fairly drinkable in 4 months.

 

[fatbloke]

Okay...I'm not allowed to post my experience with the recipe if it's not positive? No need to belittle about lack of research. I was fully aware of the bread yeast. That wasn't my point, my comment on the bread yeast was a side comment...

My point was that the mead cleared very nicely but the oranges had partially disintegrated into a thick cloud upon being touched when I went to bottle it. On top of that the flavor of the orange pith was far stronger than the threads here and at gotmead suggested. I suspect the flavor issues and the deteriorated fruit were related/the same.

I agree the recipe is easy but my experience provides a case that it may not always be predictable. I wanted to share my experience and state that a very small change, racking off the fruit once before the oranges deteriorated so much, could save some trouble.

It would seem that we've both missed each others point then.......

This isn't a thread about JAO per se, it's about suggesting a batch that could be made now and most likely ready by christmas, which is why I alluded to your response being "not the point". Of course it's pertinent, but in a thread specifically discussing the merits of the JAO recipe.

I'm sorry if you felt offended, that wasn't my intention.

back to the main thrust of the thread.....

There aren't many recipes that could be ready by crimbo. I understand that another of Joe Mattioli's recipes is also "reasonably" quick, the "Quick Pyment" recipe.

Like the JAO, the Quick Pyment is probably worthy of consideration too.......

 

[Trenchfoot]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will give JOAM a shot using Tesco honey and Tesco bread yeast. Thanks for the reminder about imperial gallons. Would have definitely cocked that up if you hadn't mentioned it. Hopefully I'll have something drinkable for Christmas.

 

[fatbloke]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will give JOAM a shot using Tesco honey and Tesco bread yeast. Thanks for the reminder about imperial gallons. Would have definitely cocked that up if you hadn't mentioned it. Hopefully I'll have something drinkable for Christmas.

Good on yer.....

Just remember, as Tom128 mentioned, bread yeast is a bit of a swine. It'll come back into suspension if it thinks you've looked at it funny...

 

[Goofynewfie]

I have made both jaom and jqgm, and would reccomend the jqgm if you want one for xmas. also you can choose between a Concorde and white grape for it

 

[BerserkerBrewer]

I used allisonns bread yeast. I am in uk. It is a bit stronger than the american bread yeast. Dont get bread yeast designed for breadmaker machines though.
I use bentonite and add at the beginning. The difference is amazing. Most melomels are clear within a week after racking off the fruit. And i split my fruit to 50 50 for primary and secondary .
If you do a short mead. Leave as long as you can in the bulk . Bottle a week before xmas as that will help mature it a little. I bulk age my meads 1~2 years . I do 14 us.gal batches. 54 Lites in uk. Once rack in to final carboy. I start degassing. I usse a mattress pump camping thing. Just sucks it out. Degas will help in clearing the smallest sediment. And then i filter. Polish it really. But it shows in the end. Good luck with your brew. Pm me with questions if you have any

 

[fatbloke]

I used allisonns bread yeast. I am in uk. It is a bit stronger than the american bread yeast. Dont get bread yeast designed for breadmaker machines though.
I use bentonite and add at the beginning. The difference is amazing. Most melomels are clear within a week after racking off the fruit. And i split my fruit to 50 50 for primary and secondary .
If you do a short mead. Leave as long as you can in the bulk . Bottle a week before xmas as that will help mature it a little. I bulk age my meads 1~2 years . I do 14 us.gal batches. 54 Lites in uk. Once rack in to final carboy. I start degassing. I usse a mattress pump camping thing. Just sucks it out. Degas will help in clearing the smallest sediment. And then i filter. Polish it really. But it shows in the end. Good luck with your brew. Pm me with questions if you have any

See I've used allinsons, hovis, tesco and co-op for JAO batches, and apart from the balls up of making it 1 imp gallon instead of 1 US gallon I find the lees is alway vvv fluffy with bread yeast.

Whenther your bentonite up front trick might help when using the JAO method I don't know, it certainly does when using conventional technique.....but wine yeasts flocculate better anyway.

It's a bit like, I've read where people have done show meads but on a stir plate, and had them ferment close to dry, which is pretty much unheard of making show meads normally.....

Maybe we'd get a better result if JAO was made using a stir plate ? like would it reduce some of the atomic charge that can stop some types of mead clearing or just do the same thing with knocking as much of the dissolved CO2 out of it or some other theoretical improvement or would it just ferment it too dry and give the same result as using wine yeast i.e. a dry overly bitter tasting brew that has to be stabilised before back sweetened to correct ?

Ah....so many possible experiments, so little time and money for kit and honey to experiment with.......

 

[fatbloke]

I have made both jaom and jqgm, and would reccomend the jqgm if you want one for xmas. also you can choose between a Concorde and white grape for it

Only reason I haven't made the JQGM recipe is that it's not easy to get decent buckwheat honey. The other stuff fine but the BW is a f***** to find......

But many people seem to rate it as very good.....

 

[Goofynewfie]

Only reason I haven't made the JQGM recipe is that it's not easy to get decent buckwheat honey. The other stuff fine but the BW is a f***** to find......

But many people seem to rate it as very good.....

I'm lucky, buckwheat is very easy to find and fairly cheap around here. but if I'm making a batch and I don't have it I just substitute a different different one.