Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

I'm curious why people say you can't use a better yeast for this... I mean, because it will dry out too much? Can't you just tweak it a bit? Maybe backsweeten it if it dries out? Don't use the pith at all? I made a batch using bread yeast and I still cut the zest off in large strips and just used the juice, none of the pith. I know that what I'm suggesting makes it more complicated for a new mead maker and the idea is to keep it super easy, but I just want to make something a little better. My first batch is so hot after almost 3 months now, I still can't drink it. Maybe a different yeast would still take as long anyway?

I just make it because it is simple.

If I had to piss around with it, I wouldn't bother making it.

I can appreciate that. But, right now mine is undrinkable. It tastes pretty good, if it just wasn't so damn hot with alcohol.

Put it away and forget about it for a few more months.

That is really all there is to it. And CGVT correct me if I am talking under school... but age it under airlock NOT under a screw cap... you lose too much O2... under an airlock you are good for quite a long while...

CreamyGoodness said:

That is really all there is to it. And CGVT correct me if I am talking under school... but age it under airlock NOT under a screw cap... you lose too much O2... under an airlock you are good for quite a long while...

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Ha! I don't know. I have mine sealed with a plastic bag and a rubber band right now.

I've only made a couple batches, but at 3 months my first batch was so hot I though I was drinking lighter fluid. I let it sit for a couple more months before bottling and when I tasted it when I bottled it was starting to get good.(good enough that I started a 4 gallon batch) I figure a few more months it is going to be some pretty good stuff. I also figured it was a long time to wait for less than a gallon of anything, so I decided to make the 4 gallon batch.

For whatever reason I thought you had made more batches of JAOM than I had. You have definitely made more beer!

After 5 months and a few weeks the fruit has dropped. It is still cloudy though, should I wait longer, or is it probably not going to clear at this point? I do have some super kleer. I don't have a problem with letting it age longer, but I don't want to leave it on the fruit too long and get bad flavors from that.

Sounds to me like you might have jostled the fermenter a wee bit and kicked the lees back into solution (sooo easy to do with breadyeast). If thats the case give it a week or two and see where you are then. If it doesnt clear by then, I dont see any issue with racking and fining.

My mead that was made on 17 Feb is crystal clear now. But should I wait until the 17 th to bottle or bottle now? It's so close now that I am impatient. Also the fruit hasn't dropped yet

I made my batch jan 28 and it still is a little hazy but the fruit has dropped. Should I just wait until the end of this month (3rd month)? Has anyone racked jao? I know wife wont try it unless its crystal clear lol.

CreamyGoodness said:

I'm glad you didnt use the orange pithe with the D47. Keep us posted on the side by side when its done!

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I read the first 60 pages of this thread before I started, seemed like a good idea to me.

the standard is all but clear and I'm still about 2 weeks out from the 2 month mark.

the D47 is starting to clear but still seems to be having a little fermenting action going on. still got some bubbling going on in the airlock.

I'm hoping these turn out well as I'm already plotting my next two batches. one with blueberry vanilla and a little buckwheat honey. and one with strawberry for the [soon to be] wife. they'd both be reach about 6 months of age right around our wedding date.

a picture of them on creation day.

Question for the group:

My 1st JAOM 1 gallon jug is pretty clear, but the fruit is still floating. It's been sitting in a dark closet for 3 months and change. How is the best way to sample it without contaminating it? If it is still not ready, do I leave it on the yeast some more? Or bottle it and let it age in a capped bottle?

I plan on making this tonight. I'm going to do a 2 gallon batch, so I doubled my ingredients. A couple of questions.


Will a bubbler airlock be ok to use if I'm putting this in a 3 gallon better bottle?

I see 1 or two cloves for the recipe, so how many is "one or two"? I had to get these kinds of cloves.



Is it actually just "one clove"? These things are tinier than I was expecting! Is the Allspice the same thing (I got whole allspice)?

Yes sir... those little guys are POTENT. I would say just ONE honestly!!

As for allspice, I'd crush up one allspice berry good and add. They are kind of strong as well, but nearly as much so as the cloves!

This is going to be an interesting mead. I put in 4-5 cloves and a "pinch" (3-4 unbroken pieces of allspice) for my 2 gallon batch.

Yay! My 3-gallon batch (started Feb 2) is newspaper-clear, one raisin (now looks like a slightly dehydrated grape) has fallen, but there are still some bubbles rising. Should be ready to bottle soon, no?

So, I made my first batch of this 4.5 weeks ago and I have a few questions. I followed the recipe exactly as written except i used some kind of generic amish bread yeast.

As it sits right now it is crystal clear. Should I bottle it now? Should I rack it off the fruit and let it sit the full two months before I bottle it? Should I stop being so impatient and let it sit on the fruit for two months? If I let it sit on the fruit for two months, should I rack it again and let it sit for another week or two to make sure I dont get any lees in my bottles?

Yesfan said:

This is going to be an interesting mead. I put in 4-5 cloves and a "pinch" (3-4 unbroken pieces of allspice) for my 2 gallon batch.

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Well, I suspect it will be rather clovey. Live and learn .

Hello I am concerned about a bottle of Joe's Ancient Orange Mead I stared on March 9th. I started a new batch tonight and when I weight out the honey I think I shorted the amount in the first batch. I measured out 3 1/2 pounds of honey for the first batch, but I did not weigh it but used the ounces on the bottle and put in an amount to 56 ounces. I problem is I am not sure if 56 ounces will equal 3 1/2 pounds. How does anyone think this will turn out and is there anything I can do to it?
Second thing is I looked at the bottle tonight and there is a white layer on the inside of the bottle and some white stuff on the fruit, is that normal or is there something wrong with the batch. This is my first try at this and I know it has only been 1 month but just wondering if I should dump it and start over?

Thanks
Tim

Hey Tim,
I found a conversion site and it shows 56oz = 3lb 8.0000oz, or 3.5 pounds. it's http://www.metric-conversions.org/weight/ounces-to-pounds.htm if you wwant to double check. The honey should be fine. As for the white stuff, I have the same on mine. It seems to be a layer of yeast that gets stuck on the fruit. I just gently shook up the must a bit and washed the layer of white into the remainder. I know we're not suppose to touch it or shake it, but it does work. infact my should be ready next week. I just looked at it and it is really starting to clear up. I also have two orange slices that have dropped so far.

CreamyGoodness said:

Well, I suspect it will be rather clovey. Live and learn .

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Yeah, no kidding. I guess mine is "Joe's Ancient Clovey Mead"

Hi all

I made a mead on the 17th of feb and about a week ago it was completely see through. I moved it to a new location so that I could bottle soon and now all of a sudden it is producing small bubbles like it is carbonated or some such thing. At this stage last week there was no motion or bubbles. What should I do about this and does this mean that it will need more time for the ferment before going into bottles

Probably just needs to degas a little. Stir it and then let it set a few more days

Speaking of bottles: if I don't degas my mead should I put it into beer bottles or would wine bottles be ok? This is my first wine and I am under the impression that not degassing can lead to issues with the corks staying put. Could I get around that by using screw top wine bottles?

Well, I finally got a hydrometer. However my 3-gal batch is almost finished. Still a few bubbles, but it's newspaper-clear and fruit is dropping. How do I check the alcohol content now?

I used 3 lbs/gal. Of honey in a recent batch instead of 3 1/2 lbs. will I be okay?

You can always backsweeten if to dry and the bitterness etc is to forward?
Mine is taking forever. Still steadily bubbling away 6 weeks in.
Surely such a slow fermentation is a sign I will end up with a stressed hot mead when done.

Anyone use an ale yeast for this? Read a recipe once for a "quick mead" that was supposed to be drinkable in a month or so. It used a beer yeast, I think ale. I can't find the recipe but it had orange, clove, cinimon etc.

I would like to try a mead but don't want to wait till Christmas to find out its worth. In fact I'd like to know sooner so that if it's really good I'd make 5 gal and give it to friends for Christmas.

I have batches going side by side with bread yeast and s-33 to see the difference, but it's not ready yet so I can't give any real help other than the s-33 started out violently.

I made my first batch of this 3.5 months ago and its finally cleared and starting to get drinkable. Still hot but I think another month or so, bottled and chilled it will be ready for consumption. I don't see any way that this recipe can be ready in only 2 months.

I am a newbie to jaom. Started a batch about 2 months ago. Fruit has not dropped yet. I guess it needs to clear more? Is this like wine where u should be able to read print through it? Getting anxious to bottle and taste.

Yes you should be able to read a newspaper through it when it is done. I have tasted and even drank it far earlier than that though when I was anxious. I dont recommend it, but Im certainly not going to call you nasty names.

Will the fruit drop at that point? Sides of the jug has some stuff on it where may be difficult to read newspaper through it ever. Just wondering. Thanks again for the responses.

HowlerMonkey said:

I'm doing an experiment! Each jug is exactly the same (as best as I can control for) and follows the recipe, except for how I'm using the orange:

1. In one jug, I cut the orange up and shoved it in as per the recipe directions (with the rind and all).
2. In the other jug, I've peeled the zest from the orange with a vegetable peeler, put the zest in, removed pith from the orange, and then sliced the rest of the orange and shoved it in.

This test should show if the orange pith adds an off flavor to the mead. I've even gone to the length of using half of an orange in each jug, so that I can avoid the problem of one orange just being tastier than the other. The only problem I found is that shoving the orange slices with the rind on was a tighter squeeze, so I lost a bit more of the orange juice in the process. Hopefully that doesn't ruin my experiment.

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Hi HowlerMonkey, just wondering how your experiment is going. I am going to start my first mead this weekend and wondering which road to go down. I am leaning toward just adding the orange zest and juice.

jkrug said:

Will the fruit drop at that point? Sides of the jug has some stuff on it where may be difficult to read newspaper through it ever. Just wondering. Thanks again for the responses.

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It really depends. I have had clear mead with the fruit still on top, and I have had mead where the fruit dropped and the mead still needed to clear. It really varies.

SirVilhelm said:

Hi HowlerMonkey, just wondering how your experiment is going. I am going to start my first mead this weekend and wondering which road to go down. I am leaning toward just adding the orange zest and juice.

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I have not tasted them yet, so I have no idea if there is a flavor difference. I will be bottling these two gallons this weekend, though, so I'll taste them then.

I think there was an unexpected original gravity difference between the two, but it might have been a problem of the honey not fully dissolved and settling faster in the first gallon I filled. Otherwise, they should be different only by the pith. I'm quite curious to taste the difference myself. I'll be sure to update.

beergears said:

How much alcohol should this produce...?

My batch should be ready near the time of a family gathering, next month, and am tempted to take some there, but don't want to turn the event into an Irish funeral..

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your thinking of a wake we're hungover for the funeral

JohanMk1 said:

I finally got to bottle and taste my first batch that i made at the beginning of September.

Surprisingly good, but a lot drier than I expected. I think the bread yeast that I used may attenuate a bit further than Fleishmann’s. I'm now on a mission to find Fleishmann’s here in South Africa.

I've also tracked down a better source for honey, so the next batch will be 5 or 6 gallons

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It's been mellowing in a dark place since the quoted post.(12/28/2012)

I caved and opened a bottle this evening after dinner.




The "cloudiness" is condensation.

This is my first attempt at any form of mead at all and I have never previously tasted mead.

It has mellowed substantially, the spices are certainly moving back and allowing the mead to step forward.

Trenchfoot said:

I am thinking of making JAOM for the first time, but one thing puzzles me - how do you get the orange and all the other crap out of carboy afterwards?! Is it easier than I think?

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I just turn mine upside down and use my fingers, but I only make 1 gallon batches