JAOM Taste Help

[Jorb]

I put together 5 gallons of JAOM in December of last year using the traditional recipe, bread yeast and all. After 2.5 months I racked it into a secondary fermenter. This weekend, after just over 7 months in secondary, I racked it into a keg to continue aging.

At the 2.5 month mark it had a very bitter flavor, definitely from the orange pith. It's 10 months old now and the bitterness has diminished some but it's still there. The spice flavors are hiding behind the bitterness. It's relatively dry, not sweet at all. I also detect some kind of yeasty flavor that is not pleasant. This does not fit the description for JAOM.

Is this something that I should let age fix? I've also heard that if the JAOM gets too dry the flavor profile isn't right. Should I back sweeten?

 

[Maylar]

Normally, if you used the recipe exactly as written you start with a specific gravity of 1.125 - 1.130 and finish at 1.015 - 1.020. The residual sweetness balances the bitterness of the orange pith. Bitterness never really ages out, I don't know how to fix that - except maybe by sweetening more. I've read that sweetness less than about 1.010 is not an enjoyable JAOM.

What is your final gravity now? (You do have a hydrometer, right?)

 

[Jorb]

Well there's my problem. I pulled a sample tonight and it measured 0.994-ish. Luckily I had some honey simple syrup on hand so I sweetened it up to 1.020. Wow, what a difference. I will back sweeten the whole batch and let it continue aging.

 

[Baabaad00]

Initially, I started by making the popular recipes, like traditional mead (digby's traditional recipe-which is awesome) and JAOM. After reading more indepth on many forums, it seems like JAOM is not made much after more experience is gained because of exactly what you state. I've been letting mine age before I judge it. But, if it comes out as you describe, which is my guess based on the initial samples (i could be wrong), I won't be making it again.

I've been told:

1. never use bread yeast
2. never add the orange pitch ever...zest your citrus fruits all day long, but don't add the pith
3. SNA/be kind to your yeast/starter/pitch heavy

So far that advise it treating me well based on my early samples of my corrected batches.

Overall tho...final judgement pending IMHO.