JAOM Water Amount/First Mead Question

[Mithro]

I have a question about the water amount I used for the recipe... I put about a half gallon in to mix with 3 1/2 pounds of honey, by the time I put the honey/water mixture and all the ingredients in there, I only needed another 1/4 to fill up my gallon carboy all the way.

I did some calculations and I have just over 1/4th of a gallon of water that has gone unused(recipe calls for gallon), I watched a video of someone with a similar recipe and they barely had any water left after the whole process.

Am I doing something wrong? I'd hate to fail at making such a simple mead, not sure if I did, though.

Thanks in advance for answering my question, everyone.

 

[fatbloke]

I have a question about the water amount I used for the recipe... I put about a half gallon in to mix with 3 1/2 pounds of honey, by the time I put the honey/water mixture and all the ingredients in there, I only needed another 1/4 to fill up my gallon carboy all the way.

I did some calculations and I have just over 1/4th of a gallon of water that has gone unused(recipe calls for gallon), I watched a video of someone with a similar recipe and they barely had any water left after the whole process.

Am I doing something wrong? I'd hate to fail at making such a simple mead, not sure if I did, though.

Thanks in advance for answering my question, everyone.

From Gotmead......

Joe’s Ancient Orange and Spice Mead

A little caveat before we continue. This recipe flies in the face of just about all standard brewing methods used to make consistent and good Meads. It was created by Joe Mattioli to make a fast and tasty drink out of ingredients found in most kitchens. It is therefore perfect for the beginner, which has resulted in it being perhaps the most popular Mead recipe available on the internet. As Joe himself says “It is so simple to make and you can make it without much equipment and with a multitude of variations. This could be a first Mead for the novice as it is almost foolproof. It is a bit unorthodox but it has never failed me or the friends I have shared it with. (snip)...it will be sweet, complex and tasty.” Follow the instructions exactly as provided and you cannot go wrong. If you want to make larger batches, just scale up the recipe keeping all ingredients in the same proportion.

1 gallon batch

3 1/2 lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 Large orange (later cut in eights or smaller, rind and all)
1 small handful of raisins (25 if you count but more or less ok)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove ( or 2 if you like - these are potent critters)
optional - a pinch of nutmeg and allspice (very small )
1 teaspoon of Fleishmann’s bread yeast ( now don't get holy on me--- after all this is an ancient mead and that's all we had back then)
Balance water to one gallon

Process:

Use a clean 1 gallon carboy

Dissolve honey in some warm water and put in carboy

Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights --add orange (you can push em through opening big boy -- rinds included -- its ok for this mead -- take my word for it -- ignore the experts)

Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water. ( need room for some foam -- you can top off with more water after the first few days frenzy)

Shake the heck out of the jug with top on, of course. This is your sophisticated aeration process.

When at room temperature in your kitchen, put in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. ( No you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary-- just put it in and give it a gentle swirl or not)(The yeast can fight for their own territory)

Install water airlock. Put in dark place. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's - wait 3 hours before you panic or call me) After major foaming stops in a few days add some water and then keep your hands off of it. (Don't shake it! Don't mess with them yeastees! Let them alone except its okay to open your cabinet to smell every once in a while.

Racking --- Don't you dare
additional feeding --- NO NO
More stirring or shaking -- Your not listening, don't touch

After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. (How about that, you are not so important after all) Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and siphon off the golden nectar. If you wait long enough even the oranges will sink to the bottom but I never waited that long. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. (Like in a cabinet), likes a little heat (70-80). If it didn't work out... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions (or used grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away) . If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated.
If you were successful, which I am 99% certain you will be, then enjoy your mead. When you get ready to make different mead you will probably have to unlearn some of these practices I have taught you, but hey--- This recipe and procedure works with these ingredients so don't knock it. It was your first mead. It was my tenth. Sometimes, even the experts can forget all they know and make good ancient mead.

And there you have it. You have made your first Mead. Now come the steps that must be followed to make a good, and eventually a great Mead.

I've highlighted the relevant line in bold text........

So at the moment, you're spot on.......

Actually, I'd mix it up so that it's up to the neck of the jar/carboy/whatever, then before pitching the yeast, I'd remove 2 pints of liquid, and reserve that in a pop/soda bottle in a fridge.

Why ? Well you'll find out that making it right up to the shoulders straight off, is most likely to get it foaming out the airlock. Batches with fruit will often foam a hell of a lot. If you have some expansion space, it can foam, hopefully without coming out the airlock, or at least you lose only a tiny amount.

Then once it's slowing down, after 2 or 3 weeks, a month even, you just gently add the reserved bit back in, being careful not to let it foam up and out, then once the reserved portion is back in, just leave it to do it's thing and drop clear/fruit too drop etc.......

If you notice, Joe already suggests that it's a 1 gallon batch, but says about leaving some space. I just prefer to do that part as above, as it achieves the same thing.......

 

[Mithro]

From Gotmead......

I've highlighted the relevant line in bold text........

So at the moment, you're spot on.......

Actually, I'd mix it up so that it's up to the neck of the jar/carboy/whatever, then before pitching the yeast, I'd remove 2 pints of liquid, and reserve that in a pop/soda bottle in a fridge.

Why ? Well you'll find out that making it right up to the shoulders straight off, is most likely to get it foaming out the airlock. Batches with fruit will often foam a hell of a lot. If you have some expansion space, it can foam, hopefully without coming out the airlock, or at least you lose only a tiny amount.

Then once it's slowing down, after 2 or 3 weeks, a month even, you just gently add the reserved bit back in, being careful not to let it foam up and out, then once the reserved portion is back in, just leave it to do it's thing and drop clear/fruit too drop etc.......

If you notice, Joe already suggests that it's a 1 gallon batch, but says about leaving some space. I just prefer to do that part as above, as it achieves the same thing.......

Thanks for the advice, man, I thought I might have been overreacting about the amount of leftover water after I created this thread. I just want my first mead to come out great, I'm making it for a group of friends.

 

[fatbloke]

Thanks for the advice, man, I thought I might have been overreacting about the amount of leftover water after I created this thread. I just want my first mead to come out great, I'm making it for a group of friends.

Well as Joe said, follow the destructions as closely as possible and you can't go wrong.

Hell even I managed to screw up my first one, I naturally made it to 1 gallon, but 1 imp gallon not 1 US gallon. It still came out sweet enough to my taste, so nothing lost......and I get what ? about 20% more mead......

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

To 20% more mead!

 

[Lungus]

I made mine with an Imperial gallon too but I was pretty liberal with the honey so it should be alright.