I started a gallon today. It should be ready in early February. Get off your asses and make some

Ancient Orange Mead (by Joe Mattioli)
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 day 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.

Tag because I recently found out that I like mead.

ETA  I got my carboy and the top that allows excess gases to vent today.

I will get my honey tomorrow, it will be as natural as possible. Fortunately there are quite a few beekeepers local to me.

I've got 5 gallons that have been in the secondary for about 1 year.  I need to bottle it...

Then 5 more gallons of a leap year mead, a Bochet - started Feb 29, 2016, and will be ready to drink Feb 29, 2020.

awesome!

Why do you need to wait 4 years?

It's the whole purpose of a "Leap Year Mead" ... make it on leap day one year, then sample the first bottle on the next leap day.  It probably doesn't need to wait the full 4 years, but a high gravity bochet like I made should do well with age, and will not reach it's full potential if drank young (generally considered under one year), and only gets better with age, up to a limit.

Edit: A JOAM, like OP made, will be drinkable much earlier (about as soon as it drops clear), but will still improve with a year or two of age.

I am gonna do this tomorrow.

That's pretty clear. I've got to try that. Digging the oranges out should be fun tho. Lol

Oh I've got one, I'm just thinking pulling orange sections thru that little neck will be fun. Nothing a coat hanger can't fix I'm sure

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B014T3LHFA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1



is the the correct setup? If so I am so doing this.

That will work

I started my first two one-gallon batches about a month ago just waiting...

So tempted...

Question: is there any harm in just letting it sit there for another month or two as-is, or should it be racked (? not up on brewing terminology) to another vessel to separate it from the solids?  Is there any point where you absolutely have to get the solids out? Either way, is there any benefit to doing so?

Got it going on the 17th.  Never saw a frenzy of activity, but it has been bubbling steadily since.

I’m lazy , I’m going to make a mead for next winter . I got 14 pounds of local honey , just bought a wine stir stick that goes in the drill . I want to make a sweet mead . Is 3 pounds per gallon good enough or use a little more? I’m not going to be adding fruit to this one.

My son’s buddy raises bees-

Ok fuck it, im trying it...

Worst case, will I be laughed out of Valhalla for poisoning myself with bad mead?

I think it’s d-47

It's -13* outside. I'm not at work so I thought it would be a good day to mix up a batch. Started bubbling about fifteen minutes after I put the air lock on Attached File

Have you done the before/after measurements to get a ABV range on this particular recipe? How tough is mom’s bread yeast?

Just checked my SG and it was 1.096. I actually added about 4 lbs of honey because the container was almost empty so I finished it off. We'll see how hardy bread yeast really is in a few weeks

Yeah absolutely. Stabilize and backsweeten to your tastes.
After fermentation is done, you add Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Metabisulfite, you can find these at any homebrew shop or on amazon, morewine, etc.

Take a gravity reading*. A lot of people like mead at 1.020 or higher.

*you can do this with a thief and a hydrometer.

If your gravity reading is 1.008 for example, you can roughly calculate how much honey you'll need to hit whatever gravity you are looking for. It's fun to experiment.

Also, if you are using D-47 and not bread yeast, I would recommend hitting this up with some yeast nutrients as well.

But, then your not really making JAOM, which is fine. :)

Well, there is yeast autolysis, which is yeast death. Dead yeast can add off-flavors to your mead, wine, or beer.
So most mead experts recommend at a minimum that you rack your mead off the lees (that is, yeast and particulates) after the yeast has dropped out, if not sooner. It also aids the process of clearing, obviously.
Since the first racking generally doesn't remove all yeast, a second racking is often used.

Also sorbate/sulfite can help protect your mead from oxygen for long-term aging. Minimizing headspace in your storage vessel, and eliminating leaks (solid bung) are also important.

14 lbs of honey.
What size of fermenters do you have- and how many?

Do you have yeast nutrient?
The stir stick for the drill is a fantastic tool with many uses.

1) mix honey and water before yeast pitch
2) aerate must before yeast pitch
3) degass mead, especially critical in the first 4 days, and after fermentation is complete
4) Mixing in yeast nutrients, stabilizing agents, or clearing agents like Superkleer
5) Mixing honey in (carefully) to backsweeten after stabilization

If you want to make a sweet mead, the most reliable way it hold back some of your honey and add them after fermentation is complete and you have added sorbate and sulfite.

Are there any easy sources for getting started with this stuff? I’m talking a total retard’s guide...

If I can hit up my son’s buddy for a few pounds of raw honey I might use the recipe above just for the fuck of it, but anything with doing is worth overdoing...

I have both 3 and 6.5 gallon fermenters , I do have the stir stick and yeast nutrients

The JAOM recipe OP posted is one of the easiest recipes.  Post up questions, and someone knowledgeable will answer them.

The Amazon fairies dropped me off a gift.  



Tomorrow after work I'm going to do some goodie shopping

eta

So does the valve doohicky fill itself with water/whatever or do I need to fill it with some?

You need to fill it.  I usually use Vodka.  Fill no higher than the "max" lines.  It is easier to fill before you put it in the bung.

Mine is still bubbling, the off gassing smells like oranges.

1.096? Holy shit!

Yeah, went a little crazy. I'm going top off the jug and will see what happens

My favorite home brew. I wonder if I have any stashed in the basement somewhere...

That's not that much for mead, or wine even. I recently started a batch of pyment off at 1.130 and later did a step addition bringing the OG (effectively) to 1.144.  It's currently at 16.4% ABV and rising. It's going to end up a dessert wine type thing.

What final gravity are you shooting for?

Hmm. I will have to taste it and see how it's doing, but probably 1.040 to 1.055.

The real monkeywrench in the plans is I am fermenting with real fruit. It's very difficult to determine how much sugar is extracted from your fruit, also the volume change can be hard to note.

Ohhhhh.

I'm used to doing cider and start it around 1.065 and consider it finished at .995 or lower.

Yeah most of my stuff I backsweeten to taste. I made cider a few times and never really liked how it turned out.

you should try making a cyser sometime- make it like an ice-wine or late harvest Riesling.

I'd like to try making wine.

I add several pounds of brown sugar to the juice, and I have thought of adding honey. I didn't know till just now that's what cyser is.

I started another gallon today, used sliced strawberries instead of oranges.  First batch is still bubbling!

ETA:  1# of frozen sliced from wallyworld.  I think the next batch will be blueberry.  Easy and fun.

I've done ciders with both honey and belgian candy syrup
turned out well