Jao The Ultimate Beginners Mead Recipe

[Chookers]

I scaled this recipe down so far, I only got 1x750ml bottle full.. in total it probably would have come to 800ml. I used 500g of rainforest honey and the lowan brand of yeast in the cylinder.

I did such a small batch for two reasons, one incase I didnt like it and two even if it was as good as everyone says, sweet wines are'nt usually to my taste..

I was surprised how clear it came out and how blonde, as the honey I used was quite dark.. and this recipe performed exactly as said it would.. cleared in its last week.. and tastes lovely. I like it despite its sweetness and would catagorise it as a sweet sherry or port.

If I was to make it again in these small quantities I would put two clove buds, I use one clove in my scaled down version as its impossible to scale a clove and took a chance that it would'nt over power the mead..

Its a nice drop and in time for Christmas..

 

[KudaPucat]

Well done!
I only wish mine could be ready for Christmas :-(
Some raisins began to drop today, but I fear it wont be ready :-( it's still cloudy.
Such envy I am experiencing. Congrats

 

[Golani51]

I put down this Jao recipe on 22/6/2010 and there are a few floaties on the surface... I tried to take some pics but it is hard through glass.

The mead is otherwise crystal clear - is it normal for bits on the surface? If it was beer I wouldn't even pose the question. I haven't tasted it, nor opened it to smell, it has been closed up since it was made.

I plan to bottle it this weekend, so will find out how it tastes... Just a paranoid newbie

It might be trouble.........why don't you bottle it and I will let you know what I think. Make it two......better safe than sorry!

 

[Rodolphe01]

haha, turns out it is just fine, although I did have a bottle last night that tasted a wee bit sour... planing on having more tonight with the family so here's hoping it was just 1 dud bottle.

i put down 2 more batches 2 weeks ago, the same recipe but in 1 of them I put a few teaspoons of cocoa powder. we'll see, i reckon that the sweet spiced orange flavour will work with a hint of chocolate - it is intended for this time next year, hoping it will taste like european christmas in a bottle

 

[Chookers]

Well done!
I only wish mine could be ready for Christmas :-(
Some raisins began to drop today, but I fear it wont be ready :-( it's still cloudy.
Such envy I am experiencing. Congrats

haha thanks

when mine start to clear.. (I was checking it everyday btw) it cleared in one week. I could have left it longer but it was very clear and my orange slices were still floating.. now I gotta leave it alone until tomorrow.. and I have already had another 60ml out of it (I dont know what the alc% is but it made me feel a little fuzzy) Im thinking I may just have to do a full batch, after all I have an empty demi just sitting around.

 

[KudaPucat]

Well it's clear and drunk now. I have 2 new batches on
It was way too sweet for my liking, and the bread yeast was so fluffy that it made racking a right PITA.
Has anybody successfully used a commercial wine yeast as a substitute?
My bread yeast has a tolerance of almost 14% btw, and it was still too sweet, so I've dropped the OG in the next two batches, but I fear one will ferment completely dry, and I doubt that the flavours will work then.

 

[Chookers]

Well it's clear and drunk now. I have 2 new batches on
It was way too sweet for my liking, and the bread yeast was so fluffy that it made racking a right PITA.
Has anybody successfully used a commercial wine yeast as a substitute?
My bread yeast has a tolerance of almost 14% btw, and it was still too sweet, so I've dropped the OG in the next two batches, but I fear one will ferment completely dry, and I doubt that the flavours will work then.

I used EC-1118 and I used a cider yeast which was also recommended for mead, They both turned out DRY...

I have a smack pack of Wyeast 4184 for Sweet Mead, which I have'nt tried yet.

But after doing some reading Im starting to think the sweetness of your mead, may have more to do with the amount of Honey, rather than the yeast.. My JOAM was sweet but the honey to water ratio was also higher.. When I made my mead with EC-1118, I 1:4 (1L Honey to 3L Water) it was dry.. Im going to do a a 1L honey to 2L water and see how that turns out using the same yeasts again, I think I will also sdo one with beer yeast. As far as flavourings go I will never again boil them with the honey, I'll flavour in bottle and only one or two flavours, like clove and orange or cinnamon. My dry mead tastes like beer and I have no idea why.

 

[KudaPucat]

EC-1118 has an extremely high alcohol tolerance 18% Most bread yeast is 12% or so.
"Cidre Yeasts" are oft very high tolerance also.

Yeah. The honey was heavy and sweet, so following the weight suggestions, it therefore had a very high SG. My two next batches have differing amounts of honey in them as a test.

The dry mead that tastes like beer: is that the EC-1118 batch? I have a dry cidre from EC-1118 and I found it to have a very beery aftertaste, as well as a mango mel that I made.

I'm reliably told that given 6-9 months, the flavours will come back and that beery taste will diminish within the plethora of aromas and flavours.
Dry needs to age I'm told. Which is why the 'ready in 2 months JAO' is a sweet mead.

What I don't get is that all of my sweet meads are still cloudy, some months after the dry ones are clear... but that's a bit OT for the JAO thread.

 

[Tanga]

I'm going to bottle my JAO in the next few days. I didn't use this recipe, so I'm going to have to pasteurise, but the Lavlin D-47 worked really well, and didn't leave that medicinal aftertaste you usually get in a young mead. It will ferment out much too dry for this recipe, but if you do want to use a wine strength yeast I recommend this one. On doing some reading I've found that this seems to be the case for others as well.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Bottled my JAO and have tried it 2 weeks later.

I used Lowan's bread yeast (I put this specifically, so anyone else can search for it) - it obviously has a higher alcohol tolerance.

It turned out a bit like a white wine with fruitiness. I didn't use the raisins in the recipe, but did use some cardamom pods as they are sweetish.

It's really nice, but there isn't any sweetness - it turned out quite dry-ish, but subtlely so, if compared with a chardonnay, for arguments sake.

Conclusion therefore is Lowan's bread yeast has a higher abv tolerance.

I will use a beer yeast such as nottingham next time.

I was fortunate enough to obtain 4kg of honey at $7 a kilo from someone I met through my line of work who is an amateur apiarist.

Goomba

 

[Bribie G]

I notice that Brewer Pete hasn't posted since last July - I know he was building a new place somewhere and may have given up brewing / hives for the time being. Anyone been in contact?

 

[KudaPucat]

Goomba
Please be aware: abv is dependent on the amount of honey, amount of water, quality of honey, health of yeast etc.
The only way you can assume loans has a higher abv is to measure the gravity before and after.
Brewer Pete did a test and used lowans. I'm sure he'd have mentioned if it were highly tolerant. Check out his thread on JAO yeast off or whatever it was called
IMHO for some reason you had a lower grav must.
Also the raisins are so few that you wouldn't taste them. They're in the recipe as yeast fodder.
My yeast managed 13.5% and it was still sweet. Even using EC-1118 it still would have been semi sweet.

What were your honey to water measurements. I could estimate you SG from that, but all honeys are different.

 

[KudaPucat]

Yeah I have.

I've been in a hectic state for a while with no time and had to move and all my gear is in storage so I'll be facing yet another major move soon and might find it hard to get online over the next 3 months or so, but I'll be back soon enough!

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Goomba
Please be aware: abv is dependent on the amount of honey, amount of water, quality of honey, health of yeast etc.
The only way you can assume loans has a higher abv is to measure the gravity before and after.
Brewer Pete did a test and used lowans. I'm sure he'd have mentioned if it were highly tolerant. Check out his thread on JAO yeast off or whatever it was called
IMHO for some reason you had a lower grav must.
Also the raisins are so few that you wouldn't taste them. They're in the recipe as yeast fodder.
My yeast managed 13.5% and it was still sweet. Even using EC-1118 it still would have been semi sweet.

What were your honey to water measurements. I could estimate you SG from that, but all honeys are different.

It was a total of 15L from 4kg of honey, I went slightly under the 3.8L per kg suggested. I forgot to take a SG reading, so didn't bother with FG, but from the taste (having brewed other non-beer drinks), it'll be around .98 to 1.000. It is quite high in abv - very high - the alcohol taste is there and it packs a mean punch.

The other thing is that the weather here in Bris-vegas (not flooded, too high, but couldn't get to work for a week) has been unbelievably warm and humid. I pitched the yeast, with only minor aeration (taking into account the weather) and the yeast took like a rocket - I thought I was brewing beer for a minute.

Next time, to get a sweet batch, I'll choose a wine yeast with a specific alcohol tolerance.

It tastes great - but given I fairly well followed the recipe, gave myself a bit of leeway by reducing the amount of water by a couple of litres to get a slightly higher SG (just to reduce that possibility), I'm putting it down to the yeast brand. Plus some research on my friend google seems to indicate that Lowan's has a pretty high tolerance.

My OP was purely an FYI post.

 

[KudaPucat]

My OP was purely an FYI post.

I get that, but I just can't help discussing. ;-)

4kg of honey @ sg 1.4 (average) = 2.86 Litres.
So you had 15 - 2.86 = 12.14 litres of water = 12.14 kg so 16.14 kg with the honey.

16.14kg /15 litres = 1.076

So your SG by my calc was low. My bread yeast drops 100 points, as do most wine yeasts. So this must would have fermented out dry with all but a 6% or less yeast.

I will have to consult the recipe, but something here appears askew.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'd like to nail down the math in my head...

 

[moogusty]

not sure if i'm reading this right but I thought 3.8 litres required 1.6 kg of honey

 

[KudaPucat]

not sure if i'm reading this right but I thought 3.8 litres required 1.6 kg of honey

Provided the honey weighs 1.4kg/litre your values will give an OG of 1.120
Which is in the ballpark.
If your yeast like mine will drop 100 points, you'll het a semi-sweet mead.
If lower abv tolerant yeast is used like fleishmans then you'll get a desert wine finishing at more like 1.040

As bread yeast is not documented for brewing, you will need to test the alcohol tolerance yourself. Your second batch should be spot on how you like it if you took good notes the first time.

 

[moogusty]

just thinking perhaps raja was short on honey was all. 4kg to 15 litres seems short was guessing thats why the SG was low

 

[KudaPucat]

Ahh, I misunderstood, but agree wholeheartedly. His is a common rookie mistake of not measuring the gravity beforehand. That way you can know for sure.

 

[moogusty]

while we're on the subject though does anyone have preferred methods of consumption i.e straight up @ room temp or warmed on a cold night perhaps?
I only ask because i'm getting near to bottling time and i still have no idea what to expect or what is common place in mead drinking

 

[KudaPucat]

It's really up to personal preference. Generally I like a room temp wine, however if it's too sweet, then chilling it reduces your ability to perceive sweetness so it makes a refreshing drink.
I normally wouldn't drink anything warmed, unless it had a bucket load of spices in it.
Unfortunately you'll just have to try it and see.

 

[biggo]

This is a really good recipe, its the first one I ever tried and I was awesome.
At the time I got it form a different site. ^_^

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

You're right, I didn't take SG reading. My stupid mistake - I had a beer on at the same time, and this was just a cheap-ish experiment (I paid $7 per kg).

I've had two people drink half a bottle and not remember much the next day (one drinks a bottle of white, without any noticeable side effects). It is dry, it is high in abv. That I can assure you of.

So, notwithstanding my stupid mistake to not measure, and therefore throw the maths out (sorry), the fact that it is unbelievably potent still leads me to believe that the yeast attenuates higher than the specified variety.

Still, damn good, nonetheless. I'll make another dry and try a sweet at the same time.

Goomba

 

[KudaPucat]

<snip>

Still, damn good, nonetheless. I'll make another dry and try a sweet at the same time.

Goomba

I would attempt different sugar levels well before I changed to wine yeast. From my calculations, the ABV of your must would probably be simmilar to what a JAO should be, but you just had no residual sugar. I'd increase your honey by at least 50%.
Buy a hydrometer. ensure your must is >1.100 and <1.140 and I think you'll do well.

The other thing about mead is that it hits harder than many other alcohols. It gives a MEAN hangover.
@ 14% it acts a lot higher. This is hypothesised to be because especially in younger meads the fusels and other higher order alcohols that may be present have a more debilitating effect on the imbiber.
By the above logic, nicely aged mead should be as polite as commercial wine WRT hangovers and ability to knock you senseless

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I would attempt different sugar levels well before I changed to wine yeast. From my calculations, the ABV of your must would probably be simmilar to what a JAO should be, but you just had no residual sugar. I'd increase your honey by at least 50%.
Buy a hydrometer. ensure your must is >1.100 and <1.140 and I think you'll do well.

The other thing about mead is that it hits harder than many other alcohols. It gives a MEAN hangover.
@ 14% it acts a lot higher. This is hypothesised to be because especially in younger meads the fusels and other higher order alcohols that may be present have a more debilitating effect on the imbiber.
By the above logic, nicely aged mead should be as polite as commercial wine WRT hangovers and ability to knock you senseless

Thanks for the tip. I do have a hydrometer, but like I mentioned, I was in the middle of brewing beer at the same time, and didn't really give the attention to the mead I should have.

I didn't even think of the fact that there would be no residual, simply because all sugar was eaten up due to the thinness of the must. I suppose it is because I generally control the fermentability of beer with mash temps, something I don't have the capacity to do with mead so much.

I was going to get a 12% wine yeast, and see how I went, but I'll take a gravity reading and make sure it is in range, rather than just chucking it on.

Having said that - like I said, I've stumbled across a nice drink, that is cheap to make.

Hangover is mean - I've had one person (not me - I'm smart) tell me that. I've heard another theory relating to honey being naturally preservative, and therefore having a similar effect to sulphites. However I react to even a minor amount of preservative in alcohol, so that theory may be wrong.

Thanks again, much appreciated and hopefully this will educate others as well.

Goomba

 

[pete75]

Hi guys thanks for sharing your recipes and thoughts, I am about to make a small batch soon but have a question.
Are the oranges there for flavour or do they serve another purpose. Can I leave out the oranges altogether but keep the rest of the recipe the same or substitute for pineaple or pears.

Regards pete

 

[KudaPucat]

Hi guys thanks for sharing your recipes and thoughts, I am about to make a small batch soon but have a question.
Are the oranges there for flavour or do they serve another purpose. Can I leave out the oranges altogether but keep the rest of the recipe the same or substitute for pineaple or pears.

Regards pete

Simply: no. You can't.

This recipe is carefully balanced. It is designed by a meadher with mor skill and experience than anybody posting here in the last 6 months.
It is recommended that you try it as per recipe before you alter anything.
That being said, the answer to your question is: yes. The pith in the orange imparts bitterness to the mead, carefully offsetting the sweetness. If you cut the orange into quarters, it will be overpoweringly sweet. If you cut it into sixteenths it will be overpoweringly bitter.

Make the recipe, do some research, then try a modification. But don't change anything until you have a baseline, or else you might as well just experiment blindly from scratch.

The raisins also play a part in feeding the yeast nitrogen. They won't impart much flavor, as there's nit enough in the recipe for that.

 

[pete75]

Simply: no. You can't.

This recipe is carefully balanced. It is designed by a meadher with mor skill and experience than anybody posting here in the last 6 months.
It is recommended that you try it as per recipe before you alter anything.
That being said, the answer to your question is: yes. The pith in the orange imparts bitterness to the mead, carefully offsetting the sweetness. If you cut the orange into quarters, it will be overpoweringly sweet. If you cut it into sixteenths it will be overpoweringly bitter.

Make the recipe, do some research, then try a modification. But don't change anything until you have a baseline, or else you might as well just experiment blindly from scratch.

The raisins also play a part in feeding the yeast nitrogen. They won't impart much flavor, as there's nit enough in the recipe for that.

Thank you very much.

Regards pete

 

[Davesp]

Hi guys

If I, for example, forgot to buy bread yeast when i was doing my shopping and used an aprox 15% wine making yeast I had lying around instead, any idea roughly how much extra honey I should add to get the sweetness level the same?

 

[KudaPucat]

Hi guys

If I, for example, forgot to buy bread yeast when i was doing my shopping and used an aprox 15% wine making yeast I had lying around instead, any idea roughly how much extra honey I should add to get the sweetness level the same?

With mead making a use a factor of 133-135 for my calculations.

So 15%/135 = 0.110
so you're going to drop about 110 points.

you want this to finish between 1020 and 1040 so mix your must to a gravity of 1130 - 1150 (personally I'd suggest the lower value - as your yeast may not reach it's full potential following the JAO guide)

the low side will give you a sweet mead, the high will give a desert or sack mead.

If this makes no sense, and you don't have a hydrometer - Go buy one <-- this is my best piece of advice to anybody making booze.