Jao The Ultimate Beginners Mead Recipe

[KudaPucat]

Blasphemy!!!

Just coincidentally ...



^ I want that shirt!

OK, I'll quit taking this :icon_offtopic:

I do want to make some mead sometime... Even got the sweet mead yeast.. just gotta pluck up the courage and .. well, courage really.

Be careful and gentle with the sweet mead yeast, it's prone to sticking. Watch you ph and your temperature. Make sure you hydrate and use of SNA is advised.

But then, as this is a JAO thread, it's still Way :icon_offtopic: Sorry...
So let's not talk of any more finisng, racking, shaking, stirring, wine yeasts etc, and focus on the bread yeast and raisins ;-)

 

[TmC]

What is everyone bottling they're mead in? Mine is nearly 3 months old so going to bottle soon and was going to use wine bottles but i can hardly drink 750ml of mead in one sitting. As it doesn't need carbonating, how long will it store in an open bottle of wine? If not i will just bottle in beer bottles.

 

[brettprevans]

What is everyone bottling they're mead in? Mine is nearly 3 months old so going to bottle soon and was going to use wine bottles but i can hardly drink 750ml of mead in one sitting. As it doesn't need carbonating, how long will it store in an open bottle of wine? If not i will just bottle in beer bottles.

kegged to carb most of it. then into 750ml bottles. i have a few stubbies but 99% are 750ml. I can easily drink 750ml of mine in a sitting. mine is slightly less sweet than sack mead though. so maybe do a mix and that way you can share a 750ml and cut down on the amount of bottling you have to do

 

[KudaPucat]

kegged to carb most of it. then into 750ml bottles. i have a few stubbies but 99% are 750ml. I can easily drink 750ml of mine in a sitting. mine is slightly less sweet than sack mead though. so maybe do a mix and that way you can share a 750ml and cut down on the amount of bottling you have to do

I bottle in Pint and half pint bottles mostly. Magner's Pear cidre bottles show the mead off well.
I cap cos it's a lot cheaper than cork, but I will bottle some as gifts or 'take over for dinner' bottles. I use novatwists on the twist tops, and 'Port Corks' on the corrk finish, I then usually wax seal the corks, as they're not so grippy or deep as normal corks.
(all this because I haven't bought a corker yet)

I save every 375ml wine bottle I come across for this reason, they also come mostly in flint, so you can sho off the mead.

 

[Golani51]

I got these little-ish clear wine bottles from the LHBS in Oakliegh. They are a dollar or so each and use little wine caps that twist on. I have done this with rice wine but not yet the mead (will bottle tomorrow most likely). Looks good and hopefully will taste good too. Otherwise if mediocre, I will just use normal stubbies and save the cash for another batch.

 

[Golani51]

I got these little-ish clear wine bottles from the LHBS in Oakliegh. They are a dollar or so each and use little wine caps that twist on. I have done this with rice wine but not yet the mead (will bottle tomorrow most likely). Looks good and hopefully will taste good too. Otherwise if mediocre, I will just use normal stubbies and save the cash for another batch.

 

[kjparker]

ok, had a look at mine last night. It's got a bit clearer! I can definietly see through it when I shine a torch through, where I couldnt before! The raisins have all dropped, the orange is still floating however.

Another week or two and I reckon it might be done!

Is there any point aging this mead? Or is it a case of bottle it, then drink it?

 

[Golani51]

It might be worth mentioning that even if the fruit drops, it can then begin to float again, then drop, then float.....you will think you are nuts and seeing things. My assumption is that once fallen, it is done.

 

[fcmcg]

Mine was 3 months , also like golani..
I left mine on the kitchen bench , and it made a good talking point...
I will say in the last 2 weeks , raisins danced a jig and then 2 of the orange quaters dropped...
It was pretty clear when i bottled...
I bottled into a mixture of stubbies and long necks....
Gonna make a nice drop on Christmas day , i reckon !
Cheers
Ferg

 

[brettprevans]

Is there any point aging this mead? Or is it a case of bottle it, then drink it?

did you bother to read the first posts that set out this style of mead and what to do with it?

 

[kjparker]

did you read the first posts that set out this style of mead and what to do with it?

I did. It said it wasnt necessary, however it didnt say if it was pointless!

 

[brettprevans]

..... Like any mead if you leave this one to age (although only need 6 months) then it just keeps tasting better... .

from the first post. seems self explainitory to me.

 

[kjparker]

from the first post. seems self explainitory to me.

jeez did you get out on the wrong side of the bed this morning?

 

[brettprevans]

jeez did you get out on the wrong side of the bed this morning?

you asked a question that had the info in the OP. i pointed it out. get over it.
FWIW I aged mine 6 months as per the OP.

 

[KudaPucat]

you asked a question that had the info in the OP. i pointed it out. get over it.
FWIW I aged mine 6 months as per the OP.

+1
but some further information:
Younger than a month can be really nice, or really bitter, it depends on so many factors that it just comes down to luck.
aging to 6 months results well.
I've never had one last longer than 6 months, no matter how much I brew, everybody just finds it too tasty.
I imagine it would keep getting smoother, but BP says the spices start to diminish at 6 months. Personally I've seen the spices noticeably diminish between the third and fourth month, so I guess he means that they'll have diminished too much by 6 months.
Hang on to a bottle if you want and tell us how it turns out.

 

[Brewer Greg]

Hey everyone,

I have never brewed anything before and I love mead and thought it would be cool to give this a shot. I am not sure I have done it right as alot of the honey has settled back at the bottom and it hasn't mixed fully through. I did mix it with hot water and I shook the absolute hell out of the container.

Have I done something wrong? Did I not use enough hot water to mix it trough? I just used like a cup worth to it was very runny.

Any feed back would be great. I hope it is ok and will still work

 

[KudaPucat]

Ok honey at the bottom is np. It's called BDY I think, for bottom dwelling yeast. The yeasties will eat that up, just sit tight.
You used only a cup of honey? Thats a fair deviation from the recipe. In all probability it will finish up dry (and bloody horrible) add another 3 cups at least.
Tell me: did you follow the rest of the recipe? Orange, 3.8 litres etc?
Please detail your entire procedure, it's safer that way if you want advice.

 

[Brewer Greg]

No I followed the recipe fully, I just added one cup of warm water to the 1.6kg of honey. I am thinking I should of used more now. Thanks for your advice. Should I just leave it or should i stir it after the foaming subsides?

 

[Synthetase]

Leave it. The honey will dissolve eventually. I take it from your comment on foam that the yeast have kicked on and are fermenting well? If so, it's all good. Put it away out of sight so you won't be tempted to keep fiddling with it

Good mead takes time.

 

[brettprevans]

No I followed the recipe fully, I just added one cup of warm water to the 1.6kg of honey. I am thinking I should of used more now. Thanks for your advice. Should I just leave it or should i stir it after the foaming subsides?

Not enough water. I cbf working out calcs for.u but 250ml of water to 1.6kg water is too little. Go back to the original recipe and work out how much water u need fir 1.6kg of honey

Edit the original recipe is for 1.6kg honey. U need enough water to make it up to 3.8L otherwise the og of the mead will be toi high

 

[kaspa07]

Tom, it's better to use weight of honey as a measure, it takes some of the error out of guesstimations. Especially if you include total volume.
This may be a bit clovey, but luckily spice flavours will dissipate with time if you don't like it.
5lt honey = about 7.25kg
total volume = 17 litres, total weight = 19kg 19/17 = SG= 1.13
it's possible if you had a very low water content honey, that would could have an SG of 1.15, where many hydrometers drop the 1. from the front, which may be how you got 15. Take a photo of your hydrometer and upload it, it wont be hard for us to see how it works and help you out.

This is quite a heavy must, but CY17 will tolerate up to 15% so it will probably drop 115 points, leaving you with an FG around 1.035, which is very sweet, but not unpalatable if well balanced. I'm not sure how much acid you added, but you may need to add acid or tannin after.
It's generally a bad idea to add acid up front in meads, as honey is quite acidic already, and during fermentation the pH drops. This can cause your yeast stress and stuck ferments, so don't add any more until it's finished, and then I'd wait for it to age a bit. This is only an issue with mead. Many a wine maker will insist you add acid up front, ok with wine, not with mead.
Unfortunately I feel this will require some aging. The good thing is you made a fair whack, so you can take samplers along the way ;-)
Good luck, and keep us posted.

Thanx for the tips Kuda
Sory it was 5kg honey.. not 5lt
Anyhow I'll be bottling it Tomorow
The hydrometer has not moved for almost a week now
look at the pic to see where my hydrometer is at
The taste at the moment is great its very acidic and herbal at the moment, its sweet but not too sweet, just what I was aiming for realy
Hopefuly the acidity will taper off with age
and woha!!! its strong Packs a punch, I think its going to be a good drink over ice for summer :chug:

 

[kaspa07]

Or maybe I should Rack it into a secondary for a few more weeks to clear up :huh:

 

[Brewer Greg]

Not enough water. I cbf working out calcs for.u but 250ml of water to 1.6kg water is too little. Go back to the original recipe and work out how much water u need fir 1.6kg of honey

Edit the original recipe is for 1.6kg honey. U need enough water to make it up to 3.8L otherwise the og of the mead will be toi high

Ok this is what I meant. I added one cup of warm water to the honey to dissolve it(approx). I then followed the rest of the recipe and then filled the demijohn to 3.8L. I think I needed more water to dissolve it properly as the honey started to settle back to the bottom even after I shook the hell out of it.

Thanks for all your replies, I do appreciate it.

cheers mate

 

[brettprevans]

Ok this is what I meant. I added one cup of warm water to the honey to dissolve it(approx). I then followed the rest of the recipe and then filled the demijohn to 3.8L. I think I needed more water to dissolve it properly as the honey started to settle back to the bottom even after I shook the hell out of it.

Thanks for all your replies, I do appreciate it.

cheers mate

Ah ok. U can add a bit morre if ur worried.the fact thst it didnt dissolve isn't an issue as the yeast will find the sugar. U need to use hot water if u wanted to dissolvr it. Dont stress about it.

 

[Brewer Greg]

Ah ok. U can add a bit morre if ur worried.the fact thst it didnt dissolve isn't an issue as the yeast will find the sugar. U need to use hot water if u wanted to dissolvr it. Dont stress about it.

Thanks mate. Hey I have a quick question is there a better type of honey to use? Has anyone found a particular honey they really enjoy using?

 

[brettprevans]

Thanks mate. Hey I have a quick question is there a better type of honey to use? Has anyone found a particular honey they really enjoy using?

Use wbat u can get ur hands on. I think JAO kends its self to lighter honey styled like orange blossum. But so long as its not a really hard honey like eucultptus etc it should be fine

 

[Margrethe]

Okay, so I only have Tandaco Dry yeast in my cupboard. It has 7g sachets in it. Do I use a 7g sachet, or do I just put 1 tspn of yeast in as per the recipe?

I had a hunt, but couldn't find an answer elsewhere.

 

[Golani51]

quick answer....follow recipe. No changes....everything balanced as required...etc etc....

 

[KudaPucat]

Or maybe I should Rack it into a secondary for a few more weeks to clear up :huh:

Yeah, don't bottle it. It will continue to drop sediment for a while, and you don't want that in your bottles.
The mead will be better if bulk aged too, as it removes the variance you may experience between bottles, and it stops you trying to drink it, whilst still allowing small samples to be taken.

 

[kjparker]

Well finanly after about 3 months my mead is ready... At least it was... DOH!

I went down to my shed last night and looked at my mead, thought, what the heck is that refelction... realised I could see right through it!

Carefully (obviously not carefully enough) carried it up to the house to bottle, and by the time I got there I had stirred it up into a cloudy mess!

I have it sitting in a corner now, hopefully it will settle down again, so I can bottle it either tonight or on the weekend....