Jao The Ultimate Beginners Mead Recipe

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been hanging out for this to be ready!

The differences between what I did and the actual recipe on the first page: I used half the amount of orange but in smaller slices. It seemed that the pith supplied the bitterness and the thread suggested it was all about the surface area of pith that was exposed, and the orange wouldn't fit into the demijohn in such large slices, so I compromised and went of slimmer slices so they'd fit in the demijohn.

I started this back at the end of february and it's been sitting quietly away testing my patience ever since.

I too was sceptical about the bread yeast but the logic for its use seemed sound and I didn't read any "eww it's yucky" posts either so I went with the bread yeasties I had in the cupboard.

a fair amount of yeasty bubbles to start with and some great smell off the airlock which bubbled gently away, but then it settled right down to nothing.

It took ages for it to clear up... I'd guess about 6 or 7 weeks, and the fruit never did drop and that's three months so I figured lets' get stuck in and see what we have created.

So, I've bottled it around 5 mins ago and couldn't resist a quick taste.

wow!

this. stuff. is. awesome!!!!

just the right amount of sweetness and some really awesome warming qualities on the way down. You wouldn't want to get stuck right into this as a first drink of the night but as a toasty winter warmer it is great! the clove and cinammon have blended really nicely to give it a hint of spiciness which is really good against the sweetness that's left after the yeast has finished.

Can't thank you enough for the recipe Brewer Pete... it's a goodie and no mistake!!

I reckon this will be a hit with the missus too.
 
I put two of these on ages ago. One with EC-1118 (which I had lying around) and one with baker's yeast.

The EC-1118 has cleared, and has been sitting on the lees for quite a while (a few weeks). I just haven't had time to look at it. Will this be an issue?

Also, as the baker's yeast doesn't seem to be clearing, is there anyway to give it a nudge?

I'll grab the brew log and find the dates to give you a better idea of timeframes. They've been going for a very long time.

EC-1118 is a champagne yeast. It is like a pit bull dog. Aggressive and chews through all the sugars in one big woof down of food. Its no wonder it won the race (is there one? :p). But as it eats all the sugars and does not leave any to balance all the other goodness in JAO, it may not taste good at all (see warning throughout the whole thread about voiding the warranty by poo-pooing bread yeast and using other yeasts).

The bread yeast is just yet another strain of beer yeast. It is slow and takes its time and when it makes a fair bit of alcohol it decides it has had enough and then goes to take a nice nap and leaves the rest of the work unfinished with regards to the left over sugars in the mead. In short, there is no rushing the clearing but at the same time there is also no need to wait. You are not entering a mead competition so cloudiness is not a fault and you can tuck into the mead if you want. If you have the patience of a god you may find by the time you are on your last small 330ml bottle it has cleared :D

Cheers,
Brewer Pete
 
been hanging out for this to be ready!

...

So, I've bottled it around 5 mins ago and couldn't resist a quick taste.

wow!

this. stuff. is. awesome!!!!

just the right amount of sweetness and some really awesome warming qualities on the way down. You wouldn't want to get stuck right into this as a first drink of the night but as a toasty winter warmer it is great! the clove and cinammon have blended really nicely to give it a hint of spiciness which is really good against the sweetness that's left after the yeast has finished.

Can't thank you enough for the recipe Brewer Pete... it's a goodie and no mistake!!

I reckon this will be a hit with the missus too.

:icon_chickcheers: --- need I say more?!

Cheers,
Brewer Pete
 
I made 6 JAO variations recently.
However after 15 days, the control batch (straight JAO - by the book) is clear.
I've never seen one clear this fast, especially with our low temps!
I haven't taken a reading yet, as I only noiticed this morning, but what could be going on?
 
I made 6 JAO variations recently.
However after 15 days, the control batch (straight JAO - by the book) is clear.
I've never seen one clear this fast, especially with our low temps!
I haven't taken a reading yet, as I only noiticed this morning, but what could be going on?

The bulk of fermentation should be done in 2-3 weeks and then can start clearing or not, depending on the ingredients used.

It is normal for clearing times to be varied over the shop. Up to 2 months is given as a general guideline. I've seen from one month mark up to nearly 4. Its not nothing to worry about. 15 days is faster than I have encountered so far, but not unknown for mead though usually with the use of SNA methods. It would be good to go through the notes and see what variations in ingredients/freshness and to look for wild yeast introduction sources as part of the process of sifting through the data.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete
 
I'll post what my notes say when I can... although I fear they're breif... I'm not so fastidious with JAO's due to the 'Put em in the corner and forget them' directive.
 
Put this one in the same corner and forget about it :)

Cheers,
Brewer Pete
 
Put this one in the same corner and forget about it :)

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

:-D
I haven't moved it. It's just that it's next to a big carboy of "Yo's strawberry pizzaz" which does need some attention. Not least to stop the fruit plug from causing MEA.
So I noticed and nearly fell over!

My notes say
Prepared 9/5/11
Yellow box honey
Style JAO
Yeast - local bread yeast. French variety. Perhaps imported. Yields 14% in a JAO
OG 1109 (I don't like them so sweet, so am looking for a 1010 finish.
1 navel orange.
1 clove
1/2 a cinnamon stick (all I had)
25 sultanas (ran out of raisins)
Started above a heater vent.
10/5. 19 degrees - blocked the heater vent.
11/5. 17 degrees
14/5. 15 degrees
15/5. 14 degrees
21/5. 17 degrees
26/5. OMG it's clear. WTF? Ask Brewer Pete.
28/5. 16 degrees

Sorry. This is all I have.
The major difference here, is that its the first one I have just never touched since pitching.
My 2 clove batch, (all other conditions identical) is not clear, but the sultanas fall if the bottle is bumped.
Non of the other 4 variations for comparison even look like finishing.
 
Well some feedback

Took a bottle of my version of still JAO mead (ie not sparkling which I also have) to my club night during the week. Pretty much a hit with everyone incl the clubs resident mead expert. Lots of comments about complexity of flavours and a killer aroma etc. If u had have had more there they would have drank it all.

If ur considering a mead this is a good starting mead.

Edit: patience is a virtue. Mine was fermenting/clearing/conditioning for 8months to get these results.

BrewerPete - found a bloke at the club that keeps bees and makes eculypt honey, so I'll develop up a recipe and PM you and we can post the results in a diff thread.
 
Well some feedback

Took a bottle of my version of still JAO mead (ie not sparkling which I also have) to my club night during the week. Pretty much a hit with everyone incl the clubs resident mead expert. Lots of comments about complexity of flavours and a killer aroma etc. If u had have had more there they would have drank it all.

If ur considering a mead this is a good starting mead.

Bloody oath! :icon_chickcheers:

JAO is making a new generation of brewers with bread yeast who are experiencing the much maligned bread yeast. I think most of our early rubbish bin brewers are just looking for something easy to blame their crap results on ;)

Cheers,
Brewer Pete
 
would be worth mentioning that SWMBO took a small bottle to a work quiz night and everyone loved it!

so much so that I'm kicking myself for not making more.. to rectify the situation I put down another batch at the weekend!
 
JAO is making a new generation of brewers with bread yeast who are experiencing the much maligned bread yeast. I think most of our early rubbish bin brewers are just looking for something easy to blame their crap results on ;)

Cheers,
Brewer Pete
Having a read through Randy Moshers Radical Brewing , there are actually a few beers where the yeast he says to use is bread yeast...I'm thinking of making one of these beers soon..
In more on topic information , my JAO has been going for a week now...it's looking very sexy and i kinda like the fact it makes my airlock work :ph34r:
Pete,thanks again for this recipe...i had a taste of it at a brew club meeting earlier in the year and was inspired to make my own....
The only caveat , couldn't find Fleischmans yeast , so i hope the old tandaco will be fine !
Cheers
Ferg
 
Having a read through Randy Moshers Radical Brewing , there are actually a few beers where the yeast he says to use is bread yeast...I'm thinking of making one of these beers soon..
In more on topic information , my JAO has been going for a week now...it's looking very sexy and i kinda like the fact it makes my airlock work :ph34r:
Pete,thanks again for this recipe...i had a taste of it at a brew club meeting earlier in the year and was inspired to make my own....
The only caveat , couldn't find Fleischmans yeast , so i hope the old tandaco will be fine !
Cheers
Ferg

I used Tandaco and it has been bubbling away for a solid month so far. The never ending story.
 
Could this be done in a cube? We want reasonable amounts, as we're brewing to give away as gifts at our wedding- would it be sacrilege to do it in a cube or similar?

Just a random thought. Otherwise we'll go buy some demi's.
 
There's a recipe somewhere in the first few pages for a 20L batch I think, you can make it for any size though, it's just as easy as scaling up all the ingredients accordingly.
 
Having a read through Randy Moshers Radical Brewing , there are actually a few beers where the yeast he says to use is bread yeast...I'm thinking of making one of these beers soon..
In more on topic information , my JAO has been going for a week now...it's looking very sexy and i kinda like the fact it makes my airlock work :ph34r:
Pete,thanks again for this recipe...i had a taste of it at a brew club meeting earlier in the year and was inspired to make my own....
The only caveat , couldn't find Fleischmans yeast , so i hope the old tandaco will be fine !
Cheers
Ferg

Tandaco is fine ferg.

I have also, not yet posted, been brewing beer using left over wort hanging around in the fridge with bread yeast. I was starting a experiment to report on before all the moving issues and having to put all my gear in storage last year. I still plan on brewing it again when time permits and with a larger batch of wort.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete
 
Could this be done in a cube? We want reasonable amounts, as we're brewing to give away as gifts at our wedding- would it be sacrilege to do it in a cube or similar?

Just a random thought. Otherwise we'll go buy some demi's.

My largest demijohn is 54 litres !

But yes you can scale the batch but do check your SG at the start :)

Cheers,
Brewer Pete
 
Patience is rewarded handsomely with mead Golani51 :)

Cheers,
Brewer Pete
 
Going to make this today, was going to double the recipe as it looks as if everyone loves this mead. I have my hands on a few kilo's of North Queensland 100% Natural Honey, its as hard as a brick so going to leave it in the sun to soften out. Was also thinking of doing a Sparkling version along side it, would anyone suggest a good yeast for this? Sorry i glanced but didnt find.
 
Patience is rewarded handsomely with mead Golani51 :)

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

Yep. Sure is.

I added Feijoa wine, Feijoa/Pear wine (demi was too full for the whole batch so chose to make a varient for the remaining litre or two), and Chinese Rice wine to the fermenting cupboard yesterday(bottom of daughter's hanging clothes cupboard- keeps brews at 18-20 deg most of the year). I am a sucker for long- term punishment.

R
 
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