Jao The Ultimate Beginners Mead Recipe

[pt49]

Cool... next day and it's frothing beautifully. Now the wait!

 

[Zippidity]

So I got inspired by this recipe and wound up putting down two JAO batches 4 days ago, using different kinds of honey.

I'm worried about two things:

I'm in Melbourne and the ambient temp is around 15 - 16 degrees. Will it still ferment okay? Should I be deploying a heat belt?

I used bread yeast but the only stuff I could find was Fermex bread yeast. Have I totally blown it?

 

[DarkFaerytale]

no, you worry to much, actually i think i'm using the fermex brand in my one at the moment as well, it's all the shop had. it might not be the same as the original recipe but i bet it still makes a pretty tasty mead.

i tried to look up a few websites on the yeast but found nothing on temperature, unless your in a rush, i would not stress to much. just rouse the yeast every couple of weeks if you see no action

 

[kahlerisms]

I'm about two months into primary on my first JAO. About ten days ago it suddenly cleared up. Waiting for the fruit to drop now and then I'll bottle.

 

[AyeBee]

Bottled and tasted mine for the first time today, I used Orange Blossom honey. Looks great in a wine glass, tasted great at 2.5 months old. Sure to be fantastic with same age on it.

I'm a mead convert!

 

[of mice and gods]

haven't seen any action in the airlock for a couple of weeks now (currently been in primary for 37 days) so i thought I'd do a gravity & taste test. OG was 1145, current gravity is 1065. It's brutally sweet and citrus-y.. will check again in another month or two.. hoping it attenuates out a bit more to reduce the sweetness and mellow the citrus out a bit.

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

haven't seen any action in the airlock for a couple of weeks now (currently been in primary for 37 days) so i thought I'd do a gravity & taste test. OG was 1145, current gravity is 1065. It's brutally sweet and citrus-y.. will check again in another month or two.. hoping it attenuates out a bit more to reduce the sweetness and mellow the citrus out a bit.

I've had one lot that ended about there. I made some non-conclusive musings on the cause a few pages back: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/32762-jao-the-ultimate-beginners-mead-recipe/?p=978015

Hope yours drop somewhere...

 

[Blazar]

[SIZE=medium]Hi All,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]This thread is awesome, and I’ve not yet had the privilege of trying mead before so I’m embarking on a journey to a batch of this down in the coming weeks. I do have what could be a stupid newbie question but I have to ask:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Does it matter what type of honey is used? I’m guessing that different varieties will result in different end products (much like different malts play a part in the character of a beer). I’m close to a number of local honey producers but am quite confused by which variety to choose:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Stringy Bark[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Iron Bark[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Grey Gum[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Scribbly Gum[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Blue Gum[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Yellow & Red Bloodwood[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Turpentine Tree & Tea Trees[/SIZE]

 

[evildrakey]

I usually avoid anything with too much of a Eucalyptus taste. I'm super-sensitive to the taste in the mead afterwards.

 

[surly]

Just bottled mine, looks pretty good. Will have a sneaky taste this evening because I can

 

[markxbeesley]

I have had my JAOM in the primary for 3 months and two days. A few raisins dropped to the bottom but the orange is yet to drop. It has been cold and probably fermenting at under 20 degrees.

Should I be worried? Has it been too long? Or do I just leave it alone.

 

[Thefatdoghead]

I have had my JAOM in the primary for 3 months and two days. A few raisins dropped to the bottom but the orange is yet to drop. It has been cold and probably fermenting at under 20 degrees.

Should I be worried? Has it been too long? Or do I just leave it alone.

Rack it into a Demi and leave it for another few months. Takes a while to come good but you probably dont want it sitting on all the old yeast for to long.

 

[of mice and gods]

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! Leave them alone except its okay to open your cabinet to inhale deeply the smell every once in a while.)

Bugger.. I wish I'd seen that bit about adding some water about 3 months ago

Time to take another gravity reading.

 

[HalfWit]

Hi, I'm looking at doing this for my 1st mead. Is it okay to use a plastic fermetor instead of glass. I know the head space will be an issue but could I get away with it? I was thinking of getting my honey from these people http://naturesbeezhoney.com.au/products-page/natural/
12 kg delivered is $105. What would be better, Iron Bark or Yellow Box. A big batch. Can I build up Sweet Mead yeast like Normal yeast? Thanks.

 

[toolio666]

So my Jao has been fermenting away for 4 months or so and looks like this. It's been at the back of my pantry for this time and only checked on occasionally, making sure the airlock was topped up...

Top Bottom


I used Tandaco yeast and Aldi honey.

Is it it infected?

Patience or dump it?

Sorry, not the greatest pics...

 

[Mardoo]

Wish I could help you. You might also want to post in the infection photo thread.

 

[OzChiton]

Hi All, first post! I've just kicked off my first batch of mead as per this recipe (many thanks). A quick and slightly silly question. When you say to top off the brew after it finishes it's initial foaming, I assume you top it up with H2O to the 5L? Or in my case ~20L from a starting brew of about 14.7L. Cheers

 

[firefysh]

This looks so good that I've just (an hour ago) started brewing it. It is my first try at meade or wine making, so hopefully in a while we will have something nice to slurp on.
Thanks for the recipe.

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

Hi, I'm looking at doing this for my 1st mead. Is it okay to use a plastic fermetor instead of glass. I know the head space will be an issue but could I get away with it? I was thinking of getting my honey from these people http://naturesbeezhoney.com.au/products-page/natural/
12 kg delivered is $105. What would be better, Iron Bark or Yellow Box. A big batch. Can I build up Sweet Mead yeast like Normal yeast? Thanks.

Even without the headspace concerns, you're going to get oxidation through the plastic during that time. Certainly going to affect the flavour and could encourage acetobacter, I'd think? Given the money you're spending on honey, a 5l demi is less than 20 bucks and money well spent. I've somehow ended up with about six. You could also buy some juice in 2l glass bottles and use some oz tops.

 

[barls]

he will be fine. the one i won the state comp with last year was fermented in plastic as for aceto only if his sanitation suxs.

 

[of mice and gods]

mine was fermented in a usual plastic fermenter and then racked into an aldi 12L water refill bottle, occassionally having a tipple, it's been going since march and no noticeable oxidisation? I did forgot to top up with water so it's taken awhile to get down but she's sitting on about 14% now and still retains light sweetness.

 

[kahlerisms]

I'm about two months into primary on my first JAO. About ten days ago it suddenly cleared up. Waiting for the fruit to drop now and then I'll bottle.

So the fruit took an awful long time to drop. Dropped maybe five weeks ago but I haven't got around to bottling yet. I used some past-use-by frozen bread yeast, so wasn't expecting much.

I tasted this yesterday.

DAMN IT'S GOOD

photo here
http://instagram.com/p/h7rYotE6A8/


lovely legs in the glass, very clear, nice light straw colour. Damn drinkable. Wish I knew what the ABV was. The legs are a hint I guess.

Absolutely doing another one. I ignored this in the pantry for like eight months and it's fantastic.

 

[lael]

Wow - super clear. Was reading this the other day - Going to have to try it!

Any tips?

 

[kahlerisms]

Wow - super clear. Was reading this the other day - Going to have to try it!

Any tips?

My biggest tip would be to follow the advice in the recipe: Leave it alone until the fruit drops. that was seven odd months for me, but it stayed in the dark and cool with a water lock (blow off into a glass of sanitiser) that whole time and it worked out really well. I bought some good honey to start with. Being the only mead I've ever had I don't know if it tastes like mead or not. If I had to compare it to something I'd say a soft Glayva.

Pretty happy!

 

[The meadist]

Just finished my first batch of this reciepe. Tastes Amazing, such an easy reciepe. I used fortified wine yeast instead and left it for nearly 6 months so its pretty potent but it was amazing. Anyone thinking of trying this reciepe should definetly have a go. next batch im going to try a sparkling mead (got some help from a friend who owns a vinyard

 

[Danwood]

2012 batch....pretty bloody good over ice.

 

[Canuckdownunder]

Took a punt at the mead today after picking up a demijohn from craftbrewer. It is my first try at mead so looking forward to the finished product.
Thanks for the recipe!!!

 

[jpkole]

I just mixed my 5th batch of Joe's. This time it's a 14-gallon batch in an extract barrel (https://www.homebrewhq.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=2266). Also using blood oranges this time. Every batch of Joe's I've made has been quite nice.

 

[_ne_]

What an awesome and simple recipe. Thanks heaps for posting it.

I put it down about 2 or 3 months ago, and just finished bottling my first batch today. It clarified about a month ago, but I decided not to wait for the fruit to drop. Its been bloody hot here (40+ with no where cool to hide a demijohn) and I started worrying about the ingredients going a bit off and imparting too much flavour. So just ran it through a fairly course filter and bottled it.

I used some pretty crappy old honey. It was so old it had completely crystallized. I had to put it in a pot of hot water just to get it flowing again. Didn't have the best flavour compared to the new stuff I got for the next batch but since this was just a test I figured I used it anyway. I used navel oranges. Like others, I used Tandaco yeast. Forgot about doing the top off. *shrug* doesn't seem to have suffered for it.

It cleared to a lovely deep orange colour like an amber ale.

Had a taste of it (of course and damn its nice for a first go! Much better than my first go at brewing beer haha. The cloves come through a bit strong when its warm but back off to a hint when its refrigerated. Cold, the orange comes more to the front of the palette. There's a slight alcoholic bite to it both warm and cold and it does warm the "cockles of me 'eart" briefly. The alco-burn doesn't linger though. The aftertaste is a bit 'off orange' (which makes me think I should have bottled it soon after it clarified).

I pulled a bit too much sediment through when siphoning it out of the demijohn and the filter wasn't fine enough to extract much. The last couple of bottles have a thick layer of sediment slowly settling in. I might have to rebottle before getting stuck into those. If anyone has tips on dealing with the sediment issues I'd love to hear them

All in all though, really pleased. Thinking I might try swapping the oranges out for similar weight in plums. Anyone tried other fruit?

 

[jenova]

Hey all,

Just went through pages of this thread and I'm interested in making my first batch.

Goomba, have you tried any other brand of yeast besides Lowan's > I'm hoping for a smooth sweet tasting mead.

Also, has anyone substituted orange with different types of fruits with success ? I was thinking blueberry, strawberry, pears, pomegranate etc.