Jao The Ultimate Beginners Mead Recipe

[DannyboyDS]

who would have though fermenting bees vomit could bring so much joy?

I can't wait for this to finish, hopefully the flavour isn't too complex as I really wanted to start on something simple, for a simple pallete and work from there.

 

[mr_wibble]

I was thinking just now on my walk ...

Has anyone ever (keg) carbonated a finished JAO Mead ?

I'm sure I tried a sparkling mead once at a medieval fair.

 

[biggo]

I was thinking just now on my walk ...

Has anyone ever (keg) carbonated a finished JAO Mead ?

I'm sure I tried a sparkling mead once at a medieval fair.

I have not, but I have accidently bottle carbed a JAO(My first one) it was medium to low carb and added a lot to the mouthfeel of the mead

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

I've force carbed a JAO. Was nice, but I found it a bit distracting. It made the mead feel dryer.

 

[Milk-lizard84]

So in the past week after having to move house the fruit in my mead has dropped. Was gutted when me moved as the drive over disturbed it and became cloudy again.
Within 4 days its has become crystal clear again. Can't wait to bottle thos bad boy and actually have a taste.

 

[MightyLolz]

Thought I'd give JAO a try as my first brew, so this week I've made 2 batches: 1st batch I used Yellow Box, 2nd I used Orange Blossom, will be interesting to see the difference. Still figuring out the timer for the heating pad to try and keep it consistent, but as long as it doesn't go over 25 I'm assuming it'll be right. Now to wait 3 months!
Edit: Regarding the oranges, I went to the local fruit shop but the oranges pretty much 2 sizes, huge and small. So I grabbed 2 small ones, cut them in quarters and threw 6 in. I figure 1.5 small oranges= 1 medium orange

 

[Trevandjo]

My first mead. This will test my ability to wait patiently.

 

[Milk-lizard84]

Found some skull bottles yesterday at a gift shop yesterday. Plan on putting my next batch of mead into them. Sorry for the crooked photo.

 

[bullsneck]

I just put my second mead down in as many weeks. First one using Red Box honey from Castlemaine and a Navel orange. The second one I got a little adventurous... Wangaratta Stringybark and a Blood Orange. Can't wait to try them!!

I've only just bottled this! Whoops. 20 months in the fermenter!

Tasting great!

 

[Trevandjo]

Well the yeast has flocculated in my mead and it looks golden and clear. I plan to symphony this into wine bottles but before I do I need some guidance on what to do with the leftovers in my demijohn. Can I build a new mead on the left overs. Can I remove the spent fruit somehow or is it 'game over' for the demijohn. Cheers,
Trev

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

Well the yeast has flocculated in my mead and it looks golden and clear. I plan to symphony this into wine bottles but before I do I need some guidance on what to do with the leftovers in my demijohn. Can I build a new mead on the left overs. Can I remove the spent fruit somehow or is it 'game over' for the demijohn. Cheers,
Trev

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1405844269.335634.jpg

Definitely game over. I run a demijohn recycling facility though, so send it my way.

A few hard shakes should clear the fruit.

 

[Danwood]

A piece of wire bent to form a hook does the job for me.

 

[MightyLolz]

2 months after brewing and the all of a sudden the fruits dropped! What's strange though is the only difference between the 2 is the variety of honey used. The left is yellow box, the right is orange blossom. Does anyone have thoughts on what I should do with the cloudy yellow box? Or should I just leave it longer...

 

[AshleyDoran]

Ok... So I live in far north QLD where average temps have been over 25°c... decided to give this ago anyway... This is my first attempt at brewing, and was advised to use this as a starting point.

I am now in day 3, yesterday when I inspected the batch I noticed that the bubbling and frothing had died down.. so, As per instruction, I topped the level up a bit and put it back in.

Oh why did I not wait the 4 days....

This morning when I got home from work, I went to the cupboard to inspect its progress, and immediately noticed that the volume had increased...dramatically.
To the point that my airlock was full of must and the bottom of the cupboard had a puddle where it had poured out.

TL;DR FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS VERBATIM.

 

[petes]

2 months after brewing and the all of a sudden the fruits dropped! What's strange though is the only difference between the 2 is the variety of honey used. The left is yellow box, the right is orange blossom. Does anyone have thoughts on what I should do with the cloudy yellow box? Or should I just leave it longer...

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1407122768.318408.jpg

Time gone by so you've probably got it sussed; just leave it longer.

 

[AshleyDoran]

Just out of curiousity has anyone tried adding a clearing agent like gelatin? What results did you get?

 

[superstock]

Just out of curiousity has anyone tried adding a clearing agent like gelatin? What results did you get?

I went really traditional and used eggshells.

 

[Alex.Tas]

what is the ideal temp for this one? i dont really want to tie up my ferm fridge for an extended period making this one. hoping garage temps should be about right...

 

[philmud]

what is the ideal temp for this one? i dont really want to tie up my ferm fridge for an extended period making this one. hoping garage temps should be about right...

I'm interested in this too, happy to use my fridge for the attenuative phase (assuming it's 1-2 weeks), but are there any issues with warm temps & aging? My garage gets fricking warm.

 

[superstock]

Did mine in the fridge @ 16-18'c. When the major ferment had subsided, 5-6days, I topped it up as directed and moved it to the cupboard under the kitchen sink, about 20-24'c