Jao The Ultimate Beginners Mead Recipe

[mtb]

How do you find the Ironbark and Yellow Box honeys? The ones I’ve got going at the moment have Grey Box and Round Leaf Box and I’m not entirely fond of them...
Not really sure if it’s the honey or the yeast or the things I’ve added to the different batches. It’s just not really nice.. My JAOs were great, my “bourbon oak” tastes like shit (well, more metho/alcohol than actual shit!!), same as the traditional. The others I haven’t tried yet.
Missus told me to do some “like the last lot”. So my next lot will be some more JAOM! With a hint of ginger and vanilla thanks to the idea from mtb!!

This batch is two months from yeast pitch and I can confirm it tastes better than the last one - and the last one had people urging me to accept $100 for a single bottle. I'm not kidding. Ironbark/Yellowbox gets my vote, it's a flavour hard to describe since I am uneducated swine. But it's good.

 

[breakbeer]

This is my attempt at the JAOM, fermented for around 18 months. Pretty happy with the clarity of it & tastes sensational!
Gonna make a couple more batches, one exactly the same recipe & another with a few different additions

 

[knot_gillty]

This batch is two months from yeast pitch and I can confirm it tastes better than the last one - and the last one had people urging me to accept $100 for a single bottle. I'm not kidding. Ironbark/Yellowbox gets my vote, it's a flavour hard to describe since I am uneducated swine. But it's good.

Yeah my flavour descriptions probably won’t be anything like it is, also an uneducated swine...

I’ll give yellow box and iron bark a crack then I suppose. The mob I get my honey from has a lemon one that is awesome!! I’ll be trying this one day too. I’ll keep experimenting, eventually find something I like.

 

[knot_gillty]

Was this the stuff you used mtb?

 

[mtb]

Was this the stuff you used mtb?


View attachment 109501

Can't recall sorry. It came from a jar I think. Basically same stuff though

 

[knot_gillty]

Got a batch on last night with the ginger paste in it.

1.4kg of rainforest blend honey from Port Douglas, 1 orange, 2 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, dash of all spice, dash and a bit of nutmeg, 25 raisins, about 40g ginger paste. OG of 1.116. Tasted it and holy shit was it nice!!!!! Loved the ginger taste, the honey is sensational too. Really looking forward to this one being done. Got another 9kg of honey ready for some other meads tomorrow.

 

[Wolfman1]

I've just put my first try of these down with the standard recipe. It got up and running pretty quick so it looks to have taken.
I don't have a warm cabinet for fermenting but I've got a big wooden box with shelves in the shed that I keep bottles and spare kit in which reduces temperature fluctuations but it's pretty cool. Probably 12° in summer and 8° in winter. I'm in no pressing rush so I'm assuming that it will just take longer for it to fully ferment out and clear. Am I better to get a heat pad and make an insulated box within a box?

 

[captain crumpet]

I use fresh/wet blocks of yeast for my breads, can i use it for this recipe or should i stick with dry yeast?

 

[breakbeer]

Any tips on getting all the big chunks of orange etc out of the 5L demijon?

 

[mtb]

Any tips on getting all the big chunks of orange etc out of the 5L demijon?

I use the long plastic handle of one of my brewing spoons to lever them out. Tongs might be a good choice too

 

[knot_gillty]

Any tips on getting all the big chunks of orange etc out of the 5L demijon?

I used a wire coat hanger I think it was at first. Then I just found it easy enough to use my finger and drag them out. Anything pretty much will work.

 

[barls]

hook end of a bottle brush

 

[knot_gillty]

Just bottled my ginger JAO. 14.2% ABV, tastes quite nice. No strong ginger overtones, Orange was pretty mellow. Tastes stronger than 14.2% though.

 

[knot_gillty]

Question. What do you guys do with this bit??

Keep for yeast rehydration? Put on ice cream? Feed to the annoying neighbours kid?? Throw out?

 

[mtb]

Was that the one you chucked a vanilla bean into KG?

Did you biofine before bottling? I found that the bottled product differed heavily when fined

 

[mtb]

Question. What do you guys do with this bit??

Keep for yeast rehydration? Put on ice cream? Feed to the annoying neighbours kid?? Throw out?

Not worth the space for yeast rehydration considering it's bread yeast.
Chuck it at children.

 

[knot_gillty]

Was that the one you chucked a vanilla bean into KG?

Did you biofine before bottling? I found that the bottled product differed heavily when fined

Dickhead me forgot to buy the vanilla beans but I put some ginger paste in it. I think the recipe is about 10 posts up. Initial tasting when checking OG had more ginger flavour. I think next time I will use full tube, not half.

ed- nah, didn’t biofine. I’ll have to get some.

 

[mtb]

I reckon stick with the ginger addition you made - but fining is necessary to let that flavour come through. Two weeks' chilling with a fining agent had the bottled product completely clear and I definitely noticed the difference.

 

[knot_gillty]

I’ll check my LHBS for some. Not sure this will last a week... Bottled it to take away for Christmas, not sure it will make it that long!!!

 

[mtb]

You can get away with gelatin if you can't get your hands on biofine - and I doubt your LHBS will have some, I got mine from Craftbrewer. Either way, super clear mead, and the flavour really benefits.

Still - your Christmas will be well supplied