Somewhat mead first attempt

[Rambo]

My first attempt, just for fun had a spare packet of champagne yeast.

Ingredient:

2kg Honey (nova scotia)
1kg of Corn Syrup
4 cans of frozen lemonade concentrate
orange zest (not rind) (from one orange)
2 oranges cut in quarters (seedless) squeezed after the steep
cup of black tea
cup of green tea

Steeped the mixture for 30 minutes at 140-150 degrees then cooled and threw in a 5 gallon carboy, topped it off with water up to 3/4 of the carboy and shook well. Pitched the yeast and voila.

After one day...very active fermentation begins. Been fermenting 5 days now, still bubbling like crazy. I plan on leaving it for a month or two once I rack it after 2 - 3 week.

Either this will be interestingly tasty or something I can sneek into the Burnside jail for the inmates.




.....progress reports will be added, maybe a pic or three.

[mr x]

That's a crazy recipe for sure...

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[Graham.C]

Why the corn syrup?

If it turns out really astringent, skip the rind next time and just zest both oranges.

[Rambo]

I got the corn syrup from a recipe online and I figured if its online it must be the right thing to do... too naive? Also I figured i didn't use enough honey, called for 3kg. This is just a trial and might be one of those "well i won't do this next time" kinda thing. My misses does not like beer or wine, maybe she will like this stuff. As far as the rind, all i did is boil the oranges in the mix, I squeezed the juice and threw away the rind. What i meant was Zest..not rind.

[Graham.C]

Cool. Yeah rind can be really unpleasant but zest has all the tasty oils.

If your looking for an entry level mead try joes ancient orange recipe. There is much better out there but it's simple and drinkable, plus it ferments fairly quickly.

3kg is about right for a dry mead, 2kg is a bit light, but it might work fine with all the adjuncts.

I'd be interested in hearing what happens from this. Keep us posted, and if it's not what you want I might be able to help you turn it into a drinkable substance. When I started out it was in meads and I made some... Well let's just say, interesting mistakes.

Cheers!

[Juniper Hill]

Looks like an interesting recipie. Hope it works out for you.

I've made an orange melomel a few years back using the famous Joe's Ancient Orange Mead (JAOM) recipie. Turned out quite nicely, a little sweet but balanced against the bitterness from the orange pith. It scored a bronze medal in provincial wine competition, although (from the comments) the judges didn't quite know what to make of it.

[Juniper Hill]

Joe Mattioli's Ancient Orange and Spice Mead (reprint I think from the GotMead site)

It is so simple to make and you can make it without much equipment and with a multitude of variations. This could be a first Mead for the novice as it is almost fool proof. It is a bit unorthodox but it has never failed me or the friends I have shared it with. (snip)...it will be sweet, complex and tasty.

1 gallon batch


3 1/2 lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 Large orange (later cut in eights or smaller rind and all)
1 small handful of raisins (25 if you count but more or less ok)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove ( or 2 if you like - these are potent critters)
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice )( very small )
1 teaspoon of Fleishmann’s bread yeast ( now don't get holy on me--- after all this is an ancient mead and that's all we had back then)
Balance water to one gallon

Process:

Use a clean 1 gallon carboy

Dissolve honey in some warm water and put in carboy

Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights --add orange (you can push em through opening big boy -- rinds included -- its ok for this mead -- take my word for it -- ignore the experts)

Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water. ( need room for some foam -- you can top off with more water after the first few day frenzy)

Shake the heck out of the jug with top on, of course. This is your sophisticated aeration process.

When at room temperature in your kitchen, put in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. ( No you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary-- just put it in and give it a gentle swirl or not)(The yeast can fight for their own territory)

Install water airlock. Put in dark place. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's)( Wait 3 hours before you panic or call me) 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! Let them alone except its okay to open your cabinet to smell every once in a while.

Racking --- Don't you dare
additional feeding --- NO NO
More stirring or shaking -- Your not listening, don't touch

After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. (How about that) (You are not so important after all) Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and siphon off the golden nectar. If you wait long enough even the oranges will sink to the bottom but I never waited that long. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. (Like in a cabinet) likes a little heat (70-80). If it didn't work out... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions (or used grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away) . If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated.
If you were successful, which I am 99% certain you will be, then enjoy your mead. When you get ready to make different mead you will probably have to unlearn some of these practices I have taught you, but hey--- This recipe and procedure works with these ingredients so don't knock it. It was your first mead. It was my tenth. Sometimes, even the experts can forget all they know and make good ancient mead.

[dean2k]

Joe's Ancient Orange was my first go at brewing anything.

[Rambo]

Just a quick message to say that this turned out very good. A bit dry, fizzy (champagne like). Taste like a nice summer drink, a mix between bud light lime and mike's hard lemonade with a touch of honey. I will make this again.

[Juniper Hill]

Awesome.