Mike's Modern Orange Mead

[Mike_Fox]

This is an "modernized" version of Joe's Ancient Orange Mead, updating a few things like the yeast used, and eliminating the whole orange. I've seen a few comments that JAOM was a little pithy or bitter to the taste.

3 lbs of your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 Large orange
1 stick of cinnamon
2/3 whole cloves
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice)(very small)
1 Packet Lalvin D47(they recommend it for mead)
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Balance water to one gallon

I started zesting one large orange, stopping before I hit any white pith(this was probably the little troublemaker in the JAOM ) then I squeezed the juice out of the orange.

I used 3 lbs of honey,I dissolved this in a gallon of warm water. I added the zest, one stick of cinnamon, 2 cracked cloves, and the squeezed juice, plus yeast nutrient.I heated it up to about 170F and then let it steep until it cooled down.

Added to carboy using a strainer to remove the spices and orange zest.
The temp. was about 70F, and my yeast was rehydrated and ready(I used Lalvin D47), so I aerated and pitched.

I expect this will take about a month to ferment out. The yeast should stop around 14% ABV, leaving some residual sweetness. If its too dry you can always backsweeten with more honey.

Hopefully the 'better' wine yeast and the removal of orange pith will make this a little smoother and a little quicker to become drinkable.
I've made mead with bread yeast once and it does not work, it always took longer to mellow out and tasted a bit off.

Here's how it looks after a few days:

 

[Runningwolf]

Mike welcome to the forum. So tell us a little bit about yourself. What have you made so far and what esle are you making?

 

[Mike_Fox]

Hy,great forum by the way, I've just started winemaking last year(well meadmaking actually) and I've done a few batches of mead so far. I decided to try Joe's orange mead but try so solve the pithy and bitterness problems, hope it turns out good.

 

[JordanPond]

How many gallons does this make? Your instructions say to balance water to 1 gallon but you also disolved 3 lbs of honey in a gallon of water.

This is an "modernized" version of Joe's Ancient Orange Mead, updating a few things like the yeast used, and eliminating the whole orange. I've seen a few comments that JAOM was a little pithy or bitter to the taste.

3 lbs of your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 Large orange
1 stick of cinnamon
2/3 whole cloves
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice)(very small)
1 Packet Lalvin D47(they recommend it for mead)
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Balance water to one gallon
I started zesting one large orange, stopping before I hit any white pith(this was probably the little troublemaker in the JAOM ) then I squeezed the juice out of the orange.

I used 3 lbs of honey,I dissolved this in a gallon of warm water. I added the zest, one stick of cinnamon, 2 cracked cloves, and the squeezed juice, plus yeast nutrient.I heated it up to about 170F and then let it steep until it cooled down.

Added to carboy using a strainer to remove the spices and orange zest.
The temp. was about 70F, and my yeast was rehydrated and ready(I used Lalvin D47), so I aerated and pitched.

I expect this will take about a month to ferment out. The yeast should stop around 14% ABV, leaving some residual sweetness. If its too dry you can always backsweeten with more honey.

 

[Wade E]

Welcome Mike. Sounds like a decent recipe. I made the old style years ago and used wine yeast. I couldnt stand mine as I think I used cloves a little on the high said and left them in like Joe stated and the cloves took over the whole batch. Just way too much. Where do you reside Mike?

 

[Moonshiner]

Hey guys, just started meadmaking and this seems like the perfect recipe for a beginner like me since I read about the problems with the orange pith and bread yeast from the "ancient" recipe.
Thanks for the recipe,I think this should be a Sticky to find easier and will definitely be one of my basic mead recipes.

 

[Mike_Fox]

Sorry my bad on the water part, it's balance water to one gallon so it will fit in a gallon carboy but you can change it depending on the alcohol level you want from it, mine should be about 13-14% ABV.

 

[wvbrewer]

How does it taste with the new recipe?

 

[Moonshiner]

Hey I've just noticed JAOM uses raisins, but MMOM doesn't... any reason why?
And what is the main difference between baker's yeast and other yeasts?

 

[Mike_Fox]

Well JAOM is meant to be an easy recipe, with easy to acquire ingredients.
Baker's yeast is designed for ,err, baking. While technically all yeast is yeast, the fact is that some strains are "better" at converting sugar to alcohol.

I never said you couldn't make good mead with bread yeast,but in terms of consistency, a wine yeast is going to give better results. Its produced with more rigid standards and quality control measures vs. bread yeast.

And I've simply never found a good reason to put raisins in any of my meads.I guess it's sorta like adding tannin,some people swear by it,others swear it off

 

[Malkore]

Hey I've just noticed JAOM uses raisins, but MMOM doesn't... any reason why?
And what is the main difference between baker's yeast and other yeasts?

Because I've never used raisins in a mead

I need to update my version to include the staggered nutrient addition, which takes care of the nitrogen the raisins add.

 

[Julia57]

Well JAOM is meant to be an easy recipe, with easy to acquire ingredients.
Baker's yeast is designed for ,err, baking. While technically all yeast is yeast, the fact is that some strains are "better" at converting sugar to alcohol.

I never said you couldn't make good mead with bread yeast,but in terms of consistency, a wine yeast is going to give better results. Its produced with more rigid standards and quality control measures vs. bread yeast.

And I've simply never found a good reason to put raisins in any of my meads.I guess it's sorta like adding tannin,some people swear by it,others swear it off

 

[Julia57]

Did you say how the finished product turned out?