Orange Spiced Mead

[vintner]

Endo: Yeah, it would be a lot easier to just order an airlock and a bung, though it's hard to know what sized bung you'll need. They're very cheep though. If you use a baloon, rince the latex powder out of the inside. Try doing a web search for stores in your area that carry beer and wine making supplies. You might know someone who lives or travels near one.
Don: Your cellar sounds nice. Is it in your basement? Do you do anything to regulate humidity?

 

[Dankdude]

Vintner, I wonder why you use the bread yeast when White Labs puts out to good Mead Yeast.
One for dry mead and one for sweet mead.

I'm a fellow homebrewer who has been doing it for 20 years.
Your recipe does look good though.

 

[Endo]

ok so i ordered my airlocks and universal bungs, some camden tabs and some pot sorbate. now i just need my fruit and stuff. i cant wait to get started.. whats a good price to pay for honey? looks like im going to have to spend at least 30bucks for honey no? and probly another 20 on msc stuff? cant wait for the weekend!!!!

also i was wondering could this be done with fresh apple cider? to make say a hard cider type drink? was thinking while im at the store picking up a gallon of cider, and trying it out.. whats to lose? the only prob i see with it would be that, it would not clear out very well, i could be wrong though.. what do you guys think? maybe let it sit less time, like 30 days or so?

thanks
Endo

 

[Endo]

anyidea how much a gallon of honey weights?

 

[vintner]

Sorry, don't know how much a gallon of honey weights. Also don't know the going cost for honey as it's been a while since I made a batch of mead. Hard apple cyder is a little different process. You bottle it like beer cause it's still carbonated, and wont keep long because it only has about the same alcohol content as beer. It doesn't really ever clear well because of all the pectin in the apples. Also, it's best not to use store bought cyder cause it's very heavily sulfited so that it can sit on the shelf for 6+ months. If you do a google search, you can find lots of recipes and read up on cyder making . You can make hard cyder from more than just apples.

 

[Endo]

i asked cause i got the dude at the pizza place next door to get some honey from his warehouse supplier, and it comes packaged in 4/6lb jugs 6/3lb jugs and 4/1gal jugs.. im guessing 4 gal might not be enough... so i told him to go for the 4/6lb format that way if i want to i can start a 2nd diffrent batch.. maybe some something like Don has got going with his carribean theme... or ill find some diffrent recipe. either way thats a lot of honey. i gave him 50 bucks. so we will see what he comes back with. i checked out the company that makes the honey and it seems like its good stuff. http://www.groebfarms.com/
im also thinking of picking up a lb or 2 of some kind of fancy honey.. like blueberry or something. from what i been reading diff honeys give diffrent finished products.. but then again with the orange and spice, maybe its better to to with a reg flavored honey? and just wait maybe.?

 

[Dankdude]

A gallon of Honey weighs approximately 12 lbs.

 

[vintner]

im also thinking of picking up a lb or 2 of some kind of fancy honey.. like blueberry or something. from what i been reading diff honeys give diffrent finished products.. but then again with the orange and spice, maybe its better to to with a reg flavored honey? and just wait maybe.?

I think that's a good assumption Endo. I would think the wide variety of flavors in this recipe would over power the complexities in a specialty honey like blueberry, orange blosom... I'm sure you realize that a mead made from blueberry honey isn't going to taste like bluberries. That, and again, it will a long time for this kind of mead to develope into anything drinkable.

 

[Endo]

haha... i know im turbo posting a bit.. but i just got 24lbs of honey for 40 $ woohoo.. cant wait till sunday. it doesnt look nearly as much as i thought it was going to be.. ended up getting the 4/6lb jugs.. so for future reference.. these not 1 gal containers.. so a gallon of honey probably weighs about 12lbs.. cause these look like half gal containers.

 

[Don Cotyle]

Here's an update on the Tropical Rasin Jack, almost ready to rack and sweeten, unless it re-ferments, if it does I'll let it go and add 2-3 pounds more of sugar





I'll let you in on a secrete ingredient...1 cup corn meal...LOL!!!

 

[vintner]

Don: Is that one cup of corm meal total, or per gallon? Never aquired a taste for mash or shine. Sounds like it's going to be some smooth sheet Bro! Hope it turns out for ya.

 

[Don Cotyle]

Thats for a 5 gallon batch, it's from a very old reciepe for Raisin Jack which uses cornmeal or cracked corn along with anything else with high sugar content to give just a hint of mash flavor to my new reciepe. Rasin Jack was made by the troops in WWII to get some high proof hooch,and probably made way before then!

Also prison hooch, wine,or "pruno" was made from raisin bread when it was served with meals to inmates, the bread and rasins would ferment and the raisins have a natural yeast !!!

 

[vintner]

Very cool Don. Props to you too Bro

 

[Endo]

thanks for the inspiration guys. if all turns out right i can see myself doing this all the time. its so rewarding, doing something like this for yourself.


joes ancient orange, 14days in.

apple raison cyser 7 days in

Cinnimon Honey Cyder DAy 1 might split batch and add rasberries to 1 of them.

 

[vintner]

Yum Yum Yummy Endo! Well... they don't actually look that yummy now, but I'm sure they will be in a month or 2! Great job Bro! It's always cool when you get someone else hooked on something you're interested in.
How much honey did you go w/in the AO? Keep us posted.

 

[Endo]

Yum Yum Yummy Endo! Well... they don't actually look that yummy now, but I'm sure they will be in a month or 2! Great job Bro! It's always cool when you get someone else hooked on something you're interested in.
How much honey did you go w/in the AO? Keep us posted.

the AO got 12# of honey.3 oranges and 3 clementines 125 raisons split in half. 4 cin sticks and 3 cloves. Don did 10# i think and the recipe was for 15 #originally.. so i figured it hit it in the middle.

the cyser i started yesterday was 4 gall of apple juice and 6# honey, 2 cinn sticks, and some raisons. pitched with wyeast dry cider blend. about a quart of water to top off.

and the 1 gallon apple/raison, was 1 gal apple juice box of raisons. fermentation slowed considerably after the first few days, so i resugared with 2lbs of honey. and its going much better. that was pitched with a cotes du blanc champagne yeast. was going for pretty dry on that one to. gonna try some sparkling cider too with some of this stuff.

so far so good. thanks for all your help vin.
and don for all the info as well.

interested into racking onto some raspberries or blueberries with some of it to. i have a bunch of 1gall glass coming to me. (working at a wine store carlo rossi jugs abound). i cant wait... tick tick tick tick. really trying to find some cheap 5gal glass carboys.

Endo

 

[vintner]

Sounds great man. Good luck on the carboys. Start going to garage sales.

 

[Don Cotyle]

PROPS Endo!!! Looks like your going at wine making with a vengence !!! They all look like their off to a good start! Unless you over sugar-honey from the start all wine will use up their sugars and end up bone dry when finished and may-will need to be sweetened at the very end process after fermentation is finished...even some dry wine is very slightly sweetened to take away the bone dry taste!

Welcome to the club...lol...I hope you enjoy making homemade wines as much as we do, you'll really be suprised at your end product!

Keep the faith...Don

 

[Endo]

so.. i have a ? about sweetening. im sure all of them are going to end up very dry, what would you guys reccoment to resweeten say the 5 gal orange 5 gal hard cider? how much would you use.. i just want a slight sweetness... i tasted some of the smaller batches.. and they seemed thin, and dry.. just wonderin what you guys suggest...

 

[Don Cotyle]

Hi Endo, Vin is headed off to the shore so here's how I sweeten mine. Pull off one bottle and sweeten to taste. I pour it out into a pot it makes it alot easier! Figure out how many bottles are in your batch, add the sugar in a clean carboy and syphon (rack) onto the sugar and add 1 campden tablet crushed per gallon stir very slowly till it's mixed and bottle! This method keeps air to a minumin and won't let it referment!!! Happy sweetening Bro!!! Then bottle, I allways soak my corks 24 hours in a gallon of water with 1 crushed campden tablet it clenses your corks and makes them plyable enough to seat easily! I'm getting ready to taste my Tropical Rasin Jack and do the same!

Don't forget to have fun while enjoying your hobby , Don!