Joe Mattioli's Foolproof Ancient Orange, Clove, and Cinnamon Mead
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If you change anything, then it isn't "Joe's..." any more, and as he put it, "the warranty is void." Do so at your own risk, because things will be different.
But of course you can tweak and tune any recipe as much as you'd like -- and using different yeast, then observing the changes that result, is a great experiment and it will broaden your meadmaking knowledge by a lot!
But of course you can tweak and tune any recipe as much as you'd like -- and using different yeast, then observing the changes that result, is a great experiment and it will broaden your meadmaking knowledge by a lot!
Yes you can. While it is true that spice additions (especially in dry metheglins) seem to not scale linearly with volume (you don't need 5x the number of cloves for a 5 gallon batch that you do for a gallon, for example), since Joe's finishes relatively sweet, it doesn't seem to get over-spiced by a linear scale-up.
As per what Wayne said.....I'll look for bakery yeast
can I scale it up by just multiplying the ingredients ?
Plus, if you did use wine yeast, then it always finishes dry and to be honest, it's not that nice dry.......
I've also tried variations on the theme of different citrus fruits, with pretty much the same result.
The only "improvement" that you might try, would to be to "zest" the orange(s), then carefully remove all the white "pith", as that is the part that can impart a little bitterness, if any. then just add the actual flesh of the orange....
Oh, and with the suggested spices, then "less is more", especially with the cloves, 1 or 2 maximum. They're deceptively powerful.......
regards
fatbloke
I just began a 5-gallon batch tonight and all I scaled up was the yeast, oranges, honey, raisins, cinnamon, and water. I only added two gloves and two pinches of nutmeg. I thought the glove was a little overpowering when I did my 1 gallon batch, so I thought I would go with less this time.
I will let you know how it turns out if you want.
-Shawn
I will let you know how it turns out if you want.
-Shawn
I have just made 35 liters of my own receipe and I can only confirm that clove is way powerfull. I hope it ages out a bit 
how about stabelising this mead, As far as I know this can never be botteled safely without sulfite?
If Joe's recipe is followed it doesn't require stabilization, but one caveat is that his recipe calls for fermentation temperature in the mid 70s F. Depending on what yeast you've used, you could see different results. If it finished sweet and you don't want to stabilize, be sure to age it and let it spend some time a room temps to make sure the yeast stay dormant. The longer you age it under airlock, the more certain you can be that it will be safe to bottle.
Of course, stabilizing is easy and I never argue against it with a sweet mead.
Medsen
Of course, stabilizing is easy and I never argue against it with a sweet mead.
Medsen
but then its using chemicals on an ancient :-(
I think I'll make a 15 liter batch and ask some friends over to drink it all in one night, so I don't need to bottle
I think I'll make a 15 liter batch and ask some friends over to drink it all in one night, so I don't need to bottle
Hello! I just tackled this mead this weekend as my first quasi-solo brewing project.
Everyone shook their head ruefully as I seemed to break every mead brewing rule with this recipe.
I do have one question though after I upped this recipe to a 5 gallon variant.
It seems like a large amount of honey has collected on the bottom of the carboy. Almost an inch in thickness. Is this normal? Its entirely possible I didn't dissolve the honey enough in the warm water as directed by the recipe. I can provide an image if needed.
Thanks!
Everyone shook their head ruefully as I seemed to break every mead brewing rule with this recipe
.I do have one question though after I upped this recipe to a 5 gallon variant.
It seems like a large amount of honey has collected on the bottom of the carboy. Almost an inch in thickness. Is this normal? Its entirely possible I didn't dissolve the honey enough in the warm water as directed by the recipe. I can provide an image if needed.
Thanks!
