Ancient Orange Cinnamon & Clove Mead

[Suzy_Q_Brewmistres]

Hi guys....
My recipe was "Ye Olde Batt's Proven Recipe" It's a 1 gallon recipe.... I made it into a 3 gallon batch. It calls for a palmful of cloves....I used a palmful which I then measure as half a tablespoon.... exact count I'm not sure... I'll do that next time.
This was my first batch of mead... I made it on Sat. the 18th of Sept. I think I'll start Joe's recipe as a comparison batch.
Ye Olde Batt's batch I'm making now is perking away (fermenting) at about a bubble every three seconds. Does that sound normal? It's not a fast action ferment....I made a yeast starter... I used the Fleishmann's bread yeast.. which it said was ok for this recipe too. Bathroom temp is about 70-75 F.

:-* Suzy Q, Brewmistress

 

[JoeM]

the bubbling sounds fine. i was just curious as to how many cloves you used because i've had some bad experiences with them in the past. personally...it sounds like you used a heck of a lot of cloves for my taste, but thats just my opinion of course.

 

[Oskaar]

Sounds like a lot of cloves to me too. I figure one - two cloves per gallon when I spice a mead, so a small handfull sounds like a lot unless someone has really small hands.

You know what they say about small hands and mead! The smaller your hands the less mead you can hold at once!

Oskaar

 

[Jmattioli]

Hi Gang,
Glad to see all the activity on the ancient mead. There is no tannin needed in this mead. Tea usually replaces tannin and raisins replaces nutrients. The orange provides the acid. More than a few cloves per gallon is only for the brave at heart. If you start with the basic recipe which is proven time and time again you will get the hang of modifying it for your discriminating taste and you can vary the honey for sweetness. Let us know how it turns out for you.
Joe

 

[Jmattioli]

Hi guys....
I'm gonna do up a batch of this Ancient recipe this weekend. 1 gal size.
As to my 3 gal.. Olde Batte's Recipe... I was afraid I've added too much cloves. After 5 days... 9/22 - I thought I'd take a sample down to work for pH testing and possibly acid testing. (I work in a concentrate juice plant.)

Yes, most definitely too many cloves for the average taste. Don't worry about the acid testing with honey. PH is sufficient.

So.... while I had some out... I again tested the SG... it was now 1.020... it started out at 1.065
pH is 2.94 - kinda low doncha think.

Most definitely too low. More like a beer.

and Acid... I'm not sure of how to test the acid in honey.. I can do it for juices... using tartaric or citric or malic tables. Which would honey be?

Forget about the acid. You won't need to add any for sure.

I also tasted it.... whoa... , a bit strong in the flavorings.. kinda harsh. I'm thinking of racking this weekend to another carboy to get it off any sediments and then perhaps topping it off with more honey/water. Will this sweeten the must ? Will it ferment faster ? What should I expect ? :-/ It will be one week old. It is still in the main floor bathroom and I intend to keep it there until the middle of October. Can I rack it once a week, topping off with honey/water to sweeten it up and possible help it to clear ?
Oh.. yeah - hear me experienced ones and give me advice.

:-* Suzy Q, Brewmistress in training I should be

Yes double the amount of honey you used to get 1.065, Yes, Expect it to take 4 weeks or so, Use patience (let the yeastees do their work and wait til they tell you it is time for racking) and notice there is no need to rack so often as it will do more harm than good. (more opportunities for bacteria and problems) Re-read the ancient recipe and count the rackings (Zero, went straight from primary to bottle) If you must, rack it now and remove the cloves and allspice if you can. And add the additional honey and then just watch it til it is finished fermenting and then rack off the lees. Hopefully removing the cloves and allspice at this point will make it more drinkable later. This addition of honey and water will also serve to raise the PH a bit for faster fermentation.
Hope this helps.
Joe

 

[Suzy_Q_Brewmistres]

Thanks Joe.
I am gonna rack it this afternoon... There aren't any cloves in the must as we speak.. it went from pot straight into a 3 gal carboy by syphon and no cloves, cinnamon, orange & peel. It's one week old now... I'll let it sit and leave it alone (if I can) while it continues. I don't expect it to be completely drinkable until about the end of Dec.. so I'm really in no rush.
:-* Suzy Q, Brewmistress

 

[Suzy_Q_Brewmistres]

Alrightythen... ;D
I've racked my Olde Batte's into a new 3 gal carboy and a 1 gal glass jar. I filled (by syphon) the carboy only 3/4 of the way full and topped it off (syphoned) with more honey/water.... and since it is heavier it sank to the bottom. So I stirred it with my racking cane. Tested SG (1.030) and tasted... better but not best.
I syphoned some more out and put the extra in the gallon jar... added more honey/water - stirred -.... tested SG (1.050) and tasted... sweeter yet but not the sweetest. I didn't want to mess with it further so I added the rest of the honeywater to the gallon jar... tested it.. SG (1.100) and tasted... mmm sweet.
Capped the carboy with the airlock.... it is perking only 1 every 10-12 seconds (right away).. capped the gallon jug with a papertowel & loose lid.
Now my question about the yeast.... I originally added 3.5 Tble spoons to the 3 gal carboy... by splitting this original batch and adding more honey... is there enough yeastie beasties to work?
By adding the extra honey.. have I given the yeasties more food and therefore will ferment better?
What should I expect?
What can I expect with the one gallon jug... loose lid - no airlock?

Don't let me overwhelm you with questions... I'm having fun and if this first batch is a bit on the pucker side.. that's ok.. I'll learn from the experience.

:-* Suzy Q, Brewmistress

 

[Jmattioli]

1t of bread yeast per gallon is sufficient. Give it some time or since you racked and changed it a bit add 1 teaspoon. That should be more than enough. Add a handful of raisins to the batch for nutrients. That will help fermentation greatly and improve your mead. You can leave them in till fermentation is complete. They will not make a mess and should go to the bottom if you wait long enough.
Oh -- and get an airlock for the 1 gallon jug as soon as you can. No sense introducing oxygen at this point. If you can't get one soon, use a ballon with a pin hole in it til you can get an airlock.
Hope this helps,
Joe

 

[Suzy_Q_Brewmistres]

Thanks Joe....
It is now this aft. perking about every 2.5 seconds... but I'll add one little tsp of yeast and a handfull of raisins too.
The airlock for the gallon will hafta be a latex glove... powder free with a pinhole.
On another thought.... when adding fruit to a mead mix... has dried fruit ever been used?

:-* Suzy Q, Brewmistress

 

[Jmattioli]

With dried fruit you have to watch out for added sulfurs. Use natural sun dried raisins and dried fruit without additives. Not too many people use dried fruits for meads though they will rehydrate in the mead and work without adverse effects as long as they are naturally dried and free of chemicals. After all, people do use dry spices with good results. However, purists seem to prefer only fresh natural fruits and for good reasons.
Joe

 

[Suzy_Q_Brewmistres]

My Olde Batt's is 18 days old.... is has only ever perked about every 2.5-3 seconds.... I added the raisins & yeast as Joe said back on the 25th of Sept...
Today (8:00 am) I racked it one last time... (I know, I know... leave it alone... but there's something about fruit floating atop a murky liquid that bothered me... ) I tested SG...1.070 and tasted.... reminds me of a sweet pungeont gin... pine needles... not too pleasant at the moment... but then again I'm a gin & grapefruit drinker so who knows... maybe it's tollerable. (I think too much cloves at the start although they were only in it during the initial heating of the must)
This evening (6:00pm) it is slowly perking about every 4 seconds. But I think I'll still let it bulk age until the end of Dec. I'm also moving it to a cooler part of the house... the basement. It should be about in the low to mid 60's during the days to the mid 50's at night. Gonna leave it alone then... yup that's what I'm gonna do.

G'night guys... :-* Suzy Q, Brewmistress

 

[Jmattioli]

Why not leave it in the warmer temperature til it stops perking and then age it in the cooler temperature. It might get the SG down into a more respectable range. 1.070 is way to sweet except for sugar lovers. Cooler temperatures now will slow down or stop fermentation especially with bread yeast.
Susy Q, We are going to have to tie your hands behind your back. Floating fruit is good. By the way, I racked my first mead at day 2, day 7, day 17, day 27, day 57, day 87, day 112, then left alone for 8 months. (It needed the 8 months to be drinkable)
Somehow it unbelievably made it through my excessive handling. I now rack meads 2 times on the average. Once when fermentation is complete and once when clear. Don't boil, don't sulfite (except at bottling if I will store for a while or if sweetening), use none or minimal nutrients and 90% of my meads are drinkable 2 months after they are started. Never had an infection and don't know how that was possible with my first one.
So now you know the rest of the story......

Joe

 

[Oskaar]

I agree with Joe, Suzy.

Let it sit until is stops perking and then put it into a cooler area for aging!

Plus 1.070 is pretty doggone sweet . . . even for me!

Oskaar

 

[Suzy_Q_Brewmistres]

Alright.... will lug her back up stairs.... put her back in the bathtub and leave her alone....
I didn't think SG 1.070 would be very sweet.... after tasting it yesterday... it left a lingering burn in my throut most of the night. Not as sweet & smooth as I had expected.
I have found that in general.. Americans are not very patient. They want it and they want it NOW... like Varouka from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. So I being a typical American... and a woman to boot... I will have to practice my patience.
:-* Suzy Q, Brewmistress

 

[Jmattioli]

Suzy,
You can't expect it to be drinkable in the middle of fermention. We'll you could but thats not reasonable with the amount of spices you put in. You will be amazed at the difference you will taste when it is done (no more bubbles until you lose your patience waiting) and then after a month or so aging in your cool basement. Hopefully it will finish in the SG 1.030 area which will be plenty sweet after it mellows. Excuse me, I forgot how desperate we get with our first batch.
By the way did u start a batch of my ancient orange C & C to run in parallel with this one as you mentioned previously?
Joe

 

[PanzerBjorn]

Hi Joe,
I want to try your recipe but I don't have cinnamon sticks, only the pre-ground kind. Will that work? and about how many Tbl spoons will be equivalent to one stick?

 

[Jmattioli]

Good question. Never did it that way but it definitely wouldn't be Tablespoons. More like 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon per 5 gallons so I would put in 1/4t of ground cinnamon at the most for 1 gallon. People tend to overdue it with spices. I'm certain 1/4t would get you near the same effect as I get with 1 cinnamon stick. You can even put it in a tea bag if you wish. I sometimes make my own from coffee filters.
Putting in more than the 1/4t would overpower the orange, clove, raisins and honey taste. And the balance is what makes this simple ancient mead so good.
Joe

 

[Suzy_Q_Brewmistres]

Hi Guys....
Well... my 3 gallon Olde Batte's is upstairs again... perking slow but steady.... 10 - 14 sec. apart. I will be patient. I will be patient. I will be patient.
I am in the middle of Grape Harvest at work... 7 days a week... 9.5 hours a day. So I've not started the Ancient Orange C&C. I also didn't have an 1 gallon container yet either until last night. So any day now.

:-* Suzy Q, Brewmistress

 

[Suzy_Q_Brewmistres]

I got home from work this am... (graveyard shift) ... and started this little mead... the Ancient Orange C&C. Then I went to bed.
After I got up I added the (bread) yeast... tested the SG before adding yeast and it was 1.140. In the process... spilled a bit of my sample... got it on my log book... now I have a sticky log/recipe book. Does this sound familiar to any one? .
Now... while reading other notes.. I notice there is no tea in this recipe. I didn't add any and I promise I will leave it alone. But... what supplies the tannin in this mead???
:-* Suzy Q, Brewmistress

 

[Jmattioli]

Suzy,
The raisins supply both nutrients and tannin among other things. Remember that raisins are really dried grapes and grape skins have tannin.
Joe

P.S. And yes, don't touch--- just smell