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JAOM and Darkness

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Ken2029

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 26, 2015
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Hi folks! A week ago, I made five single gallon batches of JAOM. I've got them in a closet and they are coming along nicely. The temperature in the closet is a very consistent 70 degrees, but I am thinking 75 degrees might be better. The living areas of my house stay around 75 degrees.

The closet is very dark, but keeping five single gallons in the dark in my bathtub will not be as easy. I am assuming these need to be kept in the dark, but how dark does it need to be?

Thanks!
Ken
 
Hops in beer are affected by light so brewing needs darkness but what is the issue with wines and meads? The only issue I can think of is that the color of red wines might be affected by UV light... I make all my wines and meads in my kitchen and unless I ferment these in a white bucket all my carboys are clear glass. Never had any problem with light - and that includes a batch of strawberry wine that I made 2 years ago (OK I store my wines in a dim basement) and last night that wine was still bright red... But I suspect that many others may disagree and argue that light is the enemy of fermentation...
 
JOAM instructions say keep it in the dark. General thinking is cooler is better within limits, so 70 is probably better than 75.....if it makes any difference at all.

I kept the only batch of JOAM I ever made wrapped in a towel to keep the light out.
 
I suppose some black trash bags to put on top of each one would not be that difficult. Problem solved.
 
I would think any temp between 70 and 75 would be fine for a JAOM.. mine was at around 72 the whole time. I also cover everything fermenting or put in dark places; it's an old habit from my brewing days and I don't want to take any chances. I have left several meads exposed to just ambient light in our front living room for weeks on end, but as a general rule for me, I keep them covered up if at all possible with extra beach towels or blankets. I figure better safe than sorry.
 
As an all-around general bad example, I left my JAO's and variants out on the kitchen counter (sometimes they would even see a few minutes of direct sunlight) and they got to be the ambient temperature of the house (18C in winter, up to 30C in the summer) and the only ones I ever had that didn't turn out the way I wanted were clearly affected by something else (usually the ingredients I used, or the amount of honey).

In short, don't sweat it too much. It probably won't have that much effect.

And if you're going to sweat it anyway, just put a t-shirt over the carboy, or wrap it in a tablecloth or blanket. Your garbage bag will work too, as would putting up a cardboard light-shield.
 
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