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No one that remembers wondering the same exact thing you are the first time they made JAOM is going to laugh at you. I remember thinking how I was going to lose 1/4 of the stuff I waited so long to drink!

First, if you can stand it, give the fruit a poke with a sanitized chopstick or some other utensil. I find that sometimes it will keep floating because co2 trapped in and around the fruit make it buoyant. Just be prepared for the mead to go a little cloudy as yeast and other detritus fall off the fruit.

I would also ask how long it has been. If it's less than 90 to 100 days then you need to wait at least that long before you go poking around. I start thieving at around 90 days. Usually by 100 days the fruit is either falling or doing the lava lamp.

Racking. You can cold crash before you rack which will help get everything to drop as well as make it even clearer.

Once you get the fruit on the bottom or it's been over 100 days and you just can't stand it any more, you use your siphon to remove as much JAOM as possible without disturbing the lees. You should be able to get at least half of it out nice and clear. More if you cold crash, maybe 3/4 or more.

Eventually however you Will find that you've reached that point where the siphon is going to get yeast. Now what you do is switch to a different receiving vessel. Experience dictates you find one as tall and slender as possible. That way the yeast will settle and you can pour off more clear mead. The thinner the bottle, the more mead you can get.




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U g
 
What I have done when I siphoned my JAOM was to put a couple pieces of gauze and some sterilized silicone bands on the end going into the ambrosia. This kept almost all of the lees out until the last glass. It was slow though, but it's better than having to wait for it to flocculate again and again. All in one shot, straight from the fermentor to the bottle...
 
I usually find the fruit starts dropping a week or two after it goes completely clear. Swirling it around gently can help by knocking off the bubbles keeping the fruit floating, but Joe might find out about that and give you a stern talking to. And me, for suggesting it.

I usually rack it into a clean carboy a week or two before I want to bottle it. And I often put the dregs into a sanitized mason jar or something, which I then refrigerate, it usually drops out clear overnight and then I pour the clear stuff back into the carboy with the stuff I racked. I used to siphon through cheesecloth but I found that really only stops the cloves from getting stuck in the racking tube, the yeast can get through the cheesecloth just fine.
 
When I want something to rack over slow (like a JAOM) then I use my special siphon hose. It's 3/16" OD, 1/8" ID. Call me a masochist but sitting there and carefully siphoning things that slowly means I can get virtually all of my mead out the first try. But I only use it on 1 gallon or less, a 5 gallon batch would take until next week to rack!
 
EJM3 said:
When I want something to rack over slow (like a JAOM) then I use my special siphon hose. It's 3/16" OD, 1/8" ID. Call me a masochist but sitting there and carefully siphoning things that slowly means I can get virtually all of my mead out the first try. But I only use it on 1 gallon or less, a 5 gallon batch would take until next week to rack!
Click to expand...

I think that's a great technique! Aquarium hose basically. Actually
1/8 I/D seems less than aquarium hose. It may take a while but I would trade waiting a bit for all the extra hassle of my way in a second. Maybe with a co2 purge and some creative capping a five gallon could be a "set it and forget it" until the last half gallon.


Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now.
U g
 
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