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My First mead (JAOM)

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EZ_Rhino

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 17, 2014
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Idaho
Hi everyone, started my first batch today so will see where this goes. I created a double 1 gallon batch of JAOM following the recipe from this site, I mixed the 7 lbs of clover honey in the sanitized pot and about half a gallon of filtered water then added them equal as possible to the two 1 gal. carboys. added the rest of the ingredients the recipe called for and topped off the carboys to the one gal. mark with filtered water. Pitched my SN-9 Yeast 3/4 tsp. each and promptly pushed the rubber stopper all the way through the opening and into the must Carboy # 2. kept hold of the air lock though. (never been accused of being gentle) oops. covered the exposed carboy with saran wrap and ran back to town for another stopper. An hour later got a new one in place and the mead put away. The guys at the home brew store said to never throw your brew out unles it tastes like dirty socks, so my question is:confused: will the stopper a brewhous 61/2 off flavor the mead? The thought was to leave it in the must until its done then figure out how to get it out? Recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Also Carboy # 1 had a hygrometer reading of 1.020 and # 2 was 1.021 starting out should those be a medium or sweet mead? I just don't want a dry mead. I tried one of those this weekend and did not like it as much as some of the others. Im still finishing the bottle tonight so its not that bad
 
mannye

mannye

Administrator
Administrator
Moderator
Oct 10, 2012
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Miami Beach, FL
What's that yeast you used? That's cider yeast. JAOM needs Fleischmanns bread yeast. The other thing is you should go back and take another reading... 1.020 is more of a final gravity than a starting gravity.. however, if you had a reading of 1.200 (if that's what you meant) you might find it difficult to get fermentation started as that's too high. One pound of honey in one gallon of water should have a gravity of between 1.017 and 1.019 (someone correct me if I'm wrong) so 7 pounds may be a little too much and leads me to believe the 1.200 is closer to the mark. NO worries however, if the water you added was enough to dilute the mixture, you might get something going... if not, just pour some of that must out and add water until you get under 1.120 Starting gravity...

As to what you will be making, it will indeed probably taste like "old socks" but you won't want to throw it away because unlike the guy at your store, the correct thing is ::NEVER THROW AWAY MEAD:: Tell that guy to put the bong down. Is he also the guy that convinced you to buy cider yeast instead of Fleischmanns? That yeast will go to like 18% and that means hot and dry.

I think you need to go back and read that recipe again... here is the link you need http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showth...mon-Mead?highlight=Joe's+Ancient+Orange+Mead,

That batch you have now will be fine with the bung in it... it just won't be ready to drink for a long time. Fish the stopper out after you rack to a secondary. Use a coat hanger. Also, it's a hydrometer... a hygrometer is for humidity (is that right? I'm a little drunk)
 
E

EZ_Rhino

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 17, 2014
2
0
0
Idaho
Yes the reading said 1.20 from the hydrometer. I thought from the class i sat through that i was supposed to add a 0 after the point. guess not. I sat through a Beer making class to learn how to use the equipment but i am apparently a slow study. Yep also the same person talked me into the Cider yeast. I'll follow the recipe and add more water in a couple days once the yeast is working. I'm getting bubbles every 5-6 seconds after about 8 hours. Don't know if that's good or not. Thanks for the fast response
 
mannye

mannye

Administrator
Administrator
Moderator
Oct 10, 2012
4,167
25
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57
Miami Beach, FL
Beer and mead have very little in common especially in the sanitation area. While good sanitation practices are needed for both, beer needs much more careful attention since looking at it the wrong way will oxidize it. Mead actually likes oxygen the first few days of the ferment and we often get in there and stir it to both aerate and release carbon dioxide.

If it's bubbling, then it's fermenting. Don't fret, it will be OK. In other words, yes it's a good thing.

My advice is to read the JAOM recipe I linked (once you do you will understand everything) then find out what the homebrew shop guy was smoking and get me some, sounds like good stuff, and third, relax. We all make mistakes and learn from them. This is supposed to be fun.

Make a proper JAOM while you wait for this batch to finish. It will be exactly what you want and taste great in 8 to 10 weeks. Plus, no trips to the homebrew shop needed! Everything you need for JAOM is in the supermarket. Even the one gallon bottle of cheap ass wine you can get. I make a big mess of sangria and invite some friends over to play Ryse or whatever and viola! A carboy is born!

You don't even need a proper airlock as long as you have a balloon with some pinholes in it.

Welcome to gotmead!


Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now. G
 
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