The three Joe's I found:
Joe’s Ancient Orange Metheglin
•3-3.5 lbs Clover or your choice of honey
•1 large orange
•1 small handful raisins (25 if you count)
•1 stick cinnamon
•1 whole clove
•1 pinch nutmeg or allspice
•1 package Fleishmann’s bread yeast •water to 1 gallon
Instructions:
1. Use a clean 1 gallon carboy
2. Dissolve honey in some warm water and put into carboy.
3. Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in 10 pieces. Do not remove rind. Do not jest.
4. Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with tepid water. You can top off with more water after the first few days.
5. Shake the heck out of the jug with top on. This is your sophisticated aeration process.
6. Drop in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. (No you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary-- just put it in and give it a gentle swirl.)
7. Install water airlock. Put in a dark place. It will start working immediately or in an hour. After major foaming stops in a few days add some water and then keep your hands off it. Don't shake it!
Recipe Notes:
Racking --- Don't you dare
Additional feeding --- NO
More stirring or shaking -- You're not listening, don't touch.
After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and siphon off the golden nectar. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. It likes a little heat (70-80). It should finish sweet. If it didn't work out... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions.
Joe's Quick Grape Pyment
2 lbs Clover honey
1 oz buckwheat honey
64-oz Welch's Grape Juice with Vitamin C added- Make sure it has no preservatives other than Vitamin C
Lalvin EC-1118 Or Lalvin D47
Mix the honey in the grape juice. Add water to four inches from the top.
Aerate by shaking the bottle for at least 5 minutes.
Properly rehydrate and pitch yeast.
Install the airlock, then put the bottle in a dark place at 61 – 68 degrees. This recipe does not appreciate heat.
“This is the youngest best tasting, quick mead I have had thus far. Too bad It will ferment to dry (about 13% alcohol) because of type of yeast and all the nutrients and natural sugars in Welch's grape juice. It should be to SG =1.000 or less in 14- 21 days max.”
Rack to clean carboy over mixture of 6-oz honey, 6-oz Welch's grape juice, 1/2t of Sorbate and 1/2 crushed campden tablet. It will stabilize and clear fast. Let it clear and set for another 2 weeks and it will be ready to bottle and drink. It will be medium sweet but smooth and drinkable right away. If you want it semi sweet use 4-oz honey instead of 6-oz / gal. I used the Campden because using both Potassium Sorbate and Sulphite together will inhibit renewed fermentation. Color is deep red, has nice legs on sides of glass after swirling, good nose and great balanced taste.
Joe’s Pitch and Leave Hard Cider (not a mead)
1 gallon batch
1 gallon apple cider
8 oz Clover honey
8 oz dark brown sugar
Lavine d 47 or ec 1118 Champayne yeast
SG ~ 1.068 9% abv potential
Method: Pitch, Shake, Walk Away
Mix ingredients and aerate by shaking the bottle for at least 5 minutes.
Properly rehydrate and pitch yeast.
Install the airlock, then put the bottle in a dark place at 61 – 68 degrees. This recipe does not appreciate heat.
Rack around 14 days. SG 1.000
Clears in another 14 days.
Back sweeten with 2 oz Clover honey. Bottle. After four weeks the carbonation should be perfect. Do not over age to prevent bottle bombs.
There was some discussion about different yeasts for the Pyment and Cider, and how aging those up to three months improves the character of the beverage. Of course the two later recipes require temperature control, and thus are not as fool proof.
