I’m making my second batch of JAOM after having good success with doing a 1 gallon batch last year. This time I scaled it up to 5 gallons. My question is: What is the total volume I’m shooting for when adding water knowing the oranges are displacing a great deal of liquid? I have my 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon carboy and I added water to bring the total volume up to the 5 gallon mark but without the oranges my total liquid is probably 4.5 gallons (estimating.) Joe’s original recipe just said to “bring water to within 3 inches of the top” but obviously this doesn’t apply in my current situation. My current batch has been going for about 2 months and is nice and clear (fruit still floating) so I’m planning on taking a FG today and I’ll be debating on adding water to bring the FG down if need be. Any guidance here?
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JOAM - How much water in a 5 gallon batch?
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If you are really concerned about the amount of water displacement, put the oranges in a known amount of water, and see how much volume they displace, and then add that much water to your fermenter if you have room.
Thanks for the suggestions. What is the average FG for this recipe if directions are followed appropriately? I’ve seen everything from 1.020 to 1.030 on the forums.
I have never made the recipe, I was just passing along the info about displacement. Let me know how yours turns out.
Just drew a sample on what is day 60. Gravity is 1.047. Any idea what this should be finishing at Squatchy?
Without a gravity reading at the start, it's too hard to say because I don't know how many points you started. I would think it would go to half that lower at least if it was scaled up correctly.
I didn't take one due to lots of undissolved honey in the bottom of the carboy. My recipe was just a scaled up version of the original so I used 17.5 pounds of honey for the 5 gallon batch.
Bread yeast has an alcohol tolerance of 11 or 12 percent. So, if your honey measurement was accurate, you should have ended up with a final gravity of around 1.037. That’s only a difference of approx. 1.35 lbs of honey. All honey does not have the same sugar content and yeast don’t always behave exactly the way we expect.
It is what it is......
It is what it is......
So you think better off to leave it alone than to try to add water to bring the FG down?
Well, then no one can help you. That's why we dissolve the honey and take a reading.
What would be your goal in adding water? Are you looking to just lower the SG or do you want to restart fermentation?
Adding water will not only lower the SG, but will lower the ABV and the mouth feel. There's a good chance that adding water will restart the fermentation, unless you stabilize before doing so.
If you just want to lower the SG: You have 5 gallons of it, so (when it's ready) why don't you get a glass of it, taste it and see if you like it. If you think it's too sweet, add some water and see if you think it's better or worse. If it's better, add a little more water and see where you are headed. If you were in no hurry, you might think about making a one gallon version (JAOM or traditional), not adding the full amount of honey (if a JAOM: 2.4lbs or an SG=1.086), let it ferment dry, and use that instead of water.
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