I know JAO calls for oranges in the ferment, but I took an Enology class at the end of last year and they said to never make a citric acid addition before primary ferment because the yeast will turn it to acetic acid. So, does adding OJ or lemon juice to a must affect the primary ferment the same way?
-
Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
-
We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Oranges or OJ in primary?
- Thread starter egwenejs
- Start date
The addition of orange or lemon juice has never produced detectable VA for me. Lemon juice can be a problem because it can drop the pH too low and interfere with fermentation.
A buddy of mine tried fermenting straight orange juice he squeezed and treated to raise the pH, and it tasted horrid. Don't know why, but that's the only time I've ever had some fermented beverage that had orange/OJ that tasted bad.
Fermenting pure orange or grapefruit juice is not a good idea. It leaves a lot of phenolic elements that can taste bitter, medicinal, or just plain bad.
And orange juice is acidic and will lower your pH.
I made a lime mel years ago and it has an aroma of diesel fuel. Once you shake the heck out of it, that goes away and it's quite tasty.
Actually, the pH of OJ is usually great for fermentation. It typically come in around 3.6, and adding it to a must will help stabilize the pH by providing buffering capacity. It is the pesky phenolic elements that create problems.
I just re-read Yogi's post and apparently missed the point about treating it to raise its pH. I'm just going to take my head cold and go sit in the corner and not post until I can read and comprehend properly again 
So in people’s opinion what is the best way to get a strong orange flavor in your finished mead? Orange zest, sectioned fresh oranges, sectioned frozen oranges, orange juice, orange extract (i.e. the for baking kind), a combination of multiples?
Definitely the zest, that's where all the flavour is. Try making marmalade without the zest sometime for proof ;D
I did a Lime Mel, not too long ago. It was my best batch. I only used Lime Juice and 2 cups in primary 3 cups in secondary. I plan on trying it again with just zest in the primary and 5 cups of juice in the secondary. I think that I may make it a vanilla lime and add about 3-5 beans in the secondary too. But the initial comments that I got was that they loved the acidity and taste and some even wanted MORE lime in it. I think that zest may be my option here. Incidently, 10 pounds of limes made about 7 cups of lime juice and a ton of zest, at least 1/2 a cup of zest. Not that you would use it all at once. I only used 2 cups of lemon juice and 2 cups of lime juice in a lemon lime batch of mead and put in 1 tablespoon of lemon and 1 tablespoon of lime zest in the primary. And the Lemon lime turned out Great.
I was also thinking that if I could find some Key Limes...last time I used just regular store bought limes, not the tiny once but about 3/4 size of a lemon.
Matrix
