Ancient Orange Mead Recipe
A friend of mine, who is not on Steemit yet, convinced me to get into brewing. I am not a big beer drinker however, so I ended up brewing mead instead. Mead is expensive unless you can get your honey for "free." By free I mean through barter or by being a honey farmer.
Thankfully, I have a local honey farmer who accepts mead in exchange for his honey.
As you can see below, the other ingredients are pretty inexpensive. The Italian glass brewing bottles are about $30 for a 3 gallon model. It's of course about twice that for the 6 gallon bottle. Do not start out with the larger bottle however. If you mess something up, you'll be wasting 21 pounds of honey!
The 3 gallon bottles were used for my first attempt, and it was a complete success.
The mead can be brewed with yeast specifically made for it, or you can simply use regular bread yeast. I like knowing how to brew it with regular bread yeast since it can be easily stockpiled. My first batch used a special yeast though to make sure it worked. The yeast specifically made for mead will give you a 18% alcohol content, and the bread yeast will range from 13-15%.
The recipe, shared by Joe Mattioli, was orginally found here. I have made some minor adjustments to it, and the steps involved have been summarized into an easier to follow process. If you have any questions about the recipe or any details left out, I'll gladly help you.
Now, without further delay, here is the recipe:
Ancient Orange Mead
Materials:
- 3 gallon brewing bottle
- 10.5 lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
- 3 large organic oranges (later cut in eights or smaller rind and all)
- 75 organic raisins
- 3 sticks of organic cinnamon (Make sure it is not China sourced)
- 3 whole organic cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- 3 teaspoons of Fleishmann’s bread yeast
Process:
- Dissolve the honey in warm water using a large stainless steel pot.
- Pour the mixture into the brewing bottle.
- Wash the oranges well using spring water.
- Remove the stems, and cut the oranges into eight pieces each.
- Put the oranges, raisins, cloves, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and allspice into the bottle.
- Top off the bottle with spring water up to 3 inches from the top.
- Cap the bottle and shake it vigorously for two minutes.
- When at room temperature, add 3 teaspoons of Fleishmann’s bread yeast.
- Swirl the top of the bottle around a little to mix in the yeast.
- Install the airlock and place the bottle in a dark warm room.
Once you have everything bottled up, do not expect to see a reaction immediately. You will not see a reaction for at least half a day. Don't be alarmed if no bubbling occurs at first. If after 24 hours you still do not see bubbling, your yeast may have been bad. You can always add yeast at that point to not waste the contents. Just be sure not to add yeast unless you are absolutely sure the original yeast was bad.
One primary reason to wait longer with this recipe is to get the bitter rind taste out of the mead. After three months of aging though, I did not detect any bitter taste at all. When you go to remove the mead from the bottle, you can siphon it out with a tube and a special brewer's siphon. On the bottom of the siphon, there will be a place to wrap cheese cloth around it. Use a rubber band to hold the cloth in place.
Now, pour yourself a glass of it over ice, or heat it up to drink it warm. It's your choice. I prefer mine over ice. Don't be fooled by the delicious taste either. You're enjoying a very high alcohol content drink, and the effects of it can easily sneak up on you!
Saving this article as PDF, @finnian. Will give it a try once I gather some material and ping some friends that might have some extra equipment handy. If I can get it going before New Years, I'll be enjoying some by the time I'm breaking ground next spring. Which will be much needed; this year I went to the chiropractor over 40 times..lol Maybe some mead is what I need!
I'm sure glad I know someone experienced with this, I'm sure I'll have questions. 'BYOB' takes on new meaning.. Brew your own Brew..
The crazy thing about mead is you don't even need complicated or expensive materials. People brew it in recycled plastic bottles with a balloon as the air lock for example. Just poke a hole in the balloon to let the air escape.
If you can get honey, you can make mead. It really is that simple. I highly recommend people try it!
Do you find any taste variation using plastic? I'd prefer to use the glass jugs like you use. I wonder how much difference it makes, if any. I have 55 gal coated drums, but I wouldn't drink anything from them..ha
I have a friend that keeps bees all over Maryland. Even has a permit to have them in State parks. Honey shouldn't be hard to come by.
@Grow-pro A lot of people use a "Brew bucket" for their first mix and fermentation, prior to their first rack. Due to the wider opening it allows for better access to the mix, and allows easier mixing and adding of larger items to influence flavors. It doesn't change the end product taste, but for longer term aging and storage I would use a glass carboy like he has.
The "Brew Bucket" is the actual name brand that people use, usually 6 gallons and it looks like your average 5 gallon bucket with a lid, but it is made of food grade plastic, already has the hole and gasket in the lid for an airlock. They are also really cheap in comparison to the carboys. Then when they rack into the car boy it makes clean up easier, since you remove the top hose it out, clean it, sanitize and your back into making a new batch. I wouldn't age in plastic mainly because of what it could leech into the product, with prolonged exposure. Even bottled water has an expiration date, for the bottle, glass wont leach.
Awesome, thank you so much @mbrown121500. I'm searching around now for brew buckets. I found the stainless ones (a bit pricey, but they are sleek!).
But this is more in line with my current skill level:
Agreed, it definitely alters the flavor. I think everything tastes better out of glass. I order a lot of supplies from Uline and will check their prices on food grade buckets, but I'm half tempted to learn a bit more and save for the SS Brewtech setup. Might have to have a yard sale and raise some funds for another hobby..haha
Thanks again for your reply, it really helped!
I was mistaken, it wasn't brew bucket that I have, its an Ale Pail. The 6.5 gallon one is like twelve dollars, I wouldn't go stainless, that's more for beer since they have to boil and raise the temperature higher than the plastic ones would allow.
Until you start adding hops to your product and they require boiling, stick with plastic and glass. They are cheaper and easier to find than stainless steel, and don't ever go with aluminum it leeches horribly.
I'll be growing hops next year, for brewing, but I want to try my hand at making this mead first.
Think I'll stick to your advice and find a decent plastic bucket that's ready to rock n roll.
I have a ton of blackberries (enough to fill 5 gallon buckets up) and was considering also trying some blackberry brandy. I know that's getting way ahead, but I've got to figure out what to do with all of these.
You know I hate hops too as a man. Switch to mead and leave the estrogen for the women. haha ;-)
Yeah, picking up and shaking a stainless steel brewing vessel isn't going to be fun either.
Agreed aluminum wise. I avoid it as if it were poison... because it is.
Honestly, I don't think you're going to let it age much at first. You're going to want to drink it. haha Mine sit for three months, and then they magically disappear soon after between myself, the people in my family who drink it, and the bartering I do with the extra.
I like the glass bottles, but I worry about dropping them. Part of my process is picking the bottle up and shaking the crap out of it for a few minutes. That might be hard to do with a 6 gallon bucket??? The glass bottles are about 60 bucks for the big one.
Get the smaller 3 gallon ones though to start if you do decide on glass. That way they are far easier to shake up and carry to place in a dark area. I cannot prepare them in the same place as they are stored, so being able to carry them easily and safely is a big plus.
With the 6gal plastic buckets, if it's sealed well, I could take it for a spin on the trailer. That's how I mixed a lot of paint..lol link up the trailer to the tractor and cruse around the property for a few. It shakes me up, so I knew it would work well for that - it does. Shaking it by hand would be one heck of a workout!
I have seen those glass jugs around at many antique shops and consignment places - that's where I'm going to check.
Make sure you do not spend too much on an old bottle. The Italian glass new ones are cheap if you go to the store and don't pay shipping.
None. The downside to plastic is it's more prone to scratching, which makes it more prone to hosting infection. The downside to glass is how fragile it is, and lots of people wind up with injuries because of breakage.
I use plastic, even in my professional batches.
I have a couple 6 gallon glass bottles and doubt I'll ever buy more. They are a real bear to shake and carry. It is dangerous as you said too. The 3 gallon ones are easy to handle however.
You can get/make frames for the glass ones to help out a bit with the dangers. My next step will be stainless steel though.
Yes, I'm actually thinking of a simple counter setup. I'll leave the brew bottles on a raised counter to age. Then I'll rack/bottle them right from the counter top. There are so many ways to improve the process though, but I'm limited to not having a dedicated production location within my home or an out building... yet.
If you can get honey, I highly recommend you brew mead then. You'll not regret it...other than not starting sooner. I've spent thousands of dollars on alcohol over the years. It really makes me want to kick myself. You said you had a local guy that gives you beer for hops, right? That's a good bartering setup too!
I have six plastic left over deerpark spring water gallon jugs brewing now. I'll let you guys know how they work. They should work, and I don't even have expensive air locks. I'm using balloons on the tops.
Oh, I can get honey, no problem! And yes, a good friend of mine brews his own IPA and gives it to me, so long as I return the glass bottles! He grows hops and has a beautiful hops trellis about 18' high, but he has 3 kids and his yard is maxed out with toys and playground equipment.😆 He wants me to build a similar setup on a larger scale, on my property - for free beer, of course..haha I'm going to start planning the rig once this season is wrapped up. I'm not even doing fall crops this year because I have to start prepping beds for next year already.
I'm likely to go the resourceful route, like you, but that stainless can is calling me..HAHA Maybe after I get one consumable batch under my belt, then we'll see. If I can make something worth drinking with sourced household items & improvising a bit then I might spend a little coin to do it a little better.
I figure food grade plastic is still going to be a notch above the jailhouse toilet wine, right?
As long as it is food grade plastic, I wouldn't worry about it. The temperature never gets hot enough for anything to leech out into the liquid. I'm looking to get wooden brewing barrels too instead of using glass to be more "authentic."
For people just wanting to test the process, they could skip the expensive bottle. But... If you are sure you're going to brew something, not necessarily mead, the bottle is worth it. Worst case if you don't end up making beer, cider, or mead with it, you get a fancy upgrade to the change jar. ;-)
@finnian don't forget that with wooden barrels you will change the flavor, and you will loose a bit both for the "devils cut" what the wood absorbs, and the "angels share" what evaporates due to the wood expanding and constricting
Also, I really want to do barrels, but I need to figure out the easiest and most appropriate air lock system. Any ideas? I do not see barrels made specifically for mead anywhere. I'm also not sure how to add a spigot after the fact, or do I have to buy a barrel with the spigot installed in the beginning?
Do you think it is a bad idea? You know what I'm looking to do (set it and forget it). I am trying to duplicate ancient methods as much as possible too.
My plan (before we moved from VA) was to use old Bourbon barrels and age cider in that. It gives a good flavor and you get a little wood flavoring and a little bourbon flavoring added to your product, but that was experimenting with flavors. The only thing I can see that would push me away is the price of new barrels, and used barrels will change the flavor of your product.
You can test the flavor changes prior to using the barrels by adding toasted wood chips to the brew (sold at the brew store by you). That would give you a good indication of the end result flavor change.
That will have to be done wood chips wise. It's a very good idea, thanks! Yes, my eventual plan is to have barrels, and they will be placed in a cool dark place to age for years. I'm in this for the long haul.
I'm not going to want to do small barrels though. I'm thinking at least 6 gallon ones if not larger. If I can source enough honey to do it, I'll go way bigger.
You also add tannin though, which you otherwise count on getting from any latent pollen in the honey.. not guaranteed.
Any negatives to using barrels in your expert opinion? You know a ton more about this art, and I want to use barrels. What would you suggest, or would you be against it entirely?
I want to duplicate the ancient process as much as possible, so that's my main reason for wanting to use barrels.
I also like the idea of setting them on their side to ferment, and drinking straight from that unmoved barrel in the future.
Huh! Suddenly I have a plan of what to do with honey from the bees I want to get in spring! Awesome!
What does the mead taste like? Sort of like a beery wine?
Hmm, it is hard to describe. It tastes nothing like hard liquor but has a bite to it to let you know it has alcohol in it. I can barely taste the spices, and it is mostly honey with the citrus twist.
Most Whole Foods and beer stores will sell Dansk store brand mead. My favorite is their "Viking Blod" recipe. I'm brewing my attempt at duplicating that favor now. If it works out, I'll share the recipe.
The store bought namebrand stuff is $30 a bottle though for 750mL. Try that to have an idea of the flavor. Just don't blame me when you love it and spend lots of money at first until you brew your own. haha ;-)
Will do, thanks!
That bite is likely fusels which will age out.
I don't mind the bite at all. It's still delicious! :)
People also like to age meads, ciders, and cysers longer due to it removes the "hotness" from the end product. When you take a shot of low end tequila, and it burns the whole way down, that's "hotness". The longer you let it age the more that hot turns into a more mellow taste and it blends into the beverage more. That is why usually the stronger it is, the more you let it age and mellow out, or you cut it with something sweet to counteract the burn.
So if you start playing around with different yeasts and sugar content (honey in this case) to up your ABV, and it burns a little too much for your liking, try waiting another month or so. The harder stuff Apple jack, and strong non-distilled beverages recommend 4-6 months minimum to let it age.
"A friend of mine, who is not on Steemit yet, convinced me to get into brewing."
Just so everyone else knows, mbrown121500 is that friend!
I hope to get a large enough production going to start aging it longer. Right now I'm drinking and bartering my production, so I have none left to age. ;-) It sits for three months though at least. I'd love to have enough that I'm letting it age for a year. The taste would only get better with time, and that's one reason I love brewing now!
See the head space above? That is what I left in the bottle that bubbled over this morning. Adding three times the yeast I was supposed to add was a BAD idea. LOL First rule of brewing: Do not brew while drinking your product.
Mistakes will be made. They can be costly too! haha
That SHOULD have been enough head space, the different yeast must have had a more active fermentation.
Yeah, all the past brews, I did not "activate" the yeast either. I simply poured it into the bottle at the end, then the bottle was swirled around a little to mix the yeast into the top liquid.
That can fail to start in mead more frequently than other brews. The sugar chains in honey are more complex and making a starter grants a higher success rate on pitching.
I've never had a problem, but then I'm only up to brew #7. I have some 1 gallon plastic water bottle tests going now, and they just had a tsp of bread yeast tossed in at the end without pitching. They are all working just fine.
Have you ever had a failed batch, and did you know why or have any idea why?
The only fail I've had was flavoring... trying to make that Almond Joy which isn't working out. I have had to repitch before, but once I started doing staggered nutrient all has been well.
Staggered nutrient? I just throw in the organic raisins and forget it. The only total failure so far was trying to use recycled deek park spring water bottles. There was an AWFUL after taste from the plastic. Yuck! We had to throw six gallons of it in the trash.
The ancient orange that blew up a bit didn't taste good, but I'm almost sure it was from the three packs of yeast when it only needed one. Does that make sense from your expertise? Could it have been opening the bung mid-brew instead?
It's time to work on your reputation a bit... Hold still. This won't hurt a bit!
On yeasts, you can certainly stockpile Flieshman's or any store bought bread yeast. You could also stockpile 71b or any of the popular yeasts used for mead. But you can also save, wash, and reuse yeast.
That, however, gets you varying results. Yeast, like any other living organism, has the opportunity to evolve into something a bit different. Most folks I know that reuse say they get 3 uses out of a batch before the flavor starts to change. I've never reused so I have no wisdom myself on the matter.
Yeah, since I can stockpile it, I won't bother reusing. All I care to know is how to develop my own if the SHTF scenario occurs.
Any good source recommendations for bulk 71b? I see the obvious hits from a search, but I figure you may know a better source.
I don't. There's a local home brew show that I just buy packets from for now. I'll look into bulk when I step up from 16gal to 55gal batches. You might check Northern Brewer though, they do all kinds of bulk orders.
How are you moving your 16 gallon batches? I'd love to see pictures and a post about that!
As an update to the post above, let me share a mistake I made. These images are of one overflow and one that almost overflowed. I filled both of these bottles way too high. Worse, I changed more than one thing about my process at once, and that was a bad idea.
Both of these bottles were brewed last night. Two things were done differently with them. First, I "activated" the yeast by putting it in warm water for 15 minutes before "pitching" it (adding it to the brew bottle). That made the yeast act way more explosively.
Worse, I used raw natural local honey, and the honey can ferment on its own. These two bottles are the first I've used with that honey. The lemon batch is half local and half Costco honey. The larger orange bottle is all local honey. To make things even worse, I added three times the yeast I needed to the orange. Oops!
That will not ruin it, but it of course made things way more powerful. Therefore, I believe the first rule of brewing has been firmly established, and here it is:
Do not drink you previous brew while brewing your next.
I made mistakes, but it's all good. There's so much alcohol already in the bottles that opening them to siphon a little off is not a big deal. Learn from my mistake, and leave more head space regardless of what honey or yeast you're using. I would recommend you do not fill a bottle more than the top ring around the bottle. That is about 4-5 inches below the very top tip of the bottle. In the background you can see a couple orange brews that are filled just past that point.
Now, after cleaning up the mess, I smell like honey and nutmeg. Things could be worse, right? haha
Good information. Fruit addition will do that often, and when you degass. Add a blow off tube to your bung to prevent the mess next time :)
I don't even know what a "blow off tube" is but will find out...
This batch had three packets added too it when it should have only had one. It does not taste good either, but I couldn't bring myself to throwing it away. I still drink it, but it is ROUGH.
@finnian - thanks for the detailed recipe, mistakes and all! Time for me to attempt this. I love the orange, cinnamon, and clover. I'm going to explore other combinations as well. At 15-18% alcohol content...this stuff will get the party started in no time!
It is absolutely amazing. I let it sit for three months. Then I only "racked" it once. It is not crystal clear, but then who cares? It doesn't have to be. :)
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My brother and I made mead very similar to this recipe with the addition of elderberries. It was really good :).
I went back to check your latest costs post. How much is honey in Panama? I would guess it cannot be as expensive as here in the USA. At Costco I can get it for $3/pound. It just isn't local honey, and I want to support my local community and economy.
Going to have to try this.
I have made ginger ale before and it was pretty good.
This should be interesting.
It's pretty easy. Do you have a brew bottle or bucket already? I put off brewing it for years, and I'm really kicking myself. That's thousands of dollars spent on beer, wine, and Dansk mead that I should not have spent!
@finnian looks delicious, thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I just bottled 6 gallons (28 x 750 mL bottles) of hibiscus flowers and granny smith apple brew. It's outstanding. Boo yah!!!