Joe's Ancient Orange Mead Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How many oranges to put in mead? ›

For this mead, you will need: 1 gallon batch. 3 ½ lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet) 1 Large orange (later cut in eights or smaller, rind and all)

18% is generally regarded as the upper limit for mead fermentations, as even the strongest wine yeasts struggle after this much alcohol is present.

An important aspect to the overall taste experience with mead, however, also lies in the source from which the bees made their honey. For example, orange blossom honey is honey bees made from nectar taken from orange blossoms which, in turn, gives the mead an orange-like taste.

If you put in a bunch of honey and you get enough yeast (the right kind of yeast where it ferments all the way out) then you'll have a really dry, high alcohol champagne-like mead. You can use less honey to make a lower alcohol mead. Using less honey might make it a little bit more dry, though not necessarily.

A good starting point with most fruits is about 3 pounds of fruit per gallon of mead, though I have been known to use 5 or even 6 pounds of fruit. Fruit blends can produce some great-tasting meads.

There really isn't a rule of thumb saying, “Add 3 lbs of every type of fruit to get a light flavor and 6 lbs of any fruit to get heavier flavor”. Different fruit gives different amounts of flavor. That is why this is so helpful. All of these additions would take place in Secondary and all are for 5 gallons of mead.

Why did it fall out of favor? There were some new tax laws, as well as an increased availability of West Indian sugar in the 17th century that made honey harder and less necessary to obtain. But it was also the rise of other alcohols—namely beer and wine—that really did it in.

Maturing mead over time enables desirable flavors to meld and evolve, allowing harsh flavors to diminish. The Mead maker can age before bottling in carboys, barrels, or bottles. Consumers may age in the bottle. Commercially made meads are generally ready to be enjoyed when released.

Keep fermentation temps up to around 70° or 75° F. Fermentation should last between 10 to 20 days. Rack into a conditioning vessel and bulk age for 3 to 6 months. Bottle, then enjoy now and again to see how it's progressing.

Typical viking mead, alcohol level ranges from 4-8%, but can be higher. Mead is sweet and deceptively crushable, with a big honey flavor.

Why does my mead taste weird? ›

Check acid levels in any fruit used (some fruit have higher acid levels, unripe fruit has higher acid levels). Check for infection, particularly lactobacillus. Check sweetness levels and attenuation (an over-attenuated and drier mead than expected might seem acidic if less sweetness is present than what was planned).

Mead can be packaged in a variety of different bottles. This simplest way is to use beer bottles, either 12, 16, or 22 oz varieties, with a crown cap and a capper. This is appropriate for still or carbonated meads. For mead makers who also brew beer, this equipment will already be available.

In general, more yeast is actually better, at least at first. But you can, if you severely over-pitch, end up dosing your must with so many ravenously hungry yeast cells that they over compete for the sugar and nutrients, resulting in stressed yeast and resulting production of off flavors.

Mead will age gracefully as will wine as long as the closure (crown cap, screw cap or cork) you use is in correctly and the seal is good. There are other things in the mead (acid, tannin, alcohol, etc.) that will help to add longevity to your mead as well. I've had crown capped bottles that have gone 11 years.

Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights --add orange. (you can push em through opening big boy -- rinds included -- its ok for this mead -- take my word for it -- ignore the experts) Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water.

There are 4 to 5 tablespoons or 1/4 to 1/3 cups of juice in one orange. To make one cup of fresh orange juice, you need three oranges. It's important to note this amount is for common oranges. Different varieties of orange, such as Valencia, navel, mandarin, or blood oranges will produce different quantities of juice.

If you're looking to make a gallon (about 16 glasses) of. grape juice, you'll need 14 pounds of grapes. You'll need about 85 to 90 pounds of fresh grapes to.

It depends on the size, variety, and juiciness of the orange, but orange juice packager Tropicana puts the number at 36 oranges per gallon of juice. Citrus America, a company that makes juicing equipment for supermarkets and restaurants puts the number at 48 oranges per gallon.