Brewing Update - 09/05/10

Apfelwein
The Apfelwein has cleared and I've racked it into another 4.5L jug. Which may cause problems because it was only 4.2L to begin with and with two gravity readings taken it really should be in a smaller jug. But I don't have anything to put it in at the current point in time >.<
The FG is .998 which gives it an ABV of 7.6% or so and since it finished dry is very tart. I'm hoping that once it ages a bit this will fade. If it does I can see myself liking this very much. I'm going to see about getting some smaller jugs and maybe putting in some potassium metabisulfate to preserve it as it ages.

Basic Mead
I brought this upstairs for a few days to see about kicking the yeast into action with a little more heat. It showed signs of renewed fermentation and I tossed into a few raisins in hopes of further coaxing the yeast into doing their job. After some rearranging in the basement it is now sitting in a slightly warmer closet. This should allow it to fully ferment and be out of sight so I should be able to leave it alone until it finishes.

Jalapeno Mead
The newest gravity reading is 1.018, which means that it's dropped .018 in the last two weeks. Gave it a taste and its still really really jalapenoy, I would really like it if aging this mead brings out the heat and reduces the jalapenoy taste. I'll check it again next week and if its 1.010 or below I'll try cold crashing and racking into a smaller jug. (At least if I have any) 

JAOM
It appears that the fermentation has more or less stopped on this one. And some of the orange peel has started to sink to the bottom,  with any luck it will clear by the end of the month. I'm hoping that this turns out well, as it stands the other two meads are disappointments.

Ginger Beer
Still tasting good, it seems that the sugar has lessened some and the ginger has come to the front. Of course that could be because the yeast is still active and carbing the bottles. I had two explode last Sunday breaking the bottom of the PET bottles it is in. Good thing that it was in the basement :P Next time I'm thinking a little more ginger, a little less sugar and a sharp eye to make sure that none blow.

07/25/10 JAOM

So this is my attempt at a pretty well known (in the mead circles at least) beginners mead. Joe's Ancient Orange Mead, or JAOM for short, is a melomel (fruit mead) that uses basic materials that anyone can get at a grocery store anywhere. Well, maybe not the jug and air lock, at least the standard issue ones.  I've seen pictures of some pretty makeshift airlocks and carboys before on forums.

Here is the link to the recipe that I used:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f80/joes-ancient-orange-mead-49106/

I made it pretty much to a T, only I used the imperial gallon (4.5L) instead of the US gallon (3.7L). This may have had an effect on my OG, which was only 1.076 as opposed to the 1.100 that the poster had. Also I snapped the cinnamon stick in half and only put in 1 clove and no nutmeg or allspice. And by reading through the comments I saw that a number of people we complaining about a pithy taste to the mead, so I zested and then peeled the navel orange that I used. The handful of raisins I used were 30ish golden ones that I had on hand. And the most important ingredient (the honey o_O) was 1.6kg local clover honey.

I'm going to stick by the recipe and not touch it at all. It's been 19 days and the airlock is still dropping every 6-8 seconds. The basic mead slowed right down after about the first 7 days. Hopefully all goes well, I can't wait for September 25 to roll around.