Mead with orange juice

[João Machado]

Hello.
I said in these past few days that I will make mead.
Recipe:
1 Kg of honey
2,9L of water
15g of mead yeast
5 g of dead bread yeast
---------------------------------
I was thinking about using orange juice, fresh from the fruit. I have very tasty and sweet oranges. What do you guys think?
A also...how do I prepare the yeast before putting in the honey? I never fully understand that...

 

[videojunkie1208]

Orange juice is generally not great for fermenting. First it's highly acidic, second with all of the sediment in it (Pulp, etc.) there's a lot of 'stuff' to provide off flavors. I've never fermented with it, but was told by my mentor that fermented OJ tastes roughly like vomit.

That's why we use orange peel instead all the flavor you're looking for, none of the drawbacks.

You're making a small batch of mead, you will be fine just adding the mead yeast directly to the must. (Some of us use starters bigger than your batch).
When adding the dead bread yeast, you will want to make a new batch each time you make an addition if you are going to stagger your nutrients. Again on a small batch you would be fine adding the whole lot as you are mixing you initial must.

When making a large batch of mead (40L or more) you take a small amount of must (usually a liter or so) and re-hydrate your yeast in a separate vessel often with a batch of 'yeast energizer' which is a blend of nutrients intended to help the yeast start their initial growth cycle. Once the yeast have been hydrated and are happily reproducing (that yeasty bread like smell) you can then add the starter to the mead and it helps jump start your fermentation.

 

[João Machado]

Orange juice is generally not great for fermenting. First it's highly acidic, second with all of the sediment in it (Pulp, etc.) there's a lot of 'stuff' to provide off flavors. I've never fermented with it, but was told by my mentor that fermented OJ tastes roughly like vomit.

That's why we use orange peel instead all the flavor you're looking for, none of the drawbacks.

You're making a small batch of mead, you will be fine just adding the mead yeast directly to the must. (Some of us use starters bigger than your batch).
When adding the dead bread yeast, you will want to make a new batch each time you make an addition if you are going to stagger your nutrients. Again on a small batch you would be fine adding the whole lot as you are mixing you initial must.

When making a large batch of mead (40L or more) you take a small amount of must (usually a liter or so) and re-hydrate your yeast in a separate vessel often with a batch of 'yeast energizer' which is a blend of nutrients intended to help the yeast start their initial growth cycle. Once the yeast have been hydrated and are happily reproducing (that yeasty bread like smell) you can then add the starter to the mead and it helps jump start your fermentation.

Thanks!
I didn't use the orange juice. Since it's my first time doing these, I chose to go simple. So, I used only the recipe I said in the beginning.

 

[videojunkie1208]

take a few minutes to read the post in my sig. it will help you with some of the basics.