Orange, Cinnamon & Clove Mead

Based on Joe Mattioli's Ancient Orange Cinnamon & Clove Mead (from the GotMead forum)
Should the GotMead link disappear, it's also available here.

Ingredients:

12 lbs Clover Honey
1 cup Brown Sugar
6 Small Minneola Tangelos
3 handfuls of Raisins (about 75)
3 sticks Cinnamon
1 large pinch of ground Cloves
1 small pinch of Allspice
1 small pinch of Nutmeg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 pkg Fleishman's Bread Yeast
Water

Well, I've decided not to exactly follow Joe's recipe and directions.

Directions:

Slice the oranges into 8ths or small pieces and add all of the ingredients except the water and yeast to a primary bucket. Add water, stirring well, until the SG drops to 1.130 (approximately 4 gallon). Stir vigorously to aerate the must. Stir the yeast into the must. Cap the bucket and install an airlock. I plan to remove all of the solids and transfer to carboys (3 gal and 1 gal) when the SG hits about 1.06. I expect the yeast to finish between 1.03 and 1.045, giving 12% to 14% ABV. While everything should clear within 2 months and be drinkable, I intend to let it clear, rack off the lees, and let it age another month. (Of course, drinking what is left in the 1 gallon jug after topping off the 3 gallon carboy!)

Date:	SG	Comments
9/14/2004	1.135	I mixed all of the ingredients and added water to a SG of 1.135 (which is a little less than 4 gallon). After a day or 2, I'll add a little more water to get to 4 gallon.
9/15/2004		As of this morning, the must is bubbling away!
9/28/2004		Fermentation is slowing down, so this evening, I'm going to strain out all of the pulp, squeeze as much fluid out of them as I can, and then transfer the fluid to a carboy. I'll check the SG when I transfer and post the results in the morning.
10/10/2004	1.030	Well, I was lazy and never got around to straining out the pulp, until today. I strained out the pulp and transferred the fluid to a 3 gallon carboy and 1 gallon jug. The 1 gallon jug isn't quite full, but it's still producing a little C02, so I think it will be OK. Not a lot of orange taste left in the sample. I'll have to see how it tastes when it clears.
10/16/2004		Well, I needed a one gallon jug for another project and this seemed the easiest to re-use. While it wasn't completely clear, it was a fairly good way along, so I carefully poured the mead from the 3/4 full gallon jug to a 1.6 quart jug. Of course, there was still a little reasonable clear mead left, so that went into a glass with some ice. Very tasty! This should be quite nice when it finishes clearing.
10/26/2004		Glanced in the storage closet this morning, and it appears that this batch is ready to bottle! This evening, I'll wash out the bottles and sterilize them in the oven and hopefully, I'll get this bottled tomorrow night. Just in time for my Halloween Party!
11/7/2004	1.026	Well, I got busy and was not able to get this batch bottled before the party, so I decided to let it age for awhile before I bottle it. This evening, I racked it off to a clean carboy, added some sulfite and sorbate, and I plan to let it age till mid December. Right now, there is a minor alcohol bite that should age out without too much trouble.
11/20/2004		Well, I decided I had a better use for the carboy, so this batch got bottled! I got 24 - 6oz bottles and 19 3/4 12oz bottles. I've decided to change my labeling system. The mailing labels I used on my first batch of mead are REAL hard to remove, so this time, I decided to use a 3/4" round sticker that I can place on the lid. I'll attach a normal label to the box, and attach the round label, with a number and name to each bottle lid. This way, when the bottle is opened, the label is gone! While I haven't finished the label design yet, I have decided on a name for this particular batch of mead. Since I used Minneola Tangelos, I decided the name should be: *Mini-Mead!* I'll add the real label to the page just as soon as I get it finished.