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Bochet Mead

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xanderphillips

xanderphillips

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Jan 22, 2014
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Indiana
blog.xanderp.com
Thinking of trying a bochet next.

Looking for recommendations for recipes.

Also, if you have made it before how dark would you go if you make it again?
Take it black or hold back? Would be using 71B yeast (that's what I have) and I've heard that the caramelization makes for a sweeter final taste than you would expect from the FG, so gotta factor that into my equations.

Thanks
Xanderphillips
 
I've done a blend before and enjoyed it quite a bit. You will just have to play it by ear and see what flavors you like then adjust in the future. I made a braggot with part bochet and though the gravity is 1.000 it is surprisingly sweet (newcastle sweet, not sweet mead sweet, but still) and very pleasant. One tip is you can make it darker than you think you can. Also you can skip some of the scary boiling honey foam, perpetual stirring and potential molten honey explosion at the end (thats important - read about it if you haven't) by putting the honey in a mason jar and pressure cooking it. Links around here someplace. I tried it, positively brilliant, I should have gone longer though.
 
Started tonight

I'm making a gallon...

I've divided my 4 pounds of direct from my coworker's bees honey evenly between 3 pint jars and am pressure cooking them now. From the various posts I've read I'm shooting for about 2hrs pressure time. I realized after I started that I don't have any more bubblers so i will leave the honey in the pint jars till tomorrow evening and then mix it up in the carboy...

Hope that's not a mistake and that it doesn't become rock hard in the glass jars overnight!?!?!

Xanderphillips
 
Blood Bath Bochet:

Current state of the brew:

Took 4 pounds local honey divided into 3 pint jars and cooked in pressure cooker for 2 hours.
Cooled the pressure cooker and removed the pints.
Cooled the pints in luke warm water in the sink until temperature dropped enough to handle.
DO NOT DO THIS!!!
It can cause the glass to shatter!!!

After pouring the honey into the carboy I put some spring water into the pint jars to rinse them into the carboy to not waste any honey.

One of the jars apparently had stress fractured from the cooling and shattered in my hand while shaking!

Luckily no honey was harmed in the process, just my fingers…

I received pretty deep cuts on two fingers in like 5 places. Let me tell you it’s not easy to apply direct pressure to 5 different cuts on two different fingers while getting bandages out of the cabinet, opening the box, opening the paper wrappers, peeling off the adhesive covers and then putting on the bandages one handed while bleeding like a stuck pig, without getting blood everywhere and while worrying about glass and honey on the floor, the cabinets, etc…

Crisis averted and bleeding stopped, I cleaned up the crime scene and continued:

The honey has a very beautiful dark 'almost black' brown color and nutty caramel aroma. (It has the appearance of Guinness.)

I poured the honey into a 1gal carboy and added water to about ½ gallon.

I shook like mad to dissolve honey solids, which caused it to develop a beautiful white Guiness head of foam, making the Guiness resemblance even stronger.

I added 1tsp of Fermax to the must.
Not having a spare airlock I capped the jug, and will add the yeast tomorrow after a quick trip to my local homebrew shop.

I’m thinking of calling this one Blood Bath Bochet, after my injuries!! LOL
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Judging by the amount you cooked it, it should be an amber red in the light, when all said and done. I know what you mean about glass.

I was washing dishes once and we have glass plates. Well I dropped one and My reactions told my to try and catch it before it shatter in the sink. Instead I ended up riding a hunk of shattered glass down my hand. We didn't have the appropriate first aid materials so my Fiance had to run to CVS for large gauze pads and medical tape, while I cleaned the cut. Should have gone ot get stitches actually, but now I have a Narly jagged 2 inch scar from just below my pinky to the center of my palm.

Anyway the worst is over. Good luck with that bochet! They are awesome. I've got one that just hit a year, but I probably won't open for a long time since it's my last bottle.
 
Dark!

Held up to a bright flourescent light even with the added water I can't see light through the 1 gallon carboy, completely black. If I were to pour some into a smaller container might be able to see some amber/red, but not sure.
 
Glad you tried the pressure cooker method. Did you use a pressure canner or cooker? Did it have a trivet in the bottom to keep the jars off of the bottom of the pot? A little vanilla, a little oak really I think bring out the whole range of flavors in Bochet. I tried to get some proffessional candy makers to give it a try but its to far out of their imagination. Wish I could find someone with a big autoclave that could do like 50 quarts at a time! WVMJ
 
cooker

cooker, no trivet, (don't have one), plan to add some vanilla in secondary, maybe oak...

I will prob need to back sweeten this as my math shows it FG to be close to 1.002, too dry for me!

Anyone care to double check my math:

4 pounds honey, 71B-1122 yeast (14%), OG 1.1057.

So did I do my math right? 1.002 est. FG?

Hydrated yeast for 10min@104F with 1/4tsp of fermax and spring water.

Must temp was only 64F when I pitched... apparently my house is cooler than I thought!?!
 
That is why your jar broke, it bounced around on the bottom of the pot and cracked. Amazom has trivets, I think some people roll up aluminum foil to make them. You might need to add some more nutrient for the 71B to. WVMJ
 
Sounds like your off to making a very cool mead. Can't wait to hear how it tastes! Scars add character!
 
for now I'd focus on just keeping a tight clean ferment and not tinker with the gravity, you can always backsweeten when it is clear an stable, you'll have a better sense of what it wants when its had a little rest any ways.
 
So the first time I back sweetened with cooked down honey, it came out amazing. Decided to try it again a few days ago. Let's just say do NOT. walk away from the honey for even a sec. Lol oh what a hot mess that was.
 
McJeff said:
So the first time I back sweetened with cooked down honey, it came out amazing. Decided to try it again a few days ago. Let's just say do NOT. walk away from the honey for even a sec. Lol oh what a hot mess that was.
Click to expand...

Yeah.... cooking it in an open pot causes the volume to expand up to 8 to 10 times (guessing here) as foam. If your pot isn't big enough, you get an icky, sticky mess all over your stove.
 
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