#bochet

[doinkdoinkdonk]

via goldenhivemead on instagram

[bjekkergauken]

Hey look its the homebrewing gargoyle again

[tut1fun]

GUTTATION MEAD 

April 5, 2020

INGREDIENTS

766g caramelized honey  766g regular honey (costco) (total 1532g honey) 14 cups water 6g bosagrape renaissance yeast 1/2 yeast nutrient

SPECIFIC GRAVITY

April 5 - 1.112 SG potential of 15.9% ABV April 18 at 1.08 SG may 23 at 1.04SG April 2021 at 1.02 SG probably at like 12.08% pretty sweet, doesn’t taste too bad

PROCESS

turn heat on high, add honey and watch and stir, don’t burn it, let it over bubble get that nice golden brown color... then add the remainder of honey add water to incorporate cool (overnight) add remainder of water pitch yeast with yeast nutrient a little bit of must  into the bucket it goes Transferred to carboy April 18

FIN/NOTES

[dapperhomebrew]

It’s like the middle of finals week, but on a whim I decided to get the bochet bottled.  I’ve been trying for more of a “mise en place” approach to my homebrewing and it has really made my procedures a lot smoother.

S-04 took the mead to 10.5% ABV and I eventually decided that any benefit I’d get from adding another yeast strain to bump that up wouldn’t be worth the risk of messing up a drink that’s already quite tasty.  It ended up as a semi-sweet mead with mild honey and caramel notes.  I would like to try making another bochet and cook the honey much darker, but to do that, I’d either need to do a smaller batch or use a larger pot.

I got just over 17 bottles from this batch (~3.3 gallons from ~3.8 gallons of must) which I’m happy with.  I did end up with a little bit of yeast in the bottles, but that’ll settle out on its own.

Finally, I decided to give it a descriptive name (Burnt Bee Juice) and add labels to 5 of the bottles for aging.  How long I can hang onto them will probably depend on when I end up moving next, but I’d really like to hold onto one for at least 10 years.  We’ll see.

[dapperhomebrew]

Bochet brew day!

A 12-quart pot was cutting it pretty close for 11.5lbs (1 gallon) of honey.  The foam was right at the brim of the pot on much of the 2-hour boil.  If I did it over again, I’d definitely use a bigger pot.

I was shooting for 3lbs of honey/gallon of must, but a gallon jug (the most convenient bulk honey unit) is 11.5lbs.  So I tried to top up the water to ~3.8 gallons, but what’re you gonna do?  I can only be so accurate with 1/2 gallon markings on the carboy.

It started at 28.9°Bx which is dang high, but I’m kind of flying by the seat of my pants on this one.  I pitched a packet of S-04, which based on what I’ve heard from other brewers will stop between 9% and 13% ABV.  That’s kind of a big spread, so I plan on giving it a taste when the gravity stabilizes.  If it’s too sweet for me, I’ll probably pitch a second strain like a tolerant wine yeast.

The nutrient additions aren’t going to be complicated.  27g total of Fermax yeast nutrient (about 4tsp) added in 9g increments on day 0, day 3, and day 6.  This is called a staggered nutrient addition (SNA).  If all the nutrients are added at the beginning, you tend to get a large temperature spike which can cause off flavors.  Spreading out the nutrient additions means you get several spikes in temperature, but they’re not as dramatic.

To condense the recipe:

11.5lbs (1 gallon) of clover honey

Top-up water to 3.8 gallons, boiled or bottled

1 packet of Safale S-04 English Ale yeast

27g (~4tsp) Fermax yeast nutrient

Heat the jug of honey in a hot water bath to make it easier to pour. A brewing bucket is perfect for this.

Pour the honey into a large pot.  Heat over low heat until it begins boiling.

Boil for 2 hours, stirring to reduce foam.  Keep a spray bottle of water on hand to prevent boil-overs. Be very careful.  Boiling honey is very hot and very sticky.  The honey will darken in color considerably, but should not burn.  P.S. Don’t make a huge sticky mess on the stove like I did.

Transfer the pot to an ice bath to chill.  Add a gallon of top-up water to the pot and stir to expedite the process.

Siphon the must to a sanitized fermenter.  Top up to 3.8 gallons.

Pitch your yeast.  I have not seen enough evidence to suggest that rehydrating yeast does much of anything on the homebrewing scale.  If it makes you feel good, do that.  As for me, I just dump the packet in.

Add 9g of the yeast nutrient and aerate the must.  I use a wine degassing rod and a 12V cordless drill, but use whatever makes you comfortable.

Degas the mead and add 9g of nutrient on the 3rd day of fermentation.  Repeat these steps on the 6th day of fermentation as well.

Past that, the recipe is basically just “wait and see.”

[dapperhomebrew]

Bought me a gallon of honey at the homebrewing store to make a bochet.  Expect updates later this week.

[dapperhomebrew]

OMG this video.  There is just so much going on.  The dude just gradually getting more tipsy for the first half.  The sounds the wet firewood makes at the beginning.  The unnecessary voyeuristic zoom-in shots of the boiling honey.  A tiny goat makes an appearance!  Dude goes to pour the must into the fermenter and it just goes all over the table and floor.  I just...it’s beautiful.

Anyway, I’m thinking about making my first bochet later this month and I’ve been doing research.

[vikingstrongman]

Started a bochet. The recipe i saw on tasting history on youtube. I'm doing mine unspiced. Since I already know how to brew mead and I've wanted to try one anyway, I figured why not. I call this one goblin's gold. My max potential is a low approximate 4% with a starting gravity of 1.030 i was using some old honey and didn't want to mix in with new so figured it'll just be a bit weaker and probably accurate for the time anyway. i went with an ale yeast recommended at the hombrew store