#brewery update

[dapperhomebrew]

[dapperhomebrew]

Ya boy got a whole yeast cake in the blowoff. 😂

[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]

The less-experienced roommate brewed a witbier this week.  I joined him around the end of the boil and he said the starting gravity was over 1.100.  After seeing how full the carboy was, I suggested a blowoff instead of an airlock.  We then noticed that he took the gravity reading after the boil, but before adding top-up water.  The actual gravity was like 1.060, which is much more reasonable and probably didn’t need the blowoff in this case.

Anyway, the yeasty beasties seem pretty happy with the wort.

[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]

Cleaning day.  Ended up cleaning two tap lines, two carboys, three kegs, and the bottom of the keezer.  Oh, the lengths I’ll go to in order to procrastinate on my homework.

[dapperhomebrew]

Q: What kind of primary regulator is best?

A: The kind that doesn’t leak.

I’ll hopefully get it filled up tomorrow and then we’ll be back in business.  I also learned that the universal poppet valves that I used to rebuild my keg posts cannot be even slightly askew or they’ll result in the slowest possible leak. Q~Q