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**biochemedic** · 08-16-2011, 01:33 AM

I wanted to add to this thread today as I've just finished wrapping up my first bochet mead! There's some things that I've discovered, which I think I've seen hinted at on other pages/sources, but I think they bear repeating (read: big safety issues!):

1) when honey boils, the apparent volume increases DRAMATICALLY! 18 lbs of honey is a couple inches in the bottom of my kettle...once boil hit, the level of "liquid" is at *least* 4 to 5 times higher! Bottom line: you need a MUCH bigger kettle than you might think...

2) the boil requires constant attention to fiddle with the heat level, and needs to be stirred almost constantly to prevent even further rises in the boil and subsequent boil over.

3) Boiling honey is damn f*&King hot! And it likes to splash up and out with the bigger bubbles...my ring and pinky fingers will tell you that you would be well served to wear some sort of protective glove, or probably even better, a *really* long spoon.

4) When you add the water at the end of the boiling, DO NOT add it quickly. I mean this...literally add it like an ounce or so at a time. When water hits hot honey, it boils instantly and sprays damn f*&King hot boiling honey everywhere.

5) Do this outside, but be prepared to battle the bees, wasps and other assorted insect fiends...it would help to have a partner just to shoo/swat them away.

All in all though, my brew was very successful, and I'm really excited at how this will turn out. It smells awesome, is a beautiful shade of mahogany brown, and the hydrometer sample tastes like drinking a perfectly roasted marshmallow....

**BargainFittings** · 09-22-2011, 06:40 PM

Just racked last years batch to a keg and made 10 gallons.

Battled the bees. The weather was nice. This batch I went a shade lighter mostly because I was tired of listening to the swarm.

Hovercar · 09-25-2011, 12:27 AM

I think I'll wait until winter to brew this ^_^

**biochemedic** · 11-08-2011, 01:43 AM

I just bottled my bochet the other day, and it tastes awesome...it cleared very well right in primary, so I just bottled it from there. The FG is 1.007, and it has just enough residual sweetness that I left it alone. I used the Wyeast Dry Mead strain, which should have dried it out completely, so I wonder if the boiling process may have created some unfermentable carbs? At any rate, I'm extremely pleased with my first attempt at this process, and think this will be a real winner once it ages out a little more (it's really good even now)...already looking forward to Mead Day next August.

Latka · 11-09-2011, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hovercar

I think I'll wait until winter to brew this ^_^

Frick. I live in Hawaii. I can see the little bastards lining up now... must combat my understanding that bees are good with my desire not to become a pincushion!

Want to taste Bochet Mead > Worry about getting stung

Game on!

GurraG · 11-10-2011, 09:46 AM

Bochet is now next on my "to brew" list. I'm thinking that the caramel character of bochet would go well with fruit, and I understand that some of you have made bochet/cyser, however, I am inclined towards something that might complement the caramel with some fruity tangyness. What sayeth ye about raspberries, has anyone tried that?

**usfmikeb** · 11-11-2011, 02:23 PM

I've been brewing beer for several years, but just started on meads this year. I believe this one needs to onto my list!

**usfmikeb** · 11-12-2011, 12:52 PM

I was so interested in this, I made it this AM. Cooked up 2.8 lbs of clover honey for a little over an hour, and took it off the heat as soon as I tasted marshmallow tones. Going to use Montrachet with it, but wanted a bit of residual sweetness for this one, so I added in 2.5 oz of lactose when I was dissolving the caramelized honey, which should leave me with 6-7 points in the finished product.

As an aside, my wife was very intrigued by this, and decided that the next time I make this, that she wants to use half of it for making chocolate covered caramels.

dummkauf · 11-13-2011, 09:38 PM

Cooking this one up now. Picked up 24Lbs(two 12lbs jugs) of blue ribbon clover honey from Midwest this afternoon just for this brew. I got a little carried away pouring honey in my pot from the second jug O' honey, so I wound up with 19.5Lbs of honey instead of 18.5, though I'm sure it'll be just fine.

Anyway, it's starting to boil now so I am getting ready to start stirring!!! Hope this one turns out as good as it sounds!

**Sharkman20** · 12-08-2011, 07:29 PM

I'll be making this one tomorrow with 18 lbs of blackberry honey which I will carmelize, and a pound of orange blossom honey that I will add in after the mixture has cooled. I decided to go for that over the costco honey since I have a local beekeeping supply that sells varietal honey at 5 dollars per pound and I'd rather support them than costco. lol I also picked up 40g of EC-1118 per the recipe, so we will see how this one goes, but I have high hopes for this batch. If this ferments out to 15% I'll be happy but I'm fine if it goes over that since I plan on aging this a while.

I'm just wondering with 19 lbs of honey how much it will dry out with the EC-1118, since I want it to be strong but still have sweetness to it. I'll be shooting for a 1.140 starting gravity. I couldn't find any zinc fortified yeast, but at 0.1g for a 5 gallon batch I can't imagine that would have an impact on the final product. I'll be using some fermaid K for the nutrient. Any suggestions or ideas? Wish me luck.