(Black Gold) My batch of Bochet...

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

OpenContainer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2011
Messages
336
Reaction score
21
Location
Jefferson City
Yield: I expect to rack off 3+ clean gallons at first rack.
12.5 lb light honey
3 teaspoons Fermax Yeast Nutrient (3 more to be added in 48 hours)
1 smack pack of Wyeast 4632 Dry Mead Yeast (smacked 24 hours in advance)
3 gallons of store bought drinking water

Original gravity 1.118 @ 74 degrees F
Final Gravity ??
Alcohol ?? We'll see when it's done.

This is my first attempt at a Bochet. I started off with 12.5 lbs. of honey and boiled until I was comfortable with the color (slightly less than 2 hours and a very deep redish color with a nice caramel taste). Pics of my boil and the stages of darkening attached.

Cooled to 74 degrees in a water bath in the sink combined with the addition of the drinking water. Added Fermax and Yeast. Aerated the bejeezus out of it and applied the air lock. I missed my target gravity of 1.130, but not by much, so I expect this to be drier than planned. A half gallon less water may have put me right on target. It looks like a carboy full of Guinness right now sitting in the corner and I'm wondering how dark it will be after fermentation.

Enjoy the pics....

boch2.jpg


boch3.jpg


boch4.jpg


boch5.jpg


boch6.jpg
 
Words of caution:

- Boiling honey expands to nearly 4 times it's original volume, so use a very big pot.
- Boiling honey is hot and sticky and will burn like nobody's business when splashed on you. Thankfully this only happened in small droplets a couple times. :D
 
Wow looks good. Have some questions about the boiling process though. So, just to confirm, you only boiled the honey?? (Sorry lol) Secondly, does it require constant attention to avoid the honey being scorched on the bottom? Or what's the deal with that?
 
Yes. Only boil the honey and keep an eagle eye on it. As I stirred it down to a manageable level, I could walk away from it for a minute and a half tops before it needed to be stirred down again. There were no issues with scorching, but I used a non stick pot that I normally use for chilli.
 
Not as much as I expected it to. Honey has very little water in it to begin with so in hind sight, I guess that was to be expected. You're cooking and burning it more than reducing it.
 
I was wondering how much adverse effect the process has on the fermentability of sugars in the honey.

I love the reddish hue, and the incredibly awesome smell (marshmallows and nuts!!) it gave
to my cider... but I'm just wondering.

Somewhere I've red that past a certain point (160 Celcius?), glucose starts to turn into polymeric caramels... and then to plain simple carbon, hence the burnt taste.

Let's compare our FG when they're done, shall we? :banana:

EDIT: Not 160.... around 210. Here's the link: http://www.food-info.net/uk/colour/caramel.htm
 
I may have to try this soon. I'll post if/when I do. I may wait for the results though. (The mead will be young, but it's still a good indication of it's flavour at a later date. For that matter though, will you be trying a sample right after it ferments out?)
 
wow, great post and thanks for including the pics. I've been reading about Bochet meads and they sound interesting. would you recommend them to newbie mead makers or not?
 
wow, great post and thanks for including the pics. I've been reading about Bochet meads and they sound interesting. would you recommend them to newbie mead makers or not?

Oh yeah. It was super easy to throw together. You just have to be on top of it the whole time it's cooking down as it will boil over with a quickness.

The krausen on this thing after 48 hours looks like a fresh baked snicker doodle cookie. Makes me want to take a bite.

bochkraus.jpg
 
After 5 days the color has lightened up to look much more red than at first. When you look real close, you can see the swirling up currents and down currents in the bottle. It's really cool to watch.

boch7.jpg
 
words of caution:

- boiling honey expands to nearly 4 times it's original volume, so use a very big pot.
- boiling honey is hot and sticky and will burn like nobody's business when splashed on you. Thankfully this only happened in small droplets a couple times. :d

+2000! I'd also add another safety tip...if you're doing this outside and it's not winter, have a buddy to swat away the bees that will come from miles around to check it out!
 
After 5 days the color has lightened up to look much more red than at first. When you look real close, you can see the swirling up currents and down currents in the bottle. It's really cool to watch.

Oh yeh, the color!

Put a bit of that baby in a glass, and hold it up to the sun, you'll be AMAZED. It has gold / bronze / amber hues... :fro: friggin sexy if you want my opinion! :rockin:
 
Oh man... I can't wait for this to finish. All the Bochet meads I've heard talked about were still sweet. This looks like it will be fairly dry, I'm curious how the taste will be as such.
 
According to the ABV calculator at Brewers Friend, this should ferment out at least 16%, and maybe up to 18% or more, depending on how far Wyeast Dry Mead will go.
 
According to the ABV calculator at Brewers Friend, this should ferment out at least 16%, and maybe up to 18% or more, depending on how far Wyeast Dry Mead will go.

Yes, and no. We probably won't know for sure until fermentation is done, as caramelization may create a fudgeton of unfermentable sugars (or other stuff).

It also depends on the percentage of glucose & fructose in the honey, and varies greatly from one to another.
 
Yes, and no. We probably won't know for sure until fermentation is done, as caramelization may create a fudgeton of unfermentable sugars (or other stuff).

This...I discovered this with my bochet (using Wyeast Dry Mead strain as well...) Went from 1.107 to 1.007, which I attribute to creation of unfermentable compounds in the boil...that yeast should take 1.107 well down to 1.000 or even lower.

I actually liked that there was that light amount of residual sweetness...the flavors in bochet really need that to shine, and it prevented me from having to backsweeten.
 
This...I discovered this with my bochet (using Wyeast Dry Mead strain as well...) Went from 1.107 to 1.007, which I attribute to creation of unfermentable compounds in the boil...that yeast should take 1.107 well down to 1.000 or even lower.

I wonder what caused those unfermentable compounds. For that matter, were they? Or just a lot harder to ferment? Makes ya think..
 
I wonder what caused those unfermentable compounds. For that matter, were they? Or just a lot harder to ferment? Makes ya think..

I had brought this concept up in a prior thread, and someone had mentioned that it has something to do with the ever mysterious Maillard reaction, (probably in concert with caramelization, which is a related heat catalyzed reaction). The two processes do change some of the fermentable sugars into unfermentibles that subsequently contribute to the aroma and flavor of bochet.
 
You guys are making me impatient and thirsty. :D

Today is the two week mark for this and it's still bubbling steady. I'm looking forward to racking day when I can steal a sample.
 
You guys are making me impatient and thirsty. :D

Today is the two week mark for this and it's still bubbling steady. I'm looking forward to racking day when I can steal a sample.

Thirsty you say? I'm drooling.

I'm doing continuous feed additions with my brew (I really don't know how to call that anymore... caramelized cyser? cider+bochet? amber apple hydromel? whatever) .

Anyway. It's down to 1.008 now. It's been bubbling for a few days, but the gravity hasn't gotten any lower. Probably degassing on its own. The yeast (S-33) is lying on a *really thick*, 3 inches bed of trub. And my prototype is clearing fast in the fridge. It's now 1 month old, and oh boy is that stuff going to be awesome. :mug:

One thing I really like, and didn't plan, is that the caramelization also created a lot of compounds and fruity esters... which goes hand-in-hand with the yeast's flavor profile, and the apple juice.

I just hope it doesn't mellow out too much (I know, I should have a drink right NAO!).

Aight, good night folks! :p
 
Racked this off for the first time today @ 1.009. It has a nice amber color to it and has faint hints of caramel to the taste, but needs plenty of aging time. I can see the potential, but it's definitely not there yet.

Bochet first rack.jpg
 
I didn't top it off with anything, 44. I intentionally made enough in a 5 gallon carboy so that when I racked it off at first rack, it would completely fill a 3 gallon carboy + two 22 ouncers for future rackings. First rack was super clear, and now it's crystal clear. The picture doesn't do it justice, but you can actually read through it. I drew off a small sample tonight.....first taste since I racked it. I'm really impressed with it. It's fantastic!! Slightly sweet with a hint of smokiness. I may enter a bottle in the fair this year and see what happens......I like it that much.

And for the pic ho's.....

2012-07-24_20-00-56_520.jpg
 
Back
Top