Bochet FG? I reckon it's probably stuck...

Having read so much about them here I decided to make a bochet about 5 weeks ago.

I boiled the honey nice and dark, added water until it got down to 1.074 (for a roughly 10% abv finished product). I had started some champagne yeast in a yeast-nutrient and honey solution, chucked it in and away it went.

The first few weeks it bubbled away nicely, but now there's not much happening. I've just pulled a sample and the mixture is at 1.022.

So my question to anyone that's made burned mead before - what was your FG?

I would expect it to be slightly higher than standard mead, as the boiling of the honey should make some complex sugars (?), but I'm guessing lower than 1.022. I'm also slightly impatient as I want to enjoy a bottle or two before I move in four months time, and as I'm moving overseas I won't be able to take much with me.

So... yeast nutrient? Re-pitch with another variety? Other advice?

Thanks...

you can go after it with the 1118 beast for restarting a stuck ferment but if it isnt stuck, if thats just the fg due to the potential that the boiling caused some of the sugars to change into unfermentable it's not likely to drop much more for you, but you could definitely still try it. I don't believe there would be much harm in adding nutrients, give it a thorough but gentle stir first to degas and get some of the disolved co2 out so you don't have an eruption, make a slurry with nutrients and water and add it and stir good again. then let it go for a few days and see what your gravity reading is. How much dryer do you want it? no matter which method you go with youre going to have to give it time to re-clear some anyway.

I was hoping it would come out very fry, with almost full conversion, as I was only aiming for 10% abv. The sample I drew tastes too sweet at the moment. And of burning.... I suppose if I let it stop here then I wouldn't have to bother with sorbate/Campden and back-sweeten at all.

But I can wait a while to bottle, perhaps another month. Looks like there's a brewshop not too far from here that sells Lalvin 1118, so thanks, I'll give the slurry idea a try!


(that sounds so wrong)

you can make your slurry of nutrients as a rehydration of the 1118, boil a cup of water let it cool to about 100*F add nutrients and if you have any of your honey left add about a tsp of that mix the crap out of it, pour the 1118 on and leave it be for about 15 minutes, mix it real good, then do the stirring of your mead, pitch the slurry, stir up again and let "er rip

My Bochet did not ferment dry at all ether. The ph, nutrients, temps and all should have been fine to ferment down to about 1.01 and an ABV around 14% but it would not go any lower than 1.03. Good thing though my recipe had a lot of tannins from some herbal tea and the sweet is not overly cloying.

At 1.022 (and very young) it is semi-sweet, but the main flavour is definitely 'burnt stuff' I'm wondering if I scorched the honey now.

I do have some of the honey left, so I'll make a slurry of 1118, nutrient, a little honey and boiled water at the weekend, to see if I can kick it off again. Otherwise I'm sure the golden rule (as with all brewing) is patience.