clintonsimmons
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Hello all,
I'm looking to make five gallons of bochet mead. My brew plan is below, with options and questions along the way. I'd like to invite you to criticize, inform and help out anyway you can. I'd like to hit the brew store this week, and pitch on 21 March 2015. I'll repost the adjusted recipe, then keep a detailed brew-log along the way. With pictures if I can get them to work!
Targets:
ABV 15-20% - I like to get drunk, this mead's for me. See attached image of mead calculator.
Taste- Full bodied, complex meaning one smell on the nose, different taste in the mouth, then a third aftertaste all great. Semi sweet, not cloying. Not oaked to the point of whiskey, just to the point of filling in body.
I understand that scorched honey tastes like toasted marshmallows, and pressure cooked or heated jars of honey leads to a caramel taste.
I can cook scorched honey in a pot on the stove, I can slow cook the caramel in a crock pot/slow cooker all day, and I understand that I can boil the honey in mason jars.
Q: Will the Jars only work in a pressure cooker, or can I do a double boil water bath for them?
I would like to cut the total honey into two parts, one part scorched black thickness added in primary, then the second half caramel roasted added at the 1/2 sugar drop while still in primary. I plan to go dry, then back-sweeten with either scorched or caramelized honey, or maybe tupelo. I'm not a fan of the OB honey.
Q: Better to add back sweetening honey right after sorbating, or let it bulk age dry then back sweeten at bottle time some months down the road?
Bochet
Prep date: 21 Mar 15 (planned)
Pitch date: 21 Mar 15 (planned)
Yeast type and details: EC-1118, D-47 or 71-B. Need help here.
Racking dates:
First when SG hits 1.0ish Rack and sorbate
Second at one month. Date: ~01 Jun Planned
Third at two months. Date: ~01 Aug Planned
Bottled:
Target drink date: UNK
Honey. Costco $18/5# bottle >81% sugar content
Total pounds: need 22
Price: TBD
(Using Costco honey because I'm going to cook it anyhow. I am open to using higher quality honey for back-sweetening.)
Cook details:
Time:
Color. (Pictures planned)
Cook in batches to make 10lbs and 12lbs.
Batch one- 10#s open flame. Go to black
Batch 2-12#s in mason jars, or crock pot to get to less than black.
Cool must to pitching temp.
Mix to OG: 10lbs honey to 4 gallons total volume, leaving headspace for second honey addition.
Add sna #1
Aerate well with drill and whip
Pitch yeast
Cover with open, unfilled airlock
18 hours later oxygenate and mix with drill
Sna #2 @ SG drop of 2-3 points, so 18-24 hours.
Close airlock
Sg readings and Degas daily with drill and whip.
When SG gets to 1/3 of OG:
Add sna #3
Add additional roasted honey. 12lbs. From jars.
Once sg hits 1.
Rack and stabilize with sorbate/sulfate.
SNA details:
Total amounts.
Ph buffer: Potassium Chloride
Yeast nutrient
AP
Yeast energizer: fermain K
SNA breakdowns into thirds.
Stage 1 nutrients: added at yeast inoculation (or pitching) add 4.5g Fermaid-K and 4.5g DAP
Stage 2 nutrients: added when you notice active fermentation (When OG has dropped 2-3 points, usually 12-24 hrs.) add 2.8g Fermaid-K and 2.8g DAP
Stage 3 nutrients: added at 1/3 sugar break OG-[(OG-FG)/3] add 1.8g Fermaid-K and 1.8g DAP
Flavorings: Added to secondary until it tastes about 150% of the strength I want, as I understand the strength calms down over time. Maybe it comes back after months? Let me know.
Diced Vanilla bean in bag for easy retrieval
Medium American Oak Cubes, bagged.
YAN Calculator: Not sure what I'm doing with this.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wycKRg_WLRE0g2cvF6dNnSAKPghNkD6obaYSRMw7Hz8/edit#gid=0
SNA detailed document is attached.
REFERENCES:
One gallon is 8 pint jars and 4 quart jars, if I double boil in a pot or pressure cooker.
Weight and volume of Honey:
1 gallon honey (3.79 liters) weighs 11 lbs., 13.2 ounces. (189.2 oz) [BEEKEEPING FOR DUMMIES, Howland Blackiston, 2002
BEEKEEPING, p16]
1 gallon honey weighs 11 lbs, 12 ounces at 68oF. [ABC&XYZ, 1974, p437]
1 gallon honey (14 to 18% moisture) weighs from 12 to 11.75 pounds [BEEKEEPING, Eckert & Shaw, 1960, p261]
If you don't have digital scales, here are some rule of thumb numbers: 1 tsp of Fermaid-K weighs about 4.0 grams, 1 tsp of DAP weighs about 3.9 grams. If you don't have access to Fermaid-K, use the same amounts of whichever yeast nutrient you can find. Most homebrew and winemaking supply stores will have quality yeast nutrients to choose from.
I'm looking to make five gallons of bochet mead. My brew plan is below, with options and questions along the way. I'd like to invite you to criticize, inform and help out anyway you can. I'd like to hit the brew store this week, and pitch on 21 March 2015. I'll repost the adjusted recipe, then keep a detailed brew-log along the way. With pictures if I can get them to work!
Targets:
ABV 15-20% - I like to get drunk, this mead's for me. See attached image of mead calculator.
Taste- Full bodied, complex meaning one smell on the nose, different taste in the mouth, then a third aftertaste all great. Semi sweet, not cloying. Not oaked to the point of whiskey, just to the point of filling in body.
I understand that scorched honey tastes like toasted marshmallows, and pressure cooked or heated jars of honey leads to a caramel taste.
I can cook scorched honey in a pot on the stove, I can slow cook the caramel in a crock pot/slow cooker all day, and I understand that I can boil the honey in mason jars.
Q: Will the Jars only work in a pressure cooker, or can I do a double boil water bath for them?
I would like to cut the total honey into two parts, one part scorched black thickness added in primary, then the second half caramel roasted added at the 1/2 sugar drop while still in primary. I plan to go dry, then back-sweeten with either scorched or caramelized honey, or maybe tupelo. I'm not a fan of the OB honey.
Q: Better to add back sweetening honey right after sorbating, or let it bulk age dry then back sweeten at bottle time some months down the road?
Bochet
Prep date: 21 Mar 15 (planned)
Pitch date: 21 Mar 15 (planned)
Yeast type and details: EC-1118, D-47 or 71-B. Need help here.
Racking dates:
First when SG hits 1.0ish Rack and sorbate
Second at one month. Date: ~01 Jun Planned
Third at two months. Date: ~01 Aug Planned
Bottled:
Target drink date: UNK
Honey. Costco $18/5# bottle >81% sugar content
Total pounds: need 22
Price: TBD
(Using Costco honey because I'm going to cook it anyhow. I am open to using higher quality honey for back-sweetening.)
Cook details:
Time:
Color. (Pictures planned)
Cook in batches to make 10lbs and 12lbs.
Batch one- 10#s open flame. Go to black
Batch 2-12#s in mason jars, or crock pot to get to less than black.
Cool must to pitching temp.
Mix to OG: 10lbs honey to 4 gallons total volume, leaving headspace for second honey addition.
Add sna #1
Aerate well with drill and whip
Pitch yeast
Cover with open, unfilled airlock
18 hours later oxygenate and mix with drill
Sna #2 @ SG drop of 2-3 points, so 18-24 hours.
Close airlock
Sg readings and Degas daily with drill and whip.
When SG gets to 1/3 of OG:
Add sna #3
Add additional roasted honey. 12lbs. From jars.
Once sg hits 1.
Rack and stabilize with sorbate/sulfate.
SNA details:
Total amounts.
Ph buffer: Potassium Chloride
Yeast nutrient
AP Yeast energizer: fermain K
SNA breakdowns into thirds.
Stage 1 nutrients: added at yeast inoculation (or pitching) add 4.5g Fermaid-K and 4.5g DAP
Stage 2 nutrients: added when you notice active fermentation (When OG has dropped 2-3 points, usually 12-24 hrs.) add 2.8g Fermaid-K and 2.8g DAP
Stage 3 nutrients: added at 1/3 sugar break OG-[(OG-FG)/3] add 1.8g Fermaid-K and 1.8g DAP
Flavorings: Added to secondary until it tastes about 150% of the strength I want, as I understand the strength calms down over time. Maybe it comes back after months? Let me know.
Diced Vanilla bean in bag for easy retrieval
Medium American Oak Cubes, bagged.
YAN Calculator: Not sure what I'm doing with this.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wycKRg_WLRE0g2cvF6dNnSAKPghNkD6obaYSRMw7Hz8/edit#gid=0
SNA detailed document is attached.
REFERENCES:
One gallon is 8 pint jars and 4 quart jars, if I double boil in a pot or pressure cooker.
Weight and volume of Honey:
1 gallon honey (3.79 liters) weighs 11 lbs., 13.2 ounces. (189.2 oz) [BEEKEEPING FOR DUMMIES, Howland Blackiston, 2002
BEEKEEPING, p16]
1 gallon honey weighs 11 lbs, 12 ounces at 68oF. [ABC&XYZ, 1974, p437]
1 gallon honey (14 to 18% moisture) weighs from 12 to 11.75 pounds [BEEKEEPING, Eckert & Shaw, 1960, p261]
If you don't have digital scales, here are some rule of thumb numbers: 1 tsp of Fermaid-K weighs about 4.0 grams, 1 tsp of DAP weighs about 3.9 grams. If you don't have access to Fermaid-K, use the same amounts of whichever yeast nutrient you can find. Most homebrew and winemaking supply stores will have quality yeast nutrients to choose from.
