Bochet Cyser

[Tarheeltransplant]

Burnt the honey and put it all together today. I have to say, it was a little crazy burning it. I guess the burner i used was a bit hot, it took all of 15 minutes before i started seeing black steam and got to be a real blackish red. The weird thing was that he minute i put the honey on, there were honey bees everwhere. I am in FL so they are still pretty active, but there had to be 30 or 40. I either got paranoid or they started acting agressive when the black steam started up! That is when i pulled it off and brought it in.

I went with 2 oz of tannin( that is what my local brew store gave me free), nutrient and a small bottle of vanilla extract. The OG was huge for me, at 1.074. It tasted really good. Lots of depth of flavor, then the honey came in at the end. I sprang for a white labs english cider yeast, WLP775. and the bucket is currently sitting in my tub until it starts givin off gas. I am planning on putting in my cooler at 66-68. Any reason to go colder?

All and all, a fun brew. The smells are really pretty wild when cooking the honey. I had local gallberry honey and it gave off the blossom smell while cooking. I will post some pics when i pull it out of the bucket in 6-8 weeks... If i can wait that long!

 

[jwynia]

The bees are part of why I'm working out a crock pot-based method of caramelizing the honey. I think that those first whisps of smoke are a good place to stop anyway, because I don't think burnt marshmallow is particularly tasty, but that's just me.

I wouldn't go cooler. I ferment all of my ciders between 65-70F and haven't gotten any of the flavors from hot fermentation.

 

[Tarheeltransplant]

Thanks. I will just leave it where it is at. Thanks for the help.

 

[Tarheeltransplant]

Ok, i tasted and checked gravity on this over the weekend. It is at 1.008 or so and seems to be tasting dry. In fact, it doesnt have much taste at all? I want to bottle some for a party in november but fear it will taste... not great. Should I back sweeten? or just wait? I seem to remember someone saying the taste kinda comes back. It has only been ferm. For about 3 weeks. All that wonderful burnt honey taste is gone. I will say it has some kick to it. The color is very similar to bourbon and taste and smell is like diluted cider. Suggestions?

 

[Blanchy]

Sounds like it just needs some time. Backsweetening will help, but aging really brings a lot of the flavor back.

 

[bpm2000]

The bees are part of why I'm working out a crock pot-based method of caramelizing the honey. I think that those first whisps of smoke are a good place to stop anyway, because I don't think burnt marshmallow is particularly tasty, but that's just me.

I wouldn't go cooler. I ferment all of my ciders between 65-70F and haven't gotten any of the flavors from hot fermentation.

Did you ever work this out? Would love to try bochet without melting my skin off.

 

[Tarheeltransplant]

Sounds like it just needs some time. Backsweetening will help, but aging really brings a lot of the flavor back.

So should i just sit on it for another few week, then back sweeten or go ahead and add some sugar now and let go. I want to see what it turns to by itself i think. I can always ad sugar at the end

 

[Blanchy]

I would simply keep it in your carboy for as long as you possibly can, and not worry about back-sweetening it until you are ready to bottle. It really is just a waiting game. The flavors should come back a bit over the next month or so, so you can calculate your sugar amounts then. After you've bottled, try sampling it every month or so- you'll really be able taste a difference from month to month.