Bochet cyser???

[RedHeadMead]

So I've brewed a few different things and decided to try something different. I hope this turns out good.

1 pound honey cooked till dark
3 pounds standard honey
Tea brewed from 2 cinnamon tea bags in Apple juice with 1 tsp apple pie spice and 25-30 chopped raisins
Strained tea off and added to the honey and filled the rest of a 1 gallon carboy full leaving some head space.

It's a beautiful dark red/brown color and smells amazing.
Yeast I'm using is lalvin bm 4x4.

My question is has anyone else mixed these techniques? And what is it actually called?

 

[Blacksmith1]

From the recipe I would call it delicious. I have a bochet done on chopped mango aging, but it's done a bit differently than yours.

 

[RedHeadMead]

Thank you for the kind words! I hope my mix comes out as nice as some others I've heard of.

 

[RedHeadMead]

From the recipe I would call it delicious. I have a bochet done on chopped mango aging, but it's done a bit differently than yours.

I am a bit concerned as this yeast seems to work slower than the premier blanc I've been using.

 

[Blacksmith1]

that should not cause a problem. it will just take a bit longer to finish.

 

[z-bob]

I'm about to try something kinda like a bochet. A pint of dark (almost black) invert syrup and a pint of honey in a gallon of water. Otherwise follow the BOMM recipe. It should end up about 15%. Haven't decided whether or not to add an ounce of minced raisins.

 

[Maylar]

Caramelized honey in a cyser is not unusual. I guess with the spices it'd be called a fruit and spice mead (Style M3A), depending on how much apple juice you used.
M4X4 should be a good match for that. I suggest that you use yeast nutrients, not just raisins. 4 lb of honey in a gallon is going to be pretty stressful on the yeast. Scott Labs lists that yeast as having "high" nutrient requirements.

What kind of apple juice and how much did you use?

 

[RedHeadMead]

Caramelized honey in a cyser is not unusual. I guess with the spices it'd be called a fruit and spice mead (Style M3A), depending on how much apple juice you used.
M4X4 should be a good match for that. I suggest that you use yeast nutrients, not just raisins. 4 lb of honey in a gallon is going to be pretty stressful on the yeast. Scott Labs lists that yeast as having "high" nutrient requirements.

What kind of apple juice and how much did you use?

Hyvee brand apple juice probably about 2 liters
....

 

[Maylar]

Did you measure your starting gravity?

 

[RedHeadMead]

Did you measure your starting gravity?

My hydrometer came in just yesterday unfortunately.

 

[Maylar]

I would be concerned that you have way more sugar than a 15% abv yeast can handle.

 

[RedHeadMead]

I would be concerned that you have way more sugar than a 15% abv yeast can handle.

To be honest i am probably going to split it into 2 gallons and make up the difference with a bit of honey and apple juice.

 

[RedHeadMead]

I'm about to try something kinda like a bochet. A pint of dark (almost black) invert syrup and a pint of honey in a gallon of water. Otherwise follow the BOMM recipe. It should end up about 15%. Haven't decided whether or not to add an ounce of minced raisins.

Let us know how that turns out!

 

[Maylar]

To be honest i am probably going to split it into 2 gallons and make up the difference with a bit of honey and apple juice.

Just fyi, my cysers are about 1.5 lb of honey in a gallon of cider. That makes 13%.

 

[RedHeadMead]

Just fyi, my cysers are about 1.5 lb of honey in a gallon of cider. That makes 13%.

Thanks for the tip

 

[RedHeadMead]

so a quick update:

I watched it for a week and the activity is slow but there. I pulled a sample to test and taste and i would put it in the way too sweet category. That being said its already probably about 7%.

I decided to pull a little more out and replace it with a bit of water. I also pitched 1/4 tsp of premier blanc to give the bm 4x4 a hand and add different flavors and esters.

Since doing this the fermentation has picked up drastically and i should have a wonderful mead in a couple more weeks.

Thank you all for your time checking my thread and responding.

 

[Maylar]

Thanks for the update.