First Bochet

[Shine0n]

Last Sunday I started my first bochet, it's a 1 gallon batch.

3 lbs local wild flower honey
lalvin 1116 yeast
fermaid o yeast nutrient
go-ferm yeast starter

I made a starter for the yeast in the Sunday morning am, gravity of 1.030 and pitched at 10 pm Sunday night.

I used my stove top to caramelize the honey on a med heat that allowed me to maintain a steady boil but over boil, no I did not take temp readings because my nose and taste buds are what works best. (Good luck to those doing the experiments with temps)

After 40 minutes at full boil the honey took on the characteristics I was looking for. Toffee, caramel, marshmallow and it seems like honey was sweeter than it was. It may be because of flavor changes but it's mighty good.

I dosed it with nutes at pitching time and the following day, degassing 2-3 times a day then again with the nutes at 48 and 72 hours all the time degassing.

Took a sg reading tonight and it's down to 1.045
Tasted a small sip and it's going to a very good mead/ bochet.

I'll let yall know the skinny as it happens.

 

[bernardsmith]

Sounds fine... except that no one can replicate your bochet because we don't know the temperature of the honey "boiling" for forty minutes. Was it "boiling" at 200 F or 250 F or 350F or 400F? And was it in fact "boiling" for all forty of those forty minutes? Your nose might know... but your medium heat might be my high .. or my low and your 40 minutes might be my 20 ...or my 60 minutes...

 

[Shine0n]

Sure you can bernard, no matter your elevation, stove or whatever keeping the honey just barely boiling will do the trick.

This isn't rocketmath, it's just a simple recipe that really doesn't need to be complicated. Simply keep enough heat on it to keep it boiling.

I just reread my op and I stated 40 minutes at full boil, sorry if that's confusing to some. That doesn't include heat up time as I didn't think it was of importance but maybe it is. I heated up fairly quick but not on high...Maybe med high until I seen the honey starting to roll then I reduced the heat to keep the boil.

 

[AkTom]

Hey. I’m glad you have time. I’ve been busy, or sick and tired lately. I’ll have to try a Bochet someday.

 

[kristofaaah]

is degassing multiple times a day something you do often?

 

[Shine0n]

My 5 gal bochet is headed to the barrel for a year now.
It's deep reddish color is perfect and the flavors of marshmallow is the leading flavor above the caramel and toffee.

This should be very very good and I had enough left over for 3 5ths as is ready for the holidays.

 

[ShareBrewing]

Sounds like a great bochet! Especially with it being marshmallow forward.

What kind of barrel are you using? Also what was your OG/FG for the 5 gal? Just curious about what the alcohol and final sweetness was, thinking about making a spirit barrel-aged bochet.

 

[Shine0n]

The barrel is a wheat bourbon once used that I put a 14% trad in and now has the bochet that's at 12%.

I'd have to look back on notes to see the og/fg but it ended fairly dry, if I recall it was 1.008 maybe a bit shy of that but pretty dry ish.

I'm hoping the barrel will lend some sweetness like it did on the trad.

 

[ShareBrewing]

That exactly what I was wondering to, how much would you need to rely on the wood for sweetness to balance. Then again 1.008 for a bochet does have a lot more sweetness than your average trad mead at that FG.

Man that wheat bourbon bochet sounds really good.