New to brewing - first bochet and metheglin

[Brycetopher]

Hi all,

I just stumbled on this website and figured I'd get some input and advice from seasoned brewers!

I made two mead batches in 1 gallon containers, the first is a Bochet and the second, a Metheglin (excuse the messy cabinet in the photo). These are my first two batches of mead, and well, anything fermented.

The bochet is actually nearly done with a %ABV around 15%. Racked yesterday (added a little honey, it came out (surprisingly) nearly dry with only a hint of sweetness, though, the flavors are unsettled and needs to age so detecting the actual characters is rather difficult.

Bochet:
3 lbs clover honey boiled until carmelized
~ 1 cup brandy (spiked into the boiling honey to burn off alcohol and just serve as a flavoring at this point to not kill the yeast)
1 cinnamon stick boiled in carbon filtered tap water
~ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract added after boil to the cinnamon "tea"
Added the "tea" to the carmelized honey after letting it cool slightly
1 lb clover honey added after water and carmelized honey was combined to fuel the yeast (because carmelized sugar contains unusable, converted sugars)
Cooled to ~95 degrees and shook to mix and oxygenate.
Pitched (rehydrated) Lalvin D47 yeast with 1 tsp energizer
Topped off with carbon filtered tap water

Metheglin:
Boiled and strained a tea made from:

1. Zest and juice of 4 lemons
2. A bundle of home grown culinary lavender

Combined with 3 lbs of orange blossom honey (florida)
Combined with concoction of rehydrated Red Star Premier Blanc active dry yeast and 1 tsp energizer

Hoping to get a very dry, almost white wine-esque, citrus and floral mead with a higher ABV (around 15%). The starting specific gravity was 1.120, its been fermenting about a week now.




Anyone do something similar to these over the years? How did they turn out? I wasn't sure if adding boiled brandy as a flavor enhancer directly to boiling honey would do anything for my bochet, and I wasn't sure if juicing 4 lemons would make my metheglin too acidic.

 

[Blacksmith1]

My first bochet is about 2 1/2 months after pitch. It's clear but still has a tiny bit of particulates in it.
It is nowhere near ready to drink.
The brandy may add usable flavor but you won't know for quite awhile.
+1 for the Florida honey. I'm still looking for a good local source that doesn't think they have liquid platinum.

 

[Brycetopher]

My first bochet is about 2 1/2 months after pitch. It's clear but still has a tiny bit of particulates in it.
It is nowhere near ready to drink.
The brandy may add usable flavor but you won't know for quite awhile.
+1 for the Florida honey. I'm still looking for a good local source that doesn't think they have liquid platinum.

My bochet was a quick ferment (Already clear) because I added way too much yeast because I thought I killed my first pitch (was too hot to pitch) but turns out it *mostly* survived because I had a pretty aggressive primary fermentation and about a half inch of spent yeast after a few days. I racked yesterday, and now I'm going to let it go for a few months then bottle. Is that advisable?

Check out amazon, I spent like $17 total on 3 lbs of orange blossom honey.

 

[Blacksmith1]

Even bottling after a few months (I have the same plan) it will probably need to age in the bottle a bit. I'd make sure it doesn't sit on the lees that whole time, rule of thumb is rack when it hits a 1/4 inch or more lees

 

[NeverDie]

Check out amazon, I spent like $17 total on 3 lbs of orange blossom honey.

Link? I see 3 lbs for $25, but I didn't see any for $17.

 

[Brycetopher]

Link? I see 3 lbs for $25, but I didn't see any for $17.

I apologize, you're right. I bought both clover (for the bochet) and orange blossom (metheglin) at the same time, the clover was ~17 and the orange blossom was 25.

 

[NeverDie]

I apologize, you're right. I bought both clover (for the bochet) and orange blossom (metheglin) at the same time, the clover was ~17 and the orange blossom was 25.

As it happens I just today received the 3lb $25 bottle. It's better than most orange blossom honey's that I've tried. Definitely has a citrus flavor when used to backsweeten a traditional mead.

 

[Brycetopher]

As it happens I just today received the 3lb $25 bottle. It's better than most orange blossom honey's that I've tried. Definitely has a citrus flavor when used to backsweeten a traditional mead.

Oh good! That gives me high hopes for my metheglin. I want it to be dry but also have citrus flavor, hence the added zest. The zest may overpower the residual honey flavor but it might still come through, we shall see! If I choose to backsweeten a little bit I'll be sure to use the same kind.