Brycetopher
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- Jun 18, 2019
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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:
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.
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:
- Zest and juice of 4 lemons
- A bundle of home grown culinary lavender
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.