| Batch # | Batch Type | Date in Primary | Date in Secondary | Date Racked | Date Racked | Date Filled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Bochet (mead) | 12/28/13 | 1/17/14 | 5/9/14 | Racked 2 | Bottled |
Ingredients:
1.5 lb Pioneer Hill Spring Honey
4.8 oz table sugar
QS to ~1 gallon with Brita filtered water
~1/2 oz chopped ginger
5 peppercorns
3 cloves
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Comments:
12/28/13: This is a small scale (1 gallon) solo batch produced by Charles:
-Boiled 1.5 lb Pioneer Hill Spring Honey plus 4.8 oz table sugar for approx 20 minutes in a SS pan on the stovetop, stirring nearly continuously to caramelize the honey/sugar and invert the sugar. I think the sugar addition really sped up the process as I expected this process would take >1 hour.
-This stuff was hot! I made hard candy (and a second or third degree burn) on my index finger by stupidly trying to get a sample for tasting!
-Stopped by removing from heat and adding some Brita filtered water when honey/sugar mix was dark brown, and the spouse and children complained that the house stunk sufficiently like burnt honey.
QS to ~1 gallon with Brita filtered water
Added ~1/2 oz chopped ginger, 5 peppercorns, 3 cloves and since I already boiled the honey, I decided to 'pasteurize' spices by heating to ~160 and holding to for 'a little while' to avoid initial chemical addition.
After hold, removed ~ 1/2 of the chopped ginger. Cooled slightly
Put in 2 gallon primary, added and mixed 1 tsp yeast nutrient. Cooled to 90 F.
Beat the must. Added 1/2 packet Cote de Blancs and beat must again (did not wait 24hrs due to pasteurizing everything instead of killing with Campden). Put in kitchen cabinet.
Beatings are planned to continue for the next three days- or until morale improves.
Note: Recipe initially generated for 3 lb Honey. Decided to radically rework recipe after tasting Dad's bottle conditioned dry ginger-cherry mead on Christmas- which I judged to be more pleasing to my individual taste preferences than a semi-sweet or sack strength mead.
Beat must with slotted spoon 3x daily for first three days in primary. Fizzing was noted while beating the must- no or minimal krausen was noted in the primary.
Racked 1/17/14. Very compact lees. Mini racking cane worked great. Left all spices and lees behind. Dark amber color and spicy smell-a small sample tasted great-it was not totally dry. Hopefully it gets better as it ages. Sample collected from top of lees and frozen for QC testing (%ABV by vinometer).
2/1/14: Gathered Post-Primary QC data on frozen sample. Tasted light, mouthfeel lacking. Not as much need for mellowing as earlier brews which were all honey higher ABV.
5/9/14: Charles racked again. Tasted tart, some small amount of residual sweetness, perhaps higher sugars from the honey that are more difficult to ferment and take longer, or unfermentable sugars.
10/18/14: Some weeks ago Charles bottled this. On 10/18/14 he brought a 22 to brew night and we all tried it. He adjusted with cardamom extract and ginger extract due to an unpleasant nose. The ginger could not be tasted and the cardamom was too heavy, leant a slightly bitter taste. It was a beautiful caramel color, but lacked mouthfeel and could use a bit of residual sweetness to balance the cardamom bitter note. The other three bottles will have glycerol added. Overall this was a success.
| Measurement | Pre-Ferm (PF) | Post-Primary (PP) | Post-Second (PS) | At Bottling (AB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specific gravity (hyd) | tbd | tbd | tbd | tbd |
| % Potential ABV (hyd) | tbd | tbd | tbd | tbd |
| %mas sacc (refrac) | tbd | 9.5 | tbd | tbd |
| ° Oechsle (°Oe) (refrac): | tbd | 39 | tbd | tbd |
| KMW (refrac) | tbd | 8 | tbd | tbd |
| pH (pH meter) | tbd | 3.6 | tbd | tbd |
| % alcohol (vin) | tbd | 6.0 | tbd | tbd |
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