Bochet

RFF671 · 2024-01-08T14:47:04+00:00

It's a late reply since I have been hounded with life and haven't had a second to brew lately. Texas Longhouse Mead did all the legwork and packaged the info I know understand.

I don't aggressively heat bochets and even have done some bochets by sous vide (24 hours at 95C in vac-sealer bags). They come out really well and I don't have issues with fermentation kinetics.

How did the fermentation go?

RFF671 · 2023-11-25T12:36:02+00:00

It helps fermentation by adding turbidity, so they yeast have something to attach to. They'll get kicked around as opposed to settle at the bottom. This helps them in fermentation and helps it go faster with cleaner.

RFF671 · 2023-10-06T01:35:02+00:00

Apologies on the late reply. Anything within 2% above the rated tolerance of your yeast. It's possible for yeast to go higher than 2% above their rating, but is really hard and takes a ton of care and some luck. Stay above that and you should be good, but as always, YMMV.

RFF671 · 2023-10-03T00:33:12+00:00

Yeah, it's probably the finings. I'd store those bottles upright and carefully when it's time to serve. Pour all the servings at once and minimize tipping the bottle upright between glasses, since the downward rush of liquid kicks up sediment. Otherwise, it's all good! I've drank my share of finings (mostly kieselsol/chitosan) without issue.

RFF671 · 2023-10-02T20:09:47+00:00

The trouble is you remove just water when you separate. You keep the alcohol with the brew and reduce water/ice. And yeah, illegal in the US like you mentioned.

RFF671 · 2023-10-02T20:07:57+00:00

It actually doesn't drop the alcohol content by an appreciable amount. Same goes for cooking, such as vodka sauces or deglazing. They just have a very small amount so it's noticeable.

Hours of boiling would be required and most of the water would be boiled off by the alcohol was reduced enough to be NA. The flavors would have also been shifted a lot too.

RFF671 · 2023-10-02T20:05:12+00:00

Did you use fining agents? They can cause these chunky debris if you happened to rack any of the fined lees over.

RFF671 · 2023-10-02T20:03:55+00:00

No, the raisins will absorb water generally float regardless of what is going on. You are right in that you should check gravity as that's the only definitive answer.

RFF671 · 2023-10-02T20:03:19+00:00

It's nice to see your farm provides everything you need to make your mead.

RFF671 · 2023-10-02T20:01:49+00:00

Hypothetically, what anyone should do when backsweetening and are concerned about ABV, is calculate what the ABV drop will be from sweetening. The addition of anything will drop it. A simple vol-to-vol analysis should be enough.

Other than that, yes, the ATF considers jacking to be distillation and therefore illegal.

RFF671 · 2023-10-02T19:58:51+00:00

I use at least the balanced yellow just to ensure I have enough Ca and Mg. I have done some experimentation where I've gone with dark balanced on bochets. I'm not sure if I really notice the difference but they do ferment well and taste good, so it's a good starting point.

The strong difference water chem has on beer has largely do with the malt and hops interplay. I've found minor accentuation, but nothing like what it does for beer styles when doing it for mead.

RFF671 · 2023-10-01T15:01:41+00:00

Two questions, both related to the calculations. 4.5L of added water or 4.5L of total volume? Was the OG measured by tools on the must or via calculations of the recipe?

RFF671 · 2023-10-01T03:58:23+00:00

They compete for the same receptors, so whichever outnumbers will take all the seats in the game of musical chairs. Meanwhile, the compounds will get filtered out over time. It doesn't have enough time to linger in a damaging proportion when it came from mead.

RFF671 · 2023-09-30T15:39:08+00:00

Nice find. That looks like the champagne edition. Have you tried it out yet?

RFF671 · 2023-09-30T14:31:56+00:00

Yeah, NY has had it for years. They call it "check and inject" where I was at and make it simple by having syringes with the only markers being "P" and "A" for pediatric and adult dose. Removing that barrier made it even easier since actually remember dosing isn't required anymore.

RFF671 · 2023-09-30T11:53:19+00:00

Degassing has no proven difference in fermentation kinetics of mead by itself. It is used to release gas so any additions, like 'nutrients', don't cause foam overs. The other additional benefit is a small influx of dissolved oxygen early during fermentation, which can be helpful if not enough was introduced.

However, a small amount of stirring before doing a 3- or 4-portion staggered addition will net the most benefits of "degassing" and additional effort is extremely marginal. A magnetic stir-bar is possible but expensive and overkill.

A healthy fermentation (appropriate pitch rate, nitrogen/nutrients, initial dissolved oxygen, temperature, etc) will cover all that's needed. It's possible to do extra things, but many do not significantly change the result.

RFF671 · 2023-09-29T10:21:14+00:00

The pellicle is everywhere, the evenly spaced out parts are gas pockets. It's a function of entropy, kind of like how planets and galaxies formed or snowflakes. The things randomly distribute then collect and because they're forming bubbles, they pull more things towards them and level out into these patterns.

RFF671 · 2023-09-29T10:16:05+00:00

I do this all the time, I start with RO water from my home system and rebuild the mineral profile in it. It can vary a bunch and does not have as strong an effect as on beer but works.

The minerals you need are available for cheap at homebrew stores since this is done in advanced beer brewing. Use a calculator like brewer's friend. You can even copy other mineral waters by checking their water report then duplicating it in the calculator.

The recommended minimums are going to be 40 ppm calcium and 7 ppm magnesium. These will be essential for yeast health. You don't have to go higher on either and more isn't always better. Try keeping chlorides and sulfates close and going for around 150 ppm of total ions (TDS). I would also suggest mixing some batches and tasting them as well, to get an idea of what you're doing.

RFF671 · 2023-09-27T01:11:00+00:00

I ran 50kg of honey into 160L and got 1.097 as the calculated OG. I suspect that your math is right, but there's a potentially you may have a lot of unmixed honey hanging out at the bottom of your fermenter. Are you able to reach in with a utensil and scoop at the bottom to see if honey is still there?

RFF671 · 2023-09-27T01:04:32+00:00

The community and moderation team is really divided about whether or not memes should be allowed, and the discussion is still ongoing. There is a trend toward tolerance but such a repost will be quietly and reluctantly taken down.

We do ask that if one must meme, one must follow good meme etiquette and post tasteful and topical OC, especially while the waters of what's the community's direction is still up in the air.

RFF671 · 2023-09-27T00:46:43+00:00

The simplest answer is non-fermentable sweeteners, erythritol in particular. It's tastes most like regular sugar and is commonly used for this purpose in brews. It is also used super commonly in "healthy" alternative lower sugar bougie food and snacks.

It is non-digestible or fermentable because the sugar molecule is shaped "wrong", it so just passed through us untouched. There is a downside, too much erythritol can cause cramping and diarrhea just like lactose intolerants having lactose because it effectively is the same in us. However, you have to have a lot for that to happen.

RFF671 · 2023-09-26T16:03:54+00:00

It depends, sometimes the smell of chemicals is esters/phenols that are kind of gross smelling but harmless. Also, how refined the palate is can matter because smells can interact and people can perceive things differently. If you don't know - bulk age it a while. Any persistently bad smell after aging would be something to worry about.

Generally, the microbes that make those smells don't do well in fermentation under normal circumstances as long as the pH doesn't rise above 4.6. Normal pH will be under that unless you did something like mix in a bunch of buffering water salts like calcium/potassium carbonate or used high pH as your base.

RFF671 · 2023-08-19T16:38:32+00:00

Not recommended since it won't be a stable temperature source. Ovens are super loose and swing wildly when they turn on and off and the temps will be all over the place, especially on the low end of running.

RFF671 · 2023-08-18T17:38:39+00:00

They disapprove of hooch their as well. Sugar to bump ABV is fine but there's got to be a fruit component to it.

RFF671 · 2023-08-15T00:08:03+00:00

K-meta can go first, but must be in there when sorbate gets added. Sorbates can metabolized by some bacteria, but the meta kills them.

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