In episode 35 of the Meadcast we revisit bochets with Matt Falenski from Laurel Highlands Meadery (recall with spoke with David Doucette about bochets in episode 24). Matt has been making bochet commercially for 5 years now, and brings a wealth of experience to making the beverage and understanding how to caramelize the honey appropriately. Tune in to learn his secrets.

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Drinks in this Episode

• Allen and Tysen: Bochet (Laurel Highlands Meadery)
• Matt: Bochet (Allen’s)

The Laurel Highlands Process

Caramelize 55 lbs of wildflower honey in a 50 gallon brew kettle using a propane stove. Temperature will top out above 260 deg F, but actual temperature is unknown. Cook for approximately 45-60 minutes for marshmallow and toffee flavors. Cooking longer adds significant bitterness.

Wait until the honey cools to 160 deg F or lower before adding water to the mead. Once brought to fermenting temperature, maintain fermentation using a DAP, Fermaid K, and Fermaid O protocol (maybe try the Advanced Nutrient Calculator or the default setting on the BatchBuildr).

Once finished fermenting, backsweeten to a final gravity of around 1.015. Proceed to sterile filter with a plate and frame setup (if you are filtering, at least treat to prevent refermenting). It is also possible to dose with bentonite, but it may also remove harshness with some flavor.

Links in this Episode

• Find out more about Laurel Highlands Meadery
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
• Episode 24 with David Doucette
• Avoid Dutch Gold Baker’s Special Honey when making bochets
• Pavel’s Bochet Test
• Making a Burnt Mead from 1593

Coming Up on the Meadcast

In two weeks we’ll be launching an episode challenging our listeners to a mead-off at the Texas Mead Cup. We got together with some friends from Twitter and are having a friendly Mead Soda Challenge (#MeadChallenge). Brew day June 4th. Entries due by Sept 1, 2016. Brew type: Metheglin. The plan is to make a soda inspired mead (most of us are doing rootbeer). It must stay in the metheglin category to ensure we are judged against eachother. And a post-fix with a reference to the mead challenge will let us know if any of us participating walk away with a medal.

Stay tuned for more info, but giving you a heads up to order your ingredients!