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How can I get a molasses flavor to my mead?

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When I read this thread my mind thought of bochets. Somehow my mind links molasses to burnt sugar to bochets. Anyway, check it out if you haven't heard of bochets before. I hear it could be a bit tricky to get the correct amount of caramelisation though
 
Stasis said:
Check it out if you haven't heard of bochets before.
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I have heard of bochets before, though I've never made one. Burnt sugar is absolutely a flavor that I enjoy, but caramel is not quite molasses. Maybe I'll combine the two when I figure out the molasses quandary.
 
Okay, I have received a pound of buckwheat honey today. I gotta say, this is some DAMN GOOD honey. It's a molasses-y, caramel-y, smoke-y honey with a MILD earthy flavor. The jar doesn't specify, but maybe I got the western buckwheat?
I must find a way to buy a large bucket of this wonderful substance.
Shame there's not enough for a mead. Maybe a very small one?
 
A very small test batch seems like a good idea. Some people have tried using buckwheat unsuccessfully so this would be a low risk endeavor. A small batch would also easily blend with other batches
 
Yeah, I should get a grip on how this stuff ferments out before I do anything stupid. A gallon is obviously too much for just one pound. I may have to brew this in a bottle.
 
I wouldn't brew it in an actual bottle since it would be so easy to overflow. You wouldn't be able to fill it to the neck and there would be losses from racking so the end amount would be very small. I usually do the primary for test batches in 1 gallon jugs which easily fit airlocks.
If I were to actually use a pound of honey I'd aim for around 1.8 litres. The end result would be two bottles at 0.75l each bottle (1.5l). The extra 0.3l I will keep to top up after racking losses. The mead will be around 10% abv which is ok. Managing such a small test batch could probably be rather tricky.
Yep 2 bottles bare minimum sounds just about right. One bottle after about a year, the second bottle I'd open depending on how much more aging I judge the mead needs. With just one bottle of mead you wouldn't be sure if it's good or not if you happen to open the bottle a bit early. Bottling in smaller bottles would be ideal for tasting but I haven't gotten round to getting smaller bottles myself
 
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Stasis said:
If I were to actually use a pound of honey I'd aim for around 1.8 litres.
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You know what? that actually works out really well. I could easily get a half-gallon carboy (1.9 Liters) and ferment it down to bone dry. Thanks.
 
I noticed a bit back in the messages here (#11 from Oskar) that there is something I can object to. I got some buckwheat honey from a local source here in Eastern Washington, that stuff was so barnyard, horse blanket & mousey that I had to give it away! Even then it took them over a month & 3 people to empty that quart jar, never again will I buy buckwheat...
 
I wouldn't just write off buckwheat completely, I suspect there is a lot more that goes into how a honey comes out than just the primary flower source.

Several years ago I made 4 batches of JAO side by side. One Buckwheat, one wildflower, one Orange Blossom and one Clover honey, otherwise to the recipe and as close to the same as possible.

I took them to one of our club meetings and had about 40 different people taste and grade them by preference. The Buckwheat won hands down with almost half of the total votes. Since then I have used it often and never noticed a barnyard smell and have been quite please with the outcome.

I'd find a different supplier and try some of theirs.


Cheers
Jay
 
Not all buckwheat is created equal. I've too had great success with buckwheat but I blend mine. Never done a straight up buckwheat traditional.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
EJM3 said:
I noticed a bit back in the messages here (#11 from Oskar) that there is something I can object to. I got some buckwheat honey from a local source here in Eastern Washington, that stuff was so barnyard, horse blanket & mousey that I had to give it away! Even then it took them over a month & 3 people to empty that quart jar, never again will I buy buckwheat...
Click to expand...

I don't have any experience with buckwheat yet, but I have tried Goldenrod, which has a bit of a bad foot-odor smell to it. That smell completely disappeared through fermenting and the resulting mead was great, so I'd be willing to be that even your barnyard horse blanket mousey buckwheat has potential to produce a good mead. At the very least, I wouldn't pass judgment until you've actually tried it in a mead.
 
I know this thread is almost 10 years old, but I am wanting to make a pfeffernusse mead and am wondering what your results were since there is no update. Did you use straight buckwheat? Did you mix, and if so how much of each honey? Also curious if you used molasses or if the honey did a good enough job.
 
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