Burnt Mead Touble Fermenting

14.5 pounds of honey with a 14l final volume is pretty high, about 1.140. If you simply added 14l of water to the honey then the gravity will be somewhat lower, but still hard for yeast to chew through. What was your starting gravity? What is it now? Did you aerate?

This one is probably going to be a slow fermenter, especially if you don't add nutrients. At the very least, you should consider adding some boiled bread yeast. Put a few teaspoons of yeast in some water, boil it in a microwave, then add to the must.

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The list of ingredients you have pretty much make a "Show Mead", they can take a very long time to ferment and are extremely fussy at best. My 2 attempts at them have led to new and interesting smells to say the least.

+1 on the boiled yeast. I use it all the time, mostly due to it being cheap and having lots of it all the time (I buy it in 1Kg bricks for breads for ~$3.50). You can also add a small handful of raisins, ~20 should do. The mead that you're fermenting will not taste like bread any more then you mead will taste like grape wine from adding the raisins. They just add nutrients for your yeasties to use and be healthy from start to finish of the ferment. Yeasties are cannibals after all...

Do you have a hydrometer & test jar to measure the gravity already? If not then one is needed in your next purchase of equipment (this from someone who put it off till the 3rd batch).

Also be sure your ferment stays below 77ºF or you risk fusels, hot burning rocket fuel alcohol taste. Not sure where you are at or the temps the ferment is being kept in. Too cold and the ferments just drag out...

How did you burn your honey? A little fermaid might help you out, though EC1118 isnt a big foamer so without gravity readings its hard to tell what is really going on. WVMJ

I made a bochet about a year ago. Evidently, when we 'burn' the honey, we change at least some of the sugars into things that the yeast can't use. I found that, even using nutrients and energizer and a very active, robust yeast, and additions to keep the pH in check, it wouldn't ferment dry.

It is taking a long time to age too. Whether it is because of my yeast and honey choices or because of how much or how long I caramelized the honey remains unclear to me.

I'm SURE this isn't what a bochet is supposed to taste like... at least not yet. Its not undrinkable, but the elements that made me want to make a bochet in the first place just aren't really there.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Marshmallow and toffee flavors in a bochet. Good stuff to use when back sweetening. Not sure about flavor in an all bochet batch.

All Bochet batches are good GK. I think a little added raw honey might help some people ferment down further but the sweetness left over from not fermenting all the sugars can be planned for and in the end contribute to the tastes of the Bochet. Boosting some of the flavors with vanilla beans and cocoa nibs and oak put it up a notch. We have been restraining ourselves from dipping into the carboy of Bochet until later this fall to see if they are ready. Thinking about making a Polish style, 2 gallon of Goldrush, great flavored apple with good acid levels and about a gallon of Burnt honey, maybe a little less depending on how sweet the apples are, Might be the magical caramel apple pie mead everyone keeps trying to capture WVMJ

If you ferment with EC-1118 and use no nutrients chances are good you will end up with sulfur odors. It really does help to feed the yeast. You can use boiled bread yeast, bee pollen or an organic yeast nutrient if you want to keep it "natural."