August 31, 2018

Because I’m leaving for two weeks tomorrow, and because I’m just an impatient SOB, I decided to rack my Coffee Bochet. Annnnd, also I just had to get a taste of the stuff.

Opening the fermentation bucket, it looks like sewage. It’s doo doo brown, with a creepy looking vanilla bean husk floating in it like some kind of eel, and vanilla bean sludge floating around. I siphoned some into the flask to measure the SG and it actually looked pretty clear. It has a heavy coffee aroma and you can smell the vanilla. The SG came out to 1.008. Still dropping. It’s not quite done fermenting, but definitely slowing down. Here are the stats so far:

• OG (8/19) = 1.10
• SG1 (8/23) = 1.070
• SG2 (8/25) = 1.034
• SG3 (8/29) = 1.012
• SG4 (8/31) = 1.008

Estimated ABV is 12.2% (courtesy of the ABV Calculator).

I decide to rack it without the vanilla bean. I want a hint of vanilla and I read that vanilla can overpower the flavor and aroma, so I definitely don’t want it sitting in the mead for another two weeks. It looks less sewagey in the carboy, but still a little cloudy.

And finally, the taste test! It is very nice! It starts with a toasted sweet flavor and then you get an immediate coffee flavor with, yes, a hint of vanilla. It finishes dry, a little bitter, with a lingering smoothness. Jen said it tasted “beery” and when she said that, I realized it tastes like a stout or strong porter. Cool! Definitely not medicinal like the melomel tasted. What a great result after the stuck fermentation at the beginning. Well, this stuff is off to the basement to hang for awhile.