Docked Dragon Bochet

First made during Docking of the Crew Dragon vehicle with the International Space station on 31 May 2020.

Nutrient Tea
1ea Orange
1ea Lemon
1oz Chopped Raisins
1ea Darjeeling Tea

Primary
1/2oz Raisins
3tsp Fermax Yeast Nutrient

Prior to Secondary
1oz Ginger, matchstick cut
1Tbsp Pink Peppercorns, smashed

Quarter Lemon and Orange, make 1.5 Cup nutrient "tea" with Orange, Lemon, and Chopped Raisins. Squeeze juice into saucepan, add rinds, and bring just to boil, remove from heat, cut open tea bag and add tea. Allow to steep while boiling honey.

Add all honey to a 7Gal pot and gently bring to a boil over Medium high heat (Mark 8-9 on my stove), do not add any water or other adjuncts. STIR CONTINUOUSLY! Reduce heat to medium low - medium (Mark 3-6 on my stove) and maintain a rolling boil for approximately 80 mins. STIR CONTINUOUSLY! Temp should rise to about 260-265 and honey should become a dark amber color. STIR CONTINUOUSLY! Do not allow the honey to burn or scorch.

Rehydrate yeast in 1/2 Cup warm water.

Remove Honey from heat and SLOWLY add 2 gallons of water while continuing to stir. Allow must to cool to approximately 135-145. Strain nutrient tea into 5Gal carboy, add yeast nutrient, then add must. Shake/rock carboy vigorously to thoroughly aerate. Once temp has fallen to 90, add yeast slurry to carboy, shake to reaerate, and top off with water. Transfer to 6.5Gal carboy to allow headspace for fermentation and add 1/2 oz raisins.

Primary fermentation 4-6 weeks. Add 1oz matchstick cut ginger and 1Tbsp smashed pink peppercorns 3-4 days before racking to secondary. Transfer to 5Gal carboy for secondary.

Secondary for 8-16 weeks and evaluate for clarity and flavor. If necessary, transfer to a 5Gal carboy for tertiary/bright storage. Bottle in 375ml wine bottles and allow to age for AT LEAST 3-6 months.

Lalvin EC-1118 dry yeast

OG 1.135
FG 1.048
ABV 11.42%