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Braggot?


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#1 Poptop

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Posted 23 April 2019 - 05:34 AM

Fellas, I hope this post is okay here since there's relatively nothing ever going on in the mead department and I'm looking for some thoughts from my fellow BREWERS. 

 

So Braggot is highlighted in the latest BYO and it has my interest.  I've made a couple meads in the past with little success in fact dumping the last one.  But a Braggot has malt presence and it's up to the brewer to showcase how much of malt vs. honey.  I'm thinking a malty Braggot.  Further in order to control this experiment even more I'm considering using either DME or LME, 6 pounds to 5 pounds honey.  Just to get my bearings...... 

 

Somehow I can taste malty goodness here :)  Perhaps a little Celia or other light noble to get just enough bitter to offset big sweetness, and a mild yeast.

 

Or maybe I should walk away since my mead adventures all stunk hahaha.  Anyone with a care or idea here?

 

 



#2 armagh

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Posted 23 April 2019 - 10:25 AM

Braggot is one of the easier meads to get right.  My best have started with a grain malt bill, supplemented with LME.   Hops are a personal choice but given the aging time line, dry hopping to supplement boil additions can yield good results.  You will want a high gravity yeast and get the least expensive quality honey available - wildflower, clover, etc., - because the esters will be lost during fermentation.



#3 Poptop

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Posted 23 April 2019 - 10:53 AM

Braggot is one of the easier meads to get right.  My best have started with a grain malt bill, supplemented with LME.   Hops are a personal choice but given the aging time line, dry hopping to supplement boil additions can yield good results.  You will want a high gravity yeast and get the least expensive quality honey available - wildflower, clover, etc., - because the esters will be lost during fermentation.

 

Armagh, my man, thank you.



#4 Stout_fan

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Posted 23 April 2019 - 11:47 AM

When I do an AG batch in the 60's (no, I don't remember the 70's :D) I would not have enough sugar remaining for a partigyle beer, but if I enhanced it with a 5 lb container of clover honey (Costco), I could generally get a decent braggot. Actually, because I'm a cheap so and so and do not like throwing sugar away, I've made a few of them.

 

The use of LME/DME is OK to gain some gravity points, but  in my case, I'm dealing with increased tannin, and a lighter mouthfeel. Add in further reduction of mouthfeel by the honey and you wind up with some wimpy stuff.

 

One more suggestion I have is to scrap the idea of using wine yeast. It just doesn't work well with the malt. I stick to a yeast that is similar in style to your AG batch. If a stout second runnings, I'll stick to a British ale yeast. If a pale ale US-05/WLP001/1051 all work well.

 

Although I haven't given Belgians a try one guy in my HB club did and worked out fairly well. Another fellow with a permanent Bret brewery infection turned out his normal 'infected' brew. It wasn't bad either.

 

Since there is minimal sweetness, resist the urge to hop the snot out of it.

 

And since this involves malt, IMHO you're in the right forum.



#5 Poptop

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Posted 23 April 2019 - 11:59 AM

^^^ thank you kindly for the advice.



#6 armagh

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Posted 23 April 2019 - 02:03 PM

Schramm has a recipe in his book that uses 11 lbs of grain, or in the alternative 6lbs DME, with 9 lbs honey.  His version has an OG of 1.120 so if you go down that path, at least a belgian strong ale yeast, if not a wine yeast.  His hop schedule is 3 oz Cascade/ for 60, 1 oz Cascade for 30 1 oz Cascade for 2 minutes.  YMMV.



#7 Stout_fan

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Posted 23 April 2019 - 02:45 PM

What I did was to split a 10 gal batch into two 5 gal carboys. One had Montrachet (I think) and the other was US-05. Definitely preferred the US-05. YMMV



#8 Genesee Ted

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Posted 23 April 2019 - 07:18 PM

I would suggest using a mixed yeast pitch if you go high OG. Use something clean that has a decent tolerance to get through at least the first half, then pitch what you will dry it out with along with more nutrients

#9 Poptop

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Posted 24 April 2019 - 05:24 AM

I honestly want to keep this in a casual drinking range and would consider tweaking Armagh's weights and measures a couple posts above to roughly half.  Light and refreshing is those are words that can be used with a Braggot :)



#10 jayb151

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Posted 24 April 2019 - 07:23 AM

If you're thinking of doing a not "imperial" version, I've found Belgian yeasts usually work best for most non beer fermenting. That and I usually have at lest some slurry on hand so it's usually never a stretch for me.

 

cheers!



#11 realbeerguy

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Posted 24 April 2019 - 07:28 AM

We at Bee-Town just did a collaboration Braggot with 2 other local breweries for a charity event.  Rye Saison Braggot .  Beer came in at 1.048, added a local honey we sourced to raise it up to a final 9.4% apv.  Used Saison Yeast.  



#12 Poptop

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Posted 24 April 2019 - 07:41 AM

^^ have you tried it yet?  If so, how is it?



#13 realbeerguy

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Posted 06 May 2019 - 07:13 PM

Well received at fund raiser.  Sneaky strong



#14 Genesee Ted

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Posted 07 May 2019 - 12:02 PM

I didn’t know you went commercial! Congrats! How’s it going?

#15 realbeerguy

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Posted 08 May 2019 - 08:01 AM

Open 1 year Feb 7.  Doing well in tasting room.  started distro in GA in Dec, launching SC Low Country end of month.  We're SC's first production meadery.  Hired first employee in Dec.  He does all the heavy lifting  :wub:



#16 Genesee Ted

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Posted 08 May 2019 - 11:33 AM

How far from Savannah Lakes, SC?


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