Braggot!!

[Intelekt]

Ok a previous thread got my mind wondering into braggot territory :shock:

Has anyone got a nice simple braggot recipe that someone who has never made beer before can do with his winemaking equipment? :whistle:

I'm after a nice sweet malty beery Meady type thing, I'm not sure about hop addition, partly because of the bitterness and partly because they are poisonous to dogs, and with three of em constantly after my brewing food I can't risk it!

Many thanks
:hat:

 

[RobWalker]

my favourite is 45% pale, 5% crystal and 50% horny buttered to 10 ibus with goldings and a little for aroma, aim for about 9 or 10% abv.

I would consider bittering at least a little. if not, dry hop them in after fermentation for aroma etc. age well, drink by the fire :)

you can easily make something similar with roughly 600g honey, 600g dme.

 

[Intelekt]

my favourite is 45% pale, 5% crystal and 50% horny buttered to 10 ibus with goldings and a little for aroma

Ya Wot :shock: I only speak wine :wink:

 

[phettebs]

Go with Rob's second option. ;-)

600gm honey and 600gm of dried malt extract (DME).

 

[Intelekt]

Ok thanks,

So what kind of price is DME? Is it cheaper than bottled malt extract?

 

[RobWalker]

bottled isn't designed for brewing, although it does work. where in brum are you? it's 2.30 for 500g at DeeJay's in Rubery.

anyway, now that I'm home, sliced this together to hopefully suit your level of brewing...

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 4.50 L      
Boil Size: 3.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.087 SG
Estimated Color: 7.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.1 IBU

Ingredients:
------------
Amount       Item                                       Type        % or IBU     
0.60 kg      Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM)                Dry Extract 50.0 %       
20.00 gm     Goldings, East Kent [5.00%]  (10 min)      Hops        15.1 IBU     
0.60 kg      Honey (1.0 SRM)                            Sugar       50.0 %

Combine 0.6kg DME with 0.6kg honey and make up to 3L total with kettle water in a pan. It's important to get the volume right otherwise it'll be more bitter. You need to leave a good amount of headroom - bring it to the boil with the hops in, boil for 10 mins (precisely,) and then let it cool by putting the pan in cool water. I'd cover it at this point because you leave it open to infection. When it's cool enough, pour into your demi john and add your yeast. Use an ale yeast that can ferment at least 10%

This will be about 10% with just a little bitterness, plenty of hop flavour and a pretty true braggot. It will ferment like mad, so be careful!

Sub the DME for holland and barratt if you want, it will work about the same I assume. Any hops can be used too, but that's hops at 5% alpha acid, so if the hops you get have a lower AA%, use some more - if they are higher, use less. I'd be tempted to play it safe and have less bitterness rather than more if you're unsure.

hope this helps!

 

[phettebs]

I'd also stick with UK or continental hops. American C hops will give it a hoppier profile than I'd imagine you want.

 

[Algernon]

Rob - do you happen to know if Wilko's Gervin Ale Yeast would be any good for this experiment? If so I am up for trying this this evening.
Any idea how long it would need to condition etc after that? Do you just treat it like any other strong ale and leave it ages to condition or would it be more like a mead and be drinkable relatively soon?

 

[RobWalker]

on the other hand, mead is notorious for ageing, often requiring years to get good. good quality honey, good quality yeast, good water and a healthy ferment with nutrients and temp control should help that, but it's probably not so neccessary for braggot as the malt is full of proteins and nutrients. I would say you could easily drink it after a few months, but it will continue to improve. It's much better in the winter time too because it's so delicious and warming. On that note too, carbonate it very mildly, a british ale style carbonation would be great. i'd imagine when it's well conditioned this'll give you a big thick head!

I think for 1 gallon half a packet would be okay. Most sources online say to use 2 packets for a 1.090 brew 5 gallon brew, so mathematically half a packet would probably suffice for a 1 gallon braggot at 1.090 odd. you can always finish it off with wine yeast I guess. :

 

[Algernon]

Would this stuff be ok to ferment in DJ's or will it explode out of the airlock? Also, does anyone know about racking of this stuff? How long to leave it in the primary FV, whether it is worth using a secondary FV or just straight to bottles? What about priming for the bottles? So many questions... while the water boils...

 

[Intelekt]

Thanks very much Rob for taking the time to make this recipe :hat: very much appreciated :thumb: and everyone else!

I've had a busy day today so I will study this thread in much more detail tomorrow :wink:

Can you only get DME from home brew shops? What would be a good one to get?

This is really tickling my fancy now!

 

[RobWalker]

yep, its only available in home brew shops for brewing purposes. Holland and barratt is essentially.the same thing, mashed and extracted malt, so it works fine, its just not the highest quality malt for brewing because its designed for health instead.

you just gotta get what they got available, use light for a light colour and amber for a beer with crystal character, dark for a portery braggot.

 

[Algernon]

I have now cobbled together a poor-man's braggot (I think that is what I shall call it, since it's currently just called "brew 4")
There's a post on it here viewtopic.php?f=21&t=40642

 

[Algernon]

link failed - must get someone to explain how to do smaller links.. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=40642

 

[Intelekt]

Sub the DME for holland and barratt if you want, it will work about the same I assume. Any hops can be used too, but that's hops at 5% alpha acid

How much holland and Barrett would I sub with by weight?
I've never bought hops in my life so what's the cheapest and best to begin with?

:thumb: thanks again for this.

I live right by a brewgenie home brew so things are easy to get :party:

 

[RobWalker]

aah cool. well there's no real cheapest and best. I really like Goldings for this type of beer and they're just about the most famous and widely used UK hop, and a decent all rounder.

I don't know about holland and barratt - it might be wise to go on gravity reading if you have a hydrometer. :thumb: