Whats a good rule of thumb to figure out your honey weight for a braggot? Since for 5 gal sweet mead is 13-15 or so lbs of honey... mostly depend on the malt used? Extract or not effect it? Been planing one my self to use oak in as well with citrusy aroma hops.
NewBee Making a Braggot
- Thread starter HunnyBunz
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I've recently learned that it's better to shoot for a target original gravity rather than using a preset amount of honey (unless you're following a tried & true recipe.)
That way you can roughly control what the ABV will end up at. Mine ended up at about 9% with 3 lbs of LME and 7+ lbs honey in a 5 gal batch.
Incidentally, at least 50% of the fermentable sugar must come from honey for it to be called a braggot.
And I'll let someone else answer your question about using extract vs. regular malt.
I think official BJCP guidelines indicate at least 1/3 honey (or at least 1/3 malt) for it to be considered a braggot. I could be incorrect about this, but I'm pretty confident I'm not.
The BJCP style guideline for category 26B does not state the amount of honey vs malt. Generally you will see between 1/2 and 2/3 of the fermentable sugars will come from honey and it all really depends on what flavors you are trying to achieve. If you state a beer style (ie Sweet Stout Braggot, IPA Braggot, Wheat Braggot, etc) the Braggot should show that style. You can read the guideline here http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style26.php
As for the question of extract vs full grain, it is all a matter of personal preference. I usually use extract because of the ease of it, but I've also been known to pull the second running of a full grain batch of beer to be used as my malt component in a braggot.
I got that info about what constitutes a braggot from another website, so I probably should have verified before making that statement.
It just made sense to me that more malt than honey would classify it as a "honey beer" rather than a braggot.
It just made sense to me that more malt than honey would classify it as a "honey beer" rather than a braggot.
I'm with you Hunnybunz, if there are more malt fermentables than honey, it should be a honey beer. More honey than malt, braggot.
That's usually how it works, you usually will see AT LEAST 50% of the fermentables coming from Honey (except in some commercial examples due to laws. Most Braggots made by Commercial Brewers will only contain 49% or less fermentables coming from Honey, because of the differences in licensing for a Winery vs Brewery)
Even as low as 1/3 fermentables from honey (usually from a more robust honey) can still give a very solid honey presence, giving a strong impression of mead.
I personally feel if it tastes like beer+mead then it's a braggot.
The problem there is taste is subjective as opposed to objective. If I add an herb or spice to a melomel, it's not technically a melomel anymore, even if you can't taste it or pick it out. If I toss some honey in a beer, that doesn't make it a braggot, that probably makes it a honey beer. There needs to be an objective line, at least for competitions.
Agreed. The BJCP rules aren't set in stone so a defined objective could eventually come into play. The question for many of us is what does the MCI look for when judging our Braggots.
No kidding. I don't know which one to do next and before long all the nice fruit will be coming in complicating it further... choices...choices...choices
Well the fact that the fruit isn't in yet does limit what I can pick off of the to-do list. I have narrowed it down to Soyala's Lemon Ginger or Wayne B's Christmas Spice Methligen (I think it's down to only those 2).
I have 1 one gallon carboy left after I rack the peach cider, so it is between the Bouchet and the Braggot. I have to buy some more, don't really have anything ready to bottle. I think I saw that Christmas Spice when I was searching for something. Lemon ginger sounds good also.
Hey my name was there 
. I'm going to redo the lemon-ginger sometime this April myself. If nothing else so Jamie and Gunnar don't get into a fist fight over the last 4 beer bottles of it...though that could be really funny. Jamie is about 5'2" and a fierce valkyrie. Gunnar is 6'3" and could probably bench press a hybrid car. Just for the visual reference for everyone else.
. I'm going to redo the lemon-ginger sometime this April myself. If nothing else so Jamie and Gunnar don't get into a fist fight over the last 4 beer bottles of it...though that could be really funny. Jamie is about 5'2" and a fierce valkyrie. Gunnar is 6'3" and could probably bench press a hybrid car. Just for the visual reference for everyone else.
Hey my name was there
Going to NFG or LATP or both?
Don't have the time off for NFG this year, but I'm sending some stuff up with Jotun's Bane Kindred. Nothing in the world could keep me away from LATP, it's organized and run by my family kindred! (Super secret note on that one, I've been working with Mark trying to get a mead competition at LATP this year. Any thing mentioned on their pages showing interest might help me make it happen!)
Hopefully I'll have the time for LATP this year since plans got all messed up at the last minute in 2011 (laid off). I talk to Mark pretty regularly so I'll mention how great it would be if there was a Mead competition (how can you have an event without a Mead competition?) 
I really like it, and so did many of my friends - everyone from beer lovers to someone who doesn't really like beer. I only have one bottle left of the 22 large flip-tops.
I wanted to keep a little more for aging but I couldn't keep out of it. I plan on trying some more complex braggots in the future, but this was a good one to get my feet wet with. It was before I even knew about adding nutrients or aeration, but beers don't need those things anyway.
Did you start a batch of your own? If you do, let me know how it turns out. And if you do follow this recipe, I really recommend you use the oak in secondary to give it some body & balance to make up for no hops.
I used 1 cup of medium toast french oak chips for about 12 days. Someone said that it was too much oak (for chips anyway) but it turned out fine. Maybe a smaller amount like 2 oz or so, left in for a little longer would work better.
