3 pounds of leftover LME + 2 gallon Mr. Beer fermenter = braggot experiment?

Pixalated · 11-25-2011, 05:19 PM

I have about 3 pounds of Munton's Light LME left over from a brew, and I have a Mr. Beer fermenter which I think hold 2 gallons. I was thinking that this is the perfect time for me to experiment with mead by making some braggot.

However, I don't really know how to formulate a recipe. My initial though was to just mix the LME with the same amount of honey, boil for 15 minutes to sterilize the LME and throw in some left over hops at the end for aromatics. But, I don't know the fermentability of the LME, so I feel like I'd be driving blind. Also, how long would I want to age something like this? I was thinking of splitting the batch in two and leaving one half still while priming the other half.

**biochemedic** · 11-25-2011, 06:40 PM

50:50 is a good ratio of malt:honey for a braggot, but you know, 3 lbs LME and 3 lbs honey is 2 gallons is going to be a pretty hefty braggot (OG well over 1.100), so I'd expect it will age well (and may even require some time to let it cool/smooth down). .

You know the LME won't be fully fermentable (I wouldn't consider the exact percentage of unfermentables to be significant given the LME is only 50% of your total fermentables), which is fine...you'll have some residual sweetness, and with that in mind, you might want to consider having *some* bittering hops as well. I'd suppose you should be able to do a pretty full boil, then add the honey while cooling.

Athos710 · 11-26-2011, 10:34 AM

I made a tasty braggot last year using DME and honey. I'd suggest some bittering hops in the boil with the LME, and add the honey at flameout, or after you've cooled. That way you can preserve some of the aromatics and flavors of the honey by not boiling them off.