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MasterJeem · 05-15-2012, 12:48 AM

Well, my buddy just gave me a brand new conical fermenter. I've got about 3 different meads bulk aging right now and i think i'm going to try something a bit different. No concrete plans right now, but here's what i'm thinking.

6lbs of caramelized honey
1lbs of chocolate malt
1lbs of caramel malt
.5oz hops of some sort. i'm thinking english ale style
wyeast english ale yeast

i'll steep the malt for about 20 minutes @150 degrees and then boil the must for 60 minutes adding the caramelized honey at the last 15 minutes or so.

does this sound appealing to anyone? i've only made wine and mead before. i've never done a beer, but this popped into my head after doing some reading and i really enjoy a dark english ale (newcastle anybody?). keeping with the mead theme i've been doing since i've started, i wanted to use honey if only for nostalgic reasons and to see how it turns out. i think what appeals to me most is the fact that you can't buy the stuff we make.

**dawgmatic** · 05-15-2012, 12:55 AM

You got way too much chocolate malt in there, plus your braggots gonna be dark with the honey being burnt and all. Perhaps you want to consider using some more flavorful base Malts in there, like a couple pounds of Munich, and do a mini mash.

And I would just add the honey at flamout

Onihige · 05-15-2012, 01:15 AM

I did a chocolate braggot, nothing wrong with jet black mead.

I only had a little taste when botteling, and it was... weird but good. Only chocolate malt, light dry DME, honey and ale yeast. It's 15% ABV.

MasterJeem · 05-15-2012, 01:19 AM

that looks delicious and is exactly what i'm going for!

however i was considering what dawgmatic said about too much chocolate malt. what would you suggest i do? cut it back to about a quarter pound and use something else? more light caramel? i was also considering vienna.

Onihige · 05-15-2012, 01:22 AM

I suggest doing two batches, one of each. :P

But honestly, I have no idea. I only did a tiny batch fermented in a 2 liter coca-cola bottle, so I didn't really have anything to lose and I just went wild with what I had.

Recipe I used: 50 grams of chocolate malt, 50 grams of light DME and 400 grams of honey. Filled with water until I hit 105 OG.

MasterJeem · 05-15-2012, 02:04 AM

i may not do the dme because i have some things i want to do with my spent grains. i guess i'll ease up on the chocolate a bit.

i found this thread and it looked pretty nice, but i'm going to keep it much simpler and maybe mix just 2 or 3 grain malts and some hops in with it.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f67/new-castle-clone-accidental-310001/

MasterJeem · 05-15-2012, 03:11 PM

Here's my ingredients that I picked up today:

1/2# chocolate malt
1/2# caramel 60
1# breiss Bavarian wheat dme

Cream ale wyeast

6# caramelized honey

roadymi · 05-15-2012, 06:31 PM

When are you going to add the hops?

The braggot I helped my son make (10 gallon) we used (going from poor memory) an ounce of bittering hops and another ounce for dry hopping.

It ended up plenty sweet but the hops add a really nice contrast

**dawgmatic** · 05-15-2012, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterJeem

Here's my ingredients that I picked up today:

1/2# chocolate malt
1/2# caramel 60
1# breiss Bavarian wheat dme

Cream ale wyeast

6# caramelized honey

That looks good. If you have any yeast nutrient I would recommend it cause beer yeasts need more vitamins when they have to deal with a lot of honey. A good substitute is to throw some bakers yeast in the boil

MasterJeem · 05-15-2012, 09:00 PM

Yeah, i'll definitely be adding some nutrient and energizer as well as making a yeast starter.

The guy at the home brew store told me that this is going to resemble a nice, creamy dunkel-like mead. He's excited to try it when I'm done, so that's a good sign!