TimothyChurch

Recipes 

The other day I added to my collection of homebrewing equipment and bought some off a guy who didn't brew any more. In the box o' goodie was a can of amber malt extract. I had no idea what to do with it so I set it aside. I was thinking I have a spare ale yeast in the fridge (English Ale I believe) because I accidentally double ordered it and I always have plenty of honey around so I thought I should just through them all together and see what happens. I don't really have a LHBS and I don't want to pay shipping so anything else I add will be from HEB or a local store. So far I just have my base. I know originally braggots didn't have any hops at all instead they used various herbs and spices to flavor it. Any input on spices or other things to add to it would be amazing.

Recipe
1 can (3.3 lb) Amber malt extract
5 lbs Clover honey
Water to 5 gallons

DNSDies

Recipes 

a quick google search reveals the following:

http://www.wrongresult.com/homebrew/index.php?showimage=100

125 oz of water
1 lb amber dry malt extract
1.5 lb clover honey/li>
4 sticks of cinnemon
2 bags of Earl Grey Tea
4 cloves
1/2 packet Nottingham Ale Yeast
1 Tbs Czech Saaz Hop Pellets
A small pinch of Fermax

Since you lack hops, you can always try other bittering agents.
Frankly, the tannins and oils from the earl grey would be enough I think.

TimothyChurch

Recipes 

Well I ended up doing a similar recipe.
3 lb Wildflower honey
3 lb Clover honey
3.3 lb Amber LME
10 bags of Earl Grey
20 sticks of cinnamon
20 whole cloves
European Ale Yeast

Well it's fermenting so we will see how it turns out in a month or two

MedsenFey

Recipes 

20 Cloves?
You'll be lucky if it doesn't make your tongue go numb.

__________________
"Our results are merely the result of carefully managing the transformation of bee spit into yeast excrement."
--- Wayneb

TimothyChurch

Recipes 

Ya I was wondering about that when I read the guys recipe that I based it off of. In my experience cloves to a long way. But hey I can always split the batch with some mead and lme to dilute it a bit.

Kauai_Kahuna

Recipes 

Cinnamon and cloves, a little goes a long way, but I usually add them after primary fermentation slows, then let the sit for a week or two before racking to secondary for clearing. I think a lot is driven off in the Co2 production during active fermentation.
Just my two cents.

__________________
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In Primary: Belgium Chimay clones.
In Secondary: Braggot, pale ale, end of the world white.
Conditioning: Mead, Cider, braggot, Belgium Wheat.
On Tap: Clones, Chimay Blue, Red, Porter, malted cider.
Bottles: Far, far, too many to list.

TimothyChurch

Recipes 

Well that's good to hear. I figured the fermentation would expel a lot of the flavor from the spices. Hopefully it will mellow out nicely.

TimothyChurch

Recipes 

Well it has only been a week but when I checked the gravity it was down to 1.016 which put it at 6.5% which should be about the kick out point for the yeast. I transfered it to the secondary to clear. I tasted the sample and the cloves are quite strong which is what I was afraid of. I think I'll be sticking to recipes from here from now on. I added some vanilla extract to counter the cloves a little and will pray that it mellows out. Currently when people ask me what is in each carboy I simply refer to it as the one that shall not be named. Maybe I can just bottle it and forget about it for a year.

Fathand

Recipes 

You could always brew the recipe again without any spice and then blend it with this clove batch and bottle.