Braggot, steep or mash?

Which do you do for a braggot? A steep or a mash?

The malt I am going to use (1.5 kilos) is not going to produce very much sugar, but the honey I add (1.5 kilos) should make up for it (this is a 2.5 gallon batch).

I am more inclined to get the taste from the malt than to get the sugars, so I thought a steep would me more appropriate.... does it really matter?

Depends on the grain bill. I usualy do a mash, then a very diluted boil, and add the honey during cooldown.

I don't think it would make a huge difference. The sugar from the malt would not be substantial. I think a more important point is that you are using the metric system for weight and US system for volume. You might confuse us Americans. The only thing we measure in kilos in America is illegal.

Hahah, it would be a 10 liter batch. Which is 2.5 gallons.

I would use 1.5 kilos of malt or 3.3 pounds, same quantity for honey.

So since I'm trying to get more flavor out of the malt, then a steep would do? The honey would be added during the cool down obviously

My intention, by the way, is to get an ale with plenty of flavor, a normal or higher alcohol content, with some sweet/aromatic characteristics

if you intend to get an ale with high alcohol and still be sweet good luck with using that much honey. it'll ferment out dry. it'll also take a while to finish fermenting. if you want an ale with more kick, then add more grain and cut the honey back. if you want a braggot, then leave it as it stands and expect it to not taste like an ale.

How long is a while? I was planning to let it ferment for 2 weeks, and let it sit in the bottle for another 2.

with mead you measure the time in months..not weeks. a braggot is a mead.. 3.3lbs of honey you'd be looking at leaving it in the primary for a couple months at least.

my last mead took 11 months before it was ready to bottle, then another 6 months in the bottle before it was fit to drink.

Well, lets say that I left it at 2.2 pounds honey and maintained the same amount of grain (3.3 pounds), considering that the particular grain that I am using won't yield much sugar, would it taste more like an ale and take less time to ferment? Or would it just be a mess?

The main reason why I wanted to use 50% honey was to make up for the lack of sugars in the grain (raising the alcohol level).

it seems to me that you want an ale not a braggot. replace the honey with DME or LME to get more fermentables. what ABV are you shooting for? that will determine how much DME or LME you need to add. . it'll ferment a lot faster than honey will and it'll tale like an ale.

If you really want a braggot, then leave it as it is and just accept the fact that it takes longer to ferment. You can't rush fermentation. It gets done when it gets done.

It's not that I want an ale really. I was shooting for an ale originally, but the malt I have won't produce enough sugar for something drinkable. So the quickest and cheapest solution was a braggot (which is great for me because I love meads).

The reason why I want everything to go faster is mainly due to the fact that the weather in the next couple of months is going to get a lot hotter (at the end of may it can shoot up to 90ºF easy), and I fear that it will mess up the fermentation.

I was shooting for a minimum 6% ABV, but 8%-10% would be nice.