Honey, I hate like hell to even heat it up.

Planning a small batch of braggot ( my first ) and REALLY dont like the idea of heating the honey up (losing aroma/flavor etc)

What about adding it to the wort during chilling (say around 140 or so )

Better yet, what about adding it to the beer once it starts slowing down?

It will be a 1lb honey to 1lb grain recipe

Thoughts?

I would say add it during the chill once you're below 140. Keep a lid on it and you won't lose anything at all.

The whole "no heat method" is really about not boiling as far am I'm concerned. Others may take issue.

The only reason to heat honey is to pasteurize it. Pasteurization heat is about 155F so adding it at 140F won't achieve that goal.

Natural honey should be heated with some water on the stove so the insect legs, antennae, oils, dirt, honeycomb, etc. will separate and can be skimmed off the top.

However, I don't heat mead honey at all. I add it to the fermenter with warm (~100F) water to help it mix and that's it. I guess I don't mind a little insect in my mead

Also, the owner of the LHBS has been brewing for 20+ years and we made a mead at a homebrew club meeting, no heating the honey.

There probably isnt much in honey that could survive and come back to life quick enough to compete with the yeast being used to ferment the braggot correct?

Certainly not looking to pasteurize but adding at 140 would cool the wort AND get it mixed thoroughly before pitching the yeast.

Why not add it at high krausen? What is the OG going to be without the honey?

I mix honey & water (or must/wort) a pound or 2 at a time in the blender. No heat, great mixing & super areation. Regards, GF.

nealf said:

Why not add it at high krausen? What is the OG going to be without the honey?

Click to expand...

I wonder if there is a fermenter big enough for that
Beer is going to be around 1.060 before the honey

gratus fermentatio said:

I mix honey & water (or must/wort) a pound or 2 at a time in the blender. No heat, great mixing & super areation. Regards, GF.

Click to expand...

Good idea, thanks for that.

gratus fermentatio said:

I mix honey & water (or must/wort) a pound or 2 at a time in the blender. No heat, great mixing & super areation. Regards, GF.

Click to expand...

Huh. This is a good idea! Outside the box, outside the box, outsi....

If you wait for the Wort to cool before pitching you could use a submersion blender. This would be alot easier than a conventional blender.

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CSB-76BC-SmartStick-200-Watt-Immersion/dp/B000EGA6QI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1263425851&sr=8-1

I'm not endorsing that particular blender. I been thinking about getting one for regular cooking but gratus fermentatio's suggestion just sealed the deal I think.

I'm pretty sure that immersion blender is the exact one I've used for mixing the must. Essentially, I put the amount of honey needed into the fermentation bucket, add a bit of warm water, and blend. Once it's fully blended, I add water to meet volume, then blend a bit more.

Trying to think outside of the box....

If you're worried about contamination, but don't want to heat the honey, what about doing a batch of mead separately- using the no-heat methods - and blending with the beer in secondary? Would the braggot be different if it's made by blending beer and mead, versus if the wort and the honey ferment together? Don't add it until the beer-half is finished fermenting, but let it age together for a while. You could even experiment with different blends (50/50 beer/mead, 25%/75%, etc), before doing your final blending.

So, why not use a degasser to mix.

the_bird said:

Trying to think outside of the box....

If you're worried about contamination, but don't want to heat the honey, what about doing a batch of mead separately- using the no-heat methods - and blending with the beer in secondary? Would the braggot be different if it's made by blending beer and mead, versus if the wort and the honey ferment together? Don't add it until the beer-half is finished fermenting, but let it age together for a while. You could even experiment with different blends (50/50 beer/mead, 25%/75%, etc), before doing your final blending.

Click to expand...

Thats a good idea bird :rockin:

I'm speaking from a place of zero experience, though. You'd probably be using a different yeast to ferment the mead versus whatever beer you're fermenting, that might or might not result in a different end product than if you had fermented everything together.

I did something similar. Had a barleywine aged a year and was too sweet and chewey, decided to dry it out by making a braggot. Made a mead and after the mead was done and dry as hell, I combined with the barleywine and will let that combo age another year.

the_bird said:

I'm speaking from a place of zero experience, though. You'd probably be using a different yeast to ferment the mead versus whatever beer you're fermenting, that might or might not result in a different end product than if you had fermented everything together.

Click to expand...

US-05 is what I am using anyway