Will this suck? (Braggot attempt)

I threw this together last night out of some leftover ingredients. What are my chances of it coming out alright? I have been reading about braggot's having half malt and half or more honey; sounded good to me!

1 gallon batch

6oz crystal steeped for 15, (I know it should be 30, but it started to smell pretty strong)
1lb amber DME -15 min
1/4 oz nugget hops -15min (just wanted to get some flavor out of these and it was all I had leftover)
1/2 tsp irish moss -10 min
1 1/2lb honey -flame out
25 dried cranberries -flame out (don't know why I added these. after all it was an experiment)
safale us-05 yeast
SG: 1.089

Foamed up immediately and is fermenting nicely. Nice dark brown color too.

Well, it certainly is a braggot and will taste like one. Whether or not you like it will have to wait.

I'm guessing it is going to be a "bit nutty" and have a nice mead nose?

if anything it may end up a bit thin due to the small amt of steeping grains but i see no reason this wont taste good.

Never had a braggot before, let us know how it turns out!

Will it suck? Probably not, so you'll do best to keep the wife around.

Just racked this the other day, and it tasted great! Nice light malty flavor and still a bit of honey nose and sweet taste. I believe that the honey will still ferment out a bit. I topped it off with a bit of wort from another batch that I had just brewed. Now I am thinking that I should have used more honey instead of malt. Anyway, I will post back when it is done fermenting.

Well, I bottled this today and it kinda sucks. over a year later and ended up with 9.8%. It tastes ok at the start, but finishes with nasty twang. I guess I will just leave it in the basement for a while and see what happens. not sure how long i can age it though with only 9.8%.

not sure how long i can age it though with only 9.8%.

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Don't worry, with that ABV, quite a long time. Is the twang from the cranberry?

Epic patience. Also, good job on actually updating a year later.

Are you going to carbonate it? Maybe that will change how you feel about it (I assumed earlier you just racked into secondary).

leghorn said:

Don't worry, with that ABV, quite a long time. Is the twang from the cranberry?

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not sure. it doesn't really taste fruity. maybe crappy honey?

devilishprune said:

Epic patience. Also, good job on actually updating a year later.

Are you going to carbonate it? Maybe that will change how you feel about it (I assumed earlier you just racked into secondary).

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nope, i originally wanted it to be still. maybe it would taste better carbed? i think that i can carb it later with some boiled corn sugar if i have to.

3 YEAR UPDATE
Holy crap does this taste good now. It is mostly still and quite complex. Nice sweetness as well. Almost coffee like, (looks like coffee too). I say use up those leftover ingredients!

stinkiestbink said:

3 YEAR UPDATE
Holy crap does this taste good now. It is mostly still and quite complex. Nice sweetness as well. Almost coffee like, (looks like coffee too). I say use up those leftover ingredients!

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That really is almost exactly a three year update! You need to put it on your calendar and do it every year.