Best Base Beer Style

Recently blended up a braggot from a sweet mead and an IPA. It was quite tasty. Now, I'm thinking about braggot recipes and which base beer style works best.

I think the IPA was awesome because the strong hops of the IPA balanced the sweetness of the mead. I've thought about Bock also, but I expect the maltiness might not balance so well with mead (too many different types of sweetness going on). Would like to get some suggestions from those with more experience with braggots than I.

What base beer styles do you prefer?

Thanks.

The one I make is basically a case of malta gallo (from which you'd get moza if you ferment it alone) & 5 pounds of local honey, with a bit of added oats & hops to about 24 IBU (malta gallo's about 16 when it's done fermenting). It's my party/non-beer drinker "beer" (hate having to explain what exactly it is all the time), it's sweet enough that people who usually drink "VIP" or any other liquor based beverage like it, but it still has enough hops character to make them feel they're drinking "beer". After 2 weeks fermenting it usually ends up at ~1.015 SG on Wyeast Thames Valley Ale yeast, from about ~1.065 SG.

I'd also try a porter blend or a sour blend (maybe a berliner weisse or a stright lambic that you can age once the honey's gone into it), it'd be a pretty long wait on the sour blend though (2 months to 2 years depending on the blend).

Thanks. Where do you get the "malta gallo"?

Super24, should go for just about Q95 a case; 5 6-packs of 250ml twist cap bottles, roughly equivalent to 5 pounds of dark extract (more like 3.5 pounds extract & 1.5 pounds sugar) in the ~2 gallons they take up.

I'm working on a Irish dry stout type braggot, going to be using buckwheat honey for its dark, rich, earthy even malty flavor profile...I think you could make damn near any style into a braggot, alot will depend on the yeast and honey that you use.

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast:Wyeast Labs #1275 Thames Valley Ale
Yeast Starter: Yes
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: 1/2 Liter
Batch Size (Gallons): 4
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.015
IBU: 24
Boiling Time (Minutes): 30
Color: 11-13
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 15 @ 70º
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7 @ 33º

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 4.0 gal
Boil Size: 2.0 gal
Estimated OG: 1.065 SG
Estimated Color: 11-13 SRM
Estimated IBU: 24 IBU
Boil Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
1 case Malta Gallo
1/2 lbs oats, Flaked
2 kg "Los Tilos" Honey

1.5 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops

1 Pkgs Thames Valley Ale (Wyeast Labs #1275) Yeast

Notes:
Boil the oats & hops in 2 gal water and then add honey at the end of the boil. Mead wort goes into fermenter then add malta gallo to the fermenter. It'll overhop the mead wort but it'll balance out with the malta gallo. As it stands it's a ~7% abv recipe but you can add 1 more gallon of water for roughly 5.5% abv recipe.

pacayaforhops said:

Super24, should go for just about Q95 a case; 5 6-packs of 250ml twist cap bottles, roughly equivalent to 5 pounds of dark extract (more like 3.5 pounds extract & 1.5 pounds sugar) in the ~2 gallons they take up.

Click to expand...

Interesting, I am in the City so will have to check that out...guerrilla brewing in Guate!

TheBrewingMedic said:

I'm working on a Irish dry stout type braggot, going to be using buckwheat honey for its dark, rich, earthy even malty flavor profile...I think you could make damn near any style into a braggot, alot will depend on the yeast and honey that you use.

Click to expand...

Yum, the Irish Stout sounds like a good option. I'm a bit gun shy of buckwheat though...made a truly god awful stout with it once.

Just went to a local mercado, always an adventure, here in Guate City and bought some honey. It is usually bottled in old rum bottles. And, you know it is the real deal because it still has bee parts in it! Not a lot of options that I have found on types of honey here -- pretty much whatever "verietal" is on the shelf. I've only found lighter honeys here, but they are quite tasty.

I think dry hopping, or an infusion of fresh hops before serving, could be an interesting twist on a braggot -- give it some nice hops aroma.

pacayaforhops said:

Super24, should go for just about Q95 a case; 5 6-packs of 250ml twist cap bottles, roughly equivalent to 5 pounds of dark extract (more like 3.5 pounds extract & 1.5 pounds sugar) in the ~2 gallons they take up.

Click to expand...

Walked down to a Super24 and got a Malta Gallo. Tastes much like watered down extract. Any idea what the OG of this stuff is?

(I'm not quite so into brewing that I carry a hydrometer with me...although it might be handy to have one in the truck!).

1.058, measured it so I could sub it into the recipe calculator I use. It's got what I can only describe as a light acidic/metallic taste once it's fully fermented though, which is lessened if you add without boiling it. If you go with any recipe containing over 20% malta gallo, you'll probably be able to taste it. It's not really offensive but that's part of the reason I switched to DME/LME; speaking of which, I ran a test at the beginning of the year on the DME from distribuidora caribe, it fermented down to 1.008 from 1.056, so it seems it's about as good as any light brewing DME. Last time I went by they only had LME, which makes a great IPA by the way.

Thanks for all the good info. More ideas for next braggot and more Guate brewing options.