Braggot question

Ok, a little background - Got a Mr. Beer kit for christmas, it came with a pale ale extract and all the other goodies to brew your first batch. I noticed that the ingredients provided would only put the alcohol content up to 3.8%... which seemed pretty weak to me, so I added a couple of cups of honey (about 1.5 lbs). I let this sit for about a week, then bottled and carbonated for another week. Ended up tasting really good, but I noticed that there was a lot of sediment still collecting in the bottles. So I'm guessing this should have sat a little longer than the 1 week time the Mr Beer kit recommended for the original ingredients? This is my current recipe for my 6 gallon batch, if anyone can give a guesstimate on how long I should let this sit I'd greatly appreciate it

6.6 lbs of light malt extract (picked up from my local homebrew store)
6 lbs clover honey
2/3 cup sugar
5 gallons water
11 g Nottingham ale yeast

Started this batch on 1/21, fermentation is significantly slower now (1st day or so it was bubbling every 3 seconds, down to every 15 seconds now).

Thanks!

Yeah, the one week is probably shorter than it should be, I'd give just about any beer at least two weeks. With bottle carbonation it's impossible to get rid of sediment altogether, you can reduce it however by letting it settle longer before bottling & by racking very carefully into the bottling bucket.

Your recipe looks good, except it looks like you're missing hops? Is that pre-hopped extract? If not, I would add some type of hops (although some people make hop-less braggots, I find them unappealing), the amount, type & timing is up to you though. For what you're making, I'd let it sit in primary for at least a month. Then, either rack to secondary (if needed), or bottle.

Oh & lastly, don't worry about bubbles. They're not a good indication of fermentation. A hydrometer is the only way to accurately guage what's happening.

commonsenseman said:

Yeah, the one week is probably shorter than it should be, I'd give just about any beer at least two weeks. With bottle carbonation it's impossible to get rid of sediment altogether, you can reduce it however by letting it settle longer before bottling & by racking very carefully into the bottling bucket.

Your recipe looks good, except it looks like you're missing hops? Is that pre-hopped extract? If not, I would add some type of hops (although some people make hop-less braggots, I find them unappealing), the amount, type & timing is up to you though. For what you're making, I'd let it sit in primary for at least a month. Then, either rack to secondary (if needed), or bottle.

Oh & lastly, don't worry about bubbles. They're not a good indication of fermentation. A hydrometer is the only way to accurately guage what's happening.

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Ah, so I'll stop timing the bubbles then lol. As for the hops... now that I think of it, the mr. beer extract DID have hops already included, forgot about that! Would it be too late to add those in now that fermentation has already started? if so oh well, we'll see how it turns out... least I can say it's only my second batch ever heheh