First attempt at a braggot ..... help?

Hi folks .... I'm going to attempt my first braggot this week. Actually this will be the first time I've done a recipe of my own. Usually I take the safe route and use recipes from people way smarter than me.

Here's what I have for a recipe at the moment

9lbs honey (local wildflower)
1lb peated malt
1lb smoked malt
3lb wheat LME
Arromatic and bittering herbs (no hops)

It's the yeast that has me confused ... which to try? A mead yeast or an ale yeast? Can I try both? Adding the ale yeast at primary and then a mead/wine yeast for the secondary? Is there a one size fits all yeast?

Thanks in advance

Jeff

Rabbit's Foot (which makes great braggots) uses ale yeast that matches the base beer style, which will emphasis the beer character in the resulting braggot. I'd lean toward that approach as well.

One other approach is to make the mead & beer separately, then blend to taste. Then, you're fermenting each using the yeast that's appropriate for each one which will emphasise the flavors in each... then give you prominent characters of both. And blending will give you more control over the balance.

In any case, one pound of peated malt sounds like a LOT of peated malt... you might try going instead with a tried-and-true beer recipe... where did you get the recipe you posted? You might try one of these instead - http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?op...viewcategorysrecipes&category_id=9&Itemid=459 And if you want something smoky, maybe start with 1/2 pound of smoked malt, especially if you've got a light base. Others might know more on experience, but IMO it seems like 2 pounds of smoked malt will easily overpower your honey unless you use a strong varietal (like basswood or buckwheat).