New Braggot Recipe

Yesterday I mixed up a new batch of mead to try my hand at making a braggot again. This one was inspired by my father and what he likes so I can get him to try some of my home brew. I also want to give it a cool name but am out of ideas. Let me know what you think.


Light Bochet Braggot
1.5 lb Pilsner Light DME
.75 lb Caramelized Honey
2 lb Honey
.8oz Saaz Hops
1 lb Flaked Rice
1 tsp Amylase Enzyme
2.5 tsp yeast nutrient
1.5 tsp Yeast energizer
Yeast: London ESB 1968
5.8oz Caramelized Honey for Priming

Start boiling .75 lb honey with 2 cups water on medium heat. This will be a two hour Boil. At start of boil add .2oz Saaz Hops in mesh bag.

At 1hr into the honey boil: Add in 2 cups hot water and reduce heat to low. Also in a separate pot start 1 gallon of water to boil adding in 1.5 lb DME / 1 lb Flaked Rice in Mesh Bag / .2oz of Saaz Hops in mesh bag. Once all added reduce heat to lowest flame setting.

1.5hr into honey boil: add .2oz of Saaz hops in mesh bag to the DME mash.

2hr into honey boil remove heat on both pots. Cool Boiled honey with 4 cups of warm water and add to carboy. Add DME Wort to carboy after cooled in ice bath. Sparge with 1 gallon of water.

Add in .2oz of Saaz hops loose into the carboy along with yeast nutrient and amylase enzyme.

Also add in 2 lb of Honey and top off water level to 5 gallons & whip with Wine whip for at least 1 minute.

Allow to sit for 20 - 24 hours. Afterwards whip with wine whip for 1 minute minimum. Also start the yeast smack pack.

Adjust Gravity to 1.030 with additional honey if needed to give an ABV of 4.0% – 4.5% once fermentation ends. Remove 1 gallon from carboy and place in fridge to allow for massive Krausen. Pitch yeast when 2 hours have passed after activating the smack pack. Every 24 hours after yeast pitch add in .5tsp of yeast energizer and degas/aerate with wine whip for 3 days until all 1.5 tsp of yeast energizer is used. After Krausen settles add in refrigerated must after warming it to room temp. Rack to secondary after fermentation ends. Add bentonite if needed to clear the Braggot 2 – 4 weeks after fermentation ends & in secondary. Before Bottling Boil 5.8oz honey in 4 cups water on medium low heat for 2 hours & add the result to the carboy and mix well. Bottle, Cap and allow to self carbonate for 2 – 4 weeks.

Arpolis looks like a nice recipe. I did a braggot awhile back were I combined extra Hefeweizen wort I had where I used Saaz. Came out great. Dry Hopped with an 1 oz for a 1 gallon batch and hop aroma was intense at first but has mellowed out really well. Saaz and honey pair well in my opinion. Wish I had more than 1 bottle left.

I think there is a lot of room for experimentation in lighter styled braggots so I will watch your thread with much interest.

One question though -

Arpolis said:

Before Bottling Boil 5.8oz honey in 4 cups water on medium low heat for 2 hours

Click to expand...

What is your reasoning behind heating your priming solution for so long?

Well I originally was not going to caramelize the honey but after I started this batch it was mutch lighter in color than I expected. So mainly it is to add a little toasted caramel flavor and to add some color.

Just as an update this baby took off like a rocket. My wife was impatient with me so the smack pack only had 1 HR of prep time from the point of smacking it until I pitched it. Even still within 12 hours I have the airlock bubbling at 2-3 bubbles a second. Since it started so well I decided to degas/aerate and add the first round of yeast energizer the following morning.

The krausen is not as massive as I expected it to be. My last braggot was insane. So this morning I added most of the must from the fridge that I had removed to allow for headspace along with dose #2 of the yeast energizer. Tommorow I will add the last 1/2tsp of yeast energizer and then let her rip until fermentation ends.

Today I primed this bad boy and have it all in bottles. Came out to 22 750ml bottles. At the end there was a good bit left but not enough for a full wine bottle so I chugged the last of it strait from the siphon. I think the Saaz and honey mixed really well. There was a slight bitter but overall really smooth with faint honey taste. Came out kind of like a light beer but much better IMO. When bottling the aroma was this intoxicatingly good citrusy smell and just made me smile at how well this is turning out. Can’t wait to see how these are carbed up. I am going to take several bottles to my dads here in a few weeks to give this a proper try.