First recipe attempt - please critique

I'm pretty new to homebrewing. Have done four extract batches from kits and they all turned out pretty well. I'm looking to move in more experimental directions and have formulated a rough draft of my own recipe. I guess it's sort of a raspberry braggot. Please take a look and offer suggestions before I spend money on these ingredients.

6 lb Ultralight LME
1 oz Vanguard hops @ 60 min.

1 package red star Champagne yeast (especially looking for advice re: what yeast to use)

6 lb California honey added to carboy ~day 2 when fermentation is active

~day 10 when fermentation has died down:
rack to secondary and add 49 oz can of Oregon brand raspberry puree. Condition for about 3 weeks.

4 oz corn sugar (or honey?) at bottling (or not at all?)

Beersmith gives the following profile without factoring in the raspberry puree, which I couldn't figure out how to do:

Est OG: 1.084
Est FG: 1.020
Est ABV: 8.46%
Bitterness: 18 IBU
Est Color: 7.6 SRM


So what do you think?
I don't want this to be too hoppy, but would you add additional flavoring hops @ 15 min?
Should I consider crushed specialty grains to add more depth to the "ale half" of the recipe, or will that make it taste too weird?
Will champagne yeast do anything funky to regular wort before the additional honey is added?
Since this has a lot of honey, should I consider adding yeast nutrient, or will the LME take care of the yeast's needs?
What about adding the raspberry puree earlier, like before racking to secondary, to allow more of the sugars to ferment out? Anyone have experience using Oregon fruit puree?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'd do a half an ounce of probably Cascade or Willamette hops for 15 and maybe half an ounce for 2 min.... Those are really low (5-6%ish). But if you dont want it too hoppy you could forgo those. Now why are you adding the honey 2 days after fermentation starts? any specific reason for that? I'd add it to the boil so it gets mixed in real nice.

I'd say adding the raspberry puree in the secondary will really keep that flavor, not a lot of fermenting in that. Its a big brew so I'd say give it 2-3 weeks in the primary. I dont have a whole lot of experience so take my advice with a grain of salt. It'll be an interesting brew and I'd say do it, my only big recommendation is adding the honey at the beginning and if you want a little more of the honey flavor to come out maybe add some to the secondary?

Experimenting is part of the glory in this obsession, my oatmeal stout is not really what I'd call a standard recipe (made it up while standing in front of the ingredients at the LHBS that is 4 hours away).

you may want to add some grains to steep for added dextrines- maybe some crystal malts. For a bragott i think this is going to be a bit thin...everything your adding will ferment completly out. With wine yeast your probably gonna end up at far less than 1.020

Deacon240 said:

Now why are you adding the honey 2 days after fermentation starts? any specific reason for that? I'd add it to the boil so it gets mixed in real nice.

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Well I got that idea from another post on this forum from someone who seemed to know what he's talking about. Basically boiling honey boils off all the honey flavors so you're left with what amounts to a simple sugar addition. By adding it when the yeast is churning in the carboy you keep the honey flavors and the yeast are happy to have another meal (and honey is pretty likely to be sanitized so no worries about infection). But now that I think about it, maybe 6 lbs is too much to add at once...

scinerd3000 said:

you may want to add some grains to steep for added dextrines- maybe some crystal malts. For a bragott i think this is going to be a bit thin...everything your adding will ferment completly out. With wine yeast your probably gonna end up at far less than 1.020

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I think you're right. This has the potential to end up with a strong alcoholic bite and not enough body. Or maybe a sweet mead yeast would be a better choice as well?

tubesoda said:

(and honey is pretty likely to be sanitized so no worries about infection).

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Make sure it is pasteurized. I know honey can cause an issue in baby bowels as far as nasty O2 hating bacteria that is harbored in honey. Cant remember what bacteria it is but I wouldn't want to risk poisoning people (the byproduct can survive O2 whereas the bacteria cant).

I'm glad you brought up the flavors issue of boiling though because I am planning a Honey Pilsner and I want those flavors.

I think that most of those experienced with using honey would recommend not boiling it- or even heating it. Adding it later is fine.

The reason babies shouldn't be given honey is because of the risk of botulism. It's NOT a risk for those over a year old, though- I use honey in tea, etc, so you don't have to worry about using it unpasteurized. Boiling it and/or heating it just ruins the taste of the honey.

YooperBrew said:

The reason babies shouldn't be given honey is because of the risk of botulism. It's NOT a risk for those over a year old, though- I use honey in tea, etc, so you don't have to worry about using it unpasteurized. Boiling it and/or heating it just ruins the taste of the honey.

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That's because before 1 year the baby's digestive system is relatively oxygen free and the bacteria that produce it hate oxygen. So are fermenting environments. I dont want that to happen to my beer, the alcohol may counter that? I'm not sure.

I want the honey flavor to come out when I make a batch with it, and I'm fairly certain the OP wants that flavor to come out... So boil = bad with honey, gotcha.

don't know $h1t about braggot, but:

i cant find any style guidelines for a braggot, but 18 IBUs is WAY low for a gravity that high. if a braggot requires hop bitterness than move all your hops to the begining of the boil.

what everyone said about the honey is correct.

that champagne yeast is gonna dry that sucker out big time, and it wont stop. depending on the residual sweetness required i'd use a sweet mead yeast like recommended or even a highly attenuative beer yeast.

SenorWanderer said:

don't know $h1t about braggot, but:

i cant find any style guidelines for a braggot, but 18 IBUs is WAY low for a gravity that high. if a braggot requires hop bitterness than move all your hops to the begining of the boil.

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A braggot is a very lowly hopped malt and honey beer. Often with fruit. Not to my taste but if you are doing a braggot the bitterness should remain unnoticed.