Braggot help

[amaycock071]

Hi guys, I'm wanting to do some summery meads ready for the good weather we will have this year (wishful thinking I know... especially coming from the UK!) and had a few ideas.

1. Blackberry cyser
2. Ginger and Orange
3. Raspberry capsicumel
4. Dandelion and Burdock???
5. Braggot...

All the starting 4 I will be ok with but the braggot I have no idea even where to begin. has anyone else had any successes they would like to share for a nice summery drink to get me in the right direction? I would like to aim for a 5 gal batch on the braggot and 1 gal batches on the other 4.

In other news... I've updated my blog if anyone is interested.
http://meadbrewing.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[Arpolis]

I have tried many braggots brewing for myself and friends. My last braggot was pretty good and I was happy with it. It would go as follows:

5 gallon summer braggot

2.5lb orange blossom honey
2.5lb pilsner light DME
Zest of one lemon
Zest of one orange
.8 oz Saaz hops
2 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp yeast energizer
Water to one gallon
Yeast: London ESB 1968

First start you London ESB smack pack the night before or at minimum 2-3 hours before you start to get your brew on.

Mix the DME with half gallon of water and bring to boil. At start of boil add .2 oz Saaz hops in hops bag. At the 45 min mark add another .2 oz Saaz hops. At the 55min mark add another .2 oz. at one hour remove flame, all hops bags and cool in ice bath. Once cool add to carboy and add the last .2 oz hops in hops bag to the primary. Fill with an additional 2 gallons of warm water and add honey and zest. Mix super well and aerate for about a minute.

Combine your yeast nutrient and energizer and add 1 tsp of it now. Top off the carboy to 5 gallons and adjust gravity to anywhere between 1.030 - 1.040. Now pitch your yeast and are lock it. Mix this twice daily to degas and aerate a little for 3-4 days. Add 1 tsp of your remaining nutrient blend both late on day 2 and 3. Fermentation should be pretty much done after 7-9 days. Let this rest and it should be clear in another 1-2 weeks. This yeast is an awesome one for clearing fast.

Rack into new container on week 3. Wait one more week and should be able to do final racking. Now you can prime with some table sugar and bottle. Another month in the bottles and should be a crisp refreshing braggot.