Cherry Braggot

[irishvermin]

Going to try my hand at a Braggot tomorrow after successfully making my first mead (heather mead that stuck at 1.04 for several months until I racked it to a cake of Kolsch yeast and now is beautifully clear and delicious).

Here is the recipe that I've put together:
Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3 lbs Munich Malt 20 EBC (9.0 SRM) Grain 1 17.1 %
2 lbs Cherry Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 11.4 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.4 %
4.0 oz Pale Chocolate Malt (225.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.4 %
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 23.1 IBUs
2.0 pkg Lalvin D-47 (Lallemand - Lalvin #D-47) [25.00 ml] Yeast 6 -
8 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 8 45.7 %
4 lbs Fruit - Cherry Sweet (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 7 22.9 %

I am planning to mash the 5.5 lbs of grain at 156 and batch sparge, then boil the hops for 60 min and add honey at flameout. Cool, add nutrients, pitch yeast, and after 3-5 days and active fermentation slows, add cherries (whole cherries that are pitted and frozen, defrosted before adding to fermentation).

Few questions:

Thoughts on recipe in general? Is it still considered a braggot with the cherries? Should I not have the pale chocolate malt (mainly to darken the color)?

Do I need to add stepped nutrients even with the grains being in the mash bill?

Pitch the yeast dry or re-hydrate?

Thanks for any and all help! I'm enjoying my first mead and looking forward to exploring braggots and meads much much more.

 

[fuelish]

Only thing I feel I can comment on is the yeast, and, yes, rehydrate it, imho....oh, and ferment cool...iirc, D-47 doesn't play well in warmer temps at all (have never personally used it)

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Might be too late at this date, but 2lbs of smoked malt seems like a lot to me. I think I'd keep it closer to a 1/2 lb, but maybe you really like smoked malt. I've never used cherry smoked malt, only alder & peated malt, maybe cherry isn't as smoky. And D-47 yeast is notorious for producing fusels at higher temps, I'd run it low.
Hope it turns out tasty!
Regards, GF.

 

[ChrisVZ]

Cherry wood smoked malt gives an almost bacon like flavor. I found 1 lb to be too much in a smoked ale I made a few months back.


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