Hefty Braggot

[bk0]

I'm set to do my first braggot (based on the Hefty Braggot recipe in Compleat Meadmaker):

12 lbs star thistle raw honey
6 lbs amber DME
5 oz Cascade hops (3oz @ 60min, 1oz @ 30min, 1oz @ 2min)
Lavin EC-1118 yeast
Medium French oak cubes in the secondary

Estimated OG (Beersmith): 1.135
45.2 IBU
Estimated ABV: 19.1%

I'm planning to go 'no heat' for the honey (brew the malt and hops as normal, cool to 70 degrees, add honey, yeast and nutrient).

I'm hoping this turns out more of a dry wine as opposed to a 'beer' or something with a lot of residual sweetness.

Any tips?

 

[Hrahn1995]

Im in the process of doing a Braggot with 2lbs honey, and 1/2 lb of Dark DME, i also used .2 oz of Cascade. The original gravity was around 1.100. I didnt boil anything and the gravity fell to about 1.010. Its still yet to be bottled because im waiting for it to clear up some but its very malt but has a great mead overtone. your recipe looks a little too high in the malt department, may end up tasting more like a honey stout than a braggot. if you are aiming for a low final gravity i would suggest some Amylase to break down some of those extra starches not converted in the boil.

 

[regulatedhobbyist]

Hrahn, what yeast did you use?

 

[Hrahn1995]

I used EC-1118 i dont have any ale or lager yeast which would probably be the best. probably something for a barley wine because you'll need it for the high ABV.

 

[bk0]

My gravity seems to be stuck at 1.040. Target FG is supposed to be around 1.018. I just added more yeast nutrient and energizer, shook the carboy a bunch. There's a lot of residual sweetness still.

I hope I don't have to repitch. Supposedly EC-1118 is a good fermenter, I'm surprised at the sluggishness so far.

EDIT: Can you elaborate on using amylase? Will that break down all the malt sugars? I still want SOME maltiness, but not a ton.

 

[Hrahn1995]

Well Amylase is a biological enzyme the creates maltose from large polysacharrides. so there wont be much residual maltiness, you use lactose, because maltodextrin i believe is also broken down. if you want to denature the enzyme and back sweeten, not really sure how you would do that unless there is a specific inhibitor that would bind to the active site.