Delicious braggot wort!!!

[TurnipGreen]

I just brewed my first attempt at a braggot. Honey, ginger, pile of maris otter and a little bit of crystal. My mouth is watering typing this!!! Seriously the single nicest wort I've ever drank. I almost feel bad pitching yeast on it.

I have no clue what to expect out of the final product but if it taste at all like the wort, I friggen nailed it.

 

[Lefou]

I did a braggot today.
Three gallons that scales well into five, low ABV. I didn't want something that takes forever to ferment out. If you don't mind me asking, did you hop it and what sort of ABV were you expecting? I kept my gravity low, used soft spring water. Treated the mash and sparge water with CaCl and MgSO4 for some minerals because I expected it to darken a bit above the SRM scale - the honey caramelizes a bit, and the wort darkens, too as it boils down.

Two pounds Dingemans Pilsner
One pound wheat
Half pound of Crystal 20L
Approximately 2 pounds of clover honey
S04 yeast and domestic Hallertau, 1oz. at 15mins.

Anyhoo, I also make a malt "tea" by the gallon once in a while. Fairly simple. Chinese folks call it "mai cha". It's just steeped or mashed grains in water, flavored to taste with a bit of honey or spice and put into the refrigerator. Smells and tastes great, loaded with B vitamins and minerals, too.
Wife isn't a fan of alcohol, but she loves the malted barley tea.

 

[TurnipGreen]

I used a half an oz of hallertua to bitter and an oz of manderina Bavaria. My OG is 1.062. my calculator said the final gravity should be 1.016, but I find that hard to believe with 6 lbs of honey.

I used a lower attenuating yeast and I mashed my grains pretty high hoping it stays at least a little sweet. But this is my first shot at this so I'm really not sure what to expect.

 

[TurnipGreen]

By the way. If anyone has experience with braggots I'd appreciate any insight on that. I have another 2 lbs of honey I may add after a little while.

if there's a way to calculate or even estimate the final gravity with a pile of honey that would be helpful. I'm just hoping for something above 1.005ish.

 

[TurnipGreen]

I pulled a sample on 11/26 and the gravity was around 1.030. Starting was 1.062. It's still actively fermenting today 12/3. I would have thought the yeast would just zip through all those simple sugars?

Is it pretty normal for braggots/meads to ferment so slow?

I'm not trying to rush it, it just seems weird since most of my beers are pretty close to final after a week and this isn't a super high gravity.

 

[Lefou]

I just bottled mine last weekend after three weeks in the fermenter. Taking a hint from experience conditioning ales with similar gravities, I'm hoping it's ready to try by New Year's.
Ambient temp in my house is approximately 60F and I used S-04. That yeast supposedly attenuates less than some, but I think the mash temps and grain grist should even out or moderate the dryness you'd expect in a wine.
I'm hoping my braggot doesn't turn out dry and thin-bodied ... then again, if it does, I'll learn something from it.

 

[TurnipGreen]

Did u taste any of it at bottling?

Mine is still sitting in the primary. It still has a float of yeast on the top. Kinda crazy. I ment to pull a sample this weekend but we have kiddos and Christmas shopping took priority.

I'm hoping it's done or close. If not I might toss a bit of notty yeast in there to finish it. But I was hoping for something with less attenuation to leave a sweater balance.

 

[Lefou]

I always give my fermented wort a taste and sniff test along with a gravity check before bottling.

In this particular instance the unfinished beer was still actively fermenting as bubbles were in evidence. There was a sour apple taste (not uncommon), so I dropped a couple glucose tabs in my fourteen 22oz. bottles and capped them all. I plan to open one or two just prior to New Year's to see if the carbing is correct and check tos see if the "sour apple" flavors have diminished. My conditioning temps are near ambient room temps of 60F. I've done cider and ale at the same temps before with different yeast, so one month conditioning should give me a good idea how successful this project really is.

To keep me happy in the meantime, there's a stashed half case of pumpkin ale and seven nice bottles of Victory Brewing's domestic Golden Monkey, which is a spicy sweet Belgian tripel with a mean 9.5% ABV punch.

 

[TurnipGreen]

One year latter and thus braggot is still sitting in a carboy waiting to get bottled.

I pulled a sample last week and it’s pretty good. It’s definitely thin but I’m gonna carb it up a little when I bottle my next batch of beer.

I’ve been working out if state most of the year so I’m just getting to brew again now. My pipeline is zilch so it’ll be fun to build that up again.

I’ll report back how this turns out when it’s carbed.

 

[Lefou]

Hope yours turns out well, mine didn't.
Rather disappointed. Ended up with a sour, thin result that could've happened from an infected batch. It fermented well, but when it came time to bottle, it was definitely bad.