First braggot, critiques and tips welcomed

[Beerswimmer]

I just made the first half of my first braggot. I made up a "clean out the brewroom" Belgian quad-ish braggot recipe and plan and got it going today. I've made mead, but was almost 20 years ago, and have never made a braggot. Please give me critiques/advice.

6gals final

OG est. 1.14, FG unknown

7lbs pale 2-row
1lb wheat DME

10lbs Aunt Sue's brand raw & unfiltered honey, bought in late 2016
2lbs Candi Syrup, Inc D-240

0.5oz Centennial hops from the back of my freezer

WLP 545 starter began 3 days previously


I mashed the grains @155 for an hour, sparged, etc. 5.5gals into the kettle. Added the hops and DME and brought to a boil long enough for the hot break to go away, chilled to 80F(about as low as it gets here) and added to the brew bucket and pitched the big yeast starter. Right on 5 gallons and the OG at this point was 1.043.

In 2 days I'll start adding the D-240 and honey at intervals when the krausen goes down. I'd like to age it on cherries, and possibly add some brett at bottling to give it some funk in the future.


How's this looking so far? OK? Dumb AF?

 

[Beerswimmer]

Well this morning before work the ferment had settled a bit so I added the 2lbs of D-240. Saturday I'll add 4lbs of honey.

 

[Beerswimmer]

Added the first 4lbs. The beer was super dark from the D-240. Forgot to take a gravity reading though.

 

[Beerswimmer]

Added 4 more lbs of the honey. The smell was beginning to smell like honey!

 

[Beerswimmer]

I added the last 2lbs of honey and finally took a gravity reading to see how the yeast was doing. 1.012, I think that's pretty good since it was/is still actively fermenting.I also drank the sample. Very excited about this now! Dark malty honey dipped plums and alcohol. I think the ratio of honey to Belgian quad is just about perfect. I can't wait to drink this from a horn with my co-workers!!!!

 

[Beerswimmer]

Gravity is at 1.008 now. I'm going to give it another week and then hopefully bottle it up by the New Year. The samples have been good enough to have me thinking about making this an immediate repeat! Pretty easy too.

 

[Beerswimmer]

Not much traffic, but putting this out there since there isn't too much info on braggots. Bottled it tonight. OG 1.144 ---> FG 1.002! WLP 545 is an unstoppable beast. No off flavors at bottling tonight, was exceptional!! Big honey, malt, and dark fruit all in unison. Not one is overpowering the other. Very smooth for the %, not hot at all. Good mouth feel for finishing so low, carbing should help it even more. This is now on my "brew all the time" list! I'll let it carb and try it again over time. This is the first recipe that I might actually add to the recipe forum!

 

[bernardsmith]

I am curious. How does a yeast ferment grains down to near zero? There are unfermentables in those sugars. Did you add some amylase that you are not talking about?

 

[TurnipGreen]

You’re right there’s very little info on braggots. Thanks for posting. I just bottled and carbed mine that had been aging in the carboy for over a year.

I’m curious to see how mine turns out with a little carbonation. It was good but thin out of the carboy.

Mine had an FG around 1 as well so I’m wondering if next time I could/should mash super high or just use a bunch of crystal malts to give it more body. I’m holding judgement until it’s all done.

Looking forward the hearing about yours!

 

[Beerswimmer]

I am curious. How does a yeast ferment grains down to near zero? There are unfermentables in those sugars. Did you add some amylase that you are not talking about?

Want to know how I know that you've never used 3711?

Some yeasts are raging monsters that will eat your fingers if they go in the fermenter, some stall out. 545 is a raging monster.

I had a big starter, fed it well, kept it at it's preferred temps.

 

[TGFV]

Glad to have found this post!

I just brewed my braggot on the 5th after a small break from brewing (family stuff and feeling confident with my supply, how naive of me), and was wondering if I was crazy with how fast it had ripped down the gravity especially with the amount of unfermentables in it.

Used mangrove Jack's Mead yeast and it went from 1.11 to 1.02 less than a week with no heat, but was thinking of switching to 545 for my next one and doing a Belgian tripel or golen braggot.

How long was your braggot in the small wine bubble stage of fermenting after the krausen fell?

 

[Beerswimmer]

I"m not too sure, I use a bucket. I fed it every 2 days, then it sat for a week after the last one. It was done. It's slowly carbing up right now.

 

[mithril007]

I️ am going to try a small batch of this myself

 

[Shine0n]

This is on my to do list now, sounds very tasty!
I've not heard of that yeast you're using, any additional information would be great if possible and then again I could simply look on Google. lol

 

[Beerswimmer]

This is on my to do list now, sounds very tasty!
I've not heard of that yeast you're using, any additional information would be great if possible and then again I could simply look on Google. lol

Good luck. There's very little info on it at all.

 

[TGFV]

Any updates on your Braggot?

Hoping to bottle mine this week (have to bottle everything in fermemtors due to moving) and planning on it being a slow bottle condition/carb

 

[Beerswimmer]

Well, it's not really carbing up. It's definitely strong, more of a liquor. I should have used champagne or CBC yeast. Very tasty though! A big Belgian quad with honey and booze for days.

I have 2 more braggots nearly ready to bottle, they will also be finishing near 1.000.

 

[TGFV]

Well, it's not really carbing up. It's definitely strong, more of a liquor. I should have used champagne or CBC yeast. Very tasty though! A big Belgian quad with honey and booze for days.

I have 2 more braggots nearly ready to bottle, they will also be finishing near 1.000.

Hmm perhaps I will add a bottling yeast just in case. Had some problems with a few ciders not carbing really too so that could be a good idea.