gruit(ish) braggot attempt #2

[mlewis91]

hi, I'm about to make my second attempt at a gruit/braggot. my first one I got alot of help from people in here

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=625743

and now I think I'm ready to try again because I really like this beer and id like to perfect the recipe...im hoping I can use this community again and all of its vast knowledge to help this beer get to a place where I'm 100% happy with it.

so far iv decided I'm going to make the beer part and the mead part separate then mix them together in a white oak barrel and let it age for a bit in there.

also I put ish next to the gruit because I think iv decided to add a little bit of hops, not enough to add much taste or bitterness but enough that it wouldn't be classified as a gruit

 

[mlewis91]

any way, I'm planning on making 10 gallons. 5 gallons of beer and 5 gallons of mead


for the mead part I have:

10 lbs honey
3 packs of raises
.5 oz yarrow
.5 oz bee pollen
the peel of one orange

for the beer half I have:

9 lbs German 2 row
4 lbs Vienna
.5 lbs smoked malts
1 lb crystal malts
.5 lb dark roasted malts
1 oz juniper berries (15min)
1 oz Irish moss (15 min)
1 oz fuggle hops (60 min)
1 oz fuggle hops (30 min)
.5 oz mugwort (60 min)
.5 oz mugwort (15 min)

my plan is to age the mead 6 months and age the beer one month.

the. mix the two together in a 10 gallon american white oak barrel and age for a year on

2 oz juniper berries
.5 lbs dried elderberries
.5 lbs dates


I'm still working in the recipe...if anyone has any recemedations of any changes or something to add/ remove let me know...id like to get the mead started sometime soonish

 

[dmtaylor]

Your recipe seems... over-complicated. I would recommend selecting your favorite 3 or 4 herbs, spices, and fruits, and nix all the others. Way more going on here than is necessary for a complex braggot, in my opinion.

In any case, I would go much easier on the rosemary and yarrow, maybe just 0.25 oz of each. The mugwort also can be cut in half -- maybe just get rid of the 60-minute addition. I'd also cut back on juniper, or not use it at all.

Cheers, good luck and enjoy.

 

[mlewis91]

i lowered the rosemary and yarrow as suggested...I'm thinking on the rest, seeing where I want to cut

I'm still new to alot of the herbs, I used juniper and mugwort in my last batch and I'm trying to improve from there so id like to keep them both, but I could adjust quantities

 

[Lefou]

Have you considered carbing this?
Bottle carbing this might take some effort. Force carbing in kegs could be much easier.

 

[mlewis91]

I made some changes and removed some of the herbs, I think I want to leave the 1 oz of mugwort tho. my last batch I used the same quantity for 5 gallons so I'm already halving the amount per volume.

as far as carbing I havnt even thought about that yet, I lightly carbed the first attempt, I figured I'd try to do the same here... but iv never aged a beer like this before carbing so I'm not sure yet how that's going to work

I do not have a keg setup so ill have to try another rout

 

[mlewis91]

I May look into a keg set up, I want one anyways and id have a year and a half to get it setup before the beer was ready to keg