Looking for Braggot advice

[Dtkubitski]

My husband is allergic to hops and I want to try whipping up a braggot for the winter months. I haven't had much luck finding a recipe for one WITHOUT hops.

Anyone on the boards know of one that won't turn out weird?

Cheers!

 

[Chanoc]

Does he Like ginger...?
I just did a ginger beer and the hops fade behind the ginger but is superb...
I think the same recipe without hops would be awesome...
Although not exactly a Beer in a strict sense. ..
HTH

 

[JJack887]

I don't think it will. You may use another bittering agent if you wish, but malt and honey will be great by themselves. You can't go wrong.

 

[Dtkubitski]

So just take a recipe and subtract the hops then?

 

[Curtis2010]

Research "gruit". Before hops, other bittering agents were used which you can substitute. Braggots are not typically strongly hopped so another bittering agent should work well.

 

[loveofrose]

If you want gruit mead, I generated this guide to help:
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/gruit-mead/

 

[Dr_Floyd]

Just look up Bittering Agents for making Bitters, any of those will have the same effect as Hops. Lavender, Citrus Peel, Devils Club Root, Black Walnut Leaf, Wormwood, Hibiscus, Witch Hazel, Wild Cherry Bark, Quassia Bark, Dandelion Root, Gentian Root, Blessed Thistle, Cinchona, Dandelion Root and Angelica Root are all examples of bittering agents you can buy online or in a store if you live somewhere cool.

 

[buMbLeB]

Just look up Bittering Agents for making Bitters, any of those will have the same effect as Hops. Lavender, Citrus Peel, Devils Club Root, Black Walnut Leaf, Wormwood, Hibiscus, Witch Hazel, Wild Cherry Bark, Quassia Bark, Dandelion Root, Gentian Root, Blessed Thistle, Cinchona, Dandelion Root and Angelica Root are all examples of bittering agents you can buy online or in a store if you live somewhere cool.

This is a great list! I've never made mead but I like to experiment, and I recently saw some Gentian root powder in a whole foods store - do you know anymore about it you can tell me? I think it's used to flavour "Moxie", but I've never had that either.

 

[Dr_Floyd]

This is a great list! I've never made mead but I like to experiment, and I recently saw some Gentian root powder in a whole foods store - do you know anymore about it you can tell me? I think it's used to flavour "Moxie", but I've never had that either.

I wouldn't do powder personally as you can't filter it out and it can take a long time to drop out of solution. You can get cloth tea bags, fill them with chopped Gentian Root, sterilize and add it to your Mead. It should extract with the alcohol present in the Mead and you can taste test every few days until you are happy. An alternative is to make a tea from the gentian root and mix it in with a sample to see if you like it. Every bittering agent tastes different and even varies in how bitter they are so try to get info on the flavors before jumping in.

A great website for Botanicals (Bittering Agents are part of Botanicals)
https://www.mountainroseherbs.com

Feel free to message me if you have more questions.

 

[Sourz4life]

If you want gruit mead, I generated this guide to help:
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/gruit-mead/

+1 on this. I used this when I first started looking into Gruit. Thanks for putting this together, it basically helped me get into gruits.