Solstice Braggot

[Kelpdog]

I brewed my first braggot back in early November. I was amazed at the active fermentation that went on and on with over two weeks of regular activity in the airlock after blowing off close to a half gallon. It fermented out further than I had anticipated, ending at 9.8% whereas I'd anticipated closer to 8%. It has now been in bottle for almost four weeks and on opening the first bottle found zero carbonation.

I used Safale 04 for the yeast and note that it ended right at its alcohol tolerance. Should I add smidge of a more tolerant yeast to the bottles to get carbonation? I have not tried shaking and higher heating of the bottles yet, though they were probably kept at +/-70 degrees for two weeks.

Appreciate any advice at helping this carb up!

Here is my recipe:
Batch size: 5.0 gallons

Malt & fermentables
% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable
38% 5 0 Honey
23% 3 0 Extra Pale Liquid Malt Extract
19% 2 8 Marris Otter (Crisp)
15% 2 0 Biscuit Malt
4% 0 8 American Crystal

Original Gravity
1.083 measured
(1.082 estimated)
Final Gravity
1.011 measured
(1.022 estimated)
Color
10° SRM / 20° EBC
(Gold to Copper)


Hops
60 mins 0.75 Willamette
30 mins 0.25 Mt. Hood
10 mins 0.25 Mt. Hood

Bitterness
23.8 IBU / 4 HBU

Yeast
Safale S-04 Dry Yeast

Alcohol
9.6% ABV / 8% ABW
(8.0% est. ABV / 6% est. ABW)
Calories
271 per 12 oz.

misc
2 whole Cardamom Seeds
1 tsp Cloves, ground
1 tsp Coriander Seed
1/2 c grated fresh Ginger Root
1/2 tsp Nutmeg, ground
1 tbl spn Blood Orange Zest
1 cup Blood Orange juice

1/2 tsp Irish Moss

 

[fatbloke]

With carbonation, if the brew has fermented out all the sugars then there's unlikely to be any evidence of it.

I can't say about beer style brews as I don't make them, but if you're confident that there's still some fermentable sugars in the brew, yet the original yeast has reached its tolerance, then your only options are either to use a higher tolerance yeast like "methode champenoise" or to force carbonate.

You may also need to use some non-fermentable sweetener to get the sweetness level up........

 

[Kelpdog]

Thanks-- I should have mentioned I added 4 oz of DME as primer before bottling.

 

[MedsenFey]

When carbonating a batch that is at a relatively high ABV and near the ABV tolerance of the yeast, it can take several weeks for carbonation to happen, but if you aren't seeing it after 1 month, I'd consider using an acclimated, high-ABV yeast such as a Champagne strain to finish it.

 

[Kelpdog]

With the holidays, and several batches of cider and rhubarb wine to bottle, I unintentionally let the braggot sit for couple of weeks. Opened one last night and it was nicely carbonated. It isn't bad but I suspect that it needs to sit for awhile longer--maybe a couple of months.