English Braggot (as seen on AHA)

[HawleyFarms]

So I found an English Braggot recipe in the mead section of the AHA website. Not sure why it was in the mead section as this recipe is really more of a big beer than a braggot. Only uses 2# of honey, whereas a braggot should be at least 50% honey. Which is why I posted this in the beer section rather than the mead section like I did with my last braggot.

Anyway, this is the original recipe:

12# Amber/Biscuit Malt
6# Pale Malt
2# Honey

And either:

.5oz Low alpha hops @ 60min

or

Black Pepper
Candied Ginger
Cinnamon
Cloves
Galingale

I decided to change up the recipe a small amount:

OG: 1.099
FG: 1.023
ABV: 9.89%
IBU: 20.21
SRM: 25.79

12# Fawcett Amber Malt
6# Fawcett Maris Otter Malt
2# White Clover Honey

and used just hops instead of the spices:

1oz Whitbread Goldings @60
.5oz Whitbread Goldings @20
.5oz Whitbread Goldings @5
.5oz Whitbread Goldings Dry-hopped 5 days

Windsor Ale Yeast

Critiques? Suggestions? Problems?

 

[JKaranka]

That's a very weird recipe. I'd do about 40% of honey by weight for bragawd. Have you ever made one? They come up very very dry, so you have to restrain yourself a bit with the hops. I dry hopped one with Citra and none of my so-called "hophead" friends liked it because it tasted more akin to white wine.

 

[HawleyFarms]

Yes, I have made quite a few. One was the Szechuan hibiscus braggot that you helped create lol.

I thought it was a very odd recipe myself, especially coming from the AHA website. I was always under the impression that a braggot was at least 50% honey.

I changed the hop schedule because of the amount of Malt vs the amount of honey. With only 2 pounds honey, this will finish quite sweet with a very malty background. I hoped that by bumping it up to 20 IBU from the original 5 or 10 might help balance the Malt a little. Also this should be aged around 8 months which is why I'm using so many hops for aroma and dry hop.

 

[HawleyFarms]

That's a very weird recipe. I'd do about 40% of honey by weight for bragawd. Have you ever made one?

Also about to start a 1gal Bochet Braggot tonight with EKG to see how it turns out.

 

[JKaranka]

Age it 8 months first and dry hop before bottling / kegging!

Yeah, with that little honey you can up the bitterness. How is the Szechuan pepper settling?

 

[HawleyFarms]

Age it 8 months first and dry hop before bottling / kegging!

Yeah, with that little honey you can up the bitterness. How is the Szechuan pepper settling?

The Szechuan hibiscus turned out really well. I'm not sure it even lasted 6 months though. I think next time I make it, I will up the honey to what you originally posted and maybe bottle it still instead of carbed.

I liked it when it was young, my dad liked it better than I as it aged.