Braggot And Yeast Attenuation

[Ronin]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted some advice from people who had brewed Braggots before. I'm planning on brewing one based on a Brown ale recipe of mine that I quite like, with about 50% of the 1.080 OG coming from honey. My question is, what short of FG should I be expecting?

I use 1469 in this brown ale normally, and I get a FG of 1.012 from a OG of 1.040 very consistently. Now given that honey is virtually completely fermentable and makes up 50% of the fermentables of the Braggot, should I expect the same FG or a higher one? Does the yeast attenuation play a role in the FG of a braggot?

Have I made it clear what I'm asking?

Cheers,

James

 

[Airgead]

Have I made it clear what I'm asking?

Cheers,

James

Sure have.

I have a strong braggot fermenting at the moment based on a scaled down barleywine recipe as the base beer with 30% honey bringing the strength back up.

Yeast attenuation is based on a 'standard wort' and really measures the yeast's ability to convert complex sugars. What you get out of braggot will be different as the honey is all simple sugars and even a low attenuating yeast will chew right through it. If you make it really strong and go above the alcohol tolerance of the yeast then it will finish there so that is something to check if you are going strong (>12% or so for some yeasts).

You can pretty much assume that the honey portion will ferment out completely. Any residual sugars will come from the malt. What I do is use my brewing program to work out the base beer and get the FG estimate from that before I add in the honey to the recipe.

I do the same with the hop additions as the honey is added port boil the boil is less concentrated and you get a higher utilisation that you would if all the sugars were in the boil. You can easily get caught like that and end up with a beer that's too bitter.

In your case I would be expecting around a 1.012 FG as you usually get for the base beer.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Ronin]

What I do is use my brewing program to work out the base beer and get the FG estimate from that before I add in the honey to the recipe.

Thanks Dave,

that's what I've been doing when planning this braggot, so i was hoping that was what would happen.

Cheers,

james

 

[Tanga]

Got a good Extract recipe to try for someone who likes wheat and dark (not stout) beers?

 

[Airgead]

Got a good Extract recipe to try for someone who likes wheat and dark (not stout) beers?

Haven't done an extract braggot for ages...

Can't find my old recipe but as a general method -

Make up a base beer recipe. Whatever you like. Brown ales, pale ales, porters.... not sure about stouts. Brown ales work really well. Wheat beers work really well. Your standard extract recipe for that style. Or use a kit.

Replace 30-50% of the fermentables with honey to make a beer strength braggot or add 30-50% extra fermentables as honey to make a strong braggot. So for a 1.040 beer you could replace 1.020 with honey or add 1.040 as extra honey.

With a kit you are stuck with adding fermentables but that's OK.

Remember - they do take some time to age. The more honey the longer the aging time. They will taste pretty ordinary until they age out. Then they are fantastic.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Tanga]

Yeah, I would have thought wheat would be good. I can just imagine that sour note with honey. Yum! I might try and make a straight wheat first though, and then take it from there. Plus the honey I have is too rich for a wheat (bluegum) so I may try a straight dark with some honey. I've never had a brown, so not sure if I'd like it.

Thanks for the tips.

EDIT: Or perhaps not - Bluegum might taste nice thin and sour. What do you think? Done / Drunk a wheat with bluegum before?

 

[Airgead]

Yeah, I would have thought wheat would be good. I can just imagine that sour note with honey. Yum! I might try and make a straight wheat first though, and then take it from there. Plus the honey I have is too rich for a wheat (bluegum) so I may try a straight dark with some honey. I've never had a brown, so not sure if I'd like it.

Thanks for the tips.

EDIT: Or perhaps not - Bluegum might taste nice thin and sour. What do you think? Done / Drunk a wheat with bluegum before?

Bluegum makes a great mead. Never used it in a braggot.

Its hard to tell what a honey will taste like fermented. You need to imagine the smell of the honey and the taste of the honey but without any sweetness.

Give it a go. I've never met a honey that didn't taste nice fermented. Even the really weird ones I have tried (Mahogany anyone?). Even the bizarre honey I got from some neglected hives that was black and tasted like treacle.

Cheers
Dave