Plum Melomel Or Braggot

[brettprevans]

sounds good, i understand a bit better now, let use know how it goes in 6 mths if its good i will give it a go, plum season will start shortly after that and farms around here grow and sell them also i have local honey producers, used their honey in a mead i am doing.

yeah sorry for the slightly inebriated description.

Process for making braggot is basically the same as making all grain beer. Mash grains at desired temp (for this it was mashed at 68C/154.4F), sparge etc, then boil hops and other ingredients for indicated time.

Adding honey slowly through ferment is a process adapted from Belgian brewing to help reduce stress on yeast and not create hot fast ferments which can cause fusil alcohol.

Adding plums to secondary (or after primary fermentation has died down) means fruit flavours etc arent scrubbed out by the CO2 production of fermentation.

If your using fresh fruit you want to puree and freeze it to help break down cell walls so the beer can take up more of the flavours. youll need greater quantities of fresh fruit. also youll want the really rreally overripe stuff for maximum flavour. the type of friut youd want for jams

This is a really quick overview and there is a heap in the non beer brewing section on using fruit in beers and meads.

 

[keezawitch]

yeah sorry for the slightly inebriated description.

Process for making braggot is basically the same as making all grain beer. Mash grains at desired temp (for this it was mashed at 68C/154.4F), sparge etc, then boil hops and other ingredients for indicated time.

Adding honey slowly through ferment is a process adapted from Belgian brewing to help reduce stress on yeast and not create hot fast ferments which can cause fusil alcohol.

Adding plums to secondary (or after primary fermentation has died down) means fruit flavours etc aren't scrubbed out by the CO2 production of fermentation.

If your using fresh fruit you want to puree and freeze it to help break down cell walls so the beer can take up more of the flavours. youll need greater quantities of fresh fruit. also youll want the really rreally overripe stuff for maximum flavour. the type of friut youd want for jams

This is a really quick overview and there is a heap in the 'non beer brewing' section on using fruit in beers and meads.

no apologizes necessary, a question would it be better to cook the fruit till soft, puree and then freeze, as the cooking process will break down the cellulois further( thinking of baking in slow oven to maximise flavour)

 

[barls]

dont cook the fruit unless your after the stewed flavour also you have to be careful not to set the pectins.

 

[keezawitch]

dont cook the fruit unless your after the stewed flavour also you have to be careful not to set the pectins.

thanks, what would happen if pectins set(as in the brew)

 

[barls]

more like a jam flavour if its set. also you wont get much flavour out of it as it will just clump and fall out.

 

[keezawitch]

more like a jam flavour if its set. also you wont get much flavour out of it as it will just clump and fall out.

thanks

 

[brettprevans]

well delayed experiment, but went down on 21 Jan 2012

plum Braggot
2.5kg ale
4kg strong blend honey0.25kg medium crystal
0.25kg special b
1kg plums in boil
25g magnum @ 60
25g challanger @ 30
2 cardomom pods @10

W9097 old ale
2kg tinned plums blended added to secondary.
25L
OG 1083 (excl plums)

1/3 honey added in boil, 2/3 honey added slowly through primary fermentation.

am yet to add the 2kg of plumbs into secondary cause the last lot of honey is still fermenting away... but it smells fantastic, lovely bit of brett coming through, and that really strong honey and hints of plums. this should be a cracker. will report back when ready for kegging and then in 6 months when it should be ready for drinking

so its been flowly fermenting for a month now.
tested it straight out of the fermentor the other week. quite dry (more so than i was expecting) with brett characteristics starting to come through. very honey leather type tastes. think i should have mashed a touch warmer and maybe a bit more crystal. but, a lovely hint of plum and definite honey characteristics.
quite a bit of alc (not hot) which isnt suprising as its bloody young. should even out with age.
it cant have been too bad as my 'test' was almost a pint of it

I decided to another another 1.6kg of pureed plums. The brett is slowly working away at it. will test in another few weeks. should be a very interesting beer once it matures

 

[brettprevans]

gave it another test last night. much the same as last test. the extra plums seems to have been eaten away.
still not a huge Brett flavour. that may develop with time.
ill stir it all up again, give it some heat, then I might rack it and add another 1.6kg of plums.

 

[brettprevans]

brett is slowly working at the braggot

last lot of plums added more colour and plumyness. but im not sure i I want more of not. took a couple pics last night (shit lights at my joint, doesnt lend itself to taking good pics).


really nice colour, clear and tastes good uncarbed. leathery, little bit of horse but not much. subtle brett adding to he leather, assertive honey notes (not honey sweetness).
so I think into the keg it goes to sit for a few months. If I want to cadd more plums into the keg I can later on.

 

[brettprevans]

10months since the last sampling.
OMFG! The complexity of this. One minute its the brett dominating the next its the leathery honey then it chbages again. Slightly drier than last timw so the brett has been working away at it which is good as its given brett something to fuel its growth for complexity. Hints of plum still there.

A great experiment. Will be doing it again. Glad ive got 13 bottles left.