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Braggot - honey in BIABacus

Post #1 made 8 years ago
by Brew4me
I have some left over english pale malt so I was thinking about making a small batch of Braggot (a gallon or two) - anyone have experience in how to represent the honey in BIABacus?
Any thoughts appreciated...
Brew4me
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Post #4 made 8 years ago
by Mad_Scientist
Using BIABacus version T, you enter a "B" for boil into Section C and watch the TWN and such change, being there is no absorption.

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Post #6 made 8 years ago
by joshua
I have made Mead, and learned if it is Boiled, or held at 170F/76.6C it will lose most of the flavor/aroma, but ferments VERY Well.

Here is another Discussion on when to add Honey http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/t ... ney.38677/

If you want Flavor, and aroma, add it to the Primary when it is Filly Fermenting to prevent, the Microbes that are Good, from Slowing the fermentation.
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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Post #7 made 8 years ago
by Brew4me
So here is the Braggot recipe I did today - just a gallon since never made this before and did not have any tried-and-true recipes. As far as hitting expected numbers - pretty darn good. Everything went smooth.

The recipe started as a mimic to the Hefty Braggot in Schramm's The compleat Meadmaker (I like the book and recommend it) but it diverged as I researched the internet and looked to see what the LHBS had on hand.

looks like I wont be taste testing this until some time in May.

Brew4me
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Post #8 made 8 years ago
by Brew4me
Braggot update - so the fermentation seemed to slow down faster than I expected (but then again I dont have to much info on this brew) - check on measurement - reading 1.040 - looking for 1.030 FG - added a little yeast nutrient and engergizer - things seem to be still going. I racked to secondary today - my god that tastes good (think of a very tasty ale with a sweet honey addition) - now in the fermentation chamber 52 degrees F - will sit there for 2 weeks and will check on gravity. If I learned anything last year brewing it was patience... (I learned it but did not say I have it!)

Brew4me
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Post #9 made 8 years ago
by Lumpy5oh
Excellent update. Keep us posted
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Post #10 made 8 years ago
by PistolPatch
Congratulations B4M :salute:. I'm not sure if anyone else has done a braggot brew here :think:.

BIABacus filled out beautifully. It's always very hard to measure small volumes so don't be worried when you get discrepancies (and I think that might be my fault***).

My only question for you is in Section N you have 4.7 L of "Wort 'Lost' from Fermentor" which leaves you with zero litres at pitching :). Just wondering what you were playing with there? (Oops! One more note - no need to put the OG on the left and right hand side of Section C. Only need it on the left.)

Nice job :peace:,
PP

*** Your into kettle efficiencies disagree by a lot but I think that is a problem with version 1.3T not considering the 'extract'/honey properly. I'm pretty sure I have fixed that in the later versions which have not been released yet. Probably time we put out another pre-release given the slow rate we're operating at, at the moment :smoke:.
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Post #11 made 8 years ago
by Brew4me
Looks like I put in what went into the fermentor in Section N - just ignore. No prepitch corrections were made.
Right now the braggot seems rather quiet in the femrentation chamber - will let it ride and check Gravity over the weekend or so... Even if it is done at 1.040 I am very happy with the experiment and will be making this again at 3-5 gallons.
It is now sitting next to the vienna lager which is progressing nicely.
Everything holding at 53degrees F in the new chamber...

In the picture you can see the 1 gallon braggot took on the cranberry blossom honey color. The Vienna just started to ferment (3 gallons). I put in some water jugs to play with the "thermal mass". One jug is frozen. Between the frozen jug and the mini-frig I hold 53F with little/no fridge operation for 2 days at a time. So every two days I swap out the frozen jug. The left side by the temperature strip is a movable wall for bigger or more brews. full size is about 2ftx4ft.

Brew4me
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Post #12 made 8 years ago
by Brew4me
The vienna malt in the picture I posted above has finished. Used the fast fermentation process based on Brulosophy site information http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/ - only issue I had was trying to lager at 32F - figured January in upstate NY would not be an issue so sat it on the enclosed porch - week later the temps were sitting at 40F (unheard of) - ended up keeping it in a bit of ice for a week+. Thinking I need a beer freezer. Opened a bottle this evening (O-Kay actually 2)- another tasty BIAB brew, nice medium dark orange color, decent head retention- noticeable foam rings, lighter mouth-feel then expected, but good malty taste. Easy drinking beer. I would be interested on others experience with the fast fermentation method...

Anyway - back to the Braggot experiment!
I plan on bottling the Braggot this weekend - 2 weeks initial fermentation then racked to secondary, now after 4 weeks at 52F and successfully going from OG 1.120 to 1.030 (ballpark of 11% ABV) ready to bottle condition. SO based on numbers, I can say BIAB successfully does "Braggot In A Bag"... (I know, poor joke.)
I am a little concerned that the yeast at this point may not be able to carbonate. I figured I should add a little yeast (same that I originally used) at bottling. I will be bottle conditioning for another 2 months or more for the braggot to mellow out.
Anyone with any experience / best practices to provide with respect to yeast at bottling is appreciated?
Thanks,
Pete
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Post #13 made 8 years ago
by Brew4me
Did a bit more research of this site and around the internet. Based on others experiences, I decided to bottle the Braggot as is - no additional yeast nor even priming sugar. The base assumption is that the residual honey sugars will enable enough carbonation - others have claimed success with this. Based on my learning, Braggot is serviced both still (like most mead) or carbonated (like most ale). The braggot has spent the last month + at 52F (11C) so I will let the bottles sit for a week at ~65F (18C) just to warm up potential activity. I will then move to the basement for about 2 months. I hit a final gravity of 1.036, mistype in above post (shooting for 1.030). No complaints with 1.036.
So early sample taste - clearly taste both the ale and the honey, less honey sweetness then previous taste and there is a new more harsh taste mixed in almost medicine-like note. Since mead needs a good bit of time to condition, I figure it is a good chance the harsh taste will mellow out.

Pete
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Post #15 made 8 years ago
by Brew4me
:party: Braggot Day :party: - So Earth Day became the day to test the first bottle of braggot.
Recap:
-when moved into secondary there were two distinct tastes, ale and sweet honey.
-after seven - eight weeks fermenting - still tasted both the ale and the honey, but less honey sweetness then previous taste and there was a new more harsh taste mixed in almost medicine-like note not very pleasant
-left patiently two months - bottle conditioning (in basement with towel thrown over bottles) cracked open the first bottle (sat in frig for one night) :pray:

Results:
Solid honey aroma, mouth feel - not syrup like but a slight feel of ever so small amount of honey on the tongue - there is no longer a separate ale and honey taste - they are now blended. Medicine-like note is gone and replaced with more of a hard liquor impact - a little harsh but not like it was at bottling, bit of a bite but not bad... second glass tasted better - as you might expect ;) Clearly the flavors are "marrying up" which is cool to see (taste) happen.

I did not prime this - and the honey / yeast still had enough to give me a bit of carbonation. nice surprise.
color pretty much stayed with the cranberry blossom honey color.

I think we can clearly claim BIAB works for Braggots (note I did not say "Braggot In A Bag" this time). Truly a unique taste worth developing...

Like a mead, I think I need to continue to age this for proper mellowing out. I will leave one in the frig for a test in about three months (next bottle cracking will be July) I am betting it will taste best if I leave it til October/November.

overall - great little experiment, will likely brew this again after I chase the sweet spot for aging a little more.

lessons and next actions-
Hey I think I got this patience thing down now
braggot needs time to age (honest, I am good with that, I can wait)
I would go with a lighter milder honey next time
Add a champagne yeast (something that would not impact flavor) to carbonate up at bottling
Most important is to not shave or cut my hair while the braggot ages and then drink it from a large horn while I pace on the roof of my house pointing madly out at anything that moves and shouting "I will rule you all"... :drink: gulp :drink: gulp

Pete
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Post #16 made 8 years ago
by Brew4me
oh and here is the picture. Went with a wine glass like in Ken Schramm's book. Yeah the horn would definitely add some flavor....
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Post #17 made 7 years ago
by Brew4me
Thought I would add one closing note on the Braggot - the first bottle was opened on April 22 after two months conditioning. Just opened the second to the last one 7 months into conditioning - very good at this point - best taste yet, can taste the mix but definitely more mead then ale. Last bottle will sit until December. Clearly the braggot needs to age like a mead. If / when I brew it again it will be set aside for a year prior to drinking.

Pete
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