How to make a Braggot (Beer & Mead Combined)

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Today we're making a Braggot! A Braggot is a beer and a mead combined into one. You can either brew a beer and add honey to it or you can make a mead and add beer to it. Regardless of your process, you will end up with what we call a Braggot. I'm excited to share this with you because I've never made one before. I've made beers before but it's been awhile. Here's the recipe for the Braggot:
5 Gallons of Spring Water,
4.5 Pounds of Honey
8 Pounds of Blackberries (3 In Primary)
(2) 3.3 Pound Malt Extract Syrup
Specialty grains
1lb Pale, 1lb Flaked Wheat,
1 oz Palisade Hops
1 oz Cascade Hops
1 BRY 97 Yeast packet
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Thanks for watching!

[@rednecksniper4715]

Gonna try this for a 1 gallon batch thanks for the recipe

[@jkuhl2492]

I bottled this roughly 3 weeks ago and have started drinking it. This is an excellent recipe. 10/10, will brew again.

[@jdrains16]

For the oats and malt, I have friends with chickens, ducks, and pigs. Cattle would also love it. Cows/pigs will eat it as it, you’d have to dry it out (medium layer on a baking sheet in the oven at minimum temp for a while) for birds. If you don’t know anyone or have anyone nearby with fowl/livestock, you could dry it out and put it outside for wild bird feed.

[@PraetzelProjects]

Thanks, was thinking of making my dad a Russian Stout but didn’t want to waste that, and it in theory cheapens the beer because it lowers feed costs.

[@benmartin4540]

Spent grains: Dehydrate: Home mill for flour.

[@jkuhl2492]

I mix spent beer grains with some steel cut oats, honey and peanut butter, give it a good stir until it becomes really stiff, bake at around 350 for a few minutes, then refridgerate it. And you end up with some tasty granola bars.

[@benmartin4540]

So, this might be helpful but a programmable candy thermometer will beep when you are close to your desired temperature. They are not that expensive, and I use them for both my professional pastry/bread work and my (amateur) homebrewing projects. I work at a brewery and because I am awash in craft beer and still have the urge to homebrew, I brew mead (actually cyser brewed with applejuice or apple mixed with other fresh fruit juices ((thanks to an old but functional Jack LaLane juicer!)). I was going to homebrew apple cider but most of the recipes call for added sugar. I am willing to brew with honey so here I am. The brewers are very generous with their yeast strains and I currently brew hydromel and melomels with a very tasty strain of norweigian kviek which makes a nice 10% 'applejack'. Braggot is just a natural progression to my homebrew project) The programmable candy thermometer will let you walk away and not worry about watching temps, especially because you can program to alert you when it is 10 degrees under temp, though the beeping starts when the thermometer is five degrees off. Excellent video. I am this formula to brew a 5 gallon batch of a hazy hopped apple braggot. Cheers!

[@pauldacus4590]

11:40 Mmmm watching that malt go in... makes me want to make the beer kit I got for Christmas...

[@John_Lemon23]

Paul Dacus do it, that’s how I got in to home brewing beer and later in to making mead. It’s fantastic.

[@kb2vca]

To drain you might want to use a colander. That will allow the sock to drain without you having to hold onto the weight of that bag. Regarding the LME (liquid malt extract) if the instructions say to boil this for 40 minutes then OK but the LME has been boiled and sanitized and if you cook it for any significant length of time you are overcooking that malt ... IMO LME and DME really does not need to be boiled at all but simply added at the end of the boil. Grains are different. You need to kill all bacteria on the grains otherwise you will find that lactic bacteria will thrive and sour your beer... Boiling honey destroys all the volatile molecules that gives the honey its flavor. All you need to do is add the honey after you have cooled the wort and at the same time as you are pitching the yeast... Last thought: warm wort is a haven for bacterial growth. To prevent this you really want to cool your wort very quickly. Not certain but I think you want to get it to pitching temperature within about 30 minutes from taking it off the heat. One way to this is to make sure that the ice bath can pull all the heat from your kettle and to do that you may need to stir the wort and keep the temperature of the ice bath very cold...

[@ManMadeMead]

Thanks, Bernard!

[@TDane685]

You can also use a wire cooling rack sitting overtop the stockpot as well and just lay the bag on top and pour the sparge water over that way..thats what i do for boil in bag brews

[@HazardusVisionary]

I was think about a recipe like this I hope it awesome

[@joelchrysler6238]

I can’t wait for the taste test I have some grains I wanted to do a braggot!

[@ManMadeMead]

Joel Chrysler Go for it! It’s quite fun to make!

[@fragle79]

You might try a sous vide to steep the grain.

[@Tastingnitch]

sweet video - thanks for posting

[@ManMadeMead]

Tasting Nitch Thanks for watching!

[@fearwolfbrewery5014]

The reason for that there is no need for neutrients when it comes to beer is that there is enough in the wort. In a must however, there is not. Btw, since less than 50% of your sugars are coming from honey, this is not a braggot, it is a beer. ;) And you will not get a 10% beer/"braggot", their is always unfermentable sugars in a wort. I guess it will stop at 1.015.

[@JDWebb]

There are no rules when it comes to the amount of honey to make a braggot. BJCP says it must be a harmonious blend of beer and mead. The 50% rule is an internet fantasy.

[@virtueofsunlight1342]

Woa! Keep me posted! This is legit interesting!

[@ManMadeMead]

Axis of Evil Thank you! And thanks for watching!

[@virtueofsunlight1342]

@@ManMadeMead love your videos man, i have learned so much thanks to you

[@buzzboop]

Very intriguing! I have made Vikings Blood which called to have its hops steeped overnight. My first batch was an internet version without the cherries. I have a second 5 gal batch that has followed the original Viking recipe with cherries, its not nearly involved as what you have going on here. Can't wait for the follow up video!

[@ManMadeMead]

Bryan Chong That sounds great! I’ll have to try that one day.

[@jdrains16]

Lol. The scale was reading in pounds and ounces. 2 pounds 15.9 ounces is 0.1oz below 3 pounds. 2 pounds 12.5 ounces to 2 pounds 7.0 ounces was 5.5 ounces, a little over 1/3 pound added.

[@red-pyramid]

Oooh fancy. Viking horns are the only way to drink mead btw ;)

[@red-pyramid]

Also I finished my first sake, it was a traditional rice liquor recipe (22% and pleasantly bittersweet) and I used almost no water but somehow got a liter of liquid out of it, it was a very unique process and the rice slurry that's left over you can dry and eat as well (it goes great with some cinnamon sugar), a shallot was involved in the process so I made a sauce out of the 2 and it is amazing.

[@ManMadeMead]

You’re totally right!

[@ManMadeMead]

🔺 That’s super interesting! I think it’d be cool to make that one day!

[@davidwood6098]

I was just thinking, I need to get me one of those, what are they called? And you said "for those wondering, this is a de-gassing wand." Perfect timing on that one! haha thanks, and keep up the good work!

[@Abby-gx4qi]

I wonder if the grains would be compostable. I'd be a little concerned about acidity though, but everyone I know puts coffee grounds in their compost so they would probably be ok.

[@treyb387]

What beer kit did you use to make your braggot? Or what one would you recommend? My father in law was asking me to make him a braggot which I've never made before but want to try

[@ManMadeMead]

This was just a pale ale beer kit! I think it really depends on what flavors you're going for. Do you have any specific fruits or flavors you like?

[@treyb387]

@@ManMadeMead He really just wants something that wants a honey flavor to it. We're going to use a few pounds of his bees wildflower honey, and I know he'd like hints of summer flavors but not actual fruits. Not sure about spices. On a side note, I'm going to make a large batch of my first hard cider with light brown sugar and some cinnamon sticks to make it taste kind of like an apple pie. Do you have any suggestions of approaching a good beer kit for a braggot? I found some on Northern Brewer I could probably make into a braggot.

[@omightygordy]

since this is a hybrid of beer and mead, how long would it ferment?

[@ManMadeMead]

It just depends on how quickly the yeast work. I would say this will ferment for about 2 weeks or so!

[@wizarux8765]

What brand of brew kit? I've seen a few BB american pale ale kits, but the ones i've seen don't come with nearly half of the ingredients shown. I'd love to try this recipe for my first braggot. :)

[@directx3497]

Why grains and extract? Couldn’t you just use the extract?

[@sgtphoolish1127]

Just wondering, what was your total yield and how much water did you have with your blackberries before you added your wort?

[@ManMadeMead]

Oh gosh, I don't remember on this one haha. This video is really old!

[@larrpeninger]

Great job ! Your brew buddy left or was he running the camera? Im gonna try this one.

[@ManMadeMead]

Larry Peninger He was just in the background helping some!

[@chriswiltse2281]

Are you going to carbonate it and if so will it be natural or forced?

[@chriswiltse2281]

I'm finally going to get around to using a pale ale starter kit that i bought months ago (not doing a braggot right not). I've been questioning if I could force carbonate with this thing... www.amazon.com/dp/B0714FM77R/?coliid=I2P028FNUA9Y&colid=11BM2Y74V6ZSC&psc=0

[@red-pyramid]

@@chriswiltse2281 you can, I've done that with a mini keg but I needed to build my own valve. Idk the integrity of that one though, I'd try the q&a section.

[@ManMadeMead]

chris wiltse I’ll use the priming sugar and carbonate it when I bottle!

[@elijahwegner1971]

So, I had a thought after watching this. A 1 gallon cyser with caramel 2 row malt? I have never made a mead with malt at all so thoughts and advice would help greatly.

[@ManMadeMead]

Elijah Wegner So sorry I didn’t see this until now! I’ve never made one until now, I would say just try it and see what you think. I would say for a 5 gallon batch you would want a can of malt!

[@caseyhemphill6249]

Were did you buy your ingredients?

[@ManMadeMead]

Casey Hemphill My local brew shop, you should find one around you!