Vibes-Based Braggotmaxxing
A braggot is what you get when you ferment honey and grains together. Most braggots begin with the question "What if we did beer, but quirky?" This is a venerable question, and attempting to answer it has led to much innovation. But, I am attempting to answer a more specific corallary of it: "If a Guinness had carnal relations with a strong dessert wine, what would their kid be like?"1
Thus, we will make a few departures from the typical beer formula. Our braggot will be still, for dessert meads are rarely carbonated.2 And there will be no hops. If we get a bit of residual sweetness, that'll be fine. This thing will to be served with scones or ice cream.
Supposedly, about half of a braggot's fermentable sugars should come from honey, and about half should come from grains. I will not be that precise about it — this is a deeply vibes-based endeavour. I'll dissolve 1.25 lbs of dark DME in boiling water,3 and then I'll mix it with like 1.5 lbs of honey. I think I'll just use clover or wildflower. I suspect this would be great with meadowfoam, but I don't have any meadowfoam. I'll probably use EC1118. I happen to have that stuff lying around.
I will begin this batch tomorrow evening. If the Lord wills it, I will discuss its progress soon.
Guinness is surely a jilted Irish lad, bold but bitter. The strong dessert with is a comely older woman, sweet and nurturing, but assertive and muscular. In this essay, I will↩
This is definitely not because I dislike bottle-carbing and don't feel like buying a keg.↩
I am but a lazy college kid, I lack the work ethic for all-grain brewing.↩