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Orange Blossom Special Braggot

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Meriadoc said:
OK, so... if I were to get back to the batch a week after bottling, and just opening and immediately re-closing each one, might do the trick?
Click to expand...

I don't think you need to go through all that hoohah. With your amount of honey, you should be around 3.35 volumes of CO2. At 75 F that is about 46 PSI. Beer bottles should tolerate that without problem. If you let them carbonate, and keep them in a cool place, you should have no issues. If you let them sit somewhere with a temperature in the 80s, watch out.
 
Well, I've tried two bottles to date. First was one I'd stored in my room, here in DC. Ambient temps were probably in the 70s. After about 9 days, the level of carbonation was quite high! The "pop" when I opened the Grolsch bottle was quite intense. I also opened one when I was back at the folks' place. That one had been stored in about 60-68 degree temps. Not nearly as much carbonation, so I'm not concerned that they'll over-carbonate, especially as the temps move down. My last two here at my room are in my fridge, so that they don't get too highly pressured.

I liked the result -- it was mellow, with very little hop character (just the way my mom and sis-in-law like their beers, so I'm expecting they'll go for it). A bit of honey taste, but not overpowering. It'll be interesting to see how they taste in a month (I plan to bring them out during Thanksgiving). I'd do this recipe again -- maybe not for myself, but for guests.

So, the braggot experiment went well -- I'm thinking I may have to check out additional recipes and do another one over Christmas break...!
 
So this finished at 7.5 but still was able to carbonate?
I am a little uneducated in beer--how did you make a sweet beer? Was it the short steeping time?
 
Wolfie said:
So this finished at 7.5 but still was able to carbonate?
I am a little uneducated in beer--how did you make a sweet beer? Was it the short steeping time?
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Carbonation to about 2.0 volumes was not a problem. I bottle primed with corn sugar.

Regarding sweetness, I guess I would say that the use of that descriptor is relative. I wouldn't call this sweet in comparison to a traditional sweet mead, but it is sweeter than most of the ales that I brew.
 
I guess I'm trying to figure out where these "unfermentable sugars" in beer come from. I can not carbonate a mead that has that much residual sugar (btw--1.014 is pretty close to where I aim most of my semi sweet meads, maybe 1.025 for a really sweet one)

I am looking at making a braggot myself right now (see here if your interested). leaving a little of the sweetness from the grain as you did in this (maybe not 14 points, but some) might really help. In beer making how does one get that residual sugar? Is it a particular process a particular malt or a particular yeast?
 
It is, in fact, all dependent on the way that the malt is mashed. The enzymes that convert malted barley starches and complex into those simpler sugars that can be fermented, operate in two distinctly different ways, and which of the two enzymes is more active is controlled by the temperature of the mash. So, by regulating both the time of the mash and its temperature, you can control how much residual complex sugar will be left in the wort.
 
At the urging of several friends, I've entered this braggot into the F.O.A.M competition in Tulsa, OK. Should be interesting to hear what the judges thing about it. I've never entered a competition before, so I'm in unfamiliar territory. :)
 
I think I still have some of the CaraWheat I bought last August to make a batch of this braggot, and was thinking of making another batch soon. What's the shelf life of this stuff? Should I use it, or pitch it out and buy fresh?
 
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