If you are interested in going beyond just brewing an ale with a little honey in it, this braggot recipe is for you.

My plan was to keep this recipe on the small side from a starting gravity perspective. I wanted to see if I could make something that would drink more like a high gravity beer. Looking that the starting gravity now, it’s still pretty high but in the world of meads, I think starting gravities under 1.100 is on the smaller side.

For this recipe, you are going to mash, boil, and chill the grains and the hops like you normally would for a brew, but just with a smaller boil size and smaller resulting finished wort.

After the wort is chill, you are going to combine it with the honey. I don’t boil the honey. You can but I don’t.

Boil size: 4.5 gallons
Final wort: 3.5 gallons
Batch Size: 4.0 gallons (honey + wort in the fermentor)
Starting Gravity: 1.096

Ingredients:

4 lbs German Pilsner Malt
0.5 lb Victory Malt
0.5 lb Honey Malt
6 lb Local Honey
2 oz Centennial Hops (boiled 60 mins)
2 tsp Yeast Nutrient
2 tsp Yeast Energizer
Yeast: Wyeast Scottish Ale 1728

Instructions:

Make a big yeast starter a few days before brew day.
Mash only grains at 149° F for 60 minutes. Run off and boil wort with hops for 60 minutes. Chill wort to 65 degrees F and combine with honey in fermenter. Add nutrient and energizer. Aerate well. Pitch yeast.

Ferment at 65° F for 2 to 3 weeks or until the gravity stops

Ferment for 2 to 3 weeks. It make take longer. You’ll be looking for a final gravity in the 1.028 range. Rack to a secondary vessel and condition at basement temperatures for 3 months. Prime and bottle or keg and force carbonate before serving.

P.S. So I have this idea where you could brew a Scottish ale and then brew a braggot right after it and use the same yeast for both. That’s what I am planning to do, so in essence your Scottish 70 Shilling ale is your yeast starter, but a yeast starter you can enjoy while your braggot is conditioning.