Ottos Quick Braggett I

Full Recipe Name
Otto's Quick Braggett I
Recipe Source
Loosely based on Sir Hugh Platt’s “bragget” recipe in “The Jewell House of Art and Nature” (1594). It appears in "A Sip Through Time - A Collection of Old Brewing Recipes" by Cindy Renfrow (1994) and as a variation in "Radical Brewing - Recipes, Tales & World Altering Mediations in a Glass" by Randy Mosher (2004).
Brewer
Otto Gottlieb
Panel Information
Panel Location: Great Northeastern War Panel Date: July 14, 2012 Score: 86.4
Beverage Information
Period: Renaissance Division: Division 1: Ales, Beer, Braggot, Lambic, Stout Origin: English

This is one of my first beers entered for EKBG paneling. The documentation isn't my best, but a start.

Redaction

Braggot (modern spelling) is a very old style. It was traditionally made with ale (no hops), either strong and new or re-boiled with sour ale and some new ale, with honey. Spices would be put into a bag and added during fermentation in a cask and would mature in 3 to 4 months. According to Sir Hugh Platt, “wherby you may draw the same fine presently.”

The purpose of Otto’s Quick Bragget was to make a sweet honey ale, spiced with period ingredients, that would take less time to mature and have a shelf-life of more than a couple of weeks. At 40% of the fermentable sugars, the light dry malt extract forms a light ale base for the %60 fermentable sugars from the honey. Light crystal malt was added for a caramel malt sweetness to balance the honey. East Kent Goldings, a low alpha-acid hop, was used for preserving the ale (technically making this a period “beere”), imparting only a slight bittering character. This bragget emphasizes the period selection of spices. In his documented recipe, Sir Hugh Platt called for:

“of Cinamon three ounces: ginger three ounces, greins 3. ounces, colianders one ounce, cloues one ounce, nutmegs one ounce, long pepper halfe an ounce, Cardamomum one ounce and a halfe, liquerice one ounce”

According to Randy Mosher, “In other recipes, mace and nutmeg replace the pepper and galingale.” I have not yet discovered these other sources, but continue to search. Therefore, I used his list of spices and proportions provided in “An English Bragot, c. 1500”. I was fortunate to find longpepper when I needed it; Lord Gwillim Kynith, another Endewearde Brewers’ Guild member, had about an ounce available to loan. I was able to find galangal at a local Thai restaurant. Cinnamon, candied ginger, and cloves were easy to find at my local natural foods store.

Ingredient

• 3 lbs. light DME
• 4 ½ lbs. honey
• 1 lb. 15L crystal malt
• ½ oz. East Kent Goldings Hops (preservative)
• 0.8 oz. each cinnamon, long pepper, candied ginger
• 0.2 oz. each galangal and cloves
• 1 pkt, Danstar brand Nottingham ale yeast

Process and Notes

Under construction.

• Original Gravity: 1.060
• Final Gravity: 1.022
• ABV: 5.5 %
• Timeline: Brewed ale on June 17, 2012. Racked June 24. Bottled July 4.

References

Mosher, Randy, 2004. Radical Brewing - Recipes, Tales & World Altering Mediations in a Glass.

Platt, Sir Hugh, 1594. The Jewell House of Art and Nature.

Renfrow, Cindy, 1994. A Sip Through Time - A Collection of Old Brewing Recipes.