A honey-and-malt hybrid of mead and beer — fermented from both honey and malted grain, so it can lean either way, from a malty, honeyed ale to a grainy mead. Hops are optional. Roughly 6–13% ABV; sweetness ranges from dry to sweet.
In the glass
Origin
Braggot (also bracket or brackett) is an old drink bridging mead and ale, recorded in medieval Britain — the name comes from the Welsh bragawd (brag, “malt”) — as a honeyed, often spiced malt drink. It has been revived by both meaderies and breweries exploring the honey-malt middle ground.
Notes
Braggot sits exactly between beer and mead — the one mead style built on malt as well as honey, which is why it is the only mead where hops are even contemplated. Catalogued here as a mead, but it is equally a beer-mead hybrid.
Defining examples
The Rare Barrel / mead-beer collaborations (varies)·Dogfish Head braggot releases (varies)