On Friday I opened a bottle of my friend's homebrew, a braggot that he brewed back in January. Historically, a braggot was a fifty-fifty mix of mead (a drink made from fermented honey) and beer. Nowadays, it's a beer brewed with a ton of honey. I'm sure there's an actual amount of honey instead of just "a ton" but I don't know it off-hand.
I don't have a lot of experience with braggots. The only one I've had at this point is Weyerbacher Sixteen (see my review
here along with a bunch of Dark Horse stuff) and I thought it was way too syrupy and sweet. This meant I was going into drinking Mike's braggot with a bit of hesitance. However, turns out I had nothing to worry about and it was damn good!
Smelled sweet and syrupy with a hint of honey, similar to Sixteen but not quite as strong. Very thick mouthfeel. Started fruity (almost like a quad but a little sweeter), then a little caramel and alcohol, and finished with some of the same syrupy sweetness. The fruit continued to be at the forefront through most of the glass with the syrupy-ness lessening as I got more used to it. I don't know if Mike used less honey to brew this than Weyerbacher which is why it was less syrupy but whatever he did, he did right as it was better than Sixteen. So, go Mike. Glad I have a second bottle for sure.
