Braggot, the beer and mead hybrid
Braggot is a fermented drink made from both malt and honey. It sits between beer and mead and has been brewed in Britain for centuries. Here is how it works, what it tastes like and why Indian honey makes it worth trying.
An old drink with a Welsh name
The word braggot is generally traced to the Welsh bragawd, a drink of honey and malt. Chaucer mentions bragot in The Canterbury Tales, comparing a sweet mouth to bragot or mead. It was clearly familiar in fourteenth century England.
The idea is straightforward. Honey ferments into mead. Malt ferments into beer. Put them together and you get a drink that shares features of both. For centuries it was a household drink where both bees and barley were at hand.
Where the honey goes
Honey is mostly sugar, usually around 80% by weight. That sugar ferments almost completely. One kilogram of honey in 10 litres of liquid adds roughly 0.029 to the specific gravity. Because nearly all of it ferments, honey dries a drink out and adds alcohol without adding much body.
That is why braggot needs malt. Malt brings unfermentable sugars, proteins and flavour that give body and a bready backbone. The balance between the two decides the drink. Proportions vary widely: some braggots are mostly malt with a honey accent, others are mostly honey with a malt base.
What the guidelines say
The BJCP places braggot among its specialty meads, not its beers. The key requirement is that both honey and malt should be clearly present. If you cannot taste the honey, it is a beer with honey added. If you cannot taste the malt, it is a mead.
Strength varies a lot. Many braggots sit somewhere between 6 and 12% ABV. They can be pale or dark, hoppy or not, still or sparkling. Brewers often build on a recognised beer style, such as a brown ale or a pale ale. They then add enough honey to bring the mead side forward.
How brewers make one
Most brewers make a wort in the usual way, mash, boil and hop it, then add honey. When the honey goes in matters. Boiling it drives off much of its delicate aroma. Many brewers add it at the end of the boil after the heat is off, or straight into the fermenter once fermentation has started, to keep the floral notes.
Honey has little of the nitrogen yeast needs, so a high-honey braggot can ferment slowly. Healthy yeast, good oxygenation and patience help. Strong braggots often benefit from several months of conditioning before the honey and malt settle together.
Here is a simple worked example for a 20 litre homebrew. Brew a 20 litre batch of brown ale wort at around 1.050. After fermentation starts, add 3 kg of honey dissolved in a little warm water. That adds roughly 0.044 to the gravity across the batch, taking the total to about 1.094 if all were present at once. Expect a strong, warming drink around 10 to 11% ABV that needs months to settle. Halve the honey for something closer to 8%.
Indian honey changes the drink
Honey varies by flower. India produces many distinct types: litchi honey from Bihar, mustard honey from the north, multiflora honeys from forests and the Western Ghats, eucalyptus and more. Each brings a different aroma. Litchi honey can give a floral, fruity lift. Mustard honey is milder. Dark forest honeys bring a stronger, almost spicy character.
That makes India a fine place to experiment. Our guides to adding Indian honey to beer and brewing a honey ale at home cover sourcing and handling. Buy from a supplier you trust. Adulterated honey with added sugar syrup ferments but tastes of nothing.
What braggot tastes like
A good braggot smells of both the hive and the brewhouse. Expect floral or waxy honey notes over bread, caramel or toast from the malt. The finish is often drier than people expect, because honey ferments so thoroughly. Higher strength versions feel warming and can resemble a light barley wine with a floral edge.
Serve it in a small wine glass at 10 to 14 °C so the aroma opens. At these strengths, treat it like wine, not lager: a small pour, sipped slowly, with water alongside. Never drink and drive.
Braggot also ages well, more like a mead than a beer. A strong bottle kept cool and dark for a year often tastes rounder than it did at three months. Heat works against it, so keep it out of a hot kitchen or car boot.
Tasting two drinks in one glass
Braggot asks a taster to hold two references at once: what a good mead tastes like and what a good beer tastes like. Spotting whether the honey is genuine, whether the malt supports it and whether the alcohol is clean is the kind of judgement that guided tasting builds.
For a first step, taste a spoonful of the honey on its own. Then taste a malty ale and, if you can, a braggot made with similar honey. Note which honey aromas survive fermentation and which disappear. You will learn what honey really contributes to a drink.
Common questions
What is braggot?
Braggot is a fermented drink made from both honey and malt, sitting between mead and beer.
How strong is braggot?
It varies widely, but many braggots are around 6 to 12% ABV.
Is braggot a beer or a mead?
The BJCP treats it as a specialty mead. Both honey and malt should be clearly tasted in the finished drink.
When should honey be added to braggot?
Many brewers add it after the boil or into the fermenter, because boiling drives off much of the honey aroma.
