Are you looking to expand your brewing skills and try something new? Brewing a braggot might just be the perfect challenge for you. A braggot is an underutilized style that combines elements of both mead and beer, resulting in a delicious and unique beverage.

What is Braggot?

Braggot is a traditional drink that dates back to ancient times. It is made by fermenting a mixture of honey and malted barley, creating a beverage that has a nice mild honey character and subdued malt character. Adding hops with a nice floral character complements this style well. Depending on whether or not the final product is back sweetened, you'll either end up with something light and crisp, or light and sweet. Either way, braggots are a delicious and very "crushable" beverage.

Our Hazy & Hoppy Braggot Recipe

There are a lot of ways one could approach making a braggot, but we're going for something that's a cross between a traditional braggot and a session hazy IPA. Here's the full list of ingredients we used.

• 7.1 gallons of water
• 3 pounds of pilsner base malt
• 3 pounds of wildflower honey
• 1 pound of flaked oats
• 6 ounces of honey malt
• 1 package East Coast Ale yeast

Additional (Optional) Ingredients

The ingredients listed above are required. If you want to take your braggot to the next level, consider adding these optional ingredients to improve water chemistry and fermentation health.

• 1/2 camped tablet (to remove chlorine and chloramine)
• 1 zinc capsule (for yeast health)
• 1 gram yeast nutrient (for yeast health)

Braggot Brewing Process

1. Start by gathering your ingredients, including honey, malted barley, water, hops, and yeast. Make sure you don't forget to grab some Camden and yeast nutrient as well. The zinc addition is optional.

2. Heat water to mash temp (155F) in a large pot and add brewing salts for water chemistry adjustment (optional) as well as half a campden tablet (highly recommended).

3. Once the water has been prepared add finely milled malted barley. Maintain temperature for 60 minutes and allow the barley to steep. If done correctly, enzymes in the base malt with convert barley starches in the barley and oats into sugar. This process is referred to as "mashing."

4. Once the mash is complete, remove grains by pulling the grain basket and heat the liquid to a boil. The spent grains are compostable, so add them to your compost pile if you have one.

4. Once the liquid is actually boiling, add 1 ounce of vista hops and set a timer for 50 minutes.

5. After the hops and malt sugars have boiled for 50 minutes, recirculate the liquid through your pump and chiller for 10 minutes to make sure they are sanitized.

6. After the recirculation period, turn off the heat and add 3 pounds of honey, as well as 3 more ounces of vista hops. This is called a "flame out" addition and should be allowed to steep for 20 minutes.

7. After the flame out addition, chill the liquid to room temperature (70F), transfer to a fermenter (we're using a keg fermenter) and add the East Coast Ale yeast.

8. Approximately 3 days after fermentation has begun, add 4 ounces of vista hops to the fermenter. This is called a "dry hop" addition and will increase aroma and hop flavor.

9. Once fermentation is finished, rack (transfer) to a fresh keg, chill, carbonate, and serve.

Tips for Brewing a Braggot

- Experiment with different ratios of honey to barley to find the perfect balance of sweetness and maltiness.

- Try using a different type of hops. There are many to choose from and they all have their own unique characteristics.

- Try using a unique type of honey with a more distinct and interesting flavor to differentiate your braggot.

- Consider back-sweetening with honey to add additional sweetness for more of a "mead vibe."