Atlantic Brother Adams Honey Bragget Ale

Brewed by Atlantic Brewing Company
Style: Mead
Bar Harbor, Maine USA

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: OCT 5, 2006 Very old beer style, brewed at least 1000 years ago as a mix of mead and beer, very smooth, sweet and drinkable; not much head. The 22oz bottle was $7.29 and can be split since it is a sipping beer and NOT one to pound down. Last had this in 2/2002 and it hasn’t changed - worth going out of your way for. Rerated October 2006 from a bottle I have had for more than a year. This is how beer should be - its perfect.

An outstanding example of bragget or "bragott", which is a cross between an ale and a mead, being brewed with 2,000 lbs of honey per batch. I’ve enjoyed this one on draught at the brewery, and bottled vintages, and it is an amazingly good beer. Brother Adams pours to a beautiful, deep golden color, with a slight white head that fades, and a soft carbonation. The nose on this beer is excellent, with lots of big aromas of sweet malt, toffee, honey, and peppery alcohol. The body is slick and full on the tongue, with big flavors of sweet malt, caramel, toffee, and honey sweetness. Brother Adams finishes with more big sweet malt flavors up front, then ends with a soothing, warming, burn that lingers. This beer is a bit cloying young, but a few years of age rounds out the malt sweetness, and some more of the peppery alcohol notes cut the sweetness. At 11% abv it is a heady brew, and one to sip and savor. Enjoy this one as a winter warmer with a good book or movie, or as a night cap.

I let the bottle warm up a bit out of the fridge before opening. Very interesting brew. Poured with decent foamy, thick, slightly creamy, light tan head and lots of lace. Color is a clear, dark orange copper amber with some bubble trails. Aroma is honey, malt, and a bit of funk. Flavor is the most interesting part - truly a cross between ale and mead. Malt, a hint of bitter hop and honey - minus the heavy honey flavors retaining only the smooth, mellow qualities. Body is full and lush with perfect carbonation to cut through the sweetness. Finish is like flavor and is quite long. Excellent after dinner beer; maybe one of the best I’ve ever had.

Bottle coutessy of someone visiting heavyweight. Brownish golden with a white head. Sherried candi aroma. Brown sugar noted as well. Sweet candied flavor. Dry finish. Real nice.

Sticker on bottle says Aged Since November 2000. Pours a murky, orangish brown. Thin tan head, quickly dissipates. Looks almost flat but the mouth reveals some carbonation. Smells of honey and sweet mead. Caramel. Nutty, vanilla. Fruity, ripe plum. Vinuous. Tastes of rich caramel malt. Vanilla and oak. Honey. Light alcohol flavor. Sweet. Earthy and bready. Spiced apple way back. Very barleywine-ish but with a bit of mead flavor mixed in. Mouth is velvet smooth. Elegantly masks the alcohol. A sipper but a real smooth one. Must get more to age...

This poured a bright light brown color with basically no head at all. Aroma was lots of honey, some caramel and alcohol. Flavor was way smoother than I was expecting, just sweet honey water with some toasted notes. Definately the most drinkable mead/braggot ive ever had. I guess the 5 years on it helped alot.

Very good barley wine style beer. Dark orange in the glass, it has a subtle sweetness with just a hint of hops. I thought the sweetness hid the alcohol pretty well, but it was still apparent. Overall, a very good beer.

Bottle. Brownish golden with a nice white head. Sherried candi aroma. Sweet flavor. Dry finish Really nice. Enjoyable.

This is my first ever taste of a Braggot, and considering the rarity of the style, who knows when I’ll come across another. The label also calls it barley wine style ale, so at least it has some peers in that category. The look was clear, reddish amber, and lightly carbonated, which was pretty similar to most barleywines. The aroma was deeply fruity and very intoxicating. The presence of the honey was clearly apparent with each deep breath. The taste was quite sweet and winey and the first sip had me worried if I was going to like this. As I got used to the sweetness, the caramelized, spicy, and slightly sour underlying flavors revealed themselves. The hops were not always apparent as their wispy citric dryness was easy to miss. What surprised me was the rather modest level of alcohol burn. I was anticipating a big bruiser with the 11.5% posted ABV, but this was more of a gentle giant. The sweet flavor did however make this only suitable for sipping. A little thin on the palette, but that is understandable, since honey used was likely all eaten up, and proportional to volume the grain bill was rather small. Quite a satisfying drink, and I’m going to have to cellar some to see how time can add maturity.

2004 bomber Copper with a off white head that quickly disappears,nice honey and alcohol aroma Sweet and malty but thin , very nice very strong, I like the belgian character from the yeast almost a like a honey quad, I would pair it with some stinky cheese because its got such a nice aroma.