Venerable mead!

A rare collaboration braggot from Giant Jones and Bos Meadery

From isthmus.com

A braggot is a combination of beer and mead. It’s a rare treat when one turns up commercially, especially a Wisconsin-made one. Federal laws are different for meaderies versus breweries regarding what each can use as raw ingredients to make alcohol. Therefore, few choose to take on the challenge of making a braggot on their own. Suffice it to say, when Giant Jones Brewing and Bos Meadery worked together to create a dark braggot called Paint It Black, they stayed within the letter of the law.

What is it? Paint It Black is a braggot from Giant Jones Brewing Company and Bos Meadery.

                                                                  Robin Shepard
Style: Braggot, sometimes called bracket or brackett, is closely related to mead, a drink that can be traced back thousands of years — it’s one of the oldest alcoholic beverages. Braggots are commonly made with a high percentage of honey, sometimes at levels of more than half of the fermentable sugars. Because honey is so easily fermented by yeast, it adds strength and unique sweetness to the brew. Braggots will range from 6 to 12 percent ABV.

Background: Any type of honey and any style of beer can go into making a braggot so they have a wide range of qualities in their aroma, flavour, colour and strength. The base beer for Paint It Black is Giant Jones’ Extra Stout. It’s a robust dark beer that the brewery recently introduced as a late winter/early spring seasonal. Brewmaster Jessica Jones says she chose the stout because of its full-bodied creamy texture that blends well with what honey brings to a braggot. Jones wanted to avoid a thin, lifeless braggot without much taste.
Giant Jones and Bos Meadery are only a block apart, so a collaboration braggot seemed like a good fit; the two business owners are also good friends. A few weeks before brewing, Jones sat down with meadery owner Colleen Bos to sample different meads with the stout in order come up with the right match. “If you like stout, you’ll like this braggot, says Jones, adding, “It has the body of the stout with a strong honey component.”
Raw Wisconsin wild flower honey from Pure Sweet Honey Farm of Verona contributes to the mead side of the recipe.

One of the key techniques that Bos and Jones used was to gradually add a mixture of honey and water along with a strain of yeast, four times over eight days, after the stout had finished its primary fermentation. The process kept the yeast active which allows more mead-like character to come through rather than just raw honey. “The mead is quite apparent, and it doesn’t disappoint on the beer front either,” says Jones. The ratio of beer to the mixture of honey and water is roughly 2 to 1. That leaves the braggot at around 8 percent ABV.
Paint It Black sells for $5/glass in the Giant Jones taproom and Bos Meadery’s mead hall. The launch party for Paint It Black will be Wednesday at Bos Meadery with the official tapping at 5 p.m. It goes on tap at Giant Jones beginning Thursday at 4 p.m.

Tasting notes:

• Aroma: A roastedness much like you find in most stouts, only with a light floral background from the honey.
• Appearance: Dark black body, with a bubbly brown head.
• Texture: Medium- to full-bodied with creaminess from the flaked barley that goes into making the stout.
• Taste: The roasted malty stout character is up front and prominent. The honey comes in just a little later with floral and raisin sweetness that lingers.
• Finish/Aftertaste: As the braggot warms, more of the floral honey notes come through. There’s a light spicy sweetness that blends with the roasted coffee-like maltiness. Also, faint hints of stone fruit sweetness from the dark malts come in late.

Glassware: The Belgian-style tulip glass with a slight inward taper helps focus the floral honey notes, so you notice a blend with the roasted malts.
Pairs well with: maybe nothing. It’s a very nice after-dinner drink, and best on its own to showcase the layers of flavour. Allow it to warm to experience more of the mead-like character.

The Verdict: I’m a fan of braggots and I admire anyone who tackles making one. Paint It Black didn’t disappoint. Most braggots I’ve had have been sweeter, which I attribute to being made with base beers like barley wines or scotch or amber ales. Instead, Paint It Black surprised me with its initial wave of roasted dark malts and coffee accents of the stout. I had to wait for the mead flavour. As I sipped, my taste buds gradually became more attuned to the complexity and layers of flavour from the honey. There’s a smooth creamy texture from the flaked barley; however, this isn’t a sticky-sweet drink. Floral, earthy spiciness comes from the honey. This is a nice addition to the taps of both Giant Jones and Bos Meadery.

https://isthmus.com/food-drink/beer/giant-jones-and-bos-meadery-collaboration-braggot/