Brother Adam's Bragget Honey Ale

Atlantic Brewing Company, in Bar Harbor, found a great namesake for this outstanding and unique beer.

Brother Adam was born Carl Kehrle in Schwaben, Germany in 1898. He entered the Benedictine Abbey of Buckfast (England) at the age of 11 (due to an overprotective mother and/or apparent health problems). At 15, too young for re-construction work on the Abbey, Brother Adam was sent to the Abbey's apiary. This would be the beginning of a long (Brother Adam worked at the apiary until he was 93!) life of dedication to the study and breeding of honey bees and invaluable contributions to the beekeeping industry (in the UK especially).

A braggot is a style of ale that originated in Wales quite some time ago (1,000 years according to the bottle) brewed with equal portions of both honey and barley (originally it was just honey and hops). This one was brewed with over 2,000 pounds of Maine honey in the boil so you can imagine that with that much honey and an equal amount of malt that this is going to be one high alcohol yielding and rather complex beer and you'd be right.

Brother Adam's pours like a dessert wine leaving that familiar sheen on the side of the glass that a strong alcohol or wine leaves. Its a nice whiskey color in the glass with a thin head and medium amounts of carbonation bubbles.

With a ridiculous amount of fermentable sugars coming from a ton of honey it is not surprising that this is a strong beer. It smells very sweet. However its not an overwhelmingly rich beer. Its sweet, yes that can't be argued, but its amazingly balanced. I get hints of vanilla, brown sugar, alcohol for sure and orange. Not sure where the orange comes from, that could just be a flavor I can't distinguish.

I really like this beer. I was hesitant to pick this up for a long time because I didn't know much about it. I'm glad I looked into it and grabbed a bottle since it was a worthy investment and a real treat. This is a sipping beer. If I had a fireplace and a comfortable chair I would be all set!

BEER FACTS

Name: Brother Adam's Bragget Honey Ale

Style: Braggot

Brewery: Atlantic Brewing Company

Location: Bar Harbor, Maine, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: Pale + Maine honey

Hops: Target

ABV: 11.8%

IBUs: ?

To read more about Brother Adam go HERE!

Brewed in Maine