Well as you see from my post above I am new to braggot/bracket, but I have made about 10 different mead recipes and 2 for beer so I will start off the replies and others who know more can add and subtract. But as long as you are not a purist, I think I can make some easy suggestions.
Like all meads, the name is a matter of semantics which is based on what you put into it other than honey, as long as honey is the predominant supplier of fermentable sugars. In the case of a braggot, you need some beer sugars (malt extract, syrup or making your own mash) and that is about it. I have read hops is optional, but I like hoppy bear so it will never be optional in my recipes. But there you go, you got a braggot (though there are additional suggestions about boiling, especially the hops).
Assuming by what you have said that you are well familiar with making mead you already have all the equipment you need to make beer, with the exception of a large non-reactive pot so if you have something already you are set.
If you want to try making a beer first to get your feet wet like I did but want to keep it simple, buy something like this
kit first, there are a bunch of types to suit your taste. It has every ingredient you need right down to the beer caps for around $32. Assuming you only make mead, you may need a bottle capper and beer bottles, but I already use a combination of beer and wine bottles for my meads. All the instructions are in the kit on 2 sides of one page and it really could not be simpler. I never read about or made a beer before and my first one came out really good. Once you see how simple it is to make beer, it is easy to make a braggot. In fact if you want to leave out half of the malt extract from the kit (they seem to always come with two 3lb cans of
syrup or bags of
dry extract or a combination) and add 5, 10 or more pounds of honey and let it age a while longer like you would a mead, then you have a braggot right there.
I am playing with my own recipe for my first one and if it turns out ok, I will post it here. I am way behind in posting my others though so may take a while. Most of the recipes I have seen mainly only contain honey, malt syrup, wine yeast and optional hops, but I am going to try adding some specialty grains like they do in the kits I linked. I want something strong and frothy!
