So. The Drinking Goat Brewing Co. graduated from college. Bummer. It's very sad. But you're probably not interested in that. You're interested in the brews. Well. Here's what we thought.
Straight Up Mead
-magna cum laude (B+)
comments included:
"A spritz of your mead went well with sweetened ice tea."
"You know, chilled this isn't half bad."
"This is way better than the last time we drank it."
We intend to keep Straight Up Mead recipe whilst giving it some minor twists and adjustments. We like this drink and it likes us.
Cyser
-no laudes (C- -)
comments included:
"This tastes weak."
"This tastes weak."
"This tastes weak."
So our cyser tasted weak. But you can truly taste the potential in it, if only the fake-Frenchman and the real-Frenchman hadn't watered the wort down to modify our initial SG. But oh well. We'll take a second crack at this one come apple season and this time we won't eff it up.
Ultra Dry Red Wine
-no laudes (F +)
comments included:
"This tastes like shit."
"Oh shit."
"You know. It's not half bad. I kind of like it."
"What happened? This was so much better when we racked to secondary. I'm pouring the rest of it out."
So. For the record. I hated this one. And I'm pretty sad because we worked extra hard on it. The consensus was pretty much that somewhere somehow this one got seriously messed up. However, some people liked it despite its obvious failures. Not me. This one is a drink to forget about and never write home about. The only reason I've given it a "+" next to its "F" is because a couple crazos could stand the taste and actually asked for another bottle (which they received).
Basic Braggot
-no laudes (incomplete)
comments included:
"Hmm..."
This one needs a couple more weeks in the bottle before it gets its real grade and evaluation. Carbonation and conditioning have not occurred yet.
Pumpkin Braggot
-no laudes (incomplete with honors)
comments included:
"This shows promise."
"Wow. This smells really good."
"At least it's not the ultra dry red wine."
Our pumpkin braggot DOES show the most promise. It also is an ENTIRELY original concoction, so that is kind of fun. The pumpkin and pumpkin spices are very present in the smell and the taste, in a good way. But the honey is a little overpowering too, giving it a pretty powerful mead flavor/smell instead of a beer flavor/smell. This one will be rated again after another few days of bottle carbonation and maybe after a week of cold conditioning. Look out people. The pumpkin braggot is in town.
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The sad news is that the DGBC crew has scattered to the far corners of the earth. Many are still in Chicago, some in Boston, some moving to Colorado, some in Missouri, Kentucky, etc. But we'll stay friends and brewing/drinking buddies as long as there are grains to be had and brews to be consumed.
Tune in frequently as the fake-Frenchman and the auburn Appalachian attempt to tweak past recipes and embark on all new and all grain brewing adventures.
Many thanks to the injured intellectual for making this wonderful sketch of a rather drinky-goat. We'll be including it in future label designs. Hooray for art!
Remember, for updates, questions, comments, concerns, recipes, pictures, etc, you can always e-mail the DGBC at: drinkinggoat (at) gmail (dot) com
