Dark Dark Goose:
Coffee Mead aged in a bourbon barrel then in a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout barrel

The Inspiration:
We approached this mead with inspiration from the imperial stouts aged in bourbon barrels we love so much. These stouts have a small percentage of dark roasted barley that gives the burnt toasty flavors. But they also have a lot of malt background. We decided to see if we could approach a mead in the same way.

The Coffee:
We took a field trip to Chazzano Coffee Roasters in Ferndale, MI to meet with founder and coffee expert, Frank Lanzkron-Tamarazo. As usual, Frank pulled out all the stops and soon we had about a dozen french presses of different coffees roasted to different levels. We evaluated each one for a couple of hours until we had just the right combination. We eventually settled on a blend of 75% Nicaragua Maragogype Superior Las Segovias (French roast), and 25% Yemen Mocca San’ani (full city roast). For a full explanation of the roasts, Chazzano’s website has an excellent explanation.

The Honey:
We wanted the honey profile to be as rich and complex as the coffee we selected, so we eventually settled on a 50/50 blend of Wildflower and Buckwheat honey. Each was sourced in its raw form from beekeepers in Michigan.

The Barrels:
After fermentation, the mead was aged in a bourbon barrel. In October of 2011 our co-founder, Brad, drove his piece of junk car to Chicago to meet with the head of Goose Island’s barrel program. He returned with a coveted barrel (on the roof of his car) that was used to age their Bourbon County Stout. We then aged the coffee mead in this barrel until the summer of 2012.

Welcome, the Dark Dark Goose.