I was hungry this morning and decided on some brain food before I start my Quantitative Analysis homework so I cut open the Goat Caerphilly.
It's just shy of three months in age.
Texture is really nice, firm and flexible but it still fractures nicely. There are some mechanical openings in the paste but overall a great knit. There is no evidence of breaking along the curd lines. I'm super happy with the texture on this one. Not sure if it's the make or if it's the extra aging.
The taste is superb. It has a smooth cheddar bite on the back of the tongue without being bitter. I think I'd call it nutty/savory really as opposed to the normal Caerphilly sourish bite. The salt is spot on, I'm always amazed that they don't taste saltier considering the amount of salt in a Caerphilly. Really adds to the flavors. There is a lot going on in this cheese.
I think the extra aging has significantly mellowed the taste of this cheese and in the future I think it's more than worth the extra effort to age it out a bit, it really mellows the cheese and it tastes like it's aged a lot longer than it is. As far as the goat milk goes, it doesn't scream goat at you. If I didn't know, I'd be hard pressed to tell you it's made from goat's milk. One of these days when I get some time between quarters I may try to make a cow and goat version at the same time to have a real comparison. I hate to pat myself on the back but this one came out as good as any cheese I've bought. Oh yeah, it melts great too.
This one came out every bit as good or better than artisan examples I've paid $20/pound for.