Good Road Ciderworks - Charlotte, NC

     A while back, I was visiting Charlotte, NC on work and decided to explore one night.  I stumbled upon Good Road Ciderworks before grabbing some dinner and what a selection they had! Not just of ciders, but also of meads.  They had so many, I couldn't decide what I wanted so I went with a 5 sample flight.

     From left to right, they're the Waymaker, the Blackberry Pitch, the Frolicking Fig (Anniversary Release), the 10 Penny Lane, & the Avogadro's Trail.

     The Waymaker is an apple ginger cider that has a nice 6.7% ABV to it. It's a nice crisp apple cider with a healthy ginger kick to it.  I could drink this all the time, it was really refreshing and was absolutely delicious.

     The Blackberry Pitch was actually one of my least favorite, even though it sounded amazing.  The mix of blackberries and apples host a 6% ABV and the flavor was really well done with a beautiful blend of apples and blackberries.  The problem I had with it was that it was too tart for my taste, it could have used a little more sweetness for my taste to even out that tartness of the blackberries.

     The Frolicking Fig (Anniversary Release) is a delicious mead with complex flavors and boasted an impressive 12.8% ABV!  It's a full-bodied and semi-sweet mead that combines the spice & warmth of a medium-dark honey with the toast and spice of being aged in a Doc Porter Rye barrel, all layered with the flavors of figs.  I really enjoyed this one and it would make a great holiday drink or after-dinner drink following a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

     The 10 Penny Lane is one of the more interesting drinks I've had.  It's what's known as a braggot, which is a hybrid creation that combines the best parts of beer and mead.  They combined several honeys and several malts to bring this to life with a 10% ABV.  This one combine fruit and toffee with the bitterness of beer and sweetness of mead.  This was an impressive blend and a great beverage for lovers of beers and mead.

     The Avogadro's Trail is a classic mead with a twist, the honey is from Avocado blossoms. This honey led to a mead with notes of browned butter, caramel, and apricot flavors with a nice 7.5% ABV. While it may not be a very strong beverage, the flavor composition was well-balanced and was very smooth.  I could see relaxing by a fire while drinking this.

     There was one other mead I tried while I was there, and brought a growler of it home with me, the T'ej.  This delicious mead was a new experience for me as it's not the traditional mead people are familiar with but is based on an Ethiopean mead recipe. It blends African honey with hops to create this national drink that boasts a 10.5% ABV.  While most meads are traditionally on the sweet side, this one is more of a medium body with a woodsy taste with hints of tea & black pepper.  These flavors all blend together with the honey to create a mead that reminds me of an adult version of Earl Grey with a dollop of honey.  one of the more savory meads I've had and truly enjoy.

     I really enjoyed my trip there and look forward to my next trip to Charlotte to try more of their products and bring home another growler of one of their creations!