@sevenzy

I talked to Lois Reichert of Reichert's Dairy Air, which is a small scale farmstead goat cheese operation near Knoxville Iowa.  I thought I would be able to relay her answer to you but it was more than my little brain could remember LOL.  I should have brought a pen and paper!  There are a lot of factors that go into it, such as the breed of goat, cleanliness, freshness, how its handled.  She said she would type it out for you when she gets a chance, so stay tuned.  She said having the bucks near can also affect the taste. 

Any of our other members have experience with goats milk?

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@aobaz

Hi, I've been milking goats for over 20 years and spent about 13 as a licensed on farm producer of goat cheese.  This question is complex and I'll probably tell you more than you want to know, but if you understand why milk has a "goaty" flavor, it will help you understand how to prevent it.

The "goaty" flavor in milk is a result of fatty acid chains being broken.  Goat milk fatty acids are primarily Caproic acid and caprylic acid (capra = goat).  When the chains are broken those flavors are released into the milk.  If the chains remain intact, no goaty flavor!  Things that commonly cause breakage of fatty acid chains in raw milk are bacteria and rough handling of milk, causing physical damage to fatty structures.  Bacterial issues are far more common and come from many sources.  Reduction of bacterial activity will produce the best flavor of milk.  First and foremost is cleanliness.  Cleanliness of the environment the goats live in, cleanliness of the milking parlor/area, cleanliness of the teats and udder prior to milking, and most important, cleanliness of all buckets/utensils/jars, etc., that come into contact with the raw milk.  Quickly cooling the milk is also imperative, because bacteria multiply at a much faster rate and will break down the fatty acids if the milk stays in that warm ideal temperature for bacteria too long.  You can't just put a gallon of warm milk in the fridge and expect it to cool fast enough to still taste good.  

So with all that, here are suggestions for best practice in handling raw milk.  

• Keep your barn as clean as is reasonable!  Rebed with straw as needed so udders aren't lying in wet or dirty conditions.
• When time to milk the goat, strip about 3 squirts of milk out of each teat into a strip cup.  The first milk can be contaminated via the teat end.  Then predip with an iodine solution intended for teat dipping.  Let work on the teat end while readying paper towels to wash teats and udder with another light iodine solution or another udder wash of your preference. Dry the teats and udder.  Then milk.  After milking, dip teat ends again in teat dip for protection until the next milking.
• Clean and sanitize all buckets and strainers that come into contact with milk.  You will also need to do an acid soak/rinse occasionally to remove milk stone, a biofilm created over time of minerals and proteins that are hard to remove during normal washing.  This biofilm can trap bacteria.  Dairy inspectors routinely check equipment for milk stone.  You can use vinegar or farm stores sell a dairy acid for milk stone removal.  I use that.  I also scrub all equipment with a rough scouring pad, green scotch brite, to keep milk stone down.  
• After straining milk, immerse in an ice water bath and bring temperature down to at least 60 degrees before refrigerating.  The cooler the better. Storing milk in smaller containers will help it cool faster too.  
• Pasteurizing milk is simple and kills harmful bacteria and is not as susceptible to off flavors. 

All that being said, I have also found that different breeds have a tendency toward milk that tastes goaty.  Often the swiss breeds, toggenburgs and alpines can tend more toward that, but every goat's milk has a different composition.  If choosing a goat of one of these breeds and milk flavor is important to you, ask to taste the mom's milk before you buy.  

I have found nubians, La Manchas, and Nigerian Dwarf milk to be consistently the best tasting.  That's just my experience.  

In addition to getting the best tasting milk, if you are wanting to drink raw goat's milk, the above steps will also insure the raw milk is safe to drink.  If you cannot adhere to the above standards, I would pasteurize milk for safety.  

Now aren't you sorry you asked??????

Delicious goat milk is well worth the hard work, I promise.