The Way It Gose

I'm on a bit of a wheaty kick this week. Sunday saw us compare two modern Pilsners where wheat was used to some unknown purpose and tomorrow - if I stick to schedule - I'll be basically just drinking a whole can of wheat. So today will act as a sort of bridge between the two, where wheat can still play a part but won't steal the show.

It's generally accepted that the Gose orginated in Goslar, in middle-Germany, but for a good portion of its history it was (and is today) brewed just East of there, in Leipzig. Time has taken its toll on the Gose - once upon a beer it was probably brewed with only wheat malt, underwent spontaneous fermentation and may have been free of one or both of its modern day adjuncts: salt and coriander (seed). Over time, barely crept into the mash, coriander seed and a pinch of salt made it into the boil and lactic acid became a manual addition. If you want to learn more about the Gose style from someone who actually does their research, it is well worth paying a visit to Wilder Wald.

The Gose was usually intended as a refreshing summer drink, but today's Gose is brewed for a winter day just like today (except its a balmy 12°C out there at the moment). BBNo does away with coriander seed (a typically lemony flavour) and finds its source of citrus in orange zest. It also uses Himalayan Pink Salt, which seems to be all the rage recently. Blackcurrant, plum and red grape make up the Winter Fruits here, but you'll see below I miss 2/3 of them.

BBNo | 19 | Gose: Winter Fruits

^{Alc 5.0% | Canned on 12.11.2020}

Colour

Opaque ruby red with a firm light pink head.

Nose

Salt water (almost verging on vegetable stock) opening up to juicy oranges. After warming up a bit: candy floss.

Mouth

A medium strength, but fast-fading sour hit. Some sour saltiness lingers through to a bone dry currant-y finish.

7/10

I enjoyed this. Nicely balanced from start to finish. At first it felt a little salty, but I acclimatised quickly enough. Its well pitched as a Winter beverage - I don't think it would have really quenched my thirst mid-Summer. The colour is probably the best part. I don't drink things from the fruit or sour departments too often, so when I'm tasting something that isn't some shade of gold straw I get a bit more excited than usual to pour it into a glass.

jay