This beer had 2 things going for it right off the bat. One, it came in a crazy bottle unlike anything I'd ever seen before. In fact that was at lest 75% of the reason I decided to pick it up. Second, the name reminded me of a word they always used in one of my favorite shows, Firefly. I think it was a curse of some sort, but oh well.
There were a few things I didn't know about the beer going into drinking it that I wish I had known. First, Gose is the style, not the name of the beer. The beer is made with 50-60% wheat, and has coriander and salt added, making it one of the few styles of German beer that doesn't conform to Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law. Because it's a region-specific traditional beer, it's allowed an exception to the law.
The beer was originally "spontaneously fermented" meaning that it didn't have yeast added to it, and the containers it was stored in were just left open to allow airborne yeast to enter and do their job. The long neck on the bottle was to allow room for the fermentation, and the bottle would then be sealed by the leftover yeast as it dried out in the opening. Obviously this bottle wasn't made the same way, but they use a top fermenting yeast now and lactic acid to get the same type of result, and it was sealed with a ceramic flip-top lid.
I found all this very interesting, and had I known it when I drank the beer, it would have drastically changed my expectations.
The aroma of wheat grass was fairly strong on the nose, but there were also hints of lemony citrus. There's also a salty brine smell, and some spice. It was a rather unusual combination of sweet and salty smells.
The beer poured a light golden color, and very cloudy. I'm sure the yeast it was bottled with had something to do with that. There was a signficant sized white head at first, which dissipated at a normal rate to leave a thin head. Despite this, it didn't leave a lot of lacing on the glass.
The taste was dominated by wheat, but was also a bit on the thin side. The saltiness stayed around the sides of the tongue, and I noticed a bit of a metallic quality to it. The bitterness of this beer was extremely low, even finishing, and I noted that even though I don't like bitter beers, this was a bit weak tasting for me. However, apparently the lack of hop presence is normal for this style. There's no trace of alcohol in the flavor at all. I thought it was similar, if not as flavorful, to Hoegaarden. It's a bit tart, but not overwhelming and I really didn't notice the spice coming through in the flavor.
The mouthfeel was definitely on the light side, but that should be expected for a wheat beer. It really wouldn't seem right for a beer with this light of a flavor to have a heavy body. It's fairly well carbonated too, with nice prickly bubbles. There's surprisingly a bit of a refreshing quality to it, and it wasn't overly dry.
It was definitely easy to get down, and pretty smooth too. The flavor wasn't overwhelming by any means, though I now realize it wasn't supposed to be. However, I did enjoy it. I could see myself drinking it again... if it wasn't for the cost and scarcity of the beer. The very cool looking 1 pint 9.4 oz bottle cost a whopping $14.99, making it one of the most expensive beers I've tried yet. At least the bottle seems like it could be reused, so I might have to fill it with some of my own brew at some point.
- Adam
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