Gose! Its being hailed my many brewers and brew drinkers as the new, and exciting, craft beer style. Much like IPA before, many breweries have started brewing their own variants of this style.
But what is it, and where does it come from?
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| Old Gose Advertisement Poster |
On the banks of the river Gose, in a town called Goslar, Gose was first introduced (presumably by someone lacking name creativity). At the time, the town of Goslar was an important mining center and enjoyed great economic prosperity.
As the town's economy declined, the brewing of Gose moved to the city of Leipzig, where the beer style flourished further. At its height, in the early 1900's, Leipzig counted over 80's Gose breweries and it had become the regions most popular beer style.
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| Gose Brewery |
Goes enjoyed great regional popularity, but never really expanded out of the Leipzig region. It is for this reason that, in the early 20th century, the style slowly faded away due to the world wars, the subsequent cold war, communist regime, and the erection of the Berlin wall.
When the wall came down, and Germany was reunified, Gose started slowly making comeback. In recent years, Gose has experienced a tremendous growth in popularity, with many craft brewers making their own versions of the style. Some have even started jokingly referring to it as the "new IPA" in terms of hype and explosive popularity.
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| Enjoying an Anderson Valley Gose |
Gose is a sour, and slightly salty, tasting ale. Salty? yes, Gose tastes a little salty as it is traditionally brewed with slightly salty water, giving it its unique taste. Many different varieties of Gose, from all over the world, are available today.
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| Enjoying a Jopen Coastal Gose |
Cheers!
Sources:
Burnsed, J (2011). Brew a Gose. Brew Your Own. Retrieved from: http://byo.com/hops/item/2349-gose
German Beer Institute (2006) Gose. The German Beer Institute. Retrieved from: http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Gose.html
