After sifting through a sea of stouts, IPA’s and sours, we find ourselves looking for something new. This frothy cross-roads may not only take us on a boozy adventure, but ultimately leads to something reborn from history…
The Gose beer.
Think of it as a slightly salty take on a sour with a low ABV. Some people love this brew, others say it tastes like sweat. But we say give it a try, I mean, where is your sense of adventure? Welp, some Chicago area breweries have been mixing this into their brews as of late and people are noticing. They do add a small percentage usually, as the original brewed in the 13th century might not be your (or most of the world’s) thing.
The Original? Well it began it’s salty beginnings in Goslar, Germany around 1265 by a one armed monk named Rohan. Rohan had a a river near his home (the Gose river) that had an unusually high salinity. He used this water and a 50% grain bill of malted wheat and the concoction took off. Goes breweries popped up all over the area and by the 1800’s Rohan was rich… and very dead. By 1945 and the outbreak of WWII, his Gose was also buried. The country was nationalized and closed all the gose-style breweries. But in the mid 50’s some inventive soul found the recipe in a sock drawer and it started again. Then that guy died and gose once again died.
In 1980 it started up again and ceased in 1988, probably because in 1988 people only drank 4 different beers. (outrage!)
20 years later came the American craft beer movement and brewers were scrambling for ancient recipes and once again our gose popped up. This time it was diluted with other beers, to make it a bit more palatable.
The first time I tried a gose it was almost 100% gose and I wanted to die, much like Rohan. But now it’s being used in creative ways and is worth a shot. It’s sessionable and unique. The slight salinity compliments the brew, much like pretzels, beer nuts or arguing about politics.
Off color Brewing’s Troublesome, Revolution’s No Pun Intended, Noon Whistle Guava Nose Smack, Founders Green Zebra and others are formulating Gose variants. Toast to Rohan and give them a try!
(Rohan and the 1265 date was totally made up, however everything else was factual, but less fun)
Chicago Craft 