Rare and obscure beer styles seem to be coming back into fashion these days. It’s one of the latest trends in the recent surge in appreciation of good beer in America, a trend that has been going on since the early 1980s. Barrel aged beers, sour beers, super hoppy IPAs, and thin and one-dimensional “session IPAs” are still popular, but increasingly beer geeks today search out something new-and for more and more breweries that is Gose.
Before you embark on your American-brewed Gose journey, however, why not try one of the originals? Original Ritterguts Gose is about as authentic as you can get my friends, or at least I think so for reasons I’ll get into later. As a style, this is an ale (unusual for German beer), brewed in the city of Borna, just south of Leipzig.
From the label:
Enjoy the unique taste and distinctive freshness of our Original Ritterguts Gose, which is still brewed in the traditional way. It has been a specialty of the city of Leipzig since 1738.
Gose is a natural product, brewed with coriander and salt. As the traditional brewing process includes lactic fermentation, as well as bottle conditioning, there is a possibility of yeasty sedimentation in the bottle. We recommend gently shaking the bottle to mix the yeast before opening it.
The importer, Shelton Brothers, has these interesting things to say about Gose on their website:
Gose – the lactic and salty specialty ale associated with the German cities of Goslar and Leipzig – has a chronicled history dating back over a thousand years.
But not so long ago, it was virtually extinct, known only to a shrinking base of locals and the odd beer tourist who made the trek to the few Leipzig pubs that still served the quirky specialty.
Ritterguts Gose is the real thing, the one example still made to the traditional recipes – boldly sour and funky…
Notice they stress lactic nature of Gose, which is an interesting part of the Gose discussion. Before we can get into that, however, I’ll reveal what I thought about the beer, after letting you know that Original Ritterguts Gose has an alcohol content of 4.2% by volume and cost me $6 for a half liter bottle.
Original Ritterguts Gose pours to a pale yellow color to slightly amber color with a fine thin head of foam and a delightfully tart nose packed with spicy coriander and saltiness. Taking a sip, the beer is puckering tart up front and reminiscent of a Berliner Weiss really. The coriander comes through but I think it gets drowned out a bit by the sourness; it was more apparent in the nose for me. The salt definitely comes through in the finish and helps to dry the beer, and indeed it’s interesting that the beer starts salty in the nose and ends that way too.
This is only the second German-brewed Gose I’ve been able to get my hands on, with Leipziger Gose by Bayrisher Bahnhof brewery being the first. I first tried that beer back in 2003. How do they stack up against each other? Ritterguts Gose seems much more sour and tart, while the Leipziger Gose featured more saltiness and accent on the coriander. I’ll not say one is better than the other, they’re just different, equally idiosyncratic and delicious.
In fact, I had to go back to my notes on the Bahnhof-brewed Gose because the Ritterguts Gose seemed much more sour and acidic than I had recalled. I got to discussing this with fellow beer enthusiast Red Rooster, who has been to the Bahnhof brewery in Germany and enjoyed the Gose there. He too was puzzled that Ritterguts claims that it is the one true Gose in all its sour glory.
As we are often want to do, we decided to consult Jackson, but to our utter dismay he does not seem to mention Gose in either The World Guide to Beer or the Beer Companion. He does speak of it on his Beer Hunter website, and describes a visit to Bahnhof in 2000. He mentions the additional lactobacillic fermentation (that which imparts the sourness) but does not really describe the beer as sour.
Like a Berliner Weiss, Ritterguts suggests drinking the beer as is or enhancing with Kummel liquer or syrups of raspberry, cherry, or woodruff to temper the acidity. They even make and sell their own.
While as I said earlier I can’t say which is the “right” Gose or which is better, I can say that I prefer the Bahnhof Leipziger Gose. I want to taste the coriander and salt, and I do taste more of them in that beer. Your mileage may vary, but make sure you try them both to see for yourself.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft