Summer is about cookouts. It's about road trips. It's about beach vacations. And more importantly, it's about the beer that goes with it. If you're still lapping up light lagers with your outdoor summer activities, it's time to trade in those watered down suds for a flavorful gose.
Gose - pronounced goes-uh - simply screams summer. They can be fruity, they can be spicy, and they are always salty. They also tend to be lower in ABV making them the ideal session beer you need to pair with all your summer activities - even if that means napping in a beer hammock. The gose is no doubt the beer style made for summer.
Even the Germans would agree. They loved the style so much they made an exception to the Reinheisgebot law and let the gose slide. A German-style wheat beer not to be confused with gueuze, a traditional gose consists of 50% malted wheat, salt, hops, and is spiced with coriander. Now that sounds amazing.
If you love beer and summer as much as the next person, embrace the love of gose beers and grab one of these for your next outing.
1. Creature Comforts Tritonia
Location: Athens, GA
ABV: 4.5%
Ahh, Creature Comforts. Home to Tropicália and the incredible gose, Tritonia. When it comes to Tritonia what you need to know is you have two tantalizing options so you can pick your poison. There's the Tritonia Cucumber and Lime and the Tritonia Mango, Orange, & Lime. Both are worthy of your pallet, it just depends upon what you're doing.
If you're anywhere near the beach or about to scarff down some fish tacos, then go with the Mango, Orange, & Lime. If you're having a relaxing afternoon on the other hand, or just finished a long hike, opt for the refreshing Cucumber and Lime. It may not be a beer full of electrolytes, but it does have cucumber and that right there is great for hydration.
2. Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose
Location: Boonville
ABV: 4.2%
I for one can never get enough thirst quenching blood orange beers and this Anderson Valley gose is no exception. While the traditional yeast and lactic bacteria make it similar to a Berliner Weiss, the salty punch clearly indicates what you have here is a gose. Tangy, tart, fruity, and salty, this is the gose you want to go with all those grilled kabobs and burgers piled to the high heavens in deliciousness.
If you find you love this one, don't let the Highway 128 Session Series stop here. Anderson Valley Brewing Company makes several exceptional goses in this line including Briney Melon, Framboise Rose, and The Kimmie, The Kink, & The Holy Gose.
3. Dogfish Head Sea Quench
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjgCqFFgYe0/?taken-by=cstanz13
Location: Milton, DE
ABV: 4.9%
Like the name suggests, this beer quenches your thirst with a little help from the sea. Berliner weiss, kolsch, and gose, this session sour ale is summer all wrapped up into one can. Brewed with black limes, sour lime juice, and sea salt, Sea Quench is a balance between sour, salty, and citrusy. While it may be best enjoyed with some sand between your toes and the smell of salt water in the air, this gose can be paired anywhere there is sun.
4. The Bruery Terreux Goses are Red
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For those that can't have a summer without rosé, this one's for you. Masters of funk The Bruery really nailed it on the nose, or should I say gose, with this one. It has the saltiness and coriander from the gose that we know and love blended with the soft sweetness of a rosé.
Since it comes in a 750ml bottle we recommend sharing the love with fellow beer/rosé loving enthusiast. The next time you're invited to a dinner party or weekend brunch, leave the rosé forty at home and share a bottle of the red with your friends instead.
5. Westbrook Gose
Location: Mount Pleasant, SC
AVB: 4%
Goses are meant to be salty and that is precisely what this beer is. An American interpretation on the traditional, this craft beer is straight up gose. Tart, salty, and wheaty, no extra frills are necessary. Bring along a can or two when your hiking, biking, camping, chilling, grilling, fishing, paddling, or floating. You name it, this gose goes with it.
If you would like a little frill with your gose-style beer, Westbrook Brewing Company also makes a Key Lime Gose that's worth mentioning.
6. Gasthaus & Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Bahnhof Leipziger Gose
Location: Leipzig, Germany
ABV: 4.5%
Of course, you simply can't go wrong with the old school Leipziger. When the gose was born in Goslar, Germany, it became a hit with the people. So much so that production expanded to the nearby city Leipzig where this tasty brew was born. A sour comprised of lactic acid, coriander, and salt, this regional specialty is brewed the traditional way. Bring one along your next picnic for a delightful beer and food pairing on a sunny summer day.
