Spring is less than a month away. And if Punxsutawney Phil has anything to say about it, the weather is going to start getting milder sooner than later. That means the time is right to start thinking about (if not already drinking) spring beers. This means bocks, Kolsch-style beers, pilsners, IPAs, helles-style lagers, and Gose-style beers are back in play.
Today, we’re most interested in the latter. If you don’t know what a Gose is, it’s a warm-fermented wheat beer that has its origins in Goslar, Germany. It’s known for its sour, tart, salty flavor and sessionable, low ABV. Originally, brewers didn’t need to add any salt because the flavor came from the natural salinity of its water source. Today, most brewers add sea salt. On top of that, many brewers add citrus or tropical fruit flavors to give the beer added depth.
Now that you’ve learned a little bit about this sweet, tart, sour, salty, fresh beer, it’s time to find some to drink. Luckily, we did the work, so you don’t have to. We found eight of the best examples of the style and ranked them based on overall seasonal flavor.
Some have added fruit flavors and some don’t. All are refreshing and thirst-quenching.
8.) Urban South Lime Cucumber Gose
ABV: 4%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
While we believe it tastes best during the early spring days, Urban South Lime Cucumber Gose is available all year long. This kettle-soured wheat beer gets its unique, memorable flavor from the addition of kosher salt, key lime juice, and fresh cucumber juice.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a mixture of lime, lemon zest, ripe cucumber, sweet wheat, cracked black pepper, and sea salt. The palate is more of the same with a nice kick of sea salt followed by tart, lightly sour, lactic lemon and lime flavors as well as cucumber, pepper, wheat, and yeast. It’s sweet, salty, and very memorable.
Bottom Line:
While some gose-style beers stick to citrus, Urban South cranks it up to eleven with the addition of cucumber juice.
7.) Anderson Valley Holy Gose
ABV: 4.2%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
California’s Anderson Valley Brewing is well-known for its gose-style beer prowess. While you can’t go wrong with any of its beers, our favorite is Anderson Valley Holy Gose. The first gose brewed by the iconic brewery, Holy Gose (full name The Kimmie, The Yink & The Holy Gose) is brewed with Pale 2-row malt, malted white wheat, and Bravo hops. Coriander and sea salt round out the flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll be treated to aromas of coriander, sweet wheat, cracked black pepper, orchard fruits, honey, sea salt, and a nice kick of citrus. The palate is loaded with flavors of pear, citrus peels, cracked black pepper, coriander, wheat, and bright sea salt. It has a gentle sweetness that pairs well with spice and salinity.
Bottom Line:
While you can drink Anderson Valley’s fruit-forward gose-style beers, this one is where they all began. It’s straightforward, balanced, and flavorful.
6.) Ritterguts Original Gose
ABV: 4.2%
Average Price: $7 for a 16.9-ounce bottle
The Beer:
First brewed in 1824, Ritterguts is the oldest gose in the world. This award-winning classic 4.7% ABV German gose is brewed simply with barley, wheat malts, yeast, water, hops, salt, and coriander. The result is a crisp, refreshing, lightly salty beer you won’t soon forget.
Tasting Notes:
Before your first sip, you’ll be treated to aromas of lemon peels, orchard fruits, wheat, coriander, and a hint of sea salt. Drinking it reveals notes of lemon, lime peel, wheat, a gentle fruity flavor, coriander, and a gentle salinity running through. Refreshing, very crisp, and pleasantly salty.
Bottom Line:
If you want to try a classic gose made the way the style is traditionally supposed to taste, Ritterguts Original Gose is for you.
5.) Union Craft Old Pro
ABV: 4.2%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This 4.2% ABV German-style sour ale is brewed with pilsner and acidulated malt as well as wheat, and Perle hops. It gets its sour, tart flavor from the use of German ale yeast and Lactobacillus and its spice and salinity from the addition of salt and coriander.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of sweet wheat, yeasty bread, lemon peels, lime, coriander, and sea salt greet you before your first sip. On the palate, you’ll find notes of yeast, wheat, lemongrass, lime zest, coriander, and sea salt. Tart citrus, sweet wheat, and salt. What’s not to love?
Bottom Line:
This is a classic, tart, salty, no-frills gose beer. It’s the kind of beer you’ll want to drink all spring and well into the summer.
4.) Leipziger Gose
ABV: 4.5%
Average Price: $5 for a 12-ounce bottle
The Beer:
This traditional German top-fermented wheat beer is brewed with wheat and barley malt as well as coriander and salt. The addition of lactic acid bacteria gives it the sour, tart flavor gose drinkers love. It’s unfiltered, unpasteurized, and bottle conditioned. The result is a sweet, spicy, tart, salty, complex beer.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There’s fresh hay, lemon peels, wheat, coriander, grass, and sea salt. There’s more of the same on the palate in the best way possible. It’s lightly tart and sour with notes of wheat, lemon peel, peaches, berries, coriander, and sea salt salinity. It’s fruity, funky, tart, and pleasantly salty.
Bottom Line:
This authentic German gose is well-balanced. It’s tart and sour but has a ton of fruit flavor to help temper the salinity.
3.) Grimm Super Spruce
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $19 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
To say that Grimm Super Spruce is a unique beer is a bit of an understatement. This is a gose beer for fans of pine. It’s made with new growth spruce tips and gets its hop aroma and flavor from Chinook hops. The result is a resinous, tart, hoppy gose that needs to be imbibed to be believed.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find scents of spruce tips, lemon peels, wheat, grass, grapefruit, gentle spices, and sea salt. Sipping it brings forth notes of pine needles, lemon, lime, grass, hay, wheat, wintry spices, grapefruit, and sea salt. It’s a pine, citrus, and salt bomb that is sure to quench your biggest thirst.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for an interesting take on the classic style and you enjoy pine needles, this is a great choice for you.
2.) Westbrook Key Lime Gose
ABV: 4%
Average Price: $10 for a four-pack
The Beer:
Westbrook is a big name in the American gose world. You can’t go wrong with its classic gose, but if you really want to get wild with it, you’ll grab some of its Westbrook Key Lime Gose. It’s brewed with acidulated and pale malt as well as wheat and CTZ hops. It gets added flavor from cinnamon, coriander, key lime, vanilla, and sea salt.
Tasting Notes:
This beer literally smells like a slice of key lime pie. There are scents of cracker-like malts, lime peels, coriander, cinnamon, and salt. On the palate, you’ll find notes of vanilla, pie crust, lemon peels, lime zest, wheat, cinnamon, coriander, and sea salt. It’s tart, lime-filled, and gently salty.
Bottom Line:
This beer is as close to a key lime pie in a pint glass as any brewer is likely to make. If that sounds good to you, pick up some of this beer as soon as possible.
1.) Perennial Suburban Beverage
ABV: 4.2%
Average Price: $15 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This spring and summer seasonal beer is brewed with wheat, unmalted wheat, pilsner malt, and acidulated malt. It gets its hoppy aroma and flavor from the addition of Nugget hops. It gets added flavor from the use of Valencia oranges, Key lime, and Meyer lemon as well as a healthy dash of sea salt.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a lot of citrus on the nose. There are aromas of lime, lemon peel, and bright orange as well as coriander, wheat, and sea salt. The palate follows suit with notes of candied orange peel, lime zest, lemon juice, wheat, floral hops, and sea salt. It’s very tart but has a nice citrus sweetness to temper it perfectly.
Bottom Line:
This a puckering, tart, citrus-filled, sweet, lightly salty crusher of a beer. If you only try one beer on this list, make it this one.