Who Gose There?

It sometimes seems as though Reinheitsgebot is held up as some paragon of beer virtue, in much the same way as some people think all keg beers are inherently evil, and yet it was the misuse of the Bavarian Beer Purity Law which saw the decimation of the German brewing culture which had more in common with Belgium than Bavaria in the post unification years. The combined forces of Reinhesitsgebot and pilsner style beer wiped out practically everything except a clutch of beers including Altbier and Gose.

Last year when Boak and Bailey came over to Prague as part of their whistle stop central European tour, they generously gave myself and Pivní Filosof a bottle of Goedecke's Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose each, mine of which sat in my cellar until very recently. Gose has a fascinating history, which you can read a bit about here, and has some distinctly non-Reinheitsgebot ingredients, such as salt and coriander. Thus it was with a great sense of curiosity that I popped open the bottle.

As you can see from the picture, the beer poured a light golden colour with a thin white head, which disappeared rather quickly. The nose was really unusual, spicy like a wheat beer, laced with citrus fruit, in particular oranges and also a distinct smell of sour milk - I have to admit that I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be that way and so I texted Evan to make sure. In terms of taste, again there was a citrusy twang, but like the flavour you get with soluble vitamin tablets, like minerals. The thing I found surprising was just how salty it tasted, almost as though the beer had been made with sea water.

Certainly a very interesting beer, but not one I could imagine drinking regularly. Having said that I will try it again when the opportunity presents itself, because I am aware that tastes change and you never know when it might just all click for me.