Here’s the deal with Westbrook Brewing Company’s Gose.
It’s gonna catch you off guard. You’re not ready for the first powerful sip, even though Westbrook (a great brewery out of Mount Pleasant, S.C.) tells you on the can what to expect — “Sour, Salty, Delicious,” you’re not expecting the beer to be this…intense.
But that’s the only way you can really describe this beer: intense.
Gose is this relatively ancient German style of beer that had essentially been forgotten about by American brewers until the last few years.
Now, sours are all the rage and the Gose is one of the esoteric versions of sour that’s been resurrected. It’s not like any other sour out there, though because of the use of sea salt, and in most cases, coriander.
The result is, well…salty, sour, and shocking. And yes, delicious.
Westbrook’s version of the Gose is one of those unexpectedly awesome beach beers. It’s too complex for simple lawn mower beer status, too interesting to fit neatly in the summer beer category, but it’s light and refreshing and clocks in at a reasonable 4% ABV. That, my friends, is a beach beer.
But don’t get too excited. Even though the Gose has qualities of a session beer, it’s not exactly sessionable. The beer is simply too bombastic to have more than one on each sitting. It’s the kind of beer that will either turn you off or get you hooked right away. Like NASCAR, or midget tossing. It’s weird. But in a really good way.
–Graham Averill is a writer, beer lover and stay-at-home dad. Follow his adventures in drinking and Dad-hood at daddy-drinks.com.
